Memories Off 2nd

「てるてる坊主ってぇ……晴れの日と雨の日、どっちが好きなのかなぁ？」 "Интересно, теру-теру-бозу какой день любит, ясный или дождливый?" Я еще не прочел after story и yukihotaru и хочу поделиться своими впечатлениями. Ожидания от игры были достаточно большие после прочтения описания, ведь завязка во многом была похожа на мой любимый wa1. Впрочем, даже их игра превзошла. История является продолжением memories off 1st, но я бы назвал ее альтернативным взглядом на саму идею серию. Если в первой части у главного героя его основная девушка пропала в далеком прошлом, и от нее остались только воспоминания, то тут и героиня есть, и отношения с ней в порядке... Главный герой, Инами Кен - спокойный, умный, взрослый уравновешенный человек (полная противоположность протагонисту первой части), у него есть девушка по имени Хотару с которой он встречается чуть меньше года и вроде бы все у них хорошо, но потерпев неудачу на последнем футбольном матче и вылетев с турнира он теряется в своих желаниях, не понимания в каком направлении ему дальше двигаться. В то время как его девушка талантливый пианист, которая днями тренируется чтобы победить на национальном конкурсе фортепиано. Даа, сеттинг оказался очень похож на wa1. Ничем особо не выделяющийся главный герой, плывущий по течению, с девушкой у которой талант к музыке, ситуация в которой они не могут часто видеться, очень красивый bgm, классическая музыка в лице 8 сонаты Бетховена, Liebesträume Листа, Pavane Равеля (так, погодите последние я уже где-то слышал о_0). По сравнению с первой частью, которая сама по себе была хорошей, прогресс колоссальный. Касательно девушек. Сиракава Хотару. 　「夢の空……。夢の空って、どんな色してるのかなぁ？　やっぱり……「儚い」色？夢はいつでも……儚いもの？　じゃあ健ちゃんは、儚くない愛も、あると思う？」 "Небо мечты... Небо мечты, какой цвет оно имеет? Всё-таки "эфемерный" цвет? Мечта всегда эфемерна? Кен-тян, как думаешь неэфемерная любовь существует?" Центральная героиня с которой Кен уже состоит в отношениях. Талантливый пианист, светлый и веселый (почти) характер. Сможет ли она сохранить с Кеном отношения или тучи сгущенные над ними не удастся развеять? Очень большую роль в ее маршруте играет японская песенка про "теру-теру-бозу", дождевую куклу, которую японцы вешают для предотвращения дождя (если вы знаете ее полностью, можете уже догадаться к чему все пойдет). В "дождливый" сеттинг мемофа влезает замечательно. Если в первой части дождь был физической проблемой, то здесь это больше метафора. Персонаж центральный, но сам рут достаточно короткий (когда я его прошел открыл где-то 70 сцен из 210), так что большая часть всей истории находится в других рутах. Хоть рут и короткий, но он написан невероятно красиво и цельно, олицетворяя собой 8 сонату Бетховена. Финальную песню "Музыкальная шкатулка и фортепиано" исполняет сейю Хотару маэстро Мизуки Нана. Лирика в ней очень красивая и больше похожа на балладу, использую в качестве основы историю и резюмируя финал. Также отдельно отмечу названия финальных глав, представляющих собой музыкальные термины. Минами Цубаме. 「風が無ければ……火はつかない。水は……火を消してしまう。今の健くんは、どっちなの？」 "Без ветра... огонь не загорится. Вода... наоборот его погасит. Кен-кун, на чьей ты стороне сейчас?" Главный творитель бед, школьный учитель внезапно появившийся под конец лета чтобы преподавать японский. Да уж, лучше бы ты выражалась понятней. Персонаж и весь ее маршрут один сплошной комок метафор. Названия у глав черезчур замысловатые, а от ее реплик реально закипал мозг. Впрочем когда начинаешь понимать ее метафоры, мотивы становятся понятны. 「風が変わる時、そこには凪が生じます。たとえ、どんなに凪が長くても……。風は必ず、蘇るのです。」 - "Когда ветер меняет направление - возникает штиль. Но каким бы долгим не был штиль, ветер обязательно возвращается". Цубаме и Хотару - два основных персонажа которых я отнесу к стороне дождя (разделение маршуртов тут очень похоже на ближнюю/дальнюю сторону луны из Цукихиме). Имеют общие черты, но полностью противоположны. "Цубаме" переводится как "ласточка", "Хотару" - "светлячок". Вы знали про примету, что если ласточки летают низко, это к дождю, а если высоко - к…

Memories Off 2nd is a character-driven romantic visual novel that places emotional uncertainty at the center of its story rather than treating romance as a simple pursuit with an inevitable happy conclusion. Developed by MAGES. Inc. and published by Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., this Full HD adaptation preserves the identity of the classic second installment while making its artwork and presentation more comfortable on modern displays. Its age is still noticeable in its artistic conventions and straightforward interface, but those qualities also give it a distinctive early visual novel atmosphere that separates it from more contemporary releases. The story follows Ken Inami, a third-year high school student who has been dating his classmate Hotaru Shirakawa for around six months. Ken believes their relationship is stable and that the happiness they share will continue. That confidence begins to disappear after an incident creates misunderstandings between them. Small disagreements and emotional distance gradually develop into something more serious, forcing Ken to reconsider feelings that once appeared certain. This is where the narrative becomes particularly effective, because the conflict does not depend entirely on dramatic external events. Much of the tension comes from ordinary relationship problems such as poor communication, jealousy, hesitation, conflicting expectations, and the inability to say what someone genuinely feels. The introduction of other women complicates Ken's situation further. Instead of beginning the story as an unattached protagonist choosing between several potential partners, he already has a meaningful relationship and a collection of memories with Hotaru. Pursuing another person therefore carries emotional consequences. The game repeatedly explores whether past happiness is enough reason to preserve a relationship and whether memories should determine someone's future. It gives romantic choices a bittersweet quality because choosing one direction can mean abandoning another person and accepting that something once considered permanent has changed. Gameplay follows a traditional visual novel structure. Most of the experience consists of reading conversations and narration before making decisions at important moments. Those choices determine how relationships develop and eventually lead into different routes and endings. There are no elaborate gameplay mechanics competing for attention, making this primarily an experience for players who enjoy lengthy dialogue, character development, and branching storytelling. Some decisions may initially appear insignificant, but their cumulative effect can substantially change the direction of Ken's relationships. This encourages multiple playthroughs, particularly for anyone interested in understanding every major character rather than stopping after a single ending. The package contains more than the central storyline, incorporating the main scenario together with Yuki Hotaru, AfterStory, and Introduction content. These additional scenarios strengthen the overall package and provide more material for players invested in the characters. Multiple endings also give completionists a reason to explore alternative decisions. The 13 Steam achievements provide another modest incentive to experience more of the available routes, although the narrative consequences of different choices remain a much stronger reason to replay the game than achievement hunting. Its character presentation is one of the game's strongest qualities. The cast includes Hotaru Shirakawa, Tsubame Minami, Tomoe Tobise, Takano Suzuna, Shizuru Shirakawa, Nozomi and Megumi Soma, Kana Maikata, Shin Inaho, Shota Nakamori, and Sayoko Kirishima. Rather than existing solely as alternative romantic targets or supporting faces, these characters help broaden the emotional circumstances surrounding Ken. The Japanese voice performances are especially valuable, adding personality to conversations that can ra…

not bad. certainly more coherent than memories off 1 (not a hard task), but nowhere near a masterpiece. i'd give it like a 7/10 at its best and a 4 or 5/10 at its worst. you don't have to play the first game before this one, but if you do, you will notice some fun easter eggs. the writing is generally quite good, if at times over-indulgent. the main character is a bit of a clown at times, but he is much better than the freak main character from memories off 1, so i'll take it. the other characters are solid for the most part, the girls in particular are generally well developed and interesting in their own ways, similarly, each character's story is unique (in the important ways, at least). as with all visual novels some routes are better than others, but that is always subjective. i think if you are looking for an old school visual novel for practicing japanese, you really cant do much better than this. the vocabulary is at a cool intermediate level and maintains a conversational feel so it never feels unapproachable. the music is great, and even includes some remixed versions of songs from the first game, which i love. the art is solid too, the characters have a nice array of unique poses, its not just all the simple one left facing pose, one right, etc.. the background art is also quite nice, they use a cool low information feel in the distant areas that works well. the game includes some nice gallery features with old promo art i guess? im not really sure but some of it is really cool. no sprite viewer unfortunately. if you are interested in what i have to say about each route, read on. i tried to keep it as spoiler free as possible. hotaru route is solid, probably my favourite story? not sure, since i played it first and really enjoyed it, much more than most of the other routes, but i don't really remember much about it since it was months ago as of the time of writing this. hotaru is probably the best girl? its hard to say, she's up there with takano and tomoe, but her character sort of falls apart in some other routes which is disappointing because she is such a central character. if you are only going to play one route, play hotaru's. tsubame route is okay. if you were going to play two routes, play tsubame's as well as there is a lot to it, perhaps as much as hotaru's route? not sure, i wasnt the biggest fan in the end. but the chemistry between tsubame and the main character is surprisingly good. the story goes in a weird direction and is ultimately of lame and disappointing in a lot of ways, but some of the stuff that happens along the way is two thumbs up. tsubame is a pretty unique character and she sees things in a very interesting way. i just wish the main character wasnt so annoying... takano route is another one of my favourite routes. she is uniquely cute and feels like a real person. i think she is best girl, but it may go to a coin flip with her and tomoe. her story is simple but i think it works well enough, the big moments are handled better in takano's route than they are in some other routes, if that makes sense. she is so cool man.. tomoe route is the last of my favourites. tomoe herself is exceptionally cute and her route does a good job of pacing itself (most of the time) through the beats it needs to hit. its a delicate story that can get repetitive at times, but tomoe is so cute i dont even mind. she is amazing, truly, and the payoff seeing her story through to the end is quite sweet. probably my favourite ending, and it isn't even all that special. its just good. megumi route is a bit of an outlier because of how different it is from the others, but i think it works well. it might be the most interesting story as the others are more down to earth, but megumi herself is a bit bland for my tastes. solid route, glad they included it. shizuru route is by far the worst route. it feels like it was written last, almost as an afterthought. shizuru is not properly developed, she feels slapped togethe…