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  1. Hey guys, just hopping in here quickly to say that no, the project has not died. It'll still be officially released by us regardless as that leaked version is based off an older version anyway. And sorry that this has been taking so long, but we will get to the finish line. Cheers
    18 points
  2. H2O √ after and another Complete Story Edition Release Download the patch (Google drive, Mediafire) (ver. 1.01, dated September 8, 2023) Description In H2O -Footprints in the Sand-, Hirose Takuma is a blind middle school student, though the cause for his blindness is undetermined. After his mother died unexpectedly, it left a deep emotional scar on him, causing him to become lonely and reserved. Due to this, Takuma moves from the city out into a rural area to live with his uncle and Takuma is enrolled into a new middle school. There, he meets several new girls, including the firm and obstinate Kohinata Hayami, the kind and obliging Kagura Hinata, and the cheerful and mysterious Otoha. In √ after and another, there are new after stories for two of the heroines from H2O (Hayami and Hinata), plus new routes for Yui and Hamaji/Yukiji, the latter of which also unlocks Maki's route. A version merging both games into one was later released, H2O √ after and another Complete story Edition. H2O VNDB: https://vndb.org/v473 √ after and another VNDB: https://vndb.org/v561 Where to purchase The game can be purchased legally from DMM (https://dlsoft.dmm.co.jp/detail/mnphs_0007/), but a Japanese proxy/VPN may be necessary to purchase it. That is where I obtained my copy. It goes on sale quite often, although it's pretty cheap even at full price, considering its age. Project The English localization project is being conducted by Studio Frisay, fresh off the completed Imasugu Onii-chan ni Imouto datte Iitai! project. As before I (Tooko) will be doing all of the translating and editing of the script, along with probably most of the image editing, and any engine work that needs to be done (of which is very little). Studio Frisay discord server Progress Programming: The game is built on the BGI/Ethornell engine, as with Imaimo before it, so I'm already familiar with how the engine works and have all the resources necessary to apply any hacks and build the completed patch once everything is done. In fact, there's a lot less work this time around on that front because the structure is a lot simpler, being a NVL game instead of an ADV game. Translation: The translation officially commenced on August 10, 2022 and was completed on January 28, 2023, although progress was initially very slow because of the ongoing work for the Imaimo patch at the time. However, I already translated a decent amount of the script (20%) by the time I announced the project a couple months later in October. The game has 73,547 lines across 167 scenario files split up between the common route and six character routes: Common: 6953 / 6953: 100% Hayami: 20620 / 20620: 100% Hinata: 14112 / 14112: 100% Yui: 13151 / 13151: 100% Hamaji: 4973 / 4973: 100% Maki: 5437 / 5437: 100% Otoha: 8301 / 8301: 100% Total: 73547 / 73547: 100% Images and videos: Aside from minor tweaks, all of the in-game images in need of editing are now completed. Editing of images is shared between me and nReus, who will also be typesetting lyrics onto the 9 OP/ED videos. The images include about 110 for the UI, and about 335 for the rest of the game, although most of those are minor variations on each other, so the actual number of unique images is much less. Editing: The editing of the game's text officially commenced on February 10, 2023, and it was completed on July 10, 2023. QC: The quality check phase involves going through a normal playthrough to check for any problems with the patch files and their rendering. This should took about two months, completing in early September. The patch is scheduled for release on September 8, 21:00 UTC. Progress link on Google Sheets
    10 points
  3. At long last, I can finally release the English patch for H2O √ after and another Complete Story Edition. Download via either Google drive or Mediafire. A lot of work went into this project over the past year, but despite the game's flaws (nothing's perfect, after all), it was still well worth the effort of translating this game into English. As a long-time fan of visual novels, I first heard about H2O way back in 2007 shortly before it had its anime adaptation the following year. However, like most anime based on visual novels, it was severely lacking and even changed some of the story. Fast forward about 15 years, and no one had ever translated the game, despite a couple of efforts (that I'm aware of) fizzling out years ago. So I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do, and also that you too fall under Yui-sama's spell (but don't worry, Yui won't hold it against you if she isn't your fav). There was also a lot of work and time put into subtitling, rendering and upscaling the 9 videos in the game, all done by nReus. This was very significant to the project, and also addressed an issue that came up with the videos due to the game's age and how it interacts with modern graphics cards. You can read about the issue (and how to fix it, if it affects you) here, and this is also mentioned in the readme file provided with the patch. A walkthrough is also provided with the patch, since the choice progressions that lead into the individual routes is a little unclear, and there are at least 2 routes where to unlock them requires multiple other routes to be completed, so if you get stuck on how to get to a specific route, you can read that. And if you encounter a target module error, edit config.json included in the patch on line 4 from BGI.log to BGI.exe.
    10 points
  4. Happy new year everyone! I'll be honest here, I had some last minute trouble and I couldn't get it in before the year end, but the common route is finally here. I have added a link to the download in the post, you can check it out. Hope you all enjoy it. I eagerly await everyone's feedback and criticism.
    9 points
  5. Just echoing what eplipswich said, we're still working on the project and it will get done. The leak hasn't discouraged us from seeing Aiyoku no Eustia to the end.
    8 points
  6. Sakura, Moyu. -as the Night's, Reincarnation- "This is a story for your life." Game Info Preface This is my first ever project as a translator, and as such, I do not expect to have the highest quality or even speed at the start. However, I really, really love this game. This game is the reason I decided to learn Japanese. I consider it a true work of art. I believe that more people deserve to know about this game and play it, which is why I will continue to translate it, proofread it, and edit it until the very end, until I'm satisfied, hoping that it becomes a "letter" to the "future". Current Progress More than halfway through the common route. (24th May 23) Common route completed, will release a patch after QC. Starting Chiwa route. (2nd Sept 23) Common route patch out, looking for feedback and continuing with Chiwa route. (1st Jan 24) The project began on 2nd April, 2023. Discontinued on 8th Jan, 2024 due to a request from NekoNyan. (Please read last post) Line-to-line progress Team Lead: @Xelane Translator/Editor: @Xelane Programmer: Kazuto Hitori Playtester: Muzz Downloads Common route patch How to install Simply copy paste the contents into your game folder. Run using either FVPLoader or Locale Emulator. *For more details please check Instructions.txt in the zip. Special thanks to @Akerou and @rr- for their tools to unpack/repack the game files. -------------------XXXXXXX------------------- If you have any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to express them.
    7 points
  7. You're welcome! It's pretty fun and is good Japanese practice.
    7 points
  8. I could wait 3 more years Anyways, we're just ironing out some images and it'll be scheduled soon for releasing. *fingers crossed*
    6 points
  9. ...Well then, Hello everyone. I'll try my best to release the common route patch by christmas or at least before the next year. The biggest thing that remains is editing the UI elements, which I have already translated and should (hopefully) be done by then. Most of the other stuff is done, so I'll release it soon.
    5 points
  10. You ever wondered why we still have a lot of visual novels without translations? Based on talks with people in the industry, watching the community, and analysis, here are 7 reasons why we don't have MORE VN translations:
    5 points
  11. Finished Maiya route up to the route switch option (090.s, 100.s, and 110.s.)
    5 points
  12. Two more bar is now in green, so at least there's more progress (If the green bar really meant it). As for the other routes, I may as well assume that the translator already done with QC (Or rather inserting the edited and QC-ed text into the in-game files) seeing that the Discord chat screenshot from NowItsAngeTime Youtube shorts that has the translator said he already inserting the text for Licia's chapter with the chat is from April 11th. There's also one of the user in Youtube did ask the Eustia guy, and the guy mention that he'll try to release it soon and sometimes in this year, although looking from how it currently going I may as well expect early 2024 release at best, because real life business can't be predicted easily. Of course though if we can see it somehow released in this year (Possibly as the Christmas prize), then good for the translator.
    5 points
  13. Finally after 5 months, the editing phase is complete! It's been a long time coming, since I first thought about creating a patch for this game around a year ago. Now that the QC phase is about to begin, it's a relief to know it's 90% complete, and for all intents and purposes, is a complete (beta) patch for the first time. Based on my experience with doing the Imaimo patch previously, that game had about 2.5-3% of the text changed from before and after the QC phase, but about half of that had to do with formatting, so it was closer to 1.5% that was altered (fixing typos, rewriting lines, etc.). That might not seem like a lot, but it makes a big difference when the game is actually played, and obviously results in a better patch. So the QC phase will be starting as soon as I recompile the game files, which is much easier this time around since there's only about 1/3 as many scenario files, and the other files are even quicker to deal with. So I'll get to work on that and go from there. PS: The game is once again 50% off on DMM until August 17.
    5 points
  14. Unlike last year when Nekonyan also participate, this time we have Mangagamer and Sekai Project announced some title, although those title are not a big one. Mangagamer Announcement 1 - Uchi no Koibito Announcement 2 - Nightmare x Vampire Sekai Project Announcement 1 - Kemonomichi Girlish Square Love + Plus Contains fluffy & ecchi afterstories for the heroines of the main game. Announcement 2 - Kemonomichi Girlish Square - By the way, Mangagamer actually also released Uchi no Koibito in which it made all three parts of Uchi trilogy available in English. With Shiravune take over the first part of Succubus Session trilogy, I wonder if Mangagamer will license Bishoujo Gakuen trilogy later. Sekai, well they did a good job for being predictable with Kemonomichi aka Animal Trail license instead of trying to pick up some bigger title from the same company such as Unless Terminalia. That's all for Anime Central 2023 announcements here.
    5 points
  15. The other day I saw some dudes on 4chan talking about some Noratoto's restoration patch and they said this: So it seems that there are some people working on a restoration patch (except for Shachi). I don't know anything more about it or who this Moeanon is (I checked, and it seems he has a profile around here at least). Since I never use 4chan, I just happened to stumble upon this conversation by coincidence the one time I entered the site, so I figured I'd post it here to see if anyone knows anything about it or if any of those guys are active around here too.
    4 points
  16. I knew it's been very late, but better late than never. Here's hoping this year will be better for us.
    4 points
  17. So once again the time has come for AX, which mean that we may get several interesting announcements. Still no idea on what Mangagamer will announce, but at least we know we'll have 4 announcements from them. Anyway, the schedule below and for the info the time is UTC -7. I'll list the announcements in this post later. PS - I'll list the announcements in here. Mangagamer JAST USA Type Moon JAST Blue Sekai Project That's all for the announcements.
    4 points
  18. Thats a bullshit,so they claims later who we prefer to piracy their VNs ¬¬
    4 points
  19. @HataVNI Honestly, I'd recommend at least creating discussion threads for the content posted on the main site. I believe it used to be the norm in the past. The discussions were often pretty interesting, and it would make the main site more visible for those of us who mostly visit forums.
    4 points
  20. Thank you so much for all your hard work WJHB. Genuinely this VN Translation would be dead in the water if not for you
    4 points
  21. alpacaman

    What are you playing?

    Started reading Cross Channel after @AmelieDoree's glowing review using the Amaterasu TL since it's supposed to be the only out of the three that's at least attempting to be somewhat accurate. I really like the game so far, but the TL notes are killing me sometimes. Like what the hell is this? 1) "My stomach bug" is not a personification. 2) English has a metaphor with the identical meaning: "my stomach growls". It's even comparing the noise to one an animal makes. 3) The phrase "stomach bug" also exists in English, and means something different. I'm usually quite lenient when it comes to TL quality, at least as long as there is some basic flow to the translated text, but when it's making me read three lines of text consisting of a wrong translation accompanied by a wrong TL note to explain a three word Japanese phrase that has an accurate three word English translation, it takes me out of the scene. So much so I decided to interrupt my read through and rant on the internet about it. Edit: the next line is "like a beast". Goddamnit.
    4 points
  22. You might like all games by Favorite then, or the upcoming Clover Day's next week.
    4 points
  23. Not a bad summary, but you left out a massive reason they're not very profitable - piracy. People feel a sense of entitlement to porn, and also a degree of guilt with buying porn, so they pirate it instead. It's estimated there are 10x as many pirated copies of eroge compared to the number of units sold. Add a section of the community that is toxic and encourages piracy or discourages purchasing because they have some personal beef, and you've got a clusterfuck right there. Whilst pirating is rife in all media areas, eroge seems particularly bad, which makes it much worse when the profit margins are so slim now. VN translation is not a good business model, and virtually all the Western localisers do it because they're passionate about the medium, and most of the staff accept relatively poor pay for the same reason.
    4 points
  24. And now I'm done with 090.s, marking the end of my first pass of Rui's true route. While I have done some editing myself, I think it could use another look, and if anyone knows enough Japanese to work on TLC I'd appreciate it. Either way, I'll revisit it after I get through the other untranslated sections. The party ending of Rui's route will remain untranslated until I get through the other heroines and begin work on the party route. I'm looking at doing Maiya's route next, since Keika's seems more difficult with all the slang. Hopefully by the time I tackle it I'll be more familiar with that stuff. Rui's route was about 100 hours of work in my spare time over the past 6 months. I think I can maintain the same pace going forward, though if my workload increases I might shorten the amount of time I spend on it per day to avoid burnout. I'll make a pull request and release a patch soon. Hope all of you enjoy it
    4 points
  25. It's been a while since I've done a visual novel publisher history retrospective video. This time I'm going to do Shiravune: a relatively newer publisher with quite the catalogue. Thanks to @TheLocalWeeb for editing!
    4 points
  26. Play the game on steam In this aimless darkness of space, this world that we’ve been placed on continues to turn. This world was fated to end since its inception. And on it, we mortals wait for its inevitable end. To travel through time, one must be willing to leave everything behind and be self-centered enough to change one's own fate. And changing one's fate means going against the very same God who placed us here. Genre: Time Travel, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Mystery Retrocausality is a kinetic visual novel where you encounter paradoxes, causal loops and inversions as you strive to make your dream come true. Set in Akihabara between the years 2000-2069, the story follows a group of college students who survive an anomaly only to find themselves in the midst of a temporal war. Game Info: Hello guys! I'm Thanatos and this is going to be my debut visual novel! This is a short game that was inspired by Steins;Gate. The game is now up on steam with Neoclassic Games publishing it. Here's the VNDB link and also my twitter. Let me know what you think about it! Features: Kinetic Visual Novel - In this predetermined world that we live in, there is no free will. We don't afford such a luxury. Cyberpunk setting - Dive into a futuristic cyberpunk dystopian world where everyone resides inside a structure ruled by a strict regime. Temporal War - Fights take place in ways you have never seen before, with characters inverting, completing paradoxes, and sometimes even causing causal loops. "The grandfather paradox is impossible. In fact, all paradoxes are impossible. The Everett-Wheeler-Graham or multiple world theory is correct. All possible quantum states, events, possibilities and outcomes are real, eventual and occurring." - John Titor Now if the grandfather paradox isn't a thing, does that mean that we can we kick grandpa down the stairs? Timeline: circa 2000 - Root timeline is newly constructed with the appearance of its creator circa 2020 - Time travel is proved to be possible circa 2039 - Temporal wars conclude circa 2064 - Temporal wars begin circa 2069 - The world's first time machine is built Did reading that hurt your one-dimensional time brain? In that case, try thinking backwards instead.
    4 points
  27. Okay, so it's been 3 months since I've been editing the script, and it's currently done up through Hinata's arc, bringing the total to 56.7% complete. With around 30K lines left to edit, I'm going to try to get done with it sometime around either late June or early July, so hopefully less than 2 months from now. Then I can finally start the QC phase, which should last about 2 months. What that means is that I'm currently shooting for a release of the patch sometime in September, which I'm very much looking forward to, and I hope you are, too. So with that, back to editing.
    4 points
  28. Hi there! I'd like to share my art with you and ask for your feedback on the style. I've combined pixel text, manga brush, and a simple brush in a single image. I hope it works well, but I need your feedback. Additionally, I'd like to know how many scene artworks my game should have. I'm concerned about creating fewer than what my fans expect, so I would really appreciate your suggestions. Thank you for your attention!
    4 points
  29. It's time for Getchu 2023 award, and the winner is unsurprisingly Sakura no Toki in which it's the sequel of very well received Sakura no Uta. Anyway, let's see top 10 below, and yes I did really mean 10 instead of 20 because somehow Getchu decided to just list 10 top rank instead of usual 20, which to say is quite understandable. By the way, you can view the result in this link. 1. Sakura no Toki -Sakura no Mori no Shita o Ayumu- - Makura - 2. Amakano 2+ - Azarashi Soft 3. Tenshi Souzou RE-BOOT! - Yuzusoft 4. Mashiro-iro Symphony: Sana Edition - Palette 5. Mashiro Iro Symphony -Love is pure white- Remake for FHD - Palette - 6. Koibana Ren'ai - ASa Project 7. Hapymaher - REGRET END - Purple Software - 8. Happy Live, Show Up: Encore!! - FAVORITE - 9. D.C.5 ~Da Capo 5~ - CIRCUS 10. Yuunagi-sou no S-kyuu no Kanojo-tachi 2 - MOONSTONE Cherry Despite fewer number on the list, we still have the winner for each categories, so I'll list it below. Best Scenario: Sakura no Toki -Sakura no Mori no Shita o Ayumu- Best Game System: Amakano 2+ Best Graphic: Tenshi Souzou RE-BOOT! Best Soundtrack: Sakura no Toki -Sakura no Mori no Shita o Ayumu- Best Movie: Tenshi Souzou RE-BOOT! Best Character: Tanikaze Amane from Tenshi Souzou RE-BOOT! Best Erotic Contents: Bunny's Mama Daikou Service That's all for the list, and admittedly speaking the list show the worrying state of VNs in Japan.
    3 points
  30. Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete (In Search of the Lost Future) Description At Uchihama Academy, the number of new students at the school has been increasing every year, so a new school building is constructed. Before they move to the new building, the school will hold one last cultural festival at the old building before it is closed down. Each of the clubs decide to give it their all to make it a success. The student council asks the astronomy club to calm the uneasiness among the students in regard to mysterious incidents at the old building. Sou Akiyama, a member of the astronomy club, is inspecting the old building when he finds a mysterious naked girl, Yui Furukawa, who appears to know him. The next day, Yui expresses her desire to join the astronomy club. (Description taken partially from VNDB and Wikipedia.) VNDB link: https://vndb.org/v4880 Where to purchase The game can be purchased legally from DMM (https://dlsoft.dmm.co.jp/detail/tin_0002/), but a Japanese proxy/VPN may be necessary to purchase it. In addition, there's an extra layer of DRM which requires the installation of the DMM Game Player software which then allows you to download and install the game. A Japanese VPN is necessary to use DMM Game Player, both to download the game once purchased, and also to launch the game, although once launched the VPN can be turned off. This is the copy I have obtained, but the patch will work with both the DMM version and the original disc version released in 2010, although the only difference will be in their encryption and the addition of one extra file to get the disc version to work on modern systems. Project The English localization project is being conducted by Studio Frisay as its third project following Imasugu Onii-chan ni Imouto datte Iitai! in 2022 and H2O √ after and another Complete Story Edition in 2023. As before I (Tooko) will be doing all of the translating and editing of the script, along with probably most of the image editing, and working on the game engine. Also as before, nReus has agreed to help with the rendering of the game's videos and also some of the image editing (you can largely thank him for the design of the logo above). Studio Frisay discord server Progress Programming: The game uses the Kirikiri engine, one of the most popular and versatile engines around. I've already taken care of the preliminary engine hacks necessary to construct the patch after a lot of trial and error, and also received some help to streamline the patch creation process once the project is complete. Translation: The translation officially commenced on January 19, 2024. However, I already translated about 25% of the script by the time I announced the project a couple months later in March. The game has 35,416 lines across 180 scenario files split up between the five heroine routes: Kaori: 8519 / 8519: 100% Airi: 4101 / 7368: 55.7% Nagisa: 0 / 7356: 0% Yui 1: 0 / 8334: 0% Yui 2: 0 / 3839: 0% Total: 12620 / 35416: 35.6% Relatively uncommon for this type of game, it doesn't have a separate common route and instead incorporates elements similar to a common route into the beginning of each route. There is also a set order the routes must be completed, which is the same order they're listed above. A full walkthrough will be provided with the patch to view all CGs and endings. Progress link on Google Sheets
    3 points
  31. Goldenarrow7778

    SNOW

    SNOW VNDB Fan-Tl Patch By Studio Mebius Description: The story of Snow starts when the main protagonist Izumo Kanata visits a small village called Ryujinmura (village of the dragon god) to help his cousin Tsugumi manage a local hotel with hot springs. In the village there is an old legend: In ancient times, the village is protected by the dragon goddess. However, one day the dragon goddesses fell in love with a human, which is strictly forbidden, and this incident finally caused the village to be always covered by snow after that. The game then tells the daily life of the protagonist in the village, and finally links the story to the legend of dragon goddess. Ending Guide Sumino>Asahi>Legend>Shigure>Ouka>Meiko>Mysterious Girl There is an enforced playing order after the first 2 routes. (H) = Hentai scene Sumino Asahi Legend Linear Route. Shigure Ouka Meiko Mysterious Girl
    3 points
  32. Time for another update, and the translator stated this is the last update before Yuzuki's patch release. As for the updates, it's simply that the translator will pushing the release on either March or at the very latest April 1st (To honor Bishoujo Mangekyou 2.5 full translation patch release at last year), so yeah it's almost time for Ginharu full translation patch release. For a bit of elaboration, actually the translator tried to push Yuzuki's patch release on February, although he thought it can't be done because the hacker just got through surgery with said hacker bedridden from it. Oh yes, it also has status update, and it simply says 'Finishing QA'. That's all for (Hopefully) the last update before Yuzuki's patch release.
    3 points
  33. I guess it's time to post some mini reviews of the VN's I've played in the last half year or so, before I forget about them. I list them in the order how much I liked them. The last VN I read is the first episode of Tokeijikake no Ley Line and it's also the one I liked the most. I haven't read a VN so far that managed to capture the feeling of a Hogwarts magical school so well like this one. The art style is really great, even if the sprite dynamics felt a bit too static if you're used to Yuzusoft stuff. The music is also decent most of the time, even though some tracks felt a bit repetitive after a while. The protagonist was a pretty cool dude and the heroines were also very likable. The VN does focus mostly on the story, with the heroine stories being rather short. But the VN did actually commit to the story, so almost everything was drawn that was actually happening, which is in no way a small feat. According to Steam it took me about 25 hours to read, which is pretty fine for the prelude to a trilogy. Heroine ranking: Tsubaki > Fuhito > Ushio > Rito > Neko Overall rating: 7.5/10 (Could get even better depending on how the trilogy continues) Tokyo Nekro was a VN I had a particular technical interest in, because it's using an actual game engine. Meaning it has a lot of animated characters and stuff. And in general I'd say the VN did succeed in what it tried to achieve. While the background textures did feel rather PS2 area outdated, the characters itself turned out surprisingly well. The combat scenes in particular deserve praise. At least the third person scenes, because they were pretty well done, while the ego scenes felt a bit too much like cheap Doom imitations. Nevertheless, the VN had a visual fidelity that bordered on an anime. Story wise it was a bit hit or miss. I was actually lucky to accidentally end up in Con Su's route, which actually felt like the true route. It wasn't really a romance route and more of a platonic friendship route focused on Con Su and Ilia and their origins. I was also lucky that an update had overwritten the adult patch. I restored it for the other routes and I did regret it. The H-scenes felt completely random and all over the place ranging from vanilla to disturbing. I heard that Ilia's route would be the main route, but I'd definitely disagree. It was just running after Milgram forever. It shared a lot with Mitsumi's route, but Mitsumi's was better since it was shorter. Something that was irritating about the VN were the two protagonists. I'm not a big fan of that in general, but this was really exhausting. The protagonists did switch so frequently that they were almost rotating. Sometimes even other characters got protagonist which made it even more confusing. Another annoying thing was the helmet view, that blocked almost half of the screen. It did took me almost 50 hours to finish the VN with only the Kiri route left, which felt a bit too long for my taste. I'd also give a small warning that this VN has some VERY gory scenes, that can easily compete with Kara no Shoujo. And I'm not talking about simple zombie splatter, but stuff like opening the skull of an arguably living person to manipulate its brain. Overall rating: 7/10 (Could have been better with single protagonist and less edgy content) Next is Hello Lady. The highlight of this VN is probably the protagonist and the male voice actors in general. The story is a bit of a spin off of the Count of Monte Cristo. While the protagonist was kinda cool, his frequent Casanova phases of excessive sexual harassment got old and tedious pretty fast. Another problem of the VN was the lack of commitment towards the story. It felt like they took the CG set of a pure moege and tried to twist it with a half assed story where barely anything plot relevant was drawn. Another problem was the lacking chemistry between the protagist and the heroines. I never got the feeling that they are more than just playthings for a few days to have some fun with until they are thrown away. His maid Hishia Mori felt like the only one he seemed to have some feelings for. The routes therefore felt very lackluster since neither the romance nor the plot was convincing. Especially since the routes felt extremely repetitive and the true route wasn't much better either. In total it did cost me almost 60 hours to finish the VN and it was in no way worth that time. Maybe 30 hours, but not 60. Heroine ranking: Somehow none of them really clicked with me, even if I didn't dislike them... Overall rating: 6/10 Next was Cyanotype Daydream. This was a rather odd VN, since it's pretty much split in 3 side stories and a final true story. I've seen comments comparing this to The House in Fata Morgana due to its plot structure. However, I beg to disagree. While the introduction stories of Fata Morgana have a lot to do with the actual plot, introducing most of the main characters, the same can't be said about the ones in this VN. They share a bit of a 'broken romance' theme, but besides that they are so unrelated to the actual main story that you could just pick a few random VN's from VNDB and read those instead. Even worse, none of them was particular convincing and I skipped most of them after a while since I found the characters not particular likable and the storys somewhat boring. That said, the actual main story is actual quite decent with likable characters and an interesting world. However, it suffered from the fact that a lot of resources were wasted in some rather mediocre side stories. The VN would have been a lot better if they would have fully commited to the main story and flesh out the world with more characters. Heroine ranking: Yonagi > Izumo > don't care Overall rating: 6/10 (I'd rate the main story higher, but forcing those mediocre side stories on me demands punishment) Okay, I wish they would have stopped the Flowers series with the last part -Le volume sur automne- on a high. Instead we got this. So, there are two main problems with this VN. First, there's no romance arc this time, so the VN has to rely on its final revelation plot to justify its existence. Which leads us to the next problem, that the revelation plot was a complete joke and it came extremly late. Even some of the micro mysteries of the predecssors were better than that. Furthermore, it tried to antagonize some of its best characters which just made no sense. There were also almost no new characters, and the whole slice of life that was left felt like copy & paste from the previous VN's. Overall, this was a fan disc at best and even for that it did a poor job. My personal recommendation would be to just skip this VN, since it adds nothing of worth to the series. Overall rating: 5/10 So, that was it for now. Currently reading the recently translated TypeMoon VN Mahoutsukai no Yoru, with the second episode of Tokeijikake no Ley Line next in line.
    3 points
  34. After being visited by the crash glitch from hell and taking a bit of a break for the holidays, 050.s is finally done and pushed. Unaware never gets old to me when done well.
    3 points
  35. Just created this account for the sole purpose of writing a comment here I heard about Sakura Moyu a while back and as I kept digging for opinions and review, I found nothing but praise for it. As such, I'm really happy you decided to undertake this giant project for the sake of sharing a story you love with the rest of the English speaking world. And for me, that is is key point, that you love what you are translating. Now, I apologize if this is a bit cheesy, but when I hear about any big localization company picking up a VN, I'm usually really skeptical about the quality of whatever they plan to release. Hearing you say that you absolutely adore this game, and that is even your reason to learn the language, I immediately went "yup, that's it, I feel pretty good about this one". The skills needed for this can be learned and improved along the way, but someone's devotion for a piece of fiction can't. If you're willing to commit and pour everything you have into this, iterating over and over until you are satisfied, I wholeheartedly believe it's in good hands. No one will be more demanding than a true fan, after all. Heck, for me, even the fact that some things ended up being translated a bit too literally is a good sign. Sure, there might be inexperience, but also extreme care being put into not altering the original message. Ok, cheesy remarks over. I'd love to contribute to the project somehow, but I can't even offer my help as a proofreader, what with English not being my native language and being unable to pick up on odd-sounding stuff. Regardless, you have all my support and appreciation for what is worth. Keep it up man!
    3 points
  36. 05mai_040.s done and pushed! Sorry for the delay; I didn't have as much free time this past semester. I should be able to get some good work done over winter break, though. Anyway, there's the first Maiya H-scene. I felt like a lot of the prose was pretty awkward, but that's also kind of inevitable with how the original was written I guess (and kind of inevitable for eroge H scene prose in general.) If you have any feedback, let me know!
    3 points
  37. A moderator in my personal discord has made a visual novel waifu tier list template with over 1000 options. In this video I will be making a tier list of about 160 of those girls. If you want to make your own tier list You can follow this template link. I am interested to see other people's opinions: https://tiermaker.com/create/albireos-ultimate-vn-wiafu-tier-list--fixed-16036676
    3 points
  38. Hey fellow anime enthusiasts! I couldn't help but notice that we're all seriously sleeping on one of the most crucial topics of our time: the undeniable adorableness of blonde anime girls! I mean, come on, they're practically the embodiment of cuteness itself! Let's dive into this important discussion, shall we? First off, have you ever seen a blonde anime girl with those big, sparkly eyes that could rival even the brightest stars in the galaxy? It's like they have a direct connection to our hearts, and every blink just melts away our worries. And let's not forget about those innocent expressions that could make even the most stoic person burst into a puddle of pure joy. And can we talk about their hair for a second? That golden mane flowing in the wind like a majestic waterfall of sunshine is a sight to behold. It's like they've got their personal spotlight following them everywhere, making sure they're always the center of attention. But wait, there's more! Blonde anime girls seem to have a magical ability to stumble into the most hilarious situations. Whether they're tripping over their own feet or getting caught in a series of misunderstandings, their clumsiness is nothing short of endearing. It's like the universe conspires to keep them adorably flustered, and we're just here for the laughs. Oh, and let's not overlook their impeccable fashion sense. Whether they're rocking the classic schoolgirl uniform or the latest trend, they manage to make every outfit look like it was tailor-made for them. How do they do it? Is there a secret academy for being effortlessly cute that we don't know about? In conclusion, it's clear that blonde anime girls have mastered the art of cuteness in ways we can only dream of. With their captivating eyes, luscious locks, hilarious mishaps, and fabulous fashion, they've stolen our hearts and earned a top spot in the Kawaii Hall of Fame. So, let's raise our virtual toast to these golden-haired wonders who continue to bring smiles to our faces and warmth to our anime-loving hearts! Stay kawaii, my friends! Yuuko out!
    3 points
  39. Almost every beginner visual novel guide has story, gameplay, and western original visual novels. What about for people who want to try that slice of life genre? In this video, I'll provide 10 moege options for those new to the genre.
    3 points
  40. Well, there are certainly still a lot of problems. Unlike computer games, VN's get barely any media coverage. And there are usually no standout lighthouse titles that could expand the scene. We still rely on the occasional oddball like Nekopara or Doki Doki that for some reason manage to get more attention. And due to their explicit content, they are usually more difficult to talk about wih other people. And selling those titles is still a problem. While it's easier on Steam than in the past, many titles have to split the adult content into a separate patch or don't make it at all on Steam. And not everyone likes buying incomplete versions that require additional patches. And in addition to that, there are 'regional restrictions' *sigh*. German Steam blocks every adult VN by default for years now that can be bought in the US and other countries without problems. Sometimes even if the adult content is split into a separate patch for whatever reason. Like Hatsuru Koto Naki Mirai Yori for example. I'd really like to buy it, but since it's only available on Steam and Steam blocks it in Germany, the only way I could get it, would have to be to pirate it. Another problem is that VN's usually are a significant time investment. So, many people probably won't buy more than they can read. Other than me who still buys almost everything I just want to read at some time, leading to an ever growing backlog. On the other hand I'm kinda positvely suprised how many VN's we are actually getting in the west. Thanks to strong newcomers Nekonyan and Shiravune (relative to MangaGamer, Jast and Sekai at least) in particular, we do get a decent number of titles translated. And we actually do get a lot of the good ones. What the publishers could definitely do to improve the situation, is to improve the shopping front. An English Getchu variant where I could get ALL titles would be great. Nekonyan at least sells their titles also on MangaGamer, but Frontwing sticks to Steam and if Steams blocks the title in my country, I just can't get it. I'm also unhappy with Shiravune's Johren which feels unnecessary complicated in almost every way. I couldn't even find a way to filter out untranslated VN's when browsing titles. And the one title I once bought made my Windows Defender go crazy. I also see AI translations as a great opportunity and unlike others, I see it as a great way to make work easier for translators and not as a threat to them.
    3 points
  41. It is an issue, and one that doesn't really need to happen with localized VNs. To be blunt, compared to JVNs that haven't been localized, the prices are unbelievably cheap even in the most expensive cases. There is no excuse for pirating localized VNs... especially since sales on digital versions are a regular thing if you just wait.
    3 points
  42. I've red a handful of VNs over the past few months but never got around to really doing one of my usual misc. thoughts/comments A Clockwork Ley-Line: good if you're still into SoL high school setting, except make it in a magic school setting. There's not really heavy emphasis on the magic itself ie. no classroom infodumps about magic and/or students learning about magic and battling each other sorcerer vs witches style, just mainly protagonist Koga Michiru and friends from the Bureau of Investigation club running around trying to capture rogue magical artifacts that cause supernatural shenanigans to occur in the school, with an overarching mystery regarding the school itself. Trilogy, so you have plenty of time to get attached to the cast and watch the blossoming romance between Michiru and main heroine Shishigatani Ushio. Now that I think about it, I actually didn't finish this lol, stopped early on in the last episode because life so I'll pick it up #soon. 7/10 "Ya, the Bureau totally works for the sake of the school and aren't a part of any sketchy conspiracies " Corpse Factory: randomly tried this OELVN, yes you read that right OEL, ENGLISH VN, and surprisingly had a pretty good time with it. The English voice cast was decent enough that I actually listened to most of the lines fully instead of my usual half-listen-but-then-move-onto-next-line-before-audio-finishes for regular JVNs. Plot was alright, was mostly intrigued by the characters themselves and how messed up in the head they can be. 8/10. "Yeah... I've never actually watched DEATH NOTE (i know, blasphemy, sue me), but I'd imagine there's some inspiration taken from it..?" Process of Elimination: The Detective Alliance consists of 100 super detectives that have a particular special ability and they are trying to capture "The Quartering Duke" a criminal mastermind who's been on a killing spree. 14 of the detectives get isolated trapped at their very own Detective Alliance Headquarters, murders start happening, and chances are the mastermind is among the 14...Yup it's a Danganronpa offbrand isolated murder mystery setting type with a quirky cast each with specializations, but hey you have technically 14 Ultimate Detectives this time around so how hard could it be to find out who's the mastermind ? The "investigation" and eureka! segments are played out as strategy RPG gameplay where you turn based move characters to points of interest and analyze evidence. Not as flashy as Danganronpa's classroom trials, and overall most of the murders and cases are pretty meh and ultimately the confrontation with the big bad totally falls flat and totally cannot hold a candle to Danganronpa's Hope vs Despair shenanigans, but it was fun enough. 7/10 "^This here's 'Ideal Detective', and yeah, they totally made her such an ideal type lol. Btw the protagonist is known as 'Incompetent Detective'" Umineko: When the Seagulls Cry: Sigh, yes, I finally got around to reading the masterpiece that is Umineko. I red someone say that Umineko's mass 10/10 ratings is from survivor bias- this thing is LONG, like probably the longest VN I've ever read, and took me like 1-1.5months on and off casual reading to take down lol. The 75hr length estimate on VNDB is no joke. And that's just for Ep 1-4, with 5-8 also being another 70+hr estimate!!! And so the people that did manage to finish were the ones that thoroughly enjoyed and thus were able to make it to the end. Umineko's very good. Especially for its time. It's basically a murder mystery with an emphasis on battle of wits on whether it was done via a witch/supernatural or whether everything could be logic'd out and the culprit was human with realistic methods. It unfortunately kinda... devolves and drags later on, but I enjoyed my time with it. 8/10 "^If you don't get absolutely hooked on this VN by the time you reach the end of Episode One and hear this BGM, just drop the VN." Master Detective Archives: Rain Code. Spike Chunsoft's latest Danganronpa x Al: Somnium Files had a baby. Technically not a pure VN since they have enough adventure game aspects so this game got the Zero Time Dilemma treatment on VNDB but yeah. "If you enjoyed Danganronpa's Classroom Trials this game implements some of that, and if you enjoyed Al Somnium Files' quirky female companion or the Somniums this game also implements some of that via Shinigami and the Mystery Labyrinths. Play it."
    3 points
  43. JAST and Mangagamer recently had their announcements, and let's just say that it's quite stacked in number. I'll try to comment when all of the announcements gathered, so for now I'll just update the OP post. PS - I'll compile the announcement in this post below. Mangagamer Hana Awase Choukou Shinki Ixseal Sex Open World e Youkoso! Dead Days JAST Shingun Goblin Gundan ~Jinrui-sou Naedoko-ka Sakusen~ Yomegami: My Sweet Goddess! Yamizome Liberator -Yamiochi Yuusha to Ochiru Senki- Minikui Mojika no Ko Mankai Tenshi Djibril sisters ~Natsu no Saigo no Hi~ Type Moon Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- JAST Blue Masquerade ~Jigoku Gakuen SO/DO/MU~ Paradise Sekai Project Neko-nin eXHeart SPIN!
    3 points
  44. As long as you are open to constructive criticism and are transparent about your effort. If your Japanese is pretty good, perhaps the TL might be better than what those publishers put out. Especially if you are true to what is said in the Japanese text. In many cases they over localize and edit it which ruin what is in the original text. Sometimes they add crap that should not even be there. It sounds like you have a great passion for this game, which I share with you. It has to be if not the best one of the best modern visual novels out there. I look forward to your common route patch. I think with just that in English, people will see what a masterpiece this is.
    3 points
  45. New chapter done, bit of a shorter one this time. Sisyphus edition. Next one is a doozy because that's the mind break scene, so it'll probably be a bit longer.
    3 points
  46. Aye, she definitely has a very specific sound/vibe she's going for, but I found it admirable how much it stands out when even the better parts of Japanese indie pop are usually very samey. The sound and her whisper-singing could be annoying to some ears, but it's surprisingly skillful for someone this young. Oh, and while I'm chain posting, why not drop another underrated thing ;]
    3 points
  47. Just a quick update, since it's been almost 2 months since the last one (and I didn't want to do it yesterday for obvious reasons). The editing of the script has been going at a slow, but steady pace over the past 50 days, with now both the common route and Hayami's route fully edited, bringing the total up to 38%. I'm still not sure how much longer the editing phase will continue, but I'm hoping to get it done by June if I can so I can start the final, QC phase (which itself will probably take at least a couple of months). I still fully expect the patch to be released sometime later this year, but I won't know a more definite release window until I'm at least partially through the QC phase. The whole process has been daunting from the start, but it's been a lot less demanding once the translation was completed. There's not much else to say, other than that work on the videos is still ongoing, but otherwise all the image editing is done, at least preliminarily. I'll probably post another update sometime next month. PS: The game is still 50% off on DMM until May 8. so please purchase the game if you can so as to support the original creators.
    3 points
  48. Tay

    Fate/Stay Night

    Fate/Stay Night The Holy Grail War. That hellish, great ritual that offers the ultimate prize for the one who claims it: a wish. There are two conditions to participate: one must be a magus (magic user), and one must be chosen by the Holy Grail to participate. There are seven chosen Masters, and seven classes of Servants. Only one master may seize the grail. This is the story of a boy who wanted to be a superhero. It's the story of three warring families. It's the story of an ultimate prize and ultimate sacrifice. OVERALL ENDING GUIDE *(Read!)* Fate Route Ending Guide Unlimited Blade Works Route Ending Guide Heaven's Feel Route Ending Guide Individual Walkthroughs PROLOGUE FATE ROUTE UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS - "TRUE" ROUTE UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS - "GOOD" ROUTE HEAVEN'S FEEL - "TRUE" / "NORMAL 1" / "NORMAL 2" ROUTES This walkthrough was heavily based on Mirror Moon's amazing Flowchart.pdf walkthrough packaged with the English patch. A huge thank you for their amazing work. The VN community is made more for it. Thanks!
    3 points
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