Hiashi

Well, that was easy. I probably should have tried that in the first place. Thanks!

When trying to play Fine Days, the text becomes a bunch of garbled characters instead of Japanese. An error window also pops up and displays errors every time a character speaks. My system locale is set to Japanese. This is the first time I've had this issue.

I wonder how many years it would take just to read everything on the list...

There are plenty of fandiscs that I would like to see localized first and foremost, Hoshimemo and Rewrite come to mind. I'd also like like to see a Little Busters afterstory (as well as Kud Wafter localization, of course.)

Currently playing Hoshizora no Memoria. I don't play many moege, but I figured I'd give this one a shot. It's good so far, as long as I overlook the occasional typos, untranslated lines, and weird translations (especially on Chinami). I hope Eternal Heart gets localized soon too. I don't like leaving things half-finished.

I'll just list some of my personal top hopes. Monobeno ~HE Kud Wafter Angel Beats Summer Pockets Hoshimemo Eternal Heart

Not localizing the games that I really want to play. Also, dragging their feet on releasing works that we've been promised would be localized, especially without status updates. Not using proper grammar or taking too much liberty on translations is also annoying. Speaking of Softhouse Seal, I'd like to see this one picked up. It's short, but looks fun. But we especially need more lolige

I posted a similar wishlist in another topic so... Higurashi (The last 3 main chapters, and maybe even the extra ones) Hoshimemo Eternal Heart Kud Wafter (Pretty sure this will be picked up at some point) Rewrite+ Summer Pockets (Maybe not this year though) Angel Beats (Hopefully this year) Hikari no Umi no Apeiria (Seems amusing) Maitetsu (Yes, I'm interested in it. Should be released soon.) Monobeno~HE (A guy can hope, right?)

Little Busters or Rewrite, they're pretty close in my mind. LB English Edition is still fresh on my mind though, so that might have earned it some more points. Also, I especially loved Moon from Rewrite.

I'm still peeved about this. Call me biased, but Rewrite is one of the best VNs I've ever read. Ixrec may have had to take some liberties with translation on some sections, but it was fantastic as a whole. And I don't want to have to wait another 2-4 years for Rewrite+

Personally, I'm just hoping that companies would pick up some lolige for localization but I probably shouldn't get my hopes up.

A new localization company? This is exciting! I'm looking forward to seeing what they're capable of!

Higurashi (Will definitely happen, but sooner is better than later) Kud Wafter (Pretty sure this will be picked up) Rewrite+ (Get to it already!) Summer Pockets (Maybe not this year) Angel Beats (Hopefully this year) Hikari no Umi no Apeiria (Seems amusing) Maitetsu (Yes, I'm interested in it) Monobeno~HE (A guy can hope, right?)

Back to the original question, the answer for me is no. VN romance doesn't reflect reality, but rather the ideal of the readers. Finding a girl with looks and personality that suit your taste, being able to slowly learn about and spend time with each other, then invariable encounter a wall for you (and her) to overcome so that you both mature from the experience while affirming your affections for each other. Forgive me for stereotyping VN routes (and the majority of love stories), but this is more or less the ideal romantic development that almost never happens in real life, yet people wish it would. That's the reason why it's so widespread in VNs. Some romances are done better or more realistically than others, but they're still exaggerations of real-life at the bare minimum. And as was previously mentioned, VN protagonists are often allowed to disregard the consequences of many of their actions.

The idea of pursuing heroines is one of the defining attributes of VNs, regardless of genre. It's also one of the biggest selling points. I can't imagine it being removed and positively impacting sales. If gamers want a medium of story-telling that's less romance-driven, there are countless alternatives. The sexual content is just a step-up from the romance aspect, even if they're considered different genres. Players either appreciate it as a form of romantic bonding, or they more or less ignore it either by skipping the H-scenes or playing all-ages versions when available. (I'm only referring to regular story-driven eroge, not nukige.) Personally, no. But I'm biased in this regard. Still, I imagine that it'd be difficult to alter VNs to conform to Western preferences. That would mean Western-style artwork and English voice-overs, among other major changes. I have a hard time imagining it being successful. That's the problem. VNs are unfortunately a niche genre. Also, while quite a few well-known VNs are getting official translations now, they're not catching on to the point where the medium as a whole can be considered successful. Gameplay features such as in Ace Attorney or Danganronpa can help certain titles stand out from the rest, but if the VN industry is to become popular in the West, some more action will be necessary. Negating the notion that VNs are only for Japanophilic weebs is one major task. Giving the option of VNs with or without sexual content is another, as well as actually localizing more VNs, advertising them, and making finding and purchasing them a simple process. Steam makes it easy for Westerners to get hold of some VNs, but it's restrictive nature is preventing the genre from shining. The fact that physical copies of VNs are virtually nonexistent in the West is also a major hindrance. Basically, we need to popularize Japanese otaku culture in the West more, if even a little. But with all the other ubiquitous entertainment mediums, it's not an easy task.

Romance is something you need to experience in order to appreciate. I've only experienced it once in my life and that was years ago. Personally, I also have a fondness for nonhuman heroines not just in VNs, but in other works such as Touhou. It's fun to learn about their perspectives, priorities, lifestyles, etc. because they give the impression of having transcended human values. That's probably why I like Kagari from Rewrite so much even though she has the least screentime and lines.

Totally biased, but I love Rewrite's OP, Philosophyz

Every heroine in this one Too bad it's not translated.

To decide whether or not to play certain VNs.

You have the early Key works but not Little Busters or Rewrite?

I'm trying to play the Higurashi series from Steam (first time reading it) and have tried to apply the console port's voice patch from Github onto Onikakushi, but ended up with a black screen on startup. I'll probably need to delete the local folder and re-install the game to fix that. I'm not very technically-inclined, so I would appreciate some help in properly applying the voice patches. I'm fine with the Steam sprites, but if anything else needs to be added to make the game run properly, some guidance would be helpful.

After taking a break from VNs for a while, I'm considering playing Hoshizora in the near future. Since I'm a purist that insists on maximizing the experience, I intend to buy the 18+ version and am waiting for the Eternal Heart disc to be localized as well. I do have a few questions though. Is there an advantage to purchasing the full VN on Denpasoft as opposed to buying the All-Ages on Steam and then buying the patch from Denpasoft? I know the pricing doesn't really change either way. Any idea when the Eternal Heart fandisc will be localized? As a whole, how good is this VN? I'm a pretty big fan of Key works, so how does this compare?

Just wanted to say, keep it up! I was interesting in reading this a few years back, so getting the chance to read it in English is great!

After looking at some of the more recent posts, I too must confess that I wish Kemonos actually existed. I would love to stroke the tail of a Kitsune girl, or even a Neko girl. Furthermore, loli kemonos are the absolute best.

I have too many regrets to count. For now, I'll say it's not studying Japanese hard enough so I can read all those untranslated VNs I want to read. Then there's my other regret of not spending enough time reading more varieties of quality VNs. Yet I still have time to waste on smartphone games like Brave Frontier, which in retrospect, was kinda pointless. ...wait, this topic is for confessions, not regrets? The two are similar, so whatever.