Gahkthun: Nikola Tesla fanfic (Liarsoft thread, no spoil)

[Mellon]

I am kinda on the opposite front actually.

I didn't like the ending. Maybe its because I really haven't read the rest of the Liarsoft saga and whatnot, but I felt that the entire last chapter (including the "grand twist") was so asspully that it was insane. I won't get into the specific details here, but I felt that it was severely lacking in clarity and cohesiveness for a game that has a bloody encyclopaedia in it.

Mild Spoilers

The entire final "boss" was so horribly defined, with zero actual proper buildup and explanation for anything he did (or what he properly was for that matter). They could have done a lot more to flesh out the entire overall narrative surrounding him and make the readers actually invested in taking him down. As it was, he was basically some sort of prop carted out purely for the purposes of having a finale, nothing more.

The fights were... bad and mainly composed of Tesla just beating the shit out of everyone while endlessly monologuing them about their failures. They are over the top, but not in a fun silly way like Fortissimo, but more in a "our character does what he feels like" kind of over the top, where Tesla just perfectly counters everyone without ever being even remotely threatened by anything they do.

Tesla actually kind of reminds me of Tatsuya from Mahouka in that respect, really. A nonsensically overpowered character, who you need to routinely de-power to maintain any sort of tension in the fights themselves.

However, I did really like the side-characters and the way they built the character relationship between Neon and Tesla. The art was great and the soundtrack was okay. Neither did it really drag on, something which I typically find somewhat of a problem in these episodic-type stories. However, the porn was incredibly hamfisted and this is one of those VN's which I think would be significantly improved with the removal of the porn scenes.

So in general, I liked Gahkthun. It was very flawed (for me personally), but I still liked it. Which says a lot about how well the character interactions were done. Hopefully the fandisc will be more of that and less of... everything else.

[RacingeR]

In general most of the series battles tend to be not very good. They're kinda hype the first few times, but then you notice that it is the same battle repeated over and over again. Sekien no Inganock basically had the same pharagraphs going on again and again on every battle, for example.

[Watarani]

Sakurai in general uses repetition a lot. I like her writing, but at the same time her writing is overrated imo. Sentences are often too short, so they won't give you goosebumps like they are supposed to.

But if you want to explore Sakurai's steampunk then I recommend Shiei no Sona-Nyl, by far her best work.

[Spinach]

How many times is this god damn VN going to introduce Nightingale's greenhouse word for word?

[Five_X]

How many times is this god damn VN going to introduce Nightingale's greenhouse word for word?

Every chapter until you like it.

[RacingeR]

And Gahkthun's text doesn't even repeat itself as much as Inganock's does.

[Tobias]

so how is this game

[Five_X]

I finished it in, I think, under 30 hours? I went 15 hours straight for a day, though, and I think I covered 60% of the VN or so in that time. It's nowhere near as long as a juggernaut like F/SN.

[Tobias]

Epic fights? Cute waifus? Titillating fanservice? engaging story?

how is it

[Tobias]

Saw that posts earlier, was scared to read it since large reviews like that tend to have incidental spoilers even if they weren't intended too. Guess I'll risk it

[Five_X]

Oh, derp, I thought you asked about how long it was. My mind, she sees phantoms!

The fights aren't bad, but how good they are depends on your taste. In general I think I prefer the fights from F/SN (at least as I remember them, more than half a decade later), but at the same time the fights in Gahkthun are nothing but great if you're fond of old school fights from stuff like Power Rangers and Dragonball Z. There's a lot of posturing and catch phrases and super abilities and all that, which can either come across as over the top or cool and endearing.

On that mention of endearing, there are lots of waifus, chief among them being Neon herself, the main character. She is fantastic and adorable and worth reading the story for. And, personally, she ticks all my boxes so I can't help but love her to bits; she's just a great, well-written character, both interesting and endearing.

There's definitely fanservice, I mean, this is an eroge after all! The naughty art is drawn well, and the story gives you fanservice in drips and drops so that if you're actually reading it for T&A alone, you'll get what you want most of the time, though certainly not all of the time.

The story is completely driven by the characters, mainly by Neon and Tesla, but also by the side characters, too. The plot itself, so to speak, isn't fantastically complex or groundbreaking, but the interaction between characters is very good. They come to life as properly written, thought-out characters, rather than a smattering of popular anime archetypes; most of them also get some backstory or extra detailing to round it out, and they certainly aren't forgotten by the end of the story in favour of the main pair. On the other hand, some of the twists and revelations regarding some characters are on the predictable side, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, it doesn't take away from the story since it's not like the plot is worthy of being True Literature or anything. Basically, there's a plot and a storyline, but it's almost in the background of character interaction and stuff that drives everything forward, chapter by chapter.

If you want to know the plain answer to "how is it," then the answer is "good."

[Mcjon01]

I don't play VNs but I do watch opening movies and does anything like this happen in the original game?

Gahkthun Fandisk OP

[Arha]

Epic fights? Cute waifus? Titillating fanservice? engaging story?

how is it

Repetitive, kind of goofy over the top fights. Cute waifus, though the best one is a catgirl that doesn't get much focus. Lots of fanservice from swimsuits to the main character frequently being dressed like a maid. As far as engaging story goes, it's not noticeably better or worse than other Liarsoft works, if you've read those. They tend to be repetitive and padded as an apparent stylistic choice.

It was okay, but irritated me personally for other reasons so I stopped reading. Nobody else seems to mind though.

[Nephirin]

In general most of the series battles tend to be not very good. They're kinda hype the first few times, but then you notice that it is the same battle repeated over and over again. Sekien no Inganock basically had the same pharagraphs going on again and again on every battle, for example.

Oh man, Inganock's fights were depressing. The first one was hype, the second one was "Okay, so there's some repetition thing going on here," and every one after that was, "Stylized repetition does not excuse you from being boring." Even the very last fight in that one only changes it by making him have to attack a second time instead of just once. -_-

[Petrikow]

I3uster the literal vn terrorist wont read ch4 so now i cant continue

fuck me

[Five_X]

What the fuck, Buster.