Moenovel teases localization of a new title

[yorikbad]

So, this is how the end of Steam VN's era look like. And no French support?

[Mr Poltroon]

I have no particular reason to object. I'll play anything with romance in it, after all.
If I managed to play IMHHW, and the English there was incomprehensible on occasion, this one should be just fine. The screenshots illicit no suspicions of incompetence.

[Shota_Victory]

I would be worried about all the people that seem completely numb to this, but honestly, I couldn't give less shits about whatever Moenovel is doing.

Besides, for this particular company, what Fuwa thinks isn't particularly important. What is important is what the Steam userbase thinks, and I'm worried about them. KonoSora was a success, to put it mildly, and I don't much appreciate us getting censored nukige rather than anything actually worthwhile.

That being said, if the all-ages version is released on MangaGamer again, I'll probably commit suicide.

[Dergonu]

8 minutes ago, Shota_Victory said:

and I don't much appreciate us getting censored nukige rather than anything actually worthwhile.

That being said, if the all-ages version is released on MangaGamer again, I'll probably commit suicide.

If I understood it correctly, this isn't an already existing game they have censored at all, this is a new, ALL-AGES game. (In other words, no censorship anywhere. This is the game's original state.)

I don't think this has anything to do with Mangagamer, but if they were to sell the game too, maybe as a second platform for Moenovel other than steam to sell their game, they would sell the same version. (Again, this game isn't censored; it is an all-ages game to begin with.) So please, do not commit suicide if this version pops up somewhere, as it's literally the only version, at least from what we know right now.

[Nier]

11 hours ago, Zakamutt said:

The actually have been using the "HD" line since they launched konosora. The cringe ain't nothing new, though 720p was prolly a bit less common back then.

HD Visual Novels are still a rarity outside Japan, how many HD Visual Novels have been officially localized so far?

- Root Double Before Crime After Days Xtend Edition

- Kara no Shojo The Second Episode

- Sacrament of the Zodiac

- Ne no Kami

- Corona Blossom

- KARAKARA

- Steins;Gate

- Steins;Gate 0

- Root Letter

- Sound of Drop -fall into poison-

- NEKOPARA

- Gisaia

- Memory's Dogma

- WAS The Hourglass of Lepidoptera

- ChuSingura 46+1

- Supipara

- And of course MoeNovel's first title

2 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

If I understood it correctly, this isn't an already existing game they have censored at all, this is a new, ALL-AGES game. (In other words, no censorship anywhere. This is the game's original state.)

What's the point of releasing this game if we ain't getting the first one?

https://vndb.org/v4893

 

Edited November 22, 2016 by Nier

[Dergonu]

5 minutes ago, Nier said:

What's the point of releasing this game if we ain't getting the first one?

https://vndb.org/v4893

 

It says "same series" not sequel. Those are two different things.

Most likely, this is not actually related in the sense that it follows what happened in the first game. Might be a spin-off of sorts, or something along those lines. 

[Nier]

18 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

It says "same series" not sequel. Those are two different things.

Most likely, this is not actually related in the sense that it follows what happened in the first game. Might be a spin-off of sorts, or something along those lines. 

I got that it's not a direct sequel, but still. Anyway reading this:

Quote

Next Generation Goddess Auditions!
Divine Idol chicks, go on to spread your wings!
A glamorous and splendid contest, what a goddess's dreams are made of, is being held.

It's quite obvious that it's Pulltop own take on "Time Leap Paradise Super Live!" which is Frontwing's own take on The iDOLM@STER, basically you take an existing Visual Novel IP and you turn it into an Idol Raising Simulation game.

Afterall it IS called: "LoveKami -Divinity Stage-"

Also if you would notice, the original LoveKami has 11 different voiced characters: https://vndb.org/v4893

While LoveKami -Divinity Stage- only has 3 different voiced characters: https://vndb.org/v20337

So from the info we have so far, it does not seem likely that LoveKami -Divinity Stage- is a full fledged VN like Konosora or the original LoveKami.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Nier

[Shota_Victory]

33 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

I don't think this has anything to do with Mangagamer, but if they were to sell the game too, maybe as a second platform for Moenovel other than steam to sell their game, they would sell the same version. (Again, this game isn't censored; it is an all-ages game to begin with.) So please, do not commit suicide if this version pops up somewhere, as it's literally the only version, at least from what we know right now.

The issue here is that this is a Japanese game made by a Japanese developer, so it'll probably be released in Japan. The Japanese are notorious for never buying anything without ero, so I wouldn't be surprised if it gets an 18+ release.

Besides, have you see the art? That's nukige art if I've ever seen it.

[Nier]

3 minutes ago, Shota_Victory said:

The Japanese are notorious for never buying anything without ero

That is an exaggeration to the nth degree.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Nier

[Shota_Victory]

2 minutes ago, Nier said:

That is an exaggeration to the nth degree.

Of course it is. That doesn't change the fact that the all-ages games that are actually successful in Japan are few and far between.

You get things like Clannad and Umineko occasionally, sure. But if you sell an all-ages game in Japan and the West by a completely unknown studio with equal publicity in both countries, Steamfriends will probably buy more copies than the Japanese will.

[ShinRaikdou]

Well, at least it is not kinetic-episodic shit, and has "Three character routes to play through" .
Though idols, and those boobs...

[Nier]

8 minutes ago, Shota_Victory said:

Of course it is. That doesn't change the fact that the all-ages games that are actually successful in Japan are few and far between.

They don't sell as well as they would had they the shiny "18" sticker on them but they still sell nonetheless, The House in Fata Morgana was an All-Age title from the start and it is quite successful in Japan so much that is getting a complete definitive voiced version on PS Vita in 2017, 07th Expansion games have always been all ages and they have been successful since Higurashi, Type Moon hasn't made 18+ games since Hollow Ataraxia which was released in 2005, the Science Adventure (Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate, Robotics;Note) series is extremely successful and they have been all ages from the start.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Nier

[Fred the Barber]

Gotta agree with Tiag and Decay, the text in the screenshots looks acceptable, and there are even hints that they actually know what they're doing.

It's kind of a shame the game itself looks like drivel.

1 hour ago, Shota_Victory said:

I would be worried about all the people that seem completely numb to this, but honestly, I couldn't give less shits about whatever Moenovel is doing.

Besides, for this particular company, what Fuwa thinks isn't particularly important. What is important is what the Steam userbase thinks, and I'm worried about them. KonoSora was a success, to put it mildly, and I don't much appreciate us getting censored nukige rather than anything actually worthwhile.

That being said, if the all-ages version is released on MangaGamer again, I'll probably commit suicide.

FYI, calling this "censored" when it hasn't been subjected to any form of official censorship and is, so far as we know, the only version of the game to exist, makes you sound like a crazy person.

[Shota_Victory]

2 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

the only version of the game to exist, makes you sound like a crazy person.

Oh, but I am!

Admittedly, censored isn't quite the right word. This game just gives off all sorts of pandering vibes to me that make me uncomfortable with the people declaring "at least it's better than IMHHW"! I'll wait before passing any more judgement on this game, though I probably won't be picking it up due to the heroines alone-honestly, who designed those characters?

[Nier]

32 minutes ago, Shota_Victory said:

who designed those characters?

https://vndb.org/s5634

Edited November 22, 2016 by Nier

[ChaosRaven]

Man, that title really looks like a nukige. I guess this time the prime target are 16 year old horny french boys instead. 

3 hours ago, Nier said:

They don't sell as well as they would had they the shiny "18" sticker on them but they still sell nonetheless, The House in Fata Morgana was an All-Age title from the start and it is quite successful in Japan so much that is getting a complete definitive voiced version on PS Vita in 2017, 07th Expansion games have always been all ages and they have been successful since Higurashi, Type Moon hasn't made 18+ games since Hollow Ataraxia which was released in 2005, the Science Adventure (Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate, Robotics;Note) series is extremely successful and they have been all ages from the start.

Yes, but those had - what was the word again - ah yeah, a 'story'. 

[Nier]

1 minute ago, ChaosRaven said:

Yes, but those had - what was the word again - ah yeah, a 'story'. 

His claim was that the japanese don't buy non-18+ Visual Novels, so I provided counter examples to his claim. Not only that, I could have also provided the mountains of Visual Novels released on consoles:

PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, PS Vita, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS:

https://vndb.org/r?q=;fil=lang-ja.plat-psp~ps1~ps2~ps3~ps4~psv~wii~n3d~xb1~xb3~xbo.patch-0.freeware-0;o=d;s=released

The total amounts to 3433:

https://vndb.org/r?q=;fil=plat-psp~ps1~ps2~ps3~ps4~psv~wii~n3d~xb1~xb3~xbo.freeware-0.lang-ja.patch-0;s=released;o=d;p=69

So much for the japanese not buying non-18+ Visual Novels.

[Yuuko]

18 hours ago, Zenophilious said:

I love how they're implying that no other localization company's releases lets people "enjoy themselves" (whatever the hell that's supposed to mean in that context), while simultaneously suggesting that they are unique in having HD assets (1280×720 is HD now?  lmao).  The weird English is just icing on top of the cake.

LoveKami is 1080p

[Zenophilious]

10 minutes ago, Kiriririri said:

LoveKami is 1080p

They're not translating LoveKami, though.  Are you talking about LoveKami -Divinity Stage-?  Because if you are, could you link to a spec list?  I haven't seen anything to indicate it'll be in 1080p.  It would be pretty sad if it wasn't, though, I have to say.

[Yuuko]

4 minutes ago, Zenophilious said:

They're not translating LoveKami, though.  Are you talking about LoveKami -Divinity Stage-?  Because if you are, could you link to a spec list?  I haven't seen anything to indicate it'll be in 1080p.  It would be pretty sad if it wasn't, though, I have to say.

Actually never mind. For some idiotic reason Steam adds .1920x1080 to every file name.

[Chuee]

12 hours ago, Nier said:

His claim was that the japanese don't buy non-18+ Visual Novels, so I provided counter examples to his claim. Not only that, I could have also provided the mountains of Visual Novels released on consoles:

PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, PS Vita, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS:

https://vndb.org/r?q=;fil=lang-ja.plat-psp~ps1~ps2~ps3~ps4~psv~wii~n3d~xb1~xb3~xbo.patch-0.freeware-0;o=d;s=released

The total amounts to 3433:

https://vndb.org/r?q=;fil=plat-psp~ps1~ps2~ps3~ps4~psv~wii~n3d~xb1~xb3~xbo.freeware-0.lang-ja.patch-0;s=released;o=d;p=69

So much for the japanese not buying non-18+ Visual Novels.

What is this list supposed to prove? The large majority of vita VN releases in Japan are vita ports of games that were originally 18+. Where a lot of sales come from fans of the original. The only non-18+ VNs that sell in Japan are ones that come from companies that basically don't make 18+ VNs to begin with. These companies typically use other mediums to promote their VNs outside of the typical VN consumer-base. This is why almost all of these VNs get adapted into anime, LNs, etc. Besides, most of the hyped non-18+ PC releases this year sold like crap (Island, Kouya). 

 

16 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

FYI, calling this "censored" when it hasn't been subjected to any form of official censorship and is, so far as we know, the only version of the game to exist, makes you sound like a crazy person.

I don't know, with all the girls having balloon tits that spill out of their clothing I can't really say this is much better. 

[Nandemonai]

17 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

Gotta agree with Tiag and Decay, the text in the screenshots looks acceptable, and there are even hints that they actually know what they're doing.

It's kind of a shame the game itself looks like drivel.

FYI, calling this "censored" when it hasn't been subjected to any form of official censorship and is, so far as we know, the only version of the game to exist, makes you sound like a crazy person.

My reaction in a nutshell.

They still aren't willing to release 18+ content, which irks me.  But at least now they aren't taking a game where the 18+ content was essential, gutting it anyway, turning the routes that depended on it to incomprehensible gibberish, and translating the rest poorly.  They created a new game with no 18+ content to remove.  It seems like they listened to all the people upset at them.  That's ... enough to get them off my go to hell list, even if it's not quite enough to make me interested in their game.

After all, MangaGamer was a pretty shady outfit, when it first launched.  They made a terrible first impression.  You might remember how they'd occasionally launch games before they intended to, because their website coding couldn't handle TBA?  Well, they launched their entire site early.  Had to go dig for quite awhile to find the proof - their prices were originally listed in Euros only, and were closer to Japanese prices.  Games had release dates in the future, but could be bought, if you found the internal links that weren't on the main page (which we did).  And the translations ... well, they were the god-awful dreck anyone who played any of their very earliest releases remembers.  (As I recall, when MangaGamer management found out that people had actually bought stuff from them, they shut the site down - and to their credit, refunded everybody's money and let them keep the games.)  Hell, when their site went live, there was a lot of concern that they were a pirate site!

And look at MangaGamer now.  What a difference a few years makes, eh?

Edited November 23, 2016 by Nandemonai

[Zenophilious]

8 minutes ago, Chuee said:

Besides, most of the hyped non-18+ PC releases this year sold like crap (Island, Kouya).

Huh, I hadn't heard that Island sold like crap.  Is there a source for that?  I'm just curious as to what its sales numbers are.

[Chuee]

8 minutes ago, Zenophilious said:

Huh, I hadn't heard that Island sold like crap.  Is there a source for that?  I'm just curious as to what its sales numbers are.

http://www.getchu.com/pc/salesranking201604.html

It placed pretty low considering it's supposed to be one of the best games of the year according to some. And it's not that all-ages games just aren't popular on getchu. For example, Angel Beats placed first in it's month http://www.getchu.com/pc/salesranking201506.html

[Zenophilious]

5 minutes ago, Chuee said:

http://www.getchu.com/pc/salesranking201604.html

It placed pretty low considering it's supposed to be one of the best games of the year according to some. And it's not that all-ages games just aren't popular on getchu. For example, Angel Beats placed first in it's month http://www.getchu.com/pc/salesranking201506.html

lol  It got trounced by Wagamama High Spec, and dropped to 29th the next month, from 14th.  That's got to hurt.

Thanks for the links.  All I've heard is people in the west fawning over it, so I had no idea how well it was selling.