i should probably come up with a name for this guy after staring at his ass for so long

Hi Everyone, my name is Kopten, and welcome to my cohost page!

I'm going to use this page to post reviews and analysis of video games, especially those in the furry visual novel sphere. I really enjoy reading visual novels, helping to point out places for improvement, and being able to recommend good ones to people.

I've been in the scene since 2019, and here's a list of the projects I've helped out with / places to contact me: linktr.ee/koptenowl

My Rubric and Philosophy

I am well aware that I'm probably one of the most critical reviewers in the FVN scene (or at least on par with @Cardigan ). I hope to explain my approach here, so that people can understand where I'm coming from and to limit possible misunderstandings.

1 - My History

My original interaction with fandom and indie writing comes from when I was the admin of a Pokemon fanfiction writing contest for 5 years. I was amazed that there was such good writing coming out of an often-maligned medium, and I enjoyed seeing how competition/challenge and critical judging of these works fostered better and better writing.

2 - "Taking Things too Seriously?"

I have been accused in the past of taking things too seriously and expecting too much out of furry visual novels. To that, I say: "So what?"

It's curious that some people say this but they themselves have strong opinions/stances on things that they'll defend to the day they die, no matter how vulgar or unpopular I or other people think that this stance is.

Everyone cares about things for their own reasons. As I mentioned above, I love indie games and feel that visual novels can be a really good medium to tell a story. I personally would like to help contribute towards fostering a community culture that is welcome to constructive criticism and is racing to push the medium to the technical and literary bounds. I see my reviewing here as contributing towards that.

3 - To release a project itself is a laudable accomplishment

As critical as I may seem sometimes, the underlining sentiment I come into every review is that simply the work of releasing a project in and of itself is worth recognizing. I have yet to release a VN that I haven't been one of many co-writers on, and so even for these works that have some clear flaws, you still put yourself out there and made something.

4 - My rating scale

I borrowed this scale from Adventure Gamers because I like how they broke down each tier. If I weren't also reviewing on itch, I'd probably up this to a 10/10 scoring system, as I think it provokes less of a shock to get a 5/10 as a 2.5/5 stars.

5- How I approach reviewing

When I give a review,

• I try, even on VNs I don't think are the best, to acknowledge one aspect I think is good about the VN. This isn't always possible, but it helps keep me in a mindset of constructive criticism
• I also try to point out ways I think the VN could be improved.
• I believe that I am able to give a quality review on a piece of media that I have not 100% completed. Life is too short for me to complete something I dislike for the sake of completion alone. I try to say in my reviews where I stopped playing.
• Visuals/sound design are nice and can definitely help tell the story, but for me, the writing is the thing that makes or breaks a VN, and so it is the key factor that helps.
• I try as a policy to separate the art from the artist. By this, I mean 99% of the time, I try not to let my relationship and opinion of the person who wrote the VN.

My friends meme on the many times I've rated their VNs 3 or 4 stars, which is still a decent/good rating in my book. That also means that my reviews are aimed at critiquing the work and not the creator. Most of the time, if I do think my negative opinion of a person may prevent me from giving an unbiased critique, I'll just elect not to review the game.

• I have a lot of VNs on my to-review list, so don't worry if yours hasn't been played yet, I probably don't hate you lol.
• For those who are respectful, kind, and assume good intent on my part, I am always willing to have a convo about my review and my critiques.
• I will not be bullied or coerced into raising my review scores or removing a critical review. People have tried before... I think they underestimate how much I can thrive on spite.
• Although not a promise, I am generally very willing to return to a VN after its creator has revised things and re-review it.