Dreamysyu

So, I guess I'm almost done with Bokuten common route. Well, that was something. Quite often, even in good VNs, common routes feel like a waste of time. I like SOL when it serves a purpose in the story, but I hate it when it's used as useless filler. However, the common route in Bokuten is nothing like that. Basically, every chapter tells its own finished story. And the choices it gives are often pretty difficult. Almost every option comes don't to whether you let a couple of lovers fall apart or let them come together despite all the complications it will bring them. I decided to follow a walkthrough since there seems to be a recommended route order, but now I wonder which route I'd end up at if I chose what I believed was right.

Well, I tried not to read them in too much detail since I didn't want to be spoiled. It's entirely possible that things will go in the wrong direction later, and it totally happens with VNs sometimes. Hapymaher, for example, had excellent first few chapters, but later things got very weird. However, so far the writing in Bokuten seems pretty good, and while it does feel a bit cheesy from time to time, I can kind of relate to the characters. And the MC seems pretty good, which is rare for VNs. I think some people may find him annoying, but I somewhat understand where he's coming from. And yeah, he's quite obviously severely depressed.
So, I guess, I'll try not to have too big expectations, but I hope everything turns out well.

Actually, there's more than utsuge being an utsuge when it come to Bokuten's flaw, and you'll probably see why later.

I feel like it's been twelve thousand years since I posted in this thread. So, I started reading Bokuten, and I hope I finish it. Actually, it's stupid that the last full-length VN I finished was in 2020. I started quite a few since then but lacked the motivation to continue.
So, does anyone know if there is some recommended route order in Bokuten? And should I use a walkthrough? I generally prefer to avoid using it, but there are some cases when necessary.

According to the localisation staffs, the route order are Minamo, Yuri, and Naruko before finally proceeding to Aine's route (aka the true route). As for using walkthrough, the choices are simple enough, although you may as well check the spoiler free walkthrough if you want to be sure.
For Bokuten, well, to me one of the route is like soap opera. Still, have fun on playing Bokuten if you didn't mind some sad story.

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.

Try again.
I made a few changes. It should be fixed now.

will be fixed soon, waiting for response froom sinned

You can kinda tell how good the rating system is when that one oppai nukige get higher rating than F/SN + Little Busters and only slightly below Clannad...

Looks really cool, actually. Too bad it's console-only.

JackJeanne

JackJeanne is a special Otome Game written and illustrated by Tokyo Ghoul's Ishida Sui and it's everything I wanted it to be!
My heart broke with the cancelation of Act-Age and A3! (English Version) so I had a mighty need of more theater fiction.
Combine my desire for theater and otome games and anyone can see why JackJeanne had my entire focus despite drowning in games.
I started with Suzu's Route and I took 1,5 weeks for it lol
JackJeanne is just super long for an otome game (4-6 hours per route is what I'm used from Otomate). 
I really enjoy the preparations for the plays, finding out what kind of story we get to see this time and who will play who. Everyone doing their best learning their character, thinking about their role in the play and feeling like you're not good enough.
When it comes to the plays themself, I like the Fall Performance for the quality acting and the Winter Performance for the feelings it gave me the most.
The Univeil Performance was quite something too tho! Especially since it will differ in every route. 
I also enjoy when the "Girl protag pretends to be a boy" tropes come into play. Suzu catching feelings for his bro not knowing Kisa's a girl and the comedy that follows. It get's even funnier once he knows lol
It's also funny how worried Kisa get's about hiding her gender when she absolutely has nothing to worry about. Rhodonite is femboy central and has boys much more feminine than she is!
I can't wait to see how the other routes will go! I think I'm most curious about Neji and Kai. Neji for being a hot mess who really get's under everyone's skin.
And Kai since I really sympathize with him. He's a good guy who deserves more than he usually get's. I want a happy end for him!
I think I can already recommend JackJeanne to anyone who likes stories about making a play, stories about pretending to be a gender you're not and if you like femboys lol

Hiya!! Man, I haven't post in a while and I don't remember the last vn I was reading back then... I think I had just finished Steins; Gate?
Anyway, I started Umineko and I am not on episode 2! I'm LOVING IT
I've been trying to read an hour a day at least but for the last two weeks I've been failing it hard cuz of Fuwa work :sob
oh the irony
———————
Oh and also, I've played a bunch of VN demos from the Steam Next Fest event — ghostpia (I loved this so much); BRXKEN INSIDE; Every Hue of You; Fragile Feelings; from Madness with Love; Monster Lover: Balasque; Tenebrae; and The Frozen Kingdom.
 

I haven't said anything here in a while, so let's see...

Confession: I like when things are "way too artsy", even if sometimes the meaning can get a little lost.
I don't want it to completely butcher the story, but most of the times people are just too conservative abt these things!
Confession 2: I found a lot of the maggot guro scenes in Maggot Baits hot 😳

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!

https://myanimelist.net/anime/5210/Houkago_2_The_Animation

I finished Higurashi and I really liked it. I can understand why people love it so much.
Now my random number generator says that I have to start reading Grisaia no Kajitsu and Never7 -the end of infinity-
I'm particularly excited about Never7, because I quite liked Ever17 -the out of infinity-

The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen seems to be a pretty popular otome isekai, but I don't know much about it. Other than that, nothing seems particularly interesting.

I'm feeling strong urge to reread Princess Evangile once again - that would make it fourth time 😮 It was neither the first or the best VN I've read, but I feel some strange connection to it - it became my "Comfort VN"
Welcome to the club
BTW another confession - one of vndb mods started to add "Censored Edition" to the titles of many all-ages Steam releases (like Aokana). I really don't know why it bothers me so much, but I got quite upset about it

Confession. To be honest, I don't even know why I still visit this forum, since it's been quite a while since I actually finished a VN. Well, I still hope I'll return to them eventually. I think I'll stick to all-ages versions though.

My un-favourite thing is actually all the instances of Rudeus pervying over his own mother, but yeah, I think this is as bad as it ever gets. Also, I feel that this part of Mushoku Tensei is why so many isekais after it made the protagonists either reincarnate as adults or awaken their memories of previous life at grade-schooler age. You can easily imagine how traumatic the experience of a fully self-aware toddler would actually be unless they're some kind of extreme pervert. 😛

Yeah, I read a few chapters at the start. I think the last chapter I read was from the maid's perspective, where she said how uncomfortable she was around the MC, while no one but her realized that there was something wrong with him. And yeah, that was pretty disturbing.

Mushoku Tensei is above all a redemption story and at least in anime while Rudeus' pervyness and his horrible past life are present, his positive qualities and him overcoming past traumas are much more prevalent. The very beginning of the story is pretty uncomfortable IMO but it only gets better after that, so I don't think it should be unbearable by any standards.

I bought the first volume of LN for this a few years ago, but I'm yet to read it. Honestly, I'm afraid that this protagonist will be too much for me, but I also think from what people were saying about the story that it might make up for his flaws.

Sooo, I've been catching on some stuff from my to-watch list.
First, Mushoku Tensei pretty much lived up to the hype. Really cool, character-driven isekai, with barely any weak points outside of the pervy stuff (which is not necessarily all bad, there is a narrative reason for some of it, but it's definitely overdone). I've wanted to watch it before the new season starts this summer and you can easily see how the original LN kickstarted the non-game side of isekai – it's so rich in its world and narrative that 90% of isekais after it ripped off major parts of it while rarely getting anywhere near it with either personality and/or complexity. Also loved how complete the first season felt, showing this massive personal journey of growth and overcoming trauma for Rudeus, while also giving a clear direction for the future. A few minor arcs felt rushed and slightly confusing, but overall, excellent piece of anime. 9/10?
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was another one I wanted to watch for a while and also enjoyed a lot. It feels like a short story more than a full series, but considering the subject matter, that's very fitting. It's all about how the world of Cyberpunk crushes people, and how it uses the very desperation it creates to exploit them even harder at every step. How Cyberpunks themselves, supposedly ones outside of the mundane oppression of the system, are actually another cog in the machine, used by the corpo powers as they please and discarded as soon and they lose their utility... But in the end, it's also not as depressing and grimdark as some reactions made me believe. I'm not sure there is much hope in it, but there's definitely some space for humanity and for some characters finding a better future, it's not just a tragedy for the sake of tragedy as some people make it out to be. Also 9/10 for me.
Then, I've decided to finally check out Tokyo Ghoul... And... WTF? Just how botched that adaptation has to be if the manga is well-regarded? I kind of like the world, as I like vampires and this is basically a not-that-major spin on that theme... But holy crap the storytelling, it's just a neverending cycle of stupid->edgy->even more stupid->even more edgy, and then just fucking end in the most awkward moment imaginable. I actually quite hated the experience of watching it, and I didn't go in with such bad expectations, only with the knowledge that the adaptation was very imperfect. Maybe watching it as a dumb 15-year-old who really enjoyed Elfen Lied would leave me with a better impression... But I don't even think that's the case, it doesn't try to be a tear-jerker, it's just over-the-top brutal and obnoxious, on top of being rushed and sucking at character development... Meh/10.

There are many animes that made me cry but Clannad:AS hit HARD. I couldn't even read the subs.