What are you playing?

[Thyndd]

Just now, adamstan said:

I'm starting YMK. Wish me luck

Best wishes. I seem to recall your being a bit on the h-scene haters side, so you'll have to put up with that. YMK has A LOT of H. 

[adamstan]

1 hour ago, Thyndd said:

a bit on the h-scene haters side

Nah, it's not that strong. There are instances when I genuinely like them, and some others where I think the work would be better without them. But I explained myself already in some other thread I know about a lot of H in YMK - probably it will be too much for my taste, but whatever. I was more scared about general heavy mood of this VN, H isn't that much of a problem - after all, in worst case if I don't like H-scene I can skip through it

First impressions - unusual art style. The backgrounds look a little like painted with watercolors.

Edited November 22, 2018 by adamstan

[LemiusK]

Read somewhere in the forum (in this thread, I think) that someone's reading six VNs at the same time. Figured I might as well try it myself too, since I need more VNs to increase the variety of reading material.

Added three more VNs to my collections: Aoishiro, Swan Song, and Root Double. Funny thing about the first two is that, I used to read them a long, long time ago, back when I first started knowing what a visual novel is, but I promptly dropped them after a few hours because I was still an ignorant spoiled brat, not used to reading VNs yet. 

But yeah, nice to revisit those two again. Swan Song had a nice intense atmosphere that I remember, while Aoishiro has that mysterious fantasy vibe. Looking forward to those.

Root Double will be my first time reading. Recommended by someone in my "428" thread.

Edited November 22, 2018 by LemiusK

[adamstan]

4 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

Root Double will be my first time reading.

I bought it today as it was on pretty big sale on Steam (-65%). But it'll have to wait for its turn

[Dreamysyu]

21 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

Aoishiro, Swan Song, and Root Double

I wanted to play these three for years now, but somehow I never got to them.

[Inorin]

4 hours ago, LemiusK said:

Root Double will be my first time reading. Recommended by someone in my "428" thread.

Root double is a bit like ever17 but with quite a number of bad ends (though significantly fewer than that of 428). Its bad end system is also a bit like 428, such that it will give you hints as to why you got that particular bad end. The true end isn't as grand as that of ever17 but it's still pretty decent overall so I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did 

[LemiusK]

Some of the more keen-eyed users might have noticed that I removed a VN from the "Plan to Read" section in my signature, but didn't move it to my "Reading" section. That's because when I tried to get it working yesterday, it ended up crashing because of a "EAcess Violation" error or something. Since my Windows 7 is riddled with bugs anyway, I had to reinstall my OS from scratch, because I couldn't fix the problem the VN was facing (you have to adjust the "Data Execution Prevention" settings, but mine was greyed out). All for one VN. Seems pretty drastic to do all that for just a single visual novel, right? (I had to move all my older files, including my currently reading VNs, to the new OS)

What VN it was that I had to trouble myself so much...?

Spoiler

Mhm, mhm. It feels like it's worth it in the end. It's been a long time. I've added this immediately to my collection a week ago ever since I learned that the voice patch has been added. I didn't play it back then when there was no voice, and I've left it in my wishlist under "High" priority ever since. It's good to see that lovely face again.

[Stormwolf]

Sakura sakura

Spoiler

 

And i honestly dont know what to make of it. It tries to be funny, but also what it tries to be funny about is actually pretty damn serious. Mc is also somewhat of a "badass?"  disguised as a typical protagonist 90% of the time and something better than regular 10% of the time. I dont dislike it, i just dont really know what to make of it yet.

And maan, i hope he hurls those bully girls in the art club out the window. Bullies should never falsely get credit or be allowed to keep bullying. The mc here is a total doormat. Quite patheic with such silly and utterly goofy bullies such as that.

Ohh and i love the ost so far! Kept that one melody on repeat for a while

 

 

[littleshogun]

Already entered Wakana's route in Sanoba, but I decided to change it into finishing Yurino's route back at Hatsukoi Sankaime and perhaps finishing the whole VN as well.

[LemiusK]

Just started Aoishiro but... two problems:

1. The interface, main menu, and the built-in encyclopedia aren't translated. Very annoying. Had to refer to a website that translated some of the terminology (like 20% of it, maybe less), but it spoiled an important story detail regarding Migi's identity.

2. So much Japanese folklore infodumping. I wouldn't mind this if the encyclopedia was translated. But as it is now, it's just tedious to read.

On the other hand, the graphics is pretty good, which isn't surprising for a game ported from PS2. The sprites move their mouth as they speak, just like Muv-Luv, but with a greater variety of movement. It's almost like full-fletched animation compared to Muv-Luv. Considering that both Muv-Luv and Alternative came way before this game though, it's not surprising the technology couldn't match up.

The gameplay design is also pretty swell, with a voice in the main menu addressing differently depending on the time of day you're playing (from what I could figure out through my limited knowledge of Japanese). The voice that sounds out whenever you're saving or loading, on the other hand, is more annoying, but bearable.

It's not often that non-nukige VNs have such a focus on its game design, so it's nice to see something like this.

Edited November 24, 2018 by LemiusK

[adamstan]

I finished YMK. Whoa, that was a ride.

But then, @Stormwolf was right

On 20.11.2018 at 8:19 PM, Stormwolf said:

It sounds worse than it is. You'll get in the mindset which makes it bearable. Its not a cute bubbly vn, yet its pretty damn awesome.

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

Spoiler

I really wouldn't connect that shy librarian girl with Nekoko (especially since at that point I hadn't read generic bad end that hints on it yet)

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

Spoiler

Casino sequence made me really puzzled - just like Kouhei, for a long time I couldn't figure out if it was a dream or reality. Same with the footjob scene - I suppose that's because drug's effect, so Kouhei got holes in his memory, thus weird timeskips.

But Mizuki's ending was maybe the best in whole game.

Spoiler

In many eroge "pregnancy endings" are considered bad or joke endings. Yet here they both accept the child, and actually it was the reason Mizuki regained her will to live and finally could see the future spreading before her. The scenes with Kouhei speaking to his yet unborn child, birth, and then Mizuki sleeping peacefuly with their daughter were so heartwarming that they almost made my heart melt.

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.

Spoiler

How the loneliness was slowly crushing and breaking Aeka... oh my... that hit really hard

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...

Spoiler

Antoinette, what a bitch, really. She was disgusting and disturbing - almost inhuman. I didn't feel sorry for her in the slightest during the final scene when Kouhei and Aeka almost killed her - and that disturbed me a bit as well, but shows how strong the writing was. It's a pity that her "boyfriend" got unpunished, but well, can't have it all...

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.

Spoiler

Also, neither loli catgirls nor anal are my thing, so it felt a bit meh - except final scene in library

In Mizuki's and especially in Aeka's route sex scenes fit well into the story.

Spoiler

Mizuki's frantical seeking of pleasure because of her inability to picture the future explains them enough. Aeka's crushing loneliness also makes it all understandable.

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

[Dreamysyu]

Got a bit bored with Dies Irae, so decided to stall it and to start something else. Ended up picking up this:

Spoiler

So, wait, it's an isekai from 2003 where the characters in the other world actually don't speak Japanese?

[Thyndd]

6 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

So, wait, it's an isekai from 2003 where the characters in the other world actually don't speak Japanese?

Lol looks polynesian or something. 

How are they gonna solve the little inconvenience though? Probably some magic spell that allows the MC to understand the language, if it's that kind of new world. Let's say that most isekais just skip this step 

I'm still reading Umineko. I'm currently halfway through episode 6, my last report being when I finished episode 4. Ep 5 was a blast, but it did almost nothing for my theories, that's why I didn't bother to update  

Aside from that, I was watching a Muv-Luv (extra) let's play on youtube, and man oh man, the amount of references and foreshadowing for Alternative is absolutely insane. I find myself constantly laughing like a maniac. Goddamit.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Thyndd

[LemiusK]

On 11/22/2018 at 6:51 AM, Dreamysyu said:

but I've seen a certain really generic CG of

  Reveal hidden contents

Sara pointing a gun towards Tsugumi

that apparently appears in that version, and it makes me very suspicious whether this new content really adds anything of value.

Just saw this "generic CG" while I was watching the XBox OP again. It is not generic at all!!! lol 

Spoiler

Sara looks totally pissed, but also looks like she's desperate to get something out of Tsugumi. Makes me even more suspicious that Tsugumi knows something about Lemu's "accident" after all!  Or maybe Tsugumi said something offensive about her brother, heh.  Wouldn't expect anything less from that edgy loner.

But yeah, it's not generic, and does serve to make me even more interested in that version. Sigh. Well, a boy could dream, can't he?

Edited November 25, 2018 by LemiusK

[alpacaman]

I completed two and a half routes of Symphonic Rain (Fal/Lise complete, made the choice for the Torta bad ending and now Chris has a visitor on Christmas). It's not great so far but I like it because it has a nice atmosphere and the writers use the term "Good End" very creatively *cough*.

Spoiler

I kind of respect the creators for doing everything to piss of readers who buy this expecting a harmless moege/nakige with a rythm game. It's just soo unnecessarily mean-spirited. I knew beforehand that there was supposed to be a twist but I expected something like themes of depression, considering the setting, not that every character either is a sociopath or has their life destroyed by one.

Going by the way the routes went so far my theory for the twist in Torta's route is that Arietta is actually dead, probably by Chris' fault or at least he left her to die or something like that. Chris is in denial though so Torta keeps sending him letters impersonating Arie and even dressing up as her on Christmas to keep up the illusion and keep him from going completely insane.

 

[Dreamysyu]

9 hours ago, Thyndd said:

How are they gonna solve the little inconvenience though? Probably some magic spell that allows the MC to understand the language, if it's that kind of new world. Let's say that most isekais just skip this step 

They did something like that, yeah. Well, it's a shame. I was hoping that they would actually show the MC would slowly learning the language and understanding more and more words and phrases, but that would be too much, I guess. On the other hand, the voice actors still speak in that language. Well, they still pronounce these words in a very Japanese way, but it definitely sounds like an actual language. I'd say, it's a very cool thing to do.

I have a soft spot for fantasy worlds with well developed culture and politics, and, the way it is going so far, it looks like this could easily become one of my top-5 favorite VNs.

9 hours ago, Thyndd said:

Lol looks polynesian or something. 

I feel like I recognize some Slavic or Turkic words from time to time. It could be just a coincidence, I guess, but I wouldn't be too surprised if the authors took the words and grammar of some real languages and combined them in some unique way.

9 hours ago, Thyndd said:

Aside from that, I was watching a Muv-Luv (extra) let's play on youtube, and man oh man, the amount of references and foreshadowing for Alternative is absolutely insane. I find myself constantly laughing like a maniac. Goddamit.

The one by Echo 6 probably? I also watched it some time ago and it actually almost made me change my opinion about Extra. It's true, the amount of foreshadowing is insane, but it's even more insane that all this foreshadowing is almost completely unnoticeable on your first walkthrough.

6 hours ago, LemiusK said:

Just saw this "generic CG" while I was watching the XBox OP again. It is not generic at all!!! lol 

  Reveal hidden contents

Sara looks totally pissed, but also looks like she's desperate to get something out of Tsugumi. Makes me even more suspicious that Tsugumi knows something about Lemu's "accident" after all!  Or maybe Tsugumi said something offensive about her brother, heh.  Wouldn't expect anything less from that edgy loner.

But yeah, it's not generic, and does serve to make me even more interested in that version. Sigh. Well, a boy could dream, can't he?

To be honest, the way it's drawn just looks very cliche to me. And, thinking through the original story, I honestly don't know what they would want to improve by including a scene like that. To me this feels just like a cheap way to keep the readers' attention. But to each their own, I guess.

On the other hand, I heard that the remake corrects a few plot holes the original had.

[LemiusK]

14 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

To be honest, the way it's drawn just looks very cliche to me. And, thinking through the original story, I honestly don't know what they would want to improve by including a scene like that. To me this feels just like a cheap way to keep the readers' attention. But to each their own, I guess.

On the other hand, I heard that the remake corrects a few plot holes the original had.

Well, maybe it's not to improve anything, but add additional scenes, or maybe even tell a totally different story/sub-plot involving Tsugumi and Sara's relationship? You did mention that you heard the remake corrects a few plot holes, after all, not to mention that VNDB listed the XBox version as an entirely different VN because of the numerous rewrites done to the story. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Tsugumi and Sara have an entirely different sub-plot of their own involving that CG.

If later versions of VNs with additional routes aren't usually listed as a separate entry of their own, then it makes sense that this XBox version of Ever17, which was listed separately, must have even more additional content than just an additional route, or rather, maybe its content is drastically different from what you recall of the original story.

I'm just speculating like you are, but I don't see why you are thinking of it in such a negative light, since you haven't offered any proof of what you're implying.

Edited November 25, 2018 by LemiusK

[Dreamysyu]

35 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

I'm just speculating like you are, but I don't see why you are thinking of it in such a negative light, since you haven't offered any proof of what you're implying.

Well, I see your point, so I'll leave it at that. My own negative thinking about it is mostly based on some negative reviews I recall seeing at some point, but I don't remember where exactly I saw them.

[LemiusK]

18 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

Well, I see your point, so I'll leave it at that. My own negative thinking about it is mostly based on some negative reviews I recall seeing at some point, but I don't remember where exactly I saw them.

Hm, yeah, that makes more sense, and I can see now why you would arrive at such a conclusion. I would probably think the same thing, considering I'm quite cynical myself.

Still, the reliability of reviews varies greatly depending on their sources. If it's something Metacritic, then hm, maybe they are more reliable. If it's something like IGN or Gamespot... I don't think so. Furthermore, one CG alone isn't really a game-breaking factor to determine the overall quality. So yeah, I'll leave it at that food for thought as well.

Edited November 25, 2018 by LemiusK

[Thyndd]

3 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

On the other hand, the voice actors still speak in that language. Well, they still pronounce these words in a very Japanese way, but it definitely sounds like an actual language. I'd say, it's a very cool thing to do.

Oh that's... interesting. From what you're telling me it sounds like there's some lost potential there. It would've been amazing if only they had worked up at least a phonology, but if the voice actors still make it sound natural I guess it's cool anyway. It definitely piqued my curiosity, I'll add it to my wish list.

3 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

he one by Echo 6 probably? I also watched it some time ago and it actually almost made me change my opinion about Extra. It's true, the amount of foreshadowing is insane, but it's even more insane that all this foreshadowing is almost completely unnoticeable on your first walkthrough.

I was actually alternating between Echo Six and TheBlueShifting. And yeah, it's pretty incredible that on your first reading it's nearly impossible to notice anything, as all the clues follow naturally from the conversation. MLA spoilers below:

Spoiler

The only thing I noticed during my first reading was actually right on the beginning, in the Sumika's diary part, when she says that she asked Takeru something weird and that "They both couldn't imagine a world in which they were not together". The grave tone in that part, plus the fact that I already knew that Alternative would take place in another world (you know, little spoilers from the sinopsis and stuff) made me realize that was probably foreshadowing and I was like "Oh shit".

But then there's so many other clues scattered all along the way that sometimes I almost think I'm getting paranoid. Like when they started talking about "short-term memory loss", and I was like "yeah, about that...". Then Sumika complains that her memory's been getting worse lately due to Takeru hittting her so much. Yeah, fuck you 

Every little thing triggers my PTSD. And about that, when they randomly use the PTSD alarm sound in Extra is like... 

Oh and I wanted to add @Dreamysyu, in regards to the fact that rereading (or watching a let's play, whatever) Extra after Alternative made you change your opinion about it... Yeah, that's the case for me too, but the more I think about Extra and Muv-Luv as a whole, the more I love it. I firmly believe that Muv-Luv is to be regarded as a whole, as a living being. If you cut off Extra, it dies.

It's not only the "fun" () references, but the fact that it seems so boring and ordinary at first glance is what builds up all the shock for later. It's the fact that you suddenly realize how extraordinary Extra is in its being ordinary. It makes you reflect upon your own lifestyle like no other piece of fiction I've read before. Add to the mix the fun foreshadowing and how it ties with the story as it's told in Alternative, and you have no reason to complain about Extra. For fuck's sake, even as a simple moeblob wouldn't be that bad. I've seen worse.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Thyndd

[Fred the Barber]

8 hours ago, alpacaman said:

I completed two and a half routes of Symphonic Rain (Fal/Lise complete, made the choice for the Torta bad ending and now Chris has a visitor on Christmas). It's not great so far but I like it because it has a nice atmosphere and the writers use the term "Good End" very creatively *cough*.

  Reveal hidden contents

I kind of respect the creators for doing everything to piss of readers who buy this expecting a harmless moege/nakige with a rythm game. It's just soo unnecessarily mean-spirited. I knew beforehand that there was supposed to be a twist but I expected something like themes of depression, considering the setting, not that every character either is a sociopath or has their life destroyed by one.

Going by the way the routes went so far my theory for the twist in Torta's route is that Arietta is actually dead, probably by Chris' fault or at least he left her to die or something like that. Chris is in denial though so Torta keeps sending him letters impersonating Arie and even dressing up as her on Christmas to keep up the illusion and keep him from going completely insane.

 

Symphonic Rain

Fal

Enjoy the rest of the ride! Lise is the brass ring of the bunch, so it only gets better from where you are!

[LemiusK]

Still working my way through Coco's route in Ever17, but I came across a certain folklore there that also existed in the story of Aoishiro, dealing with both Yaobikuni and Tsubaki trees. It's probably a coincidence, since I have no idea how prominent the Yaobikuni is in Japanese folklore, but it's kinda nice, since I'm reading both VNs at the same time. It helps that the Yaobikuni's story has themes that are relevant to both VNs (at least I would assume it's relevant in Aoishiro's case, since I haven't gotten very far yet). Feels like I'm reading two stories with similar themes.

Edited November 26, 2018 by LemiusK

[Dreamysyu]

I didn't see the notification after your edit. Don't know why, maybe because the other part of the post was referring to me anyway.

On 11/25/2018 at 6:25 PM, Thyndd said:

Oh and I wanted to add @Dreamysyu, in regards to the fact that rereading (or watching a let's play, whatever) Extra after Alternative made you change your opinion about it... Yeah, that's the case for me too, but the more I think about Extra and Muv-Luv as a whole, the more I love it. I firmly believe that Muv-Luv is to be regarded as a whole, as a living being. If you cut off Extra, it dies.

It's not only the "fun" () references, but the fact that it seems so boring and ordinary at first glance is what builds up all the shock for later. It's the fact that you suddenly realize how extraordinary Extra is in its being ordinary. It makes you reflect upon your own lifestyle like no other piece of fiction I've read before. Add to the mix the fun foreshadowing and how it ties with the story as it's told in Alternative, and you have no reason to complain about Extra. For fuck's sake, even as a simple moeblob wouldn't be that bad. I've seen worse.

Yeah, I know. I absolutely agree that Alternative would never work without Extra. At best, it would be just a somewhat decent sci-fi VN. That's why I always disagree with some people who recommend to skip both Extra and Unlimited and to go to Alternative right away. Btw this is pretty obvious if when you read Alternative for the first time that Extra is very important, and you definitely don't need to reread it to understand that.

The reason why I still have pretty mixed opinion about Extra is because, when I read it the first time, I just didn't like it at all. The comedy was completely unfunny, and the infrequent attempts at drama were absolutely laughable. At some point, after I got to the ending of Ayamine's route and the game crashed while playing credits, I literally rage dropped it while giving it 1/10 on VNDB. Of course, the overall experience was still worth it, but I was honestly never a fan of when VN rely on mediocre beginnings and overextended common routes to make the final parts of their stories shine.

But the biggest surprise for me when I started watching this let's play was that... Extra turned out to be nowhere as bad as I remembered. Yeah, it's still far from a masterpiece, but watching this let's play I actually found myself engaged with these characters, and the comedy actually turned out to be... pretty funny, at times? When I read it originally, I think I only laughed once or twice throughout the whole game. You know, in the end, I still decided not to change my opinion about Extra because of that. I already learned to like these characters because of Alternative, so it's pretty natural that I became a lot more engaged with them this time. And following a letsplayer is still a very different experience to reading it myself. And the fact that I only followed the main route this time (and the things I hated the most are in Ayamine's route) also helped, I guess. On the other hand, there is a certain point that could imply that my second experience with this game is more valid than the first one: I read Ixrec's version of translation, and the let's play I watched followed the official translation. You know, I usually try to be careful when talking about things such as translation quality because I know that my English is still very far from prefect, and I am probably not qualified to talk about it in many cases. Still, it's pretty obvious that comedy is the one genre of fiction that is extremely sensitive to the translation quality. If you make a joke sound weird, translate it too literally or completely miss the point why it was supposed to be funny in the first place, the joke will be ruined. The common route in Grisaia, for example, would never work if it wasn't translated so well, and the game might've never become as popular as it is nowadays. This leads me to the point, that in the end, ironically, the translation quality for moege turns out to be even more important than it is for most plot-focused works, because nice comedy is basically the only thing that could make a moege work (excluding porn, of course ).

On 11/25/2018 at 6:25 PM, Thyndd said:

Oh that's... interesting. From what you're telling me it sounds like there's some lost potential there. It would've been amazing if only they had worked up at least a phonology, but if the voice actors still make it sound natural I guess it's cool anyway. It definitely piqued my curiosity, I'll add it to my wish list.

You know, after playing it for a bit more time, I realized that I was a bit incorrect in what I wrote in the previous post.  First of all, the "spell" turned out to be only a temporary solution, and after it stopped working, he still couldn't understand anything. And now it looks like he started trying to learn the language for real. It looks promising if you ask me.

About phonology: I'm not sure. The phonemes themselves are all used in Japanese, from what I understand, and I suspect that the text was originally written in katakana. You know, I kind of understand why they went this way, considering that it was voiced by Japanese actors. The only exception i noticed is the sound 'l' that isn't used in the text, but appears in the names of several characters (including the character mentioned in the title of the VN). Well, I guess it's just a minor plot hole, though, I believe, there could be some historical reasons why some sounds could only rarely be used in foreign words or some names, for example. At the same time, the way these phonemes are placed in words doesn't sound Japanese at all, and most characters make pretty long pauses between words, which also doesn't sound Japanese. On the other hand, the difference between how the main and the secondary characters pronounce these words is pretty noticeable. The main characters sound foreign enough that I would never realize their actors were Japanese if I just randomly heard these lines on the Internet. The secondary characters... sound like Japanese people trying to speak some language they don't know very well. But, who knows, maybe they are all isekaiers or something.

[Thyndd]

1 hour ago, Dreamysyu said:

But the biggest surprise for me when I started watching this let's play was that... Extra turned out to be nowhere as bad as I remembered. Yeah, it's still far from a masterpiece, but watching this let's play I actually found myself engaged with these characters, and the comedy actually turned out to be... pretty funny, at times? When I read it originally, I think I only laughed once or twice throughout the whole game. You know, in the end, I still decided not to change my opinion about Extra because of that. I already learned to like these characters because of Alternative, so it's pretty natural that I became a lot more engaged with them this time. And following a letsplayer is still a very different experience to reading it myself. And the fact that I only followed the main route this time (and the things I hated the most are in Ayamine's route) also helped, I guess. On the other hand, there is a certain point that could imply that my second experience with this game is more valid than the first one: I read Ixrec's version of translation, and the let's play I watched followed the official translation.

It might've been the translation, it might've been the fact that you were already emotionally invested in the characters the second time around, it might've been that the first time you just were not in the right mood for it, or you know, some combination of all these factors. If you ask me, for me the most relevant would be the latter mentioned. I've lost track on how many times I've watched or read something that had a great impact on me the first time only to find it interesting at best the second time, or viceversa. Experiencing something just on the right time, with the right mindset, could mean a world of difference. At least for me, that is 

1 hour ago, Dreamysyu said:

The common route in Grisaia, for example, would never work if it wasn't translated so well, and the game might've never become as popular as it is nowadays.

Oh, definitely. Grisaia is so amazingly well translated that if I didn't know better I could've sworn it was an OELVN. And one with a great writer behind it, I mean. 

I also read the official Muv-Luv translation (steam version) so I wouldn't know if some jokes were lost in the Ixrec's one. I might check the fan translation later out of curiosity.

1 hour ago, Dreamysyu said:

About phonology: I'm not sure. The phonemes themselves are all used in Japanese, from what I understand, and I suspect that the text was originally written in katakana. You know, I kind of understand why they went this way, considering that it was voiced by Japanese actors. The only exception i noticed is the sound 'l' that isn't used in the text, but appears in the names of several characters (including the character mentioned in the title of the VN). Well, I guess it's just a minor plot hole, though, I believe, there could be some historical reasons why some sounds could only rarely be used in foreign words or some names, for example. At the same time, the way these phonemes are placed in words doesn't sound Japanese at all, and most characters make pretty long pauses between words, which also doesn't sound Japanese. On the other hand, the difference between how the main and the secondary characters pronounce these words is pretty noticeable. The main characters sound foreign enough that I would never realize their actors were Japanese if I just randomly heard these lines on the Internet. The secondary characters... sound like Japanese people trying to speak some language they don't know very well. But, who knows, maybe they are all isekaiers or something.

That's the thing, as you noticed, phonology is much more than just a set of phonemes. The allowed distribution of the different phonemes in a syllable (phonotactics), suprasegmentals (intonation, stress, pitch accent, tone...), and a whole lot of other features come together to give a language its flavor 

The fact that you mentioned, where the main characters sound different and 'foreign' in some way, probably means that they had taken some of this into account, which is something a linguistics freak such as myself always appreciates .

1 hour ago, Dreamysyu said:

You know, after playing it for a bit more time, I realized that I was a bit incorrect in what I wrote in the previous post.  First of all, the "spell" turned out to be only a temporary solution, and after it stopped working, he still couldn't understand anything. And now it looks like he started trying to learn the language for real. It looks promising if you ask me.

Huh, that's clever. So the spell is just buying time till the MC learns the language, so that by the time it wears off he can already understand the language and they can keep the text in japanese

[Dreamysyu]

8 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

it might've been that the first time you just were not in the right mood for it

Hmmm. Interesting thought. I know it happened to me a few times when I suddenly liked some VN when I tried to reread some parts of it after I already finished it. Still, don't know, I don't really feel like that's the case here.

11 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Huh, that's clever. So the spell is just buying time till the MC learns the language, so that by the time it wears off he can already understand the language and they can keep the text in japanese

Maybe I didn't explain this well. Basically, the "spell" only works for a very limited time (maybe a few hours, from the way it was explained). It did help him to learn some information he wasn't supposed to know at that point, but it didn't help him with the language at all.

Well, of course, I don't know what the authors will do with this in the future, and, I guess, I should stop spoiling it (though I'm still very early in the story, so that was okay so far, I guess).