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I couldn't resist the urge to create a GIF when I saw this screenshot in Carpe Diem: Reboot.

After devoting my time to a bunch of lenghty VNs lately, I opted to change things up by reading some shorter ones. Here's some input on them, in order of completion: Ambre - a heartbreaking kinetic novel The fact that they're using "heartbreaking" as a selling point in the title made me a bit skeptical, and rightfully so, it turned out. The main plot twist was too obvious, and despite the game only being somewhere between 60-90 minutes long, it still managed to feel repetitive, because you're forced to view the same events all over again after said plot twist has been unveiled. Furthermore, while rather well-written, the narration feels needlessly convoluted. I like variation as much as the next guy, but they kinda went overboard here. At times, it felt like the writer was just randomly piecing together fancy words in an attempt to make it sound like there was some deeper meaning there, when, in truth, there wasn't. The Language of Love One of the most wholesome and adorable slice of life VNs I've read to date. I really liked the character design. The eyes, in particular, look great; especially when compared to the lifeless eyes in Baldr Sky, which I finished a few weeks ago. I also have to say that it was nice to not be stuck in high school for once, and relationships with single mothers aren't exactly commonplace either, at least when we're talking non-fetish titles. Furthermore, it was oddly refreshing to see a character who makes average-tasting food. (It's usually one of two extremes; either really tasty or bad to the point of basically turning into coal.) I've had several of ebi-hime's VNs in my wishlist for a while now, and I intend to look into some of those other ones in the near future. She actually released a new one, The End of an Actress, just a week ago and it seems interesting. (Sidenote: The dude in the screenshots reminds me of Jacopo in Fata Morgana.) missed messages. This one caught my eye due to the "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews on Steam. I tend to be skeptical whenever I see that for a title I've never heard of before, and I was even more so this time around due to the fact that there's a mention of "memes" in the game description. However, just as was the case with Acting Lessons a couple of months ago, this turned out to be a worthwhile experience. It's really short - just 30-or-so minutes to complete all four endings - but it somehow still managed to make me develop an emotional bond with the characters. The artstyle is cool and the psychedelic music fits the ambience of the game rather well. I wouldn't have minded paying for this title, so the fact that it's completely free is all the more reason to give it a chance. Carpe Diem This received a major visual overhaul at the end of last year, and judging by the old screenshots on VNDb, it now looks a lot better. In any case, this is probably the shortest VN I've ever read, clocking in at around 10 minutes playtime. While "missed messages" (referring to the VN above) managed to, despite a lack of information, make me care for the characters to a decent extent in a remarkably short time, this VN ultimately failed to do so. The twist at the end felt interesting enough to warrant giving the direct sequel, Carpe Diem: Reboot, a go, though. So, without further ado... Carpe Diem: Reboot Leaps and bounds above the original, but that doesn't really say much, considering the lack of substance in that one. To make things a bit clearer, let's just say that this wasn't anything special either. The scenes leading up to the twist in the original are replayed at the start of Reboot, so right off the bat, the original becomes kinda redundant. The art (mainly the character art) is better this time around, and there's even English voice acting; something I've only seen in a couple of VNs before. Problem is, there's only English voice acting, so if you find it awkward, like I did, you'll have to turn off voices completely. The slice of life scenes were rather nice, but all that stuff about and whatnot that they started spewing later on felt out of place and unnecessary. I don't really see the point of adding that when the story could easily have stood well enough on its own with the prerequisites it started out with, but I guess it's all just meant as a setup for the true ending, which was equal parts depressing and disappointing. The two choices that determine whether you get the good ending or the true one shouldn't influence the story progression in the way that they do. Despite the choices being more or less entirely irrelevant, the contrast was like night and day, and the protagonist started acting really out of character for seemingly no reason whatsoever. The ending is a prime example of forced drama and solidified my opinion of Jung as one of the worst protagonists ever. Being a DIK: Season 1 Honestly, I kinda regret playing this. Not because it's not good, because it most certainly is, but because it's unfinished. I was under the impression that the seasons would have individual conclusions as parts of a greater, overarching story keeping them all together, but that turned out to not be the case. No matter which choices you make over the course of the game, you'll inevitably just end up with a bunch of questions that won't be answered for a long time, possibly several years (considering the fact that DrPinkCake has said that he plans to make somewhere between 10-20 episodes in total, which would equal 3-5 seasons). The game itself is great, just as expected, with the same type of humor as in Acting Lessons. The story isn't quite as dark as Acting Lessons, but there's still drama and I expect it will escalate rapidly in the upcoming seasons. The characters aren't as relatable for me as the ones in Acting Lessons, due to the college life theme and age difference, but the developer does a good job at making you care about them nonetheless. One of my main concerns is that there are so many choices and branching paths in this first season alone that I honestly have no idea how DrPinkCake is going to be able to piece everything together without cutting a few corners in the end. Hopefully, he won't do something among the lines of what the Walking Dead game series did. Depraved Awakening While Acting Lessons and Being a DIK are storydriven games with sex scenes mixed into the plot to spice things up, Depraved Awakening feels more like a porn game with some plot added for good measure to lead the player into the next sex scene. Sure, the noir approach is a bit interesting, but it didn't manage to keep me interested enough to actually care about the story. The same goes for most of the characters, who feel pretty hollow; the protagonist included. Some of the stuff happening was really stupid, like Moments like that make it hard to take the story seriously and it really cements this title as a porn game through and through. Kill or Love Another free VN. I don't have much to say about this one other than that it wasn't anything to write home about. It did, weirdly enough, still somehow manage to keep me entertained for the two-or-so hours it lasted, which I assume might be because I haven't read that many VNs with yanderes in them, so it felt a bit fresh despite some awkward story developments and blatantly obvious plot twists. I originally planned to give Totono a go by now, but what with the last minute delay until May, I'll have to improvise a bit and take on another project. We'll see where I end up.

I attempted to make my recording volume a lot louder so hopefully you guys don't have to turn it up as much. A video series to highlight Visual Novel related news that has to do with Releases, Announcements, Major Project Updates, and the Community. This video covers February 2020 News. Feel free to leave any feedback you have, positive or negative, in the comments. Notable Links (all SFW): * Shift-JIS Encoding for Linux and Wine - http://brokendragontranslation.com/shift_jis_linux.html * Summer Pockets (Steam) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/897220 * Alka Translations update on Summer Pockets FanTL - https://alkatranslations.com/summer-pockets-officially-released-on-steam/ * Never7 PSP English Patch - https://www.reddit.com/r/InfinitySeries/comments/f01wqj/never7_for_psp_english_patch/ * VenusBlood FRONTIER International (Steam) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1189440/VenusBlood_FRONTIER_International/ * Fable Maker - https://cdcruz.itch.io/fable-maker * Senren * Banka (Steam) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1144400/SenrenBanka/ * Senren * Banka (Nekonyan) - https://nekonyansoft.com/shop/product/27 * Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai Full Patch 2.0 - https://tsurezurescans.wordpress.com/2020/02/16/hoshi-ori-yume-mirai-update-28-full-patch-2-0/ * Flowers -Le volume sur automne- Physical Preorder (JAST) - https://jlist.com/JAST019 * ANIPLEX.EXE VN announcements - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5qY00B9xmg * Togainu no Chi ~Lost Blood~ (Steam) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1174400/Togainu_no_Chi_Lost_Blood/ * OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos (Steam) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1233270/OshiRabu_Waifus_Over_Husbandos/ * MangaGamer 2020 Licensing Survey - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq1twpBQEVzVFaYJ1XajJc4-UE0uGEQomBOtN0qIrS1ie48Q/viewform Some notable Japanese companies MangaGamer have previously released/licensed for: * 07th Expansion (Higurashi, Umineko, Ciconia) * Overdrive (Kira Kira, Deardrops, Bokuten) * Alice Soft (Rance, Evenicle) * Clock Up (euphoria, Maggot Baits) * Moonstone (Evangile, Lunatics, Sakura mori) * Purplesoft (Hapymaher) * Novectacle (Fata Morgana) * Circus (Da Capo, Dal Segno) * Minori (ef, Trinoline, eden) * ChuableSoft (SukiSuki, Byakko) Props to AndrewBlackSwordsman for the theme rendition in the intro. Follow him here: https://www.youtube.com/user/andrewblackswordsman Social Media you can find/contact me at: Twitter: https://twitter.com/superange128 MyAnimeList: https://myanimelist.net/profile/NowItsAngeTime Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/id/nowitsangetime Discord NowItsAngeTime #5392

JAST Blue is slowly but surely releasing Nitro+ CHIRAL's catalogue in the west. While these games had their patch long ago and every person with a passing interest in BL probably already read them, these releases certainly made it easier for fans of physical versions, HD CGs, uncensored dicks, merch or just our good old users of windows 10, as the original have a hard time to even run properly in our favorite OS (N+C did release compatibility versions, but it's not like the old patches even work with those). This year it's Togainu no Chi's time, N+C's very first game and the most edgy of the bunch. I DID review this game in the past but huh... it REALLY doesn't do a good job at promoting the game... Okay, so, if I didn't like this title in the first place, why am I even here? Because I really feel it's worth mentioning the demo of the game (you can grab it here (JAST) or here (Steam)) contain one whole route for free and it's most likely porn-free even, so if you ever get slightly interested in this but not enough to spend money, hey, today is your luck day! It's only the third best boy, but they can't be THAT generous now, can they? Is this a good game to get into the BL side of Nitroplus? Well, if you ask me, no. But I won't pretend parent Nitroplus isn't edgy af too and this game is actually pretty popular to this day, even among Japanese fans, so maybe I'm the one with shit taste here!

Hello,GodX here.Since I'm rarely to do my introductions but introverted. Here's the breakdown for my introductions: Played VN for 5 Years and counting(2015-present) Can speak Chinese,English.(Japanese still learning btw) From Malaysia. well tldr here,I'm a Youtuber that specialize for reviewing JP VNs here and steam yeah.I got contact from CN VN communities(ex:FB Group and tieba) and other else instead Nice to meet you.

Yup, I highly recommend doing just that. If the only emotion I'm feeling while reading a nakige is slight irritation, that's a pretty good indicator it's genuinely atrocious. I think it's pure contrivance plot-wise, its main theme is pretty much nonsensical and it desperately reaches for emotional impact without even one attempt feeling genuine the way twists about Yumemi's behaviour and backstory did. I have to read up on people's opinions about it, it's of course well put together, but I'm not sure how to defend it beyond that. ^^ Also sorry @Silvz for this backwards way of responding but I rather won't make too many separate posts and turn this into a Harmonia thread.

Trianthology

Among the games that showed any kind of promise or genuine effort (I exclude Sakura games and similar shovelware then), my personal most hated is probably Carpe Diem: Reboot, recently mentioned by @Seraphim88. I despised its protagonist and nearly every piece of its "intrigue" like probably nothing else I've read to date. Looking at it from today's perspective I kind of understand what the writer was going for, but that true ending will forever stay with me as most pointlessly upsetting conclusion to a VN ever (and I really hope nothing beats it, I don't want to go through something like that again). When it goes to JVNs, I haven't read that many... But I am finishing Harmonia and it's probably taking the price. What a sorry attempt to resurrect the Planetarian's charm. Predictable, dreary, mediocrely written and constantly attempting to be profound with no substance to back that up. Maybe the final acts will surprise me with something interesting, but I don't have much hope left... Edit: Ok, so the main twist of Harmonia is actually even more garbage than the buildup. There's one part of it that I didn't predict, but it's stupid enough that I can't count it as a positive... I guess I have to double down on it being the "winner" of this category. Ugh... The story in this is dumb and sometimes pervy, but that's really not what makes it terrible in my opinion. That's just silly fanservice for Sunrider fans and it would be strange to expect much more from it. The horrible part is the gameplay – one of the most boring and tedious things I've experienced (it still wouldn't be my top choice, both because it's more a dating sim than a VN and because I didn't feel much emotion about it).

Picking one of the games that didn't even try would be easy, but if the game doesn't care I don't see why I should. From the games that actually did try I had the worst time with Amatarasu Riddle Star. It was confused at best and a completely arbitrary mess at worst. (Which was kind of the point as an Alice in Wonderland story, but it's hard to care about characters then, which also aren't very inspired, slapping some tropes onto loosely based on Alice in Wonderland characters. This one didn't work for me at all and I believe it's misguided as a Charage VN.) Too bad Hajimete no Okaa-san doesn't make the cut by a year, that one would have been an easy pick.

I honestly found this a bit of a letdown. It's a good nukige I think, but in terms of plot and characters Acting Lessons was better. Derek in particular was an absolutely terrible written character and a walking disgrace for everyone around him. No idea how we could get from a likable buddy like Liam to this... thing. The hell week trials were also too long and too exagerated to be even remotely believable anymore. And it was almost impossible to focus on just one heroine, though that was an issue in Acting Lessons too. H-scenes improved a lot though, no doubt about that.

First, it should be noted that this game was planned and written by Watanabe Ryouichi, who also wrote the Harumade series (Harumade Kururu, Natsukumo Yururu, etc). As such, it is - quite predictably - a mindfuck game. Don't expect SOL romance in the traditional sense, because that isn't the kind of game this is. This game has two protagonists... the first is the normal-seeming Koumi Masataka, who begins the story by encountering Sarasa, the game's main heroine, as she eats canned saba miso (mackerel in miso) at a convenience store. The other protagonist is Tsubaki, a young woman who spends her nights obsessing over videos of deaths of all types and thinking about herself in the same situation (it is more complex than that, but if I explain too much, you won't get to experience the creepy weirdness properly). While this game has four heroines, there is only one actual path. All choices that go off that path lead to cut-off endings ten lines later (which makes sense in the context of full knowledge of the mindfuck), so there really is no point in picking them. For H-freaks, there are multiple h-scenes for each heroine... just don't expect happy romance endings, since there is only a single ending. There isn't a whole lot I can say about this game besides what I said above without ruining it for you, but I'll tell you what I liked that doesn't touch upon the mindfuck or main story. I really liked the way the Preppers Club members got along, as they are one of those 'group of friends' that can't seem to stay on topic for more than a few seconds at a time (usually due to Yaotome Hanae making a sex joke or one of the others bringing up a subject that derails the conversation). As such, I found many of the scenes involving the club highly amusing. Tsubaki and Amika's relationship is pretty weird, by any standard. I won't go into details, but don't expect lots of soft normal emotions there. As a conclusion, I can recommend this to fans of the Harumade series and the mindfuck niche in general. It is often hard to follow what is happening due to the way the story is told, but, even with that, it was an enjoyable ride.

Is the scope limited to VNs that were more or less serious efforts or I can choose any one of those Patreon-funded, pre-rendered 3D CG incest fantasy shovelware titles at random?

Sunrider Academy. https://vndb.org/v16221

Honestly, I'm with you there. If you have little to no interest, forcing yourself through those routes can make the score sharply drop by the end or even ruin your overall experience. It's not like you have get every ending/quest/item/line of dialogue in a game to say you "finished" it. One ending is way more than enough in my book (I would argue about skipping your whole way there, but eeeeh I'm biased against speedruns in general so I can't really provide arguments). People experience games the way they find the best. You either finish enough of it as a masterpiece or play long enough for it to become kusoge. Routes should be DLC tbh then I could buy only the ones I want. Signed: a completionist that grew out of it because it's damned unworth it.

They say that there is - that despite not having Maeda's writing it's still "classic" KEY. I think I'm going to read it next, after I finish Tenohira o, Tayou ni - unless I get distracted by something else, that is