adamstan
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Posts posted by adamstan
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14 hours ago, Stormwolf said:
So thats why they delayed it.
No, it's not
The "censorship" was already done by Elf (original developer) for Windows version in 1999 - current version is just a remaster (and translation) of that version. The only "uncensored" version is 1992 one - available for PC98 and MS-DOS.
(On the other hand, it seems that after all they indeed spend lots of rather pointless efforts to make yet another more censored "all-ages" version for Steam - honestly, being all-ages junkie that I am, I can't imagine the game with the premise like Doukyuusei working well as an all-ages title. It's one of those games that seem to be projected as an eroge right from the start. Same with, for example, True Love)
But my interest for this game also dropped significantly - it seems that either version is too much dating sim and too little VN for my taste.
Nevertheless, it seems that Steam version is quite gutted and can be used only as a base to apply adult patch
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2 hours ago, Seraphim said:
I wouldn't mind them cutting out h-scenes, but it seems like this release is quite heavily censored/altered in other regards as well, even in the 18+ version. I haven't played the original game so I wouldn't really know what it's supposed to be like and thus most likely wouldn't realize what has actually been censored/altered, but just the knowledge that it has happened kinda annoys me and makes me not want to buy the product.
It's also worth noting, that all those alterations were made already in 1999 for the Windows remake, and current version is just remaster of that edition - it isn't something enforced by Steam
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The project isn't dead (it just smells funny
)
Today I pasted another few hundred japanese lines into Ren'py script, reaching 32% (or, near the end of 6th chapter).
Also, for those interested, here's the comparison of various image versions, using the train station background as an example.
1. Original 16 color version - this will be the default mode:
2. "Enhanced" version from english-only "JAST Memorial edition" - it's just the original with some basic blur applied:
3. My "256 color version" - made with few layers of blurring and re-sharpening - this will be used as an alternative graphic mode in my version:
After I finish pasting Japanese text into Ren'py, I will have to solve two coding/engine problems. First will be smooth switching of soundtrack versions - current implementation requires restarting the game, and when loading a save, the music version will change only at the new track. And the second thing - which will be easy, but time consuming - will be to code grahpic mode switching.
After all that is done, the "only" remaining thing will be adding English translation.
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On 3/18/2022 at 7:22 AM, adamstan said:
Yesterday I completed the prologue in StarTRain - reaching the opening movie.
It has a bit unusual setting for a charage, because we start with a protagonist in a relationship. His girlfriend is two years older Nami, whom he met one summer night a few years ago while he was watching falling stars.
Sadly, they break up at the end of the prologue - yesterday I reached exactly that point. Looking at them and their relationship, it was inevitable, but nevertheless it made me sad
So now there's second part of common route waiting for me.
So far I met three (of four) heroines - tsundere childhood friend Kanade, shy but cute Asuka speaking with Kansai accent, and a bit mysterious Yomogi from parallell class.
According to walkthroughs there's also fourth, unlockable heroine - Nanami, but she hasn't appeared yet.
Although she looks quite suspicious to me - I have a feeling she might turn out to be Nami, or have some connection to her. From the glimpse in the OP, she looks similar, they share second character in their given and family names - Aida Nami (藍田 奈美) vs Hata Nanami (羽田 七美), and they're voiced by the same person. But for now I have no idea how will it turn out.
<< Nami Nanami >>
As for Sunohara (
), this time it's not one person, but a couple - MC's friend Hiroki and his girlfriend Maiko.
BTW, they get together during the first hour of the game
So far I have two issues with this VN, but they're technical ones, and seem specific to the PS2 version I own.
- The music gets cut abruptly during scene transitions instead of fading out - it makes those transitions a bit jarring. It was the same in Konneko - perhaps it's an PS2 or emulator issue?
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The font used in this release is a bit hard to read due to low resolution, but somehow I managed to get used to it. But nevertheless I'm a bit puzzled why didn't they used something simpler. 640x448 isn't that small, and it should be possible to have more legible font. But they used bold and shadows, which make the fine lines in more complicated kanji just blend together. Form over function
At the very beginning I also had to get used to different style, but over the course of the prologue I got hooked, and now I'm looking forward to the rest of the game.
Okay, so yesterday I finished StarTRain
It wasn't without problems, but I enjoyed it. It's kind of mix between high-school rom-com and KEY's classics - I feel like it borrows some ideas from Kanon and Clannad.
Main focus of this VN seems to be the true meaning of happiness - and, to extent, how relationships fit into that.
At the beginning of the actual common route (after the prologue) Tsukasa is quite depressed after breaking up with Nami (I previously tagged it as a spoiler, but it's such a big part of the setting, that it's hard to talk about this VN without mentioning this). He's rather weak, and she was his whole world so now he feels like he lost the meaning of life. He also keeps wallowing in self-hatred.
Depending on the choices, he can get closer to one of the three heroines, and there's also a "friendship" ending, which I wouldn't call bad - it's a bit like Crescendo's normal end.
Kanade's route was perhaps the closest one to the typical romance VN. Tsundere childhood friend having a long-time crush on donkan protag-kun, and all problems that stem from this situation
SpoilerActually she confessed to him for a first time right after he broke with Nami, but then she ran away and turned it into a joke.
I liked this route even if it was full of cliches usually associated with tsunderes (and small tits
). Also, Kanade will get jealous in other routes, and then deny it in a classic tsundere way And I absolutely love two final CGs of this route:
Spoiler
Asuka's route was the first one directly touching the topic of happiness. In the common route she said very important thing - "If you don't love yourself, you cannot become happy". And despite being very poor, living in a small rundown apartment only with her mother, she never gives up, always keeps smiling and encouraging others. Of course that's only the surface, and her route is focused on her family problems, especially her strained relationship with mother. I really liked it, and it's this route when I thought about Clannad, even though the setting is vastly different. Besides, Asuka is cute
Yomogi's route was quite a surprising one. In the beginning, and on the surface, it looked like another cliched moege route. But soon quite creepy undertones appeared. Yomogi and Tsukasa were both in similar situation - dealing with past breakup. And so they decided to date to escape the loneliness. Not very healthy already, but Yomogi's situation was actually even heavier -
SpoilerShe panically feared the loneliness, because when being alone she was feeling completely lost, and not even sure if she's living or not - so she yearned for the relationship as a confirmation of her actual existence.
Tsukasa noticed, that they actually don't know almost anything about each other - they just seek the presence of the other to fill up the void, but it made him feel even worse than when he was single.
After noticing how unhealthy their relationship become, Tsukasa decided to break up with Yomogi. This resulted in her suffering an emotional breakdown.
After a few days and some events Tsukasa finds himself in Yomogi's room, and her in a rather miserable state, and he's faced with a choice - stay with her (forever...), or go home. (Or, in adult version - have sex with her or refuse and go home). The first choice leads to a bad end, and I think it was actually more pronounced in the all-ages version. It showed really unhealthy co-dependent relationship.
SpoilerIn this scenario Yomogi becomes complete recluse, Tsukasa moves to her house and becomes her only point of contact with outside world - like she said, "I don't need and want anything but you". It felt really heavy and heart-rending when she said "It's okay, it doesn't feel lonely" with an empty eyes...
In adult version it wasn't as grave, or rather it was told in a more roundabout way, since they basically became a pair of sex addicts, skipping school and spending almost all their free time locked up in a room and fucking
When choosing to go away, some more drama ensues of course, but thanks to it the characters grow up a bit, and then finally they are able to meet together again, this time in a healthier way. Really nice route, providing some good observations and food for thought.
Completing those three above routes unlocks another choice during the test of courage near the end of common route, and this is where we finally meet Nanami - who initially gets mistaken for a ghost
and can proceed to the true route of the game.
And this route was a hell of a ride. Nanami is a mysterious girl, who appeared at night at the school. She looks like a younger version of Nami (voice included), and she's great at playing flute. It turns out that she's on a trip (or a runaway
) and she's been sleeping there because she ran out of money. For a few nights Tsukasa goes to school and brings her some food, but then somebody notices suspicious activity at the school and so Nanami gets locked out from her temporary room, which makes her end up staying at Tsukasa's home - and that's where the fun begins. While Nanami looks like a spitting image of Nami, her personality is very different - she's very optimistic, and she finds joy in every little thing.
SpoilerAnd unlike the Asuka's case, it's 100% real.
Of course the two get closer and closer to each other, and suddenly Tsukasa noticed, that he's really happy when he's with Nanami. But sometimes she says some weird things - like that she used magic to get here, and, like in Cinderella's story, soon the magic will wear out...
And that's where the story decides to hit us with a KEY punch.
SpoilerActually Nanami is terminally ill, and she spent most of her life at hospital. She really wanted to experience the normal life at least for a while, and see the world, so she mustered up all her strength, and ran away to spend her final days on a trip (that's what she meant by "the magic"). And so it happens, that one summer night, just when the two finally confessed love to each other under the great tree in the school yard - she dies. And there's no "KEY magic" to the rescue...
Of course Tsukasa gets depressed again, and he's in even worse state than when he broke up with Nami. The remaining part of the true route is about getting over this loss and finding happiness despite of it - with a great help of his friends and Nanami herself, whom he meets in a dreams, on board of the titular "Star Train" traversing the sky, and being a reference to the "Night on the Galactic Railroad" novel by Kenji Miyazawa.
Gradually he learns to live and smile again, and finally, he accepts Kanade's third (!) confession, and they end up together - so it turns out that Kanade is this game's actual true heroine
Another thing I'd like to praise is the Maiko and Hiroki duo. They're much more than a comic relief (although they're great at that) - they're Tsukasa's true friends, really caring for him, and helping in need - especially in true route.
WHoah... this became a huuge wall of text...
Time to sum it all up. I really enjoyed this VN, although the technical issues I mentioned in my initial post hampered that enjoyment a bit - the experience wasn't exactly smooth. Nevertheless true route was a great ride, and the standard routes also were decent.
I also checked out PC adult version, and while I prefer the way the story was changed and extended for the console version, it also isn't bad. The only route that IMO suffers from the "eroge logic" (=="Each heroine needs a sex scene") is Nanami's route - it's the only one when it felt out of place. OTOH the big plus of PC version is resolution - 800x600 isn't much, but it looks much better than the 640x448 PS2 version.
All in all - it was nice charage with a bit of a twist. 7.5/10
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Recently I got physical Switch versions of Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai and Aonatsu Line, and I think my next read will be one of those.
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2 hours ago, alexfang452 said:
Yes, that seems to be the reason
Now that I think about it, I've read yet another shinigami VN - Shinigami no Kiss wa Wakare no Aji, it was nice, but the setting a bit different
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It looks nice - I don't think I'll jump into it immediately, but I'll bookmark it on Steam
When reading the summary for some reason I thought about Palette's SakuSaku and Chrono Clock.
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5 minutes ago, littleshogun said:
I see that you meant it as the Steam version before you apply the 18+ patch here, because I thought that we may have Nine English version is more censored compared to console version even after apply 18+ patch. So my bad for the misunderstanding here.
Yes, I compared the all-ages versions. Of course after applying the +18 patch Sekai/Denpasoft edition is the same as Palette's adult version.
Another difference is resolution - Palette's complete edition is 1080p. But that's also only for all-ages - they didn't make +18 complete edition at all. So all +18 editions and Steam all-ages edition are 720p only.
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8 minutes ago, littleshogun said:
How so? Is it because it has no Sprite Mode?
Not only that, there were also some scenes and graphics missing.
Details below:
On 9/21/2021 at 9:27 PM, adamstan said:First two episodes seem to be almost the same, but there are some major differences in Haruka's route. I'll list what I spotted below under spoiler tags:
- Episode 3 (Haruka's route)
- The CG for the scene where Kakeru influenced by Haruka's power pushes her on the bed and starts touching her breasts is missing (replaced with white screen) and the text also seems to be shortened.
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Even though the text mentions Haruka wearing Kakeru's shirt, there's no sprite with her wearing a shirt - instead the one with her normal clothes is used. In the later scene, where she gives Kakeru a lap pillow after unbuttoning the shirt, it is also text-only in Steam edition, while in Complete Edition there's actually sprite variant with the unbuttoned shirt (in adult version there was a h-scene with boob sucking)
(Yes, those are the screens from the "All Ages" version - but I guess Steam wouldn't allow that)
- The scene with the two getting together in a bath has been completely removed from Sekai's all-ages version, while in the Complete Edition it's intact.
So that means 2 CGs, one scene and one sprite version missing.
- Episode 4 (Noa's route)
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The CG of Noa playing with cats got sligthly cropped to exclude panties area
- The CG of Noa and Kakeru cuddling together naked (wrapped up in a blanket) got removed, and replaced with a Noa's sprite (wearing a shirt) against bedroom background
OTOH the CG with dying Noa in Kakeru's arms is more bloody in the Steam edition - but the only difference is that there are more red bloodstains on their clothes.
Also, Complete Edition adds Sprite Viewer feature in the gallery menu, that Sekai/Denpasoft versions don't have.
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10 hours ago, Shaun said:
9 nine New Episode is all-ages, an adult version doesn't exist thus there was no adult content to remove.
This. And I guess for Palette, they rather aimed for consoles than for Steam itself - they created all-ages complete edition, which they released for PC, while PS4 and Switch releases are scheduled for June.
BTW Steam version of Nine (Ep. 1-4) is more censored than complete edition, and, as I mentioned in my review, while I really liked the complete edition, I think Steam version removes too much.
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15 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:
Even if you do stick with her she won't be a good GF until waaay late in the route and the sequel.
Which reminds me that perhaps one day I should check out the sequel
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10 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:
Cant remember having to be a dick in Tsujidou though.
Yeah, you're right, I exaggerated a bit or my memory played a trick on me - we "only" had to break up with her, but yeah, it wasn't especially ugly - breakups happen sometimes.
(I played it 4 years ago, so my memories got a bit hazy)
But route structure in Lovers was truly awful - there in order to unlock side routes you really just had to completely ignore Rie so she would leave you. And those routes weren't even worth it
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17 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:
Queue heavy drama if relationships are established early!
Well, the drama has already arrived, since
SpoilerThey broke up in the prologue. And at first glance it looks like Nami doesn't have a route/ending.
I don't mind some drama if it's well done - let's see how they did it.
And even though this game features hetare protagonist, he didn't annoy me too much so far
(But then, it was only prologue)
OTOH I dislike the setup when you have to be a dick towards your girlfriend to enter other routes (like it was with Lovers or Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road), so I'm glad that it doesn't seem to be the case here.
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Yesterday I completed the prologue in StarTRain - reaching the opening movie.
It has a bit unusual setting for a charage, because we start with a protagonist in a relationship. His girlfriend is two years older Nami, whom he met one summer night a few years ago while he was watching falling stars.
SpoilerSadly, they break up at the end of the prologue - yesterday I reached exactly that point. Looking at them and their relationship, it was inevitable, but nevertheless it made me sad
So now there's second part of common route waiting for me.
So far I met three (of four) heroines - tsundere childhood friend Kanade, shy but cute Asuka speaking with Kansai accent, and a bit mysterious Yomogi from parallell class.
According to walkthroughs there's also fourth, unlockable heroine - Nanami, but she hasn't appeared yet.
SpoilerAlthough she looks quite suspicious to me - I have a feeling she might turn out to be Nami, or have some connection to her. From the glimpse in the OP, she looks similar, they share second character in their given and family names - Aida Nami (藍田 奈美) vs Hata Nanami (羽田 七美), and they're voiced by the same person. But for now I have no idea how will it turn out.
<< Nami Nanami >>As for Sunohara (
), this time it's not one person, but a couple - MC's friend Hiroki and his girlfriend Maiko.
BTW, they get together during the first hour of the game
So far I have two issues with this VN, but they're technical ones, and seem specific to the PS2 version I own.
- The music gets cut abruptly during scene transitions instead of fading out - it makes those transitions a bit jarring. It was the same in Konneko - perhaps it's an PS2 or emulator issue?
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The font used in this release is a bit hard to read due to low resolution, but somehow I managed to get used to it. But nevertheless I'm a bit puzzled why didn't they used something simpler. 640x448 isn't that small, and it should be possible to have more legible font. But they used bold and shadows, which make the fine lines in more complicated kanji just blend together. Form over function
At the very beginning I also had to get used to different style, but over the course of the prologue I got hooked, and now I'm looking forward to the rest of the game.
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Last Thursday I finished Chocolat ~Maid Cafe "Curio"~
(I played "Standard Edition" - all ages PC version)
It was nice, but had its share of problems. I'd say that in some way it has that unpolished "early work" feel - something like what ONE is when compared to KANON. Heroines were all very nice, and, as usual, Maruto writes nice, engaging character interactions, but the quality of the routes is very uneven.
In my previous post I complained a bit about Misato's route. On the contrary, Midori's route which I played next was great (it's also heavily connected to Kanako's story). Mako's and Suzu's routes were so-so, not great, not terrible. Then there was another very good one - Sayaka's. I really liked her as a character, and her route was very emotional.
And then there's epic final - Kanako's route. It's much longer than other routes and features quite a backstory. The concept is a bit similar to Rikako's route from Parfait (or rather the other way around
) - Kanako and Daisuke have been together in the past, but then their relationship fell apart. And just like in Parfait, at first attempt we're locked onto bad ending. After that there's additional hidden route for Chiroru/Tirol (チロル)
Spoilerチロル is a fairy living in a cafe, and her "parents" turn out to be Kanako and Daisuke - she's the character from the picture book Kanako was writing, and Daisuke has given her the name. And she wants "Papa" and "Mama" to get back together and finish her story.
After this cute and funny interlude, Kanako's true end gets unlocked. And after completing her route - there's another epilogue accessible from the main menu. It also features some flashbacks about Kanako's and Midori's relationship. It was veeery satisfying, especially the final CG, where for the first time we see
SpoilerKanako's happy and innocent true smile
So if I had to rate route's quality, it would be Kanako > Sayaka = Midori > Suzu > Mako > Misato.
Apart from uneven route's quality, the map movement system is a chore - it's very difficult to track down missing events, because there's no flowchart with timeline, like in later games (Parfait, Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o), but just the list of events grouped by heroines. The descriptions of the (seen) events also aren't as good as in those later games.
And this version (together with PS2 port) has already streamlined choice/map movement system. Adult and Dreamcast versions are even greater mess, since they extend the map movement system also far into routes themselves, which is nightmare.
It's also worth noting that Standard Edition features much better music. I'm really surprised that this soundtrack hasn't made it to the 2021 remake - the remake features upscaled artwork and a bit streamlined system, but it uses the old soundtrack from 2003 version, which TBH sounds more like a poor General Midi soundtrack from the late '90s, and not in a good way
It kind of clashes with nice graphics - perhaps it would be more fitting if the game was done in the PC98 pixel-art style So, summing it all up, this VN gets 7.5/10 from me. It has one great route, two very good ones, and three mediocre ones. (I count Chiroru's route as a part of Kanako's story). It was a bit rough around the edges, but all in all I enjoyed it - thankfully the true ending was satisfying
Since I'm sucker for VNs with nostalgia and memories themes, I think my next read will be StarTRain (PS2 edition). It looks like it's the first VN written by Nanaumi Sou, who latter has written Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi (which also sits in my backlog
) and Kazato sisters' route in Konosora.
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7 hours ago, Shaun said:
you need to read all 4 episodes to understand the story.
Yes. Essentially this isn't the "series" - it's single VN split into 4 (or actually 5) parts. Each of the four episodes contains single route.
This is emphasised in the Complete Edition, where to unlock each route, you need to complete the previous one, and then after stories get unlocked after completing all four main episodes.
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Recently Sekai Project announced that final episode of 9-nine will get released on Steam on 2022-03-18. The release will contain all three language versions (JP, CN, EN)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1890120/9nineNewEpisode/
This episode was all-ages right from the start, so there should be no need to worry about any censorship in this release.
- ChaosRaven and DeadMoney
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2 hours ago, Zalor said:
You could have linked to your video and typed out your top ten common routes here, for people who don't have time to watch a bloated video.
(...)
But as a long time user of these forums, it does irk me a bit that you don't even put 5 minutes into making it a genuine forum discussion.
Yeah, I'm also sad to see the forum die - and turning it into nothing more than an annoucement board for YT vids seems to be just another nail in the coffin
I agree with @Zalor, and I think I already wrote something similar under your other video topic, @NowItsAngeTime - I don't mind your videos, but I wish you'd care a bit more about forum - it's okay to post your video, but please also write proper post with a summary at least...
I'd really hate to see this forum completely die, since it's the only vn community I'm comfortable to engage with - reddit's and especially discord's format is absolutely not for me - they're too fast-paced and chaotic.
(I browse threads on r/visualnovels from time to time, but I feel too intimidated by it to even try to write anything there...)
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21 hours ago, adamstan said:
Yesterday I reached the beginning of the first route - I'm starting with Misato's route.
Okay, sorry for posting two times in a row, but...
I already finished both Misato's endings - "normal" and "true". And if it took me ~3 hours to read both of those in Japanese, then that means those "routes" were extremely short
It didn't surprise me that "normal" ending was very short (under 1 hour), since it was the same in Parfait. Then I got to the unlocked Misato's true route - and it also went in a blink of an eye 
Sure, sometimes the routes get too long and dragged out, but this was another extreme - almost all "filler" has been cut out, and because of that the whole route feels rushed. Misato is cute, the few making out and/or date scenes are nice, but it's all too short! As if I was reading an abridged version. Let me give you a summary of the route:
SpoilerWhen we meet Misato in a common route, it turns out that she's kind of ojousama (but a very modest and humble one), and she ran away from house, because she wants to try to work and become independent. At first she's very clumsy and seems to know nothing about world, but she's very enthusiastic and eager to learn.
"Normal" ending doesn't touch upon her circumstances at all, it's just a bit of ichaicha and some generic line at the end. Okay, as expected from "normal end".
But then, let's move onto "true" ending.
In a otherwise quite nice pillow talk scene, Daisuke (MC) says that if they are going to be together, he'd need to get along with her parents - pretty obvious, isn't it? Misato says, that she also had arranged marriage planned - well, as expected from ojousama
- and it was another reason she left her house.
And from that point the route started flying at ridiculous speed...
SpoilerIn the next scene we're at the "Curio". Suddenly, a scary man in a kimono appears, accompanied by a group of henchmen in dark suits and sunglasses. The man asks for a Misato, and it turns out he's her father (what a surprise
). He demands that she returns immediately. Daisuke tries to reason with him, but he just gets beaten to the pulp by one of the underlings, and then they take Misato away. After he wakes up, Hiroyuki (chef) tells him, that Misato's father is actually the head of pretty famous yakuza group.
Next scene, a week or two after. Daisuke visits (now empty) Misato's room, and there he finds something that encourages him to try to take her back. It's only briefly mentioned, that he's been spending lots of time in this empty room and got rather gloomy.
So now he suddenly decided to infiltrate Manai family's mansion. Then in a pretty ridiculous turn of events, he meets various members of "Curio family" (other heroines), who hand him the items needed for his quest. So he gets into the mansion (with the unexpected help of his friends), scolds the boss himself and finally gets the girl back
Cue the ending - very short wedding scene.
Credits. The end. It all happened over two or three scenes and around an hour of rather relaxed reading. If that's not short then I don't know what is...
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Few days ago I started reading Chocolat ~Maid Cafe "Curio"~ (PC all ages version)
Yesterday I reached the beginning of the first route - I'm starting with Misato's route.
So far I'm liking this VN. As usual with Maruto's titles, the character interactions are well written and engaging. As for characters themselves, I have kind of deja-vu, or even the reverse one
, since I started with the sequel ( Parfait), and some heroines seem to be based on the same tropes. Misato, whose route I'm on currently, looks like proto-Yui from Parfait - except that she's not a musician But considering how lovely cute ball of moe Yui was, I'm not complaining - another such heroine is warmly welcome 
Misato - Yui
Another close match seems to be Kanako - she looks a bit like protoype for Rikako. But in that case is less about appearance and personality, and more about role and setting. Looks-wise she's closer to Ema. And, while we're at it, both games begin with almost the same shower CG
- in Chocolat it's Kanako, while in Parfait it's Ema.
Other heroines are also interesting - a bit rough childhood friend Midori, shy Sayaka, relaxed, motherly Mako and brand-new step imouto Suzu
There seems to be one more heroine, but for now she remained hidden, so I cannot say anything about her.
Map movement system in this game is very old-school, almost like in dating sims, but with the stats hidden. You have two map choices on almost every day, but not all are connected to the events - sometimes all you get is short generic SD slideshow, and supposedly it gives you relationship points. And after meeting certain conditions events are trigeered. This has been streamlined in subseqent GIGA's VNs (like the sequel Parfait or Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o) - in those titles every map choice leads to an event.
I'm looking forward to this VN - it seems promising
After that I think it will finally be time for White Album 2 (although perhaps not directly after this). Chocolat is probably the final Maruto's "pre-White Album 2" title I plan to read. https://vndb.org/s216
I think I'm going to skip Mama Love. While it is sometimes described like a "reverse Damekoi" (young MC and older heroine), and I had it bookmarked, it seems too nukigey for my taste. V.G.Neo and DUEL SAVIOR don't interest me at all - first one is part of larger series that I have no interest in, and the second one seems to be some weird hybrid. That leaves only Chocolat's prequel - Ripple ~Blue Seal e Youkoso~. While it might be interesting as a first Maruto's VN, I'm not too inclined to read it. Also, none of the VNs mentioned in this paragraph has all-ages edition (besides hybrid Duel Savior), and I still haven't recovered from the final H-scene in Folklore Jam which really soured the experience for me
(For White Album 2 I'm going to read PS3 version)
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On 2/10/2022 at 10:14 AM, adamstan said:
Now I think I'll try the two mini side-routes for Mahiro and Yukari, and after that I'll tackle Ruri's route (which is recommended by various reviewers to be read last), and then finally Mikoto's route, which is exclusive to all-ages version.
And so I did this, and thus yesterday I finished Tenshin Ranman Happy GO Lucky PC.
First let's talk about two mini-routes.
Mahiro's route was very nice - even if nothing groundbreaking, it had some twists and rather unusual start of the relationship. I enjoyed it very much.
SpoilerIt turns out that Mahiro was a bit weird as a child, and she'd been shunned out by other kids. And since she feared the rejection, she started to act out the "good girl" - basically trying to perfectly fit into other people's expectations.
She asked out Haruki pretty out of the blue, just because during one conversation at the beach he suggested, that her smile looks a bit forced - so she kind of hoped that maybe he'd eventually see through her shell. But at the same time she still feared rejection and continued her act, so their first attempt at dating ended up in a disaster - Mahiro never showed her true feelings or gave any opinion - she was just a "yes-girl". Haruki couldn't stand it, and so he said they should break up.
But of course we couldn't end moege route at that - things happened, and finally they earned their good ending
Yukari's route is nothing to write home about - it had its funny and touching moments, but as a whole felt rather... pointless and ungrounded? I guess this was the most "eroge'y" route out of all - feels mostly like a fanservice for players with teacher fetish
Well, it also gave some background for the Yukari's character, so that's a plus.
Ruri's route has quite different structure from the rest, and seems to be the actual true route (at least for the base game) - in this route we get to know more about Haruki's curse and Hime's and Ruri's past. It was really good.
But, to my utmost surprise, actually the best route was Mikoto's route, which is exclusive for all-ages version
Or perhaps I should call it Wakaba's route, since that's the name she uses through the 99% of the game.
In the previous post I speculated that perhaps Mikoto/Wakaba is Hime's superior, but it turns out that I was wrong - she's just another goddess of the same level
I was expecting pretty typical "console bonus route" - nice, but nonessential. Instead I got the best, most developed route of the whole game - it was easily level or two above all other routes, really. It even had the most CGs
I liked almost everything about this route. First - Wakaba/Mikoto was really likeable character, and she managed to be both cute and hot at the same time
Coodere, but with veeeery strong "dere" part, and ultra-masochistic closet pervert, which is mostly played for laughs, but works really well The relationship between her and Haruki kind of grows organically, and doesn't feel rushed or forced just by the route choice. It was really nice to observe those two gradually getting closer and closer to each other. The route also takes lots of hints from KEY's school of nakige. Of course, drama worked only because I already got attached to her - and it made the good ending all more satisfying.
So basically, a surprise, but a welcome one
So, time to sum it all up. The game looks really nice, as expected from Yuzusoft. This edition uses the latest version of Yuzusoft's UI, with flowchart and other conveniences, which is very nice. Voices were also very good.
If all routes were as good as the last Mikoto's route, this would be easily 8.5. But while they weren't bad, they also weren't really standing out - AFAIK it was the first work based on what would later become "Yuzusoft formula". And so for what it was - a nice, if a little generic moege with one outstanding route - I feel 7.5/10 is right score.
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Now I think I'll take a few days break, and then I'm going to read another Maruto's work - this time it will be Chocolat ~Maid Cafe "Curio"~ which is prequel to Parfait. I bought Chocolat ~maid cafe "curio"~ Standard Edition - First Press Edition (PC all-ages release), and it should arrive in a few days
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I personally didn't like sex scenes in 9-nine either - mainly because of the animation style, but also I thought that there were too many, had issues with their placement, and still found them too "porny" for my taste. So for this game I also preferred all-ages edition (the Palette's Complete Edition - not the Steam one).
I think the last VNs where I enjoyed H-scenes, and found them relatively "wholesome" (with some exceptions) were Palette's Sakura Strasse and Yuzusoft's Natsuzora Kanata (and those games don't have all-ages versions anyway
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I also loved the way the relationship was depicted - sex included - in the short EVN called The Language of Love.
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1 hour ago, gieh said:
I just want to see wholesome romance between the protagonist and the characters, man (plus some drama and sadness, that's fine).
I haven't played Kinkoi yet, but since often H-scenes instead of being "characters making love to each other" turn into "characters performing the porn scene", I tend to avoid them and go for all-ages editions whenever available
And with a few VNs that I played recently, even if when playing the all-ages version I thought "hmm... a little bit of sexy stuff wouldn't hurt", checking out the actual scenes from +18 version was a huge letdown more often than not.
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Yesterday I finished another route in Tenshin Ranman - this time it was Aoi's route.
It was good route - perhaps even better than Sana's. I have soft spot for childhood friends, but I think this wasn't 100% typical osananajimi route. I mean, Aoi wasn't the kind of childhood friend that would come everyday to wake him up, bring the homemade school lunch and confess her everlasting love
Instead they had pretty nice friendly relationship, with healthy amount of banter. And so they struggled pretty hard to step-up to the lovers level.
SpoilerAlso, actually Aoi had a crush on Haruki for a long time, but the "curse" he's suffering from made her suppress that feeling deep into the subconscious. And finally, as another side effect of the curse, those deeply suppressed feelings burst out creating the second Aoi. So not the split personality, but actually split person. "The other Aoi" starts dating Haruki, while the "true one" doesn't know about it at all, which creates a bit of turmoil.
The thing mentioned in the spoiler above is the story gimmick that could be seen already in various charage titles, but nevertheless they handled it pretty well. Also, when they finally overcome the difficulties, the route has quite good dose of ichaicha
- even in All-ages version. Or, dare I say, the making out in all-ages version of this route is even sweeter than the sex in the original version
SpoilerAnd, as a cherry on top, there's marriage ending
So, all in all, very nice moege route.
Now I think I'll try the two mini side-routes for Mahiro and Yukari, and after that I'll tackle Ruri's route (which is recommended by various reviewers to be read last), and then finally Mikoto's route, which is exclusive to all-ages version. It seems that Mikoto is another goddess.
SpoilerI wonder if perhaps she's the Hime's "boss" who appears in other routes but never shows their true shape. I said "their" because Hime's boss appears through mediums - speaking either through Kotarou or Ruri
Also, interesting fun fact - this game seems to be the first untranslated one to be reviewed on the Joyjason's blog, and there he said that he prefers all-ages version - even though he confused the platform it was released for back then (it should say PSP, not PS2)
QuoteThere’s the PS2 game with more CGs as well as Characters. This version, while excluding sexual content, is recommended over the PC version. (At least for me)
Judging by my experience with the game so far, I second this
I also read Micchi's and Zen's review, and my feelings about routes seem to be exactly opposite. They thought that Aoi's route was the worst, while so far it seems to be my favorite one. Hime's route that I played first wasn't bad, and the "plot/action" part about preparations for school festival was nice, but the romance part felt somewhat lacking.
Looking for visual novels somewhat like ATRI -My Dear Moments-
in Recommendations
Posted · Edited by adamstan
I think you might like Planetarian from KEY and PARQUET from Yuzusoft. They're both bittersweet tales set in the future, like ATRI (although Planetarian leans more towards sad side).