Thread 3828388

Finished both the first game and Tie just now and wanted to discuss it. Despite the first game being pretty bare bones gameplay wise and the second one being way too easy with how many ways to get overpowered, I genuinely loved these two games in a way I hadn't felt before in a long time. Great OST, girls are cute, themes of friendship done in a way that doesn't just feel like stale tropes, Tie in particular really was able to capture that feel of summer vacation coming to a close especially I got closer to the end of the game. Wish there was a future for this series but it seems like the mobile game was a gigaflop and Mel Kishida seems like he's moved on. Anyone else have thoughts?

Killed by gacha, couldn't have happened to a nicer series. Tie was the best one for sure.

Hinako canonically has stinky feet!

There's also an anime. But yeah the series is dead, RIP

>>3828436
The gacha should have just been another normal game entry. Especially since Tie has characters from it and directly references events in it as well and now it's EoS'd and there's no way to play it (though I heard the gameplay was even more simplified than even the first Blue Reflection and the story was half assed because they had to rush it to completion.) Shame because Shiho ended up being my favorite character in TIE but all her development is in the gacha.

>>3828691
This series suffered from trying to be a multimedia project when it really should have just been a series of games. The anime wasn't bad, but it didn't need to be 24 episodes with some of the cheapest looking animation that nowhere near captures Mel Kishida's style. Also no reason why Sun should have been a gacha with a male self insert protag when the appeal of the series is about the friendship between girls, turning it into some military style harem try and ape the style of Azur Lane/GFL just doesn't work for this series.

>>3828388 (OP)
I would love to play another game like Tie, even just a vn, its atmosphere and feeling are really good. Also great ost
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKCbWX_jnmQ&list=PLEKvUmoaoj_a_aA3Iy4LUSnLTpx6OmceB&index=11&ab_channel=complex7727

>>3829053
what a way to ruin this series, by turning it into haremshit

I just play it for the legs

I probably haven't gone two days without thinking about this game since 2017. Never got into the sequel though.

>>3829647
Based girl fetishist. The second game is definitely an improvement on the gameplay aspect but it does lose a little bit of mundane slice of life charm from it not taking place in the real world

>>3828388 (OP)
>a nipple poking out
pls make a 3D eroge , nippons!

>>3829647
i need to cum too.

>>3828548
And that's a good thing!

>>3829452
For me, it's the first game's battle theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na5QeYzIf1k
>mfw Hinako joins the party in Tie
>mfw Overdose actually starts playing before her first fight
>tfw it doesn't actually become a regular battle theme

>>3829846
The lore seems like it got bloated too. The battle system unfortunately never grabbed me either.

>>3830578
The lore isn't that difficult to follow, the timeline is pretty straightforward but yeah going into Tie not realizing that it references the manga and gacha can be annoying, even though you don't really need to experience either to enjoy it. The battle system is pretty much Atelier lite which is fine for what it is. I do actually like the 1v1 system with counters and dodges and really wish it was implemented into the base system better.

>tfw Japan got this as a preorder bonus
Rena's dyke feet and bubble butt...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeGxT5_wZwo

This guy is slowly translating every cutscene from the dead gacha, including all events and main story. Not sure how he's getting all the scenes but it's neat that it's happening since I doubt there's any chance of it coming back. Ideally I'd like for them to release an offline version as a standalone game with real gameplay but that's just a dream at this point. Plus I'd rather they change up the story entirely and remove the random male self insert character who isn't even voiced yet for whatever reason is far more integral to the story that he should be.

A Blue Reflection thread on vrpg? Cool. I like the Blue Reflection games especially Blue Reflection: Second Light, they aren't games for everyone and the fact that they only have Japanese voices is in itself something that will keep some people away, but if one doesn't have a problem with the lack of English voices unlike other games published by the same company, they can be games worth playing.

On another note, I'm kind of surprised by the fact that there's little fan art of Hinako's underwear, we see her lingerie at least once in the game and if one considers the optional scenes, we see her underwear several times throughout the game but even though Blue Reflection offers variety in underwear and what the girls wear looks detailed (it looks better than the underwear in other games such as Omega Quintet), the fan art doesn't involve the undies of the girls.

Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian will be released next month and after that there will be DX versions of the Ryza games...a third Blue Reflection game for consoles and PC...maybe sometime next year but that's only if they are making something behind the scenes, which I really doubt.

>>3832813
>I'm kind of surprised by the fact that there's little fan art of Hinako's underwear
Unfortunate nature of BR being a relatively niche series which means little fanart. Luckily we have official art for that.
>a third Blue Reflection game
IIRC I remember reading a while ago that Kishida Mel is satisfied with how Tie ended which sounds like he's moving on from the series. It'd be up to Gust themselves whether or not they'd wanna do something else with the series but since both the anime and gacha flopped and Tie only sold... ok, I don't think that's going to happen.

>>3833068
Actually, I would say that there is some Blue Reflection fanart, I don't really think that there's litle fanart, it has more fanart that Nights of Azure and Death end re;Quest, which is saying something, these are some random examples of fanart that are safe for work.

That part of Mel saying that he's satisfied with how Blue Reflection: Second Light ended is interesting, but yeah, I don't think that we'll get a third game specifically for consoles and PC.

>>3833068
It's true that there is official art where we see the underwear of one of the girls, but fan art that shows Hinako's underwear and especially what the other characters wear, is very rare. As far as I know, these are the only instances of Hinako's trademark panties, other images show plain white panties. As you probably know, or at least as you can imagine, the full images are not safe for work.

Hinako sexo

I always had a passing interest in the series, and I did want to get into it for a time, but then the gacha with the male protag happened and basically nuked any interest I had. Is it still worth it at all? Can I basically pretend that that gacha never happened and just consume the rest of the material without feeling like I'm missing anything?

I hate haremfags stepping in and ruining yuri vibes so fucking much it's unreal.

>>3828388 (OP)
I've been interested in this due to the weird battle system and battle music being very niche and resembling C*ligula, (besides being from the same period, about seven years ago) but the yuri fanbase (the game probably doesn't even cater to them) stopped me from giving it my time. Did it heal with the blond self-insert harem protagonist? Was there anything to fix in the first place?

>>3834575
The gacha game is dead and doesn't matter anymore, because of that people in the west will miss bits of story or lore but I think that it's still worth it, at least the console games and especially the sequel are worth playing.
>>3834594
Well, the first game has Shihori Sugamoto and then the sequel and anime go beyond just teasing, it wouldn't be correct to say that the franchise doesn't even cater to people who like yuri. Blue Reflection: Second Light, Blue Reflection Ray and Blue Reflection Sun were all originally announced/revealed at the same time, so, I don't think that, regardless of the reception of Blue Reflection: Second Light and its characters (it was well received), the game ''fixed'' anything. It was only the first game and then everything was announced at the same time.

>>3834594
>the game probably doesn't even cater to them
>he doesn't know
OHNONONONONONONONONO

If Shiho has a million fans, then I am one of them. If Shiho has ten fans, then I am one of them. If Shiho has only one fan then that is me. If Shiho has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against Shiho, then I am against the world.

Seriously though I played this game recently too and I absolutely loved it. Not perfect by any means but the themes, music, designs, and battle system were all great. idk what possessed them to do a gacha when this game has such a niche audience, I just hope it didn't kill the chance of a sequel

>>3834594
>yuri fanbase (the game probably doesn't even cater to them
There's explicit romance between two characters and multiple girls are in love with Ao.

Dumping my favorite screenshots from when I played the game

Also I couldn't find a high quality version of this image so I made an upscaled one

>>3837300
This shot actually spooked me in game with the slow camera zoom and all of a sudden Ao's face turns at your and make this expression

Just posting Sarasa's cleavage. A girl who still dances ballet.

Blue Reflection 2 is a lot more fun on Ao Must Die difficulty. I didn't realize status ailments were so powerful when playing on normal, since I never felt any need to mitigate incoming damage and everything died too quickly to bother with much of anything beyond heavy-hitting attacks and the occasional "daijoubu desu ka!?" from Shiho.

It's a shame the two higher difficulty settings are locked behind clearing the game once for some reason, and that the first game never received anything similar. I don't know why Gust seems to struggle so much with balancing things in general; it has been a recurring issue with a lot of their games.

>>3839068
Ako's the better redhead

>>3839379
She has funny scenes but has a small chest unlike Sarasa, do you still consider her the best redhead in the first game?

>>3839635
>She has funny scenes but has a small chest
I prefer the small chest over whatever the hell is going on with Sarasa's hair. Like what the hell are those bangs

>>3840024
I like her long red hair but I can't deny that not everyone will like it, with those bangs and how long it is. Ako has short hair especially compared to Sarasa and that's something some people may prefer.

https://x.com/commushows/status/1962172118336217397?t=AOzRj8Q2Gv0cCVhmU4aZCg&s=19
Have a Shiho commission.

>>3840930
>The visible areola

AWOOOOOOGA MAMACITA HUMINA HUMINA HUMINA HUMINA BARK BARK BARK BARK

>>3840930
Nice art.

>>3841065
Understandable reaction to Shiho

>>3842047
lol

br4 went?

>>3842717
Not gonna happen.

I really liked the non-party characters in Blue Reflection 2. I enjoyed BR1 slightly better overall, but some of the side-characters in it were really forgettable.

>>3843021
I do wish Uta was playable at least as the designated "reformed villain joins the party character". Plus she holds her sword backwards like a chuuni which would have been a nice bookend with Ao also being a chuuni.

>>3843520
I never watched Ray, so Uta, Hiori and Mio were all new to me. It did sort of feel like Uta should have been more significant in some way, though. She gets singled out as an anomaly along with Ao, and a big deal is made about the capabilities she used to have, but in the end she doesn't really do much.

>Kokoro is fat fuck.
>Kokoro is so fat she eats demons.
>Imagine being so fat you look at demons and see food.

>>3843739
She was one of the antagonists in both Ray and Sun iirc she actually ends up being the final villain in Sun which is why Shiho and Kirara know her as well. It really does feel like the later parts of the game were lower budget since they reused some of the backgrounds assets of her Heartscape and Yuki's (granted there's story justification for it but still its the same areas just colored differently) and while Mio's reasoning for why she's support only makes sense, it kinda feels like Kirara and Uta were made unplayable just because they didn't have time more money to do so.

There's something about Uta's eyes I find really appealing.

>>3844468
I always forget that Sun was even a thing that existed. That might help explain why Shiho felt kind of underdeveloped if she was technically a returning character. I'm not really sure why they felt a fairly niche game was a good foundation from which to launch a multimedia franchise.

>it really does feel like the later parts of the game were lower budget
Yeah, I felt the same way, due to the re-used assets and the kind of pointless "time to backtrack to every heartscape and re-fight a boss" section near the end.

I didn't notice until now just how many things appear in the classrooms over the course of the game, like a bunch of miniaturized versions of facilities and Yuzu and Lime's weapons.

I'm pretty close to finishing BR2 on the highest difficulty now. Unsurprisingly, it eventually ended up becoming fairly easy again, but it was reasonably challenging for a good chunk of the game. On normal difficulty, I could scarcely even tell what individual characters were good at, since absolutely everything seemed extremely effective.

>>3844476
Yeah both Shiho and Kirara were pretty important in Sun which is why they brought them back but Shiho in particular had pretty much all of her development done with the MC and Yu (picrel, kinda odd that she gets no reference at all in TIE despite being important as well. Even the male MC gets a passing mention from Shiho). The backstory with Hinako felt slightly forced desu, like they needed a reason to bring both of them back but couldn't think of anything other than saying she just happened to also know the protag of the first game. Hinako also spontaneously taking the two of them on a train ride out to a random city also seemed a bit out of character but maybe pre-injury Hinako was like that

Don't mind me, Rena, I'm just pirating this Yuki.

>>3845181
>Hinako also spontaneously taking the two of them on a train ride out to a random city also seemed a bit out of character but maybe pre-injury Hinako was like that
It felt a little off to me as well. Actually, it kind of seemed like a lot of the stated connections between the characters were sort of tenuous. Kokoro and Shiho's childhood friendship never gets mentioned again after Kokoro's heartscape, and Kirara and Hiori are basically brought in with an "oh yeah, I used to know this one girl" explanation that never really gets expanded upon.

>>3834575
>Is it still worth it at all?
Tie is worth playing and Ray is a good anime in its own right. Its just has 2008 level TV animation.

>>3845357
Sex with Rena until she gives up her dykeish ways

Anyone else felt the vibe of Wonder Egg Priority and pic related from Blue Reflection?

Also how much did I fuck up by starting first with the 2nd game? I think the first chapters would be more mysterious without having playing the first one. Have heard the fanservice in that one is better despite the game being barebones.

>>3846092
>Also how much did I fuck up by starting first with the 2nd game? I think the first chapters would be more mysterious without having playing the first one.
Playing the first game actually doesn't do much to explain what's happening at the beginning of 2. I don't think playing through 2 actually spoils all that much about 1 either, for that matter, since the storyline synopsis given in 2 is really brief, and BR1 is more about Hinako's development than the sephira.

>>3834575
I literally learned it had a gatcha just today. Don't see how that affects anything.

>>3846092
I've never watched Wonder Egg but Wixoss S1 is one of my favorite anime. I agree, definitely the same type of artstyle going on, with a lot of drab/washed out backgrounds and the OST being melodic that becomes high tempo when things get intense while the main characters are all colorful themselves to contrast with darker surroundings. Both of them are really good at capturing the feel of melancholy.

BR2 I'd probably say is closer to Digimon Adventure 01 of all things. They both have the same feel of a group of friends exploring a whimsical world of mystery just from a chance summer vacation encounter. While I do prefer the feel of BR1 more, BR2's ending still hit me pretty hard especially as it gets closer to the end and everyone starts talking about the possibility of never meeting again or even knowing each other in the new world

That Blue Reflection thread reached the bump limit, cool, it doesn't mean anything when it comes to a new game but it was the first Blue Reflection thread in a long time to get 500+ posts.

>>3842717
gacha killed the franchise

Convinced to try out BR1 too because of the redhead I am seeing.

Is she acquired early on in the story?

>>3846685
If you're talking about Sarasa in BR1: she's introduced very early and is a major character the protagonist can hang out with, but not a party member (aside from being a support character during boss battles, anyway.) There's also Ako in BR1 who is another redhead support character, but I don't think anyone has been posting her. If you're familiar with the modern Persona games, think of them as social link characters.

On the off chance that you got the games mixed up, Rena in BR2 is one of the initial party members.

The two redheads in the first game.

Sarasa has long hair and a medium or average chest (at least), Ako has short hair and a small chest. Their personalities are different.

>>3849928
Shiho...

>>3850174
>Shiho_stands_next_to_all_her_friends.jpg

Happy 8th anniversary of Blue Reflection...its release in America at least.
>>3850215
>>3850174
Haha, yeah, that scene created with the photo mode could be just another night in Oasis. One of those monsters finds the place and is outside, Rena looks surprised, Yuki is on top of that monster, Kokoro is about to shoot it, Ao and Kirara look from inside the building, Yuzu and Lime are just there watching while Hinako spies on them from the bushes, Mio is touching one of Hiori's breasts and Uta is surprised/shocked by it...and Shiho is just...there...yeah, it could be just another night, the only things that are out of character or out of place even considering their personalities are Hinako spying on those two from the bushes and *maybe* Mio grabbing one of Hiori's breasts, everything else is ''yeah, something like that''.

BR Hinako >>>>>>>> Silent Hill Hinako

>>3850764
It's not fair (or at least easy) to compare them because they are very different characters in very different games, Blue Reflection is an RPG that takes place in the modern era (definitely 2016-2021 at the latest) and Silent Hill f is a horror game that takes place in the 60s...they have the same name, both have short hair, both are high school students, both are female protagonists...and that's it I think, the games are very different and of course, they have different personalities.

I say all this as someone who doesn't plan to play Silent Hill f.

>>3846305
no
the shit sequel, anime and gacha killed it

>>3852001
>the shit sequel
If you actually think BR1 is better than Tie then you're unhinged

>>3834594
>Did it heal with the blond self-insert harem protagonist?

it dies because of him

>>3834594
>Did it heal with the blond self-insert harem protagonist?

Rin.

>>3859837
She's the character I cared about the least. I usually can't even remember her name, and just think of her as "tennis girl."

>>3860306
I like Rin, but I understand if someone doesn't have her as a favorite girl or anything, speaking personally, she may not be my favorite character...I still like her as a character at least, even if there are characters that may be even better.

>>3862323
Out of the side characters in the first game, I mostly liked Kei and Yuri.

>>3854763
I think BR2 is the better game overall, but there are some things BR1 does better, and I can see why someone would rank them differently. I'm somewhat more fond of BR1, even though I think it has more significant flaws than the sequel.

Happy 4th anniversary BR2!

>>3863312
In Japan, in the west it was released on November 9. Still, happy 4th anniversary!

>>3863974
That official art was already posted above (>>3846280). Here's something new.

>>3864026
I apologize, I haven't checked

>>3864060
No problem, it's okay.

Damn, I cleared my cache and forgot I hid this thread months ago. True autistic dedication keeping it alive for no purpose.

>>3865807
Whoever's doing it also started making /v/ threads to spam images there too

>>3866085
None of the 3 recent threads were made by me, someone else has made them and it may not be just one person.

Happy Halloween.

>>3867322
Very cute!

What battle group did people prefer using in Tie? I switched things around pretty frequently, but I most often went with Shiho, Hinako, and Hiori on the front line with Ao in the support slot.

>>3867511
Usually, Shiho, Ao and rena, with Hinako as support, if not, then Hinako, Ao and Rena with Shiho in the support slot, I always have Ao in the party and I don't use Kokoro if it's possible.

>>3864564
Does Rena not notice that Kokoro just put her fat tits right in her girlfriend's face

>>3867857
She's not looking at Kokoro, I don't think she noticed.

>>3867661
Rena was definitely my least-favorite character mechanically. I don't think any party member in the game is weak, and that one knockdown attack she has is ridiculous, but I just wasn't that fond of her skillset as a whole.

I grew a lot more fond of Kokoro on the highest unlockable difficulty, since her status ailment spam is incredibly debilitating, and that actually matters when the enemies aren't harmless punching bags.

>>3867511
Shiho (easily the most useful unit by far, best heals, ether speed increases, still did good damage, thong pantyshot every time she did the last hit of a battle), Hinako (Averse Belier is easily the single most busted attack in the game), and Rena (insta knockdown for free Infight and knockdown buffs for everyone)

>>3867511
Ao, Rena and Kokoro, with Shiho on support
Mostly chose this setup because it didn't rofl-stomp enemies too much while still being fun. Only brought out Shiho when things got too difficult since she can single-handedly fight just about anything

>>3868009
One too many belts there.

>>3868009
>>3868020
I'm not surprised to see Shiho listed by everyone. Being the only particularly good healer in addition to having respectable support and offensive abilities really does put her in a tier of her own. Getting her was a huge relief on Ao Must Die difficulty. Actually, the first section of the game is kind of tedious on the highest difficulty, and I recommend playing on Hard until you get through the first area and unlock Shiho and fragments, on the off chance that anyone is thinking about replaying the game. The first boss in particular devolved to spending 90% of my time eating sandwiches because it hits so hard and Rena's healing isn't even worth spending a turn using. I could only really mount much of an offense while Kokoro had it blinded.

>>3839150
>It's a shame the two higher difficulty settings are locked behind clearing the game once for some reason
I've yet to play the game, but it's good to know that those exist
Now I'm wondering if there's any reason unlocking them from the start via CE wouldn't work

>>3868961
I imagine it's possible, though I'm not proficient enough with CE to do that. Finding some sort of system/save data to download would likely be simpler.

>>3828388 (OP)
Can't wait to pick these up on sale

Are both Ar Tornelico games written by the same person as BR2?

The thread got active recently, nice.

Anyway, from a recent thread, Chihiro's grown-up underwear.

>>3869153
The lead writers were different, but Tsuchiya Akira worked on both.

>>3869269
I see thanks, might try it anyways now that I've downloaded it

Fumio Taya.