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I loved the Majikoi series and A-5 is coming out soon (4/26). So what will happen after A-5,I would love a sequel to S or maybe a few more in the "A" series, there are still some girls that haven't got a route yet or maybe some after stories for A games. But as of now i can't find any info on it. So i was wondering if you guys have heard or seen anything related to it. Majikoi is Minatosoft's most popular game so i hope somewhere somehow we get a little more majikoi

Since people who order, I think I'll join in the middle. I have a clear fetish as everyone here has (no use trying to hide ) And he would exhibitionism or nudism, has some VN that has this content, need not be the main focus. help XD

So I bought the new game Atom Grrrl!! from denpasoft today, and I noticed something a little interesting. They have added a download limit to their games. It has not been a thing previously, as all my other games like Grisaia, Zodiac, sunrider etc doesn't have it. It could just be for this particular game, though it might also be a permanent thing for their new releases. My guess would be that this too is a response to some of the fraudulent activity VN publishers has seen recently, possibly wanting to reduce piracy / illegal sharing of their game. It's still DRM free, so it's not like it will have a huge impact on anything, but it is still interesting to see. EDIT: Word from DavidB on the download limit:

Just what it says on the tin Today's subject is, you guessed it, character designs. Now do note that the character itself doesn't matter at all, only the desings. Now onto the actual program. I'm sure all of you have seen that "one" character design that sticks out like a sore thumb, but in a good way. Be it the color palette, unique clothing, or mixture of different things, there's always that something in that character thant sticks out. That's what we're here to talk about today. Me? For me it has to be Myra from Sepia tears. Her overall purple theme is brilliant, and my obsession with purple and white doesn't hurt at all. Her striped suit, long elegant white scarf and her red hibbon all make a beautiful completion. Her light purple hair, deep eyes and the shaping of her head are all as good as it gets. I've still yet to see a character better designed than her. Well, enough of me, how about you? What are your favorite character desing, and why?

Protagonists. You see the story through their eyes and experience what they're experiencing. Some protagonists are very notable for certain things that make them stand out like Kazami Yuuji. But sometimes, protagonists can be really generic and sometimes even downright awful. This thread is to post who your least favorite protagonist is. My personal least favorite is Nishijou Takumi from Chaos;Head. I get the point of his character is supposed to be a pathetic human being, but having him as the protagonist was one of the reasons I don't like Chaos;Head that much. He got on my nerves a lot during the playthrough. Every time I found a pretty good moment, he was there to ruin it. Everything about him made me want to knock him out. Now before I go on a rant on why I don't like Chaos;Head and think it's overrated, I will ask you now. What is/are your least favorite protagonist/protagonists? Now, let the flow through this thread

Hello, everyone. As a recent addition to the VN community I'm starting to notice a few common trends in core VN readers. One of them is that original english language visual novels (OELVNs) are, simply put, not very popular. It's usually pretty subtle, not in a way like "Eewww, OELVN", but rather in a way that many OELVNs get forgotten or missed by the community completely. From what I've noticed, 90% of discussion is either discussion of original japanese titles or their translations, while indie west VNs often go way below the radar. I would like to go deeper to understand this trend. I can see a few possible explainations behind this. 1) OELVNs are just pretty bad? Needless to say, there are much fewer serious VN developers in the west compared to Japan, where the genre was born and continues to thrive to this day. Because of this, most OELVNs are produced by indies of various size and budget, many of them lacking the quality in both art, story and writing. So far, there are probably no universally acclaimed OELVNs except Katawa Shoujo. Some other notable, but not too popular in the VN community examples include novels by Christine Love and perhaps Cinders by MoeCube. Oh, and the beautiful Hanako Games (LLtQ, Black Closet), if you consider them VNs. And that's about it. 2) OELVNs are just too different? Just as there's a sizable cultural gap between the West and the East, OELVNs try to take a different approach in their stories, content and art. Some of the things I think the western developers often do differently: -Much less focus on erotic and controversial content, since west traditionally has very strong taboos on sexuality and mature themes -Non-anime art style (sometimes) -Less genre (anime\otaku\moe) tropes -Political correctness and other modern western tropes -More interactivity (more choices, mini-games, stat raising, genre-mixing) Now, for some player those changes might be unwelcome and lower their interest in the game. Which of those, I wonder? So what do you think? -How often do you play OELVNs and which are your favourite ones? -Why do you prefer the Japanese VNs? -What about OELVNs makes you less interested in playing them? -Or am I completely wrong and everyone loves them? This thread is meant not to make some personal point, but as a place to discuss this possible issue. I very well know nobody (probably) really hates OELVNs, it's more about understanding better what the core VN fans think about non-japanese visual novels and what turns them on/off. Believe me, there are lots of english VN developers right now eager to make something you will buy and enjoy. Now, what advice would you give them as a Visual Novel lover?

An ongoing project to document eroge with various types of censorship in an easily browsable and sortable spreadsheet Eroge with a censored official English release, a comprehensive list Community contributions, feedback, and corrections are appreciated. Freeform discussion within this thread is also welcome.

First of all, remember that I am new here haha The question I have to do is about the recruitment system ... to begin recruiting for X project, you need to already have a translator on the team before recruiting or can be recruited without the translator? On the other hand. You who say of Arterial of origins? it's good or bad? It looks good and I was a bit surprised to see that no one has had an eye to pass to English.

Description: Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient, released in Japan as Corpse Party 2: DEAD PATIENT (コープスパーティー2 DEAD PATIENT / コープスパーティー2 デッドペイシェント Kōpusu Pātī Tsū Deddo Peishento?) is the latest installment in the Corpse Party survival horror adventure game series created by GrindHouse (a dōjin circle consisting of members of Team GrisGris) for PC. It is known under the abbreviation DP in Japan. This game has inspired drama CDs, a CD single, and various merchandises. Plot: Awoken from a coma, Ayame Itou, a sophomore in high school, found herself on an operating table in an unknown hospital. EKG suction pads, tubes and a drip were running to various meters and monitoring equipment that all led back into her body. It felt like she had just awoken from pre-surgical anesthesia, but for some reason, there were no doctors in sight. As she slid herself off the table, Ayame realized in horror that most of her own memories had vanished. What happened? What is she doing here? Groggy from the anesthesia, she staggered out to the hallway. Bright hospital lights lit the way, it was a sight you'd see in any hospital anywhere. The odd part was that there was not a soul around. Patient records and clinical charts were strewn all over the place, and the plants were toppled over on their sides. The scene reminded her of a riot. Fighting against her rising sense of panic, Ayame set out to escape from the hospital, yet... So far, only one volume has been released on May 29, 2013. |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| The last thing I heard about this game is about almost 3 years ago. It's a very hyped game for corpse party fans back in those days. The game was released by volumes which means you need to buy the next one in order to continue the story like a book which also implies as a marketing strategy to gain more money but the problem is the next volume of the game didn't came. So what happened? What happened to Grindhouse the company who made the game? Did they cancelled it? I don't know if anyone know any answer for these questions but if you have any info I hope you can share it to us. Their main website is still fully functional same with their twitter account... and we're putting our hopes on that fact to say that the game is STILL not cancelled so we can keep hopes up. I hope we can receive some news about the game this year to assure the fans that their hype is not DEAD yet. The last thing related news to Corpse Party 2 was of the insert song single「DEADPATIENT」/HoneysComin’ for Chapter 2 which was meant to be release last May 2015 but sadly it was cancelled. You can listen the song on this link:

EDIT: Alright, the game is out! I personally loved it. Discuss away, fellow neko lovers! I made a review of it if you are interested, that can be found here:

I once played this kinetic novel and didn't remember the title of it. I've been looking for it for a while now..... It's about this man that moves to a certain strange town in winter, it involves powers (to erase memories) and the most powerful people are called "alpha". The man is tasked with looking after this girl so they end up living together. It has multiple parts to it and the POV switches from the man to the girl and vice versa. In the end, I really want to find this kinetic novel again, so if anyone has any clues, I'd be very grateful!

MG blog post: http://blog.mangagamer.org/2016/02/15/pay-processor-issues/ tl;dr Because of people making fraudulent purchases in order to obtain Steam Keys and re-sell them, MangaGamer has been forced to remove their Steam Key offers for the foreseeable future until a better solution comes. It really sucks that people pull this kind of shit off. On top of that, because of the currently existing chargeback policies, whoever is returning the money is always on the losing end no matter what they do. I totally understand and agree with MG's move here and I even sympathize with them, but it's still sad I won't be able to get a Steam key to give to a friend (or giveaway) whenever I buy a game from them anymore. Really hope this helps mitigate the damage for them though.

Source So apparently SP is licencing Hoshizora no Memoria, Sakura Dungeon and KARAKARA. Honestly this news is something else, not really good or bad. Sakura Dungeon is what you'd except, another Sakura title full of fanservice. Apparently it is a collab attempt by Mangagamer and SP. KARAKARA seems to show promise, but it is yet another Kickstarter-esque endeavor, so it needs to be watched carefully. Then HoshiMemo. Oh boy is this redundant. Obviously this one is rather needless one, but the original translation was what it was, and some heavy editing is needed, so this isn't totally worthless, and maybe good in some respect, as I do love the title to death. But what ticks me off is that SP didn't start with something of more importance, like Eternal Heart or Irotoridori no Sekai. But there's still hope, as SP has shown interest in Favorite's titles, the Eternal Heart and IroSekai. But all in all, even if Sekai didn't have over 50 open projects already, this seems rather redundant. However, maybe we will see something that actually matters from SP. Who knows.

Everyone has that one thing that they look for in a VN: Be it art, story, characters, voice actors, BGM or even moe-factor, everyone has one, but which is yours? Mine was art for the longest time, but when time went on, I started to pay more respect to the characters in a VN, and art got triumphed by characters. But I still like good art in Visual Novels immensly. Although I appreciate charages and nakiges more than ever before, standard run-of-the-mill SoL with good art is still good sometimes. It just isn't as good as before. Even so, even if the story is sub-par or the story is generic, that doesn't matter to me; if it has good art or decent characters, then 99% of the time I still will find it enjoyable and find it in me to finish it, most of the time. But enough of that, please do tell me your opinions. What is the most important part, that makes a Visual Novel?

So my problem is simple but no matter where i searched i can't seem to find out how to get one of the Cg's for Fuyurugi Kisaya...i have the first and the last of her route but i'm still missing the middle one and it's been bothering me for a while now that while i finished all the routes i'm still missing this Cg from my Fave girl out of this Vn..i'll appreciate any tips or help..i considered that maybe i had to do the bad end to get it but in non of the other routes was that the case so there must be something i'm missing or doing wrong As always, thanks for the help I love you all guys (always helping me out )

I realized that sometimes (or even very common) has secondary characters that are either better than the protagonist or are very interesting, and that motivated even more to complete the visual novel, I will cite one example. I still know little visual novel, I probably read less than 90% of the people here, as I more play other types of games, but I thought interesting to discuss about it.

Well, first of all congratulations on successful Kickstarter for Root Double, even though it's kinda shaky at the middle. My comment is that for Sekai if next time you want to release the VN that has less exposure than this one, I would suggest that you better did the Thunderclap and better tier earlier (Although I understand that maybe this time Regista was kinda hesitate to allow Sekai at first, while back at Libra the decision to make the Kickstarter was started from the staff of Libra themselves iirc), since I'd read that many of the user feel here your move was kinda late. Anyway since this project was already funded, let's move on to discuss this game, and if you still want to discuss the Kickstarter, please go to this thread. For the release date, hopefully around March (Although if the release was got pushed, I'll make sure the thread will be not drowned). Anyway, from the title, it was obvious the credit should go to GundamAce or back in Gamefaqs forum ShadowBlackMage since he was as the leader of Lemnisca Translation did the translation. Once again, if some of Lemnisca member came here (Or especially GundamAce), thanks for translating this game and 2 previous games (I/O and Never7). For the premise, as we knew Root Double was dealing with 9 people (3 people from rescue squad and 6 civilian people) trapped in nuclear facility which about to explode within 9 hours. To make it worse, actually there was a drug that could prevent radiation, but unfortunately in best case scenario it was only enough for 6 people, leaving 3 people dead. By reading that, you knew that the chance of all people to survive were very slim. So of course they need to trying to search where they could escape within 9 hours. Oh, apparently this game maybe Takumi Nakazawa answer to 999 which was made by his fellow back at Infinity project, Kotarou Uchikoshi. I mean what's with 9 people and 9 hours (Oh and one more info, the drug I mentioned was only capable to prevent radiation for 1 hour. The drug supply was only 54 drugs, in other word only enough for 6 people like mentioned before). For trivia info, the drug name was Alone Desire. As the story goes, there was also some mysteries which accompany them to their escape. There were 6 mysteries, and the mysteries were: The captain rescue squad loss his memories Some of trapped civilian were high school students (Normally in VN it's not a mystery, since they like to involve high school XDDD. The question is more like why the high school students could come into nuclear facility) There was dead body inside facility The reason that the incident happened, and why they couldn't get out easily And last mystery was about the people who should not exist but exist at the nuclear facility There you go with the mystery. For more info, once again you could look to Kickstarter page, or Animesuki forum here. And once again thanks to GundamAce for the info translation back at Animesuki forum. As for the review, here's from Awesome Curry Chronicle (WARNING - Some MAJOR SPOILER there) and below's from GundamAce. For special service I'll post his review, from A route to his final review (The game was divided to 4 route - A, B, C, and D). He wrote the review in Animesuki and Gamefaqs back at 2012 (I was interested to Root Double since 2012 by the way). So, here's the review from GundamAce Route A Review (I'll use spoiler for shorter page, although guess it's already very long) Route B Review Route C Review Route D Review (Keep in mind this review was for normal version, because I'd heard that XTend version had Route D changed. Correct me if I'm wrong) Gundam Ace Final Review There you have it, although if some of you find it better than Ever17 or not later is depend on you I suppose. Oh finally, since GundamAce mentioned cast, guess for next I should do some commentary for the cast and character, like back in KoiChoco and Noble Works. One interesting thing about 9 characters was the system called Enneagram. It take too much time for explaining it, so I'll give Wikipedia link here. And for 999 games, actually there was also some info that Uchikoshi confirm that he design the character based on Enneagram. There was discussion about that at Gamefaqs, and here's the discussion (Watch out for spoiler though in case you didn't finish 999). For the cast, I'll give them based on Enneagram from 1 to 9, some info, and the seiyuu. But before tha, I'll give some info about 2 additional characters first. Since in GundamAce review that he mentioned Ai Shimizu character, guess I'll better mentioned Ai Shimzu first. In case you wonder who will Ai Shimizu voiced, here's the character. As for the character, I couldn't explain it since the info was nothing, and if you ask my opinion, she was not important at all. As for Ai Shimizu herself, her role was (By the way her pseudonym mostly had some connection with automotive brand) Sanjou Makoto in Noble Works, Komine Sachi in Grisaia franchise, Napoleon in Eiyuu Senki, Elina in Dracu Riot, and Tamaki Sakura in Hatsuyuki Sakura. As for Miyoko Tenkawa, she was Natsuhiko's mother, and she works at LABO and according to VNDB she rarely come home. So she like Hinata's father back in I/O, while we could said that Natsuhiko situation resemble Hinata's. For the seiyuu, she was voiced by Sayaka Ohara, and her role was Kela Hazel in Galaxy Angel trilogy, Dahlia in Duel Savior PS2 Version, Urotorii in Utawarerumono, and most famously in VN she was Beatrice back in Umineko. As promised earlier, here's the other characters info, starting from 1st Enneagram. Oh by the way all trapped people based on Enneagram. Ukita Keiji (1st Enneagram, The Reformer) - By the way, his enneagram and Loise enneagram was mistakenly written in kickstarter page as the Helper. According to the description, he was Natsuhiko neighborhood and work at LABO as one of the researcher. His voice was provided by Toru Okawa, and his role was Tomitake in Higurashi franchise, Arawn in Tears to Tiara, and Gasai Itsuki back in Comyu. Mashiro Toba (2nd Enneagram, The Helper) - According to description, she was one of our MC (Natsuhiko. Oh this VN had 2 MC by the way) childhood friend. Her biggest pride was cooking and take care of Natsuhiko. Back in TV Trope, GundamAce describe her position was like Sakuya back in I/O. Her voice was Asami Imai, and her role in VN was Makise Kurisu back in Steins Gate, Okitsu Ai in Yumina the Ethereal, Morishita Michiru in Koi Choco, and Yoshitsune in Eiyuu Senki. Ena Tsubakiyama (3rd Enneagram, The Achiever) - The teacher at Natsuhiko and Mashiro school. For hard word, she was kinda want to achieve something as the enneagram said, sometimes to obsessive to the goal I think. For easier word, especially to Remember11 veteran who read this, just thinking of Mayuzumi Lin when she trapped at LABO. As the seiyuu, the name was Toyoguchi Megumi and her role was like I said before Mayuzumi Lin in Remmeber11 and Junko Enoshima back at Dangan Ronpa. Louise Yui Sannomiya (4th Enneagram, The Individualist) - Half Japan and half French, and transfer student in Natsuhiko school. Nicknamed Salyu and she had ferret called Alice. For some reason, she was willing to live with Natsuhiko. For the seiyuu, Shindou Kei, no notable role in VN or anime, although some of user here may elaborate it. Oh GundamAce made a comment that Salyu design remind him of Feili from Chrome Shelled Regios. Watase Kasasagi (5th Enneagram, The Investigator) - One of our MC and the captain of rescue squad. At the beginning, he was lost his memory for unknown reason. But before memory loss, he was calm man and with dry sense of humor. His voice was Shingaki Tarusuke and his role in translated VN was none, although Fate/Zero fan may recognize him as Matou Kariya. Kazami Tachibana (6th Enneagram, The Loyalist) - Chilhood friend from Watase and vice captain of rescue squad. She was take the lead while Watase suffering memory loss. Her seiyuu was Rina Satou, and her role in VN was Souya Misaki in old VN Snow Sakura, Kusakabe Yuki in To Heart 2, Yoshitsune in Majikoi S, Nami from Aoi Shiro, and Ushiromiya Ange in Umineko franchise. Natsuhiko Tenkawa (7th Enneagram, The Enthusiast) - Another MC, and he was only high school students. He like to be alone, just like Hinata back in I/O. For a little commentary, at the beginning he was liveng in harem situations lol, with Mashiro came to his house every morning, Salyu living in his house, and another his childhood friend Yuuri also live in same house as his. For the seiyuu, the name was Ichiki Mitsuhiro and his role in anime (I didn't comment his performance in VN because he didn't had any role in translated VN yet) was very lame MC from old anime Magikano (By the way, I watched it back at 2007) Haruo Yoshikawa. Of course Natsuhiko was more handsome than Haruo lol (Even though both of them wear glasses). Jun Moribe (8th Enneagram, The Challenger) - Kazami junior in rescue squad, and her goal was that she want to become the heroes who protect the weak. That's why she choose to become rescue squad as first step. Her seiyuu was Tomonaga Akane, who in VN she was play as Inubushi Keiko and Suzukage Hotori back in Remember11, Seira in Chaos Head, Nagamine Nozomi in Seinarukana, Kawakami Kazuko aka Wanko in Majikoi, Soejima Hisoka in Comyu, Kazami Kazuki in Grisaia franchise, and Oda Nobunaga in Eiyuu Senki. Yuri Kotono (9th Enneagram, The Peacemaker) - Another Natsuhiko childhood friend, and live with him. According to the info back at Animesuki, she didn't like to go outside house, but for some reason she was trapped in LABO, while according to Natsuhiko she should be at home. I quite take a liking to her design back at 2012. Her seiyuu was Kaori Nazuka, and her role in VN was Flower MC Shirahane Suou. Oh if some of you like to watch Fate Ilya, she was play Miyu Edelfelt. I think that's all of the info from Root Double I could give it here. Although there's still more about world building info, but you could read it at Kickstarter or GundamAce info. Use this thread for future discussion of Root Double in near future. And sorry if I couldn't provide more info. Hope you like my post here. PS Almost forget, here's the OP Video for Root Double thanks to Sekai Project Edit - I'd just remember that one of VNDB user made a review for Root Double. So like GundamAce review, I'll copy the review here. Oh the user name was crauxan Crauxan Root Double Review - The review was made back at 2013

Heey guys I'm still somewhat new to all this VN and such, I have read them for some years, but sadly my japanese is nonexistent. I also do not know all that many sites to get info about VN and translation progress. I was hoping somebody knew something about the Grisaia series? The first one was from what I know fantranslated and the second was announced to be translated aswell as the third one. From what I have found, this was already back in 2013, so I would like to know if there is any progress on the matter? Any estimate of how long before a english patch for, in my case, the second comes out? Have a nice day:)

The title says it all. What are your guys' opinions on this issue? As we all know, some VN studios are still not willing to release their content in the West, which sucks to see in this day where translating companies are getting bigger and bigger. True, a lot of companies have opened up to this idea. Key is a major one, releasing Harmonia, their next VN release, in a simultaneous release in Japan and the West. This is the type of mindset I'd like to see from more VN companies, not to the extent of what Key are doing, but thinking of the west more. Let's hear your opinions

As you have seen from my other thread, I wished to push the boundaries of Visual Novels specifically to get new people that have never touched a VN their entire lives into the genre. The group I am targeting is Comic/Graphic Novel readers in america. Especially those of minority backgrounds. The question though, is does this art style ALONE alienate veteran readers of Visual Novels? Here are two videos. The purpose of this test was to judge the voice over work. Special effects, animations, and optimized UI is expected over the next 2 weeks. Amesemi (Ami-semee) Pantheon: Kushite Age: 18 Height: 5’4” Fighting Style: Elemental Magic Alignment: True Good FANTASY Amesemi is the only female raised by Nun. She had a rare affinity for what we would understand to be magic and because of this, Nun took her as her personal apprentice. Mastering the arts of energy manipulation, she quickly discovered her ability to manipulate the elements to both devastating and beneficial effects. On top of her amazing ability to understand “magic,” she also has a superior grasp on ancient texts and lore. Of all the others, she is the most knowledgeable about the ancient bloodlines. HISTORY Amesemi is of the Kushite pantheon as a protector goddess and has close ties to Apedemak. Little is known about her role in tradition but she was worshipped for her ability to help Apedemak’s control his warrior spirit. Amesemi’s history was lost in time but there are many influences of her origin in many female Kemetic goddesses. THEORY With plenty of room to create our own origin, we decided to make her the guardian of knowledge and wielder of the rarest of arts. Apedemak is infatuated with her and Ra looks at her with suspicion. Amesemi is a strong woman wiser than all the men in the series but her confidence is limited and she looks to the men for guidance in times of danger. Who will win the heart of Amesemi?

Link to the original author's blog post: https://cythoplazma.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/sekai-projects-unwanted-child/ While I'm not one to get on the SP bash hype train, I did find this post on Reddit to be a pretty good analysis of SP's past, present and future and how they handle their releases and it exposes a lot of the problems their business model tends to encounter, something that's becoming more apparent with Root Double's rather deplorable Kickstarter which seems to be set for failure as there's only 6 days left and they're still falling almost 40k dollars short. This post deals mostly with World End Economica episode 3, a VN that was funded on Kickstarter almost 2 years ago on June 2014 and is still only 10% complete while SP is still pushing out more and more Kickstarter campaigns, leaving the backers of their initial projects kind of concerned. Actual post: So it took the new translator a full month to read two short visual novel episodes, something which should have taken less than a week. Notice also how the verb work is used in a future tense. Backers, including myself, had enough and shot back. One backer raised questions over the promised Vita/iOS tiers, to which the project creator responded with a passively aggressive dismissal. It sounded almost resentful, in a “just take your money and go” kind of way, as if us backers didn’t want the project to succeed. Sekai Project issued a quick response two days later. Even though backers had to pressure them to get as much, they did respond. To alleviate our concerns, they supposedly put a backup translator in place just to hit a self-instated four-month deadline. Our questions in the comments were answered. The plan sounded good, the company was communicating with us again. The clock started ticking. December’s production update wasn’t verbose. The company’s translation progress page – which doesn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence in its current iteration – supposedly listed episode 03 at 8.26%. Then 2016 came around. Even though Sekai Project stated backers would be updated monthly, they didn’t follow through their own update schedule and backers haven’t been briefed since December. Just yesterday though, the company posted on Redditthat translation for episode 03 is roughly 10% done. It’s been two and a half months since plans to translate the episode were laid out. The four-month window is rapidly closing and I honestly can’t see how the project team will be able to hit their goals in the time they have left. Delays in visual novel productions happen all the time (just ask Japan), but what makes World End Economica’s case particularly tragic is that Sekai Project built their entire future off the shoulders of its Kickstarter campaign. They got good press for it and they roped in the novel’s backers to their other Kickstarters, yet this particular Kickstarter that started it all is being neglected month after month. I think Sekai Project has several structural problems that only became apparent as delays increased. Many of us have expressed concerns that perhaps bootstrapping as many localizations as they did in such a short amount of time wasn’t good for the projects they already had on their way, but as Sekai Project commented that has nothing to do with production due to the parallelized way their projects are set up. Even though having teams that don’t interfere with each other sounds ideal and all, it took the new translator one whole month to read through both episodes because apparently he or she was finishing up previous commitments to other projects. This is clearly a human resources problem. When a company is offering near-minimum wage to its potential employees, it’s harder to find somebody competent to fill a spot on the fly. The other problem is cash flow related. Sekai Project’s recently launched Kickstarters have featured expensive, arguably overpriced pledge tiers compared to tiers of their past projects. Root Double is the perfect example. Even though the game is already being translated and doesn’t really need Kickstarter money, tiers still have ridiculous prices attached to them. While rumors circulate that this is because of high licensing fees, I have a hard time believing that to be the biggest reason. I think the more likely answer is that Sekai Project doesn’t want to lose money on every Kickstarter, as that has admittedly been the case. One of their staffers said they want to make sure to cover all their bases, thus avoid as much risk as possible. I can understand that. I mean, World End Economica was initially set at only $22,000, which is ridiculously low compared to Root Double’s $135,000. A crazy price hike, but in all honesty completely warranted for a game that doesn’t look like it would hit it off well with the Sakura Spirit crowd. In turn, a business model that relies on post-Kickstarter sales will inherently cause cash flow problems, meaning the company will rather spend their time and resources on new inventory which is more likely to increase cash flow than old inventory. While Sekai Project says every one of their game projects has its own production team, I have my doubts they are keeping funding separate to each of them. In other words, if Sekai Project were to close their doors tomorrow, I doubt the translator would still be working on episode 03 to hit that four-month deadline. While I appreciate the efforts made by Sekai Project so far – in fact I’ve been hanging out with some of their staffers online for almost ten years now and I hate it has come to this – this project and its backers have to be treated with respect. A translation progress of one percent per month is not good enough, and some of their projects, as bold as they were, were walking a very fine line between success and bankruptcy. I’d like them to avoid the latter because they have been a net positive on the industry, it’s just frustrating to see them peddling new games every month. Meanwhile, the title that put them on the map gets neglected at the expense of backers that initially believed in them. Thoughts? Personally this is why I don't fund anything on Kickstarter (that and it rejected my card the first time I tried to back a project), it's a dangerous thing to invest in and could easily end up making you lose money and lately it feels like companies such as Sekai Project mostly use it not have to invest internal funds into their releases, which, as we can see, can only get you so far in the industry before it starts causing trouble. I do not wish for Sekai Project to go bankrupt in the slightest, but it worries me how they seem to be taking a hit in their efficiency due to their ambitions.

Transforming what we expect from the OELVN market Whenever I talk to communities that play visual novels, there is always a kneejerk reaction when you say OELVN. To many, they are the bane of the visual novel world. All of the player base agrees that there were many well done and even groundbreaking OELVNs developed but for the most part, they are done poorly and use common tropes that can be redundant at times. The fact of the matter is that OELVNs tend to be indies, have much lower budgets then Japanese VNs, and do tend to stick to the script more than change things up. This is why I am writing this now. I am pioneering a movement to completely recreate what it means to be an OELVN. Many may say, “That is too ambitious for an indie” but I will not be stopped. Months ago I launched a kickstarter for my game but I didn’t invest enough capital to get quality art so it was ignored. This was entirely my fault. I then adapted and started making sure my original and very different idea was presented with all the bells and whistles needed to grab the attention of the player base. With that attention, I can begin to explain what I intend to do to change the game. OELVN to Western VN An OELVN is not much different from a Japanese VN. In fact, they are so similar that people that know of OELVNs tend to call them low budget or indies as a bad stigma. There are exceptions like Unwonted Studios and Winterwolves but for the most part, the stigma is very real. What is my solution to this? Make a Western VN. How can you compare or stigmatize something that has no equivalent? If it has no equivalent then you must judge it based on your own personal experience with it. There are many American developers out there that try to place stories in japan and use the common. The setting of my game is in the ancient middle east. It also has elements of the ancient alien theory and historical references of many different pantheons during the time of 3500 BCE. This has never been done before, not even in video gaming as a whole. But to understand why it Is different, we must look into individual changes that make the experience different from a normal VN. Art Style Since the story is different, more serious, and from a certain period, we chose to use art that looks digital but has a comic like styling to it. All armor, clothing, and backgrounds are based on alien technology and period architecture/writing. Music We tend to make most songs fit the location of the game but we do not allow that to stop us from adding a few Asian songs to capture the mood. The music is intense and matches the flow of the game. Flow The game has short chapters spanning no longer then 10 minutes each. There is a world map and different type of quest which require tactical decision making and exploration. There is very little internal monologue and the viewpoint is omniscient even though you only control the main character. It will feel like mini-episodes of a very big series where you develop characters and become attached to their own personal goals. Relationships Unlike in other games with a BxG relationship in the genre, we have incorporated a very different mechanic to how ours works. First, you as the main player will be competing for the love of the female lead. Your actions can cause her to love or hate you and the other character’s actions can do the same. You can very well FAIL to get the girl and even more, lose the girl to your rival. Additionally, all the characters in the game will react, listen, and follow you differently based on the reputation you acquire throughout the game. Your decisions will make them great allies or reasons for your death! Insanity The main character has psychological issues that he must conquer. Throughout the game you will come across spirits messing with your mind and as a result, you must either embrace these ideas or suppress them. By embracing them, you gain new powers that are extremely powerful BUT by giving away your autonomy, you also lose the ability to think rationally in situations where you have to use self-control. Questing Unlike other games which stick to one type of mini-game throughout the story, Black Sands offers many. There will be investigations, tracking missions, and random skill check progressions. Each one requires a completely different set of skills. Exploration The world lore of Black Sands is deep with mystery and discovery. While the player can choose to stick to the main path of the story, they will most likely engage in the side stories to discover the secrets of the rift. Every secret unlocks a journal entry and we have an in game encyclopedia that will explain all the lore. Historical References When you unlock lore entries, you get the real world context from which it was created including sources. This adds a level of education to a fantasy game that is never done. Main Character A common complaint about VNs as a whole is the main character being too needy and weak. In this game, the main character is a vicious fighter with an exceptional command over people. He suffers from Dementia but focuses himself using “knowledge of self” and meditation. You as the player will tell his story in your own personalized journal which will be sharable online. Victory Conditions In Black Sands, every turn cost time. Events happen based on the time and when you meet an obstacle for the first time, you get a progress bar on the top right. The more you learn about the obstacle, the more “confidence” you have you can deal with it. This helps you in the events that happen when you take on that challenge OR when that challenge decides to take on you. If you do not prepare well, you may be forced into a very bad situation but if you prepare for the coming enemy etc, you will succeed. Theme We incorporate ancient Kemetic-Kushite, Canaanite, Akkadian, Minoan, Greek, and Hindu mythology into the Black Sands universe while tying them all together with the ancient alien theory as the base. This will bring new fans to the genre as the ancient alien gaming world is an untapped market and the cultures of the middle east and black community would love to have heroes that look like them. Thus, we are moving forward, ever aggressive and ever vigilant. If you have any questions or critiques, please comment below.

So I often find myself kind of annoyed at visual novels that gives you a set in stone, uber long common route that you cannot get out off until you finish reading it (AKA no meaningful choices during it). Like, I love Grisaia no Kajitsu to death but damnit frontwing, the common route is way too long!!! Honestly, I just get so happy when I see a visual novel with "early branching plot" as it lets me explore the different routes a lot quicker and it just makes the experience a lot better for me. I'm not saying there shouldn't be a common route, in fact without one I don't really see how the game would work very well, but something like Yosuga no Sora or Majikoi is exactly what I want. There is a common route / prologue, but its not TOO long and you get a choice to enter a route pretty fast after. Then its all about the heroine stories and not about the repeated content that you cannot escape in the common route of death until you finally reach the heroine choice screen after like 30+ hours in the game. Anyways, those are my thoughts on it, what are yours? Early or late branching plot, whats the best?

What are your guy's opinions on nakiges? I've stated quite a bit before that they are one of my favorite genres in visual novels mainly because Key is one of my favorite companies and nakiges are their forte. Also, if you have a favorite nakige, state it as well. Are you guys emotional like me and love these VNs or are you the opposite?

Is it any good? i like the yandere archetype and characters but not many animes or Vn's make them quite right and that much if at all for that matter, so when i heard that there was a Vn solely dedicated to yanderes i had to wonder wether it was any good or not. What are your thought on it guys if you've played it or heard of it? is it worth a go? As always thank you It's this one