Bredan

I'm not sure if I missed it or even when that got announced, but (from VNDB) it seems ALcot announced their last project : Clover Memory's. According to VNDB, it will be : A project to celebrate 20th anniversary of ALcot also marked as ALcot's last project. Crowdfunding starts on March 2024. Another one on the departure.

For your specific question and a generic answer : saving when the choices pop up and then going back to choose other options would be the way to go most of the time for many VNs. As it can get convoluted with some VNs, try to structure your choices well and give them a short evocative name/label if the game allows it. As you said, it wouldn't be surprising to end up with a lot of saves, especially with Clannad, that's probably why most VNs allow dozens of numbered saves. Now my true and longer answer for Clannad : I've always thought Clannad stands out even from a lot of other VNs of the same era by the sheer number of choices and how much convoluted the choices you have to make to attain certain ends are, added to the high number of ends, especially if you count all the minor ends (others than main heroins, and you should definitely count them for Clannad). As such, here is my advice for Clannad (but honestly it applies to most titles even if there is less choices) : - either use a walkthrough from the start and thus save when the walkthrough asks you to save and whenever you feel like. Most people wouldn't have their fun spoiled just by using a walkthrough for a romance/slice of life VN anyway. - or play it by saving whenever and choosing whatever you feel like choosing for the first 1, 2, 3 or whatever runs/ends you feel like, and then follow a walkthrough. This way intends to let you taste the VN as it was intended (including not being happy about not ending on the desired route for example) coupled with the benefits of not pushing it too far by ending up using a walkthrough. I know that way would be the better way for me with Clannad, but Clannad is especially long and that could make its reading even longer. One last point though for Clannad : whatever you choose to do, I suggest you keep Nagissa's route for last, whether you like her or not, as her route continues in Clannad part2 in the main VN.

Just a quick opinion here : when trying to learn the language, it might be better to avoid games with gameplay, as the tools to help you aren't best suited for gameplay parts. I don't know if the dating sim you have in mind should be in the 'have gameplay' category, but keep in mind that it might be easier for you to stay in the normal VN perimeter to learn JP. As for your question in itself, sorry I know too little about dating sims and let someone else answer you.

I've encountered this manga adaptation 16bit Sensation: Another Layer : it seems to be about VNs, their creation (MC is an illustrator), their decline and their golden age (story apparently places it in the early-mid 90s). I don't know if it is interesting or accurate and am not even sure I myself am going to watch it, but I figured I could let you know. If anyone knows it and can comment, please let us know.

ittaku (frequenting this forum) is the one who translated ToHeart2. If I remember well, he clearly said something along : ToHeart is not great and it is not required to read it before ToHeart2, as the stories aren't linked. You could try to find out his posts on this forum or ask him directly.

Here it goes. The two ultimate nukiges emulators : - https://hitomi.la - https://e-hentai.org I'm sorry, I'm leaving ^^.

When you search for a JP VN walkthrough, you'd better begin by https://seiya-saiga.com/ , as theirs are mostly the better and are accompanied by advices, full saves, basic infos etc. Here's the page for H2O～FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND～ : https://seiya-saiga.com/game/makura-soft/h2o.html

Sorry, I guess my answer deserved such a very pleasant reply...

I'll just say this : I wish there was 'VNDB' kind of sites for all types of games and books (with a story and characters at least). Sites like MAL or TheTVDB cover the films/series/animes mostly. Sites like Novel Updates cover some kind of books. But games (and a lot of book genres) are to my knowledge a lot less well covered. In the absence of such sites, I therefore wish a lot more things could be classified as VNs just to be present in VNDB. Well anyway, sorry to have disrupted your topic and have a good day.

I can do with bad/intrusive H scenes, but that other point... I've come to be unable to stand this over time and I consume a lot less of JP goods because of this overarching trend. Gem or not, that alone makes it not for me anymore. Too bad but thanks for letting me know.

I loved MuvLuv Alt, but I have to admit : even Age thought of the briefing scenes as a bit long, possibly tedious as is proved by the fact they gave one of the best BGM to those very briefing scenes. QED. (Youtube)

Ok, I knew my English was poor but it's worse than I thought.

You don't seem to understand. That's not blaming or anything, it's a valuable information in and of itself : if what is considered normal for a populatin keeps not being suitable for you, it shows something. What you do with this information is up to you, whether it is 'blaming', 'wondering why', changing yourself or your settings, or even doing nothing of it.

You don't seem to have noticed that, for almost everything everywhere, the default setting can generally be considered what is considered (by the devs or whatever) the mean or 'normal' value for the population. This information does have value. And if you encounter the same kind of default on most products, that gives this information even more value. For exemple : - if every time you have to re-set the gamma, you may need to question your screen setting or eyes. - if every time you activate the auto read on VN with default speed you think it goes to quick, you may need to question if you are a slow reader... or if there's a trick linked to translation... no ?

Thanks for this. A little warning though : this title seems to appeal to a lot of fetishes ranging from habitual to what can surely be considered fairly extreme, even considering the VN community.