adamstan

While I don't have anything against sad stories, please give me at least a little glimpse of hope at the ending. I doesn't have to be all super happy, but pure tragedy or depressing ending might be too much for me.
AIR is good example of this - while its true ending was very sad, it wasn't utterly depressing, at least for me
So while it is different from other famous KEY nakige - there wasn't happy ending like final run of AfterStory in Clannad or "that's not enough!" ending in Little Busters, it still OK for me and I rated AIR equally with those two, and considered it really great story.
But if the "True Ending" is Bad Ending, meaning there's no hope, everything goes wrong and everybody dies in vain - that's too much for me. It probably would make me more angry than sad - so no catharsis from crying either VNs for me are kind of escapism, so I don't look for them to repeat worst aspects of reality.

Nakige are good enough for me, it's a formula that really works, and it's nice to see things improving in the end.
A good bittersweet ending is Rin's in Katawa Shoujo.


I'm not so big on utsuge for the moment. Too extreme. Why look for a realistic, bad ending, if life provides plenty of that? I thought VNs were escapism.

Downright depressing ones aren't exactly my favorite, but aside from that I don't mind either one.
I need a bit variety between different games though, I'm not always in the mood for something happy and not always for something sad. And after a sad one I usually need to play a happy one  so I don't feel depressed the next 3-4 days.

While I don't have anything against sad stories, please give me at least a little glimpse of hope at the ending. I doesn't have to be all super happy, but pure tragedy or depressing ending might be too much for me.
AIR is good example of this - while its true ending was very sad, it wasn't utterly depressing, at least for me
So while it is different from other famous KEY nakige - there wasn't happy ending like final run of AfterStory in Clannad or "that's not enough!" ending in Little Busters, it still OK for me and I rated AIR equally with those two, and considered it really great story.
But if the "True Ending" is Bad Ending, meaning there's no hope, everything goes wrong and everybody dies in vain - that's too much for me. It probably would make me more angry than sad - so no catharsis from crying either VNs for me are kind of escapism, so I don't look for them to repeat worst aspects of reality.

Well, yeah, particularly in modern times, with the likes of Dark Knight and Zack Snyder.
Balance is good. Just like how Superman reflects the light and optimism of humanity, Batman reflects the darkness in us all humble humans. Balance is important. Not too light, but not too dark.
...which is why you SHOULDN'T MAKE SUPERMAN MOPEY AND MOROSE! HE'S SUPERMAN!
SUPERMAN.

While I don't have anything against sad stories, please give me at least a little glimpse of hope at the ending. I doesn't have to be all super happy, but pure tragedy or depressing ending might be too much for me.
AIR is good example of this - while its true ending was very sad, it wasn't utterly depressing, at least for me
So while it is different from other famous KEY nakige - there wasn't happy ending like final run of AfterStory in Clannad or "that's not enough!" ending in Little Busters, it still OK for me and I rated AIR equally with those two, and considered it really great story.
But if the "True Ending" is Bad Ending, meaning there's no hope, everything goes wrong and everybody dies in vain - that's too much for me. It probably would make me more angry than sad - so no catharsis from crying either VNs for me are kind of escapism, so I don't look for them to repeat worst aspects of reality.

I second Kanon and Yukizakura.
Miagete also has winter episode.

Yeah, I was talking about references in other parts - which is still a major step forward compared to ridiculous amount of bleaching applied to Konosora. ("big eyes" ).
I think my next read will be PE all-ages edition - I'm curious how Moonstone handled this issue.
 

While they might have left some general refrences in the TL, I glanced at the script thanks to @Infernoplex and saw some fairly big changes in scenes leading up to/ coming after H-scenes which removed refrences to sex. (It also has a fair share of translation errors.) ASFOS was absolutely a major step in the right direction TL wise, but still lacked in quality compared to other professional TLs. (The TL errors should really not be there, for instance.) Adding some extra content to the places where H was removed is basically the norm in console/ all-ages versions, so it's a shame they aren't sticking with that approach.

I'm the same. Both are good when used right. It's also okay with me if there's some "main heroine", who's given some more attention, even when there's no "True End". Like, in abovementioned Princess Evangile all routes stand on their own, but at the same time we could say that Rise was made somewhat "special" due to her backstory and the fact that she's the one who starts the whole thing.
It's also interesting when there's some attempt to tie route system itself into the story - like in Little Busters or YU-NO.
 

To stay on a sad note, I propose Steins;Gate 0 (a good part of the game seems to be in December) OR (to return to something more joyful) maybe...Snow Sakura. 

For what it's worth I'm a really big PE fan, got the VN during the Humble Bundle sale, and read the all ages version. I haven't yet read the 18+ release yet but the all ages release didn't feel like it was missing anything and I didn't feel like it was cut, or frankly even notice the edits. Like adamstan said, if you do want to read the 18+ version it's on sale so may as well get it while it's discounted, but I don't think there'd be as drastic a difference between the releases to the point where one is clearly superior over the other. IMO it'd definitely be worth a read if you like the premise, and it's my third favorite VN (I'd give it a 9 out of 10). 

From the recently necro'd thread about Libra of the Vampire Princess:
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
But other thing baffles me. There certainly ARE many Japanese people who are fluent at English - I refuse to believe otherwise. So why PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATION SERVICES don't hire them, and instead opt to produce unreadable gibberish? Do those tl companies (not game localization, but in general) pay their translators too little, and a person who is actually good at English just has many better job opportunities?
It would certainly be ironic in a pretty disturbing way, if only people who suck at English would be desperate enough to work as translators...

I liked PE very much, it is near the top of my VN list, with score of 8.5
I plan to reread all-ages version some day, as I bought it on Steam too. 
All-ages version is direct port of console version, with some replacement content for h-scenes. (that's why, unlike with the fandisc, there's no +18 patch from Mangagamer, as the versions differ too much). I think it should be good in this version too - while h-scenes were actually quite nice in this VN, not showing them shouldn't harm the story, assuming it's only the actual sex-scene being cut, like in Sanoba Witch.
But if you don't like moeges or anything close to them - obviously don't bother with it, as it is just sweet romance story.

Hey, so you're a representative of that scammer company? Nice threat you have there, you piece of shit. Shame that everyone can see what kind of quality work you put out there.

About 80-90% of each after story is comprised of an h-scene, with the rest being a flimsy justification for the said h-scene. I wasn't aware that they weren't in the all-ages version, but that makes sense. They'd seriously be five minutes each otherwise and wouldn't really make any sense.
Also, a patch went out earlier today. It's still being uploaded to NekoNyan's various partners, but it's at least live on Steam and I think NekoNyan's own site. Check where you bought the game from for the latest version. This patch contains fixes for all of the reported text errors, as well as more found during another quick pass we did on the game to polish it up.

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 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 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 plan to grab Sakura Sakura during december sale

I used this sale to snatch Root Double - its regular price was bit too much for me, but after 65% off it became much more accessible

I used this sale to snatch Root Double - its regular price was bit too much for me, but after 65% off it became much more accessible

This is a pretty old thread, isn't it? I don't think my scale changed that much, but definitely got refined a bit. It is now:
1 - 3.5 - various levels of utter trash, stuff that most likely isn't worth picking up even to laugh at it (ex. Sakura Magical Girls & other cheap, ecchi trash);
4 - 4.5 - trash with some kind of actual entertainment value to it, be it a few funny jokes, art that is nice to look at etc. (ex. Sakura Cupid);
5 - 5.5 - mediocre VN, might be even enjoyable to go through, but doesn't (positively) stand out in any way (ex. Sakura Nova, Aozora Meikyuu);
6 - 6.5 - average VN, enjoyable and without any devastating flaws, but far from being truly great (ex. Sakura Dungeon, Negligee);
7 - 7.5 - a good VN, with some highly praiseworthy characteristics and no game-breaking issues, but not especially memorable/impactful (ex. Fragment's Note, SonoHana: Remembering How We Met);
8 - 9.5 - various degrees of greatness: VNs that are well produced and highly enjoyable to go through, and left me with a lasting impression (ex. Flowers, CUPID);
10 - a masterpiece, game that managed to enthral me and move me to the core - Analogue: A Hate Story has an honourable 10 on my VNDB list because of how it genuinely got me thinking about certain issues and sparked my interest in VNs as a medium, although it most likely don't deserve it "objectively". It's simply a 10/10 in my heart and will stay like that forever. :3

I used this sale to snatch Root Double - its regular price was bit too much for me, but after 65% off it became much more accessible

So far I have yet to give anything a 10/10 so I will start with 9/10. Also these might not always apply since there is a wide variety in ways a VN can succeed or fail, for instance some parts can be really really good while others can be trash and my rating will then depend on my overall feeling of the work. 
For me a 9/10 is a really good VN which managed to really grip me push me to read for long stretches of times because I felt emerged in what was going on.
8.5 and 8 are VNs that I found to be really enjoyable and that I think back at fondly, this can be because it managed to sell me on the feeling of the VN with great comedy, music art or through a well executed story. For me the most important here is that I just feel really good thinking back on the title and have things I really liked about it.
7.5 and 7 are VNs that I found to be quite good, it was an enjoyable read and had some really nice high points, however it lacked the special thing that makes it really memorable.
6.5 are titles that are pretty close to a 7 however has some flaw that makes it not quite reach there.
6 are titles that for the most part are just decent but has some good points as well.
5.5 and 5 titles that just feel okay, they are not bad but they are not really good either. It does not feel hard to read through it, but the enjoyment I get out of it is rather small.
4.5 and 4 are disappointing titles, they are not outright horrible but can be boring at parts and lack really good highpoint. Often these just lack good writing and feel lazily put together 
3.5 and 3 are titles I find to be really bad, there is very little good to say about them 
2.5 and 2 are titles that really failed at being enjoying
1.5 and 1 are unreadable trash, I have not encountered anything I would give this rating to yet.