Novel Not New

The sun sets on this period of Novel Not New, just as it does on the Bakumatsu Period and its defenders the Shinsengumi. A doomed romance either from 153 years ago or, strangely, perhaps 4 years ago as we tie up the last loose end on this show. After covering the first game in this two-part remake on our 10th episode, let our 42nd close the tale on this samurai otome. We'll see you on Scanline Media, I hope.

A good mystery is like a good croissant: I bet it's been a while since Kotaro Uchikoshi has made either. Heyoooo! Jen and Six are joined by former cohost Olivia and special guest Kim to tackle the sequel to AI: The Somnium Files, and the latest game by the creator of the Zero Escape series. It's time to dive into the minds of suspects to determine the TRUTH behind the Half-Body Killings. And also get very exasperated, because this is not the sequel that Jen, Olivia, and Kim were hoping for. (Six never played the first.)

Stories don't always have to end to be over. Though the dream of a Shenmue 4 remains alive in the minds of a few, the reception of 3 made that more unlikely than ever. The Shenmue series is very near and dear to us- we're late converts but our faith is strong. In an effort to tell all of y'all what makes the series so special, we're joined by Kyrie Page (@KyrieAPage) from Scanline Media (like us!) to go through the series. The groundbreaking Shenmue 1. The astonishing, peerless Shenmue 2. And finally, Shenmue 3. Which wasn't… QUITE what we were hoping for.This Month's Game!Shenmue IIINext Month's Game!AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative

We came, we saw, we killed chaos. A bit outside of our normal wheelhouse, but with just Jen and Six at the reins we're gonna make some wild choices. We're here to tell the story of Jack Unknownlastname with Jackson (@headfallsoff) from Abnormal Mapping and Ryan (@BluestRose430) from The Safe Room. What happens when Team Ninja makes a Final Fantasy? It's… actually… really good? Huh.This Month's Game!Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy OriginNext Month's Game!Shenmue IIIYou can find Jen, Kyrie, and Six's podcasts about Shenmue 1 and 2 on any podcatcher on the Scanline Talks podcast feed, and here are links to the episodes for Shenmue 1 and Shenmue 2 respectively.

The boys are back in town. The boys are still in town? We're heading down to Fake New York to time travel, fight crime, and get a boyfriend. Sorry, that's a lot, isn't it? To be fair, so is BUSTAFELLOWS, which they write in all caps every time so I'm pretty sure I have to as well. It's otome game time again here on Novel Not New, along with time for some announcements, happy and sad. Mostly sad.This Month's Game!BUSTAFELLOWSNext Month's Game!Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

I bet it's been Ages since you thought about this one, huh? Myst was an unlikely explosion of popularity, a strange point-and-click puzzler that surged to being the best selling game of all time. How do you follow a game like that up, with as unexpectedly huge as it became? Is it as simple as just finding more strange places to click around? And does the team at Cyan Worlds realize what a bad person Atrus is? Lots of questions. We'll do our best to answer them.This Month's Game!Riven - The Sequel to MystNext Month's Game!BUSTAFELLOWS

It's Teen Time again as the NNN crew heads to Edwards Island for a night on the beach. A momentary distraction with paranormal radio signals goes wrong, and suddenly we're dealing with ghosts and stuff. That sounds bad, right? No, trust me, it's vastly preferable to spending any more time with Ren. This Month's Game! Oxenfree Next Month's Game! Riven: The Sequel to Myst

Another entry in the desperately underserved genre of roadtrip RPGs! What happens when you put three (maybe four, hard to tell) queers in a car on their way to slay an ancient evil? Well, unfortunately, you get the first game in Novel Not New's history that we decided not to finish. We've got a lot to say about this game, and it's not particularly positive. You can stay out of the car, it's ok.This Month's Game!Get in the Car, Loser!Next Month's Game!Oxenfree

What happens when you make a career out of pretending something exists, and then just as you're about to quit you find out it really does? Apparently you get real close to a gayst (a gay ghost), or least that's Madison's reaction in Heart of the Woods, a fantasy yuri VN. There are some definite things to like here, but we end up more middling on it than excited. This Month's Game! Heart of the Woods Next Month's Game! Get in the Car, Loser!

You don't need an apocalypse for life to be miserable. Four Horsemen tackles the bigotry, hate, and oppression that immigrants face, all with a punk aesthetic and rebellious spirit. Unfortunately, our time with it left us frustrated with mechanical opaqueness, inconsistent theming, messages we couldn't agree with, and more. We're glad they tried, but they really didn't nail it.This Month's Game!Four HorsemenNext Month's Game!Heart of the Woods

We've solved murders before on this show. And we've certainly caused some. But can you DERAIL a murder investigation? This is the task set to us in Overboard, as we try to get away with the murder of our truly dreadful husband. But getting away with murder is easy. Doing it with no loose ends is the real trick. This Month's Game! Overboard Next Month's Game! Four Horsemen

As Great Ace Attorney finally hits Western territories, the Novelists turn their gaze to the last release in the series. By the time of Ace Attorney 6, the series had become a digital-only series with little fanfare, but the writing might be more ambitious than ever. We're not just in "America" anymore, we're doing some globe trotting to the fictional country of Khurain and its supernatural court system. Twists and turn(about)s abound in this legal adventure! This Month's Game! Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice Next Month's Game! Overboard

Even in death, you can't escape your commute. Jen, Olivia, and Six embrace the vampire life as a young kindred courier fully out of their depth in a game of grand undead politics. The Inquisition, dark magic, an angry elder vampire... it may seem like a lot, but don't worry. You could always just turn invisible.This Month's Game!Vampire: The Masquerade — Night RoadNext Month's Game!Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Spirit of Justice

This is the podcast room where it happens. We have a country to run. Now, running the country? That's easy. Just be a big socialist. But dealing with all the people that those decisions make mad? Well, that's a different matter.... This Month's Game! Suzerain Next Month's Game! Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road

Folks, a chatbot is not an adequate solution for mental health. Eliza is a game that goes "of course it's not. We all know that. But. I mean it KIND of is, right?" Jen, Olivia, and Six shake their head at a game that thinks it's talking about counseling, but is really just about Silicon Valley and gig work. This Month's Game! Eliza Next Month's Game! Suzerain

2021 on Novel Not New starts with murder most foul. ...Quite a few murders, actually. And a few accidents. And illness. Monsters? Jen, Olivia, and Six explore the derelict Obra Dinn, and discover that the ship has seen more than its share of bad times. This Month's Game! Return of the Obra Dinn Next Month's Game! Eliza

Mom's dead, explore. It's time to follow in the footsteps of your deceased mother and travel the world talking people into trading with you... through CARDS! Jen, Olivia, and Six tackle this ambitious but clumsy conversation game. This Month's Game! Signs of the Sojourner Next Month's Game! Return of the Obra Dinn

It's time to solve a murder... your own?! Hang out with Jen, Olivia, Six, and the world's nicest ghost dog as we check out Ghost TrickThis Month's Game! Ghost Trick: Phantom DetectiveNext Month's Game! Signs of the Sojourner

We're frankly exhausted with big visual novels. Let's take a break, and check out three itch.io gems! Let's think about identity, death, and the beach. It'll be chill.This Month's Games! Last Day of Spring Wide Ocean, Big Jacket A Mortician's TaleNext Month's Game! Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Every time Steam decides to change its policy on visual novels or adult games, one game in particular always comes up. The first adult game on Steam, the yuri visual novel Kindred Spirits on the Roof. Jen and Olivia play this game to learn more about the title that's become central to a debate on what the Steam marketplace should be, and find a deeply flawed and sometimes upsetting game about underage relationships.This Month's Game! Kindred Spirits on the RoofNext Month's Games! Wide Ocean, Big Jacket, A Mortician's Tale, and Last Day of Spring!

For our second ever adventure game on the show, Jen, Olivia, and Six ride the last voyage of the Orient Express on the eve of World War 1. A friend is killed, gun smuggling is afoot, and there's a... robot bird? Hmm. Not all as it seems aboard this train.This Month's Game! The Last ExpressNext Month's Game! Kindred Spirits on the Roof

It can be a little hard to focus on finding the boy of your dreams when there are serial killings going on, you're hiding your identity, and it's POSSIBLE all of existence is a dreamlike hellscape where it's literally impossible to be happy for long... but we do our best in this surreal otome game!This Month's Game! Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk Next Month's Game! The Last Express

New cohost Olivia joins us for a trip around the world! What mysteries await us in this steampunk reimagining of Jules Verne's classic? Automata and empires stand between us and making around the world in 80 days or less!This Month's Game! 80 DaysNext Month's Game! Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk

The podcast, long divided, must unite. Jen and Six meet up for a fantasy fish out of water story with more than a hint of sexual tension. Maybe it's better for hentai developers to just make hentai, than to dance around the issue? Dizzy Hearts claims to issue in the "Year of the Elf." Let's see how true that is.CW: Sexual content, a little discussion of an abusive relationship between a mother and daughter.This Month's Game! Dizzy HeartsNext Month's Game! 80 Days

We’re back with the first game of a new era, an era when we can click on things and solve puzzles in addition to just reading games. Join us as we explore the strange new world of magic and the afterlife with WadjetEye’s adventure game/bioware style RPG with Unavowed!This Month's Game!UnavowedNext Month's Game!80 DaysYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

After many months off we return with one of the longest games we’ve covered, and boy are our arms tired. What does it mean when a game has all the stories in it? Does live action convey anything special to narrative past charm at some hokey acting? Can glossary text single-handedly save a game? All this and more as we spiral out from diet drink scams to world-ending virus conspiracies as we scramble through the twisting paths of this massive, complicated game!This Month's Game!428: Shibuya ScrambleNext Month's Game!UnavowedYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

It’s time to die and time to not let that stop us as we explore the tangled web of intrigue in this small narrative RPG Maker mystery. Do novel character-hopping abilities make up for the rough seas of buggy games, or is this one particular love boat run aground? The winds blow both ways this month. Boat puns!This Month's Game!Why Am I Dead at Sea?Next Month's Game!428: Shibuya ScrambleYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

We go into the distant past of the 1980s to explore the very origins of both Japanese adventure games and visual novels with Yuji Horii’s incredibly influential Portopia Serial Murder Case. From Phoenix Wright to Metal Gear, so much of gaming started with this one quiet murder and the exploration along the waterfront. Join us for a surprisingly accessible trip down memory lane.This Month's Game!Portopia Serial Murder CaseNext Month's Game!Why Am I Dead at Sea?You can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

We’re back with one of our longest, most involved episodes yet as we take a look at the (in)famous Ladykiller in a Bind. What is it like to play a death game with no death? Just how much can you get away with being nice when you have to play an asshole? And really, what is UP with the Swimmer, geez?? All this and more as we talk over this surprising visual novel.Also, we have an announcement about the future of the podcast (I promose it’s not too bad! We get right into it so feel free to check that out)CW: Obviously explicit talk of sex in this one, including some brief mentions of non-consensual situations towards the end of the episode.This Month's Game!Ladykiller in a BindNext Month's Game!Portopia Serial Murder CaseYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

We return, Reader, to the mystic Rites once again, for tales of corrupted saves and questionable sacrifice as we explore the strange lands of Supergiant’s third game, Pyre. Join us as we travel to purgatory and back in our quest to answer once and for all: can magic basketball be a visual novel?This Month's Game!PyreNext Month's Game!Ladykiller in a BindYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

We finish up the year with a tale of cold winds and warm hearts as we nestle up to a burly lady with Rose of Winter! Adventures in size play, vore, time travel, gender reversals, and more as we explore dangerous fantasy worlds and lighthearted romantic trysts. And all of it while we suffer the worst song loops possible. Thank you everyone for your support and see you in the new year!This Month's Game!Rose of WinterNext Month's Game!PyreYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

We’re back for a trek underground to a train filled with robots and aspirations for a better tomorrow. Come with us as we explore short fiction in games, the right way to do developer commentary, and whether it matters or not if choice matters. Workers, rise up! Gamers, rise up!This Month's Game!Subsurface CircularNext Month's Game!Rose of WinterYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

Jen and Six have a duo adventure as we travel back to ancient times when swords were sharp and the men were sharper. Dating, demons, and daimyo politics abound as we stretch the concept of what can be played in a month to its limit with Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds.This Month's Game!Hakuoki: Kyoto WindsNext Month's Game!Subsurface CircularYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

We take a look back to the grimy times of the 70s as we follow one man on his years-long quest to find a good place to stay and people to tell him he has a good name. Join us as we live a day in the worn down shoes of one Kyle Hyde, salesman extraordinaire, as he chats his way through a variety of mysteries at a hotel with rooms that can grant miracles: Hotel Dusk!This Month's Game!Hotel Dusk: Room 215Next Month's Game!Hakuoki: Kyoto WindsYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

Your friendly neighborhood visual novel book club returns today with Ghosts of Miami! We take a look at this recent and seemingly obscure visual novel, entrench ourselves in an actually good 80s aesthetic, and ask the all important question: why would anyone ever want to be a cop? Dating, danger, and fantastic hair all await you in the sun-soaked streets of Miami! Come with us on this adventure.This Month's Game!Ghosts of MiamiNext Month's Game!Hotel Dusk: Room 215You can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

We return after some extra time off with a new episode about everyone's favorite princess death simulator Long Live The Queen! Enjoy our tales of confusion. intrigue, and being surprised just how many threads this seemingly simple game can have!This Month's Game!Long Live the QueenNext Month's Game!Ghosts of MiamiYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

It's just Jen and Em this month as we take a break from the long toil of big games to enjoy this collection of three smaller releases. After the exhaustive trek of DanganRonpa, this is exactly the break we needed. It's nice to remember that games can be good and enriching and interesting while also being less than an hour. Join us, for the smallest games covered yet, in this month's appetizer tray of visual novels.This Month's Games!Us Lovely CorpsesLieve OmaOne Night, Hot SpringsNext Month's Game!Long Live the QueenYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes!Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

Welcome to a fresh, shining day for Novel Not New. We are hopeful, we are at our peak, we are ready to tackle the greatest video game series ever made, DanganRon-NO WAY DANGANRONPA IS AWFUL THIS IS THE NO GOOD AWFUL SERIES THAT WILL BRING NOTHING BUT DESPAIR! Either way... we ask, in this extra oversized episode, where you might fall, dear listener. Thank you for your time in this, the final killing game, at the end of the world. Next Month's Games!Us Lovely CorpsesLieve OmaOne Night, Hot SpringsYou can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes! Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

We take a break from the long and complicate for the short and fun this month as the reading crew crack open the delightfully breezy Butterfly Soup, by Brianna Lei. Baseball, childhood pressures, the way the 90s taught us racism, and more all take their turns at bat as we slide into home with this funny, charming little game. Sports metaphor.

We've finally done it, we've finally played a bad game! It only took three episodes.But that doesn't mean it's a bad podcast, as the Novelettes all pile in for a lengthy episode about the ups and downs of drink making and people chatting in Glitch City with the cyberpunk mess that is VA-11 HALL-A. A whole array of 'delights' await you in this episode, as we talk about our least favorite tropes and lament men writing 'cool' women as a thing because it never, ever works. Next month we're playing the lesbian baseball visual novel Butterfly Soup! It's available for whatever price you seem appropriate on itch.io!You can support Jen and Six on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes! Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

Hello and welcome back to Novel Not New: A True End Podcast! We take a look back in time for episode 2 and talk about a small visual novel from the mid 00s, Narcissu! Thanks everyone for your feedback from last time, we're glad people like the show so much. A shorter episode this time, as we talk about sadness and death and coming of age in a stolen car. Next month we're playing the cyberpunk bartending game VA-11 HALL-A, which you can get on PC or Vita!You can support Jen and Colin on the Scanline Media Patreon, and support Em and the network on the Abnormal Mapping Patreon. You can find Novel Not New on iTunes! Please send all your questions and comments about this game or anything else to podcast@abnormalmapping.com!

Hello everyone and welcome to the first podcast of our new show, Novel Not New. This is a monthly visual novel game club hosted by Jennifer Unkle (@jbu3), featuring Colin Dettmar (@sixtwosixfour) and Em Marko (@em_being). We're here to talk about visual novels new and old, with an eye for queer reads and a love for good writing and goofy stories.  This first month we're talking about Dream Daddy, a small single dad dating sim published in 2017 by The Game Grumps. You can get Dream Daddy here.  Next month, we're playing Narcissu, which you can find for free on Steam.  If you'd like to contact us, please send any emails to podcast@abnormalmapping.com