Visual Novels

[Archangel]

A visual novel (ビジュアルノベル, bijuaru noberu) is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art. As the name might suggest, they resemble mixed-media novels or tableau vivant stage plays. Visual novels are commonly called dating sims in English, a misnomer as visual novels are classified as a sub-genre of adventure games and not simulation games. This has led to confusion with the other genre known as dating sims, which often shares a similar visual format with visual novels, but has gameplay based on statistics.

In Japanese, a distinction is often made between visual novels proper (abbreviated NVL) and adventure games (abbreviated AVG or ADV). This distinction is normally lost in English, where adventure game refers to a different genre. Visual novels and ADVs are especially prevalent in Japan, where they make up nearly 70% of PC games released. They are rarely produced for video game consoles, but the more popular games are sometimes ported to systems such as the Sega Dreamcast or the Playstation 2. The market for visual novels outside of Japan, however, is small.

Do you play them? If so, what are your favorites?

Personally the only one i've ever played was fate/stay night and i enjoyed it so much that i was thinking about picking up another one, and as such this thread came to pass

[shinta|hikari]

Tsukihime is a fantastic visual novel made by the same company as FSN.

I've played quite a number of visual novels, but a lot of them were simply dating sims without a decent plot and are not worth mentioning.

The ones I really liked are the following:

Tsukihime
Kagetsu Tohya (Tsukihime sequel)
Fate Stay Night
Kanon
Clannad
Saya no Uta
Yume Miru Kusuri
Phantom of the Inferno
Kana: Little Sister

I can give a brief description of each if you want, but it would be better to simply look it up at wikipedia. Just be careful of spoilers.

[Archangel]

But another problem is that many of those aren't translated to english right?

[shinta|hikari]

They are all translated (unofficially I believe). You just have to find them.

I don't really read visual novels in Japanese, since the Kanji can sometimes be too difficult for my level.

[Archangel]

This is a weird question, but what about the position in which you play them?

I really get into these games and after like 2 hours i feel sore everywhere from clicking all that time

Like i said, weird question.

[Xrlderek]

I've played:

Saya no Uta
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Utawarerumono
Fate/Stay Night
Chaos Head ( halfway through, lost interest)
Ever17

Ever 17 is awesome, you should definitely pick that up. It is among the top visual novels for sure. Be very careful of spoilers though, you should just dive right in instead :) . It is officially translated to English, so it doesn't need a patch.

Saya no Uta is great too.. Utawarerumono was decent. Didn't like Chaos Head that much.
They all have English patches.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is very good ( already made a thread about it ). The art is "original" but if you get past that it is definitely one of the best VNs that is translated to English.

I've played a few more but I can't remember their names at the moment so I doubt they were that good.

[David75]

They are all translated (unofficially I believe). You just have to find them.

I don't really read visual novels in Japanese, since the Kanji can sometimes be too difficult for my level.

I thought the Clannad project wasn't finished due to the massive hours of gaming (like 300?)
If you have a good source, I'd be very pleased, thanks ;)

[Marik]

David, if you know how to use mirc, go to irc.rizon.net and go to #/jp/. You can view their packlist at this url.. http://gilheney.com/VNs/index.php?bot= click [jp]VNs-English.

For Clannad type /msg [jp]VNs-English xdcc send #30

[Xrlderek]

David, if you know how to use mirc, go to irc.rizon.net and go to #/jp/. You can view their packlist at this url.. http://gilheney.com/VNs/index.php?bot= click [jp]VNs-English.

For Clannad type /msg [jp]VNs-English xdcc send #30

Wow, just checked out the site, great stuff, thanks for posting it. They even have Touhou games 6-12 :)

[Kraco]

David, if you know how to use mirc, go to irc.rizon.net and go to #/jp/.

Thanks for the info. Downloading!

I've played a bunch of VNs, most of them of the ecchi nature. Though I've not actually played through all of them (yet or never will).

FSN, Tsukihime, Ever17, Kanon, Shuffle, Wind a breath of heart, Wanko to Kurasou, Crescendo, Come See Me Tonight 2, Kana: Little Sister, Family Project, Snow Sakura, Yume Miru Kusuri, Sagara Family, Let's Meow Meow, Snow Drop, Cosplay Academy...

I know a few are missing from the list but I can't recall their names.

[Archangel]

Wow kraco... that is a lot

And you say you haven't finished them? Isn't that kinda like reading half a book?

[Buffalobiian]

This is a weird question, but what about the position in which you play them?

I really get into these games and after like 2 hours i feel sore everywhere from clicking all that time

Like i said, weird question.

Depending on where I am, I sit in different positions.

Then again, I use Auto-read for F/S N, still my first and current game.

[Kraco]

Wow kraco... that is a lot

And you say you haven't finished them? Isn't that kinda like reading half a book?

I rarely read more than one novel at a time, but I do have a few visual novels on parallel processing. Other than that, with some of those games I've only cleared one route. Some, like Cosplay Academy, are technically nice but somewhat boring when you have already seen a bunch of eroges. So, it's on hold at the moment.


This is a weird question, but what about the position in which you play them?

I usually just periodically switch the hand I'm using to press enter. I'm right-handed but I can press one button consistenty even with the left hand... In addition to that, it's good to change your sitting position as well. I like to lay my legs on the table like a punk when playing VNs.

[David75]

I like to lay my legs on the table like a punk when playing VNs.

/Is in that position while reading this, and writing the comment :D

Thanks Marik, dl is in progress, not full bandwidth, but nice.

[Marik]

I only started playing VNs about 2 months ago, and so far I'd have to say that Cross†Channel is my favorite out of the ones I've played. It has a really good story.

[Archangel]

It just came to me but playing a VN in a portable console is probably awesome

Maybe someone will on day be able to emulate fsn on the psp or something, who knows.

[Xrlderek]

It just came to me but playing a VN in a portable console is probably awesome

Maybe someone will on day be able to emulate fsn on the psp or something, who knows.
Already made for DS, http://digital-haze.net/vnds.php

[Archangel]

Bastards!

Omg i want that for the psp

[David75]

Whoops, just dled the Clannad one, and it seems like I need the japanese version.
I guess I can have it with the same irc chan... just thought about it while writing it.
If not, will have to search for the right version

[Archangel]

Translations rarely come together with the actual game
Usually you have to download it on the side and then mount it with daemon tools or something. That, or buy the original i guess

I'm finding Tsukihime very enjoyable so far, with the exception of this god awful interface. I liked the one for fsn a whole lot more, and i found its art to be slightly better as well

[David75]

reallive and rbabel are to be found, I'm getting full voice.
Will then see how I'm able to make it work :cool:

[shinta|hikari]

Translations rarely come together with the actual game
Usually you have to download it on the side and then mount it with daemon tools or something. That, or buy the original i guess

I'm finding Tsukihime very enjoyable so far, with the exception of this god awful interface. I liked the one for fsn a whole lot more, and i found its art to be slightly better as well

The interface and art are naturally better since FSN is the successor of Tsukihime, and is produced with a significantly larger budget.

Regarding the position, I usually play it lying down on the couch, with my mouse on my lap so my hand doesn't get tired even if I play for hours. I remember playing Tsukihime 20 hours at a time during Christmas break before without tiring.

[Ryllharu]

I put the text speed to an appropriate level, and I'm quite used to reading subtitles rather fast now, set the games to automatic mode (if they have one, and most do). Then I just lean back and read/listen. Other times I just use the scroll wheel. Modern games support that too.

I've played:

- Snow Drop (horrible)
- Shuffle! (in moonspeak after I watched the anime)
- X-Change 2 (trashy but hilarious)
- X-Change 3 (trashier, equally hilarious, but better by far)
- X-Change Alternative (a surprisingly well done story, really good voicework, and toned down from the ridiculousness of the previous titles)
- Fate/Stay Night

and about 5 minutes of Fate/Hollow Ataraxia in moonspeak before I realized it was completely pointless for me to try.

Might be some other ones here or there, but I didn't play them for more than an hour to two.

[Buffalobiian]

X-Change 2 (trashy but hilarious)
X-Change 3 (trashier, equally hilarious, but better by far)

How does that work?

[Ryllharu]

The earlier X-Change games were well know for putting the lead into completely over the top ridiculous situations, ecchi scenes that would absolutely never exist in real life (notably the...consensual [omitted] trolley/subway car, etc. that is always "accidentally" boarded, usually by being just 5 minutes late to the station, wtf?). The third installment pushes some of them even further, and they're pretty funny.

The "bad" endings are pretty entertaining too, some of them with longer sequences than the legitimate girls.

It's also a better game overall, and closes out the story for the main character. The serious plots/romances are well done, and there is a good deal of character development. It's just the bits in between, unrelated to plot or character development, that are trashier than ever.

[Archangel]

I don't get it, what's moonspeak?

[David75]

I got Clannad Full Voice running with
Installing from that iso:
http://www.mininova.org/tor/2809443

Then installing those files in the G00 folder:
CLANNAD_FV.rar (sorry, lost the link I got it from)

Then I used that rar file uncompressed in the clannad folder:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9OD20RUQ

I had already installed VS C++ 2005 2008 runtimes for x86 and x64

I really had a rush of emotions when the game actually started and I got Ushio's world tune.

[Kraco]

What on Earth is that? The file from the bot was already some 2.7GB. Are you telling it's only a fraction of the whole? Or you can't install with it, and instead need to install the original Japanese game first and then replace pretty much everything with the stuff inside the rar archive?

[Archangel]

Is clanaad even worth playing for someone who's already watched the anime, movie and OVAs?

[David75]

What on Earth is that? The file from the bot was already some 2.7GB. Are you telling it's only a fraction of the whole? Or you can't install with it, and instead need to install the original Japanese game first and then replace pretty much everything with the stuff inside the rar archive?

in fact in the G00 archive are the files for menus and so on, so all the human interface If I can say so.

From my understanding, the file from the bot is the old version.
Full voice was then released, and is more like 4.1 GB

I've only been able to have the last one work, and to my understanding it's a better/improved version in both resolution and voices.

The bot version had absolutely no help file attached.
And when I searched with google, the only working tutorial was at hongfire and was related to Full voice I had already downloaded yesterday.

Archangel:
I guess that if you're not a hardcore Clannad fan, you could maybe just forget it. But it seems some arcs weren't in the anime at all, and other ones were treated to quickly/lightly like the Ryou/Kyou arc that had only one OAV, and not a goot one at that (the last OAV we had months ago)


Now I need to find a decision tree, or a map of all the possible paths in the game.
I'm not used to those kind of VNs, and since I can overstress over single things, thinking I might lose important events and not being able to go back there is not good.

And it's already begining... I tested two paths and remarked that I was missing an important character with my first try.
Geez

PS: no one cares, but 1500th post, yay!

[Ryllharu]

I don't get it, what's moonspeak?
Moonspeak is slang for Japanese. The term itself has something to do with a Gundam series, but it can also refer to the jibberish characters that shows up when you don't have the OS in the correct language settings (or use something like AppLocale).

[Kraco]

in fact in the G00 archive are the files for menus and so on, so all the human interface If I can say so.

From my understanding, the file from the bot is the old version.
Full voice was then released, and is more like 4.1 GB

Man... I'm not sure I'm following what you are saying, especially in the previous post, so I guess I'll go down the hard way of first trying to figure out what's the deal with the archive from the bot. It seems to be about 3.5 GB uncompressed, which would still be under that 4.1GB you mentioned (if that happens to be an iso size). The bot archive suspiciously seems to me like a game's installation folder.

Well, I'll get down to it at some point. I have too many untouched or only barely started VNs only collecting dust on my HD. Even if I managed to succesfully install Clannad now, I doubt I would play it for a while. No matter how much I'd like to get trapped into an equipment shack with Kyou...

[David75]

I wasn't able to use the bot version. The one I got from IRC

I've been able to use the version I got from torrenting, clannad full voice, as an iso. I burned it to a DVD, installed it though it seems just uncompressing the iso to a folder of your choice works too.

Then I used the files I mentionned earlier.

It was the only thing that worked for me. With the app locale change too.

I've spent some time with that VN, it's very slow, and I'm a tad bothered by the fact that everything is so motionless. But that's not a 3D game, and not an anime either. The name says it all, almost.
But at least we get very fine details I wasn't able to catch with the anime, or that wasn't there because of the format.

[Archangel]

Just finished Ciel's route on Tsukihime. I have a feeling i should have gone with Arcueid first but my megane girl fetish got the best of me

Very good, very good indeed. Again my only concern is the awful interface which makes me think i should have played this before fsn so i wouldn't be so "spoiled" by the superior art / commands

Still, the endings were phenomenal, and there was even a particular dead end that i thought was so good that they could very well have made it an official route ending

The hentai is boring as usual, except when the hero is getting controlled by "you know who". The way he acts like a raving lunatic in those instances really brings a sort of freshness to his character that is very much appreciated after having the "hero of justice" as my sole role model for these kinds of games.

Anyway, just wanted to drop my opinion real quick. Now back to the game

[shinta|hikari]

You really should have finished Arcueid's route first. It gives a good backbone to the story, whereas the other routes will flesh it out as you finish them one by one.

[Archangel]

You really should have finished Arcueid's route first. It gives a good backbone to the story, whereas the other routes will flesh it out as you finish them one by one.

Well i saw Ciel first so i kinda got attached >_>

Again, fsn works this better by not allowing the player to get out of order

Any particular order you think i should follow from now on, Shinta?

[shinta|hikari]

I think Arcueid's route should be played first, and Ciel's last (just because it has the happiest of the happy endings).

I played Arc, Akiha, Hisui, Kohaku, and Ciel. I didn't have any particular reason for doing so, except maybe my order of preference of the characters. I think it worked out pretty well. I would definitely play Akiha first before the maids though, since it introduces a lot of things that will be developed in the other routes, if I remember correctly.

[Archangel]

Lol, it isn't as much happy as it was totally funny

I still prefer the true ending to it, feels more real

[Kraco]

I still haven't played anything but both of Arcueid's endings... I should finish the rest of the game one day. Although the (rather strong) rumours of a possible Tsukihime remake will keep me from doing it for a while, I suppose. Better art and even voice acting would really make it a game to remember. I think I wouldn't even mind losing the h-scenes in exchange for voice acting if that's what it takes, either.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't really care for voices in visual novels. It is fine if they are there or not. They are great for H-scenes, but I find them pretty much pointless anywhere else since I read the text quickly and end up stopping the voice midway.

[David75]

I've been playing a bit of Clannad:
I can't stand Sunohara anymore. All of the 'scenes' with him are worthless/useless.
That game is very slow but detailed at least.
Tomoyo not being voiced is a bit of a bother, eventhough you're supposed to be him, you can still hear yourself when you speak or even think about something.
I must be only 7 days or so from the start. I guess I'll try to progress one day at a time at max, it'll be very long I guess, but that way I shouldn't be too bored by the interface/visuals

[Buffalobiian]

I don't really care for voices in visual novels. It is fine if they are there or not. They are great for H-scenes, but I find them pretty much pointless anywhere else since I read the text quickly and end up stopping the voice midway.

I read faster than the voices too, but I like waiting for it to finish. There's just so much more characterization when you can hear them.

[shinta|hikari]

@David - I found Sunohara to be great in the game. He was there for comic relief so it didn't really have much of a point, but it I was laughing most of the time.

[Kraco]

I don't really care for voices in visual novels. It is fine if they are there or not. They are great for H-scenes, but I find them pretty much pointless anywhere else since I read the text quickly and end up stopping the voice midway.

It's the opposite for me. I didn't care for them as long as I hadn't played a single VN with them. But after I did (after Tsukihime and FSN), I find it extremely hard to go back anymore to unvoiced VNs. In the end they add one whole dimension to the game so they are hardly irrelevant.

And I tend to cut them midway during h-scenes because there's little point in listening to the guttural voices repeated over and over. Like Bill, during other scenes I most of the time listen through them even though that means extra time. It adds so much to the characters.

David, most games, I dare say, don't provide a voice for the player character. I'd also prefer there to always be one. I don't really identify myself with the player character in VNs so it annoys me when the character is left voiceless, faceless and otherwise vague.

[Archangel]

I still haven't played anything but both of Arcueid's endings... I should finish the rest of the game one day. Although the (rather strong) rumours of a possible Tsukihime remake will keep me from doing it for a while, I suppose. Better art and even voice acting would really make it a game to remember. I think I wouldn't even mind losing the h-scenes in exchange for voice acting if that's what it takes, either.

When they do release you'll still have to wait for an hypothetical english release

I'll enjoy it now, and when it's finally available again in like 4 or 5 years i'll simply play it again assuming i'm still alive and stuff


I don't really care for H-scenes in visual novels. It is fine if they are there or not. They are great for voice acting, but I find them pretty much pointless anywhere else since I read the text quickly and end up stopping the porn midway.

This... kinda

[David75]

*arrgh, my savegame can't be loaded anymore in clannad.
Crap.
I have to know why... nothing changed from yesterday to today but now no savegame appear in the savegame menu.

Time to search for another reallive I guess.

[David75]

I finally finished full voice.

Only things left are some small bonuses. I will probably try them.

To finish it, I use that guide:
http://soukyuu.emevas.net/CLANNAD_guide.html#1.Recommended Play Order:|outline

That way I've been able to follow the story as reading a novel.

Regarding the translation of the game, I guess it's fine for 98% of the phrases.
However in after story, it's obvious no QC has been made yet and it's there you have the most mistakes.
Also, text in final scenes is not translated, but I guess it's due to the program that can't be modified to include a subtitle for those moments. But I thank the translators from the bottom of my heart for the incredible job done.

I guess that now I'll marathon Clannad and After Story anime. There are so many details that add up in the game, that I might enjoy the anime even more.

[Xrlderek]

I don't have a psp, but I ran across this today and thought it might be interesting.

Fate stay night for psp:
http://nrvnqsr.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=4345

It seems that to make it work in english you will have to modify it yourself or something, it seems a bit hard. Then I read somewhere else that the file needed is already released somewhere but I couldn't find it. So this will take some time and might not work at all. Maybe someone with better google skills than me can hunt down the already prepared english port.(it is said to be out on the net somewhere).

Apparently it doesn't run all the way to the end or something.

Another relevant link:

http://leafboi.blogsome.com/2007/09/17/ported-visual-novels-on-psp-woot/

[Buffalobiian]

I found a site doing ef.

http://www.nnl1.com/ef/

I might download it, but not until I've finished watching Melodies. That's still sitting on my HDD somewhere.

[David75]

I found a site doing ef.

http://www.nnl1.com/ef/

I might download it, but not until I've finished watching Melodies. That's still sitting on my HDD somewhere.

This is an eroge, I guess I'll pass on that one.

[Archangel]

Isn't Clannad eroge too?

And who cares about that? Isn't it usually just a sex scene in the end with the chick of the route you chose?

[David75]

Isn't Clannad eroge too?

And who cares about that? Isn't it usually just a sex scene in the end with the chick of the route you chose?

No Clannad wasn't eroge, if I remember correctly, Tomoyo After is. Buff put a link to the ecchi Tomoyo pics months ago.

I probably am a man of too many principles, so an ef eroge would spoil the joy I had watching the anime.

[Archangel]

I dunno, fsn for example had those sex scenes and they made the game all the better because they were markers of how the relationship between shirou and the girls had finally become intimate

Not to mention some parts with Toshaka were funny as hell haha

[Xrlderek]

I'm thinking of reading cross channel, if anyone has read it, how good is it when you compare the story to, say, Saya no Uta, Ever17, or FSN? I'm really mostly looking for an engaging story.

[Xrlderek]

I just read Cross Channel and "The tower of friends" extra scenario.... one of the best stories I have ever read. Just awesome.

[Sapphire]

I started "playing" Fate/Stay Night today, I'm really enjoying it.

[NeoCybercoin]

I've had FN/N for a while now and I got the voice patch today. But..I am a bit confused bout this part...do I also need the Realta Nua for the PS2 in order to get all the voices for the PC version?

[Buffalobiian]

I've had FN/N for a while now and I got the voice patch today. But..I am a bit confused bout this part...do I also need the Realta Nua for the PS2 in order to get all the voices for the PC version?

Not at all.

See here for details:

http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?p=398674&postcount=215

I don't know what FN/N is, so I'm guessing you're talking about F/S N.

[NeoCybercoin]

Well...yeah typo my bad. Thanks for the help. Now let's see if I can finally hear some voices after downloading.

EDIT: Sweet.....I feel like a little school girl who got a new Barbie doll XD

[Xrlderek]

I just read Divi-Dead. It is quite old, from 1998, but it really hasn't aged that much. Graphics are good, the plot is ok. I would argue that playing it without a walkthrough would be torture though.. you have to choose where to go next from a map, and then choose between floors/rooms inside buildings, and it is almost always random where you need to go next.. so you end having to visit everything(20 places or so) to find the correct place to go. It has voices, and the H-scenes are good. The plot aims to be just very confusing, but I think it makes sense... The characterization is good too. The game is free now, and it can be played through flash on the internet too on: http://dividead.tales-tra.com/play/

[Xrlderek]

Just wanted to give a heads up that www.mangagamers.com are translating a lot of games lately(commercially). They have just released the first 4 episodes of Higurashi. Next up is "Soul Link" at the end of the month.. They have a couple of other released translations too(Kira Kira, Shuffle and some random dating sims with weak plots(afaik)). I hope they will pick up more games(that doesn't have fanmade translations).

Thinking of buying Higurashi but then again I did watch the anime and the art in the VN is beyond terrible..

Here is a link with their works:
http://vndb.org/p428

www.vndb.org is pretty great for finding new visual novels to read also.

Edit:
Apparently there are a lot of typos etc, but I haven't played them myself yet so I don't know. Hopefully the translations themselves are good.

[masamuneehs]

until two days ago, i had never played a visual novel in my life

the past two days, i have spent about 26 combined hours on them.

there goes my life... = (

[Buffalobiian]

until two days ago, i had never played a visual novel in my life

the past two days, i have spent about 26 combined hours on them.

there goes my life... = (

And those were?

[Archangel]

And those were?

My money is on fsn and bible black

[Sapphire]

Bible Black is a visual novel? Someone hook me up.

[masamuneehs]

Bible Black is a visual novel? Someone hook me up.
english version
channel is #/jp/ on Rizon
http://gilheney.com/VNs/index.php?bot=[jp]VNs-English

[Archangel]

Lmao

http://gilheney.com/VNs/koolguy.jpg

Japan outside of Japan is always refreshing

[Buffalobiian]

Wrong thread?

edit@below: Fair enough, I stand corrected.

[Archangel]

Nah, it came from Masa's link

[Xrlderek]

I played through the question arcs of higurashi and they were really good. It probably helped that it is a long time since I watched the anime.. It is basically the same but it is more mysterious since it is only question arcs.. the higurashi anime had 2 answer arcs mixed into the first season, and there was alot taken out, so they had to make an anime original arc to cover it(in season two). Anyway, the VN was definitely worth reading even if I had watched the anime beforehand. Lots of humor in it too. Probably going to buy the answer arcs when they come out sometime in february. What really makes this game stand out is the characterization, which is true for the anime too.

I downloaded a mod that changed all the character designs and backgrounds to the ones in the PS2 version, words cannot describe how much more enjoyable the game got(no more monster chubby hands). People are complaining that there are a lot of spelling errors, but I didn't notice that many.. People with English as their first language probably will.

[Kraco]

People are complaining that there are a lot of spelling errors, but I didn't notice that many.. People with English as their first language probably will.

According to my experience visual novels translated commercially into English are regularly riddled with bad language and spelling errors. It's probably explained by cutting costs in the small companies doing it.

[Dark Dragon]

I'm currently playing Sharin no Kuni. The full translation was released by TLWiki a while ago.

The dialog in this game is so outrageous that i feel like i'm being trolled by a fake translation at times.

[Archangel]

Can we please have some screens for lols?

[Dark Dragon]

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/6645/snk1.th.png (http://img718.imageshack.us/i/snk1.png/)

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/5051/snk2.th.png (http://img687.imageshack.us/i/snk2.png/)

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/696/4296.th.jpg (http://img684.imageshack.us/i/4296.jpg/)

Just to name a few.

[Buffalobiian]

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/6645/snk1.th.png (http://img718.imageshack.us/i/snk1.png/)

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/5051/snk2.th.png (http://img687.imageshack.us/i/snk2.png/)

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/696/4296.th.jpg (http://img684.imageshack.us/i/4296.jpg/)

Just to name a few.

lol. That certainly exceeded expectations.

[Dark Dragon]

Those who interested in trying the game, be aware that the game story will get very dark. (Think school days but not as bad)

I also just finished Princess Waltz and i have to say i was pleasantly surprised. The game was very well produced and the story felt like Fate Stay Night Lite to me. I would recommend it to fans of FS/N.

[Alhuin]

First off, apologies for the thread necro.

I've been interested in visual novels for a while, but have never really had the time to sit down and go through any. However, now that I've gotten some of my priorities in order, I'm able to devote some time to other things again, so I was looking at getting into some VNs. My problem is, I can't find any. I've tried google searching for some downloads, and I browsed through this thread (and the F/SN thread, which I will hit on in a moment) but the only thing I've come close on is the vndb website (linked at the top of this page) and some irc bots or whatever. The website apparently doesn't offer downloads, and I don't have (and don't know how to use) irc, so bot lists don't really help me.

F/SN is one that I want to get into, however after going through the thread I got completely lost on which files i needed to download, and what went where, and dealing with voice patches, etc. So I figure... since there is an actual reasoning behind my post, maybe it will be alright to necro this and get some help.

[Archangel]

First get this (http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3831644/Fate-stay_Night), then this (http://mirrormoon.org/projects/fate_stay_night) and you're all set

[Buffalobiian]

In case you miss it in the FSN thread, here's BioAlien's instructions on how to install with voices.

http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?p=398674&postcount=215

[Alhuin]

Okay so I'm downloading all 4 files you all linked... I'm guessing I go in order of torrent > second file Archie linked > first file in Bio's post > second file in Bio's post.

So that can (hopefully) take care of F/SN.

However, where can I get other visual novels is the other part of my question. I believe I would enjoy Key's works (though I think I read Clannad takes some 300 odd hours to finish) as well as other VN's that had an anime based off them. But like I mentioned above, the only place I found was through irc.

[Archangel]

Take care of fsn first and then lets talk about future endeavors

[Xrlderek]

I've read through the two answer arcs of higurashi translated so far by mangagamer now. Great stuff. Definitely worth reading if it has been a while since watching the anime(and probably otherwise too). Didn't notice any typos at all this time. Be sure to get the sprite patch though.

[Archangel]

I found a pretty useful website

http://vndb.org/

[Xrlderek]

Read through the 3 of 4 answer arcs in higurashi released by mangagamer so far. Really good stuff.

In case anyone is interested, a leaked english patch of remember11 is out(same people behind ever17):
http://www.mediafire.com/?5jzmjw20dtd

It is basically finished, it is just missing some editing so it might have spelling errors or bad structure in some places, not sure, I haven't read it yet.

[Xrlderek]

Swan Song is now fully translated by yandere translations. Just finished reading it. Very good visual novel.

http://yandere.gray7.com/?p=925

Sorry for double post, but I think it should be ok if it has new info.

[Kraco]

Oh, by the same group who translated Wanko? This seems to be a somewhat deeper story, though, haha. Actually it looks quite interesting. I haven't installed many VNs on this new computer and have been finding little motivation to play Clannad lately so this seems quite interesting and different indeed. Thanks for the heads-up!

[Xrlderek]

Read through last chapter of higurashi released by mangagamer. Liked the chapter although I liked the others much more.. it just seems to be so rushed when he has to tie everything up. Didn't remember most stuff mentioned there so didn't matter much that I've seen the anime earlier.

[Kraco]

Swan Song is now fully translated by yandere translations. Just finished reading it. Very good visual novel.

http://yandere.gray7.com/?p=925

Only the Japanese can write something like this. It's so bloody annoying to read about people getting slaughtered without fighting back. Seriously, this is so annoying that I wonder if I can muster enough interest to try to browse different routes than this uber depressing one I've been stuck on for forever, it feels like. Everybody dies stories are better if the people are doing something proactive before they die, rather than being stupid and accepting it.

And before you say, it's certainly not my choices that made the story so miserable! Or perhaps it is, but the script writer is a sadist in that case.

I admit this is technically an impressive visual novel but damn the story is morbid.

Edit: Mental note to self: Never accept game suggestions from Xrlderek ever again.

[shinta|hikari]

Try Sharin no Kuni. This is one of my favorite VNs, and I just played it recently. The main character is awesome.

[Kraco]

Try Sharin no Kuni. This is one of my favorite VNs, and I just played it recently. The main character is awesome.

Ah. Sounds quite interesting. I'm extremely bored of the h-driven visual novels, so those that sound like they possess a good story easily sound interesting to me. But if you say it's one of your favorites, it's very promising.

[shinta|hikari]

It has a great story. It is actually pretty linear, and very few scenes (very few development scenes, H-scene, and the epilogue) change when going for different girls. The writing is also excellent, with a lot of 4th wall breaking.

It has a bit of action, a lot of excitement, and a good dose of drama. I don't want to go into details because it might spoil you, but it is definitely a must play VN.

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention that it has one of the most interesting and original premises I have encountered in fiction.

[Xrlderek]

I admit this is technically an impressive visual novel but damn the story is morbid.

Edit: Mental note to self: Never accept game suggestions from Xrlderek ever again.

Meh, it did disturb me a bit too, I admit that. Didn't think anyone would hate it. I don't quite recall parts where people where getting slaughtered without fighting back though. I'll suggest something better next time :/

[Kraco]

Haha, don't worry about it. I wrote that after getting more and more annoyed by every click of the Enter. And finally when the last screen appeared, the "reward" was enough to make me consider uninstalling the game. Maybe you'll understand if I say that certain Shishio lookalike thwarted death for far too long to suit my tastes. And the protagonists did too little to hasten his meeting with The Reaper.

So, keep suggesting, please. I was only joking. And by no means am I saying that you can't like something I disliked.


Try Sharin no Kuni. This is one of my favorite VNs, and I just played it recently. The main character is awesome.

This was a real ordeal to make work. I needed to install Applocale on Windows 7 in order to launch it succesfully. The good thing is that it taught me you actually can install Applocale on Win 7!

Maybe it would have worked on Win 7 Ultimate more easily but I only bought Pro.

Well, I'm happy I didn't give up, because you are right: The main character is bloody hilarious! You never know what he's going to say next.

[Xrlderek]

There are two endings to it btw, not sure if you got both.

Edit: forgot the part where you didn't have enough interest to go through another route, the other ending is right at the end though, here is a guide:
http://erogedownload.com/walkthroughs/swan-song-walkthrough/

[Kraco]

Yeah, I'm sure I'll return to it at some point. It'd piss me off too much to believe what I saw was the best the game could offer.

[shinta|hikari]

For those who want a band ero-game, try Kira kira. I am in the middle of completing my 2nd route, and I have to say it's pretty good. The first route was quite depressing (not nearly as much as Swan Song), but the bulk of the story where you make the choices was very funny and entertaining.

It's kinda like K-ON, only with more comedy and less moe, and an actual story that is very much worth reading. The songs aren't like the fluffy crap in K-ON since they are a punk rock band.

[David75]

I'm in the prologue of Ever17 I've been able to install on Wine/Ubuntu (will just have to fix the video playback).
The install was fairly simple, as you just have to copy the files.
I had a text bug related to the non windows install. Corrected in 2 seconds with a regedit trick found on the internet.

It is said to be good, so I'll see. Will follow the walkthrough.
I need to adjust to the voices, for the moment, I do not like them that much. BGM is also a bit dull/annoying.
But it's too early to decide, I'm tired and need some sleep.

[Kraco]

It has a bit of action, a lot of excitement, and a good dose of drama. I don't want to go into details because it might spoil you, but it is definitely a must play VN.

After playing it for a while now, I can certainly second that Sharin no Kuni is an exceptional VN based on my experience of VNs in general. Not quite as atmospheric as some Type-Moon stuff, I suppose, but worlds above more pure dating sims. Exquisite writing and extremely well planned characters. Might be the best player character I've encountered in VNs. Good voice actors also don't hurt (like Norio Wakamoto).

Haha, Mana was an awesome character.

[shinta|hikari]

Have you played until the end? It just gets better.

[Kraco]

Not yet, not yet. This feels like a pretty long game.

[David75]

I'm at 80% or so for Ever17

The tsundere route was a tad boring/upsetting. Her name starts with Ts too.

The Artificial Intelligence one was entertaining, I liked it.

The active girl one was boring.

The Little Genius one was boring.

Last girl, said to be the most important, does not attract me at all due to the voice pitch and age of the character... but if I want to finish the game, I have to do it. Will start in the following days.


At the same time, I'm starting Kira Kira. I did not want hentai, but since it is said to be very good, I'll check wether I can accept it or not.
I only did like 15 minutes, so I'm not even finished with the intro and did not see the OP yet.


Those games are very easy to install and even work from a usb pendrive. It's very convenient, because I can play the game anywhere with an available comp and still have my saves and all, without installs. It even works on linux (with a little bit of tweaking and manual video watching at times)

I'll report again at the end of Ever17

[shinta|hikari]

Play Sharin no Kuni. I think it is better than Kira Kira or Ever17. It is definitely more exciting, so you won't get bored.

[David75]

Play Sharin no Kuni. I think it is better than Kira Kira or Ever17. It is definitely more exciting, so you won't get bored.

I'll check that provided I can tolerate hentai/ecchi scenes ;)

I love sex IRL, but I'm really not attracted to it otherwise, I would even say I do not want it in anime/manga/VNs although at times I like it if the main purpose is a good laugh.
You could say that I seek some kind of pure utopia of teenage love/affection/feelings without the sex. Probably something a psy would like to investigate as they would get a stable revenue for years :D

My only finished VN is Clannad, and it was like 6 months ago (maybe a year?)
I should finish Ever17 before the week-end if schedule allows.

So I'm a total noob and with lots of auto-censorship for the moment. I'm also very against loli, underage... even more when there's NSFW material or worse. It's not just a morale/law related thing, it's also a core preference, always attracted to older women (with limits). Probably an Oedipus a psy would like to investigate as they would get a stable revenue for years :D (bis hehehe)

Thanks for the suggestion ;)

[Kraco]

I'll check that provided I can tolerate hentai/ecchi scenes ;)


The emphasis of Sharin no Kuni isn't on hentai, that much I can say already, even though I still haven't finished the game. I'd assume it has an h-scene for each girl (thought from what I've understood, you only get to choose one), but so far I've skirted them for reasons I won't reveal to avoid spoiling. There were a couple of scenes you will get no matter what but they were quite unexplicit, and should suit your oedipus complex...

For fairness's sake I need to mention that Sharin no Kuni has some boring parts that got so lenghty and tedious that I ended up skipping them. The game would have benefitted from some editing and cutting. Removing as much as 20% of the material might have done wonders to it.

[David75]

I just finished Sarina's route, KiraKira is awfully long... I wanted to finish one route before finishing ever17...

What can I say? not that bad, I'm more interrested in Chie, but chose Sarina so that the fun increases.

Regarding H, well I'll do with it, characters are supposed to be older than what they look like... I wonder if I'll to Kirari's route due to that, she's underdevelopped and sound childish, overall her character doesn't entice me playing her route. But who knows?

[Buffalobiian]

Regarding H, well I'll do with it, characters are supposed to be older than what they look like...

Yeah... that happens :P

According to Type-Moon, Saber, Rin and Sakura are all over 18 as well...

Setting them up as school students just makes it all the more unbelievable.

[Archangel]

Yeah... that happens :P

According to Type-Moon, Saber, Rin and Sakura are all over 18 as well...

Setting them up as school students just makes it all the more unbelievable.
Maybe the loophole is that they're only 18 after the end of all the routes :P

[David75]

Chie drives the van. So she's the only one you are sure to label as safe for sex, since legal age for driving is 18 in Japan.

I finished Chie route. Nice, not overwhelming, but still nice. For some reason I find the game painfully slow even with skips and so on, but in the end still like it. I'm about to finish Kirari first end. I guess I'll try to finish ever17 after Kira Kira, so it will be in a while.
I have to admit H isn't a problem. So it was pure prejudice on my part. In fact I probably did not want to try it, for fear I would like it. And now I'm almost caught....


We are now like 4-5 users trying some VNs om gotwoot? Or are there some leechers who also play them?

[Xrlderek]

meh, you really should finish ever17 in one go in my opinion.. just some advice :)

I'm looking for new VNs to read .. feels like I have nothing good left to read(please please prove me wrong someone).

[shinta|hikari]

I've recently completed Swan Song, Edelweiss and its sequel, Kira kira, Cross Channel, Sharin no Kuni. I am currently playing Snow Sakura.

The only ones I can really recommend are Cross Channel and Sharin no Kuni.

[Xrlderek]

Cross Channel is definitely one of the best I've read.. should have mentioned what I've read:
FS/N, higurashi, umineko, cross channel, ever17, remember11, dividead, Tsukihime, narcissu, Utawarerumono, Swan Song, Soul Link, Kira kira, Saya no Uta.

probably a couple more.. not sure about sharin no kuni, is it just slice of life? I got tired of the slice of life in F/SN lol so pure slice of life series isn't something I want to read.

[David75]

I think I just finished KiraKira and I'm a bit disapointed as the second Kirari end is uneventful.

For some reason, Sarina's end was nicer to me.

I have too many hidden pics in the CG gallery, I guess these are all bad ends, since I did not try them.
Well I'll try to get a snapshot of the full CG gallery if I can find it.

Back to Ever17

[David75]

Ever17 over.

I could have only played the AI's route and it would have been enough.

The whole story is nice, but boy this is so slow and boring most of the time.

Moving to Cross Channel, but after I watch the anime that kept accumulating.

[shinta|hikari]

Sharin no Kuni is has slice of life elements, but it is not really the typical type, and it has a deeper plot that gets really serious later on. The events are also not very slice of life like, so you shouldn't have problems with it. You can read the summary in VN sites just to get a gist of the premise, which is pretty awesome.

I think the best part of the VN is the main character, who actually deserves the attention he gets.

[Xrlderek]

hahah I am so quick to judge.. I like it already, 10-15minutes in. Thanks a lot.

Edit: finished it. great game.

[Kraco]

Finally finished Sharin no Kuni (Ririko route). While it was easily above most visual novels I've tried, I still think the writing was a bit shaky every now and then, especially towards the end. The main character also lost much of his cool factor nearing the end, but I suppose that's my own fault for expecting too much from him based on the very beginning. It was surely explained many times over what manner of a dude he really is.

A good VN all in all.

[David75]

I have downloaded it, but the install doesn't go well with wine for the moment.
I'm pretty sure I can do it, like for the other ones (Ever17, KiraKira, CrossChannel), it's just a little more tricky.
Regarding CrossChannel, although it's mainly H, I admitt they do it with humor at times :D
But I only finished week2 and had fun with Misato, but a lot more with Touko...

[Kraco]

I have downloaded it, but the install doesn't go well with wine for the moment.

I can't say anything about Wine problems, but in Win7 (non-ultimate) you needed to use AppLocale (under admin rights) to set the installer localization already to Japanese. The game itself also requires AppLocale with admin rights to run. So, yeah, it was tricky enough also with less fancy platforms than Wine.

But maybe this info helps nonetheless.

[David75]

Finished Cross Channel.
I can't say I liked it, part of Touko's route had me laugh though.

I'm starting Sharin no Kuni.


Kraco-> I found a solution to have it work in Wine (ubuntu). Applocale doesn't work with Wine, I tested it immediately, found another solution involving some copy/paste of python code and other easy tricks you need to assemble to have something working. Thanks.

[Archangel]

Epic fail, move on

Edit: Haha xD

Dear neg repper, the fail was mine, i posted a link Marik had already posted 3 pages ago. I'm not dissing anyone but myself, but thanks for the laugh.

[David75]

Just finished Sharin no Kuni.

It was very long and at times boring as Kraco mentionned.
It was good I have to say. I would not mind watching an anime based on that one, provided the adaptation is good of course.
I was just starting thinking VNs were not really my thing. I still think it's the case, but that one was worth playing.
With a walkthrough though, you get days of almost nothing and then everything unfolds in mere minutes/hours thanks to the speedup option.

As I thought, I first tried Clannad VN due to my liking to the show, so I wasn't really playing a VN... rather I was having more Clannad.
I guess that explain why I might not play VNs again, but that I can not be certain, since a nice gem can always appear out of nowhere.

[Archangel]

David, if you know how to use mirc, go to irc.rizon.net and go to #/jp/. You can view their packlist at this url.. http://gilheney.com/VNs/index.php?bot= click [jp]VNs-English.

For Clannad type /msg [jp]VNs-English xdcc send #30

Now that this bot is down, does anyone know of any alternatives?

I'm looking for Tsukihime, plus disc, Melty Blood, Kagetsu Tohya and FSN, all in english and with voices when possible

[Xrlderek]

G-Senjou no Maou has been translated, I am currently reading it. Looks really good so far.

http://vndb.org/v211

[Xelbair]

Archie - i have Tsukihime somewhere on my disk - without voices, Kagetsu Tohya and Melty Blood too. The only alternative could be torrent.

[Kraco]

G-Senjou no Maou has been translated, I am currently reading it. Looks really good so far.

http://vndb.org/v211

That looks very interesting. Sounds nicely different from the usual dating sim fare.

[Archangel]

Archie - i have Tsukihime somewhere on my disk - without voices, Kagetsu Tohya and Melty Blood too. The only alternative could be torrent.
I've torrented everything already, thanks fr the offer though

[shinta|hikari]

I'm almost done with the main arc of G-Senjou. It's from the same makers as Sharin no Kuni. Needless to say, I love it. This time, it seems each girl has a chapter, so the story does branch out more compared to Sharin no Kuni. It is still a bit long with tedious parts, but the overall mystery and detective work in each chapter makes it more than worth it. The twists in each case and the tactics are really good. It reminds me of death note when it was still good.

[Xrlderek]

Just finished it myself. Really good VN, I liked almost every character.

[Kraco]

In G-Senjou, is it possible to go through all the girls or will the game lock on one, like in Sharin no Kuni?

[shinta|hikari]

You need 1 playthrough for each girl. It is very easy to go back to the save points as long as you use a walkthrough and mark the saves properly.

I don't think it's worth playing the other girls. The main heroine arc is just so much better, with lots of mystery and detective work.

[Kraco]

Right. Though I'm not using a walkthrough but I make plenty of save games.

Thanks!

[Kraco]

Finally finished G-Senjou. It was quite a good read all in all. Very different from usual dating sims, just like Sharin no Kuni, making it an intriguing read. The characters and the plot were mostly nicely written. Though I've to note the plot writing quality did undulate every now and then, shifting from good and surprising to very unlikely to serve the needs of the greater story. Mainly this meant the characters doing stupid things or granting undeserved extra help to the adversaries. But looking back at it, at large it was good.

A cursed family, though, for sure!

[shinta|hikari]

I loved the ending. It might not be original, but I liked how much it showed the character development for the main character, going from being a cowardly selfish puppet, to someone who can sacrifice so much without ulterior motive. I particularly liked the song they used as the ending played out. It brought tears to my eyes.

Now that you have finished this, won't you give light novels a try? Utsuro no Hako, Zero no Maria is an awesome light novel that has better mystery and better twists than G-Senjou.

[Xrlderek]

I felt like the side-routes were done a lot worse than the main route.. still good reading though.

There is a fandisk for sharin no kuni that just got translated, haven't read it yet though. Extra stories for some girls + houzuki.

http://tlwiki.tsukuru.info/index.php?title=Sharin_no_Kuni,_Yuukyuu_no_Shounen shoujo

[shinta|hikari]

The side routes in G-String were a waste of time.

[Xrlderek]

Not sure if it has been mentioned here or not but sengoku rance is pretty awesome. It has really good gameplay.
Here is a review: http://yandere.gray7.com/?p=735
The translation is on the same site.

[Kraco]

Yandere (http://yandere.gray7.com/?p=1384) released a translation patch for the Aiyoku no Eustia (http://vndb.org/v3770) Trial. The trial is only one or two evenings worth of clicking, spanning little more than the intro to the whole game, but it already reveals the VN is intriguing with quite a unique setting and, above all, a badass main character. It's a full-blooded story heavy VN, based on this. I hope Yandere will translate the whole game, which is already out.

[Xrlderek]

Sounds like a good game. Demonbane by nitro+ has been out for a little while, I think it's good so far(3-4hours in).

Actually demonbane was pretty terrible. Mecha fights that drag on forever, too much "oh he got destroyed... - but he didn't!". Then again I don't like mecha in general.

[Archangel]

Does anyone have Tsukihime installed? If they do, upload the Extras folder for me please

[shinta|hikari]

A bit OOT, but speaking of Tsukihime, read Take Moon. It's a hilarious manga with the cast of Tsukihime.

[Xrlderek]

excited for summer releases..
kara no shoujo june 29th:
http://www.mangagamer.com/r18/Titles/Details/359B59DA-2B1C-4FD1-8574-58C8343CF220/kara-no-shoujo
Never 7 - 89 of 111 scripts translated (obv this doesn't guarantee summer release but it's moving fast so maybe?)
http://vndb.org/v248
YUNO is predicted sometime late june I think. Supposed to be very good, quite old though.
http://vndb.org/v1377

/jp/ on 4chan has a weekly thread started each sunday that lists all new progress, it's pretty awesome.
current thread:
http://boards.4chan.org/jp/res/7438367 (may be NSFW, usually it is worksafe but there's no rules about it)

[Kraco]

Kara no Shoujo has no voicing? That's a letdown and means I likely won't touch it.

[Xrlderek]

it usually gets hacked back in by fans within a few weeks.. at least that's what has happened to 2+ titles this year I think

[Kraco]

Ah? This is the American releaser who's too cheap to include voices? I thought the original game didn't have them either. If a hacker indeed makes a version with voices, then I'm in most certainly.

[Xrlderek]

yeah but it's apparently so expensive that they really just can't buy them, the japanese company demanded an enormous amount. Original game is fully voiced.

[Xrlderek]

http://www.mangagamer.com/r18/Titles/Details/359B59DA-2B1C-4FD1-8574-58C8343CF220/kara-no-shoujo

apparently kara no shoujo has been out for a little while..
voice patch:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=52AROVVJ
font patch:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q1FG8DXZ

bugfix patch(something to avoid an early spoiler):
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H17XZM42

[David75]

There's a sequel to Kira Kira
http://www.mangagamer.com/r18/Titles/Details/FCF18C07-581B-4B1C-990C-15776607D1FE/kira-kira-curtain-call

I wonder if it's worth it.
I'll investigate the many options mentionned in this thread before.

[David75]

Just finished Swan Song.
I kept playing it only because the script was not that bad, but truthfully I'd rather not have another mindfucking story again.
Somehow the town and then sunflowers reminded me of Sharin no Kuni's town, but I guess a town engulfed in mountains isn't that unusual when you want to have people cut from the outside world. And it's not like sunflowers are uncommon.

[David75]

Finished Tsubaki's Chapter of G-senjou no Maou.
I hope it gets better in the other chapters because I had a hard time finishing this.

[shinta|hikari]

Wait, have you finished Haru's arc yet? That is the only one worth playing. If you are done with that, drop that game and play Little Busters! or Quartett!

I've been playing both so far and they are pretty good. Quartett! is really stylish in it's delivery. It is more like a Visual Manga than a Visual Novel.

EDIT: Oh, you mean the chapter? Yeah, it does get better. Like in Sharin no Kuni, there are dragging parts, but the mystery and twists are worth it.

[David75]

Yes Tsubaki's chapter.

I think I understand why Haru's chapter is worth it, although I do not like her design, she at least seems to have depth of character Tsubaki desperately lacks.
I'll have to extract in my walkthrough, the answers getting to Haru then, or I'll have the already annoying Kanon to deal with, followed by Shiratori.

Quartett! piqued my interrest, seems to be fast too. Little Busters! seems to sport really too young designed characters.

Thanks!

[Xrlderek]

Harus chapter >>>>>>>>>> the other chapters.
it's like they didn't even try with the other chapters(but I still liked them a lot)

[Xrlderek]

bought and played through kara no shoujo.. it's decent.. tries to be a detective novel or whatever but a lot of the clues underways just end up never being useful, and similar stuff like that. It's a good story though, really good. also pretty much impossible to go through without a walkthrough, so easy to get into bad endings(or maybe I'm just a terrible PI :p ). Good H-scenes though.
Wondering if I should wait for the steins;gate VN to be translated or to just watch the anime... :/ meh

[David75]

Finally finished G-senjou no Maou.
If you can't like Haru, like I do, then do not waste time and move to another VN or something else.

I might pick one of the suggestions I had earlier, I need something good to clear the bad aftertaste ;)

[shinta|hikari]

Kara no shoujo is really depressing shit. The only "good" ending is a bad ending.

I am playing another music inspired VN called Symphonic Rain. Pretty nice game with a musical minigame so that you don't get bored.

[David75]

Right after finishing my message yesterday, I started Quartett!
Very nice design, I love the text placement, they did a great job with simple yet effective ideas (But I guess time consuming compared to "standard" VNs)
For the moment, I like it a lot.

[shinta|hikari]

I finished Quartett! and Ever 17 today.

Quartett! had great presentation and style, but the story was pretty simple. It was not a bad or boring story, but it is not something that I will remember either.

Ever 17 looked like crap, but the story was really well written. Everything is wrapped up in the end. I love the mystery and sci-fi aspects, and Tsugumi was awesome.

I am now downloading Yuno, another antique game. It is rated extremely high so my expectations on the story are boosted.

[David75]

Feel the same about Quartett!

I did not particularly like tsugumi, prefered the AI.

[Xrlderek]

Going to try yuno as well, didn't see it was out yet

[shinta|hikari]

I tried Yuno, but I was put off by the pixels. I will definitely play it, but right now, Shikkoku no Sharnoth and Ignanock take priority.

[Xrlderek]

finished one route I think, good luck getting through this without a walkthrough, I had no chance

[Sapphire]

I just finished Swan Song.

........
...


...
.

...

Wow.

I think I'm going to go throw up now.

[shinta|hikari]

I think I warned people about that in this thread. You should go play some Akabei soft games, or Key, just to get that taste out of your mouth.

[Kraco]

Oh, she was plentifully forewarned, Shinta. I must have told her 20 times what I thought of the ending of that game. But I guess it's one of those things you still have to see for yourself.

[shinta|hikari]

Playing Ignanock right now. Pretty good stuff. The atmosphere is well set, and the world is unique and interesting. If you want to try a real alter world fantasy, try this game.

[Sapphire]

Totally worth it, though.

Not interested in sappy Key, now. I have transcended such things!

I'll write a review later.

[Xrlderek]

I found ignanock very repetitive and didn't bother finishing it.. please do post if the latter half is good after all when you're finished :p

edit: Oh and swan song was great :/

[shinta|hikari]

Both Ignanock and Sharnoth are repetitive, but the characters and atmosphere make up for it.

[shinta|hikari]

I just finished Inganock, and the ending pretty much sucked.

I will now start playing Katahane, my first shoujo-ai VN. I tried Yuno earlier today, but then got tired of the ugly old art.

[masamuneehs]

i just finished Eroquis' Dirty Prison Ship (Injuu Kangoku)

Very much a H-focused game, and not for fans of vanilla stuff either.

To be honest though, I was really drawn in by parts of the story and the atmosphere in general. Usually when I play these games I'm detached from the events, just playing along and seeing what leads where... In this game I found myself getting nervous, fretting over route choices, meticulously logging my saves. At first I was largely skipping around just to get an overall sense of what was going on... ... but as things progressed I found myself reading the narration and dialogue for the narration and dialogue... which actually has some really good parts. I was honestly scared shit-less at times that I had made a mistake, or that I was going towards bad ends (there are tons). I started rooting for certain characters to make it, praying for others to bite it.

I was enjoying the story. I was enjoying a "tentacle monsters gonna rape 'em good!" story.

And I probably fapped out a few dozen loads to this thing also.


Masa's Review
Story: It starts slow and boring and a great deal feels like the standard fare for "corruption/mind break with a supernatural twist"... but after awhile the story gets to be genuinely entertaining. It's a simple sexy-survival-horror plot, and even a lot of the little details are largely borrowed from anime/manga en masse. But it's actually pretty awesome for a h-game.

Characters: Again, nothing terribly original, but mightly executed. Many of the characters are repackings of old anime/manga stock and archetypes (the motherly captain, the tomboyish friend, the serious vice-captain, the sleazy American). But they are fully fleshed out with full backgrounds and nuances, and the characters interact so well and naturally that you honestly start buying into it all. They evoked the full gauntlet of emotions in me, even though I generally knew what they were going to do or say before they did!

Music: Barely any music to speak of... ... ... and that's actually good, considering how awful most VN music is.

SFX: Good to mediocre. Quite a few different SFX, but sometimes it's hard to figure out exactly what certain SFX are supposed to be. The problem is how they get re-used ad nasuem, probably to make up for the lack of music. More sex SFX than anything else, but even those start to get old after a while.

Voices: Only the female cast has voice acting... ... but they're pretty spot-on. They all emote nicely and are good matches for their characters. I swear that the captain is the same voice as the captain from Gundam SEED.

Atmosphere: I included this category because this is what this game does best. It might have generic building blocks, but what's being constructed is freaky and dark and pretty much hopeless. There's a real sense of danger and desperation going on for much of the game, and the lack of music actually adds to all this.

Sexiness: If you like rape, tentacles and/or mind break, you're going to cum buckets. If you like loli, sweet romance and/or happy sex, you're going to be disappointed. Almost all of the women are on the larger side and there's probably 5 rapes for every 1 consensual act of sex.

Gameplay: Well there isn't any aside from choosing options! But at least there are plenty of those. I counted something like 20 route choices in the main game, and something like 15 more in the additional version.

Replayability: At the end of the main game there's an option to replay, but with skipping the prologue. This can be used to trigger a few different scenes... ... and can also trigger 1 or 2 deviant storylines, letting you play through the game again with different developments, different characters in different spots, and different decisions to be made. The story is largely the same, those aliens are out for some rape and they're going to get it. But it was interesting to see different characters featured in different scenes, and it's awesome if you're gunning for certain girls.


Three Big Pros:
A rich game with as many frills and bells as you could want in an h-game. Very few corners have been cut.
Suspenseful
Narrative and dialogue is well written

Three Big Cons:
Rape rape rape rape rape rape rape
Audio could have been slightly better
It's only available in Japanese

Links:
NSFW so you'll have to PM me for the links. Like I said, unfortunately it's only in Japanese.

[Xelbair]

If you have NDS go play 9 Hours 9 Doors 9 People, it is a mix between VN and point-and-click game... with good plot.

[Dark Dragon]

I'm looking for a funny visual novel if someone could recommend one. I'm not in the mood for something depressing so preferably something without bad ends. It can have sexual content, but i'd really prefer it if that wasn't the main focus.

I prefer for it to be translated since my understanding of kanji is limited, i don't mind if it's japanese as long as the writing isn't too complicated.

[shinta|hikari]

I am currently playing MuvLuv Alternative, and I have to say, it deserves its rating in vndb. Great characters and character development, good plot, exciting action and loads of tactical details. It really has everything for its genre (sci-fi, mecha). The only bad thing about it is you have to play through MuvLuv Extra and Unlimited to understand Alternative.

[shinta|hikari]

Umineko no naku koro ni chiru (ep 5-8) and Little Busters! are out.

I am currently downloading Umineko (my internet connection suddenly sucks, so it might take days) while playing Koihime Musou.

I just finished A Profile, and while trudging along Koihime, I am starting to fear that what has happened with anime has also come to pass with VNs for me. I have simply completed the best of them, and everything else simply pales in comparison. I really hope Umineko changes my mind (though crap art and no voices will hurt its chances).

[Xrlderek]

I'd play through 1-4 first if you haven't (if you've only seen the anime version of those).. Just doubt you'll get as much enjoyment from just the anime + 5-8 as with all 8 chapters in VN form. (just blind assumptions from me obv)

Playing Steins;Gate at the moment, looks really good and I'm only barely into it, I think I'll watch the anime after.

Oh and I played through Yuno, great game. It has some very good parts for sure although I hate having to go through boring stuff to progress further (trying to find who to talk to). Definitely worth playing but wouldn't even try without the text walkthrough. I think I would if it wasn't for how annoying it would be to have to start over/backtrace if you've messed up something, not like there's a skip function.

[Xrlderek]

Steins;Gate was incredibly good. Patch is still in "unedited" status but I really didn't mind or find that many mistakes (english obv isn't my first language though). Going to watch the anime now :p One of the best visual novels I have read for sure, just insane how much better than chaos;head it was.

[David75]

Steins;Gate was incredibly good. Patch is still in "unedited" status but I really didn't mind or find that many mistakes (english obv isn't my first language though). Going to watch the anime now :p One of the best visual novels I have read for sure, just insane how much better than chaos;head it was.

The anime is too so much better that it will make you doubt it's from the same source, you'll even doubt there's a link at all, like it was another spacetime bubble or something. Then you'll immediately secure erase Chaos Head, burn any material you might have and try to wipe it from your memory.

[Kraco]

I installed Katawa Shoujo, and immediately after the first of the actual main characters appeared (in addition to the player character, obviously) I started wishing for voice acting. The first main girl you communicate with would be awesome with an appropriate voice actor. I can almost imagine it in my mind. It really feels like half of the game is missing.

Other than that, this seems really impressive. Even if it's crippled due to Enter not advancing the story. Hard to get used to that.

Edit: This game managed to give me my first (I think) BSOD in Win7. Impressive in its own way.

[Kraco]

Damn Katawa Shoujo. I ended up playing Lilly's route first mainly due to Shizune annoying me. So, after finishing Lilly I thought I'd try to get Misha's route next, because she was so funny right off the bat, despite having to suffer Shizune hanging around all the time. Yet it seemed like the story was veering toward Shizune against my wishes, so I went back and tried again. And again it felt like I was getting more of Shizune than Misha. I finally visited the official site and, lo and behold, it turns out Misha of all people doesn't have her own route. What blasphemy! I have zilch interest in Shizune, yet I must go through her route to get any Misha scenes... What a letdown.

[Xelbair]

one of bad ends in Shizune's route is due to focusing too much on Misha.

[Kraco]

I started playing Little Busters EX and the bloody fighting system is really rigged against the player. That's all I can think of unless I just have really bad luck for some unexplained reason. Well, the player character is hardly any mofo to begin with, but it still pisses me off.

[Kraco]

Doki announced Tomoyo After ~It’s a Wonderful Life~ English Patch release date (http://doki.co/2012/05/31/riddle_me_this/). The VN translation is set to be released 20th of July 2012. In other words in less than two months. Considering Tomoyo is my favourite of the girls, no Clannad news could make me happier than this (not that there would have been any other Clannad news coming but anyway).

[Xrlderek]

Muv Luv Alternative was great, very long story. You have to read Muv Luv Extra first which sucks because it is terrible. But in the end reading it was well worth it. Highest rated VN and for good reason. I love how, after making this amazing game, they immediately went back to make another harem/no-plot game as a remake of Muv Luv Extra with the characters introduced in alternative added in. Why would you do that ;_; Make some more good plot games instead sigh.

I got through the common route of never7 (all that is translated so far) but it didnt feel very good. Not good at all compared to Ever17/Remember11..

Def playing Rewrite when it gets fully translated.

This one sounds really good: http://vndb.org/v3144
But it's only partially translated so far.

[shinta|hikari]

I almost finished Family Project, and it was pretty good. I was able to relate to the MC, so that was a plus.

I am currently playing Period, and it has one of the best interfaces I have played. Very sleek and simple, yet beautiful. I have not played enough to comment on the story though.

Never 7 just got fully translated. Why is it not as good as the other two games?

MuvLuv Alternative is one of the best I have ever played. It has its flaws, but in terms of overall experience and satisfaction, very few compare.

[Xrlderek]

Never 7 just got fully translated. Why is it not as good as the other two games?


Well on second thought it's a bit silly of me to say as I'm only done with common route + one other. But it felt a bit rushed, then tried to set up a very dramatic/emotional moment and I thought it failed at that.. didn't like the characters too much either. Didn't know it was released fully though, ty. Will def read it then

[Xrlderek]

Did anyone read rewrite yet? Not a huge fan of the premise but it looks very polished and professional at least, which usually makes for a great story.

[shinta|hikari]

I am currently reading it. It is very different from other KEY works in terms of premise and direction. There is a lot more action than usual.

The comedy is still there though. I am still not up to the teary parts yet so I can't tell if the drama is up to par.

[Xelbair]

I've finished one route, and my friend finished the whole VN.
It was fun, but predictable. When i have spare time i'll go for one more route.

[Kraco]

Man, I have barely started Rewrite, but I have to say the player character is a few bits short of a full byte. Not that the other characters would be any averages either. Of course I haven't yet played nearly so far that I'd have seen even a trace of a bigger story, so I can't say anything about the predictability Xel is lamenting.

Regardless, it's nice to be playing a totally new Key game again.

[shinta|hikari]

I never really thought of Key works as unpredictable. Rather than plot originality, I think character development and delivery is what sets them apart.

[Kraco]

This game must have the worst bad ends I've seen in any VN. At least based on the one I ended up with. In fact I thought things were finally speeding up and looking good (to be entirely honest, I found parts of the game quite boring)... And then I got a few lines of text that looked completely meaningless and were thrown to the title screen. I wasn't expecting any Tiger Dojos (which I didn't read, btw), but this made the game look either unfinished or sloppy.

[Kraco]

I have still a few routes of Rewrite left, but I decided to refresh my brain with something else for a change. I played one route of Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru, which was strangely entertaining in small doses.

Then, despite all the bad things I've heard about it, I decided to have a look at Edelweiss. I had downloaded it at some point a long time ago, but it had just been rotting on my HD (due to all the bad things I'd heard). The game itself seems petty and inconsequential, but the translation is so bad that it would make even Chihiro or Ayako's editors weep. I can't believe it's a fricking commercial release. Whoever were responsible for translating and editing it must really hate the English language and their work in general. Despite being in a language related work...

Edit: Actually it does have some funny jokes and scenes - but the language is still gross. Fortunately after all these years of anime I can already recognize a few phrases of Japanese to catch at least some of the stuff the company's translator apparently was incapable of translating.

[shinta|hikari]

I actually liked a few routes from Edelweiss. Some routes were pretty nakige, which I prefer, but the others are just boring.

I have run out of translated visual novels and am now reading raw ones. I am really enjoying White Album 2. I hope it gets translated so that it receives a larger audience.

I just hope that Fate/Hollow Ataraxia gets fully translated soon. It has been at 90+% for a while now, but the only partial patch is at 50%. I have read the first few parts of it, and it was pretty good.

Rewrite is probably the only Key work I am conflicted about. I usually love Key stuff to death, but this one is a bit weird. I am not sure if it is the VNs shortcoming, or if it is because I read it at a really low point in my life, making me unable to have fond memories of the experience. It is really different to other Key stuff because of it's focus on violence, especially in the final story sections. There are also so many crazy supernatural parts that can become quite confusing.

The BOOB ENDING was absolutely fantastic though. Worth all the effort of getting it.

[David75]

I'm also waiting for Fate Hollow Ataraxia.

translation speed has been very slow from 85 to 90%, then it did speed up a bit to get to the 96% we are now.

My guess is it will be ready for september, but maybe it's just wishful thinking.
I'm still undecided as wether I get it as soon as we get to 100% or if I wait a little more (like Xmas?) so that validation is also at 100%

[Kraco]

I'll wait. Type-Moon games definitely are worth waiting for. Besides, after all these years, what's a few months more anyway? Especially since I had already a long time ago given up the hope of ever reading it!

[shinta|hikari]

White Album 2 = Kamige.

[Y]

Visual Novels, when you're too shitty for a videogame, too illiterate for a book and too prudish for child pornography.

[David75]

Visual Novels, when you're too shitty for a videogame, too illiterate for a book and too prudish for child pornography.

I wouldn't be so sure for child pornography...

[shinta|hikari]

Yeah, there are a lot of them with 2d child porn.

[Kraco]

Visual Novels, when you're too shitty for a videogame, too illiterate for a book and too prudish for child pornography.


Yeah, there are a lot of them with 2d child porn.

The generalized term "loli(ta)" originates from a book, though. So, let's give the literate people at least some of the credit they deserve.

[Xelbair]

Finally got my hands on working Planetarian.. and AIR!

[shinta|hikari]

I haven't played AIR yet because it is just plain tragic.

I am currently playing If My Heart Had Wings Non-Crap Version (aka Japanese version). I have not touched the English one, but I understand how much the game is massacred if all the romantic scenes were removed. It isn't just the ero, even kissing and dirty jokes are supposedly taken out in the English release.

How do you guys feel about censorship in VN localizations? I have gotten bored of H-scenes and actually wish there is a function to skip them, but censorship is a different matter. Having the option to see the product in its entirety should always be present, especially if the parts that are going to be clipped are integral to the plot and/or character development.

[Kraco]

How do you guys feel about censorship in VN localizations? I have gotten bored of H-scenes and actually wish there is a function to skip them, but censorship is a different matter. Having the option to see the product in its entirety should always be present, especially if the parts that are going to be clipped are integral to the plot and/or character development.

Such censorship would be bullshit. While I can't say I'd have gotten bored of all ero, it's true I have got bored of it enough that I'd prefer every route to have just one or at most two h-scenes, assuming the route is romantic enough for it to feel natural. One thing preventing me from getting totally bored is the fact they are oft so comedic. Of course not at FSN level necessarily, but still more often than not. In story heavy (long) VNs I'm kind of looking forward to that scene as well, if I like the game and the characters, because of the aforementioned reason and because it's a part of natural development.

[shinta|hikari]

I am currently playing Grisaia no Kajitsu (http://vndb.org/v5154).

It has been a while since I last played a VN in English, and I am enjoying this title quite a bit. The protagonist is pretty bad ass. He reminds me of the protagonist in Sharin no Kuni since they are both smart and combat capable. The MCs personality is very much like Sousuke of FMP.

All the heroines are nutty in one way or another. If you enjoyed Sharin no Kuni even just a little bit, I suggest picking this up. I guess the only weakness would be that there is no true path.

[Kraco]

I have also been reading it of late. Although I still haven't finished even a single route. It has some really funny scenes, many of them arising from the main character's weirdness. Sagara Sousuke is exactly the character I was thinking of as well when reading it. The slight difference would probably be the deeper darkness in this dude, which shows in his more cynical and pessimistic attitude. Being suspicious of everything and everyone is the same, for sure.

From my perspective the weakness of this VN seems to be the feeling of repetition I started to get. It's almost always the same few places, the same very limited number of people, and thus it feels like almost all the scenes will end the same way as well because the characters are so quirky you soon predict how they will act. I wish they had at least drawn more backgrounds.

[shinta|hikari]

I think that was inevitable because they are stuck in one place with the same people as part of the setting.

I have not finished a route yet, but Amane's goes into a really long flashback, with a ton of new characters and backgrounds. That is something to look forward to, at least.

<3 Kazuki

[Kraco]

I have not finished a route yet, but Amane's goes into a really long flashback, with a ton of new characters and backgrounds. That is something to look forward to, at least.

That's good to know. I guess I was judging the game prematurely in that case, if the emphasis is clearly on the latter portion like I can infer from your words. Although that doesn't change the fact the first portion could have used some more innovative writing to avoid the feeling of repetition. But then again, since all the decisions are quite late in the game, there's no reason to struggle through any of it later for the other routes.

When you said a lack of a true path, did you mean there are no good or bad ends? Or that no girl could be said to be the main girl of the story?

[shinta|hikari]

The latter.

VNs with a true path are usually good precisely because of that path.

[Kraco]

That might be true, but on the other hand some VNs have had such an obvious main girl that I never felt like playing the routes of the other ones because it sort of felt like the main girl was the one that was supposed to happen. Thus I missed a lot of the content, even if I got the main story. So, I don't think a clear true path is always an entirely good thing.

[shinta|hikari]

The thing is, the content that you missed, was fine missed. In any case, most VNs that have a true path usually require you to play most, if not all, other paths before that is unlocked. In fact, I fail to remember a VN that allows you to get the true path without clearing at least some of the others.

[Kraco]

I don't think there's such a universal rule. Some VNs unlock either whole new routes or some alternatives to old routes after you have finished certain prerequired paths first, but there are also VNs that allow you to pick whoever you want in whatever order you want. They might open some bonus later when all is cleared, but that's it.

I was mainly remembering one or two VNs I played years ago that had a kind of title girl, and I never ended up playing any other. It's like playing only Saber's route in FSN, since Saber arguably is the title girl of FSN (and you are even forced to play her path first).

[shinta|hikari]

Like I said, there are exceptions, such as Sharin no Kuni and G-Senjou, where you can directly finish the "true" route without any preconditions. However, that is because these 2 games practically forsook the other heroines. The most common criticism you will see for these 2 games is the fact that all other routes aside from the true one sucks (in comparison, at least).

I am not talking about going after the title girl, because every VN seems to have one, but that path's content is not really much different from the other heroines. A true path is usually much longer than any other path, and most of the time requires one to finish some or all other paths.

Examples from those I played are:
Baldr Sky
Clannad
White Album 2
Hatsuyuki Sakura
MuvLuv
Fortune Arterial
Rewrite
Ever17
Little Busters!
Symphonic Rain
Cross+Channel

And these are all really good, mostly because of the really developed true path. They usually require the reader to finish the other paths because the information gleaned from those are essential in understanding the actual story the VN intends to tell.

The distinction I am trying to make can be seen from Dracu-riot!. The main girl is clearly the redhead, but there is no true path, no after story, no story more developed or longer in length than the rest. Another example, for clarity, is Kono Oozora ni Tsubasa wo Hirogete and Kotori, its main girl. Generally, those types of VNs are mediocre at best. There are of course exceptions like Tsukihime and FSN, but Nasu's work is hardly representative of the average VN.

Another trend I seem to notice is that games with no alternate paths are usually great. Higurashi, Umineko, and Steins;Gate all fall into this category.

[Kraco]

Haha, I can't really argue with you. You must have read many times more VNs than I have, gaining a much better statistical understanding of their structure. But I suppose it's safe to say that, statistically speaking, it's like you said: VNs that invest heavily in a good story do place limitations and requirements more often that the flimsier ones. Probably the folks at the studio would even be sorry if people played only one route of the more extensive quality VNs, which might serve as one reason encouraging them to code in an unlocking sequence, in addition to needing to reveal the full story in parts and differing perspectives.

[shinta|hikari]

Almost done with Yumiko in Grisaia no Kajitsu. Finished all the others.

The most interesting parts are indeed after making a path choice. The endings are also very satisfying and conclusive, some more than others. While all the girls have sad or downright traumatic pasts, there is still great variation on how the story develops and what kind of role Yuuji plays. Yumiko and Makina paths have the most action, but I think the Michiru and Sachi paths are more emotional. Amane's story feels the weakest but it really isn't even about her, but the best girl in the VN, so it is still a good read. Overall, this is a really good VN, a definite exception to the usual mediocre no true path VN.

It has not delved too deeply in Yuuji's past, because that seems to be tackled in the sequels Grisaia no Meikyuu and Rakuen, which I am currently downloading.

[shinta|hikari]

Sorry for the double post, but I think this update is worth some attention.

I just finished playing the main story for Grisaia no Meikyuu, and I was wrong about this story not having a true path. The succeeding games contain that true path, while the first introduces most of the characters. Overall, this series of VNs are kamige. The sequels aren't translated yet but they will probably be eventually because of the sheer quality of this VN series. Anyone who wants a great read should give the Grisaia series a try.

[Kraco]

Alright, I have finished Yumiko, Amane, and Sachi of Grisaia. I have trouble believing in my chances of playing Michiru and Makina. Michiru's normal mode seems so goddam stupid and listening to Makina is like twisting a knife in your ear. Yumiko, Amane, and Sachi were good, though.

One thing I found amusing is Yuuji's looks. I think it was in Sachi's route where some kid said he looks evil. And indeed he looked like a killer. In the last scene of Yumiko's route his older looks were that of a host from some host club. I guess that's development, after a fashion.

[shinta|hikari]

You have to play Makina's route at least. She isn't as noisy because there are so many things happening around them that she has no time for her jokes. It is also probably the most action oriented path, and a lot more serious and dangerous for both Yuuji and Makina.

Michiru's route was something I really enjoyed. Her current self is nothing like her past, and she also has a side to her that is infinitely less annoying even in the present. Her route resembles Sachi's more, because Yuuji tries to help her with her issues with little risk to himself. Michiru's straightforward idiotic dedication to Yuuji is also very charming at times.

[shinta|hikari]

Has anyone played Yumina the Ethereal? I was just wondering if story is worth playing through the RPG parts. Does it get more serious or will it end with school life and the election?

[Xelbair]

I've played past the election - except SF themed game, with fights vs aliens(and prior to that - mechs)

[shinta|hikari]

Conquered Kirara's route and almost done with Ai's.

The gameplay of Yumina the Ethereal is way too repetitive and time consuming. Even with the fast forward on all the time, it still takes forever to advance the story. The quests are also retarded.

Kirara was extremely cute. I love the gap between her deep voice and loli moe appearance. Her facial expressions are the best, especially the triangle mouth expressions. I am not enjoying Ai's route as much, but that is to be expected considering my preferences.

[David75]

Just a little update to tell anyone interrested that Fate/Hollow Ataraxia translation is at 100% as of today.
I guess they still need some time to integrate that in the patch, if they do because there's quite a backlog of translation check to be performed.

So either we have a nice Xmas gift with full translation, even with some mistakes here and there, or we wait 6 months for the fully validated update. But it might even take another full year. Wait and see!

[Xelbair]

insider info: it will drop to 50% because it requires editing, that was just the translation progress. plus there are some problems with coding.

[shinta|hikari]

LOL that was like heaven and hell in just 2 seconds.

If Ataraxia had voices I would have played it ages ago. Well, I am still midway through Irotoridori no Sekai and Rose Gun Days episode 2 is still waiting. Then there is Subarashiki Hibi.

Is the newly translated VN Ikinari Anata ni Koishiteru any good?

[David75]

Ouch.
That upper-cut did some damage.

Ok, I guess I might get it for my 40th birthday then :D

[Kraco]

You have to play Makina's route at least. She isn't as noisy because there are so many things happening around them that she has no time for her jokes. It is also probably the most action oriented path, and a lot more serious and dangerous for both Yuuji and Makina.

I finally finished Makina's route and thus the whole game. I'm not sure if it was wise or not to leave it as the last route to play, considering the ending was kind of darker than the other routes', although I have to say the bad end was pretty funny, in a morbid way.

One of the better VNs I've played. The routes were refreshingly different from each other, that's for sure, even though I wish the game had had four times the amount of location backgrounds to use. It was kind of repetitive and low-key in that sense. But that's a common feature for most VNs, so I guess it can't be helped, even when it would greatly benefit the story.

[Xelbair]

Then i have good news for you Kraco.
There are 2 more games in series - and they will get translated.

[shinta|hikari]

Meikyuu is fantastic. It is all about Yuuji's past. The rest of the content you can skip.

Rakuen was kinda meh. Some good parts, but too little Yuuji to be great.

I hope they translate only the relevant parts of Meikyuu so people can read it faster. It has the 2nd best female in the story after all, losing by a hair to Kazuki.

[Xelbair]

Director of the school? or someone else?

[Kraco]

Director of the school? or someone else?

Shouldn't it be Yuuji's dead master, Asako? That woman must have been something else.

I was hoping one of the other games had a Kazuki route, but I guess I was hoping for too much, based on Shinta's words.

[shinta|hikari]

Well, Rakuen could be considered something like a Kazuki route, but it was not written as well as the previous 2 games. It had too many unbelievable and convenient elements.

Since you guys don't seem to mind mild "spoilers," yes, Asako is my 2nd favorite, and Meikyuu is what can be called the Asako route.

[Kraco]

I finally finished the last routes of Rewrite. The Oppai ending was brilliant after the rather gruesome and not so full of happiness normal routes. Even though I've a feeling Akane might have a complaint or two...

A fine VN, all in all. Helluva lot of reading, but the characters, art, and music were splendid and the story interesting, as expected. With no H-content (despite the boobs) it even had a jolly cast of VAs, although listening to Ichigo so much during the last (non-oppai) route was a bit trying.

[shinta|hikari]

The Oppai ending was awesome indeed.

I am currently playing I/O, and it is very interesting. I like the mystery, but the art looks like crap. Not Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni crap, but still bad.

I also just finished the 2nd season of Rose Gun Days. It is a very fun read, full of bad ass characters. The art for the most part is great, but some side and mob characters look horribly drawn, likely by the same artist as Higanbana (and Higurashi, and Umineko PC versions).

[Archangel]

Is this any good?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/248800/

[shinta|hikari]

I actually have not played that yet. I was waiting for all episodes to be released before trying it.

I've stopped playing I/O for now because Comyu partial patch was released. It is a lot more action packed, not to mention the art is much better. All routes except for the final one is translated. You guys ought to try it.

[Xelbair]

I've just started I/O... or rather 1/0.

Yayoi is awesome.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm really liking Comyu. Genius female character, cool looking summons, nice descriptive action, and lots of sex. Good stuff.

[Kraco]

Playing Ignanock right now. Pretty good stuff. The atmosphere is well set, and the world is unique and interesting. If you want to try a real alter world fantasy, try this game.

I just started this. It's certainly different most most VNs I've touched. I'm only at the very beginning, but I hope the player character gets some spirit later. Now he seems like a doctor who's prescribing too much lithium for himself.

Edit: Awesome game: The first choice has two options and both lead to a bad end and game over.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm finally about to go into the Kagome arc in Comyu. Overall, it is quite a nice story so far, but I am betting the meat is in the final arc, which unfortunately, is still untranslated. I can read it just fine, but I cannot recommend it to you guys, especially Kraco, who will likely like the protagonist, because he is a cool ladies man.

[shinta|hikari]

I am currently playing Ayakashibito (http://vndb.org/v646), and I am loving it so far. It has one of the most likable (disregarding his relatively ugly face) protagonists. Humble, kind, innocent yet bad ass when necessary. The female characters are also interesting. I have only finished one route so far, and I think this should be branded as a nakige, since it made me cry a couple of times.

It has action, comedy and drama, and delivers all of it quite well. It is fully translated so please try reading it.

[Kraco]

I am currently playing Ayakashibito (http://vndb.org/v646), and I am loving it so far. It has one of the most likable (disregarding his relatively ugly face) protagonists. Humble, kind, innocent yet bad ass when necessary. The female characters are also interesting. I have only finished one route so far, and I think this should be branded as a nakige, since it made me cry a couple of times.

It has action, comedy and drama, and delivers all of it quite well. It is fully translated so please try reading it.

The description over at vndb sounds very interesting. I need to finish Shinigami no Kiss and have a look at it.

[shinta|hikari]

The art isn't stellar though. Nothing Koro ni level, but very far from Muramasa.

[Kraco]

Isn't the world's only Jinyou tolerant city located in Japan?

Doesn't Japan only lose to South Korea in xenophobia, of the developed countries? This might have been the best joke of the intro section of the game.

Seems like quite an interesting game based on the very beginning. I'm glad you mentioned it, Shinta. I doubt I'd have noticed this otherwise.

[shinta|hikari]

I just finished it. I liked Touko's arc the best. I want a friend like Shugen too.

It was a good real overall, mainly because the MC was so likable. He was just so damn nice.

[Xrlderek]

If anyone here has read I/O revision II, am I supposed to understand the story before the last possible route? because many months ago I got to like "C'" and stopped around there while feeling pretty damn stupid because of not really getting it. I think I either misunderstood something or the whole (spoiler) machine vs machine thing was just underwhelming for me. Are there big moments after this?

[shinta|hikari]

I couldn't get past the start of the third part. I find the whole thing boring overall.

I can't wait for Ataraxia and Mahoyo to be released. I'm guessing they will be Christmas releases, so it is going to be a wonderful holiday season for me. My best Christmas eve was spent reading Tsukihime, after all.

[Archangel]

I couldn't get past the start of the third part. I find the whole thing boring overall.

I can't wait for Ataraxia and Mahoyo to be released. I'm guessing they will be Christmas releases, so it is going to be a wonderful holiday season for me. My best Christmas eve was spent reading Tsukihime, after all.

http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/5046-Fate-Hollow-Ataraxia-Translation-Patches

This is already playable, supposedly

[shinta|hikari]

I'm waiting for the proper release.

[Xelbair]

If anyone here has read I/O revision II, am I supposed to understand the story before the last possible route? because many months ago I got to like "C'" and stopped around there while feeling pretty damn stupid because of not really getting it. I think I either misunderstood something or the whole (spoiler) machine vs machine thing was just underwhelming for me. Are there big moments after this?

Yes there are some nice moments, and twists. C route is the most weird one (because time is actyally reversed in C but after E(E' actually) it all makes sense.
play them in order though A -> B -> C -> D ->A'(it picks off after A, so you can go straight to it, same with other ' routes) -> B' ->c'->d' -> E+E'

otherwise you might have problems unlocking E.

[shinta|hikari]

Playing Fate/Hollow Ataraxia now. It's more of a fandisc than a sequel, but it is absolutely awesome.

Seeing Saber (being cute as hell, I wanna die sometimes) again was already worth it. Add to that Rider and her pure hotness, and you have a fantastic VN. Rider actually managed to make Sakura less annoying to me, and that's quite a feat. This would have been even better voiced, but it's already great as is.

The minigames are cute and the skits are hilarious. The dark parts are gorey as usual. To put it simply, it's fate all over again. With UBW airing, I am getting tons of Fate dosage, and that's always a good thing.

PS: Bazett is pretty awesome as well. I'm a sucker for girls in suits.

[David75]

Yeah, the lack of voices puts a damper on my will to even try to get it...
I think there's a handheld version with voices, I hope that some years down the line we have a port or mix of versions...