YU-NO

[Weasel]

Honestly, this entire game is well worth the playthrough, but you won't lose a lot just from watching the videos except for maybe some random stumbling about. I know I was constantly referring to a "visual walkthrough" (actually an annotated print of the Divergence Map) to complete the main portion of the game.

Yet, somehow, I still didn't 100%-complete the game, so the hidden Sound Room remains locked to me.

[Discoalucard]

Thanks, both of those issues have been corrected

[ryviusran]

Oct 27, 2013 21:51:48 GMT -5 Weasel said:

Honestly, this entire game is well worth the playthrough, but you won't lose a lot just from watching the videos except for maybe some random stumbling about. I know I was constantly referring to a "visual walkthrough" (actually an annotated print of the Divergence Map) to complete the main portion of the game.

Yet, somehow, I still didn't 100%-complete the game, so the hidden Sound Room remains locked to me.

You might have missed one part in the Divergence Map that can only be done if you've already completed the game.

[Trickless]

The 'Page 2' link on the contents table (both top and bottom of page) incorrectly links to the first page.

Also, on page www.hardcoregaming101.net/yuno/yuno2.htm, the write up of the OVA section is just a copy and paste of the Soundtracks & Audio Drama.

[ryviusran]

Oct 27, 2013 22:37:47 GMT -5 ryviusran said:

Oct 27, 2013 21:51:48 GMT -5 Weasel said:

Honestly, this entire game is well worth the playthrough, but you won't lose a lot just from watching the videos except for maybe some random stumbling about. I know I was constantly referring to a "visual walkthrough" (actually an annotated print of the Divergence Map) to complete the main portion of the game.

Yet, somehow, I still didn't 100%-complete the game, so the hidden Sound Room remains locked to me.

You might have missed one part in the Divergence Map that can only be done if you've already completed the game.

Nothing seems to be fixed.
It still says Takuya is a college student and the forum link is still dead.

[Snarboo]

It can take a while for a page to be updated, so be patient.

[Joseph Joestar]

Don't you know, all hentais take place at junior college.

[Discoalucard]

Yeah, the fixes were reflected (except on the "letter" page), just make sure your browser is refreshing the pages. Also made the other changes to re-add the text about the OVA.

[ryviusran]

I also wonder why in the article's character list they include minor character's like the Headmaster's grandmother but they do not include character's like Houjou and Takuya's father(Arima Koudai).

They also leave out a bunch of important characters in the Epilogue but those might spoil the plot too much so I understand why some of those could be left out.

[Tye The Czar]

Some random thoughts:
-The fanservice that the game throws in your face severely damages the drama at several points IMO. This is the worst in the Epilogue route.
-The music and time travel gameplay are undoubtedly the strongest points. Being able to take actions as the player instead of reading text of the MC's actions adds more weight to the story.
-I feel that Ayumi's route was the weakest main route. Highlight Spoilers: In it, it's obvious that Toyotomi is trying to manipulate Ayumi and destroy her career. There are so many warning flags that Takuya could have used to successfully end the route early on but NOOOOOOOOOOOO. He just spends the entire route acting like a moron and telling Ayumi "He's definitely a suspicious guy!" up until the bad ending after she commits suicide. Only THEN can you go back to the final branch and show the incriminating evidence for Toyotomi to get the good end.
-Mio's route was the high point in the regular routes. Her character was strong and proactive, there were more choices to consider and the puzzles were the most interesting.
-The epilogue felt like a step down from the main routes. Highlight Spoilers: There's no adventure-puzzle gameplay in sight, just choosing the right menu options at the right time. It felt as if you had little control over the story and Takuya, in most cases, was incompetent and made things worse. The most glaringly stupid parts were when he made a child with Sayless which set in motion the entire plot and freeing Ryuuzouji which got God Emperor Ayumi killed.
-Pursuing one girl's route over the other implied that they are all doomed to a life of misery or dead. Highlight Spoiler: Mio, Ayumi, and Kanna will end up dead, Mitsuki will always be Ryuuzouji's slave and I really don't know about what happens if Takuya doesn't get involved in Eriko's route. I'll admit, I was pretty spoiled by Katawa Shoujo's approach to pursuing one girl's route. In KS, Hisao getting involved in a route is the start of the conflict. Otherwise, they all go about their peaceful daily lives.

If someone were to ever start a remake of this game, I hope they recognize these flaws and make fixing them a top priority.

[ryviusran]

Feb 3, 2014 13:26:58 GMT -5 Tye The Czar said:

Some random thoughts:
-The fanservice that the game throws in your face severely damages the drama at several points IMO. This is the worst in the Epilogue route.
-The music and time travel gameplay are undoubtedly the strongest points. Being able to take actions as the player instead of reading text of the MC's actions adds more weight to the story.
-I feel that Ayumi's route was the weakest main route. Highlight Spoilers: In it, it's obvious that Toyotomi is trying to manipulate Ayumi and destroy her career. There are so many warning flags that Takuya could have used to successfully end the route early on but NOOOOOOOOOOOO. He just spends the entire route acting like a moron and telling Ayumi "He's definitely a suspicious guy!" up until the bad ending after she commits suicide. Only THEN can you go back to the final branch and show the incriminating evidence for Toyotomi to get the good end.
-Mio's route was the high point in the regular routes. Her character was strong and proactive, there were more choices to consider and the puzzles were the most interesting.
-The epilogue felt like a step down from the main routes. Highlight Spoilers: There's no adventure-puzzle gameplay in sight, just choosing the right menu options at the right time. It felt as if you had little control over the story and Takuya, in most cases, was incompetent and made things worse. The most glaringly stupid parts were when he made a child with Sayless which set in motion the entire plot and freeing Ryuuzouji which got God Emperor Ayumi killed.
-Pursuing one girl's route over the other implied that they are all doomed to a life of misery or dead. Highlight Spoiler: Mio, Ayumi, and Kanna will end up dead, Mitsuki will always be Ryuuzouji's slave and I really don't know about what happens if Takuya doesn't get involved in Eriko's route. I'll admit, I was pretty spoiled by Katawa Shoujo's approach to pursuing one girl's route. In KS, Hisao getting involved in a route is the start of the conflict. Otherwise, they all go about their peaceful daily lives.

If someone were to ever start a remake of this game, I hope they recognize these flaws and make fixing them a top priority.

I do agree that the game had too much fanservice.
I was bugged by the panty shots in almost every scene with a female.
The sex scenes were awkward but funny with all the puns.
Haven't really seen a game that did sex scenes properly anyway so I didn't expect anything from YU-NO for that.
The things that make YU-NO outstanding are music, plot cohesion and voice acting.
The music really helped improve the atmosphere of the game and the variety along with it's composition make it stand out.
The voice acting was top notch and helped bring color to the characters who (on the surface) are very stereotypical.
There were some faults with the plot but I have never encountered a game with such a complex plot where everything is interconnected.
Once you beat the game you can go back and look at earlier parts and realize just how much forethought was put into the story.

Speaking about beating the game, I finished beating it again a while back and recorded it all along with the extras.
If anyone is interested you can find the full video playlist here.
I also upscaled it to my screen resolution of 1920x1200 while leaving the aspect ratio intact.
It actually came out looking really good so if you decide to look at one of the videos try viewing it in "Original/1440p" mode on Youtube.
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpzgDjI4N-cT5ZA6njJo-d2u-bUXh8ST-


Also about your spoilers

SPOILER: Click to show

With Ayumi's route;
While you know Toyotomi is a jerk right from the beginning I find it hard to believe you figured out his plan at the start.
It's not even hinted at that he is working with Kaori until later in the route.
So I am not sure how Takuya could of convinced Ayumi that Toyotomi was using her especially with the state of mind that Ayumi was in.
Sure both of them were being stupid but people act like that all the time.

You were right that this game is more straight forward as it is necessary to go through all characters routes but I never really found a fault with that as long as the game held together well.
Usually too much freedom leads to chaos. 
I would have liked more puzzles in the game like the one with the sarcophagus.

Also I don't know what makes Takuya stupid with having a child with Sayless.
He had no clue what she really was at the time and, except for her, he was by himself for a few years full of frustration with trying to find a way back home.

You have to remember the mindset of the main character.
When Takuya let Ryuuzouji free he had no memory of what Ryuuzouji had done in previous events.
Ryuuzouji promised to tell Takuya where his daughter was if he set him free and Takuya was desperate.

When you mention all the character route endings you forget that there are good endings available for some of the characters but the main conflict of the game was not about those girls.
Those routes were just stepping stones.
Besides Takuya did not belong in any of those parallel worlds.

[lexyvil]

ryviusran
I'm so glad you made that longplay on youtube, I commented on them a while back. Not a lot of people know this game and it's sad how such of a hidden gem it is. It's also funny seeing you here as I stumbled on your videos first~

YU-NO is the best game I have ever played; I can't find any other graphical adventure game that is as grand as this in terms of good voice acting, good scripting and with a well thought out plot. The fan service may be too much at times, but is easily forgivable as the game has a good balance of seriousness in contrast to distraction. I'm glad that there's an article on here that commemorates the game as well as the writer and the composer (may they now rest in peace). It's sad that there's a 2016 remake of the game but seems to have a different approach on things with how the next generation developers do their things differently, but we all know of course the original will always stand out as being the best.

The English 2011 translation of the game really was a gem to come-by, as it took the original PC-98 game from 1996 and added the voices of the SEGA Saturn version to enhance the original experience. The 2011 translated version is surely the one I'd recommend everyone and still try to make others play it to this day.

If there's one thing I wish to see online is a "Blind Let's Play/Let's Watch" of this game on YouTube, to see people's reactions as they play through it, as well as making it a way of raising awareness of its existence as people who haven't played this yet are highly missing out.

For whoever's reading this, play it if you haven't yet~
As a fan of visual novels such as Steins;Gate and 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, I'll say this: if you're a sci-fi fan who loves the concept of parallel timelines/dimensions and any form of time travelling related plots, you won't regret playing this at all.


 

[darkblaze]

I know it is a bit old but to keep the news updated, a new version of Yu-No is coming out for PS4 and PS VITA by 5PB.Games, and so Hiroyuki Kanno legendary masterpiece continues to live.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgOuCOf19eQ

[lexyvil]

Apr 14, 2016 16:09:39 GMT -5 darkblaze said:

I know it is a bit old but to keep the news updated, a new version of Yu-No is coming out for PS4 and PS VITA by 5PB.Games, and so Hiroyuki Kanno legendary masterpiece continues to live.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgOuCOf19eQ

I hope they keep Ryu Umemoto's work in in terms of music.

And as far as the art goes, I'm not much of a big fan of the new character designs. The main site screams spoilers by showing late-game details.

Spoilers down below:

SPOILER: Click to show

Don't read further than this for it's spoilery content, I added the strikethrough feature to make it harder to read:
They even made Yu-No look more like an Elf (long pointy ears), making it more obvious that she's not human whereas the classic look is more subtle with short pointed ears which people could still mistake her as a normal human as it was intended by the development team.

[shinr]

So the remake was just released, what are the impressions over there?

If nothing else, I like the remixed music shown here (except for Sword Cape, the chorus ruins it IMO, and Yuki's theme, while not bad, is just a little bit too grandiose for him):