Community The Visual Novel Council | All Choices Lead To Here

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
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NekoNyan has released the Perfect Edition DLC for Aokana for free. The Perfect Edition DLC consists of a couple of H-scenes for Misaki (one during her route and one in the replay menu), so it can be safely ignored if that is not your thing:

They also sent out the digital art book to backers and it is damn gorgeous, but the PDF also clocks in at 1.1 GB :sweaty-blob:

The fifth VN bookclub is also up and this month it is for Narcissu (free) and its various side-stories (currently on sale):
 
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sprinkles

Junior Member
Dec 8, 2018
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I have Mask of Desception on my Vita, but played only a bit. With the Vita collecting dust for a couple years now I think I'll double dip... a few sales from now.
 

Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
2,438
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I have Mask of Desception on my Vita, but played only a bit. With the Vita collecting dust for a couple years now I think I'll double dip... a few sales from now.
I'd still prefer to play it on Vita, provided it's jailbroken and you have installed plugins to remove screen dimming and slide to unlock.
Unless you have Win 2 or a Surface tablet, that is.
 
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Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
5,463
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Just in case you lot missed it (if nobody else posted it too as I don't check this thread, but barely anyone commented in the other thread I mentioned it). I think it counts as a VN and a relatively unique one at that with the various time limits and other such features that spice up dialogue selection. There are some battle segments which aren't a common VN feature but they are few and far between, one per chapter or similar (it's set up like an anime with episodes and even a "coming up next" preview at the end of each), without leveling or items even though it resembles an SRPG. Only your dialogue choices which may affect the morale of the team members can increase or decrease their battle stats, as well as specific story progression points. Lots of nice art and animated scenes.

This is a launch trailer to celebrate the release of the Sakura Wars fan translation patch for the Sega Saturn version of the game. This marks the very first time that the original entry in this long-running franchise will be playable in English since it was initially published in Japan over two decades ago!
Instructions on how to apply the patch are included in the Readme file.

The trailer was made to look similar to Sakura Wars' original 1996 Japanese television commercial. The clean animated footage and animated English logo were provided by/edited by TrekkiesUnite118 while the trailer itself was put together by myself (Bowl of Lentils). The script was written by cj_iwakura, which was based off a translation of the Japanese ad created by Eien1No1Yami, and the voice-over was recorded by CrouchingMouse.
Sakura Wars is a Japanese steampunk media franchise created by Oji Hiroi and developed and owned by Sega. The first game in the series was released in 1996, and has since spawned five other main entries and numerous spin-off titles since then. The series—set during a fictionalized version of the Taishō period—depicts groups of women with magical abilities using steam-powered mecha to combat demonic threats.

The original Sakura Wars was an ambitious title for the then-in-production Sega Saturn. The first game's overlap of the tactical role-playing, dating sim and visual novel genres prompted Sega to classify it as a "dramatic adventure", a moniker which has endured during the series' lifetime. Both Red Entertainment and Sega co-developed most of the games until 2019, when Sega became the sole developer. While the series has seen continuity in the main actors who could both act and sing as well as composer Kohei Tanaka, several other designers, programmers and animation studios would be employed through a number of games.

The series has sold over 4.5 million copies as of 2010, and garnered both critical and popular acclaim. The original Sega console games have been voted among the most popular for the Saturn and Dreamcast. The Sakura Wars franchise includes numerous anime productions, manga, and other media projects such as stage shows. With the exception of Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love and Project Sakura Wars, the video game series has not been released in English. Several of the anime series have been localized for English territories.
And the initial screenshots I took with SSF (the game works with that if you mount the image, it's also fine with Mednafen and the Beetle core in RetroArch too):
These were taken with the Beetle core in RetroArch (and the mattias crt shader on top), sorry for the crappy letterboxing in them.
 
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beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
2,170
4,558
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Finished Higurashi Chapter 2. Still into it! It’s fun. Perhaps not as engaging as some of the other VNs I’ve read and it’s no Dostoyevsky, but I’ve enjoyed reading a bit of it in the evenings. I’ll definitely pick it back up with Chapter 3 soon.
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
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After a 10 days long hiatus, I resumed my Steins;Gate playthrough ! I was really worried it might be another dropped attempt !
I just finished chapter 4 ! Good ! Then I looked at the number of chapters ! HELPPPPPP ! :astonished-face:

Overall not a very interesting chapter, the fluff was strong in this one. But at the same time it had some major events and developed the friendship angle, it wasn't totally useless. Just super long. And idiotic : Okarin completely forgot he was chasing after the IBN in a fucking heartbeat
 
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beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
2,170
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After a 10 days long hiatus, I resumed my Steins;Gate playthrough ! I was really worried it might be another dropped attempt !
I just finished chapter 4 ! Good ! Then I looked at the number of chapters ! HELPPPPPP ! :astonished-face:

Overall not a very interesting chapter, the fluff was strong in this one. But at the same time it had some major events and developed the friendship angle, it wasn't totally useless. Just super long. And idiotic : Okarin completely forgot he was chasing after the IBN in a fucking heartbeat
Oh my goodness. Okarin will forget a lot of things for convenience of the story. Get ready. By the end of Chapter 4 is when I got fully into it IIRC. It takes a while to get going. Chaos Child felt even slower somehow. Really stretching it thin.
 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
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Launch prices for Utawarerumono per the official discord:
We just put up a new trailer for Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception on Steam. Check it out on the Steam store page, and don't forget to wishlist if you haven't already!

We're announcing pricing as well. Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception and Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth will launch on Steam on January 23rd, 2020, at $39.99 USD each in the United States, with a 15% launch discount for the release period. The four Character DLCs will be sold for $2.99 USD each. Other regions follow Steam’s recommended regional pricing, with a few exceptions described below.

Two bundles will be available on Steam, the Series Bundle and the Complete Bundle.
The Series Bundle contains the games at a 10% discount.
The Complete Bundle contains the games and all DLC at a 20% discount.
These are both configured as “Complete the Set” bundles.

Exceptions to standard regional pricing are as follows.
China: Games ¥380.00 CNY each; DLC ¥38.00 CNY each
Taiwan: Games $1,690.00 TWD each; DLC $174.00 TWD each
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
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Started chapter 5 of Steins;Gate. The game was in one of thoooose science mood. My head hurts :face-with-head-bandage:
 

Gevin

Watch Madoka
Nov 16, 2018
1,046
3,194
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Is the first Utawarerumono going to be released too? How much do you lose by starting on Mask of Deception?
 

skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
653
1,230
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Is the first Utawarerumono going to be released too? How much do you lose by starting on Mask of Deception?
Not much outside of some fun fanservice and one particular sequence. It's Mask of Truth, specifically the late game, where you really start to lose out.
 
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Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
2,438
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Counterpoint: The references to the 1st Uta are the only good parts of Mask of Deception.
 

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
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Downunder.
The bad thing about the 2006 anime is that they skipped Ulthury's character arc which was one of the most poignant arc in Uta1.
 
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Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
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Downunder.
Uta OT is now up. An hour exercise has turned into a 3-hour one. :02dead:

 

AHA-Lambda

MetaMember
Oct 9, 2018
2,811
7,247
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Anyone know what the other listed project for the Stein's Gate 10th anniversary are?
First I've heard of this.

EDIT: nvm, found all the previous announcements, nothing game related
 
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Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
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âge, the company behind Muv-Luv, has put up a survey, in part asking which of their titles people would like to see localized:
âge 2020 Fan Survey and Special Interview from Twinfinite!

Direct link to the survey:
 
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Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
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Downunder.
I wrote a bunch of much-needed features for modern VN in that âge survey for their consideration. Scalable fonts, integer scaling, arbitrary resolution support, native Steam input etc.

Last night I played a little of Marco & The Galaxy Dragon demo. It's pretty fun, Translation is a bit spotty though, some grammar and punctuation errors. The artwork is really pretty, and you can select a font type from a list. Although I don't think this feature actually work in-game. :dana_think:

 
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Linked fandisc for KL by mistake

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
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NekoNyan just dropped a bunch of announcements (post 1 and post 2):

  • Senren*Banka (Steam) will be released on the 14th next month (Valentines Day)
  • Aokana Kickstarter merch has been delayed due to the Corona virus; translation of the next drama CDs and fan-disc is expected to "soon" and "in the next few months", respectively.
  • Making Loves and Hello Lady is 100% translated and edited; both are expected to be released "within the next few months".
  • Fureraba ~Friend to Lover~ will be released on the Nintendo Switch, including the extra Vita content for the game, which will be released for PC at the same time.
  • Dracu-Riot officially announced and is 100% translated and edited. It is currently being ported to a new engine. This game was previously licensed by Sekai Project.
  • Riddle Joker officially announced.
  • Kin'iro Loveriche officially announced and is 40% translated and 12% edited
  • IxSHE Tell officially announced and is 45% translated and 45% edited
  • Clover Day's officially announced and is currently 100% translated and 0% edited

EDIT: Was trying to specify an edit-reason and it turned out that was the Threadmark field. Sorry about that.
 
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Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
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MangaGamer tweeted another set of updates and included an update that we've all been waiting for:

I believe that the previous chapter of Higurashi spent a fair bit of time heading into/in beta and a fair bit of time after that before it was released, so chapter 8 probably won't be out before summer.

In addition to that, the also posted the following updates:

Of these, I am probably most looking forward to Sona-Nyl. Hopefully I can find time to read Sharnoth before it is released.


The sixth visual novel book club thread is also up and running, and this time it is Kara no Shojo:
 

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
10,267
113
Downunder.
Summer Pockets has some neat options.



I'm curious about the "Advanced" display mode. A resolution select, perhaps? :02notes:
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,706
15,611
113
Looks lighthearted, but isn't it what Key games aren't ?
 

ZKenir

❀ Child of Raikou ❀
May 10, 2019
3,312
9,493
113
JAST released venus blood frontier on Steam and it's selling a ton apparently

 
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