Visual Novel Cafe

[Animaksiat]

yay... you're my life savior!

 

[kzel]

Still progressing slowly in Dark Souls 3, nearly 30 hours in and I've only defeated two lords of cinder, this is gonna take me awhile... I've also played a bit of Danganronpa 2 : Goodbye Despair for PC, the game still makes me laugh even though the translated jokes sometimes don't really work and need a bit of reserve translation to make sense. The investigation and trials are kinda dragging on, since I still pretty clearly remember the particulars of each case.

With about four days until the April releases, it was high time I took at least a quick glance at the upcoming titles. As has been mentioned quite a few times already, there's a lot of interesting titles and even though I don't seem to be as busy as some other members, I doubt I'll have time to play or even try everything. I'll go in order of interest :

MOST INTERESTED :

PURELY×CATION : one of the rare games I've actually been following the development of, to some degree. I'm a big fan of hibiki-works' games even though, strangely enough, I haven't 100% completed any of them. I really like how they branch very early to the heroine's route and allow to pretty much ignore the others. From what I've seen in the demo, that's still a thing. I'll definitely play this if the copy protection doesn't prove to be too much to handle.

INTERESTED :

ワガママハイスペック : looks interesting, I love wagamama heroines so that should fit me just right. MadSoft's previous title ヤキモチストリーム wasn't great but it wasn't too bad either, honestly I can't remember much of it except some parts of Sana's route.

真剣で私に恋しなさい！Ａ5 : at last an end to the majikoi series, that I overall like but with some parts way more than others (loved Tsubame's, hated Chris' route). In this last one, alternate routes for Yoshitsune and Takae, and an after for Margit. To be honest, I'm only really looking forward to Takae's route, but Margit and Yoshitsune's stories might be funny enough to warrant a look through.

あなたをオトコにしてあげる！ : the newest ChuableSoft title. I've liked all their games so far so I'm willing to give this one a shot even though the setting doesn't really appeal to me. A group of heroine doing their best to appeal to a MC for him to choose one of them as his girlfriend..? Hopefully it's 100% focused on the competition and the game won't start with all the heroines' flags raised and just waiting for the MC to speak his mind.

MAYBE :

珊海王の円環 : Eushully's new release. Pirates may make a nice change from the generic fantasy worlds ero-RPGs tend to take place in. I didn't really like their previous game 神のラプソディ and gave up part of the way through it, though the beginning had potential. I just hope they tone down on the harem tendencies but I am not very hopeful. If the gameplay's alright I might just play through it while skipping the story.

D.S. -Dal Segno- : I haven't played any of the Da Capo games and I am interested in seeing what's they're all about, so that might be a good point of entry.

なまラブ : debut game from oct works, doesn't look like anything special but maybe...

アイランド : the synopsis sounds good but it's a game by Front Wing, I can't say I'm a fan of their stuff. If the MC for once isn't some kind of arrogant dumbass maybe I won't give up a couple hours in.

WAITING FOR REVIEWS :

戦国†恋姫X : I feel obligated to at least give this a try given how much I hear about this game. However, the whole 'many wives' thing still puts me off, I'll wait for some input on how the ecchi is handled in the game and maybe play the old all ages version instead. I'm seriously sick and tired of harem and just don't want to read any more of it, if I'll just skip all the ecchi scenes might as well not have them in the first place.

この恋、青春により。 : looks generic but maybe it will be good?

Finally, a couple delays for some titles previously mentioned here : タラレバ is pushed back one month, 厨二姫の帝国 is delayed again to the end of July this time.

 

[OmegaOtaku]

I'm just waiting for the Grisaia series to be completely localized, but developers Sekai Project/Denpasoft seem to have forgotten all about it as no news about a release has been made in like over half a year since it was announced, originally. It's a shame too because I absolutely loved Grisaia no Kajitsu so freakin' much.
Not all bad though, as I own the other two (just can't really read them though).

 

[Mahou]

This month will be a bit more GB-heavy for my HDD X_X. PrettyxCation, as a huge Windmill Oasis fan: Wizards Complex; bring it on as sugary sweet as you can!, 戦国†恋姫X, この恋、青春により (as mentioned earlier if only for the CGs and BGMs), D.S, なまラブ.
As for Eushully: I - at least - won't play it on release. My gut feeling is somehow wary.

 

[Kri]

戦国†恋姫X : I feel obligated to at least give this a try given how much I hear about this game. However, the whole 'many wives' thing still puts me off, I'll wait for some input on how the ecchi is handled in the game and maybe play the old all ages version instead. I'm seriously sick and tired of harem and just don't want to read any more of it, if I'll just skip all the ecchi scenes might as well not have them in the first place.

No mate, definitely play the X version even if you are going to skip H-scenes. X version will not just add ero, it'll double the scenario and add many important arcs which were skipped at original game as well.

Original game ended as soon as they solved the oni problem and left many problems unsolved like Matsudairas, Kanto, Sunpu yakata, Hikari's mom etc etc. Well the game itself was already "pretty" long (24 arc / 35-40 hours without any h-scenes) and satisfying so there wasn't many complains but I'm sure you'd prefer the "complete" version as well.

And about the harem games; As I said before Baseson is a really unique company which takes the harem thing differently than all other companies. They are not making just a bunch of wifes, they are making a family which is centered at MC and they really care about the relationships between heroines as well, which makes everything so natural & smooth & relaxing. Of course everyone have different tastes so you might dislike this kind of harem as well, But I think they deserve a shot at least.

 

[pingtoryan]

This month seems to me not very much going on...

By the way, SMEE's got teaser up for their next projekt a while ago...something about starting from zero, and Moonstone Honey's next title "Yuuwaku Scramble" was announced...

 

[kzel]

I'm just waiting for the Grisaia series to be completely localized

I feel your pain, I used to wait for translations of Japanese games for years. I was lucky enough to be able to take Japanese classes during University so I don't have to worry about that anymore. If you're (really) motivated you could look into text hookers, I think with just a bit of Japanese basic knowledge it should make the game readable : one of the most annoying and inconvenient parts of beginning in Japanese is looking up Kanji, and that's automatically taken care of.

This month will be a bit more GB-heavy for my HDD X_X. PrettyxCation, as a huge Windmill Oasis fan: Wizards Complex; bring it on as sugary sweet as you can!, 戦国†恋姫X, この恋、青春により (as mentioned earlier if only for the CGs and BGMs), D.S, なまラブ.
As for Eushully: I - at least - won't play it on release. My gut feeling is somehow wary.

I saw Wizards Complex but I don't know, I saw the synopsis and I was not really thrilled : boy in girls school, "chosen one" yet apparently useless MC (can't use magic), school councils fighting again... First one in particular is an overused environment that I'm not fond of.

No mate, definitely play the X version even if you are going to skip H-scenes. X version will not just add ero, it'll double the scenario and add many important arcs which were skipped at original game as well.

I see your point, but I just know that if I start skipping ecchi scenes, I'll eventually end up skipping parts of the text as well, then skip more and more... It's like an endless spiral that I find very hard to get out of once it starts, so I'd rather not want to skip anything, even if that means playing an incomplete version. Besides, if I get hooked on the story or the characters I can always come back to the X version later I think. Still, I'll wait for comments and reviews before I start either.

By the way, SMEE's got teaser up for their next projekt a while ago...something about starting from zero

"0からはじめる彼氏彼女関係", that does sound interesting, could that mean no osananajimi or imouto heroines? At the very least they shouldn't start the game in love with the MC.

 

[OmegaOtaku]

I feel your pain, I used to wait for translations of Japanese games for years. I was lucky enough to be able to take Japanese classes during University so I don't have to worry about that anymore. If you're (really) motivated you could look into text hookers, I think with just a bit of Japanese basic knowledge it should make the game readable : one of the most annoying and inconvenient parts of beginning in Japanese is looking up Kanji, and that's automatically taken care of.

I've heard about these text hookers, but don't know much about them. Could you perhaps recommend one that be beneficial because I think it sounds more realistic than an actual translation being released?

 

[Mahou]

I saw Wizards Complex but I don't know, I saw the synopsis and I was not really thrilled : boy in girls school, "chosen one" yet apparently useless MC (can't use magic), school councils fighting again... First one in particular is an overused environment that I'm not fond of.

Yeah that's an understandable point of view. I have it easy in that aspect. As long as it's rabu-rabu and sugary sweet I will feel right at home in *most* cases, in spite of overused clichés and tropes, unless the common route starts out sooo boring that I can't be bothered to continue as with To Heart 2 for example. Of course all of it depends on the overall genre.

On a different note: I saw by pure chance that tone work has another VN in making 銀色、遥か. I stumbled upon the name while looking at holyseal for new trials and patches :D. Let's see how that one will turn out in June. Their first entry was for most routes a pain on the drama front and title 2 counts to my favorite VNs (as I mentioned countless times *lol*). So it's a draw so far.

 

[kzel]

I've heard about these text hookers, but don't know much about them. Could you perhaps recommend one that be beneficial because I think it sounds more realistic than an actual translation being released?

As I said it depends on your motivation, from my experience they work pretty well but can be a pain to set up properly. Besides, you'll still need some basic Japanese, but you could just completely rely on machine translation. Japanese to English has been much improved in the recent years but it's far from perfect yet, nowhere near what an actual translator can do.

I used ITH combined with Translation Aggregator, following the guide you can find on this very forum right here. The main issue with this program is that you need a text hook, some sort of code for the program to catch the text properly from the VN and then send it to be automatically translated. With newer games finding this code can be problematic, but with something as "old" as Grisaia you shouldn't have any problem finding one. Once the thing is set up though it's really useful, you can have the Japanese text parsed and have furigana automatically added, mouse over Kanji to automatically look up translations or simply machine translate the whole sentence.

Other than that, I'm hearing good things about Visual Novel Reader, but I haven't tried it so I can't judge on how easy it is to set up and use. You can find a tutorial on this forum as well right here.

On a different note: I saw by pure chance that tone work has another VN in making 銀色、遥か. I stumbled upon the name while looking at holyseal for new trials and patches :D. Let's see how that one will turn out in June. Their first entry was for most routes a pain on the drama front and title 2 counts to my favorite VNs (as I mentioned countless times *lol*). So it's a draw so far.

I just looked it up, the concept is very similar to 星織ユメミライ, but pushed further still. From two phases (High-School and After leading to marriage), they add a third one which will take place in middle school. I imagine their time estimate if per heroine, and they're aiming for 20 hours. Combine that with 5 heroines, and this will be a monster of a game...

 

[OmegaOtaku]

I used ITH combined with Translation Aggregator, following the guide you can find on this very forum right here. The main issue with this program is that you need a text hook, some sort of code for the program to catch the text properly from the VN and then send it to be automatically translated. With newer games finding this code can be problematic, but with something as "old" as Grisaia you shouldn't have any problem finding one. Once the thing is set up though it's really useful, you can have the Japanese text parsed and have furigana automatically added, mouse over Kanji to automatically look up translations or simply machine translate the whole sentence.

Thank you so much for the recommendation. I got it working without a problem =) sure the translations aren't exactly spot on (as expected really) but for the most part, it makes some sense. Really happy right now.
Cheers man, wish I could give you more thanks than just a simple click for one XD

 

[Chelly]

Anyone interested in toneworks Ginharu? the trial came out yesterday http://toneworks.product.co.jp/ginharu/download.html
I only checked it cause i wanted to see if im alright with the imouto heroine (cause i hate them with a passion, and mostly the imouto heroines are so annoying for me that i even dropped some vns cause of them).
but im glad that this one is so shy & reserved as fuck, shes even too shy to say onii-chan haha. so seems like im alright with it, and look forward to it. at first all the heroine didnt looked that awesome to me, but after playing the trial a bit, my opinion quite changed from them, pretty hyped for it. june where are youuu

 

[Cubky]

I've heard about these text hookers, but don't know much about them. Could you perhaps recommend one that be beneficial because I think it sounds more realistic than an actual translation being released?

Other than that, I'm hearing good things about Visual Novel Reader, but I haven't tried it so I can't judge on how easy it is to set up and use. You can find a tutorial on this forum as well right here.

I have been using VNR for kanji lookup and have to say its pretty easy to setup and use. The tutorials are a little bit out of date now, but its settings menu is self explanatory. It does need a hook for some games but can get most of the games (even new ones) working out of the box. Other than looking up kanji it can add furigana, machine translation (wouldn't advise using it for obvious reasons) or be connected to a text to speech program if you want voiced protagonists. :) It also features some kind of user defined shared dictionary translation system but I'm not sure how good it actually is. Unfortunately I can't compare it to other hookers since I haven't been using anything else.

 

[kzel]

Thank you so much for the recommendation. I got it working without a problem =) sure the translations aren't exactly spot on (as expected really) but for the most part, it makes some sense. Really happy right now.
Cheers man, wish I could give you more thanks than just a simple click for one XD

Glad you got it to work well enough, I hope you have a nice read and if you get tired of the broken English, I think it can be a great tool to try to learn a bit of Japanese on the side. No need for particular thanks since I just handed you a couple links. Still, I appreciate reading and sharing opinions about VNs, especially here since (I think?) most of us are gaijins, so if you have a little time a few words when you finish a VN would be welcome.

Anyone interested in toneworks Ginharu? the trial came out yesterday http://toneworks.product.co.jp/ginharu/download.html

Mahou was just talking about it a few posts back. I'm pretty hyped for it too, I just recently went back to 星織ユメミライ after a few weeks break and I managed to get back into it without too much effort which is quite a feat. I just wish the time didn't fly by so fast in the After, currently playing Touko's and a year went by in about an hour. I was however quite happy to see that the drama that somewhat plagued her route is now mostly gone. Still, after playing Sora's, Natsuki's and now halfway through Touko's routes I can't help but feel the After phase has much less tension. If the concept page of 銀色、遥か is to be trusted, the middle school, high school and pre-marriage phases should be equal in length so that's an issue that should hopefully be fixed.

 

[Animaksiat]

finally.... all i have to do is either wait the torrent out, or my pre-ordered senkoi X arrives... which ever comes first!

 

[Veshurik]

...I hope you have a nice read and if you get tired of the broken English, I think it can be a great tool to try to learn a bit of Japanese on the side.

Oh, no need to say. I tried to read "Hanikami Clover" with Translation Aggregator and... Maybe, I didn't understand some things... but usually, if you even use Google Translate or something (or just dictionaries), you can understand the common sense. Sometimes intuition helps. But if you want to know the details... In short, I start to teach hiragana.

P.S. I hate "Hanikami Clover". It was my first Japanese novel and... meh, horrible experience, but I finished it.
P.P.S. I think that attempt to learn Japanese through eroge is... masochism?

So... so many interesting novels (which may never will release in English)... I don't know what to do :)

 

[Animaksiat]

eushully new game is out in the open... will wait for further notice whether it's legit or not.

 

[Kri]

So seems like 北条編 is getting unlocked at the menu after you finish the story in the Sengoku Koihime X. I wonder if its some kind of "what if" / alternative story or just a continue of the game's ending. I'm actually dying to know this but I guess gotta wait for a couple more days.

 

[pingtoryan]

SMEE's next game: Kanojo Step.
http://www.hook-net.jp/smee/kanojostep/index.html

...I don't really like the character design this time. What appear most interesting at this stage is that you can choose whether you'll openly do relationship or keep it hidden...

StrawberryNauts ver. Vita http://www.entergram.co.jp/strawberrynauts/character.html
gets a new heroine...Chiyori's little sister, Marika. Not like it matters, but worth noting...

 

[Mahou]

Yeah, the character design looks somehow simpler. It reminds me a bit of KoiChoco with the way the eyes are drawn, at least.
Otherwise, I just read the MC's bio of Wizards Complex and was like "NOOOOO" at the sentence that he's - surprise, surprise - super dense. Not that this trait is super rare or anything, but as usal it depends on how it is utilised. Using + mentioning it in every second scene will get tiresome fast. Oh well, I'll see it sooner or later >_<.
I'll keep an eye out for PurelyXCation based on kzel's comment in the torrent thread which sounds indeed like some form of (second) in-game protection.

 

[kzel]

Oh, no need to say. I tried to read "Hanikami Clover" with Translation Aggregator and... Maybe, I didn't understand some things... but usually, if you even use Google Translate or something (or just dictionaries), you can understand the common sense. Sometimes intuition helps. But if you want to know the details... In short, I start to teach hiragana.

P.S. I hate "Hanikami Clover". It was my first Japanese novel and... meh, horrible experience, but I finished it.
P.P.S. I think that attempt to learn Japanese through eroge is... masochism?

So... so many interesting novels (which may never will release in English)... I don't know what to do :)

Not sure how hard it would be to learn Japanese through visual novels from scratch since I learned the basics in an actual class. Still, to expand vocabulary and get used to understand spoken Japanese I think it can be pretty good, I mean my Japanese improved a lot thanks to them but I do spend quite a bit of time on them.

What was so wrong with Hanikami Clover? Sure I didn't find the game spectacular but it wasn't that bad either, and quite novel in a few ways, especially Sumire's particular route.

SMEE's next game: Kanojo Step.
http://www.hook-net.jp/smee/kanojostep/index.html

...I don't really like the character design this time. What appear most interesting at this stage is that you can choose whether you'll openly do relationship or keep it hidden...

I quite like the proportions of the characters, for once they're fairly normal, but those eyes... I find them creepy. As far as concept goes, sounds good to me, I'll keep an eye out for it when it comes out.

I'll keep an eye out for PurelyXCation based on kzel's comment in the torrent thread which sounds indeed like some form of (second) in-game protection.

Yeah I'm pretty sure something's off somewhere, I mean I can't hit any VIT bonus during ecchi scenes even with 85+　体力... Same goes for other stat checks. At least the love level seems to increase normally, but failing checks means I can't hit the PURE bonus on Sumire's last ecchi scene. Not that big a deal and playing on easy was enough to unlock her special cosplay scene which was nice. Overall, Sumire's route was very relaxing, 癒やし系 fits the game perfectly. Looking back on it, not much happens but Sumire's character is just too cute, and Akino Hana's voice on top of that makes it that much better. Her tears got me once again... I think I'll wait a bit before I play any other route though, the xCation games never had much of a story to support them but this time around it's even worse, and the other heroines I don't have too much interest in.

Other than that I've been playing 真剣で私に恋しなさい！Ａ5, finished Takae's route which I found to be pretty funny. I'm kinda sad Sheila's route is once again relegated to a quick branch-out like last time in A-3, I kinda like her character and her CV. I also played halfway through Yoshitsune's route. Aki, the new addition I find charming, she reminds me a bit of Tsubame which was my favorite heroine in the original games. Too bad her route is also so short, longer than Sheila's but that's not saying much.

 

[Veshurik]

What was so wrong with Hanikami Clover? Sure I didn't find the game spectacular but it wasn't that bad either, and quite novel in a few ways, especially Sumire's particular route.

Em... So boring after Rio's route? Seriously, I completed it through Rio - Sumire - Suo - Makina and... I think that Makina's voice slightly lifted me up.
Maybe, I don't understand some things, but... MC only think about future and that's all? And too many sex scenes, I can't imagine that they can be really so often.

Anyway, I got not a very good impression of the game. The first route was interesting until... em... scene of Rio's masturbation, I think. Oh, maybe, I don't know that "nukige" always presents such a strange situations. The days with Rio were... ok? I mean, walks to school and from school, trips to each other's homes and... I don't know something more memorable. Ah, yes, drama moments (when MC too tired after another sex scene; something like a succubus and human's relationships are complex etc.).
With Sumire... At first MC can't confess that he likes her. But then... I really laughed at the scene of a wet dream. And I also don't understand how this confusion has grown into a confession. The kiss happened suddenly. "And the happy life with imouto started"...
With Suo... E-eh... it seemed to me that she doesn't want anything other than sex. Or I just tired that read her story with sense.
With Makina. Her route seemed interesting. But after problems with the school everything slipped. I only play for her voice. Her voice is great, aaah.
And append sex scenes don't impress me.

Speaking in one sentence: "I want to say why I did not like this game, but I can not tell you why." My suggestions are pretty weird, I guess. Perhaps this is my first novel in Japanese, and I think I was waiting for it too much.

I need to think that I want to pass on.

 

[pingtoryan]

Starting with a nukige...well, you just got overloaded with sex...

 

[kzel]

Well, I'm not one to defend the game on its story, since I didn't really like it either. Still, a few points saved it in my books. I'll write them below, obvious spoilers so beware:

Spoiler: Hanikami Clover's story

Rio's story was a little too focused on sex, but with a succubus that was to be expected. The last drama parts about Rio's mother and the relationships between humans and sex-demons was fairly nice though.

Sumire's story was interesting because the MC becomes really pathetic, crying in Sumire's chest at the first sight of trouble and constantly seeing things in negative ways. It's pretty rare to see MCs this weak psychologically and I found it funny, but I can imagine some absolutely hated him for that. It allows Sumire to shine as the perfect little sister that she is as she manages to comfort him in every situation. He didn't want to confess to her because he felt he had a debt towards his foster parents and didn't want to betray their trust. Why he eventually confessed I don't remember clearly, but I seem to remember it's because Sumire convinced him that her parents would want her to be with the person she loves, and that's the MC, regardless of family status. Then the MC starts to worry about his future since he apparently thinks he's useless and unable to do anything. Again he doesn't really win any sympathy points but I don't mind these kind of protagonists from time to time, they're a nice change from the usual donkans and overconfident ladykillers. At the end I think he finally grows some confidence, enough to announce his relationship to his foster parents.

Didn't play Suo's route so I can't say anything about it, another succubus so sex is to be expected as well.

Makina's story I also found entertaining enough, I liked her character as she clearly fakes the chuuni act and often trips on her own words, and fumbles when she's pushed a little. This time it was Makina who didn't know what do to in the future and the MC helped her figure that out. She decided that she wanted to be with the MC so she takes a year off to wait for him to catch up to her and go to the same university together, I think that's a pretty bold decision and something I've never seen happen with all the senpai heroines I've read the routes of.

Anyway, I still don't think the game classifies as a nukige, I mean judging by ecchi scenes count alone, then the xCation games would be nukiges as well... Sure there's a lot of sex scenes but there's also a story and characters that don't exist for the sole purpose of providing context for ecchi scenes (for some heroines at least).

I also am not of fan of the appends since they don't add anything to the character and are just some random sex scenes. Still, it's an opportunity to listen to Akino Hana (Sumire) or Kusuhara Yui (Makina)'s voices a little more, I can't complain about that.

 

[Kri]

So seems like 北条編 is getting unlocked at the menu after you finish the story in the Sengoku Koihime X. I wonder if its some kind of "what if" / alternative story or just a continue of the game's ending. I'm actually dying to know this but I guess gotta wait for a couple more days.

Just checked it by myself, And seems like its continuation of the ending. I'm really glad about this, some little "what if" story just to fuck those heroines would be awful and decrease the quality of the game in my eyes for sure. Also one more spoiler about Erika;

Spoiler: Erika

Seems like somehow they saved or revived her, currently she is in kensuke's harem as well.

I cant wait to see how they managed to do it (also I'm quite wondering the ending movie as well, the original's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Uua0JaKWM was definitely one of the best I have ever seen), but unfortunately my fucking headphone just broken so I have to wait one more day ;_; Seriously great timing there, it must be god's work or something.