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Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
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Are these any good? First time I hear about this series.
It's a series of chuuni/mystery'ish VNs that mainly stand out due to the strength of its cast as well as being quite funny.
The main character is voiced and has a lot more personality than the average VN protagonist, which also adds a lot.

Each episode focuses on one heroine, but each episode also builds on the previous episode in terms of the story/mystery, so you do have to play them in order.

I really like the episodes I've read (1-3), though I'll warn up front that episode one does feel like a prologue.
Also be warned that one of the heroines is the protagonist's sister, with all that entails.
 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
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Very nice. I'm especially thrilled to see NN pick up another ASa Project title, since Sankaku Ren'ai was one of the funniest VNs I've read (and the source of my user title). More Yuzusoft fluff can't hurt either and I'm definitely interested in more of Smee's works as well, based on Making*Lovers and based on the little I've played of Fureraba (it's in the backlog, I swear). So pretty much a thee for three announcement for me :blobeyes:

VNDB links for the lazy:


Holy shit, more good news:



I've been hoping to see Mirai Radio picked up since Sol Press shit the bed, and I definitely trust NN to deliver a quality release.
 
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skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
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MIRAI RADIO LIVES


Guess this pretty much confirms that Nekonyan is also doing Hakuchuumu no Aojashin as well

Edit: Slow. But also this bodes well for Nukitashi 2 and other Favorite titles once Sol Press leaves the VN industry for good. Hopefully those titles get picked up sooner than later.
 
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Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
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There's some fun April Fools jokes this year, and some fun non-April Fools jokes.

Apparently Nekoworks is turning one of their earlier jokes into a real VN and it actually looks pretty nice:
NekoPara - Catboy's Paradise

Key is doing a crossover with 100 of their characters:

And Smee's Aprils fools joke is a Sci-Fi version of Making*Lovers.
I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't interested in reading it:

And in the probably not a joke corner (it's dated 2021-03-31), Sekai Project claims to have acquired feng licenses:
 
Reason: Replace links with archive.org equivalents
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Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
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NaNoReNo 2021 ended a few days ago, and it is worth well checking out if you are looking for some short and interesting reads.

Here are a few examples among the many titles that stood out to me:
 

skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
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Excellent news


Glad to see Anchor/Ages has been listening to the feedback. Only major thing I can think of that's missing is resolution options, apparently that can only be changed atm by manually resizing the window.
 
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Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
bsky.app
So uh, I managed to get to the true ending of Baldr Sky over the Easter break. That was quite a task.




Still have to do the normal routes, bad ends and the rest of the Survival mode. I thought after 200 hours with this game and practically only halfway through all the content, I deserve a bit of a break. :flare_lmao:

I enjoyed my time with the game. The themes explored in the game is quite interesting as far as cyberpunk goes. I can't help feeling that they could've explored the grey area between the church, GOAT and ARK's ideologies a bit better, rather than making a single faction its true villain. Without delving too much into spoiler territory, I think Baldr Sky is a love story at its core, while it's still a good story, I would love it if its humanism theme is explored as well, rather than simply providing a backdrop for Kou's many trials.

Like many others, Rain's route is probably my favourite one, with Chinatsu's a close second. Chinatsu's route has the potential of being the best route, but seems like GIGA insists on making it weird in the last 15 minutes of her route (You'll know what I mean). Sora's route wasn't bad by any means, and the way she got together with Kou is sweet, but something about Rain's route where she managed to get out of her shell and sticking with Kou through thick and thin feels very rewarding to me. And of course, there's one particular route that does not need an H-scene, like at all.

I enjoyed the combat for the most part as well, but I wish it was more responsive. I played with a controller and it has been working well, but I can't juggle enemies with melee combos nearly as well. I mainly focused on ranged/energy attacks.
 

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
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There's a sale of Mangagamer's entire OVERDRIVE titles (50% off). I might pick up Cho Dengeki Stryker and Kira*Kira. Wasn't Kira*Kira on Steam at some point? Anyway.


And also the Steam page for Waffle's new title is up.

 

skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
653
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Don't plan on reading Musicus atm, but still picking it up to show support. I always hear amazing things about it.

There's a sale of Mangagamer's entire OVERDRIVE titles (50% off). I might pick up Cho Dengeki Stryker and Kira*Kira. Wasn't Kira*Kira on Steam at some point? Anyway.


And also the Steam page for Waffle's new title is up.

Hell will freeze over before Waffle has any problems putting their games untouched and uncensored on Steam.

when's the Funbag sale MG I need to load up
 
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Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
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Someone posted a pretty comprehensive review of Doukyuusei on vndb.


Some excerpts.

With this in mind, Doukyuusei is interesting and a lot of fun in ways that most modern VNs are not. There's no suffocating conception of "pure love" forcing heroines or events down a narrow tube - some of the heroines have boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, and one is even a flat-out prostitute. The same goes for the protagonist, since you could easily call out his feelings as being "fake" because he's skirt-chasing 14 girls at once, but he actually has a fairly clever response in game to that - in the moment, he loves whichever girl he's speaking to the most. What a beautiful ideal.
Another quite interesting aspect is that, as mentioned, 9 of the heroines are adult women, and quite a number of heroines have boyfriends or are non-virgins. One is even a married woman. But this is all treated so maturely it can actually make you double-take: this game came out before 処女厨 (people obsessed with virgins) really became a thing, so the protagonist doesn't even comment on some of the girls having lost their virginity already. It's treated a completely normal thing that doesn't impact their relationship in the slightest (although drama involving ex-boyfriends might come into play). In a way it's kind of like taking a glimpse into an alternate reality where VN readers aren't supremely sensitive about virginity and restrictive ideas of "pure" love, and personally I quite liked it. A lot of moments in Doukyuusei felt more real to life and in-depth than other VNs which are restricted to a fantasy land of all girls saving their virginity for MC-kun.
But indeed, it's only the remake that has gorgeous Sumeragi art. How does the Remake compare to the original? Well, I haven't played the original, but I have played the original PC98 version of Doukyuusei 2, so I can provide a bit of insight. I think if one really loves the PC98 aesthetic (visuals and music) then there is value in playing the original, but outside of that niche the remake seems to be the definite way to play. Everything is easy to play, smooth, high resolution (native 1080p), etc.
More insights at the link. It's a shame that the game will probably get Denuvo'd.
 
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skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
653
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Frontwing dropping KINO on us. This is the last company I was expecting to do it, but I'm certainly not complaining, unless they drop the ball on it's release. Please don't fuck this up again Frontwing.


Why can't they make a more concise title? We already grasp the fetish it caters for with a single word. :flare_lmao:

Still undefeated compared to Nukitashi: I'm a Celibate, Get Me Out of Here!

Which, speaking of has finally hit 100% on it's TL and Editing and its QA build is currently in progress, though based on the progress for Irotoridori no Sekai, doesn't give me much hope it's coming anytime soon.
 
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skLaFarebear

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Dec 4, 2019
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Took a hundred hours and 3 months, but I finally finished Dies Irae, and that was such a fun and excellent read with a really amazing ending! And man, I don't think I've ever seen such a well developed and charming cast of villains in a story before this, which is insane considering how many of them there are. The game really uses it's time wisely for the most part to develop it's characters and tell a relatively simplistic yet fun story that was heavily carried by it's excellent cast, though it definitely dragged at times with the ludicrous amounts of prose in the narrative. Besides that, I think my only real complaint is that, compared to the variety in the CGs which are so beautifully drawn, I wish the OST had some more variety. It's a great OST and had good direction especially at the end, but you'll definitely be hearing quite a bit of the songs more than a few dozen times.

I'll probably take a break before hopping into Interview with Kaziklu Bay, it's a relatively short side story looking at VNDB, but I could definitely use some time playing something else before hopping into it.
 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Tiny Bunny episode 2 is out on Steam :blobeyes:
This is a really promising Russian horror VN, with great art, and the first episode/prologue is free:


The full game is in EA and remaining episodes will be added later:


I would strongly recommend giving the prologue a read if you enjoy horror.


Date-A-Live Rio Reincarnated Deluxe is on sale at Fanatical at the moment - 65% off.
I bought the collectors edition on launch and I still haven't played it .. in fact, I started on the LN recently because I wanted to be able to actually play it :D
 
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Easlye

Junior Member
Apr 9, 2021
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It is a weird recommendation, but I really liked Aviary Attorney. Though how much I recommend it depends on what you like about Phoenix Wright series.


I am curious what other folks will recommended as I love that series too.
Oh shit, I've actually played this! Completely forgot about it until now. It was absolutely hilarious.
 
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EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
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Easlye What was it about Phoenix Wright you enjoyed? What would you be looking for in an alternative? This may help us avoid games that aren't interactive enough, for example.

There's a few finished PyWright games listed here if you want to get really sick of 'em :)
List of PyWright Games - PyWright Wiki

Exzyleph
Wow, i should have guessed there'd be a python engine made for the Phoenix Wright template. That's amazing.
 
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Easlye

Junior Member
Apr 9, 2021
28
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Thanks for your suggestions everyone! I'll check them out.
Easlye What was it about Phoenix Wright you enjoyed? What would you be looking for in an alternative? This may help us avoid games that aren't interactive enough, for example.

There's a few finished PyWright games listed here if you want to get really sick of 'em :)
List of PyWright Games - PyWright Wiki

Exzyleph
Wow, i should have guessed there'd be a python engine made for the Phoenix Wright template. That's amazing.
I really liked the characters and storyline, plus how it wasn't afraid to get dark now and then. I also liked the artstyle--it reminds me of Pokemon in how it's anime but still approachable for Western audiences (at least for me).

As for what I'd be looking for, I'm honestly not sure. Nothing overly complicated but still fun like Phoenix Wright, I guess. I don't mind involved storylines with twists and turns.
 
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Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
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It's actually episode 4. People were very happy with the finale.
Re-replying to an old post:

I just finished and 9-nine- episode 4 myself and that was an amazing read :blobeyes:
I can definitely see why it was rated that high in Japan. It has also become the 22nd highest rated VN on VNDB since it released in English.

Now we just gotta wait for Sekai Project to hopefully bring over the fan-disc.
 
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Cacher

MetaMember
Jun 3, 2020
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Re-replying to an old post:

I just finished and 9-nine- episode 4 myself and that was an amazing read :blobeyes:
I can definitely see why it was rated that high in Japan. It has also become the 22nd highest rated VN on VNDB since it released in English.

Now we just gotta wait for Sekai Project to hopefully bring over the fan-disc.
That's great to hear! I heard the fan disc is also a short (2 hours max) but good read. Shouldn't take too much time for localization then!
 
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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Interest piqued !
Googling 9-Nine it looks like it's one of those 'not all age at all' original release.

And by the way, does 'When Streaming through Steam the game will revert to an all ages version' mean that I can't play the 18+ on my iPad ? That's, uh, something. Not that I'm particularly interested in the 18+ content but I'm also quite fond of playing the original experience, so to speak.
 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Interest piqued !
Googling 9-Nine it looks like it's one of those 'not all age at all' original release.

And by the way, does 'When Streaming through Steam the game will revert to an all ages version' mean that I can't play the 18+ on my iPad ? That's, uh, something. Not that I'm particularly interested in the 18+ content but I'm also quite fond of playing the original experience, so to speak.
I tested it with the Steam Link app on an iPhone and none of the restrictions listed on Denpasoft seemed to apply for episode four.
It probably only applies if you stream via Steam broadcasts, since that is (potentially) visible to other people.


There's also a bundle discount for 9-nine- right now, and it's a "Complete the Bundle" so you can just grab episode one and see if it appeals to you at all:

Just be aware that the first episode is the weakest episode (it is still good, but the series really hits its stride with episode two, IMO) and that you have to read them in order, since each episode builds on the previous episodes (think of it as having enforced route order).
 
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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Kinda in the mood to try it. Your positive feedback is intriguing and the shorter nature of the episodic release may work in my favor as I seemingly can’t finish a VN :loudly-crying-face:
And yeah, the first episode is kinda cheap.

Do people have recommendations for some other recent VN ?
 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Kinda in the mood to try it. Your positive feedback is intriguing and the shorter nature of the episodic release may work in my favor as I seemingly can’t finish a VN :loudly-crying-face:

And yeah, the first episode is kinda cheap.


Do people have recommendations for some other recent VN ?
Hmm, 9-nine- is probably the most recent VN I've finished. Other than that I've mostly been working on my backlog. I have been working on some other recent'ish releases, but I'm not sure I'd recommend them without hesitation (both are also very long):
  • Riddle Joker is a recent Yuzusoft/Nekonyan release, but to be honest I'd suggest the other Yuzusoft releases over this, unless you've already read those and want more Yuzusoft.
  • Eiyu*Senki GOLD is an improvement on the original in some ways, mainly in terms of gameplay, but the story felt more fleshed out in the original.

But there have been several interesting releases lately, all pretty short:
  • Ebi-hime released The Mermaid of Zennor, which is a dark love-story/love-triangle/drama.
  • The dark yurige Sutekina kanojo no tsukurikata released yesteday and caused out-rage among yuri fans (just check the Steam reviews, though beware of spoilers). But it sounds interesting and the translation is supposedly better than the MTL tier store page, but it also seems to contain disturbing content.
  • Episode 2 of the Russian horror VN Tiny Bunny released recently. I was really impressed by the (free) prologue and I'll be reading this soon. It might be something short for you to read, provided that you are OK with waiting for the remaining chapters.
  • Perfect Gold is a yurige the same people that did The Letter. Their titles are very high production for EVNs and generally well received.

And there are a few interesting (to me) titles releasing on the 30th:

And if you are OK with some older releases, then I'd suggest giving Fatal Twelve a look. I just finished earlier this month and it is a really good battle royale VN with a great cast of characters, where the fight involves obtaining information about other participants.