Community The Visual Novel Council | All Choices Lead To Here

[Exzyleph]

Sol Press (Newton, Under One Wing, Oniikiss, My Fair Princes) is leaving the VN market once they've released their current licenses, citing too much uncertainty due to things like the Steam approval process:

Where We Are and Where We’re Going

 

[ZKenir]

Guess I'll move those games up in my puchase list priority during summer sale just in case

 

[ZKenir]

 

[Exzyleph]

Shame that this discount isn't available on Steam.
I've heared mixed things about this game, but I'd definitely grab it for €1.

 

[Snakethesniper]

Wow I'm liking umineko very much, even if I'm very confused, still on chapter 2 questions.
In particular

"spoiler"

the "meta" stuff of saying the truth in red letters. what

I always worry to be stupid and don't understand stuff I should know in these VN

 

[Avern]

Wow I'm liking umineko very much, even if I'm very confused, still on chapter 2 questions.
In particular

"spoiler"

the "meta" stuff of saying the truth in red letters. what

I always worry to be stupid and don't understand stuff I should know in these VN

If it makes you feel any better, I'm in the middle of Ch 3 and I'm also completely bamboozled by that stuff. Like, if it's real, then doesn't that mean Battler has already lost? But if it's not real, then what even is it? It feels like too much happens in that tea-party layer for it to not have some grounding in the story. It's a wild ride.

 

[Snakethesniper]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm in the middle of Ch 3 and I'm also completely bamboozled by that stuff. Like, if it's real, then doesn't that mean Battler has already lost? But if it's not real, then what even is it? It feels like too much happens in that tea-party layer for it to not have some grounding in the story. It's a wild ride.

Yeah exactly my feelings ahaha, but I'm loving it, battle of wits are my favourites.
A bit spoilerish but a technical question, is it normal that the graphic is loaded this way?

image

 

[Exzyleph]

Yeah exactly my feelings ahaha, but I'm loving it, battle of wits are my favourites.
A bit spoilerish but a technical question, is it normal that the graphic is loaded this way?

image

I think that is how it is supposed to look: It was shown the same way when I played the game about 2½ years ago.

Spoiler

 

[Rosenkrantz]

Heh, Kotodama is actually on my wishlist, but it seems like Pqube doesn't really care about PC as a market.

 

[skLaFarebear]

The asuka route in Aokana has been great so far having some really fun scenes between the cast, but some of these much more impactful scenes that played out towards the end of the chapter were so powerful

Aokana Asuka Route

as Irina pushed Masaya to face his own cowardness and finally accepted he was running away, as well as Asuka stepping up to defend him without even knowing the truth because she respects him so much. Despite Masaya not being over his own traumatic past regarding FC, he has the foresight to not dwell on his own shortcomings, especially in front of the girl who idolizes him. This all led to him finally being able to take his first steps forward and culminate into this amazing scene in the VN between him and his old coach/teacher Aoi, who spent several years feeling like she was ultimately the one responsible for what happened to him.

It's a scene that really only hits as hard as it does after going through all the other routes first, as you keep putting the pieces of each route together, and now more than before, I can see why Asuka's route is recommended last. I'm still pushing through this last route, but man this VN really is something special.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Please continue to give me all the Aokana content Sprite/NekoNyan thank you.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Aokana finally finished. I've said enough about this VN to annoy people but im definitely a bit of a mess right now between those last crazy edge on my seat matches and the emotional ending after 58 hours of playing, so I at least wanted to give my last thoughts. I don't need to say anymore about this VN other than that it was super fucking good and I recommend it to everyone no question. Now I'll lay down depressed in the corner until I'm ready to get back to Baldr Sky and maybe start up Uta Prelude next.

Time to enter the Aokana Extra 1/2 and Zwei waiting room

 

[Kvik]

skLaFarebear if anything, I will look forward to finally be able to read the spoiler-tagged impressions when I got around to it in ...

... a fair while.

Although, I can always swap it with C;C.

 

[skLaFarebear]

skLaFarebear if anything, I will look forward to finally be able to read the spoiler-tagged impressions when I got around to it in ...

... a fair while.

Although, I can always swap it with C;C.

Good, I need more friends to gush about Aokana with. Do it for best teacher!

 

[Exzyleph]

Looks like the Epic Game Store might finally be adding a visual novel:

Visual novel Milky Way Prince: The Vampire Star announced for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC

Publisher Santa Ragione and developer Lorenzo Redaelli have announced Milky Way Prince: The Vampire Star, a visual novel about “intimacy, idealization, and abusive relationships” due ou…

www.gematsu.com

The art-style is not really appealing to me, but hopefully it won't be the last VN on EGS.
Another store with a big audience where publishers can sell their (all ages) VNs would be a positive.


Hat-tip to prudis.

Good, I need more friends to gush about Aokana with. Do it for best teacher!

Aokana is great.
I had issues with the routes, but the main and supporting cast carried it through even the weaker plot-lines.
It is just a shame that Satouin didn't get a route, she was really a stand-out character.



As an aside, this month's book club thread is also up and running:

​

 

[skLaFarebear]

Aokana is great.
I had issues with the routes, but the main and supporting cast carried it through even the weaker plot-lines.
It is just a shame that Satouin didn't get a route, she was really a stand-out character.

Yeah, I'd say the VN's biggest flaw is that some routes just feel more like an after thought compared to others, mostly because it tried to tell a completely unique story for each route and you can see the consequences for that where things just explicitly play out differently for no reason and character motivations just stop making sense or are explained away by 1-2 lines of dialogue and makes the hanging plotlines from the common route just kind of fester. The Rika route is most suspect for doing this, though thankfully covered for itself by having some very fun banter between the cast. I'd still say I enjoyed all the routes for the most part, with some more than others of course.

 

[Exzyleph]

TL;DR: They want to, but the engine sucks.

 

[tetel]

So the rumors about legal issues weren't correct? Neat, at least there's still a chance, I guess.

 

[skLaFarebear]

TL;DR: They want to, but the engine sucks.

Sounds like they might be leaning towards either trying to fix all the engine issues or just straight up do a remake if anything.

 

[Knurek]

TL;DR: They want to, but the engine sucks.

 

[Kvik]

I've finished with Shiroha's route in Summer Pockets last night.

Unfortunately, the localisation took a sharp decline in her route. I noticed more misspellings and grammar errors compared with the previous two routes. Her story is quite poignant, and probably the most "normal" one so far and far less emotionally taxing than the others. Hairi's full backstory is revealed in this route, and it's quite satisfying to see how he came to terms with his shortcomings and the true reason why he came to the island to begin with.

Tsumugi's route is next.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Have to say even though I'm not on the "I love when brand makes tweet about BLM" train, it's been great seeing VN companies like Sekai Project put out a statement, along with their own donation as well as resources to donate to if only because I greatly enjoy watching that section of the VN community act like it's the ultimate betrayal to themselves and America or some other dumb shit because people think that black people shouldn't be murdered by cops.

I'd say it'd be nice if these people actually followed through and didn't buy any more SP games and fucked off from the community, but a big hunch tells me these same people were probably pirating their games in the first place so...

 

[Gevin]

Has anyone played Lucid9?


I'm going to start it in a couple of days so wanted to know if there were any things to keep in mind or general thoughts on it

 

[Knurek]

Has anyone played Lucid9?


I'm going to start it in a couple of days so wanted to know if there were any things to keep in mind or general thoughts on it

The general thing to keep in mind is that the game currently only has the common route.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Little Busters is pretty good.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Little Busters Kurugaya Route

This route was really fun, until it wasn't and now I'm not having fun anymore ;_;

That ending was hella sad.

Glad while I was checking my vndb I rediscovered that I never actually finished this game. It definitely has it's problems, but I'm enjoying it now that I'm deeper in. Just got Haruka and Kud (and technically Rin) left for the routes.

 

[Exzyleph]

Another mystery VN by Fruitbat Factory?



After ENIGMA: and SeaBed, that is probably going to be a day 1 purchase for me.
I also kinda want to throw them a penny after they did that amazing Corona give-away.

 

[Myradeer]

VN with mystery elements are always appreciated, and yeah many Fruitbat Factory published games were pretty good.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Another mystery VN by Fruitbat Factory?



After ENIGMA: and SeaBed, that is probably going to be a day 1 purchase for me.
I also kinda want to throw them a penny after they did that amazing Corona give-away.

I can't find a VNDB entry for this game.

I didn't even think that was possible, unless it's like brand new. Sounds interesting though, I'll definitely add it to the wishlist.

 

[Kvik]

I've read a little from The Princess, the Stray Cat, and Matters of the Heart demo and I enjoyed it. Apart from that I haven't read any other Fruitbat Factory VNs despite owning some of their popular ones.

 

[Exzyleph]

Release dates for Adabana and ATRI:

 

[Snakethesniper]

I'm at the third chapter of Umineko Questions arc. I'm really enjoying it, even if I keep getting confused sometimes.
Like

spoiler

Why in the third game they talk about whether a 19 person exist or not if in the previous game Beatrice showed herself at the beginning?

As always, if it's more clear later I will continue without an answer right now lol

 

[Knurek]

I'm at the third chapter of Umineko Questions arc. I'm really enjoying it, even if I keep getting confused sometimes.
Like

spoiler

Why in the third game they talk about whether a 19 person exist or not if in the previous game Beatrice showed herself at the beginning?

As always, if it's more clear later I will continue without an answer right now lol

Google licentia poetica.

 

[Snakethesniper]

Google licentia poetica.

So it's basically a plot hole?

Also, is there a clear explanation later on how

spoiler

Battler's perception in the "other" realm work? Now that I'm in the third chapter, with how the dialogue works, it seems there are 2 battler, the one in the game, and the one that's a spectator , separated , where the spectator has the same knowledge as the player. So basically, like we are the spirit battler. The thing that confuses me is that the reasoning the spectator battler does seems to be reflected in the decisions of player's battler, but maybe it's just because it's the same person and the think alike

EDIT: now that I think about it, it could be also that

spoiler

in the second game she showed herself as "the witch", not an actually 19th "person", since it seems that person = human. So when the game ended and he surrendered, he basically "proved" that there was no 19th "person", but a witch

I would be interested to know which term was used in japanese, since maybe it's a translation "issue". The confusing thing is that they seems to use both of terms indipendently, so I'm not sure my understanding is correct

edit2: no ok I'm pretty sure

spoiler

person=human, since when battler asks to say in red "There are 19 people or more on this island" it next says "She'd probably remain extremely cautious as long as confirming the number of humans on this island..."

 

[skLaFarebear]

Finished Little Busters last night, everything up to and including Refrain (so not the extra routes unlocked afterwards)


I'm definitely not ok.

Glad I decided to give it another chance after I repeatedly bounced off of it after all the years of trying to get into it never really sticking with me. It definitely still has it's issues, where some of the jokes and more emotional scenes didn't land nearly as well as they should have, and thematically the narrative can feel pretty all over the place with some of it's messages in the character routes, as well as the character routes themselves sometimes coming off half baked (looking at you Kurugaya and Kud), but it's still a very good game regardless and the times that the game really hits, it's absolutely firing on all cylinders.

While I definitely wouldn't put it as one of the best VNs I've played, I still very much enjoyed my time with all the lovable characters. Not sure when I'll get around to doing the extra routes unlocked after you beat the game, but I definitely won't mind diving back into this world somewhere down the line, as well as checking out some more Key games in the future.

 

[Exzyleph]

It looks like Valve has tightened the screws on their approval process, no longer allowing re-submission of rejected games:

 

[Cacher]

Oh, didn't know there is a VN thread here. I was just managing my physical backlog (imported from Japan) and installed two titles.

Cho Dengeki Strikers and Schwarzmarken Kouketsu no Monshou. I have decided not to play eroge anymore, but maybe I can make an exception for the former. Let's see if I will start playing them soon.

 

[skLaFarebear]

蒼の彼方のフォーリズム EXTRA2 制作決定

流通会社様との契約が完了し、蒼の彼方のフォーリズム EXTRA2の制作が正式に決定いたしました。

sprite.org

Aokana Extra 2 lives!!!!!

The previous survey results regarding EX2 are also in, with an overwhelming 97% voted for more content with higher game cost.

I'll pay any amount for my queen Misaki. LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[skLaFarebear]

Makoto route done in Baldr Sky 2. Definitely the best route so far of both games imo. Lots of lingering questions answered and plot points brought up from the very first route have finally got some much needed added context. And there's been some fantastic character moments all across the board from characters who weren't present much before this, but the biggest mysteries have yet to be revealed revolving around the core of the game. The endgame of the Makoto route, for as many questions as it answered, definitely still felt like a tease to come for the last route as it pulled the curtain just enough for me to start making guesses about the world of Baldr Sky.

And I have to say, starting the first hour of the Sora route alone, this game has become some real mind fuckery and everything's been turned upside down yet again. We're definitely in "endgame" territory (10-15 hours left probably), but I'm super excited to see how this goes. This game just continues to deliver and depending on how this all wraps up can easily become one of my favorite cyberpunk/mecha dystopian stories that I've read.

 

[Exzyleph]

The first two titles published by ANIPLEX.EXE are out now:
ATRI by Frontwing and Adabana by Liar Soft (not available in Europe)

 

[Kvik]

They're not bad launch prices, actually. The discount will end just before the Steam Summer Seal starts, though.

 

[Knurek]

Region locking seems to have worked out so great for Aniplex:

 

[Exzyleph]

Region locking seems to have worked out so great for Aniplex:

That's not because of the region locking in Europe, but probably because Frontwing is a lot more popular, especially in China.

Almost all of the reviews are in Chinese (127 of 135 for ATRI, 9 of 10 for Adabana) and ATRI only has two more English reviews than Adabana (3 vs 1):

• Adabana reviews breakdown
• ATRI reviews breakdown

 

[Kvik]

The launch bundle

ANIPLEX.EXE LAUNCH BUNDLE on Steam

store.steampowered.com

Comes in at $23 each makes it a very attractive value proposition.

 

[Cacher]

Started Cho Dengeki Strikers. I have actually read through the prologue a year ago but got surprised by how being touched by this prologue.

Prologue

Protagonist's memory was completely wiped in exchange for becoming the superhero from manga. He was literally replaced by another person so could not say farewell to his childhood friend who was moving.

I did not feel much a year ago. But recently I was forced to leave Japan and say farewell to my friends and colleagues due to coronavirus. It may be the first time in my life that I felt "we may not be able to see each other again". Seriously, fuck corona. I hope they stay well and healthy so that we can meet again.

 

[Ascheroth]

Started The Silver Case and played through the prologue. Interesting so far. Very unique presentation too.

 

[Exzyleph]

Apparently the VN 'The Warmth Between Us' is getting an English release via the developers behind Caffeine: Victoria's Legacy

The story is, in the developer's own words, about the 'warmth between people'.

Warmth, not the burning passion between lovers, or the pungent kick of an espresso, but the kind of warmth that silently infuses in the dark of night, offering a candle to show the light. It's like a slow-brewed pour-over coffee on a winter's night. A warmth that does not choke, or fade away even when they are long gone. It's simply a story that breaks down the feeling of love, regret, loss into its basic components - A story about the human condition.

It looks nice and is super cheap, so I'll probably grab it sooner rather than later.

 

[Theswweet]

I finished Higurashi ch5 Meakashi last night. I know I haven't been talking about it much, but I've been enjoying it quite a bit. Umineko is my favorite VN and all I wanted was to feel some of that same magic - and its delivered in spades.

...I think I may have an inkling what the big twist is going to be, though, already.

 

[Myradeer]

That's not because of the region locking in Europe, but probably because Frontwing is a lot more popular, especially in China.

Almost all of the reviews are in Chinese (127 of 135 for ATRI, 9 of 10 for Adabana) and ATRI only has two more English reviews than Adabana (3 vs 1):

• Adabana reviews breakdown
• ATRI reviews breakdown

The discrepancy in China is interesting. I thought Liar-soft was pretty well regarded VN developer, but maybe they got more attention in Western scene due to some of their work being available in English. Have to admit their products are niche and unlikely to be competitive with titles intended for the mainstream.

 

[skLaFarebear]

I know the situation with GIGA and their english fanbase is pretty bad, but come on man. This game has some of the most text of any VN I've ever played, let the localizers add their names to the credits at the least, even if it's in a post launch path. I love Baldr Sky so much, it's becoming one of my favorite VNs i've ever played, but this is incredibly wack of GIGA.