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This seems like Murphy's Law in action; all the supernatural forces conspiring to make buying a game and enjoying it as hard as possible when any self-respecting company wants to make the process of buying and receiving the product as painless as possible. Speaks volumes about the company and the dedication (or lack thereof) it has to fans.

"As people are asking for more accurate translations that read well in English. This is something GenAI and Machine Translation cannot provide." Genuinely, I think we as anime and visual novel fans alike seem to forget that localization is an important part of translating a work into English. Whether that be simply changing a joke to fit current standards, or using slang like "chill" or using politically correct language to make more sense to English speakers. A machine may be able to translate, but it is unable to localize. ChatGPT and DeepL cannot accurately translate a script writer's work and prose into something that doesn't sound bland. Localization is a necessary evil if we like the way the dubs are now." As a counter point, if the current state of translation is far too localized and a much more literal approach would be appreciated by certain fans, like me for example, then DeepL and AI translations should provide a very welcome boost in the apparent quality of translations on a subjective level. Even non-AI, NMT translations, like Sugoi, that preserve honorifics in the translation are a huge improvement over heavily localized translations that are the status-quo, especially because a lot of the meaning of how characters interact with one another dramatically changes if they are removed. Of course that is not to say that pure MTL is acceptable, but Sugoi + a fluent English speaker editing the output is of relatively high quality and ultimately, I would rather deal with incorrect translations due to fixable software errors that are getting better over time than deal with censorship, especially around aspects unique to japanese culture, which is the norm in translations right now. Being able to revert such over localizations and say, re-insert honorifics into the translated text, which AI is capable of doing by the way, would allow it to preserve the original meaning better for those of us who actually want to know what the characters actually said, not someone else's interpretation of what they think they meant after changing the meaning for political correctness and cultural illiteracy. AI, whether we like it or not, AI is here so stay, so learning to work with AI is more beneficial than just resenting it or resenting how certain companies use it. The best use of AI right now is to literally work with it in a collaborative process since the end result of human + AI will almost always be better than just either one alone relative to the amount of time it took to produce something of reasonable quality. I am not sure what Crunchyroll is doing, but we are in agreement that their quality can only decline if they do not use translators because the output of AI still needs to be double checked and only a translator, a human, can make the decision that the output makes sense. Used correctly, AI should be a boost to both productivity and quality, not a way to backslide quality and damage the reputation of one's brand as a result. If Crunchyroll does not understand that, it will only hurt them in the long run.

What I can say is the VNs with space are very rare, only has around 417 VNs according to VNDB so of course it has potential to be developed as the setting for the VNs. While in theory space setting is encouraging the future and imagination (Like STPC linking both of space and imagination), in practice most of space VNs (Or rather work) are took some clue from both of Star Wars and Star Trek, which make sense because both are very prominent franchise with space setting. Anyway, for more other example of VNs with space setting, I can only think two, Galaxy Angel trilogy and Lunaria. Galaxy Angel has the story deviate from Star Wars, with the Empire being in the side of good and the rebel prince is set as the villain. It also has RTS gameplay with the MC Tact act as the all girl squad commander with Tact need to do his best to have a good relationship with one of his squad member in order to boost her performance in combat, and it's quite successful so much it as anime adaptation (Which is deviate from the VN very much). For Lunaria, while the setting is in virtual space, it also has moon setting with the MC find the main heroine in the unknown Moon server, so yeah it still has real space setting. That's all for what I can comment in regard of the topic here.

To my mind, space sci-fi represents the optimism for the future that has yet to be repressed by people's increasingly negative outlook on our civilization's future. They are futures full of exploration, danger, and wonder, with cultures both different and the same. While many space sci-fi are dark in atmosphere, that doesn't get around the fact that even in the darkest space science-fiction, there are wonders and horrors that stimulate the mind and the spirit. I usually don't make distinctions between types of future sci-fi (as opposed to modern day sci-fi), incidentally. Space sci-fi is relatively rare in JVNs, which are my specialty. One that comes to mind is Fake Azure Arcology, where people were forced to flee from a massive storm of asteroids that devastated Earth's surface, forming unique civilizations within the arcologies they fled to. In a mix of high technology and restrictive lifestyle, it describes the unchanging human condition, even in circumstances that are drastically different. Komorebi no Nostalgica, one of my favorite sci-fi VNs of all time, is based in a world where humans warred against their AI slaves until the slaves won freedom, at the cost of taking the bullet for humanity destroying its own history for the convenience of politicians. It is a world where, interestingly, history is mostly lost to the younger generation, with the older generation only having faded memories of what was destroyed. In this game, society has almost become a blank slate, and the game extensively explores the troubles and possibilities of human-like AI in the two different types - the ancient android Cinema, , and the victorious Metocell, whose emotional emulation evolves over time and experience. More familiar to English-speaking readers is the dystopian worldscape of the Baldr series, where people have practically fled into the virtual world to escape the limitations of the physical. While the Baldr series is a fun read, it is also the most cynical and pessimistic approach to sci-fi I've seen in VNs. It shows the nastiness of human nature, the poor decision making of those with power, and the inevitable failures of a society that lost its way long ago again and again. In the Baldr series, AI alternates between 'ghosts' of the deceased, god-like beings that are omniscient in their own way, and monstrous amalgams that blindly follow their programming with only a surface imitation of flexibility and thought. Sci-fi can be a wonder or horror, but it is always looking at the future.

Well, to be blunt people would think of harem ending as some sort of fanservice for the very obvious reason. Anyway, for the topic, like you say it should be obvious that the writer should just limit it to three heroines in order to have easier time to write the story, and coincidentally threesome ending is quite common in most of VN, such as Konosora, Aoi Tori, and Kunado Kokuki with all of those are coincidentally involving sibling. Speaking of Konosora, actually Pulltop seems to favor threesome ending (Despite their insistence to release their translated VNs without sex scenes) as shown in Kanobito and Miagete Interstellar Focus, although both are obviously not viable VNs to be localized by them. Also while you can have more than two heroines in harem ending, usually those kind of ending (Barring special circumstances) are more common in nukige or have the setting that support it (Like Evenicle duology or HaremKingdom). Lastly about the moral stuff, admittedly it has some issue, although it's not like I have problem with the harem ending in the first place. So yeah, in the end I guess it's up to each of their own when it come to the opinion on this kind of ending. That's all for what I can comment in regard of this topic.

Polyamory, whether it is harem or multi-directional, is a difficult issue for people raised in the modern era in first-world countries. While it is beginning to be normalized in some countries, it has been demonized for so long that it will probably be a long time before the stigma associated with it fades away, if ever. In VNs, I think the one that takes polyamory to its ideal end is Draculius, one of my favorite VNs. While Jun, the protagonist, is central to things, each of the heroines has a defined role within the family that can't be played by any of the other girls. Belche is the mother, Xeno is the protector, Rika is the attacker, and Lian is the representative. I do agree that in most cases a harem should stop at three (one primary and two secondaries with a relationship aside from that possessed by the primary). To be blunt, there is only so much time one person can put into other people, and expanding to the ridiculous size some VN harems have is just undoable. Traditionally, there were any number of reasons for a harem to exist. One was in the case of royals and high nobles, where numerous heirs were necessary to solidify power and ensure passage down to the next generation. Then there were rich merchants and leaders of settlements. In both cases, this prevented too much wealth being permanently settled into one bloodline and reduced resentment from the population at large. It also provides a larger supporting family for the raising of children, reducing individual burdens for child-rearing and making things more flexible without going outside the family group. Generally speaking, early human civilizations didn't place emphasis on and in some cases didn't even have the concept of romance. That is why some cultures retain arranged marriages and defacto polyamorous relationship setups. (for JVN fans, the example would be the way it is tacitly understood that powerful Japanese men - like high-ranking politicians and corporate leaders - will have lovers outside of their wives).

I think you did summarize the school setting nicely, although I would like to add some. What I can say is school setting is definitely fill the trope Boring But Practical for the VN developers, and I say this because the writer can have easy time to explain from where the MC can get to know the heroines, and not to mention it make artist's job easier when it come to designing the outfit for the heroines (Just make variation of the school uniform for the heroines at most). Also while someone can argue that it could also has office setting, most of the customers are the office workers who probably longing for the school setting as escapism instead of face the reality with the office setting. That said, I definitely can see that school setting can become oversaturated, especially when the story that didn't need school still using it, as shown in Tokyo Babel. That's all for what I can write in regard of the school setting.

In regard of character customization, let's just say that I experienced all three of the modes, although not necessarily in the VNs. For the name, as far as I know only Smee VN that offering the name change feature, and even then their VNs usually have default name in case the player is too lazy to change the name. For gender, I only know Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh DS games that has said feature, and the MC are Silent Protagonist so no need to change the pronoun in the first place. For visual customization, I only experienced it in Yu-Gi-Oh DS games, and while it also available in Pokemon it only for 3DS onwards games (My last experience on playing Pokemon is Pokemon Black a DS game). Generally speaking, I never bother with this kind of feature unless there's a need for it (Like in HaremKingdom in which the MC is totally nameless), although I suppose it should be nice feature if someone want to do self insert even more, so that's all for what I can talk about this topic.

In the end, the word that say 'comedy is subjective' is always proven true no matter the circumstance. Anyway, one of the arguably strong example of Comedy VN would be Ren'ai Royale which coincidentally another VN from Sankaku Ren'ai (Sukiren) developer. For Royale itself, the staff put more focus on the jokes for the four main heroines while stacking the romance element on one side heroine, resulting some of the player declare the side route is the best simply it because has romance development more than the four main heroines. While it may caught off-guard some who expect usual romance from the Royale, once again the 'comedy is subjective' is still apply because Royale humor may be not the best even if one approach the VN with comedy in mind. There's also Yuzusoft VN in which while it not really full comedy VN, it still has the element 'comedy fatigue' across all of their VNs, with the joke is usually calling the MC virgin. Granted, the staff may have their own comedy taste with them indirectly calling out the player who play Yuzusoft VNs as virgin which may be work if the player took it as self-depreciating joke instead of being offended by it, but regardless the joke can still be quite tiresome, especially if one is not fond of the that kind of comedy in the first place (Moreso if someone has brilliant idea to play all translated Yuzusoft VNs (Up to 8 if Tenshi Reboot released later) in one sitting). I guess that's all for what I can say about comedy VNs here, and by the way so far I didn't recall the comedy VN similar to Lamunation (Although there's Gintama and 100 Girlfriends if one want anime example).

In my experience, JVNs - at the very least - tend to be reliant on sit-com and manzai (someone saying or doing something silly and the other person pointing it out in an amusing way). The other common one is plays on language (kanji puns, misusing proverbs, etc) that don't translate into English and are thus usually missed or fall flat when translated. The vast majority of comedy in JVNs is sit-com, where the situation and its inherent absurdity provides the humor or the reactions of the characters do so. Japanese VN writers love tongue-in-cheek, though every once in a while slapstick will be dropped in to change the pace (slapstick was a lot more common twenty to thirty years ago in anime and manga than it is today, whereas sitcom was relatively rare... manzai is about the same, since it seems to be the undying genre of comedy in Japan, for whatever reason).

Actually it's good to see that Akai Ito is finally have translation and available in PC to boot, seeing that there's only PS2 version in the past with the translation of it is incomplete. However, it's too bad that Success didn't put much effort to make sure that the VN is good to play to everyone else, because they probably only do the test on their 1080 inch monitor and then have some after work drink or whatever they did after the job done. The reason is because they didn't check in lesser monitor to make sure it can displayed properly, seeing that my laptop which only has 768 inch had the game zoomed in with the text being unreadable, which is pretty much amateur mistake. That technical disaster aside, they also do the good job on reducing Aoishiro to around 2 GB HDD with fan translation version has 7 GB HDD. It's just too bad that the achievement was marred with the screen problem, although Aoishiro zoom is not as bad as Akai Ito. For the translation, well at least you can read it with the available fan translation although Akai Ito fan patch only translate majority of the VN. My rant on the technical aside, I can say that Akai Ito (And Aoishiro) is good GL VN with routes, and it's too bad that nowadays it's rare to see GL VN with routes.

For side stories, well Yuzusoft VNs always like to apply that extra content ever since Dracu Riot, with the main reason of it is to provide sex scenes, something which several VNs also follow (Such as Marmalade VNs). For something that has more than sex scene, I did remember that Newton VN also provide that with one of side stories is the alternative ending that didn't make any sense to the main narrative (Which even the author warned about it), so at least we can treat it as the fanservice if we knew the real ending of Newton VN. In regard of rewarding player interest, if you mention something like different gameplay then Aoishiro (Which the official publisher butcher it) has one in the Extra menu that can only be unlocked after finished the game. Another one that I can recall is Baldr Sky and Duel Savior, in which GIGA decided to throw the endless battle mode as the way to allow the player to keep playing the game even after they finished with it. Oh yes, Fate Hollow did provide hanafuda card gameplay as the extra content, although unfortunately I can't play it seeing that I didn't know the rule lol. Another type of the unlockable content would be Append, but seeing that it unlocked immediately as soon as you install it instead of the necessity of finished the game it didn't count. Also actually there's much more unlockable feature besides standard trio CG Gallery, Sex Scene Gallery, and BGM Gallery, such as Sprite Gallery (Yuzusoft VNs), Scene Gallery (Venus Blood series), and lastly the rare VA Commentary (Which usually rarely translated and available in Atelier series as well). Oh yes, while it's usual that the developer provided BGM Gallery, sometimes the developer didn't manage to have it available, such as in Aokana and Aojashin (Original version) with sprite didn't manage to do so even in initial version of EXTRA 2. That's all for what I can comment in regard of Unlockable Extra Content in VNs.

Honestly speaking in regard of flowchart I rarely see much VNs use it, although obviously it would be very helpful tool to see the consequence of the choice. For Sorcery Joker's, seeing that it's linear VN flowchart obviously was used to help the player track the scenes that happen at the same time between POV, which definitely make it easier to see the whole picture. 11eyes also do the same thing in form of table, although it mostly focused on Kakeru. The closest one with Sorcery Joker would be Odin Sphere (RPG), in which Vanillaware provided flowchart that show the scenes between five MCs so you can make the chronology of Odin Sphere. All in all, I guess flowchart can definitely be used to guide the player to make the conclusion in regard of the story, although now that I think of it flowchart can be doubled as Scene Viewer function, which to say is make a nice interface compared to just list the scenes. That's all for what I can write in regard of flowchart.

I just seen the changes Unity is planning price wise. That is outright greed. They are most likely doing this because of incredibly successful games like Genshin Impact.

Great review! I'd love to read more of your thoughts about the themes as these are something most VN reviews don't really bother with. I wouldn't expect too much feedback though as sadly there isn't that much traffic on this forum anymore. I have two points where I disagree with you too some degree though: Firstly, yes the side characters aren't fleshed out at all, but I'd argue this is on purpose since the story is very much told from Fuminori's perspective and he perceives anyone except for Uta as not even human and thus not really worthy of being acknowledged as having any depth beyond what you can observe on a surface level. Switching viewpoint characters serves mostly to exposition and develop plot and themes as well as grounding the reader. Even Uta is mostly portrayed as someone whose only purpose is to provide Fuminori pleasure. He doesn't care all that much who she is or what her gets out of their arrangement as he is too caught up in the pleasure/pain dichotomy you mentioned above. That's why Uta gets introduced with a sex scene and probably why there's the otherwise completely pointless rape scene with the neighbor but very few scenes where Fuminori asks her about anything not relevant to their immediate circumstances (at least if I remember correctly, it's been a couple of years since I read the VN). Which brings me to my second point, the sexual content. I agree most of it gratuitous and pointless as well, the first scene with Yoh stuck with me though. It marks the point of no return for Fuminori in terms of morals. Each prior crime of his could be, to some extend, excused with him trying to protect himself and/or Uta. But in this scene he brutally violates someone not only without prior provocation, but he even chooses the one person from the other side who has remained the most sympathetic to him throughout his mental deterioration as his target or at very least readily approves this choice (again, it's been a few years). He figuratively and literally dehumanizes Yoh. He doesn't see other humans deserving of any basic dignity any more, and this is the scene where this shift becomes evident.

Other than Hello Lady and Ruitomo, Comyu also has enforced route order, so it's pretty clear that Akatsuki Works, or rather Wataru Hino like to use that structure in his story heavy VN. Obviously the purpose is to avoid spoiler, so it make sense that original Dies Irae used this, which of course was broken by the localization company now that you can play Rea's route (Read: The final route) first, although obviously poor Kasumi now that people have more chance to ignore her route lol. Other than that, well Remember11 can arguably called as rigid play order, albeit with only two route. GIGA VNs (Baldr Force, Baldr Sky, and Duel Savior) also use the same structure in which they forced the player to play all of six heroines routes in the rigid order, although I forgot if they locked it or not. Looks like KEY VN like to use the second structure, as evident in Little Busters and Summer Pocket. Other than that, there's also Yumina in which it has the finale that can only be unlocked after finished all of the three routes (And you should play across three difficulties seeing that the finale arc assumed you to be around level 90). Other examples that I can think of are Dal Segno and Da Capo 3, in which both involving finished the initial available routes before going to the last route. For the third method, I can only think that maybe Venus Blood Frontier and Hollow are the closest one, and even then it only apply for the main story seeing that it merely change which country that you'll conquer first. Other than that, well maybe Root Double can qualify to a degree (It should not a coincidence that it's worked on by Nakazawa who've been working on I/O) seeing that you can play the initial two available route in any order before going to the linear part. Lastly, there's also some curious choice in which some charage lock the side route with the player must clear at least one heroine route, as shown in Yuzusoft VNs from Dracu Riot onwards. Saga Planet VN also use this kind of choice, although in Kirikoi case they also use the second method in which they lock Ria's route behind four routes (Including the side heroine (Akane) route) for the most obvious reason. It should also mentioned that not all charage use this method wisely, especially with Koichoco in which sprite lock the other four routes behind Chisato with her as the least interesting (And most controversial) heroine in Koichoco, and the fact they removed the lock in HD Remake should tell the staffs probablt realize their idea from way back in 2010 was very bad. That's all for what I can write in regard of this topic.

Some companies utilize the rigid playing order well, but others do so poorly, seeking to hide lower path quality by forcing you to experience the lesser paths first. A classic example of this is Rui wa Tomo o Yobu as well as Comyu. In the former case, Rui's path is by far the weakest path in the game, and yet it is the first one you are forced to experience. The same goes for Benio's path in Comyu. This has a huge disadvantage, as it gives an impression that the game is lower quality than it actually is and leads to people dropping it without seeing the best parts. Ruitomo is still a top-quality game, but more than one person who has tried it at my suggestion has complained about Rui's path being so weak before dropping it. On the other hand, Dies Irae does the same by enforcing that you play the game in the order of either Kasumi or Kei first, then Marie, than Rea. This actually works out ideally (especially since it links directly into the Shinzabansho canon), and it also allows you to ignore one or the other if you wish (Kasumi gets ignored the most often, incidentally, lol). The most common use of Rigid Playing Order happens in chuunige as a genre. This is probably because the scenario directors and writers in these cases are far more likely to have a specific pathway to the finale than other genres. The methodology I came up with is to split heroines/paths into four tiers. I call these tiers the 'introductory path', the 'sub path', the 'main path' and the 'conclusion path'. Introductory paths serve more as setting and character dynamic introductions more than anything else. They usually assiduously avoid presenting the 'hidden truths' of the setting and plot, while providing a truncated ending that deliberately falls short of what the reader would want. The aforementioned Benio and Rui paths, as well as the Anna path in Vermilion Bind of Blood all fall into this category. Sub paths are a bit of an odd man out. For some reason, some VNs throw in random heroines and paths that have no real meaning for the story as a whole. Ayaya's path in Comyu and the 'normal paths' that sometimes appear in various games fall into this category. Main paths are the most common type of path in plot-centric VNs. These paths have the quality of being conclusive when taken by themselves but do not resolve the plot's core conflict in a conclusive manner. Examples of such paths include Kei's path in Dies Irae, as well as most of the paths in Tasogare no Sinsemilla. Conclusion paths are often represented as a true route, grand route, canon route, etc. The universal aspect of these paths is that they all resolve the core conflict of the plot in a conclusive manner, as well as tear the veil concealing most of the mysteries hidden in the other paths. They will often include variants of events that occurred in other paths that lead up to a grand conclusion, and there are often aspects of the plot that only make sense because you played the main paths prior to playing this type of path.

Nice review! Although really, Liberation Day is a personal trauma of mine and I will never get the motivation to check out this game. Can't forgive how that game's plot was executed and the only way to not live with a burning hatred of it is to keep one of the time-travel alt endings as my headcanon, and never touch this series again.

There's a reason on why people did associate True End must be happy ending, and said reason is because it's the reward for the people who willing to put up with the lengthy playthrough, especially with Clannad in which you need to open the guide in order to know on how to open a new route, and not to mention very numerous side routes beside five main heroines. Aoishiro itself is not lost in that matter either even with no side routes, especially with on how the player need to navigate a lot of choices that can lead into one of 40+ bad endings. Another example of complicated true ending is YU-NO, in which you may as well open the guide to make it less headache, and the guide is very confusing to look if we didn't understand any of it. Of course though, not all of true ending it selves are necessarily happy ending, in that it's pretty much inevitable if it's a prequel of a tragedy VN, such as Fata Morgana FD with the main story has tragic ending because the premise itself is about the tale that lead up to the present tragedy. Another one is Kara no Shoujo, in that the true end for both parts are more or less very tragic with the developer was had a plan to resolve it in the third part. It should be noted that this kind of ending is very rare, which is inevitable seeing that people prefer happy true end with at most they can push it into Bittersweet Ending. While you mention that all true end should be conclusive, of course the reception to it can be mixed to a degree. One of such example is happen in Sorceress Alive with several people mention they didn't like on how true end (And true route to an extend) happening, or if you want some translated VN example it should be Bokuten. I also should mention that while Grisaia no Rakuen technically has conclusive true ending, to me that ending was overshadowed by some of the heroines ending (Especially Amane) which in turn it make Rakuen feel like the fandisc for Kajitsu. Speaking of Kajitsu, while it has ladder structure, it should be obvious that it's more or less created like usual charage. That's all for what I can write when it come to the topic (True Ending).

I`ll get it tomorrow. Hopefully you will go pass your goal.

Yet another company escapes the evil grasp of social media giants.

Speaking of TV series, actually the anime also use episodic approach, which somehow is very fitting for the obvious reasons. In fact, a lot of popular and long runner anime actually use episodic approach, with the most notable one are One Piece and Conan, and no it didn't stop them to become very popular. I don't really know though if episodic VN is meant to pay homage to the TV series. As for Internal Episodic Structure, Bokuten common route is one of such example with anthology format seeing that it put the focus on the several couples beside the MC and the heroines. Since you mentioned Liar-soft, I may as well mentioned Yurirei in which it's like the anthology of several GL couple that the MC help. Speaking of help the couple plot, ef here is the most prominent example with the main couple help several side couple to find love, and yes it's another example of anthology. That said, not all of episodic stories in VN are purely anthology, seeing that there's Subahibi in which ultimately it tell one big story even with the writer did write it in episodic way (With each episodes have different MCs). Almost forgot to mention that not only Yuzusoft that has non-anthology episodic structure, but Primal Hearts and Venus Blood series also has it. As for External Episodic Structure, it was used by Ryukishi07 in which he sell his each part of the VN at Comiket, before the publisher bundling all of his VNs into one big bundle. Nowadays, there's a lot of trend the using of it is rising, with the most prominent example is Nine series. Obviously the reason on why the company did this is that so they can save the funds, although there can be another reason to do the episodic release though, namely it allow the writer to build his story slowly (Although the writer may forgot his plot point from the early episode if he writer the later episode). Personally speaking, this format is not my favorite, but again it help the company to save some funds, especially when the company face the funding problem like Frontwing. That's all for what I can write in regard of this topic.

there appears to be a grainy white ceiling upwards my noggin