Infernoplex

More important is quality not speed

A Sky Full of Stars - +18 Restoration
 
 

 
1. VN Info
2. Synopsis
3. VN OP
4. Project Introduction
5. Staff
6. Recruitment
7. Progress
8. Asking for Feedback
Edit (14.06.2021):
The project is dropped for the foreseeable future.

Luckily it's proving a lot of fun to translate this one so fingers crossed for all of you that I still have plenty of time and it remains this much fun to translate and progress should be good speed compared to previous projects. Kudos to @VirginSmasher for being persistent enough to find the necessary staff to get this project underway. Some experienced people there who have a history of success so it bodes well for this project.

Hello again. Today, I have what should be a weekly update in progress. Here is what has been done so far.
Translation:
Prologue - 20% (350/1791)
TLC
Prologue - 20% (350/1791)
Some pretty good progress here. We're planning on releasing a prologue patch eventually as well, so look forward to that.
That's all for this week. See you later.

Another update for you guys. I have more great news and that is we've decided on an editor for this project. Please welcome @Pomelo to the team.
There has also been some translation happening, but I will update you guys on that every Sunday if I'm available to.
Until next time, see you guys later.

At least it gives fan translators some noble quest to fix every VN they release, even if the VN they released is some mediocre moege. 

They don't have the right people to handle anything.

Congratulation to the Pulltop for the release I suppose, and thanks for releasing this because basically this is a redundant release to me XDDD.
Well seeing that this time it's Pulltop who handle Cross Channel, I'm not surprised that their Cross Channel translation get some flak. Because after all, they couldn't even did Konosora in the past and they only slightly improved in Miagete translation (Yes slightly, because I'd hear that it's lack of QC). And yet Cross Channel here was one of hard to translate VNs (According to Moogy, so this might be subjective opinion), so basically it couldn't be translated easily by anyone else. I knew that we already have two translation available, but from what I'd hear it's apparently still below standard.
For my opinion here, while I think that anyone who think current Cross Channel translation is bad have some point, I also think that at least we can still understand the plot so is all good to me. Also apparently what part that was hard to translate was the prose, so I think that maybe Romeo Tanaka was tried to use the prose to cover the story writing. What I can say is that while prose may be important, the majority of the people who read Cross Channel would less likely care about that as long as they can read that in English. Besides from what I can read back at Ixrec's review, Cross Channel itself was have very vast polarization so we can't expect that this VNs would be good for everyone else even with the better translation. So in the end I say that to each other own if we talk about Cross Channel translation.

As the city sleeps, prose experts wake up.

After a long 2 weeks of searching, this project finally has the second translator we needed to get this project going. Please welcome @Hasa to the translation team. 
Because of this addition, translation should be starting soon. We should also be getting an editor as well pretty soon. We are still in need of a dedicated TLC who is willing to check through a fairly large script. If we get that, then we'll finally have the team we need to aim to get this project done.
Next time, there should be some TL progress for an update. Until then, see you later.

I'm a big fan of dark themed games, and feel like there aren't enough lists around on Fuwanovel with "dark VN" recommendations, so I figured I'd make one myself. Know that this is just my opinion, and since I haven't played all the dark VNs out there, there is a good chance I missed some good ones. Some of the choices on the list are very well known, while others might be completely new to you. I hope this mix of different titles makes this list helpful for both people who are completely new to dark VNs, and those who have already played many.
 
1. Chrono Box
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Hard
This is a denpa mystery game with superb writing and plot. If there is any dark themed game I'd recommend you play right now, it's this one. Since the element of surprise is a huge factor in enjoying this game, I don't want to get much into the story. For this particular game, I urge you not to look up any CGs or any summaries before reading. Just start reading, and let the VN do its magic. My favorite part of this game was honestly just the insane twists and turns it throws at you throughout the story, and the fantastic ending that just wraps the game up perfectly. As far as dark themed games goes, this is truly one of the best ones out there.

If you are interested in knowing "how dark" the game gets, I'll put some info on that below. No real spoilers, but for those who wants to read it blind, don't open this. (I do personally recommend you read it blind, but I figure some people might be a little interested in the type of content in the VN before reading.)
 
2. Maggot Baits
Status: Translation in progress
Japanese difficulty: Hard
Maggot Baits feels like a bizarre mix of a dark chuunige and a guro nukige. But hell, it works. With a pretty solid story, good writing and enjoyable action scenes, Maggot Baits definitely deserves a spot high up on this list. But, it certainly is not a game for everyone. Despair is a keyword in this game. There aren't really any good guys in the story. It takes place in a city abandoned by laws and government, where crime and chaos rules. Torture and guro is so common in this game, I think it's pretty much impossible to enjoy the game if you are completely turned off by those things. Even though the story is good, like I said, it's impossible to escape from the guro element, which is present in like, 90% of the H-scenes, (and many of the action scenes,) so this one is probably a bit too extreme for some. But yeah, if dark stuff is your cup of tea, this is pretty much made for you. (And a TL is in the works, so English only fans of dark games, rejoice!)
 
3. Shiniyuku Kimi, Yakata ni Mebuku Zouo
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Easy/ Intermediate
(The writing is quite simple, but certain narration uses very big words.)
Similar to Maggot Baits, Nikuniku is a game that is difficult to enjoy if you hate guro. The game's story is really good, and the music and writing combines well to create a very immersive atmosphere. But, at the end of the day, guro scenes are so common in this game, you can't read it without going through tons of them. (And skipping them will mean you lose out on some pretty important exhanges between characters, that becomes important to the game's true end.) Nikuniku is a horror/ mystery, which clearly draws some inspiration from vampire lore and stories. It's an interesting read with a satisfying true ending. A very solid dark themed game.
 
4. Nemurenu Hitsuji to Kodoku na Ookami -A Tale of Love, and Cutthroat-
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Hard
With the same writer as Maggot Baits, "Yourou" is a brilliantly written story about the dark underbelly of Tokyo. The main character is a mysterious serial killer/ hitman, who works for the biggest yakuza boss in Tokyo. He is ailed by a strange case of insomnia, that can only be cured by taking a life. After killing someone, he can finally get a good night sleep.
One day, his life changes drastically, when he meets the cute, and crazy young girl, Azami. Azami and the main character, who is only known by aliases, or "me", form a strange relationship, and the two soon grow completely reliant on one another. The existence of a strange "rumour" quickly turns their lives upside down, as several different big players in the yakuza and other shady organizations around Tokyo clash in a sea of blood and death.

This game is all about despair and darkness, just like Maggot Baits. But, unlike Maggot Baits, this is set completely in the real world, which makes some of the gruesome things that goes down in this story even more impactful.
The game is primarily story driven, with a range of dark H-scenes thrown in the mix to really underline the darkness of the game's story. It's rather short, and the battle scenes are brillliantly written. Truly deserving of a high rank on this list.
 
5. Tokage no Shippo Kiri
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Easy/ Intermediate
(Pretty simple writing, a few big words here and there due to the nature of the story.)
Tokage no shippo Kiri is a tragic love story story about a pair of teenagers who are standing on the edge of insanity, forced to face their own mortality. It's a very "psychological" story, which really gets in your head. It's difficult to sum up what this is about in just a few sentences, so I'll link my review of the game instead, where I talk more in detail about the game's story etc. (Without spoiling it, of course.)
 
6. Euphoria
Status: Translated
A pretty obvious pick. Euphoria is a pretty solid dark game. It has an interesting story, and a nice variation of dark H-scenes, without getting too extreme like some of the games above. This is a pretty good gateway into the world of dark VNs, and since it's TLed, it's a good starting point.
 
7. Natsu no Kusari
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Intermediate
In terms of realistic dark games, this is your go to pick. Though, this might also be one of the things that drives some people away from the game. This is a very realistic rape story, that can truly mess with your head, so it's going to be a complete hit or miss, depending on your stance on the themes in the VN. I have heard some people praise this as one of the best VNs they have ever read, and others say they hated it. It's not a very long game, so in the end, you should give it a try for yourself to see if you'll enjoy it or not.
 
8. Mugen Renkan ~Chijoku ni Mamireshi Fushiki no Rinbu~
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Easy
If you are looking for a VN with a nice mix between an emotional story and twisted H-scenes, look no further than Mugen Renkan.
 
9. XX of the dead
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Easy
XX of the Dead is one of the coolest, most unique, and bizzare VNs I have ever played. Your choices have a huge impact on the story, as you essentially choose who lives and dies in a very large cast of characters with each choice you make. After a zombie virus breaks out, the main character and a group of other survivors are trapped in a school, where they have to fight to survive. But, these are no ordinary zombies. Instead of craving human flesh, they seek pleasure. They mutate in unique ways, growing tentacles and such, which they use to... well, rape humans to death, lol. As silly as this sounds, the story is actually really cool, and the suspense is kept up through most of the game, as the characters try their best to hang on in this messed up world of... tentacle zombies. It has a nice variation of endings, depending on what choices you make through the story. Overall, a super weird, but really entertaining, dark VN.
 
10. Beat Blades Haruka & Beat Valkyrie Ixseal
Beat Blades Haruka, Status: Translated
Beat Valkyrie Ixseal, status: Untranslated, Difficulty: Intermediate
While the writing is fairly simple, the need to understand the game's gameplay interface does bump it up from easy to intermediate.
 
Beat Blades Haruka:
Although this game's, story isn't that impressive, in terms of dark games currently TLed it is definitely among the better. It has a huge roster of different dark H-scenes.
Honestly, that's about it for this one. I felt like mentioning it because it's honestly a pretty good nukige, but if you're looking for a good story and interesting characters, look elswhere. (I will admit, a few of the bad endings are actually pretty cool, but they are way too short for my taste.) It also has gameplay, which is a hit or miss depending on your stance on gameplay in VNs. I tend to dlislike gameplay in VNs, but I will admit, I did like it in this one. (During my first playthrough, at least.)
Beat Valkyrie Ixseal:
Ixseal is similar to Beat Blades Haruka, just... better. Its story is much more interesting, the protagonist is a massive step up from the useless protagonist in BBH, and the gameplay has been refined.
I have written a review of the game, so if you're interested in some details about the game, check that out here.
 
Honourable mentions:
 
Sukui no Serenade
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Intermediate
Bug System's first game, and another interesting, dark themed VN by them. Although the story isn't as solid as Nikuniku's, it does have some interesting horror/ mystery elements. This is definitely closer to the nukige tag than Nikuniku, and it's also shorter, but still a game worth picking up if you like VNs with horror/ mystery elements. (With lots of dark H mixed in.)
Kami sama no game
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Intermediate
This VN is pretty similar to Euphoria. It's about a group of people trapped in a mysterious underground facility, where they have to complete obscene challenges to surivive. Well, kind of. This game has a pretty different set of rules, setting it aside from Euphoria in structure. (Ohh, those stupid rules made my head spin, lol.) I'm not even going to try to explain the rules now, as it would just be confusing, but just know that it's a similar death game to Euphoria, but with some interesting twists because of the difference in the structure of the game. In terms of dark scenes, it's quite the solid pick.
Ryakudatsusha no Inen
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Easy/ Intermediate
Although this game has some pretty big flaws, it is a pretty solid dark nukige. The biggest problem is though, at times it doesn't feel like it's meant to be a nukige at all. It was like the writers couldn't decide on whether it should be a pure nukige, or just a dark, story-driven game. The result was... this. It has some seriously good dark H-scenes, giving off strong nukige vibes, but then it also has hints of a good revenge story, that wants you to get invested in some of the characters. (Even though the nukige elements tell you the opposite.) If this game actually commited to just one of its two "genres", it would have been on the list, instead of this section. Another issue is that this is meant to be the prequel to a story-driven game, so that is another reason why it's a bit hard to brush it off as just a nukige. Still, if you can look past that chaotic mix of genres, it's a pretty solid read with some cool characters.
Kutsujoku
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Easy
One of the most recent games on this list. Well, didn't make it on the list, but in the thread, at least. It's a story about a guy who suddenly obtains the power to control people's bodies with his mind. He then uses this ability to rape hot girls. That's it, lol. Despite essentially just being hentai.jpg, the solid art and nice H-scenes made me put it in this section, simply because it's a pretty high quality rape nukige. It also has more meat to it than most similar games, so if you're going to go with something like this, I'd recommend checking this game out.
 
Majo to Tsurugi to Sen no Tsuki
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Intermediate
A solid nukige, with a cool story and pretty good writing. It's about a group of magical girls, who fight against evil beings spawned by black magic, evilised, threatening to destroy the world. The action scenes in the game are nothing super special, but can be pretty enjoyable at times, especially towards the end. The biggest strength of this game is the genuinely interesting origin of the evilised, and the story of the main character and her inner conflicts. She is an artificial being, created by the soul of another human, and she is meant to just be turned off again once the evilised are defeated. But, since she has a soul of her own, she grows more and more reluctant to the idea of just disappearing once the fight is over.
The art is also pretty nice, and the game offers a big variety of dark H-scenes. You can also choose to avoid most of the dark scenes for the story by playing just the true ending first, then going back for the bad ends after, if you want.
Rettou Kan ~Yuuryoushu no Mii mo Kokoro mo Kowasu Rettoushu~
Status: Untranslated
Difficulty: Easy
(With the exception of a decent amount of slang, and some annoying katakana words.)
In terms of pure "darkness" in the form of H, this game is your #1 pick. While many of the previous games have had good stories, this is just a pure nukige, without any light at the end of the tunnel. The only focus of this story is the main character and his group of thugs, as they rape and torture an angel and a demon. That's it, the end. It has some of the better dark scenes I have read in a VN like this, so if you're just out for some straight up guro porn, look no further. (While we're at it, I'll also mention Dustmania Grotesque, which also qualifies for this particular role, but isn't as good as Rettou Kan. That being said, Dustmania is TLed, so for the English only crowd, you can check out that for a pure guro nukige.)

Reworked the list:
- Changed the order of some of the VNs, bumping some pure nukige down to the "honourable mentions" list (I feel like the old list was too nukige heavy)
- Added three new VNs, (Yourou, Mugen Renkan, Beat Valkyrie Ixseal)
- Added info on whether or not a game is translated, and how difficult the Japanese in the game is, should it not be.

Actually I was the only one form the original Restoration patch team who kept working on this all the time. Avi8Tor and MeruP joined a while after the old patch was released, and that's pretty much the core team. Others either came and went or joined for the final QC/testing a few months ago (well, it was almost a year ago actually...) - and Ange definitely did most of the work in that regard.
Personally, I managed to stay committed to it only because I'm stupidly stubborn and don't like leaving things unfinished.
In the end, this is the VN that got me into translating stuff (and that in turn significantly improved not only my Japanese, but also my writing skills), so I really wanted to see this project through. Well, I did take a few breaks due to insufficient motivation, but each time I somehow managed to come back to working on it.

It is somewhat sad that Moenovel gets money because other people have done their work for them. That being said I don't blame you for buying the steam version and using the patch since it is much cheaper than the japanese version. It just kind of feels a bit odd that Moenovel should get rewarded for other people fixing the VN they completely butchered.

That's actually a lie from TLwiki. The script size has been calculated at being 68,206 lines overall. Nothing as ludicrous as 118,000 lines, but it's still quite an undertaking to translate.

@Dergonu If something doesn't work, I always blame DRMs. ^^ Jokes aside, that's probably the case here. After all DRMs are kinda supposed to prevent you from messing around with stuff, and the patch does exactly that.
Yeah, I've had more than enough charages/moeges for now (read: forever) so that's a nope. And I already have something in mind...
Nah, it won't be anything hidden. But it won't be a VN either, so I probably won't post anything here - I'm planning to tackle one RPGMaker game that I found quite impressive and ULMF seems like a better forum for those. RPGMaker Trans seems noob-friendly enough, so I should be able to do the whole thing by myself.
If anyone's curious, I'm thinking of "涙声のギニヨル" (or "I am your Guignol" on DLSite EN). Not exactly for the faint of heart... but well, the fact that I like it should be enough of a warning. 

It's been quite a ride but it's nice to see this patch FINALLY released. I've been following the project ever since I found out the true full ReTranslation was just getting started after seeing people disappointed with the original Restoration patch (though mostly with Ageha's route). I've always really wanted to read this VN ever since I first found out about it (shortly after finding /r/vns) since it seemed the type of VN that was made for me. Many times I considered just reading the original Restoration patch but now I'm really glad I waited.

Being able to QC for a project like this was really fun, I enjoyed working with all the main members of the project team. Seeing them hiring for fan QC on Fuwanovel to seeing the invite to getting into the secret project chat were really exciting moments for me since Software QA is my full time position and I love visual novels so doing this for a VN I wanted to read made it a dream come true to be part of some sort of VN translation project.

A reason why I'm glad I waited is I was able to have fun reading this VN for the first time while also finding bugs and other TL/grammar issues to point out and see fixed shortly after. Sure the flow of my reading was broken whenever I found an issue to write up but I just found it all the more fun. While I was initially assigned to only QC Ageha's route, I'm glad I was eventually assigned to QC the whole thing because it felt more right to do so since I could find issues potentially consistent among other routes and I would be even more anxious to read the rest of the VN after only reading the common and Ageha route.

I learned a lot about how QC happens in TL scene and I'd honestly like to to be QC for some VN TL project in the future, fan or official. I feel like I should learn Japanese so I can be like a secondary editor when QCing in case I find a potential discrepancy in the text vs the voiced line. Konsora/IMHHW meeting my expectations as far as how much I liked the VN story/character wise was nice too.

In any case, I hope you guys enjoy this up to date patch whether you get the one for Steam/MoeNovel or the one for the Japanese version (I'm really glad we took the time to test and make sure both versions work). Just expect a comfy feel-good charage with bits of drama/development and not much in the way of deep plot.
 

EDIT: Due to Fuwa anti-piracy rules this thread's usefulness was quite limited, since we couldn't ask for any files that we needed for further compatibility testing and the like. I'd say even posting direct links to our patch here was questionable to begin with, since it's not that different from the abovementioned files that we were asking for.
So in the end we decided to remove all links from here and move our main release thread to Reddit: LINK
That's where all further updates will be posted, so make sure to follow us there. I'll ask mods to lock this thread, since MeruP won't be checking it anyway, so all feedback should be posted on Reddit instead (we also have a dedicated thread for reporting bugs and other issues).

Fixed that for you.

If there were no H scenes in this game I'd flat out refuse to translate it. Heck my first task was to see if my previous graphic editor was available to decensor it.

Just don't a Pulltop western release and edit out the H-scenes otherwise I look forward to it

I know what you are talking about... though, I don't measure fan-translation work and professional work in the same way. And this is coming from somebody who has started reading VNs when the translations weren't all that good to begin with... so you could say I am used to "not the best translations". Even the "kamige of all kamiges" - a.k.a. Fate/Stay Night supposedly had a poor TL (I still see nowadays people who are bashing TakaJun for his work on it), I didn't read it and I can't tell if it's as poor as people make it out to be. Though, I did read Cross Channel by Ixrec... and never felt like it was as bad as people claimed it out to be. In fact, I don't think my impression of Cross Channel would have changed any significantly, even if the TL of it was any better. That being said, I can't for the love of God complain about a fanTLer who isn't a professional writer himself to make a "literature-esque" translation. In fact, I think very few VNs can rank highly in this category. But I do understand and respect people who are trying to make their work stand out as really good. And I believe you are one of those rare few who really are critical of their own work, which is already worthy of respect. I don't know many people, especially not in the fanTL category who really look in their translation and always feel the need for improvement in writing. For that, I salute you, Sir!

Actually I am able to do the whole translation, however I will NOT work without a translator that is better than me to translate check what I've done. Doing To Heart 2 without a checker was very soul destroying since I simply could not be sure that I got it all right. I'm a decent translator, but not professional quality, and two translators back to back checking over a script has a massive effect on accuracy. Back when I finished To Heart 2, I described my accuracy at the time as 95% literal accuracy, 85% nuance. 85% nuance isn't good enough for this game; it simply has to be over 95%. Even if there was another translator that could do 85% nuance, that would have made a massive difference because every translator has different areas they know well, and two 85% translators back to back ends up with about 98% accuracy. This is the main reason I want another translator. I don't want people reading the final translation and going "well he fucked that kamige up", and this game as you can see increasingly from those who read Japanese that are posting on this thread truly is god tier status. I'm confident in my writing skills which is why I feel up to doing this but I want the final version to be a solid representation of the original work so English writing and editing that looks fine but isn't entirely accurate isn't going to cut it.

He isn't wrong... if I had time, I could probably serve as the full TLC, but I have other obligations...  I can usually get 98% of all aspects, but I don't have the time for a full TLC anymore...