Fred the Barber

You folks are talking about a mass move by Japanese VN developers toward mobage like it's a hypothetical, but from what I understand, it's pretty much a fait accompli. A large number of VN developers have already tried (and/or are currently trying) their hand at mobage. You just haven't heard much about it here since they've all have failed miserably thus far, aside from Type-Moon. So it's a bit late to be worried about that coming to suck away the attention paid to VNs—we're already in that boat.
To bring this somewhat back on topic... VN loc companies are similarly looking all around for ways to stay/become profitable. There are only two real strategies I've seen almost all of them employing, at this point: China, and console releases. For China: if you have a license for a worldwide release, why not sell to a market that actually has consistently shown they're willing to pay for VNs, enough to fund a localization effort? It's certainly profitable. For console: Switch ports seem to be profitable, maybe? Though I don't have as clear a picture on that, and there aren't a lot of data points yet. But you can look at lackluster games like Root Letter getting huge sales numbers on consoles and realize, oh yeah, there's probably something there if you play your cards right.
Now, neither of those is going to do the vast majority of people on this board much good, since we're mostly 1) not Chinese readers and 2) looking for 18+ content. As long as English 18+ release sales remain low (for whatever reasons, including but not limited to high rates of piracy), the only hope most of us have is that the VN loc companies both expand in some way that lets them make money (China, console, and/or some other means) and continue to subsidize English versions with 18+ content from those profits out of pure passion for it. That is effectively what they're doing today. Denpasoft, JAST USA, and Nekonyan are all on the China boat (Nekonyan through the Hikari Field partnership), leaving only MangaGamer in the lurch. Denpasoft and MangaGamer, at least, are both doing the non-PC thing, though MangaGamer is taking a galaxy-brain approach where they vomited up a buggy android app and then promptly forgot about it. I'd say if MangaGamer doesn't get in on the Chinese market in some way within the next year or so, I'll eat my hat, except they're so slow-moving that maybe they'll just keep trickling away dollars forever...
Anyway, subsidizing 18+ English releases like this is honestly both risky (all kinds of legal exposure they could easily avoid by just, not doing it) and bad business (because it's throwing away money with no hope of return), but all these companies are doing it anyway. And yet somehow a lot of the vocal members of the VN community treat all of them as some evil enemy, most of the time. Sigh.

So, I finished another otome VN: Nightshade - a tale about Ninjas. 
First, I wanted to say that I'm still a bit irritated that I have to revert to an otome VN if I want to read an action-loaded story about cool Ninjas, because the only other thing I get are a bunch of rotten sex fests from Black Lilith.  So, since I got that off my heart now, I can start with my review.
Nightshade is a story about the Kouga shinobi clan after the Iga clan was eliminated in the Tenshou Iga War, and its survivors fused with the Kouga clan. In that regard, it's a similar alternative Japanese history VN like Hakuouki, even if it doesn't quite reach the high level of it. The protagonist girl Enju is the daughter of the leaders of the Kouga clan and the former Iga clan and represents a symbol of their unification. When the VN starts she's pretty much a ninja rookie and sent on a mission with her companions to capture a famous thief in the capital of Kyo. The ninja's here fulfill different roles, depending on clan and current master. The range goes from private body guards and secret police like the Tokugawa, special agents and spies like the Kouga to simple hired mercenaries and assassins like the Fuma.
The common route is pretty much about getting to know all the characters and Enju's first mission to capture the thief of Kyo. The individual character routes start after that mission is over and things going horrible wrong afterwards with Enju on the run. This part was surprisingly good, even if it could have probably been a bit longer. Enju is certainly the best protagonist character from the otome VN's I've read so far. Though that doesn't say much I guess, since I didn't read that much otomes yet. Since Enju is a shinobi herself and not just a passive bystander, she's much more involved and proactive as usual. The VN also had a great feature to get more involved into Enju's thoughts and emotions. On the lower left side there was always her portrait showing her current expressions. Other VN's usually only show the currently talking character face there, but here you can always see how she reacts on what others say or what she herself says and thinks. I really liked that, especially since Enju was a rather pretty and charming character.

The quality of the routes varied though. The first route I read was from Choujirou. He's the leader of the Kouga group sent to Kyo and Enju's personal instructor. The character itself was great, but unfortunately his route not so much. A long time you've no idea what's going on and Enju is thrown around like a sack of rice between the guys trying to save her instead of doing something useful herself and I also found the resolution of the story fairly weak. On the other hand, it had some 'Red Wedding' like twist I simply didn't expect from that VN.
Fun fact: Choujirou was voiced by Toriumi Kousuke who also voiced Saitou Hajime from Hakouki, who is exactly one of the three characters I read the routes from in Hakouki.

The second route I read was from Hanzou, a former Iga member and now the leader of the private shinobi guard from lord Tokugawa. He's a real badass and considered the strongest ninja around. This was clearly my favorite route. Hanzou had a cool teasing relationship with lord Tokugawa who was my most favorite side character by a long mile. Hanzou and Enju also develop a touching Leon & Mathilda relationship, with Hanzou being the absolute super killer, giving her advanced training when they are on the run and fending off the other shinobi clans together. Hanzou also brings the best out of Enju. He likes smart and diligent characters, so Enju is forced to act that way if a romance relationship should develop. I also liked the plot resolution much more like in the previous route, even though I found the resolution about her father a bit too comic-book-villainy.
Fun fact: Hanzou was voiced by Toriumi Kousuke who also voiced Kazama Chikage, the arch-villain from Hakouki, who is another one of the three characters I read the routes from in Hakouki.
Fun fact-2: I thought that lord Tokugawa was a (pretty) woman in disguise the whole time, because 'he' looked and sounded so feminine. I couldn't believe the VNDB entry and even checked the gender of the voice actor... and apparently 'he' is supposed to be male. It was still so hard to believe that I was almost thinking about requesting a gender check. 

The third route I played was from Goemon. He appears like a simple womanizer at first, but tuns out to be a man of many secrets. The plot also develops rather different than the other two before, and involves the five elders much more. I liked it although it doesn't beat the one of Hanzou. Mainly because Enju was forced into a rather passive observer role here for a good part of the route. The situation demanded it and was well-founded, but it's still more fun to have Enju doing stuff and making decisions herself.
I wasn't so interested in the teenie connection of Gekkamaru and his brother Kuroyuki. Especially Gekkamaru was painfully bland. I was fine with  the routes of the three adults and therefore skipped the routes of those two. The individual routes have strong similarities anyway.
The VN also had some pretty good side characters, especially Tokugawa Ieyasu, but also Enju's two companions Kyara and Ennosuke.
Production values were decent even if it can't compete with Hakouki. Art designs were still good, although the images could have been a bit sharper. Story and characters were interesting although the villains were a bit lacking and made some plot resolutions disappointing. Hakuouki had much better developed villains. If the other four elders would have been as well developed as lord Tokugawa this VN could have even beaten Hakouki. Though Enju was certainly a better protagonist than Chizuru. The common and hero routes could also have been a bit longer I think.
Character ranking: (Tokugawa Ieyasu) > Hanzou > Choujirou > Goemon >> Kuroyuki > Gekkamaru (Still irritated that Tokugawa is supposed to be a dude, but I certainly like her him)
Overall rating 7.5/10

Oh my God.  If this article is true, and the Sol Press CEO did not give an interview in a bad mood ...
 And the VN market in the West is so saturated that players simply have no money to buy novels ...
 What to say about the countries of the second and third world?
 I live in Russia.  And honestly, I can call this country the third world country.  I never hope to see official translations of VN into Russian, this is just a useless idea.  Once in the West, where everything is bad, and if the English language (the main language of the world) novels do not pay off... What to say about other countries and translations into other languages?
Only silent...
 I don’t want to talk about my life and expenses (I was politely asked to shut up when I started doing this on the forum), but if I can, I buy games, although I know perfectly well that I don’t have time or energy for them.
 I do not think that +1 copy, especially for the Russian regional price (1/4 of the original price) can solve something, but I am happy to support those VNs hat interest me.
 Sol Press pleasantly surprised me by picking up the great Witch's Garden, as well as Happiness 2.
 But Windmill and other companies are so little known among all the others... Niche eroge studios...
 That I have a feeling that these VNs are needed only by 2.5 anonymous.
 This is sad.
 And, apparently, the employees of Sol Press themselves really like these VNs, which is probably why they are working at a loss just to see their favorite title published officially.
 Thank you, Sol Press.  I would cry if I were you.
We have very, very similar tastes.  I am glad that you have the means and opportunities to localize VN in the West, and ... Those who, let's be honest, are not needed by anyone (almost).
 So I will support you to the end.
 (I bought Majo Koi Nikki on the first day of release and am very happy. And you?)
Sorry for my English.

Which is one good reason to use the English title, given it's an English release and all... I'd take it as a personal favor, even if you love to snatch thread-starting opportunities, if you'd at least use the title we gave the game.

Recently like to hear Nine Episode 3 opening song, so I'll post it below.
Enjoy.

Could not agree more with this assessment of Tsui Yuri, tbh. The bad endings are entertaining, at least.

So I decided to take a detour from playing genuinely well made vns and play some trash instead
This is the trash I ended up playing
The only real entertaining part of it were the bad endings, those were some good ole wholesome fun
I rate it: Kinda toilet/10

The Witch's Love Diary is now available on Steam, Denpasoft (Standalone 18+ Release or free 18+ Patch for the Steam Release), and JAST USA. Get it at a 10% launch discount, at any of those stores, and then come tell us what you thought!

The Witch's Love Diary is now available on Steam, Denpasoft (Standalone 18+ Release or free 18+ Patch for the Steam Release), and JAST USA. Get it at a 10% launch discount, at any of those stores, and then come tell us what you thought!

The Witch's Love Diary is now available on Steam, Denpasoft (Standalone 18+ Release or free 18+ Patch for the Steam Release), and JAST USA. Get it at a 10% launch discount, at any of those stores, and then come tell us what you thought!

Which is one good reason to use the English title, given it's an English release and all... I'd take it as a personal favor, even if you love to snatch thread-starting opportunities, if you'd at least use the title we gave the game.

I feel like the answers they give you for those are actually going to be pretty satisfying. However, the game absolutely suffers from the "win the fight, lose the subsequent cutscene, survive anyway" formula, and I don't blame you for holding that (or something in that ballpark) against it, which it sounds like you do. So that's a totally fair complaint.
I think what I loved most about Xenoblade 2 was its epic sweep, which pervaded the other elements of the game more than they did the core plot. The music, the art, and the setting were all phenomenally evocative. They make me feel like I'm there, on this fantastical world with its cloud sea, its titans, its blades, and rising up above them all, the world tree. I also love it for the localization, a mindblowingly beautiful rendition of the world. I'm in love with the names, and with the accents (god, Morag's accent...).
The plot, well... it'll consistently get better from where you are, for sure, but it's never going to knock your socks off. The characters will do a better job of carrying you through the game than the plot will, and even they're merely good, not great. I'm a big fan of Nia, though, and of some others who I won't mention because spoilers, and I suspect you'll end up a Nia fan too. It's hard not to.
Basically, Xenoblade 2 has its share of flaws and weak points, but the high points are so damn high for me that I can't speak of it without reverence.
 
Now, on to what I'm playing... I've finally managed to get back into playing a JRPG, for the first time in... god I don't even know how long, ten months? And I've resumed Octopath Traveler. This game is so goddamn good. I stalled out on the game a long time ago right after finishing each character's first chapter, but since I've gotten back to it, I've finished about half the second chapters, and I've grabbed all the first round of secondary jobs. I'm thinking I might attempt Tressa's chapter three as well, right now, since it's one of the lower-level ones and since I'm already in the right place to do it.
To my surprise, my favorite character so far is Ophilia. She kinda looks like a goody two-shoes, and in fact she is, but she somehow pulls it off in a way that's not boring. She's also cool, thoughtful, and above all, capable. I'm magnetically attracted to capable people. Ophilia's chapter two felt like a perfect testament to her—no evil people ruining everybody's lives (see: Tressa's chapter two, or Cyrus's whole storyline) or people acting with unfathomable motives (see: Olbert's storyline, or Therion's), just a couple kids going through a rough patch in life and needing a little help, which Ophilia provides with the utmost grace and humility. I hope they carry out doing this style of story for her through the rest of the game, honestly. Having this kind of variety in the tales they tell really keeps the game fresh, and I found that I just really like that kind of story, and it's not one you see terribly often in a JRPG.
Work has me kinda busy right now, but I'm gonna keep carving out the time to play Octopath Traveler, on the weekends if nothing else. Really enjoying this one.

Congrats and thanks for this release!
Was hoping for this title to be localized sometime soon. 

Hurray! Huzzah! I mean congratulation for the release, and looking forward to the first Niijima Yuu VN that was completely translated.

Hurra I'm so excited for to play Witch Diary, i might buy it on Steam.
It look very interesting out and I'm huge fan of mystery.
Thank you for translating this VN:)

Thanks, Fred. I was just about to start hunting for a name before you brought her up.
Sadly, looking up DAOKO lead to a traumatizing discovery of ME!ME!ME!
Other than that, though, she is awesome!

I think the entire Dragalia Lost OST is by the same artist, DAOKO, and it all rules. Would recommend.

This is probably the happiest game OST I've ever heard.
 

You do realize this is a dumb statement, right?

I don't really know myself either, to be honest. I totally agree with what you're saying, it makes perfect sense. I just honestly get way too worked up about these kinds of things sometimes, and end up forgetting what point I'm even trying to make, lol. I should save that energy for the Moenovels and SakuraGames of the world, heh.
There are some issues with the store, but it just launched so I am sure these are issues they will address in the future. (Like being unable to sell one of their own games. I am interested in seeing how they go about handling this one.)
I do think they should still offer a link to their patches on the store, or if this gets them in trouble with their payment processor, at least mention that the games have been altered and that there is a patch available to restore the content. New customers finding this store, perhaps through the manga and light novels, won't know what "this is the all-ages version" means. The idea of patches being needed to play the full game is probably alien to them. They will probably get more "mainstream" customers specifically because Sol Press is a more "mainstream" company. I suppose this is the only real gripe I have with the site. The other companies you mentioned do this. KaguraGames offer the patches on their own website, which is linked on their Steam profile, and while CherryKiss does not have a store, we sell our games totally uncut on Steam. The theme here being that the patch / uncut versions of games are easily available and not hidden away on a secondary site that you need to know about to find. That I guess is the only real thing I would like to see them fix.

I don't really get what you're trying to argue here. If it's "every eroge localizer needs to have their own store", it would seem to be a silly thing to argue, given there are numerous other examples you can go after (at least one of which you yourself work for!).
Sol Press making a store is independent of Panty Press making a store, for reasons which I think I laid out pretty clearly. Each of those actions comes with a separate cost-benefit analysis; the costs are separate (and quite substantial in both cases), and the benefits are separate (and much larger on one of those than on the other). What fact or consideration are you taking issue with here?
There are lots of eroge loc companies performing this same cost-benefit analysis and ending up on one side of it (Denpasoft, Mangagamer, JAST USA), and lots of eroge loc companies performing the same analysis and ending up on the other side (Kagura Games, Cherry Kiss Games, Panty Press). I don't understand why it's something to get worked up about.

I don't really get what you're trying to argue here. If it's "every eroge localizer needs to have their own store", it would seem to be a silly thing to argue, given there are numerous other examples you can go after (at least one of which you yourself work for!).
Sol Press making a store is independent of Panty Press making a store, for reasons which I think I laid out pretty clearly. Each of those actions comes with a separate cost-benefit analysis; the costs are separate (and quite substantial in both cases), and the benefits are separate (and much larger on one of those than on the other). What fact or consideration are you taking issue with here?
There are lots of eroge loc companies performing this same cost-benefit analysis and ending up on one side of it (Denpasoft, Mangagamer, JAST USA), and lots of eroge loc companies performing the same analysis and ending up on the other side (Kagura Games, Cherry Kiss Games, Panty Press). I don't understand why it's something to get worked up about.