Infernoplex

Isn't Steins Gate series heavy on Sci-fi stuff? I wouldn't really bother with machine translation if I could help it, unless you are very good in Japanese?

I got curious so I checked it out and I can tell you that I am probably not going to read this one, the reason primarily being that it doesn't look like something I am willing to go through even though it's short. Based on its VNDB page and the site, I don't think I am going to like it very much, it's an OELVN with an unusual art style (is this some kind of sepia variant or what O_O, it doesn't attract me at all), developed by English/French developers (the trailer is in French and apparently the VN isn't voiced which is expected, many OELVNs aren't voiced). You mentioned VNDB scores and I checked them out, it has a lot of 8s. Probably people liked it but I don't think it's my cup of tea, sorry. I think I'd rather read some other VNs in that range (2-10 hours) like Saya no Uta and Phenomeno, those look more appealing to me ^^. By the way, I wanted to ask you, I think you mentioned me sometime earlier that you are studying Japanese already and you should know yourself around it by now. Did you think about reading this VN (or maybe even read it already? xD). It definitively looks like something I'd gladly read, relatively recently was released.

Obenkyo is quite famous actually, wonder how you never heard of it before XD There's some other software too but I personally found Obenkyo the most appealing to me, there's also Anki which you will find mentioned everywhere and it's available for both PC and Android unlike Obenkyo that is available only on Android ... Though I guess you could use Blue Stacks to run Obenkyo on PC if neccesary, I was thinking about doing that but since I have a tablet I really don't have a need for it on PC too.

Yes, that's true what you said, I mentioned Rosetta because I actually found it very interactive and I liked the approach of it, but after going through the first 4 lessons (1 whole unit) I realised all of its flaws and right now I am not using it even though I have it installed (I do intend to finish it off regardless of the flaws). You are right, they do use basically the same "template" if I may say so, for all languages, I have learned that by actually trying out Russian too (another language I might want to learn) and I noticed they basically use even the same pictures for everything, but I am not really bothered with that, I know Rosetta isn't meant to be real study material nor its addapted to the language it tries to teach and as I already said, it's flawed in the sense that it doesn't have any guidelines or helpbook or anything to even tell you what anything means other than your guessing based on the input you are given like pictures and situations ... I find that fatal when you simply can't guess stuff, even with pictures, though I did find on the net some resources, people who have been completing the course and they've tried translating everything but even with all of that, I find it lazy that the developer himself didn't include it. And there is absolutely no way to learn grammar with it, I know, it does have some kind of "testing" some little bits of grammar but it never explains what it is or why is it like that, for that I need to google stuff up to see what's up with particles and other grammar stuff. The reason I am using it is because I think that I am memorising some stuff preety good with it, like vocabulary for example, and by the way, yes, it does have 4 writings - romaji/kana/kanji/furigana ... In the beginning I was using only romaji but soon ditched it because it feels un-natural to read it like that and then switched only to kana ... I have actually completed the first part of unit 1 when I stopped Rosetta to look at other learning sources when I heard people saying that I should use kanji as much as possible ... And since then I am switching between kana and kanji, I actually found a use for Rosetta, I think I am memorising some vocab very easily with it now, as well as kanji (as well as some readings for kanji too), for example - whenever I think of 牛乳 (gyuunyuu) now I am suddently reminded of a picture of a kid with milk from the Rosetta Stone, and I know what these two kanji have as a meaning, so I do remember some stuff that way, it helps me visualize it and Rosetta is very interactive in the sense that it isn't just read-through, it's basically a quiz which I like about it the most, though I did find bugs in voice-recognition and such, it's still a fun experience even though it's far from perfect. I mentioned it because I thought OP might like something like that but it's probably not the solution if he wants to get serious into the language and Rosetta as you said is preety much not adapted to Japanese, which as an exotic language that cannot be taught in the way you teach Western languages and that's where it fails, I guess you're right to veto it. Right now I am going through this textbook: http://www.tuttlepublishing.com/books-by-country/beginning-japanese-textbook-paperback-with-disc It seems to be okay-ish I guess, in my opinion it might be even easy but that's the way I am fine with it, I am currently not at the level to learn through any complicated material, after I am done with it I will probably go for Minna no Nihongo or Genki but more advanced stuff will have to wait for at least a year or two before I get the sense of kanji and some other stuff ... I preety much learn Japanese out of a hobby, not in school and such so I am fine with the methods I am using so far.

Some random sites I came upon while browsing several days ago, I can't tell you how good they are since I didn't get serious into them so far but they definitively look like something that might help in Japanese studies, at least beginner level if nothing else: - https://www.erin.ne.jp/en/ (Something by Japan Foundation, should be helpful); - https://www.nihongo-pro.com/kanji-pal/ (good for learning Hiragana/Katakana and Kanji I guess, I did play a little with it, and somehow I managed to even learn some new Kanji, can be useful too); If you need a good software for Kanji memorization and practice (as well as learning new vocab and stuff) and you have an android tablet or telephone, you should definitively look at Obenkyo because it's really an awesome program and unlike some other Kanji software, it's free (I think) and I didn't stumble upon any features that need buying though there might be some, I don't know, I use it for Kanji primarily and it looks like it doesn't have restrictions based on JLPT level, some other Kanji software do restrict it to only JLPT level 5, this one allows you to work with all jojo (standard) kanji up to level JLPT 1 (the levels are in reverse) ... and so it's good for that ... There are some other memorization software out there like Anki and some others but I didn't really like them, the flashcard system is kind of a bother and I am more into quiz type of learning ... That's why another software of recommendation would be MemRise (also for Android OS), it's something I use too, so you should check it out if you want ... As for other Japanese related stuff, like grammar, and other things, you should check Tae Kim's guide mentioned in the post above me. But if you want more you'll have to either buy some good Japanese textbooks like Genki and some other, from what I have seen there, they are very good beginner-oriented textbooks ... I guess you could pirate them if you aren't able to buy them now, those books aren't even available in my country so can't really judge anybody for pirating xD Though you should look out for different versions, I think it has two editions of the book, the 2nd one should be the latest (or so I believe) and it has Genki I and Genki II, it's two preety long textbooks + workbooks, tons of material and it looks aproachable from what I have seen. Something also approachable is Japanese by Rosetta Stone though that one lacks in many stuff but I found it fun to go through, but it takes time to go through units there. Though you can't really learn stuff from there because it expects you to "figure it out" yourself, so it's preety much like a guessing software, but it's a fun experience to me, it could be much better if it had a textbook of some kind though And yeah, start Kanji immediately if you plan on learning Japanese ... That's probably the most laborous thing about Japanese that I have found so far.

I voted for Danganronpa because based on what I know about you so far, you seemed to be very much into darker stuff like Fata Morgana and Phenomeno, from what I know about ef, it's supposed to be romance (? not sure, didn't read it but I heard it's good) and never heard of Aviary Attorney (is that related to Ace Attorney?) ... Danganronpa seems to be very popular and it should probably suit your tastes more if I'm right about your tastes xD ...

Aha, okay, sorry for misunderstanding then

Ignore my previous post, I don't really follow up on their stuff but it's basically all over Reddit and 4chan when something related to them happens and I can't help it but notice it, it seems to me that dovac is the primary reason of drama there so I shouldn't judge whole SP based just on him ... though as a CEO I'd have expected more self-control from him since he is on that position, besides I think it's irrelevant to this thread, I have to say sorry because it maybe looked like I was trying to start up the SP hate-bashing which wasn't really my intention, I just wanted to point out on some of the issues that bothered me about them, personally I'd like to see them succeed and not exit the VN market as Dovac in emotional state said, though they do need to up their communication skill definitively.

@Fred the Barber Okay, thanks for the heads up, yes, apparently I was wrong about Kickstarter though I must admit, it still stands that they use it much more then JAST or MangaGamer, I had a subjective feeling that they do it all the time but I am wrong, I am personally not against that, I know VN localization can be very expensive and that it was probably the only way to bring some of these great titles localized.

True, I don't know anything about them other than what random info I stumble upon. I think I did saw several times that he was mentioned as a CEO but didn't believe it because based on how he acts (like a drama queen) I had trouble thinking of him as a CEO (that's why it seemed to me like he is a random employee), that makes matters even worse, when a CEO acts like that, and no, the community isn't a good enough excuse in my opinion, no matter how bad the community is you can't just come out and say things he said, that shows lack of control and potentially deters new customers. But on the other hand, it's true that the VN community is toxic towards ... everyone as you said, but SP is special in the sense that it brings up the most hate towards itself thanks to the way they speak with the community and also with the way how they handle localizations, for example I have yet to learn whether there are going to be 18+ releases of these new VNs they announced. Though with this new Nutaku partnership I do hope that we won't get some censored garbage even if the 18+ versions come out. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate SP, in fact I know they did release and do keep releasing some really good VNs, like Grisaia trilogy, Clannad, Root Double and some other, what I don't like about them is how they always manage to bring some drama upon themselves.

Oh, yes, it's very easy to fix, I have an idea what they could do to help themselves out and VN community too. This is a relatively recent statement from one of SP's employees (or past employees right now): Well, if that's true then why don't they just go back to their initial plan and start doing what they originally intended to do at the company, since they didn't really want to do visual novels at all? Visual Novel localization is no easy business and it isn't even that profitable from what I know about it, why did they even choose to do it if they don't even like VNs at all? Did they think it was going to be some easy cash making? And by the way, I think that most if not all of their titles were released using Kickstarter, I don't remember JAST or MangaGamer abusing Kickstarter like that for any of the titles they released.

You know, that actually makes sense to me, but then again, you are right, it sounds a little bit like a conspiracy theory but with SP as a subject I am ready to believe in anything and everything since they often leave a lot of space for that and aren't very transparent.

It seems to me that SP is badly wanting to auto-self destruct itself, every time I hear something new about them it's always something bad, from bad communication with fans and community, to everything else VN-related, it's just mind-boggling to me why people still support them after everything they have done and keep doing it, if anything I'd really like to see them fall and let somebody else licence Baldr Sky.

From what I have heard, most people are saying it's not worth it - learning Japanese only to be able to read VNs ... And personally, I can understand why that is, first of all - Reading visual novels is just a hobby and a form of entertainment that may or may not hold you interested into it long enough and considering how much time is necessary to become fluent in it (from what I have heard, CIA calls it the "hardest" language to become fluent in or something like that) and wasting that much time just to be able to read VNs is kind of a wasted effort if you are just going to ditch it one day, that's why it's only recommended to people who are generally interested in more Japanese-related entertainment like manga, anime, etc. And besides, who knows whether it will pay off in the end, you might even discover that once you have learned the language you don't have interest anymore in the VNs, that's all very much possible. On the other hand, there are people out there, like me, who are impatient and would like to be able to read these VNs for themselves, not to be dependant on somebody else's translation and possibly enjoy it even more in its original Japanese language form (I have heard many Japanese sentences lose some of the meaning when translated to English). I have started my journey of learning (more like trying to learn xD) Japanese back by the end of the last year and to be quite honest, sometimes I find it fun to learn and sometimes I just become frustrated at some complicated stuff in Japanese, after all, Japanese is an exotic language and it really needs a strong dedication to learn it. I don't know whether I will make it till the end but I plan on learning it enough in order to be able to at least grasp some basic meaning of Japanese and I know I am probably just wasting my time but honestly, sometimes it can be fun, despite its quirks, Japanese can be fun to learn, and it doesn't feel boring like learning some other languages

@AlphaJay I can agree with you on that, it's definitively a unique experience, I was skeptical of it at first but soon discovered myself very immersed into it, it's a shame though that the art isn't that much appealing ... I finished only the first part and still have to play the other two ... I intend to replay the first one once I go back to playing it ... There is also a new version of the game that came out (Monmusu Quest! Paradox RPG) but sadly isn't fully translated yet though there is a translator that is working on the game and there is a partial patch for it ... One day when I grasp enough of Japanese I will not have to wait for translations for the games that I want to play

That just proves there's a lot of comp sci students that like to read VNs xD If I was MangaGamer or JAST I'd make that data useful in order to see to whom to market the VNs

You are probably right since I didn't really read that one, I know about Snow Sakura because I played it but about Yume Miru Kusuri I am not sure, some people on the net were recommending me that one when I asked them about slice of life, maybe it's just some drama with elements that you mentioned, my bad for recommending stuff I am not sure about, sorry ^^

You already got a lot of suggestions, here's another one: Snow Sakura ... And one more I remembered just now: Yume Miru Kusuri Edit: Skip Yume Miru Kusuri, it's not what you are looking for. I wasn't sure about that one.

Welcome to Fuwa and good luck with your VN Blue Bird

The first three VNs on that list look like something I'd gladly like to see localized. Though I don't know about the rest of the list, nothing really particular catches my eye in any of the 4 to 10th VN.

Welcome to Fuwa and I wish you have a good time here As for suggestions, a post above me has already told you what you need to look out for ... And by the way, congratulations on reading so many good VNs, I checked out your VNDB page, not bad, certainly better than mine (as of this moment) xD You have mostly read higher rated Japanese VNs with exceptions being Cute Demon Crashers and some other OELVNs that I don't know anything about. Congratulations on finishing Yu-No, that's a feat I will never be able to accomplish no matter how good the story and plot are XD. Anyway, I see you have listed Monmusu Quest 1 as "Playing", what are your thoughts about it as of now? I am asking because I know what's it about and it's nothing like the other VNs on your list

That Shi ni Iku Kimi you mentioned though ... Guro ... I had a mini-heart attack by seeing some of the more explicit CGs in it xD ... Good luck to the translator XD And thank you for this week's review

O_________________O ... Suddenly, I am not sad for not being able to play Yu-No XD With that kind of walkthrough I feel like it's a miracle that I don't like the art and interface of Yu-No

If you want to read a very long hard sci-fi VN then look no further than this VN xD It might capture you like it captured me, it has a lot of computer and hacker-related stuff but overall, the VN is one big Mind Screw, I figured you might like it since you are a computer science student so that's why I am recommending it to you ... I will not say anything more about it, I don't like to spoil stuff

Yeah, Unity should not be problematic since it's used a lot lately, all indie games on Steam are lately only in the Unity engine ... One more VN engine worth mentioning is probably Ren'py, many VNs, especially OELVN seem to be in Ren'py, from what I have seen, it's the most simple VN engine out there, it should be a piece of cake fiddling with it since if I remember correctly, all files that the VN uses are almost always in the open (can be accessed in the game's directory) xD As for Da Capo I, from what I have heard, it's not as good as Da Capo II, though I don't know for sure, I didn't read any of them. Be warned though that Da Capo I also has Kotori Love Ex P and that it incorporates additional stories for the original Da Capo I ... Those two should be worth >50 hours of reading from what I see here on their VNDB pages xD