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AX 2019 Schedule and Announcements


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On 7/5/2019 at 4:21 AM, SaintOfVoid said:



@novurdim, just been sarcastic there, but to be honest i definitely prefer nekonyans recent approach in only announcing stuff when it´s at least ~halfway done. true new title announcements get u hyped, but all hype is dead when waiting for an eternity. in amatsutsumis case it´s a rather long title that requires much work, but even short-medium stuff like schatten took jast way way longer than it should have.

I feel like that might be part of why MG's announcements are so boring. Ignoring Rance 02(which had to be announced with 02), everything announced this year is already almost done with translation, but sadly won't be coming out until next year because of their 1 a month thing which ruins the point to announcing them so when they are near completion. Looking at how things are going for the rest of the year though, I can't really blame them. Suddenly doing two releases a month when almost everyone else is doing one a month would just kill their sales.

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1 hour ago, jikorde said:

I feel like that might be part of why MG's announcements are so boring. Ignoring Rance 02(which had to be announced with 02), everything announced this year is already almost done with translation

Their announcements are so boring (to some) because their acquisitions are boring. They could have been translating something else all this time, couldn't they?

And if three of the remaining five secret projects really are Rance and co. then we only have two left for the Otakon. I suppose Rance 03 is a given and... do they have any Funbag Fantasy titles left? :leecher:

Edited by novurdim
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Well, announcements are announced, so let's see how they look... The order in which they appear more or less reflects my interest in them.

Excited:

Spoiler

 

Rance 01 - Gahahaha! I know everyone's been taking these for granted, but not I. Finally I'll get to see the origin of some relevant characters myself. I'm also very interested in this silly gameplay theme they've constructed. Finally, young Rance. I'll get to see the young Rance from the current canon! I think it'll showcase well how he's changed compared to later titles. (The description in the OP says 24 years ago, but it's its 30th anniversary this year! Exactly 6 days from now, according to VNDB.)

Funbag Fantasy Sideboob Story 2 - What can I say? These stories are really good! Have you watched 'The Irresponsible Captain Tylor'? Because that's what this series feels like. Also it has H-Scenes, but... They really ought to be a bit more romantic sometimes. I feel a harem as it appears would be so much better if they didn't treat it as a competition :(

Rance 02 - This one actually had a fantranslation, so I played it. Since it uses the same systems as the original game from over 25 years ago, it means it's clunky and convoluted to progress through (which, let's be honest, Rance games kind of tend to be) and doesn't have much plot. At first I thought my interest would be reduced because of that (there really isn't much here worth replaying for -- not even for a good translation), but I later found out (more like was reminded) that the fantranslation is for the original game using the new assets. In reality, a semi-unofficial patch referred to as 'Kai' exists that rewrites the script, meaning the story and dialogue actually changes a fair bit (I'm not sure if it's just added stuff or if it completely alters it -- I'm not even sure if it's much longer than Rance II or if it's about the same). Currently, Mangagamer has plans to localise that, so... worth playing again!

Eiyuu*Senki GOLD - Nice! Gameplay VNs. I liked Eiyuu*Senki (even despite not getting to the ending bit, which is apparently where some sort of twist occurs?), so this should be good! People say the gameplay is better on this one, so that'll be good (even though I prefer easier gameplay).

The Ditzy Demons are in Love with Me Fan Disc - I am unreasonably excited for a title that's a fandisc for another I didn't play. My excitement for this one comes from the excitement for the original... that I didn't play. But they all look so cute, and the chibi art looks great, and I do love me some sex comedy! I need to go play the original.

Robotic;Notes - My excitement for this title is solely due to liking Steins;Gate. That is literally it. Hopefully it's as fun as Steins;Gate.

 

Interested:

Spoiler

 

Mamono Musume - I love monster girls, and since this series seems to be consensual stuff, all the better! I'll need to play the Lamia one to set my expectations, but I'll probably love this.

Yamizome Revenger - Escude stuff! Has simple gameplay as well, I think. That's good. I really liked Re;Lord, so I'll be playing this for sure. Just... Are we completely evil for the sake of being evil or is there some other reason for the plot to be what it looks to be?
Also, where's the Re;Lord sequels, Sekai :'(

Robotic;Notes Dash - The positive opinion about the original spreads to this one. If it turns out I don't like the original, this'll be dropped like a hot potato.

Hyper→Highspeed→Genius - Looks interesting! However, 10 heroines? How long is this game? Will you just give me 10 minutes of romance with each and and H-Scene and be done with it? That's not acceptable! (The single H-Scene is, but what about the romance!?) I've got to hope it has space for everyone.

Witch's Garden - This had a fan translation going, but I guess it died, or they went to Sol Press. At any rate, it was exciting... back in 2013. Still, the premise does looks interesting, and I particularly like the character design of Eclair, so I'll see about playing it.

Victory Project - This seemed interesting! I'll get used to the Chinese voices (wait, does it have voices?) and see if it really is interesting. There's very little information about it...

Cafe Enchante - What's this? Demons and otherworldly love interests? This sounds like my kind of thing. I just need to see more of the art before completely deciding...

Amatsutsumi - This one seems interesting enough. I loved Chrono Clock, but I'm under the impression that that was mostly due to the translation... And since everybody hated it, I'm not sure I can have similar hopes for this one in that respect. I'll just have to see if the setting really is interesting and if I can enjoy it through that.

The Seventh Sign -Mr. Sister- - Hm. More cute moege with catgirl inclinations. I must admit I've never actually played anything of Sekai's catgirl releases. Surprising. At least I should try Karakara, but it feels like it might be an incomplete story. Anyway, this one has an interesting setting and I saw a passionate CG in there. Surely I might enjoy it?

Vikki Hornee: The World's Horniest Housewife - I know this was an April Fools game and that the trailer was bonkers, but nothing else. I wonder what sort of stuff it has? She's a wife so that earns her points, but...

Eternal Torment - My interest in this title lies solely on what story it tries to tell. I'm a sucker for stories that cover longevity, so whether this one belongs here or jumps straight into 'Won't Play' really just depends on if this is a story of hope with a good ending or if it's just mindless brutality for the heck of it.

 

Indifferent:

Spoiler

 

Muv-Luv Photonflowers* - Blast it all, I wanted Photonmelodies♮, not this one! I'm looking for the VN content of Altered Fable, you see. More SoL shenanigans. The other Muv-Luv stories are a bit too depressing and/or hopeless for me to usually handle... Though I might be convinced by the presence of Ayamine messing about. As for Photonflowers? I will at most get it for Sumika's after story, but even then, I haven't heard particularly good things. I'll have to see.

Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration - I know sod all about this title. I don't even know of screenshots, so I can't have much of an opinion.

Piofiore - Hm. Mafia and the like. I lack details to form a concrete opinion, but I'd probably play it if I got a copy. The protagonist looks cute, but damsel-in-distress-y? That's not all bad, depending on her personality, but if all she does in the story is lament her fate...

Kanojo no Seiiki - I see. This appears to be a title in a series of nukiges in the exact same setting with the same characters. I wonder if that's a way to make a full game cheaper or less risky by dividing it into parts, or if each individual part is a full fledged nukige with a single(?) love interest. In the case of the latter, I might be interested.

Collar x Malice -Unlimited- - I was, unfortunately unable to play the original due to being stuck on consoles I didn't own (did it have something on phones??). This has been fixed, but that's not what I'm rating here. Because I know nothing of the original (The setting seems kind of hardcore. Bloody otome games...), I can't say yet whether I'll have any interest on this one.

Love's Sweet Garnish 2 - When I saw the first title, it really seemed like a random doujin work that just knocked at Sekai's door and they said 'Alright, whatever', so it surprises me to see the sequel. I'm especially surprised at how I'm not interested in it. It just feels generic to no end, but that's really not something I can claim until I see the characters interact.

9 -Nine- - So... is this the last one or will there continue to be more? Despite this seeming like it has some mysteries and the like, I'm honestly not interested in starting episodic VNs. I have enough things to play that actually have endings as of this moment.

tJapan's Titles - The artstyle seems to be 3D models, which gives it a rather amateurish look, and that's practically everything I can judge it off. The premises occasionally look interesting, so maybe as more details are made known I'll become interested.

 

Won't Play:

Spoiler

NG - Horror game. HAHAHA

 

Now, let's do a counter for each publisher to see who had the most interesting stuff for me.

Spoiler

 

From 'excited' to 'won't play' I'll distribute points as +2,+1,0,-1 (The minus one doesn't really mean I feel negatively towards it or anything. It's just to represent that it could've been something else that'd interest me instead [even though that's not how getting licenses works] -- 'Indifferent' means I might become interested depending on reviews and the like, whereas 'Won't Play' will never have that occur bar a miracle).

Jast: 2+1+1 = 4
Sekai Project/Denpasoft: 0+2+0+1+1+0+1+0+0+0+0= 5
Askys Games: 0+1+0-1 = 0
Mangagamer: 1+2+2+2 = 7
Sol Press: 1+1+0+1 = 3
Spike Chunsoft: 2+1 = 3

Well, I guess the big three got me the most excited. In Mangagamer's case (1st place), I am literally their entire audience right now. As long as they continue bringing Rance, Moege, and Yuri I'll be there to eat it up. Sekai Project (2nd place) brings so much stuff in terms of quantity that they're bound to have some interesting titles. As for Jast (3rd place), they like their monster girls and gameplay titles, so they have my full attention.
Even if I did the rankings just by number of titles I'm interested in without taking into account points, the ranking would stay the same (because in a tie, the more interesting ones win), so :wafuu:

Now let's do a ratio for number of total announcements VS ones that interest me.

28 announcements, where 18 of which interest me. 18/28*100 = 64% of the announcements interest me. That's a majority!

Now let's try to make a ranking based on my interest in the titles announced. If every title were ones I wouldn't play, then the total amount would be -28 points. And if all were indifferent, then we'd have 0 points. If all were interesting we'd have 28, and if all were exciting we'd have 56. Therefore, we get the following ranking:
<=0 - TERRIBLE (Nothing interested me outright or there were tons of titles I'll never play)
<14 - BAD (Less than half the announcements interested me, or only very few were exciting with all else bad)
<28 - GOOD (Almost all the announcements interested me, or there were some exciting ones)
<42 - VERY GOOD (There were a lot of exciting announcements, and no really bad ones)
<=56 - WHAT IS THIS HOLY MIRACLE GIFT FROM THE GODS AHHH (Everything was super exciting this is impossible! Like, literally. There aren't enough VNs out there that'd get me hyped enough to get this many points.)

The total amount of points this con netted was 22, so by this ranking it was a GOOD convention overall. Way to go! (Keep in mind that to get into the last two categories I'd need to be super hyped about most announcements. I can't even think of enough titles I'd love for me to reach that point.) Yay!

 

So yeah, this was a good round of announcements! Good thing I'm part of the casual pleb audience that actually makes these publishers some monies.
If you didn't like this convention then... sucks to be you!

Edited by Mr Poltroon
Can't math
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First part of Koi ni, Kanmi o Soete (Love Sweet Garnish) wasn't exactly great, but I liked it. However, it suffered from having only two routes, so the sequel basically tries to fix that by giving us routes for another two important characters. I almost bought JP version a while ago, so I'm glad that they're translating it (and hope they keep the dual-language feature). But there's still no Chisato's route :( Maybe in the 3rd part? ;)

Edited by adamstan
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12 minutes ago, novurdim said:

Nay, there's one more. The first episode was really good for a prologue so I def recommend reading it when all 4 eps are out.

What do you mean all 4 episodes, there will be more than just 4.

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20 hours ago, novurdim said:

Their announcements are so boring (to some) because their acquisitions are boring. They could have been translating something else all this time, couldn't they?

And if three of the remaining five secret projects really are Rance and co. then we only have two left for the Otakon. I suppose Rance 03 is a given and... do they have any Funbag Fantasy titles left? :leecher:

They have 5+ games left in the Funbag series they could do(Majo, 3 Gaiden 2 afterstories, 2if, the two gaidens, 3, 3if). And since Steam will probably never say no to those titles, we are probably getting all of them. Though it seems at the very least those are getting limited to one a year.

 

And really, I feel like they are stuck when it comes to announcements. People got pissed last year that they announced 9 and 10, but not the 0 games. They announce the 0 games and people are just bored of so much Rance. I know the situations are different, but they are literally doing what a bunch of people asked them for last year, not to mention the survey results. Honestly it just feels like MG is stuck in sequalistis because they grabbed companies with famous on going series'. And they don't want to announce to many things because they only release 12 a year.

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3 hours ago, jikorde said:

I know the situations are different, but they are literally doing what a bunch of people asked them for last year, not to mention the survey results.

Bigtit Fantasy was never in the top survey results though and I'm pretty sure even the voters had enough Rance for now.

3 hours ago, jikorde said:

And really, I feel like they are stuck when it comes to announcements.

Maybe they are stuck because they think they have already announced too many titles, maybe they are stuck because they have budget problems and can't really gamble or acquire anything relatively "big", we can only guess. Balance and practicability could probably be the answer to the first dilemma, I'm really not sure what was the need to buy up all Rance licenses when in three years since the first reveal they have only released 1 game bundled 1 weird short thingy. But again, who knows, maybe they didn't have a choice and AliceSoft for some reason forced them to acquire all of the series at once. Too many unknowns as always, blah.

And the only other things they have announced when they are not in a bigtit rance craze are the laughable attempt to cash in on the catgirl trend with fake catgirls/doggyrls, two nukiges and Ciconia with a horrifying art from the great Ryukishi07 himself. Combine it with the last year announcements that went under the banner of yuri, otome & BL, and it's easy too see why most of their longer time customers might be disappointed if they expected for things to stay the same as they were in 2015-2017. When you consider that aforementioned games are also the ones that actually consistently sell, you can confidently expect MG to continue with this policy while throwing a rare bone in one-two years for people like me. This year Ciconia can probably be considered that bone but I'm not sure if I'll even be able to bear the art...

Edited by novurdim
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37 minutes ago, Mr Poltroon said:

Might I ask what were the announcements these longer time customers liked in 20175-2017?

First of I cannot speak for anyone else (and I wouldn't want to draw any conclusions based on my tastes), also I wouldn't describe myself as a long time customer, but since I was one of the people "complaining" (although in moderation) about the recent announcements by Mangagamer I am going to write down the 2015-2017 announcements that excited me:

 

2015

- Tokyo Babel

- Himawari

2016

- Sorcery Jokers

- Sona-Nyl of the Violet Shadows -What Beautiful Memories-

2017

- Damekoi (The Most Forbidden Love in the World)

 

In 2018 & 2019 they haven't announced anything that interested me.

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2 hours ago, Mr Poltroon said:

Might I ask what were the announcements these longer time customers liked in 20175-2017?

I shall allow it. Supipara, Tokyo Babel, Himawari, Fata Morgana FD, SukiSuki, Dal Segno, Hapymaher, Sorcery Jokers, Sona-Nyl, Trinoline, Damekoi and even Myth are all either plot-oriented VNs or fairly high profile and well-received galge. These VNs will obviously end up being of differing quality but you wouldn't know that during the announcement just as obviously there are people who only like moege and hate chuunige but they are all still part of the fairly consistent direction of the MG years prior to 2018 that catered to, dare I say, a somewhat different side of their customers. Not that they didn't have quite a few gameplay nukige in the past but oldish fans of those are probably ecstatic from all the AliceSoft games and can be excluded from the "complainers".

What reveals of this kind we got during the last two years? Probably only Byakko and only because it was acquired way back then together with SukiSuki while MG waited for a few years to reveal it due to the sudden Chuable bankruptcy situation (from their own words). I clearly don't profess the absolute truth, some would rip their vests and claim that Bigtit Fan is a bigger plotge than all of the above together could muster. Just as I don't even dislike AliceSoft games (or, well, to be specific I don't dislike Rance and Evenicle), their complete dominance is just a bit exhausting to see. But at least this is the way I see the bigger picture and why I seem to have been so consistently disappointed in MG panels during the past two years, I do feel like MG had a fairly sharp turn in their licensing policies.

Hopefully they won't completely abandon those old partners in the future, they should at least license some of the bigger Moonstone, 3rd Eye and Liar-Soft VNs, right? Right...?

Edited by novurdim
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Guys, it was very incredible for me to see "Witch's Garden". Is it first JP eroge using e-mote? It was released in 2012...

And it it really strange coincidence that it was fan TL dropped on 50%. Sol Press said on AX last year that they don't like fan TL and not plan to catch up it.

Hmm... I will wait more information about that. I wrote to fan translator about Windmill wanting to go on the West one year ago (I read their Twitter), and got no answer, so... Maybe, there is some link? I think...

 

And discussion between Sekai and Mangagamer translation.

Guys... You forgot SakuraGame? Which killed many titles... Eeeeww... 

Edited by Veshurik
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On 7/10/2019 at 4:45 AM, novurdim said:

Bigtit Fantasy was never in the top survey results though and I'm pretty sure even the voters had enough Rance for now.

 

It was #10 in 2017, the year after the first one was announced. It was higher up then Aokana, and a step below Evenicle. And Rance was still in the top 5 this year, just like it was for the last 3-4. People want the entire series, for both of them. And those series are long.

 

 

And the Rance stuff is really easy to explain. Every year people complain that they aren't announcing whichever title. So the next year they announce that title, because the translators are working on title X and the demand is there. Like I understand not loving their announcements, I don't think they are that hot either. Ciconia looks horrible(then again, I don't like Higurashi at all), the Neko Cafe disgusts me, and the Liquid thing is just the next Maggot Baits kind of title. The rest though are things I'll love when they come out.

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13 hours ago, jikorde said:

the demand is there. Like I understand not loving their announcements, I don't think they are that hot either.

Well, yeah, isn't it what I've been saying here for the last week? MG announcements during the last 2 years are super-understandable from the business perspective but their focus has shifted and those aren't aimed at people like me anymore plus they decided not to take up any gambles for now. It's not a question of being able to explain the announcements, there's nothing easier, look up my post about their top sellers on steam or MG blog with year's sales and any doubts will be cleared with simple cold numbers.

Edited by novurdim
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39 minutes ago, novurdim said:

Well, yeah, isn't it what I've been saying here for the last week? MG announcements during the last 2 years are super-understandable from the business perspective but their focus has shifted and those aren't aimed at people like me anymore plus they decided not to take up any gambles for now. It's not a question of being able to explain the announcements, there's nothing easier, look up my post about their top sellers on steam or MG blog with year's sales and any doubts will be cleared with simple cold numbers.

hapymaher aside, which apparently generated enough for warrenting hardcopies, almost all of mg´s recent tries at plotge pretty much screwed them hard sales-wise, eg. a bit of gambling is fine in itself, but given the meak numbers a la sorcery jokers etc that´s...... 

Edited by SaintOfVoid
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3 hours ago, SaintOfVoid said:

hapymaher aside, which apparently generated enough for warrenting hardcopies, almost all of mg´s recent tries at plotge pretty much screwed them hard sales-wise, eg. a bit of gambling is fine in itself, but given the meak numbers a la sorcery jokers etc that´s...... 

Actually I remember that Happymaher was classed in the "Moege" category by MangaGamer during one of their sales.

Pretty much all story VN didn't sell so well or took to much time and money to translate and release while still not selling as well as less expensive licenses.

Look at Da Capo 3, game took Kouryuu years to translate and it didn't look like it sold so well despite all the time, money and effort they invested into.

I am not interested in Moege or Nukige, but from a business point of view story VN are not very viable compared to the other priorly mentioned genres.

Edited by Nier
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On 7/8/2019 at 6:36 PM, Mr Poltroon said:

Funbag Fantasy's surprisingly good. I can see the ways it's similar to Rance, mostly the ridiculousness of how the plot progresses (for the first game, it only starts really being that way halfway through, on the true(?) route).

Yeah. There's four Rance games officially translated now. Here's to getting one a year (starting this year) hopefully...

I am pleasantly surprised considering this and the releases you're excited for. I don't remember you being invested in the series prior to my disappearance, so seeing you all giddy for these titles now is a damn good surprise. I'll take your word for it and try out Funbag Fantasy. You're a casual pleb that likes giving them money for cute SoL games, after all. :maple:

As for the announcements, decently happy with them. Wish I could read more propeller works though. But with how you guys are talking about Tokyo Babel's performance.... ugh. Hopefully how the wind blows changes eventually. But yes, mostly excited about the Rance games! Getting a confirmation of the remake opens up the possibility of 03 getting a project, and honestly I've been wanting to play it ever since the release! Rance III is probably one of the settings I like better in the series, so to see it in all its glory as it fits in the current canon is gonna be a good treat! Also the scenes, I guess. 

Spoiler

My bigger problem is honestly being excited about things but never starting them because I don't feel like it, which leads to me indefinitely stalling games I haven't even started yet. God, I hope I get over this phase soon.

I'm never gonna start reading Steins;Gate at this rate.

 

Edited by Kosakyun
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36 minutes ago, Kosakyun said:
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My bigger problem is honestly being excited about things but never starting them because I don't feel like it, which leads to me indefinitely stalling games I haven't even started yet. God, I hope I get over this phase soon.

I'm never gonna start reading Steins;Gate at this rate.

 

I know this feeling. It looks interesting at first, and you buy it, but then you end up postponing reading it since you're reading something else, and after some time you're no longer interested, and it just ends up collecting dust in your backlog for many years to come. :michiru:

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7 hours ago, SaintOfVoid said:

but given the meak numbers a la sorcery jokers etc that´s......

"that´s...... very said"*

But I don't think it's all that bad, you know. Like, Sorcery Jokers got into the top 10 sellers of the MG site while in 2016 Tokyo Babel & Gahkthun got into the top 10 steam sellers. Those obviously didn't sell as well as Bigtits and AliceSoft, but I highly doubt that all plotge were utter failures for MG.

5 hours ago, Nier said:

Look at Da Capo 3, game took Kouryuu years to translate and it didn't look like it sold so well despite all the time, money and effort they invested into.

What are talking about, Da Capo 3 was in a top 3 sellers of its year. Plus the fact that they assigned Kouryuu (who translates anything as a side job and always drags out the process for years, I pity his next game after maggots) on it likely means exactly the opposite: they didn't put much money and effort in it.

Edited by novurdim
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4 hours ago, novurdim said:

talking about, Da Capo 3 was in a top 3 sellers of its year. Plus the fact that they assigned Kouryuu (who translates anything as a side job and always drags out the process for years, I pity his next game after maggots) on it likely means exactly the opposite: they didn't put much money and effort in it.

Kouryuu actually put way to much effort into it. Since he did both the game and the anime he tried to make sure the prologue of the game matched up with the anime anytime the characters said the same thing. Which of course made the prologue take way longer then it needed to.

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On 7/9/2019 at 7:49 AM, Mr Poltroon said:

Rance 02 ... In reality, a semi-unofficial patch referred to as 'Kai' exists that rewrites the script, meaning the story and dialogue actually changes a fair bit (I'm not sure if it's just added stuff or if it completely alters it -- I'm not even sure if it's much longer than Rance II or if it's about the same)...

The kai script is approximately twice as long as the vanilla 02 script (which, as I understand, is identical to the original Rance 2 script).

Edit: Also, it's a pretty substantial rewrite, from everything I can see; definitely more of a rewrite than an addition.

Edited by Fred the Barber
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