Visual Novel Cafe

[kzel]

Again? Isn't that the second or third delay?

 

[Veshurik]

It is a third delay already. They saying something about hard end of year or something? Oh, that's not so good...

http://nanawind.jp/product/prj05/top/img/00.jpg

 

[Frankincense]

I knew it. December release doesn’t make much sense. =\

 

[Veshurik]

They talking about "last recovery"... What it was, huh... Delay of Alice Gram? By the way, how was the original game?

 

[Frankincense]

Haruoto is quite satisfactory compared to their previous game Alia’s Carnival, which is pretty bad. It’s about solving mysteries and such, though during the romance development phase, the plot tends to be neglected. And some routes are not as good as other.
[MENTION=118176]kzel[/MENTION]; How long is Boku to Kanojo no Gohoushi Dousei? Possible to finish in a day?

 

[kzel]

How long is Boku to Kanojo no Gohoushi Dousei? Possible to finish in a day?

Most likely, I know I finished it in one sitting so I'd say between 3 to 4 hours at my relatively slow reading speed.
I did skip a couple of the middle ecchi scenes because they were not to my liking though.

Spoiler: ecchi scenes skipped

Most of the scenes are pretty vanilla but there are two scenes in the middle that include rough/light SM play with spanking, blindfold, toys... not my thing. It's a shame that the maid outfit was used there and nowhere else.

 

[Animaksiat]

Again? Isn't that the second or third delay?

don't worry, it still hasn't break sakura sakura and princess lover record.... sakura sakura delayed 5 times for 2 years after it first announcement, while princess lover delayed for 3 times, 18 month after first announcement.

and i just realize that guildmaster is delayed for 3 months... i guess it connected with M&M got hospitalized for a time in last few weeks

 

[rober2]

Hi, guys.

Uh, I've been lurking around the forums for some bits for getting good stuff, but I kinda got myself snagged at something. Not really sure I'm in the right area to ask:

Can anyone help simplify in explaining on how H codes work for AGTH?

Specifically, I'm hoping on playing a VN called "Toriko no Shirabe". I got the game going, but hooking the text so I can machine translate it is a whole different story... I think I found the H codes, but applying it isn't as easy as I had hoped...

 

[kzel]

don't worry, it still hasn't break sakura sakura and princess lover record.... sakura sakura delayed 5 times for 2 years after it first announcement, while princess lover delayed for 3 times, 18 month after first announcement.

and i just realize that guildmaster is delayed for 3 months... i guess it connected with M&M got hospitalized for a time in last few weeks

Oh I know some games that have been delayed for years too, but usually the more the delays the lower the quality of the final product, at least in my experience and despite the promise each and every time there is a setback that it's "to improve game quality". I don't know about the two you mentioned, maybe they benefited from some extra time, and many games would certainly gain from a bit of debugging period, but in visual novels' case it's usually a sign of troubled development more than anything else.

Hi, guys.

Uh, I've been lurking around the forums for some bits for getting good stuff, but I kinda got myself snagged at something. Not really sure I'm in the right area to ask:

Can anyone help simplify in explaining on how H codes work for AGTH?

Specifically, I'm hoping on playing a VN called "Toriko no Shirabe". I got the game going, but hooking the text so I can machine translate it is a whole different story... I think I found the H codes, but applying it isn't as easy as I had hoped...

Can't really help you there, if I remember right there should be a place you can enter the hook code in (only used ITH and then again, very little). Toriko no Shirabe though, as with many Guilty games, has different versions (in this case Motion or not), make sure you apply the code corresponding to the one you have.

---

Quick words on 家の妹, yet another low price title (feels like that's the only thing I play these days...).

Spoiler: 家の妹 thoughts

A rather generic brother/sister romance with a slight twist as the age gap between the two is enough that the protagonist is a working adult while the little sister is just finishing high school. In this and many other ways, this game reminded me of Sachi from こいのす☆イチャコライズ, but in a more vanilla, less perverted version. Other common points would be that the action is centered around the protagonist's place, the heroine "marks" her presence by putting stuff in the room that you can actually see. The heroine is nothing like the introverted, closet-pervert that was Sachi though, and is more the lively, slightly gyaru-ish type. She's adorable but I think I would have enjoyed the game more if the CV wasn't Kanau, because I JUST finished another short game with her as the heroine and that was a little strange. For a game in this price range, there's quite some effort in terms of both story (in terms of credibility and time-to-first-ecchi) and event CG that don't involve sex (about half), so it definitely felt more like a smallish route from a charage than the nukige I was expecting it to be. As far as H is concerned, the first scene is very detailed but then it's a one-CG-per-scene relatively short affair from there on, so don't expect too much from there. Recommended if you like the heroine, playtime : around 6 hours.

 

[Veshurik]

By the way, about ton of delays, you reminded me Amanoha company with their... Ehm... Forgot the name... 1/1... Something like that.

Ichibun no ni Koigokoro. That.

That was delayed... well... more than 8 times for 2 years?..
And at the end... Finally released, but got bad reviews?

Ehh... Dunno still what happened.

 

[rober2]

Can't really help you there, if I remember right there should be a place you can enter the hook code in (only used ITH and then again, very little). Toriko no Shirabe though, as with many Guilty games, has different versions (in this case Motion or not), make sure you apply the code corresponding to the one you have.

Crud. Meaning i'll need to look for the h code for the game specifically? welp, that's gonna suck, since i' tried to do it myself...

any advise to give or any way i can find said h code without simply begging? :((

 

[kzel]

Crud. Meaning i'll need to look for the h code for the game specifically? welp, that's gonna suck, since i' tried to do it myself...

any advise to give or any way i can find said h code without simply begging? :((

Usually there'll be someone posting the H-code in the game's torrent thread, and more and more often I see these pop-up on the game's VNDB page, try looking there.
There was one text hooking software that had an online database for this sort of things, can't remember if that was AGTH or some other.

 

[kzel]

封緘のグラセスタ finished, so here are a few impressions and comments about the game. If I had to sum up the game in few words, I would say it felt serviceable, but often downright lazy. Be that the generic and predictable story, the abusable and repetitive battle system, the lack of character routes, the rather short length, and the cumbersome UI and item system, it's hard to say the game really shines in any category, but it does the job. And yet, many aspects of the game conflict with each other to make an ultimately not that enjoyable an experience. Probably my second worst experience with Eushully, after 創刻のアテリアル.

Spoiler: Story comments

Starting with the story, it's a rather standard rags to riches adventures that focuses on our hero Jedal. The problem with this is that said hero displays little to no care about actually rising from his rags to riches. Most of it happens because people get in the way of what he wants to do, and his constant status elevation is more a result of his short temper and quickness to resort to violence than an actual will to better his condition. When he reaches the top, he just delegates every responsibility to his minister and just does whatever he pleases (apparently, playing babysitter for Ririca), what a great ruler.

This apathy is also displayed with his interactions with the sub-heroines. Often he'll say he helped them because he just "felt like it at the time", no more reason or attachment. Given so, it's not a surprise then that most of the sexual encounters are engaged by the heroines themselves, our hero just going along with the flow but apparently couldn't care less either way. The only real effort he shows towards getting any girl is with the prostitutes, in that he has to pay money, quite sad. There is only one exception to this : Ririca, but she's a child all over him from the start and I'm still baffled at his "falling" for her, the couple is so very mismatched. His stubborn loyalty to his promises obviously doesn't extend to fidelity as he fucks around every female that passes by in typical Eushully fashion (don't worry, just like the previous game the "first wife" Ririca won't care and will even participate), but this time with some heroines implying getting pregnant, something I doubt he would take responsibility for ("hey you asked for it, don't look at me").

There is a background plot tied to all this, with light and dark and pompous fools willing to destroy the world to make it a better place, nothing any player of RPGs will be unfamiliar with.

Spoiler: Gameplay comments

But who cares if the story is generic as long as the gameplay is good, right? That's my stance with Eushully games, and the reason why I put hundreds of hours in both Alchemy and Castle Meister. This time, we have a more standard JRPG experience with dungeon crawling and random battles. But right from the start we're hit with a very major issue : there is very little incentive to get stronger by leveling up since the whole game is level scaled to the average of the party. As you level up, enemies get stronger, but there is no level restriction on equipment and most upgraded abilities add a flat damage increase, so it's usually better to NOT level up to reap the full benefit of the equipment. On top of that, the game hits another major flaw: it's very easy and there is very little difference between encounters, even bosses. Once you found a working strategy, it most likely will work for any foe/boss in the game (last boss expected, the only fight that required anything but brute force and then again...). At some point around the middle I even mostly stopped caring about upgrading equipment... Do note that this is a game that hides some of its endings (including H scenes) behind actually losing some fights, it would have been nice to not have to feel like just giving up on life against a pathetic foe.

And then we have the exploration, which would be nice if the labyrinth wasn't so small and you weren't constantly, constantly required to go back to the surface and make return trips through previously explored areas by the story. I don't mind if the story is cliche, but at least don't have it get in the way of the actual game! The game actually punishes you for trying to be efficient and not waste money, since it requires that you sleep often to advance sub-character plots, which means having to re-hire companions over and over. Entering chapter 3 and unlocking the arena throws all concerns about money away with some incredibly overpowered farming method, but by this time you'll have lost on some characters sub-stories.

So I finished one run and now I'm done with the game. I can't say I care for a second run, most likely won't be playing any of the appends. 32 hours for a Eushully game, that's less than half the time I usually put into these...

 

[kzel]

One more review, probably last for this month. This time, about アメイジング・グレイス -What color is your attribute?-.

Spoiler: thoughts

I had some reservations about the theme of the game, given that stories that involve art deeply tend to be pretentious and elitist, but while art does play a major role in the story it never felt too pompous and I may actually have learned a thing or two. The story starts light and slow and... doesn't really stray away from this mood all the way to the end. Despite the events happenings, neither the protagonist nor his friends ever seem under stress and there is a lot of time wasted on repeated "trivial" things while ignoring some plot hook for later. This serves to elongate the game but made me as a player dislike the protagonist for his carefree attitude, especially in the middle portions of the game. But all of this is to make one grand finale in which everything is carefully and meticulously explained, probably too much so : no kidding, it takes hours... Overall the scenario does a good job as a mystery, by having some actually unexpected moments that in hindsight make perfect sense. That's not to say the game is perfectly free of plot-holes (don't question too much the adults' behavior, teachers and parents alike) but it was nice to see my predictions turn out to be completely wrong for once. The characters are okay, and while since this is a closed setting mystery there are only so many candidates to go through, the game threw enough red-herrings and introduced new elements to kept me guessing until the very end. If I have one major regret, it's that, maybe because it's Christmas themed, the very final resolution is too easy on the characters involved.

Probably the biggest problem I see with the game is that it released as 18+ while the story could have easily fitted an all-ages format. The romance is pretty generic once past the dramatic confession scenes, the ecchi scenes are on the short side and with sometimes questionable art, and the story could have benefited greatly from some more dramatic CG to increase the tension the game lack otherwise (especially for what happens on Christmas). Most of the non-H CGs are close-ups of one or two characters and there are very few that actually depict some action, so maybe this was a decision made to fit the artist's comfort zone. CV wise, apart from Fujisaki Usa who I'm growing increasingly tired of lately, it was all pretty good. I read a lot of complaints about Sister Lilly but to my foreigner's ears she sounded okay, and her particular diction was actually refreshing. The Christmas themed music is a perfect fit for the current season, and it's nice to ear some familiar themes.

 

[pingtoryan]

Hooksoft's next game teaser came a week ago...within daily live there's love...

Marmalade's got a new game announced two weeks ago: Study Steady, scheduled for March 2019...same scenario writers as Ouchi ni Kaeru made Mashimaro desu.....................it mgiht as well be the case that artwork (and music) be carrying the whole thing again......................

 

[hibikiworks]

Hooksoft's next game teaser came a week ago...within daily live there's love...

Marmalade's got a new game announced two weeks ago: Study Steady, scheduled for March 2019...same scenario writers as Ouchi ni Kaeru made Mashimaro desu.....................it mgiht as well be the case that artwork (and music) be carrying the whole thing again......................

Lot of games to look forward next year such as

January month
1.はぴねす！2 Sakura Celebration
2.Sugar*Style
3.夢と色でできている

February month
1.さくらいろ、舞うころに
2.僕の未来は、恋と課金と。～Charge To The Future～

March month
1.Study § Steady​
2.pieces/渡り鳥のソムニウム

I have no idea when the new game 月の彼方で逢いましょう from tone works studio gets released

 

[Animaksiat]

I have no idea when the new game 月の彼方で逢いましょう from tone works studio gets released

lol... they just announced the page on the dec 5th, so i doubt it'll be anytime soon.
if my predict correct, the fastest schedule is will be somewhere in autumn next year.

fat chances that they gonna release them in july (which always been the most sale competing month for eroge companies in the last 15 years)

 

[kzel]

I don't know, toneworks usually releases in early/midsummer, and from the description of the game the scale seems to have been turned down significantly from both yumemirai and gin'iro. Yes it still spans both school and adult life but the two parts are probably sorta merged together since the protagonist can communicate with his younger self. Judging by CG and H scene count it's probably going to be more 'normal' length, no more 100+ hour megagame. As usual with tonework's it's one writer per route, but given the time-travel element it's a bit worrying as it's not something the usual tonework's writers are used to.

 

[kzel]

Some good info about the upcoming Hooksoft game: E School Life -> http://www.hook-net.jp/eschoollife/

I like that the protagonist isn't the super popular boy of the previous title and arrives in what is essentially a clean state, since he lived abroad before entering the school (even though it's hooksoft so he will probably get popular quickly, but still). It seems hooksoft is still trying to add a little spice to the standard school life romance formulae (previously with the points system and other perspectives), this time it's a little more involved apparently since you can choose when the MC goes to school (early, normal, late or not at all) in addition to the pretty usual map selection after class. You also have this rumor system that can influence dialog whether you listened to rumors or not. 4 main and 3 sub heroines all romanceable over a one year period, all of that sounds pretty good to me. Now to hope for a decent CV cast.

 

[pingtoryan]

Ye. That looks promising.

Although I got this feeling that the time you go to school is tied to heroines rather than a whimsical choice......

 

[Veshurik]

By the way, Tsukikana from tone work's... I found that. Who said that it will be average VN?..
As I can see, size of that image is 862Kb, so, almost 1Mb, and that's only one route?..

View attachment 20971

 

[kzel]

I'm sorry, what? I don't know what you're talking about and your attachment doesn't seem to work. Are you talking about the script size? I have absolutely no basis for comparing these sort of things, so if you'd be so kind as to provide a few more details...

 

[hibikiworks]

はぴねす！2 Sakura Celebration Trial version is released.
The game is even better than Happiness!

 

[Veshurik]

Well... New Parasol game announced.

What the fuck I read, please, say...

What is that? I can't understand, is it a plot of eroge? Looks like nukige...

 

[Animaksiat]

Well... New Parasol game announced.

What the fuck I read, please, say...

What is that? I can't understand, is it a plot of eroge? Looks like nukige...

just another school with it's 7 mysteries..... though the mystery all related to H