ChaosRaven

So Musicus has more grim and depressing themes than The House in Fata Morgana, Umineko, ef - the latter tale, etc. which are all All Ages?! That's a VN about music and a rock band right?! And not the next gore, abuse and depression festival? I also found the Witcher 3 a very emotional ride due to how well it was made and the maturity of the story and characters. I think only The House in Fata Morgana gave me similar vibes. So I definitely disagree about Witcher 3 not being comparable, but that might vary depending on each individual experience of course. Not to mention that it's tagged 18+ which is adult-only by definition, just that Steam lives in its own world where an 21+ (?!?) ultra-adult-only exists.

Does Steam do that with all new visual novels now? They didn't do that for Riddle Joker yet, which also has an adult patch. So either that's their newest bully tactic, or Musicus has way more grim themes than expected. Funny how 18+ games like The Witcher 3 or Cyberpunk are not tagged adult-only, while an all-ages VN about a rock band with no adult content is tagged as such. Oh ah, I forgot, those are AAA games which could cause a significant backlash and loss of money if they would be tagged that way. Naturally, that makes them way more all-ages than a true all-ages title could ever be. The law of money and greed. To be honest, I wish Steam would have never opened the VN door. I can live with a clear no-agenda, but those underhanded and dirty bully tactics to suppress that genre are slowly going on my nerves. It's absolutely clear that they hate them, so why don't they just make a clear cut?

Is there a particular reason why the title is still marked as adult-only on Steam even if it has a separate adult patch? According to MangaGamer the Steam edition is all-ages, so why is it tagged as adult-only?

If they bring over Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi, it'll be the first time that a VN gets translated which I've already read in Japanese.

That's certainly another interesting VN, but from Minato Carnival and not Minato Soft.

It looks pretty cool. Actually, it seems to be the first big new title from Minato Soft after Majikoi, which is quite some time. They just released a million Majikoi fan discs since then, except for this Shoujo-tachi thingy.

Not bad! Those are some pretty decent titles. NekoNyan certainly seems to have build up some good connections to the VN scene. Maybe I should send my hopeless prayers for the Shin Koihime † Musou -Kakumei- trilogy to them.

Bought 9 -Nine- Episode 4 on release, but I'm not that far into it yet - just past the prologue. But I'm pretty sure it'll be good, since I liked all its episodes so far and this one is supposed to be the best.

To be fair, it can be tough to accurately judge such grey zone titles, especially if they are part of a series where some titles qualify and others not. That said, I would personally prefer the rules to be more strict towards reading time vs. gameplay time, even if it would mean that some popular series would drop out. But I remember buying some *visual novels* recommended by VNDB like Yu-No or the Nonary Games and ended up severely disappointed, because I just got some crappy puzzle or adventure games with little to no narration. That doesn't necessarily mean that their stories are bad itself, but that the stories are presented in a too gameplay heavy way to qualify as a VN anymore. If I want a gameplay title with a good story I'm usually better off with a real RPG/JRPG anyway. The current rules feel more like 'JRPG with porn => VNDB' anyway. Though, personally I think I'm more annoyed by the new 'Suggestive' tag for images which just opens up another massive greyzone. The old separation into just explicit and tame worked way better imho. Nowadays, it just feels like 'Girl => Sexually Suggestive'. Fortunately, that nonesense can be disabled in the profile settings.

Senkou no Clarias kinda caught my eye because the main heroine on the cover looks like Luna from Tsuriotsu. Not really a coincidence, because Navel's artist Suzuhira Hiro did the character designs for that title this time. Too bad the ratings aren't too good - the art is certainly pretty.

Looks like Sakuranomori Dreamers didn't do too well. Beaten by the likes of Maggot Baits, Euphoria, Escalayer and crap loads of Rance. Maybe we just don't deserve story titles.

I was almost suprised that Yuzusoft didn't make it one the list until I noiced that they didn't release anything last year. The Cabbage Soft title doesn't exactly *look* like a winner candidate, but the description of the title sounds a lot more interesting than it looks. But still, Kara no Shoujo - The Last Episode is finally released and it only gets 9th place? That hurts. Seeing Amakano 2 on the list was also irritating at first, since I thought it's an older title, but I apparently confused it with Amakano - Second Season from 2015. Still, while not bad, the art style looks a bit weird for my taste. I'm surprised it got an award for it. If they wanted something *extravagant*, Dohna Dohna would have been a better choice I think. Didn't expect Mama x Holic to loose against two other contenders in the ero section - it's freaking hot. I can understand Suiren to Shion somehow. Hibiki Soft's Iizuki Tasuku vs. Atelier Kaguya's Choco Chip is a tough duel. But Real Eroge Situation 2? Seriously?!

Hm, I can't really judge Sanoba Witch since I didn't play that yet, but at least in Senren Banka I don't remember that being a particular prevalent problem. IMHO, the VN with the most abusive heroines I've read last year was Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception by a country mile. Haku being accidentally (or intenionally) killed by Kuon or Nekone would have been no surprise for me.

Hm, The Day After episodes look quite interesting, and considering that two of them alone are tagged as medium length on VNDB, the pricing does seem to be fair at least. The multiple protagonists thing is bugging me a bit though.

Oh, I wasn't even aware that's also from him. I wonder why he just doesn't get a job as VN translator. Getting paid for it should make things a lot more bearable.

I was actually surprised that the translator of Gin'iro, Haruka could go on for so long. Translating the rather long Hatsukoi 1/1 and the even longer Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai and then going straight to Gin'iro, Haruka was almost inhuman. It was just a matter of time that he got a burn-out from that. Still nice that other translators seem to jump in. Would be a pity if the already translated text would go to waste.

Did you read a Yuzusoft title before? For moe you usually can't go wrong with them. On VNDB at least, the most popular Yuzusoft title seems to be Sanoba Witch, but it probably depends a lot on what people have already read and Senren * Banka is newer. The just recently released Riddle Joker seems to be rather strong in the plot department though, so that will probably my next Yuzusoft title (after a reasonable break).

Finally finished some titles... It took a while, but Senren * Banka was very sweet. Probably my favorite Yuzusoft title so far (just played Noble Works and Dracu Riot before though) and ended up playing all routes except Koharu's. It still had the typical Yuzusoft problem that they come up with a decent plot (for a moege) in the common route, but then more or less drop it in the character routes. Only Lena's route somewhat built up on it. I think they could learn a lesson or two from 9-nine how to successfully keep things interesting with reasonable effort. Nevertheless, as a moege it certainly succeeds. In that area, it's hard to argue that Yuzusoft know their trade. The characters were very likable and had a good chemistry with each other. You really got family vibes from them. Like usual in a Yuzusoft the sprite dynamics were most excellent and made the characters feel more lively than ever. It also had a competent and caring protagonist. I really liked his dedication to his sword fight training. It's a pity it couldn't be used more. It would have been great to see some *Chusingura action* with him. Heroine ranking: Lena >= Yoshino = Mako = Murasame = Roka > Koharu I really have a hard time picking favorites here, since I liked most heroines almost equally. Though I think I liked Lena a tiny bit more than the others. Overall rating 7/10 (Could have been higher if they would have put more emphasis on story) Also finished Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden 2, the second fan disc for Kyonyuu Fantasy. I don't think this can be called a nukige anymore. In the first two hours you don't even see a girl, and the first H-scene happens after eight hours or so. They literally *plundered* all their previous Kyonyuu Fantasy games, including KF2 to get the sprite and image resources necessary to realize a full cross-pseudo-European conflict involving Spain (Iberia), France (Fronce), England (Hillsland), the Holy Roman Empire (Edellandt) and probably Denmark (Nordland). It's actually pretty impressive that they managed to pull that off, full with intrigues and wars. On the other hand, it's still rather 'cheaply' made, so it's essentially just more of the same. It also suffers from Lute's harem being too big with only Shamsiel, Gladys and Aphrodia having useful roles from the old cast. Lute's antics also slowly get old, especially in the later parts when every problem is solved by him just walking in range. It's a lot more interesting when he actually comes up with a crazy idea or turns an enemy into an ally. Heroine ranking: Gladys > Aphrodia > Shamsiel > Emeralia > Rosalyn > Estoria > ... (too much effort to list them all) Overall rating: 6.5/10 (I originally wanted to give a 7, but Lute's *demi-god* problem solutions were just lame) Well, Iwaihime was an odd one. I read a few chapters and then had a look at VNDB again if this was really written by Ryuukishi07. While the structure of VN resembles his previous works, the writing itself... does now. I'm not the biggest fan of Ryu, but my usual problems with his writing is that he doesn't find an end and just goes on and on until he suddenly comes up with a troll twist I hate. But on the other hand, he can also come up with some really powerful writing. In Iwaihime however, you get an almost lightning fast pacing. Considering I usually like fast-paced VN's, this should have been perfect for me. However, this wasn't simply fast-paced, there were just essential parts missing. No proper character introductions, scene build-ups to create tension pretty much didn't exist. The chapters show-casing the different heroine problems felt like copy & paste with slightly different scenarios. Overall, it felt like the VN was written by a complete amateur, since not a single thing was decently done - it was more like a rough draft of how the VN should be structured than the full thing. Ryu must have really hated working on this, probably because it was contract work and not his own. It was obvious that he just wanted to get it over with, so he could work on his own stuff again. Heroine ranking: Meh Overall rating: 2/10 (Seriously, this was just bad and not me being grumpy for a change...) Next on my list are Kami no Rhapsody and Gekkou no Carnevale. Though Gekkou is so unstable under Windows 10 that you can only use hotkeys, because accessing the game menu via right-click freezes the game. Story sounds interesting, but I'm not sure if it's worth going through those hassles.

The art styles in the trailer are irritating. The static art of the first half seems barely improved from the first release 20 years ago. Certainly nothing you'd expect from a 2021 title. On the other hand, the second half is top-notch anime art. Is this really a trailer for the VN remake or a new anime remake?

It looks pretty interesting, especially since I like that type of detective VN's. However, it's a bit annoying that they didn't get it on Steam. I wonder why, it really doesn't look like a VN you're buying for the ero content. But I guess Claris looked a bit too young for the Steamquisition and ShiraVN probably tried to release it uncensored without an adult patch. Not really fond of creating an account on Johren Games though - never heard of them. Couldn't they just release it on one of the more common platforms like Mangagamer or DenpaSoft as well?

I appreciate the words, but there won't be a Mask of Truth for me. The slice of life in Mask of Deception actually made me despise most of its characters, so I'm realistic enough that just some slight improvements in its successor won't change anything for me. But this being essentially an JRPG, I'm actually thinking about giving the new edition of Tales of Vesperia a try. It's famed to be the best of the series next to Berseria, even though the gameplay itself in Berseria didn't exactly blow me away. But Kami no Rhapsody will probably be the next JRPG/VN hybrid I play anyway, so there's still time to decide.

Finished the third Flowers VN (actually already a few weeks ago) and it was definitely my favorite part of the Flowers series so far. Not just because it focuses on my favorite characters Yuzuyuzu and the twins, but also because for once they picked a couple with Nerine that actually harmonates with each other instead of trying to force two polar opposites into a relationship. Despite being mostly slice of life with some light drama thrown in, the visual novel has a certain maturity that makes the characters more believable and engaging than your typical moe blob. It's just refreshing when characters show their serious side from time to time to remind you that they aren't just stock anime tropes fullfilling their cliche, but also have real personalities and deeper thoughts and worries to flesh out their characters. The other characters were also nicely written. Erika with her cynical comments and funny interactions with Chidori. The shy and composed but smart and observant Suou. Even Rikka was kinda nice this time around and didn't behave like Satan's first-born for a change. It's a pity that the VN, just like the other parts of the series, doesn't really have a bigger scope with more complex and interesting mysteries and story lines tied to it. From a more objective point of view, they certainly didn't overexcert themselves. Sprites and backgrounds are pretty much all recycled from the previous parts and no new characters were introduced this time. It does have some gorgeous CG's from Yuzuyuzu in particular though. But knowing what Innocent Grey actually is capable of in terms of complex stories, it's still hard to shake of the feeling that this series mostly exists to finance Kara no Shoujo 3. Heroine ranking: Yuzuyuzu > Twins > Nerine > Suou > Erika > Chidori > Rikka Overall rating: 7/10 Okay, I finally dropped Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception. Despite having a rather decent start, the massive decline in quality later on was just unbearable to endure. I'm not sure if I've ever read an actual 'story VN' that was so incredible boring to read. I even fell asleep multiple times during my time with it. Real plot lines barely exist and when something actually happens for a change, then it involves mostly side characters and the main cast is just watching from the side lines. You know that a writer has given up on a story when he doesn't even bother ordering his scenes anymore and just gives you a massive slice of life scene gallery where you can arbitrary pick the ones you want to read at the moment. Their content is just so meaningless, that it absolutely doesn't matter when or in which order you're reading them. And the majority of the text is structured that way. The whole thing might have still worked out if at least the characters would pay off. Unfortunately, in the understanding of the writer cute = dumb and so he tried to make them as dumb as possible to make the cast cute. While the starting cast with Kuon and Rulutieh were still kind of okay, the heroines introduced later on got just worse and worse. Just look at Nosuri, she gets her whole gang killed out of stupidity, but doesn't feel a glimmer of regret about it. Or the two royal sex slaves who were obviously written for a nukige. Even Kuon got kind of annoying, though in her defense, with such a pathetic protagonist, it might be hard to avoid turning into a bitch. The protagonist is certainly one of the main problems. Being introduced as somewhat weak but smart at the beginning, he degenerates more and more into a retarded clown later on. He even had to be reminded once, that they were actually going to war and not to a picknick. But his main purpose was to act as an entertainment clown for the loli's and as punching ball for the rest anyway, so that didn't really matter. The side characters were also somewhat baffling. There were actually a few rather decent ones among them, but the writer had such an akward obsession with dull and goofy characters that he almost exclusively focused on the likes of Maroro or Dekoponpo instead. However, all that doesn't change the fact that the VN actually had some impressive production values under its belt. The game engine in particular was frequently used to showcase animated sequences which could occasionally get almost epic dimensions with lots of characters. The art was rich and fitting for the setting even if the sprites were a bit too simple for my taste. It's a pity that they picked such a failure of a writer for this project, there's just so much wasted potential. I actually played Tales of Berseria along with this and it was almost a difference like night and day in terms of story and character quality. It's a pity I can't refund the successor Mask of Truth anymore - 30+ bucks down the drain. Should have waited with buying until Mask of Deception showed me it's worth it. But well, lesson learned for next time. Heroine ranking: Rulutieh > Kuon > Don't care Overal rating: 4/10

It's strange that Mashiro Iro Symphony wasn't translated yet. We got SakuSaku and almost the whole 9-nine series from Palette, so the absence of Mashiro Iro Symphony is a bit weird.

So, in some sort of Halloween event, MangaGamer announced three new titles. Don't remember them ever announcing stuff on that occasion, but considering Covid 19 killed most cons this year, I guess that's the fallback. First is a double package consisting of Wanting Wings: Her and Her One Month Romance and its sequel Faraway Feathers: Her and Her Valentine’s Romance from BaseSon. Yeah, that's certainly what everyone wanted from BaseSon. Second is Funbag Fantasy 3if from Waffle. It's interesting that they went straight for the extended if-version this time, but I certainly won't complain since it means that we'll get the new heroine Athena already, who is a real looker. Anyway, I'm pretty sure Waffle fans will be happy with this. And last but least there's How to Live a Healthy Hentai Lifestyle! from Clock Up. (NSFW) This seems to be a 'normal' nukige for a change instead of a splatter festival. No idea if that's the title Clock Up fans wanted to see translated. Though I have to say that Hamashima Shigeo's art was better than this one. Nevertheless, I don't touch Clock Up titles, so I don't really care.

Hm, it's tagged as Mystery 3.0. That's certainly interesting, especially considering it's from the same writer like Flowers. The art style reminds me more of Fatal Twelve though. A bit worried about the ratings though - nowhere near either of those.