Starlight Vega and Strawberry Vinegar - A Comparison

I've reviewed a decent number of OLEVNs on my blog since beginning. Most recently, it was Starlight Vega, what I expect to be the most popular yuri OLEVN of the year. But you may also recall that earlier in the year, I did a review of ebi-hime's Strawberry Vinegar, a yuri-ish title with a ton of sexy food pics.

Call me crazy, but as I was playing through Starlight Vega, I kept having moments that made me stop and think, "Hey, this reminds me of another game..." Now, none of this is meant to demonize either game, nor am I implying that anyone ripped anyone else off. Truth be told, it's me taking all my random whim thoughts and putting them in an essay-shaped object, just for the hell of it.

And so, I present to you today, an analysis of the similarities I found between Starlight Vega and Strawberry Vinegar.

1. SV and SP

The simplest reasons are the easiest to start with.

Starlight Vega = SV. Strawberry Vinegar = SV.

Pretty sure I recall the devs talking about this on Twitter, too.

Also, both visual novels were published by Sekai Project, which is SP.

2. Similar stories and characters

You wouldn't think at first that the two games have much in common storywise, and I agree that they deviate quite heavily in the later halves of each game. But you start out from very similar points when playing either game: a demon girl love interest has appeared unexpectedly, she's very attached to the protagonist, and she has a habit of quietly casting spells to keep everyone else in the dark. I feel like little Licia could have one day grown up into Lyria (who have similar names, even!) without too much character differentiation. Rie and Aria I don't see as having nearly as much in common, but I feel like when it comes to the finer points of romance they're both a bit...well, slow, and that plays into their respective romantic arcs a lot. Also, Licia and Lyria both have sisters that take an obvious authority role and maintain that they know best for their sibling.

3. Similar randomness of bad endings

I love both games, but one issue I did have with each was the way the bad endings tended to work. They were a bit random, a bit out of nowhere, and a bit abrupt, and a number of them on each side involve a demon removing the protagonist's memories. If I recall, in one Strawberry Vinegar ending Rie even lampshades what a stupid way this is for her story to end. It's not enough to majorly detract from either game, but it is noticeable.

4. Both have piles of sweetness hiding in the back

Okay, it's rather more apparent that Strawberry Vinegar is going to be a very sweet game just by looking at the title screen. But Starlight Vega has a similar vein of happy sweetness in its character routes, one that might not be so obvious at first. I'll just come right out and say that the harem ending is full of this (no I will not spoil it for you).

...

So what's my point here?

I acknowledge that these are two very different games. One has a singular love interest and one has multiple; Strawberry Vinegar consistently keeps the focus on Rie and Licia while Starlight Vega gives greater focus to the demon world itself; the actual substance of the good endings is pretty different. But there are similarities enough for one to take notice, and I have to wonder if there's a reason behind it. There's a pretty big following for yuri visual novels right now, and more and more OLEVN titles are coming out with female casts and female relationships. As all of us visual novel writers continue to work in this culture, picking up influences here and there, it's probably inevitable that some of us end up on similar wavelengths.

And there's nothing wrong with similarities in works! It happens in every medium. Look at the case of Repo! The Genetic Opera vs. Repo Men. Look at the year that two movies about friends with benefits falling in love came out with almost identical plots. Nothing's taken away from either party, really; sometimes, it just happens.

I personally think quite highly of both Starlight Vega and Strawberry Vinegar, and I don't mean anything weird by drawing attention to all these things the two games have in common. I feel like, in the end, I may not even have much of a point...It was all just a completely random whim.

I'm sure good at endings.

Starlight Vega is available on Steam and itch.io. Strawberry Vinegar is also available on Steam and itch.io.

........MORE SIMILARITIES.

The opinions expressed in this article are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this article. The "Wrong End" image comes from Corpse Party.

Circus Reviews - Starlight Vega

I think it'd be a safe bet to say that this was one of the more anticipated OELVN releases of late 2015, even after getting pushed back to 2016. I mean, multi-route yuri game with a successful Kickstarter? Pretty good, pretty good. As one of those Kickstarter backers, I too have been eagerly awaiting the game's release.

Starlight Vega centers around Aria Reid, a high school girl who moves into an old house of her grandfather's along with her mother. She and her best friend, Melody, immediately start finding strange things around the house, like a study that didn't seem to be there earlier and an old book filled with runes. One of these things, a purple gem, turns out to be more than it appears, though...When Aria touches it, a demon named Lyria is set free after fifty years, and the stone links the two of them together, meaning they can't be far apart without feeling pain. Melody begins attempting to translate the old book they've found in hopes that it contains a spell to undo the stone's link, while Aria tries to adjust to the sudden appearance of magic and demons in her formerly quiet life.

The characters are a really strong point here, although (I hope this isn't offensive to say) I think I like the demons a bit more than the humans. Aria is a likable enough protagonist, although she is extremely slow to realize that she's being manipulated by outside parties and it makes her dialogue frustrating to read at times. At the same time, though, her relative ordinariness makes her a great contrast to Melody, an intelligent and kindhearted bookworm who does most of the translation work on the book and has had long unnoticed feelings for Aria that soon come to the forefront. Lyria is flirty and fun, and her familiar Sid starts off prejudiced against humans but soon develops a touching friendship with Melody, the first person human or otherwise to treat him with genuine kindness. Scherza, the demon queen, might be my favorite...She comes off as a cold and distant ruler at first, but her romance path develops her more fully into a leader under phenomenal pressure to somehow save her people while ignoring her own loneliness.

Melody, Lyria, and Scherza have the main routes, with a few bad endings and a harem route unlocked after you do all the other routes. The harem route is very well written and far more than the typical harem fanservice junk, but reading through it after seeing all the game's other content will leave you with a bittersweet feeling. Without wishing to spoil, the harem ending has an outcome that is only made possible by the characters working together, rather than becoming somewhat divided as they do in other routes, and it nearly breaks my heart to think that all the routes could have been so much happier had the characters put their differences aside.

The art style feels a bit reminiscent of a sketchbook, and while I like it a lot...Some of the CGs looked rather unpolished, like they weren't complete yet, and I'm not sure if it's the art style contributing to that or if something just went wrong with those particular CGs somehow. There are also spots where a character describes wearing one thing but their sprite clearly shows them wearing another. It's probably a budget-saving move and it might not bug me as much, except there's an earlier point where a character is described as wearing something different and there was actually a CG for it.

Music is all pretty and polished, and the GUI I find particularly attractive. It's all starry and pretty and fits well with the game's theme. But you probably don't care about all that boring stuff...You're wondering about those H-scenes, right? Yeah, figures. They're tastefully done and as someone who also likes the ladies I enjoyed them, but if they're not your thing you can turn them off without missing any plot.

At time of writing there is a glitch involving a couple of CGs not showing up in the gallery, and I suspect a couple CGs are misnamed as well. It kind of ties in to that unpolished...ness I mentioned above in regards to the art style. Still, these are easily fixed and not a giant detriment to anything.

Everyone's always clamoring for new yuri visual novels, it seems, and I'm happy to report that Starlight Vega is a great addition to the category. It's well-written, it has nice characters, and both the individual and harem romance routes have satisfying conclusions. I'm glad to have backed it, and I'm quite interested to see what Razz ends up putting out in the future.

Starlight Vega is available on Steam and itch.io.

Final verdict: While it could have benefited from tightening up in a few spots, Starlight Vega overall presents a well-written story carried by strong and enjoyable characters.

Starlight Vega is developed by Razzart Visual. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this review. I was a Kickstarter backer for this game and received a copy of this game on launch day as part of my reward tier.

Circus Ranks - Top 5 Anticipated Visual Novels of 2015

This past year, I've become a lot more involved in the visual novel scene than I have been previously, probably due to that whole thing where I'm trying to write visual novels. This has also involved me looking around for new visual novels to play, which of course leads to finding things like announcements and Kickstarters and all sorts of goodies. And this leads to me being excited for projects, only to sigh when I remember that they aren't quite out yet.

For the first in another little series, here are my top five anticipated visual novels of 2015. Do keep in mind that none of these are out yet; I will link to demos and/or websites where applicable.

5. Ladykiller in a Bind by Christine Love

The title on the image up there is in fact the game's full title, but its developer, Christine Love, tends to refer to it by the shortened moniker of "Ladykiller in a Bind" and I think I'm going to do so as well for the sake of my fingers. From the developer of such well-known titles as "Digital: A Love Story" and "Analogue: A Hate Story" comes this, described as "an erotic visual novel about social manipulation and girls tying up other girls." I think the title, combined with that descriptor, tells what it's about well enough. It seems like it will be a lot different from Love's previous titles, although this game will apparently include computer interaction as well. It also seems very different from visual novels in general, something it does share with its sister games, and stands out as something to look forward to.

Ladykiller in a Bind is currently projected for release in 2015. For more information, see the developer's website.

Edit: Projected release date has been pushed back to 2016.

4. Myth by Circletempo

Myth is a doujin game about a boy who lives in a world without shadows, and how his life changes when he meets a mysterious girl who does have a shadow. It was picked up by Mangagamer and successfully Greenlit on Steam, but I can't seem to find much more information about it (other than the developer's website itself, which is in Japanese). It doesn't have a release date and Mangagamer's website doesn't list it as having any translation progress. Still...I've heard good things, and I like the trailer, and I feel like the game is going to present a good mystery about things not being what they seem. And maybe some tragedy as well.

Myth currently does not have a projected release date. For more information, see the Steam Greenlight page.

3. Cursed Sight by invertmouse

Being rather strapped for cash most of the time, I was first attracted to Cursed Sight by the low entry cost. The lowest pledge was only $3 and it came with a digital copy of the game. You can't do much better than that. But I also liked the premise a lot, and when I played the demo, I was very impressed with what I saw. It tells the touching and sad story of Miyon, a girl born with a powerful ability that makes her both a great asset to her king and a danger to the people around her. The game starts when a boy named Gai is sold into a temple by his parents and tasked with looking after Miyon. I expect that the full game will impress just like the demo did.

Cursed Sight is currently projected for release in late 2015. For more information, see the developer's website.

Edit: This game has been released! See my review of it here.

2. Starlight Vega by razzartvisual

A Kickstarter that started out small and blew up thanks to some good marketing and also to getting picked up by publisher Sekai Project. It follows Aria, who moves into her grandfather's old house and somehow manages to end up getting a demon named Lyria attached to her via a magical stone. Her best friend, Melody, tries to help her undo the spell, and in the process all three uncover unexpected feelings for the others. I'll admit that I like GxG games, and this one is of course going to be full of it. But I also enjoyed the demo quite a lot and I think the premise lends itself to all sorts of fun shenanigans.

Starlight Vega is currently projected for release in late 2015. For more information, see the developer's website.

Edited: Projected release date pushed back to 2016.

1. Clannad by Key Visual Arts

All right, get ready to smack me upside the head...I have never read Clannad. I've heard plenty about it, can identify certain characters and story aspects, but just never got around to trying it out myself. It certainly looks very nice, and I've enjoyed the other Key works I've read. Unfortunately, I was a little late in noticing the Kickstarter for the English version and thus didn't get to be a backer. However, I have been consistently impressed with what I've seen from both Key and Sekai Project, and that combined with this game's overwhelmingly positive reputation are enough to have me plenty excited for release day.

Clannad is currently projected for English release in the fourth quarter of 2015. For more information, see Sekai Project's Kickstarter campaign.

Edit: This game has been released!



The opinions expressed in this article are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this article.