I see many frequently encountered issues in the visual novel community. I've taken some time to address them, with a focus on pragmatic solutions rather than long-winded explanations. Issue: I really like <insert type of VN>, but I can't find others like it, or I've already played through all the suggested titles. Answer: There's over 17k VNs in VNDB's database. 2356 are available in English. The sorts of VNs you're looking for are almost certainly there. Time to learn Japanese. Issue:
This rant stemmed from a conversation on Twitter. I'm posting this here purely because posting this line by line on Twitter seemed retarded, and I'd disable the forum notifications for this post if I could. You can dig through my recent Twitter replies if you want to see the context. Have fun. *** The problem is a bit more complicated than "some people don't like what I have to say". Sure, there's that, but the majority of detractors don't like how I raise my voice to be heard through the din. T
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I wrote previously about a display bug in Dual Tail's strategy eroge Venus Blood -Hypno- that prevented interface text from displaying correctly in non-Japanese Windows. Fan hacker binaryfail generously donated a patch that fixes the issue. I sent this patch to Ninetail (parent company of Dual Tail) via Twitter, requestin
Edit: Easy fix for this problem provided by binaryfail (scroll to Edit 1)!
After writing up my review for Venus Blood Gaia, I decided to launch into the next and most recent title in the series, Venus Blood Hypno. To my chagrin, upon starting the game I was greeted with a screen similar to the one above. Notice how the Japanese interface text is cut off?
English players of Japanese-language PC games will be familiar with the various locale hoops that need to be cleared to get these g
A community project to document visual novel compatibility with Windows 10 in one place in a unified, easily-searchable format.
Windows 10 VN Compatibility Community Project
Nutaku has been caught censoring dialogues implying non-consensual sex in free-to-play ero-RPG Kamihime Project R, reneging on earlier promises.
Rape scenes censored in Nutaku's Kamihime Project R
I wrote yesterday about the Steam Greenlight campaign for Debonosu's Kagura Douchuuki, a rogue-like H-RPG. Read my article for coverage of the announcement and a first impression. As Steam doesn't allow adult content, this release will be censored, with all adult content removed. Kagura Douchuuki contains dozens of H-scenes, so the content removed will be considerable. By my estimation, more CG will be removed than left behind. The game's art will be thoroughly gutted. Not only will the game its
Nutaku has a long history of undisclosed censorship, but this is surprisingly little known among eroge fans. DMCA abuses suggest a deliberate cover-up.
Nutaku caught abusing DMCA takedowns to censor evidence of censorship
Fuwanovel forum thread
Recently, a spirited argument erupted in the Monobeno -Happy End- project thread regarding the perceived poor quality of translation samples. As this a topic of general controversy in the fan translation scene, I decided it might be worth addressing on a general level to those who might not care about this particular title. Please don't take this post as an invitation to reignite controversy in that thread; post your comments here instead.
Fan translation is as much about the journey as the d
(This is the safe-for-work mirror of my LewdGamer article H-RPG Kagura Douchuuki Gets Greenlight for Censorship [NSFW])
Steam: An opportunity and a threat to ero-gaming
The opening of Steam to visual novels is changing the face of professional eroge localization. Until very recently this was a world where every eroge, no matter its merit or lack thereof, sold more or less the same. Story-focused eroge consume several times the resources in time and manpower as short sex-heavy titles, and l
I wrote this response to a thoughtful commenter on Reddit.
I would not support a non-adult only English release of Kagura Douchuuki, with a purchase or otherwise. I would also encourage other eroge fans not to support whitewashing of titles where sexual content was an integral part of the original concept (i.e., this title and MoeNovel's If My Heart Had Wings).
Just because a story can be told without sex doesn't mean it should. Just because it's easier to promote a game without sexual con
I'm trying out a new commenting system known as Disqus. Disqus allows you to manage comments across multiple websites, much as forum users can track responses across multiple threads on a forum. It even gives you notifications when you're browsing comments on one site that you have replies on another site. I think it's pretty neat. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I'm hoping that implementing a system like this will encourage more people to comment on my articles and generate discus
Overflow returns from the grave with Strip Battle Days 2, a rock-paper-scissors eroge with interactive touching scenes and fully-animated H-scenes.
Rock-paper-scissors eroge Strip Battle Days 2 to release in March
Ninetail announces an upcoming Kickstarter for an English version of Venus Blood Frontier, a corruption-focused strategy RPG with Law and Chaos routes.
SRPG eroge Venus Blood Frontier to get an English Kickstarter
Discussion thread
(An old parody I wrote in 2013, I'm reposting here for general amusement. See the original forum thread for initial reactions.)
Announcer:
It’s a beautiful day for baseball today in Eroge Stadium. I’m your host Sanahtlig here to provide commentary for Visual Novel Translation TV. Today the Localizers play against the Fan Translators in a special Western League All-Star game. This should be an interesting matchup. On the Localizers team we have representatives from Mangagamer inc
Translation errors in English releases often go undetected. Join me as I plunge down the rabbit hole to see how such errors affect the experience.
Seinarukana: A compilation of translation errors in the official English release
Peter Payne, owner of VN publisher JAST and the J-List empire, made the following comment in their official forums:
JAST's experience with RPGs
JAST has released several RPGs over the years, including the Raidy series, Brave Soul, Aselia the Eternal, and most recently Yumina the Ethereal. JAST has said hinted before that the Raidy series did very well for them, and they seemed quite eager to work on Raidy 3, so I'd infer that it's not included in this assessment. Brave Soul was heavily pir
Rapelay developer Illusion boldly promotes its upcoming virtual reality sex simulator VR Kanojo with a Steam Greenlight for the non-adult trial version.
Illusion reaches out to English fans with Steam trial of VR Kanojo
Fuwanovel discussion thread
Steam is now selling hardcore uncensored porn games. This has profound implications for eroge fans, developers, publishers, and distributors.
Sanahtlig's Corner: Valve opens Steam to uncensored eroge and hentai games
Personal blog (Sanahtlig's Corner)
VNDB profile
Fuwazette articles
LewdGamer articles
I've been into VNs since around 2002, and active in the community since about 2004. I go by various pseudonyms including sanahtlig, Dark_Shiki, and magusgs. Boards I actively follow include Mangagamer, JAST, Fuwanovel, and VNDB. I was also formerly active at NIS America. I've been actively following VN localization for over 10 years, so I've become familiar with business aspects of the marke
VNDB DLSite (NSFW) Official site
I came across this Japanese-language title while scrounging around for gameplay titles with defeat rape. I found the concept of defeat NTR intriguing, so I gave the game a spin.
The game's "prologue" spans almost half the game's length (~20hrs total) , and manages to tell a reasonably interesting tale of a broken nation's struggle against a brutal and militaristic empire. It starts off with a cliched love story between a knight commander (the protagonis
I'm from the US. We have a strong tradition of freedom here signified in the words of the US Declaration of Independence:
All men (and only men, but not African men) are created equal. We have a right to Life (except if drafted into the army), Liberty (except when others disagree with you), and the pursuit of Happiness (except if you're a repressed minority).
In addition, we enjoy unparalleled freedom of expression and as a culture we're strongly opposed to censorship in all its forms.
So some may have noticed that it's been a while since my last update. Some explanation is in order.
I was extremely displeased by the shift in policy that banned lolicon (non-explicit images and discussion) from the forums, together with (what I saw as) the suppression of dissent that followed. I saw this as a serious threat to the free exchange of ideas at Fuwanovel, a repudiation of my long-standing crusade to fight moral fanaticism against loli content, and also as an indication that Fuw
Seinarukana is an ambitious visual novel / SRPG hybrid that should appeal to fans of anime-style JRPGs like Ar tonelico and Agarest War.
In-Depth Review: Seinarukana + Info Hub
Review highlights:
Pros:
Classic JRPG storyline mixing comedy and high fantasy
Streamlined battle system with decent depth and no grind
Good value even at full price
New game + adds replayability
Choose the heroine Nozomu ends up with
All major characters except pro