Thyndd

I always preferred General Spareribs anyway. It's one of those cases where the villain is much more interesting than the hero, like The Joker and Batman.
Also... Tunaman is 
 

We've gotta talk.

It's true that this can be chalked up to a large variety of factors, but it's also true that the translation is dramatically better in just about every conceivable way. I had a similar experience. Degica's Muv Luv Extra made me laugh several times an hour while I maybe laughed once or twice the entire time reading Ixrec's Muv Luv. Translation is strange in the way it can have huge effects on how readers react to a work in ways that are completely invisible to the reader. Oftentimes when reading a substandard translation, the reader will enjoy themselves less without ever realizing why, or that the translation is substandard. That's one of the reasons translation quality is so important, even for people who only care if "they can understand what's happening."
 
ANYWAY, I've been reading Re;Lord lately. It's surprisingly good, as long as you can tolerate a terrible protagonist who is meant to be laughed at instead of related to. It's just good dumb fun, and probably one of SP's best-translated games, in all honesty. It's a little short and very much an incomplete story (with part two coming out eventually, hopefully soon), but I recommend giving it a shot.

Yeah, I have to agree. And as Dreamysyu was saying, translation quality is all the more noticeable when it comes to comedy. When you think about it, translation is all about meaning and form. A decent translation will preserve the meaning, while a great translation will also word the message in a way that a native speaker finds compelling and suited to the context. 
Comedy is all about form. Trying to make comedy out of meaning alone is like trying to make people laugh by explaining why a joke is supposed to be funny. It's no big surprise then that this is when translation quality shines the most.

Hey, never say never. Maybe VNs will come back to ha... I mean, entertain you yet. ^^
And, well, no hard feelings for sure. I know how hard it can be to deal with a place/topic connected to bad memories and anxieties, moving on is sometimes the right choice. If you ever feel like giving VNs and this place another go, don't hesitate to say hello. No one will mind the "inconsistency".

I didn't see the notification after your edit. Don't know why, maybe because the other part of the post was referring to me anyway.
Yeah, I know. I absolutely agree that Alternative would never work without Extra. At best, it would be just a somewhat decent sci-fi VN. That's why I always disagree with some people who recommend to skip both Extra and Unlimited and to go to Alternative right away. Btw this is pretty obvious if when you read Alternative for the first time that Extra is very important, and you definitely don't need to reread it to understand that.
The reason why I still have pretty mixed opinion about Extra is because, when I read it the first time, I just didn't like it at all. The comedy was completely unfunny, and the infrequent attempts at drama were absolutely laughable. At some point, after I got to the ending of Ayamine's route and the game crashed while playing credits, I literally rage dropped it while giving it 1/10 on VNDB. Of course, the overall experience was still worth it, but I was honestly never a fan of when VN rely on mediocre beginnings and overextended common routes to make the final parts of their stories shine.
But the biggest surprise for me when I started watching this let's play was that... Extra turned out to be nowhere as bad as I remembered. Yeah, it's still far from a masterpiece, but watching this let's play I actually found myself engaged with these characters, and the comedy actually turned out to be... pretty funny, at times? When I read it originally, I think I only laughed once or twice throughout the whole game. You know, in the end, I still decided not to change my opinion about Extra because of that. I already learned to like these characters because of Alternative, so it's pretty natural that I became a lot more engaged with them this time. And following a letsplayer is still a very different experience to reading it myself. And the fact that I only followed the main route this time (and the things I hated the most are in Ayamine's route) also helped, I guess. On the other hand, there is a certain point that could imply that my second experience with this game is more valid than the first one: I read Ixrec's version of translation, and the let's play I watched followed the official translation. You know, I usually try to be careful when talking about things such as translation quality because I know that my English is still very far from prefect, and I am probably not qualified to talk about it in many cases. Still, it's pretty obvious that comedy is the one genre of fiction that is extremely sensitive to the translation quality. If you make a joke sound weird, translate it too literally or completely miss the point why it was supposed to be funny in the first place, the joke will be ruined. The common route in Grisaia, for example, would never work if it wasn't translated so well, and the game might've never become as popular as it is nowadays. This leads me to the point, that in the end, ironically, the translation quality for moege turns out to be even more important than it is for most plot-focused works, because nice comedy is basically the only thing that could make a moege work (excluding porn, of course ).
You know, after playing it for a bit more time, I realized that I was a bit incorrect in what I wrote in the previous post.  First of all, the "spell" turned out to be only a temporary solution, and after it stopped working, he still couldn't understand anything. And now it looks like he started trying to learn the language for real. It looks promising if you ask me.
About phonology: I'm not sure. The phonemes themselves are all used in Japanese, from what I understand, and I suspect that the text was originally written in katakana. You know, I kind of understand why they went this way, considering that it was voiced by Japanese actors. The only exception i noticed is the sound 'l' that isn't used in the text, but appears in the names of several characters (including the character mentioned in the title of the VN). Well, I guess it's just a minor plot hole, though, I believe, there could be some historical reasons why some sounds could only rarely be used in foreign words or some names, for example. At the same time, the way these phonemes are placed in words doesn't sound Japanese at all, and most characters make pretty long pauses between words, which also doesn't sound Japanese. On the other hand, the difference between how the main and the secondary characters pronounce these words is pretty noticeable. The main characters sound foreign enough that I would never realize their actors were Japanese if I just randomly heard these lines on the Internet. The secondary characters... sound like Japanese people trying to speak some language they don't know very well. But, who knows, maybe they are all isekaiers or something.

Oh that's... interesting. From what you're telling me it sounds like there's some lost potential there. It would've been amazing if only they had worked up at least a phonology, but if the voice actors still make it sound natural I guess it's cool anyway. It definitely piqued my curiosity, I'll add it to my wish list.
I was actually alternating between Echo Six and TheBlueShifting. And yeah, it's pretty incredible that on your first reading it's nearly impossible to notice anything, as all the clues follow naturally from the conversation. MLA spoilers below:
Oh and I wanted to add @Dreamysyu, in regards to the fact that rereading (or watching a let's play, whatever) Extra after Alternative made you change your opinion about it... Yeah, that's the case for me too, but the more I think about Extra and Muv-Luv as a whole, the more I love it. I firmly believe that Muv-Luv is to be regarded as a whole, as a living being. If you cut off Extra, it dies.
It's not only the "fun" () references, but the fact that it seems so boring and ordinary at first glance is what builds up all the shock for later. It's the fact that you suddenly realize how extraordinary Extra is in its being ordinary. It makes you reflect upon your own lifestyle like no other piece of fiction I've read before. Add to the mix the fun foreshadowing and how it ties with the story as it's told in Alternative, and you have no reason to complain about Extra. For fuck's sake, even as a simple moeblob wouldn't be that bad. I've seen worse.

I finished YMK. Whoa, that was a ride.
But then, @Stormwolf was right
It was better than I expected, and didn't disturb me as much as I feared.
I started with Nekoko's route. In the beginning that route was like one big WTF - but that's understandable considering Nekoko's circumstances and her route's main theme. But the ending made up for it (not just epilogue, but generally last 3rd of this route). Also, the plot twist really surprised me
I also liked the 4th wall breaking - or VN's self-consciousness - in this route, with Nekoko giving "affection points" to Kouhei, and his frequent talks with Tsubaki about eroge - route systems, character's behaviour etc. (This comes up in other routes too, but in Nekoko's it was most pronounced).
Next was Mizuki. That route was pretty crazy too - when I think about it, Mizuki had something in common with Nekoko - she also tried doing various crazy things as an escape. Sometimes I almost couldn't catch up with her
But Mizuki's ending was maybe the best in whole game.
At last I read Aeka's route. It was definitely the heaviest of them all, but very good. It does really good job at making player want to protect Aeka, and then fall for her along with Kouhei. Don't know what to say, as almost anything will be spoiler for this route.
Also, while maybe slightly exaggerated, the whole bullying theme and mechanisms of it were presented almost disturbingly realistically. Final sequence got me by surprise, it was very strong too. It was difficult to go for Nekoko's route first, as the game surely made me feel like trash for abandoning Aeka - to not get on her route you have to completely ignore her, and that's really painful. (on the second playthrough, when aiming for Mizuki, auto-skip eased that pain ). Also, antagonist in that route...
Another strong point of the whole VN is Kouhei's family - that's right, here we have eroge protagonist living with full family (well, adoptive, but still) - now that's something you don't find often. And on top of that, they're great people, really caring for him.
Now about H-scenes - yes, there were a lot, but authors made the effort to justify them within a story. Well, in Nekoko's route they were a bit random to me - except the last one - but then again, everything she did was random, so it fits I guess. I think in that route the reality was bent the most to allow for h-scenes, but still, somehow it worked.
In Mizuki's and especially in Aeka's route sex scenes fit well into the story.
There were also some really important and moving dialogues during Aeka's scenes - I like that. So - except maybe a little for Nekoko's route - no complaints about h-content from me Well, maybe HCGs could use a bit more variation, because often they don't align with the text (like, characters being in completely different pose).
Translation is OK - there were some rough lines and typos, but it read well.
All in all - I'm glad that I gave it a chance and read it. 8/10

I'm starting YMK. Wish me luck

Currently still playing Yumiko's route, but, it got me thinking about one of my favorite Yumiko moments back in Grisaia no Kajitsu, and it wasn't even in her own route. I'm sure most of you already know what I'm referring to. Yes, it's that scene in Michiru's route that conveys just how deeply Yumiko cares about her friends, Michiru included. 
Sigh. My night is ruined by the waterworks. Sour mood now.
I think it's a lot worse that there's no BGM during that particular scene, or rather, the scene was a lot more painful to watch.  It's like being forced to watch a cute animal die, but you're given no catharsis in the form of some contrived melancholic music. Just... silence and grim reality.
Anyway, it's a good reminder why her route was my favorite route of all back in Kajitsu. It still is now, even if her AS in Meikyuu disappointed me. The heavy theme dealt with in her route wasn't particularly uncommon among VNs, but it's nonetheless relevant. And Yuuji's explanation of 
felt so realistic and grounded. Sure, he's a rather pompous hypocrite throughout most of Michiru's route, but his words rung true, and he did a good job showing how terrible the consequences would be.
Anyway, guess that's why I have a soft spot for Yumiko. Her AS so far is kinda boring, which is a shame, so I hope it will pick up later.
Sigh. My mood really took a turn for the worse now that I remember that scene.
In hindsight, I'm kinda glad that the anime didn't adapt that scene (IIRC). Not sure if I could handle it watching it in animated form. Then again, it's such a great scene that I also hate that it didn't adapt it... Wasted opportunity.

Well, MLA has a lot of iconic songs. My personal favorites are these two:
And itlooks like it's spin-offs also have pretty... curious soundtracks for VNs. This one kind of reminds me of a certain melody from Star Wars.
Ugh. I wonder when ixtl finally gets to localizing their other works. It feels like the whole progress froze after their divorce with Degica.

Grisaia no Meikyuu
Finished Sachi's route, and damn, her route has got Amane's route beaten. So much content is packed into it, you'd think it's a main route, not to mention the tension and suspense that the other routes lacked. Didn't expect that antagonist to be a real threat, even though the Chekhov's Gun was pretty obvious from the start.
Still, having completed Sachi's After Story only makes me feel even more bummed out about Michiru's AS. Compared to the three other AS I've played so far, Michiru's AS just has the least amount of story and character development. This is like Fate/Stay Night all over again, where my favorite heroine (Saber) has the weakest route of them all. Sigh. The only saving grace Michiru's AS has going for it is that unique Ending Theme, but that doesn't amount to much when the route itself isn't any thing special. Every other heroine so far aside from Michiru has some of significant character development or change to status quo, while Michiru's route was kinda casual and stagnant. But I digress.
Anyway, I could easily see Sachi's After Story making it into an anime adaptation, which is a shame that it didn't. That "conflict" that appeared in her route could have made for some decent drama. But it's probably best that it wasn't adapted, considering what a mediocre job they did with Kajitsu.
Ever17
Finished Tsugumi's so-called "Good End," which obviously feels more like a "Fake End." I have now remembered more of her past and backstory, which does make me warm up to her a lot more, but I'm still a little conflicted over how I feel about her for now.
Next up is Sora's Good End, which I have very little expectations towards. lol Not to be harsh towards Sora, but I'm just not interested in her type of "Elegant Ojousama" woman. Her character archetype is one of my least favorite among anime archetypes. Doesn't really help that 
But again, I might change my tone after finishing her Good End, but we'll see. I did feel a bit bad about her during
On a sidenote, I'm kinda annoyed that the XBox version of the game wasn't translated or ported. It looks a lot more fun with its additional content, not to mention its far more energetic OP theme that I really liked. Shame there's no patch to add that OP theme to the PC version of the game. I really don't like the PC version of the OP.
I might also play the other entries of the Infinity series in the future, but it seems that Remember11 wasn't finished or something, that one of the routes that explained the mystery wasn't completed, so I don't know how I feel about that. Oh well. Shame that 12Riven doesn't look like it's going to be translated any time soon.

It was so satisfying  

It was so satisfying  

New pickup line: you are so cute that I'm convinced you are the ugliest person I've seen in my life