YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world
Encyclopedia
, is a Japanese visual novel
/graphic adventure game
developed and published by ELF Corporation
, originally as an adult game
for the PC-98 in 1996. The game's protagonist travels between various parallel worlds
in order to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance. Although parallel worlds are not an unfamiliar concept in Science Fiction
, the game uses concepts from physics, mathematics, philosophy, history, and religion to construct a unique fictional universe
.
In particular, the "A.D.M.S." or "Auto Diverge Mapping System", which visually displays the branching parallel worlds/storylines as a tree, aids the player in navigation.
The game also includes controversial references to cannibalism
and incest
.
A NEC PC-9801 edition, Sega Saturn edition, and Windows edition were released. All versions are rated 18+, although explicit sex scenes were removed from the Saturn and Windows editions. A Hentai
OVA as well as a manga
and several novels
were later released.
The player travels between parallel worlds using a Reflector device, which employs a limited number of stones to mark a certain position as a returning location, so that if the player decides to retrace steps, they can go to an alternate universe to the time they've used a Reflector stone. The game also implemented an original system called ADMS, or Automatic Diverge Mapping System, which displays a screen that the player can check at anytime to see the direction in which they are heading along the branching plot lines. Similar systems have later been employed in the 2010 role-playing video game
s, Radiant Historia
and the PSP
version of Tactics Ogre
. YU-NO also featured a famous FM-synth
chiptune
music soundtrack composed by the late Ryu Umemoto
.
When a branch in the storyline nears, an indicator on the game's "Reflector Device" blinks. When the player makes a choice that advances the storyline, his route is recorded in the "Divergence Map" and the device plays a sound. The player is tasked with collecting 8 jewels which are the power source of the Reflector device, and the Divergence Map shows the locations of all jewels within the storylines even before the player has reached them. In this way, A.D.M.S. is used to search through the parallel worlds. The Divergence Map displays time from left to right, and concurrent parallel worlds vertically.
Another noteworthy feature is the "Jewel Save". The jewels that power the Reflector device can be clicked to place a mark on the Divergence map, using up the jewel in the process. The Divergence map can later be opened and the player can instantly travel back to the mark, regaining the jewel. If a jewel save is made before a branch point in the story, the player can explore one scenario and then quickly travel back and explore an alternative. This feature alone would be akin to simply saving or loading the game, however, key items can be carried over from one world to another through the jewel save.
The multi-scenario technique was introduced first by the hit game Otogirisō
by Chunsoft
. Unlike a collection of independent stories, the game has the feature of branching storylines according to the actions of the player. Drawing up the chart while advancing the game could become very difficult if the branching is complex.
To solve this problem, Hiroyuki Kanno, the game's designer, writer, and producer, applied the concept of auto-mapping from Dungeon crawler RPG
s. Although automatic mapping seems to be common sense now, RPG dungeon maps were originally meant to be drawn on paper. Kanno stated that he preferred this era, but it was time for a more convenient system.
A similar problem exists in role-playing games. For example, the experience points that are accrued in each battle. The player will check this value as he plays. However, even though the player is supposed to assume the role of the hero, the hero does not know his experience points. Kanno's explanation is that the player has the perspective of God in the game. This was a problem for the development of YU-NO, which Kanno aspired to create as a "true role-playing challenge" game.
game developed by ELF. The price at the time was 9800 yen.
Both floppy disk
and CD-ROM
versions were released. The CD-ROM edition contained arrangements of the music, but was identical to the floppy edition otherwise.
A special disk containing extra content that was later mailed out with the PC-98 version was integrated into this version. As in the Windows version, some incest references have been removed.
Other modifications from the PC98 version:
- Graphics repainted to use more colors
- Animation sequences added
- Music rearranged
- Character voices added
- Two jewels were added (total of 10)
- Explicit sex scenes were removed
However, this number does not include ELF's direct mail-order sales. The March 1997 edition of 'Comptiq' claimed that YU-NO had already sold over 100,000 copies.
. Sega Saturn Magazine included a 4-page feature on YU-NO.
Sales reports of the Sega Saturn edition range from 139,509 to 240,820 copies sold.
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
/graphic adventure game
Graphic adventure game
A graphic adventure game is a form of adventure game. They are distinct from text adventures. Whereas a player must actively observe using commands such as "look" in a text-based adventure, graphic adventures revolutionized gameplay by making use of natural human perception...
developed and published by ELF Corporation
ELF Corporation
ELF Corporation is an eroge studio. One of its most popular games is Dōkyūsei, a pioneering dating sim, which has had a sequel, and been turned into video and TV series. The character design of the main villains from the -saku series is the company mascot...
, originally as an adult game
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
for the PC-98 in 1996. The game's protagonist travels between various parallel worlds
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
in order to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance. Although parallel worlds are not an unfamiliar concept in Science Fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, the game uses concepts from physics, mathematics, philosophy, history, and religion to construct a unique fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
.
In particular, the "A.D.M.S." or "Auto Diverge Mapping System", which visually displays the branching parallel worlds/storylines as a tree, aids the player in navigation.
The game also includes controversial references to cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
and incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
.
A NEC PC-9801 edition, Sega Saturn edition, and Windows edition were released. All versions are rated 18+, although explicit sex scenes were removed from the Saturn and Windows editions. A Hentai
Hentai
is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 and 態...
OVA as well as a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and several novels
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
were later released.
The player travels between parallel worlds using a Reflector device, which employs a limited number of stones to mark a certain position as a returning location, so that if the player decides to retrace steps, they can go to an alternate universe to the time they've used a Reflector stone. The game also implemented an original system called ADMS, or Automatic Diverge Mapping System, which displays a screen that the player can check at anytime to see the direction in which they are heading along the branching plot lines. Similar systems have later been employed in the 2010 role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
s, Radiant Historia
Radiant Historia
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS. The game's development team mostly consists of Atlus staff who previously worked on Megami Tensei games like Persona 3, Strange Journey, Nocturne and the Etrian Odyssey series. The development team also includes...
and the PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
version of Tactics Ogre
Tactics Ogre
is a Japanese tactical role-playing game created by Quest. The game was originally released in 1995 on the Super Famicom in Japan and then re-released on the Sega Saturn in 1996 and the PlayStation in 1997...
. YU-NO also featured a famous FM-synth
Frequency modulation synthesis
A 220 Hz carrier tone modulated by a 440 Hz modulating tone with various choices of modulation index, β. The time domain signals are illustrated above, and the corresponding spectra are shown below ....
chiptune
Chiptune
A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...
music soundtrack composed by the late Ryu Umemoto
Ryu Umemoto
Ryu Umemoto was a Japanese video game music composer, born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. He is known for composing soundtracks to various visual novel and shoot 'em up games since the 1990s, for several companies including FamilySoft, C's Ware, ELF Corporation, D4 Enterprise, and Cave...
.
Title
referred to in the title is the location which the protagonist reaches at the conclusion of the game. Yu-no is the name of a girl central to the story. The creators revealed that "YU-NO" (which comes last in the Japanese title) is meant to be a subtitle. The english version of the title, used in some artwork, is stylized as "YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world.", with the period.Gameplay
The PC-98 and Sega Saturn versions of the game are slightly different. Unless otherwise noted, the following information describes the PC-98 version.A.D.M.S.
YU-NO is set apart from typical adventure gameplay due to a feature called A.D.M.S. ("Auto Diverge Mapping System").When a branch in the storyline nears, an indicator on the game's "Reflector Device" blinks. When the player makes a choice that advances the storyline, his route is recorded in the "Divergence Map" and the device plays a sound. The player is tasked with collecting 8 jewels which are the power source of the Reflector device, and the Divergence Map shows the locations of all jewels within the storylines even before the player has reached them. In this way, A.D.M.S. is used to search through the parallel worlds. The Divergence Map displays time from left to right, and concurrent parallel worlds vertically.
Another noteworthy feature is the "Jewel Save". The jewels that power the Reflector device can be clicked to place a mark on the Divergence map, using up the jewel in the process. The Divergence map can later be opened and the player can instantly travel back to the mark, regaining the jewel. If a jewel save is made before a branch point in the story, the player can explore one scenario and then quickly travel back and explore an alternative. This feature alone would be akin to simply saving or loading the game, however, key items can be carried over from one world to another through the jewel save.
Prologue and Epilogue
The game contains sections at the beginning and end that feature a more traditional visual novel style gameplay, in which you choose commands like "Look" or "Speak" from a menu. In these sections, there are no branching paths, and it is not possible to use the Reflector Device.Characters
Takuya Arima- The protagonist of the game. Third-year student at Sakaimachi Academy. Apparently lost his mother Keiko to illness when he was young. He often has dreams of his mother. Two months prior to the start of the game, his father was killed in a rockfall.
Auto-Mapping
The centerpiece of the game, A.D.M.S., arose from the "multi-scenario" approach.The multi-scenario technique was introduced first by the hit game Otogirisō
Otogirisō
is a sound novel developed and published by ChunSoft. The game was first released on March 7, 1992 in Japan. It became available on the Virtual Console on August 28, 2007.- Story :...
by Chunsoft
Chunsoft
is a Japanese video game developer specializing in console RPGs and visual novels. It was founded by Koichi Nakamura, a video game designer from Enix...
. Unlike a collection of independent stories, the game has the feature of branching storylines according to the actions of the player. Drawing up the chart while advancing the game could become very difficult if the branching is complex.
To solve this problem, Hiroyuki Kanno, the game's designer, writer, and producer, applied the concept of auto-mapping from Dungeon crawler RPG
RPG
RPG may refer to:* Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon* Role-playing game, in which players act out the roles of characters in a narrative game** Role-playing video game, a type of computer or video game-Organisations:...
s. Although automatic mapping seems to be common sense now, RPG dungeon maps were originally meant to be drawn on paper. Kanno stated that he preferred this era, but it was time for a more convenient system.
God's Perspective
A.D.M.S. was a novel system that had the potential to revolutionize multi-scenario adventure games, but Kanno had misgivings about it. If you draw the branches according to the protagonist's actions, you are looking at the game from "outside". Therefore, it cannot be the hero who is drawing the chart.A similar problem exists in role-playing games. For example, the experience points that are accrued in each battle. The player will check this value as he plays. However, even though the player is supposed to assume the role of the hero, the hero does not know his experience points. Kanno's explanation is that the player has the perspective of God in the game. This was a problem for the development of YU-NO, which Kanno aspired to create as a "true role-playing challenge" game.
Parallel Worlds
In order to negate the problem of God's Perspective, the A.D.M.S. chart must be shown to the protagonist. In the real world, we usually believe there is only one path from the past to the future. The protagonist similarly believes this, so seeing the divergence map would be unnatural. To solve this problem, Kanno decided to introduce the parallel worlds. Adjacent to the protagonist's world is another world reached by different actions in the story. In this case, visualization of the branches of the storyline and the parallel worlds are the same. The protagonist has a special device which serves the purpose of displaying the divergence map. Therefore, you can assume the role of the protagonist in the game while still seeing the map.NEC PC-9801 Series version
Released as an adult game on December 26, 1996. YU-NO for PC98 was the last MS-DOSMS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
game developed by ELF. The price at the time was 9800 yen.
Both floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
and CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
versions were released. The CD-ROM edition contained arrangements of the music, but was identical to the floppy edition otherwise.
Sega Saturn version
Released on December 4, 1997. Recommended for 18+. The price was 7800 yen, or 9800 yen bundled with a mouse. There are several different illustrations underneath the CD tray, which can only be seen after opening the game.A special disk containing extra content that was later mailed out with the PC-98 version was integrated into this version. As in the Windows version, some incest references have been removed.
Other modifications from the PC98 version:
- Graphics repainted to use more colors
- Animation sequences added
- Music rearranged
- Character voices added
- Two jewels were added (total of 10)
- Explicit sex scenes were removed
Windows version
The PC-98 version of the game was ported to windows as part of "ELF Classics" and released on December 22, 2000. The graphics and music are equivalent to the PC-98 version, but content that was removed in the Saturn version was also removed here.PC-98 version
According to statistics compiled by Digital Media Insider, 45,844 (30,553 CD edition, 15,291 floppy edition) copies were sold by November 30, 1997. In the 1997 annual ranking in Digital Media Insider, the CD edition reached rank #14 (with rank #1 "SHOCK PRICE Mah-jongg" selling 77,102 copies, and the top-selling adult game at rank #3 "Devil King Lance" selling 72,572 copies).However, this number does not include ELF's direct mail-order sales. The March 1997 edition of 'Comptiq' claimed that YU-NO had already sold over 100,000 copies.
Reviews
YU-NO won a reader's choice award in Blitz King's "2nd Video Game Awards Grand Prix" in May 1997. The game also earned rank #9 in E-Login's "Game and Heroine of the year 1996", and rank #5 in Comptiq's "1st Video Game Awards Grand Prix" in 1998.Sega Saturn version
The news that the PC-98 edition would be ported to Saturn was reported by several magazines including Sega Saturn Magazine, Dengenki Saturn, and FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
. Sega Saturn Magazine included a 4-page feature on YU-NO.
Sales reports of the Sega Saturn edition range from 139,509 to 240,820 copies sold.
External Links
- http://www.gamefaqs.com/saturn/574820-yu-noYu-No on GameFAQsGameFAQsGameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...
] - English translation project