Thyndd

I've picked up Trinoline and spent the afternoon reading it. 
Is this the most frustrating piece of fiction in existence? I can confidently say that no other VN, anime or whatever has made me rage so hard, so many times, in a suposedly unintended way. And I'm just about 6 or 7 hours in. 

I mean, I might've missed them, then? All I've seen is how the translation is shit because of the occasional broken Spanish that was used as a substitute for the original broken English (you might not agree with the decision, but can you explain how this makes the whole TL shitty?), and the fact that a very specific and context imbued 'お兄ちゃん' was translated as 'dude'. 
Just please enlighten me and explain to this poor ignorant why that's worth shitting all over this TL and asking for the perpetrator to get fired. Or, if you have better arguments, then by all means say so. The last thing I'd want to do is to put words in your mouth.

It's called having your priorities in order. Besides, the fact that you or I don't agree with a particular translation decision doesn't make the translation poor by any stretch. If you're going to bash a proper translation, which if you didn't notice, we don't get that many, you'd better have your damn good reasons. And let me remind you, you don't have to pay for that translation. It's up to you whether you buy it or not, and you're perfectly entitled to do so; not so much to put down other people's work without a sound argument, though.

That soundtrack . . . i can't describe how incredible it is. Combine the amazing soundtrack with the sad story is just guaranteed tears. I cried multiple times during that. It was so beautiful. 

Eden* They Were Only Two, On The Planet. - not much to say. Only that it also has great soundtrack.

So, done with Aselia's route. I wanted to make a mini-review of the game at this point, but, to be honest, I have too many conflicting thoughts about the game right now, and I need to let them sink for a while to turn my thoughts into a reasonable form.
The last battle was a bit annoying though. It wasn't particularly difficult, but continuously moving the squads from one part of the dungeon to another kind of killed my enjoyment.
I'm not sure I'm going to read all the routes though. It feels from the story structure that the differences between routes is pretty small, and replaying all the battles for 7 times might be a bit too much. On the other hand, I just found on the fan-translators' forum that if you max out the stats of all the characters in super-hard mode and then play the game in the easy mode, and then you will apparently be able to finish all battles very quickly and without much thinking. I don't know, I'll see how it goes.
Also,
I'll try going for Lesteena next, I guess.

Speaking of grimdark and questionable shock value, I'm done with euphoria (once more, no real spoilers incoming, but vague impressions/hints that some people might still want to avoid before reading the VN)!
And well, it was... Something. I mean, I'm not sure even how to describe the post-death game part. Discount Higurashi with porn? That could work. It was all... Serviceable, but really not much beyond that. The true ending also wasn't that rewarding. There were some really cool ideas (the bait-and-switch in the final route was very cool in theory), but the way things played out in the end... I really had no clear reaction to it and considering I've spent two whole days with this game, that's pretty sad. I should feel more after following these characters and storyline for so long.
After Natsuki and Rika, I went for Rinne... It started really strong, but once more, the epilogue part was just plain weird and confusing. Even after finishing the whole game and learning additional details to her backstory and personality, it didn't make much sense to me, but even beyond that, it was pretty... Alienating? The ending had very little emotional impact IMHO. Also, by that time the various "shocking" scenes lost their novelty so much that I wasn't reacting to them at all, especially considering how little most of the characters deserved compassion. This is a general complaint - this type of game should make you feel sympathetic for the characters to be effective in its storytelling, but euphoria pretty much undermines that in every route (and, of course, with the unbelievably dumb h-scene dialogue). I guess what's left is just weird porn, which, by the midpoint, was pretty much neither disturbing nor hot (Rinne's route, BTW, probably came the closest to, at times, actually being hot, with the genuine connection between her and the protagonist - one which, of course, fell apart later and never returned).
Nemu's route was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be and made even more interesting after you know the full picture. The hints are fun and the struggle between her and the protagonist intriguing.
And the final route is... Messy and anticlimactic? I didn't buy into pretty much anything in it when it goes to character's interactions, and the main reveal was even more lukewarm than I've expected. The dynamic between the protagonist and Kanae was a bit weird, but most importantly, made completely meaningless by the later events. The premise behind the death games was just edgy nonsense.
But, well, I can't say it didn't try to do some interesting things beyond the insane variety of disturbing porn, and didn't have its genuinely captivating moments, even if those were relatively few and far between. 6,5/10

Yes, I do, for pretty much every story I come to love. I feel sad when the story ends regardless of the type of ending, since I won't be able to keep experiencing it (that doesn't necessarily mean I'm not satisfied with the ending though!). I'm sad about not being able to keep those characters company probably forever, unless a sequel comes out. And yes of course, if the character in question is a tier A waifu the feelings only intensify 
Some would call having this sort of investment for fictional characters stupid, but I believe that as long as it's within what's reasonable and healthy, it just means you are enjoying those stories and characters to the fullest. I'm sure the authors would be really pleased

Perhaps the most universal complaint of those who read Japanese VNs, regardless of their tastes, is the bland, non-people, average protagonists that make up better than 90% of all VN protagonists.  This trend began with the first moege, as a technique to allow people to self-insert more easily, but the tradition has worked against VNs more than it has worked for them, with protagonists with unique quirks turning out to be almost as important to a VN's lasting popularity as heroine quality. 
Unfortunately for those new to VNs, it is impossible to tell at a glance whether a protagonist will be interesting or not based on the cover, since most protagonists don't have a tachie, voice-acting, or a character description on the official site, lol. 
So, as a service to my fellow Fuwans, I decided to go ahead and make this list.  The greater majority of these games will be untranslated, but I will go ahead and list ones that are translated that I know of.  Feel free to help me add to the list, though this one is for Japanese-origin games, not EVNs. 
The baseline for these protagonists will be that they are either unique, unusual, or capable (intelligent, talented, and/or skilled at something and have something approaching a personality) without deliberate nerfing of their qualities to make heroines stand out more.  Harem protagonists who are merely kind to everyone will not count for the purpose of this list, and characters whose personality/capabilities/talents/skills get toned down in the heroine routes will also not qualify.
Translated
Tokyo Babel
Ayakashibito
Hello, Lady (soon)
Hapymaher
Noble Works (yes, he does make the baseline)
Dracu-riot (assuming the official release comes out)
Nanairo Reincarnation (soon)
Tsukihime
FSN
Comyu (yes, I include this... because even if you hate Akihito's man-whore qualities, he is definitely not a cardboard cut-out character)
Rance games (I hate the Rance games, personally, but you can't say he isn't unique)
Majikoi
Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road (Dai only seems sheeple on the surface... he has enough depth as a character to qualify) 
Eien no Aselia (while his personality is standard for a jrpg protagonist, it has enough twists and unique qualities to make the list)
Seinarukana (similar to above)
Fata Morgana no Yakata (I wavered because of the way the game is structured, but I chose to list it anyway)
Grisaia series
Kikokugai
Demonbane
11eyes
Rewrite (I hate this protagonist, but he stands out, even if he is a dumbass)
Animamundi
Baldr SkyDive (whenever it comes out)
ChuSinGura (I honestly wavered on this one, both because the protagonist is a moron and because I don't consider this to have been truly translated)
Cross Channel
Daiteikoku
Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai
Dies Irae
I/O
Yumina
Kyonyuu Fantasy (yes, I'm serious even as I'm laughing)
Planetarian
Rose Guns Days
Sekien no Inganock
Gakthun
Sharin no Kuni
Shikkoku no Sharnoth
Shin Koihime Musou (apparently tl is at 100%, so I'm including it)
Sorcery Jokers (Senri!!!)
Tears to Tiara
Tokeijikake no Leyline series
Venus Blood Frontier (whenever it comes out)
Wanko to Kurasou
Eden*
Untranslated
Akeiro Kaikitan
Ikusa Megami series
Soukoku no Arterial
Fuukan no Grasesta
Madou Koukaku
Silverio series
Tiny Dungeon series
Zero Infinity
Electro-Arms
Soranica Ele
Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier
Komorebi no Nostalgica
Devils Devel Concept
Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana
Evolimit
Bullet Butlers
Tokyo Necro
Soukou Akki Muramasa
Ou no Mimi ni wa Todokanai
Shugo no Tate series
Amatsutsumi
Floral Flowlove
Aoi Tori
Mirai Nostalgia
Bradyon Veda
Draculius
Gensou  no Avatar
Abyss Homicide Club
Hyper→Highspeed→Genius
Inochi no Spare
Hatsuru Koto Naki Mirai
Kitto, Sumiwataru Asairo yori mo
Konata yori Kanata Made
Kanojo wa Tenshi de Imouto de
Jingai Makyou
"Hello, World"
Natsu no Owari no Nirvana
Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas
Rui wa Tomo o Yobu
Ryuukishi Bloody Saga
Vermilion Bind of Blood
Satsukoi
Sinclient
Tenshi no Hane o Fumanaide
Suisei Ginka
Yurikago yori Tenshi Made
Izuna Zanshinken
Tasogare no Sinsemilla
Valkyrie Runabout
Sekai o Sukuu dake no Kantan na Oshigoto
Haru to Yuki
Semiramis no Tenbin
Tsukiakari Lunch
Tsuisou no Augment
Kamikaze Explorer
Prism Recollection
Houkago no Futekikakusha
Izayoi no Fortuna
Natsuzora no Perseus
Minamijuujisei Renka
Ojou-sama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu
Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary
Sakura no Mori Dreamers
AstralAir no Shiroki Towa
Irotoridori no Sekai
Senren Banka
Reminiscence
Akagoei series
Soshite Hatsukoi ga Imouto ni Naru
Harumade Kururu
Haruru Minamo ni
Kin'iro Loveriche
Love Rec.
Natsuiro Recipe
Shuumatsu Shoujo Gensou Alicematic
Sakura Nikagetsu
Iroha ~Aki no Yuuhi ni Kagefumi o~
Campus's Uso series
World Election (seriously push this one for fantasy charage lovers)
Curio Dealer
Kami no Ue no Mahoutsukai
Lamunation
Sora no Tsukurikata
Hikoukigumo no Mukougawa
Sakura, Sakimashita
Amairo Islenauts
Blade x Bullet
Gouen no Soleil
Dekinai Watashi ga, Kurikaesu
Doushite, Sonna ni Kurokami ga Suki na no?! (more charage with some plot)
Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake
Butterfly Seeker
Fake Azure Arcology
Re:Birth Colony
Gekkou no Carnevale
Hatsuyuki Sakura
Gurenka
Hikari no Umi no Apeiria (this guy's personality is so out there you wouldn't even be able to tell if anything effected him, lol)
Hotel. (this is also a joke from me that I can share only with those few who have read it, lol)
Kamigakari Cross Heart
Kimi to Boku to no Kishi no Hibi
Witch's Garden
Kono Sekai no Mukou de
Kouyoku no Soleil
Lovesick Puppies (more food for charagamers)
Toppara Zashiki Warashi no Hanashi
Naka no Hito Nado Inai
Natsuiro no Nostalgia
Ojou-sama wa Gokigen Naname
Onigokko
Otomimi Infinity
Para-Sol
Prima Stella
Paradise Lost
Kajiri Kamui Kagura
Sanzen Sekai Yuugi (only Otomege I know of that fulfills the prime condition)
Primal x Hearts
Tayutama  (original only)
Shinigami no Testament
Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro
Stellula Eques Codex Tasogare no Himekishi (seriously, the protagonist is subject to some interesting stuff, like akuochi and/or corruption of characters)
Toki o Tsumugu Yakusoku
Unjou no Fairy Tale
Yuganda Uso no Koi to Letter
Yoru Meguru, Bokura no Maigo Kyoushitsu
Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou
Request includes
G-Senjou no Maou
Aiyoku no Eustia
Watashi no Real wa Juujitsu Shisugiteiru
Shirogane no Soleil
Root Double
Edit:  A lot of these characters stand out due to personality traits or quirks, as much as anything else.  The key point is that the protagonist is a 'person' instead of a cipher or catalyst.  For those who wonder why I didn't include Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou 2, the reason is pretty simple... in every path, the protagonist's individuality vanishes and he becomes enslaved to the heroine's character needs. 
 

So, I've reached both the Natsuki's an Rika's good endings in euphoria (also, I don't think what I'm going to say could reasonably count as spoilers, but I guess if you want to go in completely blind, don't read it?). So far, the "good" scenarios are actually less extreme than I've expected after the electric chair scene. Natsuki's route was a very good introductory arc, but the teacher-fetish pandering and ridiculousness of most of her scenes made the whole thing a bit of a self-parody and the whole scenario was not very impactful because of that. Although the VA's commentary was just awesome. She seems like a person that actually has a ton of fun with her ridiculous job.
Rika's route, on the other hand, was actually quite compelling to me. I really don't understand the hate here - she is an annoying and extremely flawed heroine, but she complements the protagonist very well, bringing both the worst and best out of him. I guess she's not a great love interest, but just because of how spoiled and annoying she started as she could grow in meaningful ways, giving both herself and the protagonist chance for redemption. When it goes to tone and satisfying conclusion, it was way more consistent and interesting than the teacher's route.
Also, it seems my gf won't be back home until tomorrow, so I think I'll go for two more routes today, obviously leaving Kanae's for last. As much as I don't care for the h-scenes (for torture ones for obvious reasons and consensual ones because of how dumb and immersion-breaking they are - would you really want to have sex just after being brutally beaten-up and still being held hostage, wtf?), "The Cube"-like scenario and seeing different character's reactions to being chosen by the protagonist are very intriguing. All obviously brought-down by the need of constant fanservice, but I still enjoy the main narrative quite a lot.
I know that's completely against what everyone is saying about this game, but so far, I actually find the death-game parts much more interesting than the portions outside of the facility. The interactions between the characters could be more fleshed out, but the premise of the protagonist fighting with his tendencies and every heroine both unleashing and limiting his urges in different ways is actually more intriguing to me than any conspiracy behind it all. Just like I wouldn't change the ending of The Cube, here I would be fine with no explanation at all, if the game would have expanded on protagonist's crimes and redemption, and generally the relationships between the characters during their confinement. :>

So, I've started Natsuki's route in euphoria - I'm not really planning to go through the whole thing right now, will probably do two arcs, one today and one tomorrow. Then my GF comes back from visiting her family and I guess this is one of those VNs I don't want to explain to anyone, even those really open-minded people.
And so far it's... Well, it's everything I thought it would be, but made twice as horrible by the sounds and voices. The first death scene really sets up the tone, especially with how long it is and how much the game ponders over the macabre. The opening animation is just ludicrous and more funny than anything else with how over-the-top it is, but the torture scenes proper are made super-real by the voices. Those must've been some really unique recording sessions in the clock-up offices. I hope they have thick walls...
Edit: At least game gave me a breather with Natsuki's second h-scene, which is so dumb that it's pretty much pure comedy. Especially the voices and sounds. xD
 

So, I'm still going through Aselia the Eternal. I'm currently at the last, fifth chapter, so, I guess, I'm almost finished with my first playthrough.
First of all, this game turned out to be surprisingly fun and engaging. Which is even more surprising considering that there are a lot of plot points that I'd normally expect to hate, but, though noticeable, they aren't really affecting my enjoyment at all. I guess, there are simply too many points that I like so that the flaws don't feel like they matter at the end.
I'm going to post a more thorough 'review' later, but I just wanted to post a few screenshots and my reaction to them. Nothing but very minor spoilers, hidden to not annoy uninterested people with lots of pictures.
My overall reaction: it's a surprisingly very good game, but it could be made even better with a good remake with updated graphics and some rewrites to make the different parts of story a bit more connected to each other. The gameplay parts, on the other hand, are very engaging, and, even though I generally avoided playing gameplay VNs before because I wasn't really interested in them, now I'll definitely start playing a lot more of them.

Speaking of Little Busters ....... I completed Kud's route today.
I had a good cry......
 
Starting my next route ........ and I have seriously gotten addicted to the Battle Rankings.
I laughed when Kyousuke got the "Hopelessly Idiotic" title (I love his screams of agony when he gets a title too).
Meanwhile, poor, poor Riki gets the "In a Love Triangle with Kyousuke and Masato" title (since WHEN did this game turn into a Boys Love game???).

Here's all your hatless avatars back. Personally, I'm going to change mine back when the liturgical Christmas season ends, because I'm not a heathen.
@1P1A

@Akshay

@alpacaman

@bakauchuujin

@Canicheslayer

@Dergonu

@Dreamysyu

@Emi

@Funyarinpa

@Happiness+

@LemiusK

@MaggieROBOT

@mitchhamilton

@SeniorBlitz

@Silvz

@tahu157

@Thyndd

@UnlimitedMoeWorks


@wei123


@Zakamutt

(Man, the @ function is buggy in every way imaginable. Fix that shizzle, Tay.)

If you're looking for just the character creator without the H-elements, there was another game released on Steam that was just that; Koikatsu's character creator with the h-content stripped. I believe the gameplay itself was also stripped as well as a result though. It seems to have VR support though and is Free2Play https://store.steampowered.com/app/856620/V__VKatsu/. 

And I'm studying human proportion in anime just for the sake of making better waifus, essentially using a porn game to study something I didn't even touch since middle school. Porn is more productive than some people seem to think.
EDIT: And after mulling it over and reading a bit on the topic, I finally understand the reason why I couldn't make average-heighted characters that didn't look childish: for medium heights the game will always give you a 6 heads model, so you'll always get a loli or a thicc loli in the best case scenario. The key is to change the whole body sections ratio to fit 7 heads. It's a shame the character maker doesn't provide you with a grid to make things easier. Oh well.

I actually had a lot of fun with AA2.
But my play style was... unorthodox, to say the least. I usually created a bunch of characters from the same media (or from some original fic I wrote), yeah that character maker was really cool best part, and then just threw them to fate and watched how close to canon the relationships went. God, some were spot on, while some failed results got me to watch fated enemies fucking  
 

Here v2.1 Make sure you are selecting every possible mod when installing, since I couldn't tell you which package it is from.

Wow I'm actually enjoying this fuwa lore. This is intense 

Once every month I boil a bunch and spread it on a table, let it cool and the grains separate. I put a wooden frame around the grains, play around with them, make patterns as my fingertips slowly grow sticky with starch. After a while of this ennui takes me, and I start breaking up the patterns, scattering the grains where they will, making a chaotic, amorphous field of it all - it reminds me of how the TV set used to look when you got the wrong channel, back in the days before cable. And I think to myself, looking at that chaotic, amorphous blob: this still makes more sense than Fuwanovel's moderation standards.

Then I think you would like this:
 

I hope you step on a Lego.

I actually don't know why I love ef so much, but I do...
 I really hope you don't regret the purchase!  

I actually don't know why I love ef so much, but I do...
 I really hope you don't regret the purchase!  

Wow I'm actually enjoying this fuwa lore. This is intense