Seraphim

I've found that the video works if I start Windows in Safe Mode, but there's no sound available in Safe Mode, so I still can't hear anything. I was able to read the subtitles, so at least I know what they're talking about now. I would still like to solve this whole problem, so I won't have to watch silent videos in Safe Mode whenever this happens in the future. Some things I've tried since my last post: - changing game settings in Nvidia Control Panel - turning off all non-Microsoft services in msconfig - using Active Directory repair in msconfig - unplugging secondary monitor and USB peripherals - cleaning registry

Yeah, forgot to mention it. The problem is there in windowed mode as well, unfortunately.

Does anyone know what the characters are saying at the end of the credits in Ef: The First Tale? I just finished it, but I'm having this reccurring issue of the credit screen being completely black, so I can't see anything. I would really like to know what they were talking about, so I'd be very grateful if someone could give me an answer. (And even more grateful if someone could help me solve the black screen issue itself, which I created a topic about here just now.) I tried searching for a video of the ending and accidentally ended up spoiling myself because someone wrote this in a title:

This has happened to me in several VNs before, and it's really starting to annoy me. Whenever the credits start rolling in certain VNs, the screen goes entirely black, but the audio keeps playing. I just finished Ef: The First Tale, and I could hear the characters speaking at the end, but I couldn't see anything and have no idea what they were saying since I don't understand Japanese well enough yet. I have tried playing in compatibility mode, turning off full screen optimization, updating my graphics driver, downloading the latest Flash and Java software, as well as installing the K-Lite Codec Pack, but none of it has helped whatsoever. What can I do to solve this?

It's impossible to say right off the bat which method works best for you specifically, but I can summarize my own experience. I started out with RTK after seeing a lot of people recommend it, but most of the mnemonics were boring and the book as a whole felt pretty outdated, which kinda makes sense since it's from the late 70's. I decided to try WaniKani instead, and it works much better for me. The mnemonics are usually pretty silly/hilarious, making them easier to remember, and you learn readings and vocabulary alongside the Kanji as part of the program, meaning you first learn the Kanji, and when you've memorized it, you'll learn vocabulary for that particular Kanji. You can learn Kanji faster with RTK, but you won't learn readings until the second book, and you have to learn vocabulary separately. For grammar, I'm going with Tae Kim and some other sources, like this one and this one. Other than that, I recently bought Genki I + II along with their respective workbooks and will tackle those at some point in the near future. It's definitely not a walk in the park, but I still think it's been a pretty smooth experience so far. One of the most important things to keep in mind is to not be put off whenever you feel like you're stuck somewhere. There are some Kanji and vocabulary that I have had some real trouble with, and I make a lot of mistakes from time to time during my WaniKani reviews, but those mistakes actually makes it easier to memorize it for the next time. Whichever way it goes, I'm still making progress and I know that if I just keep taking one step at a time, I'll eventually reach the finish line.

I don't know how TexasDice timed it, but there are several ways to do that. One would be by installing Playnite. You can use it to keep track of your entire game collection, or just do what I do and use it for all the stuff (mostly VNs) that you don't have on Steam or other store platforms. Here's what it looks like for me:

Anyone else annoyed by Natsuki's fang? It's supposed to add cuteness, but I've always thought it just looks stupid when a heroine is designed that way. Another example off the top of my head would be Yuzuyu in Fureraba.

Oh, thanks! I didn't get any results when I tried searching for it before. Kinda weird to put Touko's route after Rikka's in the walkthrough, when the description says that Rikka's route contains spoilers for Touko's. I'll do Touko's first if that's the case.

Damn, that's long. It's at least 5-10 hours more than any heroine route I've ever read. Did it get boring? I imagine there must be quite a bit of filler content in a route that long.

Since quite a few VNs should be played in a particular order to enjoy them to the fullest, I usually use walkthroughs and just go with whatever order they have. In the case of Hoshi Ori, I'm using this one, since there isn't one available in English yet (afaik).

Ah, I was under the impression that the translation differed as well. Judging by the description on the blog, it sounds like NNL is the superior option, but I would very much like some confirmation from someone with personal experience! While I'm waiting for a definite answer, I've started reading Hoshi Ori, and I figure I'll just go ahead and alternate between that and ef. The protagonist gives a much better impression than the one from Hatsukoi, so it seems Tone Work's learned from their mistakes (unless it all goes south later on).

I'm about to start reading ef, but I don't know if I'm supposed to choose "Original Minori's Script" or "Advance NNL's Script" in the options. What's the difference, and which one should I use?

EDIT: This reply ended up on a new page, so I should probably mention that the spoiler is from Eden.

Finished Eden yesterday. I loved it, but it's the only visual novel I can think of that probably would have benefited from an open ending. It would have been perfect if they'd just ended it after I'm looking forward to ef now, which I'll be reading after I'm done with Lucy: The Eternity She Wished For.

From a consumer standpoint, I can understand that people are a bit sceptical, but I think it sounds like a decent method for training upcoming translators. I would very much like to translate manga and visual novels myself at some point in the future, when my knowledge of the Japanese language is at an appropriate level, and this seems much better than taking on some big project right off the bat.

This made me think of a comparison! Original: MTL:

Yeah, I think this and Katawa Shoujo are the most obvious ones I've read. During the Lucia route,

One thing that's been bugging me from that Rewrite route I mentioned in my previous post:

Yeah, I'm hoping that's the case for me as well! There's been nothing really impressive so far, but I figure there must be some reason why it's the 16th highest rated VN on VNDb.

I'm currently reading Rewrite, and it's pretty underwhelming so far. I hope the last routes will be more interesting than what I've seen so far. If they're not, Rewrite will probably be the VN that has disappointed me the most.

I just read whatever I feel like at the moment. I've put off reading several high ranked VNs for quite some time due to this, and while the ones I chose to read instead may objectively be worse, I still enjoyed reading most of them, and that's really all that matters. What you're describing is an issue with movies, TV series, etc as well, so you should just go with your gut feeling and pick whatever strikes your fancy right then and there.

I avoided reading Clannad and Steins;Gate for almost a year because I was afraid of being disappointed due to my high expecations. I loved them both once I got around to them, so I've decided to not wait around anymore if there's anything I'm really interested in. In the case of KnS, you should consider putting it off until the third game (fourth, if you count Cartagra) is released. I kinda wish I had, because it's pretty tough having to wait for an uncertain amount of time to experience the conclusion to the story.

I read both Himawari and Island not too long ago and noticed no connections whatsoever (or at least none that I remember now), so I think it's just a matter of two separate tales taking place in the same world rather than two tales connected to each other. That said, there might be some links to Aqua After that I am unaware of, since I haven't read that.

In other words, it seems like an all ages release done right. I don't care about removal of h scenes, as long as they are not a vital part of the plot, but MoeNovel's approach, to alter non-explicit content, is pretty detestable. I'm looking forward to reading Cruise Sign whenever my Japanese is at a high enough level to do so.