Community The Visual Novel Council | All Choices Lead To Here

[Exzyleph]

Marco ? And the galaxy dragon ? It looks fun, was this a 18+ title originally ? How is it ?

Yeah, Marco & the Galaxy Dragon:



I'm a bit more lukewarm on Marco than ExistentialThought, but I'd still recommend giving it a shot.

Without going into specifics, the game suffer from a lot of emotional whiplash and the story is kinda all over the place..
I wrote some more detailed thoughts here, back when I had just read it, but those are more spoilery.

But it also has a great cast of characters, a toon of good gags, an absolutely ludicrous amount of CGs (especially considering the short length), and even fully animated segments. If it got a sequel then I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[Cacher]

BTW, Monkeys (post #1,841) is developed by the same company behind Marco. Tokyotoon is just the all-aged label of Harukaze.

 

[Exzyleph]

Fatal Twelve is getting a Limited Run edition.

For anyone not familiar with Fatal Twelve, it is a pretty good Death Game VN where participants fight through information gathering.

 

[Cacher]

Nearing the branching point between route, let’s say #3 and the Revelation ending in Somnium Files. I still have a little way to go between these two and the horribly depressing one but nearing the end.
And I have no idea where Uchikoshi is going with this ball.

Started playing on game pass as well. Enjoying it so far but it is also pretty weird to see morning wood being mentioned in the tips lmao.

 

[beep boop]

So, I was thinking of starting Clannad and found out that it's got a dozen routes, some of which are prerequisites of one another. Any tips on how I could best approach this? Can I just do/pick whatever choices I feel like on my first go around and then aim for specific routes, or should I be playing with a guide in the background from the start?

 

[Knurek]

So, I was thinking of starting Clannad and found out that it's got a dozen routes, some of which are prerequisites of one another. Any tips on how I could best approach this? Can I just do/pick whatever choices I feel like on my first go around and then aim for specific routes, or should I be playing with a guide in the background from the start?

For all Key games, I'd go with the order Kazamatsuri went with

 

[beep boop]

For all Key games, I'd go with the order Kazamatsuri went with

Thanks! Will do that then. See you in like a month or two

 

[Exzyleph]

Thanks! Will do that then. See you in like a month or two

Their bookclub podcasts are also really good if you enjoy listening to people discuss a work of fiction.

 

[beep boop]

Their bookclub podcasts are also really good if you enjoy listening to people discuss a work of fiction.

Sounds appealing! Is it something I can listen to as I play or should I wait until after I’ve finished the entirety of it?

 

[Exzyleph]

Sounds appealing! Is it something I can listen to as I play or should I wait until after I’ve finished the entirety of it?

I usually only listen to the podcasts once I've finished reading the entire VN, but they do them route-by-route or chapter-by-chapter depending on the VN, so you can also read a chunk and then listen to the corresponding episode, if that sounds more appealing to you. The walk-through on that page is the same order as the bookclub episodes, so you're good to go either way.

 

[beep boop]

I usually only listen to the podcasts once I've finished reading the entire VN, but they do them route-by-route or chapter-by-chapter depending on the VN, so you can also read a chunk and then listen to the corresponding episode, if that sounds more appealing to you. The walk-through on that page is the same order as the bookclub episodes, so you're good to go either way.

I think I'll do episode by episode then. If I like the pod, that'll make for good motivation to keep playing

Edit: One of the characters is voiced by the same person who did Rena in Higurashi. That freaked me out for a sec!

 

[Kvik]

I've finished with the Nemesis route of Muramasa.

I have a hard time deciding which route resonates with me the most. At first glance, Ichijou's route seems to be the clear winner, but The Law of Vengeance in Kanae's route is so compelling since it forces both Kageaki and Kanae to find meaning in their pursuit of ideals since they're both the executioner of their own conviction. Kageaki seeks vengeance to avenge his father, while Kanae seeks vengeance to avenge Yuhi. And at the same time, it is also salvation they seek at the end of their swords. There's something poetic and serene at the end of it since they both found each other and accomplished their goals despite losing their lives in the process.

The route is also quite humorous. The throwaway options during the assault of the airship was pretty good. And I definitely didn't expect a fan service from Sayo of all people. I feel the musha combat in this route isn't as interesting as the other. They're quick and to the point. What I'm not exactly a fan of is the multitude of dialogue/action options this route is littered with. I feel it worked fine while we're adventuring, but it breaks up the pacing a little bit during musha combat since the clues to the correct dialogue choices aren't immediately apparent resulting in a bit of trial and error.

I'm keen to see what role Chacamaru has in all this. Why is she committing suicide with Ginseigo? And she was able to converse with Muramasa too. She seems to know a lot about tsurugis. Like, she's attuned to it.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next route. I haven't been following a guide and I think I made a good decision since it never becomes frustrating.


EDIT: I've started reading the next route and it's already amazing.

Also found a great Muramasa fan art from one of my favourite Kiseki fan artists.

light spoiler for 3rd route

 

[skLaFarebear]

Muramasa Nemesis Route

The confrontation between Kanae and Kageaki in the prison cell was masterful. Learning her backstory and how she connects to Yuhi puts a lot of chapter 1 (especially that scene of her crying when she "predicts" Yuhi's fate) into context and the payoff was just wonderful, especially the CG of Kageaki weeping into Kanae's hand and her being utterly shocked at his response. I had to stop there as I had things to take care of, but my god was everything about that scene just so cathartic for both Kageaki and the reader especially, both as a form of payoff of everything up to this point and because you can't help but empathize for Kagaeki when all he's wanted was for someone to not forgive him for "his" sins. I'm not gonna forget about this one for a while

This VN is so damn good man. I can't wait to get back to it this weekend.

Also shoutout to Zizz Studio for the amazing sound direction and the overall quality of the soundtrack. I was already very impressed by their work for Hanachirasu and Demonbane, but Muramasa's is on another level. Definitely one of the best soundtracks I've heard for any VN.

 

[Kvik]

Also shoutout to Zizz Studio for the amazing sound direction and the overall quality of the soundtrack

The scene in Kageaki's prison cell whilst this track starts playing. I feel that.



I'll post a bunch of bangers from Muramasa in the Game Soundtrack OT later, but the quality has been amazing.

 

[Exzyleph]

Love Duction and Ninki Seiyuu are out on Steam:



Both have free patches, on Denpasoft and Johren respectively.


And Abaddon, a (very NSFW) VN that got rejected by Valve, will be released on Fakku and itch.io:

 

[The_Inquisitor]

It’s really weird but as I’m getting older I’m playing more visual novels. Currently playing great ace attorney.

 

[Exzyleph]

Nekonyan posted another status update:

• Hello Lady! -Superior Entelecheia-: 100% Translation, 100% Editing, 65% QA
• Dracu Riot HD Remaster: 100% Translation, 100% Editing
• Clover Day's: 100% Translation, 100% Editing, 5% QA
• Cafe Stella and the Reapers’ Butterflies: 85% Translation, 85% Editing, 10% QA
• The Future Radio and the Artificial Pigeons: 100% Translation, 98% Editing
• Aoi Tori: 75% Translation, 25% Editing
• Kinkoi: Golden Loveriche Fan-disc: 50% Translation
• Secret Project #1: 100% Translation, 75% Editing
• Secret Project #3: 75% Translation

And on the Sekai Project/Denpasoft side,

• Kimagure Temptation / Whimsical Temptation has been submitted to Steam. This is another title that I am keeping a close eye on, since another game in the same setting (Nanairo Reincarnation) came out of nowhere and ended up being one of my favorite releases of 2019. It was both really funny and the true route hit really hard.
• Slobbish Dragon Princess 2 is also in QA, but the first one was pretty mediocre, so I don't have high hopes for it.
• And Subete no Koi ni, Hanataba o. / A Bouquet of My Beloveds, which seems interested solely based on the fact that all heroines are ghosts, is in editing.

 

[Knurek]

New (beta) release:
Kamaitachi no Yoru: Rinne Saisei English TL

 

[Kvik]

New (beta) release:
Kamaitachi no Yoru: Rinne Saisei English TL

My major pet peeve about these translation groups is that they have a functional website but fuck-all information on how to actually buy the game. I mean, it's not really a big deal when vndb has all the info we need but I feel encouraging people to buy the official version will benefit everyone in the long run.

 

[beep boop]

Historical lows for the Muv-Luv series:


I think I might jump on the first one. I'm aware everyone says Alternative is where it gets "really" good, but I also want to pick up some stuff in the Halloween sale still :b

Clannad vibe check: I'm still super early but so far the main character hasn't been especially likeable, so it's been hard to get into!

 

[Knurek]

Historical lows for the Muv-Luv series:


I think I might jump on the first one. I'm aware everyone says Alternative is where it gets "really" good, but I also want to pick up some stuff in the Halloween sale still :b

Nah, I enjoyed both Extra and Unlimited.. Extra is good for a quick laugh or two (and is really required for Alternative to hit you in the gonads), and Unlimited is decent as well (and has loads of plot dumps, so that you know the stakes in Alternative).

 

[Kvik]

I'm still super early but so far the main character hasn't been especially likeable, so it's been hard to get into!

I have the same opinion of Takeru when I read Extra. I like the slice-of-life genre in general, though, so I enjoyed my time with it. Let's just say that his character will undergo some changes across the subsequent games and the payoff is more than satisfying. You will have a lot to look forward to.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Historical lows for the Muv-Luv series:


I think I might jump on the first one. I'm aware everyone says Alternative is where it gets "really" good, but I also want to pick up some stuff in the Halloween sale still :b

Clannad vibe check: I'm still super early but so far the main character hasn't been especially likeable, so it's been hard to get into!

FYI, that there's a big Muv-Luv stream happening on the 23rd. Outside of more information about Immortal (the mobile game) and some anime stuff nothing else has been confirmed, but it'd be nice to get an update on Resonative or even a potential Schwarzesmarken EN announcement.

 

[Exzyleph]

Shiravune dropped a surprise announcement of Dohna Dohna.
This is Alicesoft's latest release, that was released just under a year ago.
On one hand it is great that Shiravune/DMM is able/willing to localize recent/high-profile releases, but sadly they still insists on using Denuvo for their releases.

And MangaGamer is releasing a few more physical editions:

 

[skLaFarebear]

Shiravune dropped a surprise announcement of Dohna Dohna.
This is Alicesoft's latest release, that was released just under a year ago.
On one hand it is great that Shiravune/DMM is able/willing to localize recent/high-profile releases, but sadly they still insists on using Denuvo for their releases.




And MangaGamer is releasing a few more physical editions:

Very excited to finally play Dohna Dohna! A shame that since this game's "content" makes even Rance look very lighthearted in comparison, there's absolutely 0 chance of a Steam release, so I'm forced to use Johren. At least I'm not worried about the TL itself since Shiravune does good work on that end.

Kinda hilarious seeing the comparisons between this and Rance's localization release speeds when of course Dohna Dohna would be much faster when you're basically comparing a game with text the size of the average Goosebumps book to a series with entries that are borderline near the Bible (and in X's case, way past that).

Grabbing that Rance 01/02 physical edition just so I can use the USB for work.

 

[Exzyleph]

A word of warning for those considering buying from Johren:
You apparently have to contact support when uninstalling games, or you risk running out of DRM activations (source):

 

[ExistentialThought]

A word of warning for those considering buying from Johren:
You apparently have to contact support when uninstalling games, or you risk running out of DRM activations (source):

Hahahahah, yeah never ever buying from there. After having a few boxed PC games that are coasters without cracks, I am never going down that path again.

Like how do companies in this day and age not understand that these moves make piracy look like a better option?

 

[Myradeer]

These DRMs are becoming more sillier and sillier

 

[Prodigy]

Sure I remember an old game doing the same move, was it disc crysis?, limited installs.
Anyway Dohna Dohna looks good.

 

[ExistentialThought]

Almost everything major from EA and Ubisoft between like 2006 and 2011 had limited installs due to Securom and Tages. They were not the only ones, but some of the biggest pushers of cruddy DRM.

80% of the reason I started using Steam was due to the fact that it was either Steam or a more intrusive form of DRM. Of course, Steam started doing far more over for PC gaming over time, but gosh those were some bleak years for PC around the mid-2000s.

 

[「Echo」]

Recently tried to play Subahibi on the second monitor. You know reading in downtime during FFXIV, between queues or while waiting. But the game just crashes everytime i tab out than back in. Just auto-closes. (Steam Version)

Unfortunate, Recently I finished DDLC+. It was my first exposure to DDLC, I remained largely spoiler free all these years. Really liked it. Hope Team Salvaato has another game in the works because the uhm... the outer layer story of DDLC is actually really interesting.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Muv-Luv stream recap

Mikhail story mode/pvp demo


Project immortal, now named Immortals Muv-Luv Alternative, gameplay footage with some new sick promotional art for Meiya

Stuff about the NFT Simulator Alternative anime, including blu-ray release dates.

Explaining how the Alt anime + Immortal + Mikhail has delayed any news on Resonative and Intergrate, but production is picking back up on both (moreso on the former) as well as a timeline of their upcoming projects.

Sounds like they're approximately aiming for a 2022 release window for Resonative, but considering it's Ages, expect delays. Integrate won't be till later down the line.

iOS/Android versions of Extra/Alternative aiming for a release date of January 2022.

Some merch talk, mostly showing the Meiya and Sumika bunny figs that are already up for pre-order

Next stream on Dec 30th-31st, during C99.

For en people, Mikhail on the 2nd of November releases on early access and TE's english TL is "in the final stretch"

 

[Li Kao]

I finished AI the Somnium Files. No, but seriously people, I finished a VN, that feels so good, like a curse getting canceled
And this finale. Why yes, I cried some manly tears.

 

[Snakethesniper]

I didn't follow the progression for muramasa, but were there news about the supposed steam release? Was it confirmed rejected in the end?

 

[Knurek]

It failed the initial review, this we know for sure.
Whether JAST has managed to overturn the ban or if they even want to try to do it, that's another thing.

 

[Cacher]

I finished AI the Somnium Files. No, but seriously people, I finished a VN, that feels so good, like a curse getting canceled
And this finale. Why yes, I cried some manly tears.

That ending

 

[Li Kao]

Where do you go if you want to buy the Muv Luv uncensor patch again ?

Oh and obviously, now I have finished a medium VN, every candidate that comes to mind is a huge monster. Like Muv Luv, Baldr Sky, Dies Irae, or Muramasa. Hmm, Majikoi too.

 

[Snakethesniper]

Where do you go if you want to buy the Muv Luv uncensor patch again ?

Oh and obviously, now I have finished a medium VN, every candidate that comes to mind is a huge monster. Like Muv Luv, Baldr Sky, Dies Irae, or Muramasa. Hmm, Majikoi too.

I think I bought it from Denpasoft

 

[Li Kao]

I think I bought it from Denpasoft

I don't see it there. Could it have been discontinued ?

 

[Snakethesniper]

I don't see it there. Could it have been discontinued ?

Might be? I found an article that mentions Denpasoft like I remembered: Muv-Luv Alternative’s 18+ Director’s Cut Patch Released

The patch is available via Denpasoft for $4.99, currently discounted to $4.49. Of course, those who backed the game will receive the update via their Kickstarter backerkit with no additional purchase required.

The link doesn't work though

 

[Li Kao]

Might be? I found an article that mentions Denpasoft like I remembered: Muv-Luv Alternative’s 18+ Director’s Cut Patch Released

The link doesn't work though

From the little I could gather the game changed hands sometimes in 2020. I suppose the new owner wasn't okay with the uncensor patch and retired it from denpasoft.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Where do you go if you want to buy the Muv Luv uncensor patch again ?

Oh and obviously, now I have finished a medium VN, every candidate that comes to mind is a huge monster. Like Muv Luv, Baldr Sky, Dies Irae, or Muramasa. Hmm, Majikoi too.

Here you go - A link to the H Patch :: Muv-Luv General Discussions

Just make sure you run the game for the first time, before applying the patch.

 

[Kvik]

I finished a VN, that feels so good, like a curse getting canceled

Congrats! And welcome to the wonderful world of literature~

You can now go ahead and read Muramasa. It's only... checks notes ... 80 hours and counting.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I bought all the Muv-Luvs I was missing (Have the OG on Alt on Vita/360).

Also skLaFarebear , The second MV game almost looks like the robot mode in Aegis Rim. Considering I really enjoyed that part of the game I'm curious to see more.

 

[beep boop]

I've gotten through the baseball route of Clannad, and I'm considering leaving it there. My main reasons being that I find most of the cast varying degrees of uninteresting, and I didn't feel like there was enough (any?) momentum driving the story forward. I'm also still not sure what the central plot that ties things together is either. Maybe that part is uniquely a problem of this route, but then the characters don’t exactly inspire me to continue either. Knowing that the game is structured the way it is, I don’t expect the game will develop individual characters outside of their own routes in a way that makes the ensemble feel well rounded in general, but perhaps I'm mistaken in that.

So yeah, I'm not feeling confident that doing the rest will be worth the time investment. I might read a broader outline of what happens in the game and judge based on that.

Not entirely unrelated, I'm thinking Umineko will be more my speed than Muv Luv, so I'll probably hold off on the latter. That discount on Muv Luv is pretty nice though, and I wonder if it'll go back to only 40% off for a long time or if this is the new discounted price point.

 

[skLaFarebear]

I bought all the Muv-Luvs I was missing (Have the OG on Alt on Vita/360).

Also skLaFarebear , The second MV game almost looks like the robot mode in Aegis Rim. Considering I really enjoyed that part of the game I'm curious to see more.

The first thing I thought of was also 13 Sentinels when I first saw more of the Immortal gameplay. Since it's a mobile game I'm not expecting anywhere near the same level of depth, but it looks like it could at least be pretty enjoyable.

Unfortunately, it's gonna be JP only for now. Hopefully they do eventually localize it, but until then Bluestacks/Qooapp will have to do.

 

[Exzyleph]

Adding to the list of things I didn't expect:

GOG is now selling Evenicle

Evenicle

GameplayWith mountains, valleys, seas, and skies to explore, it's a world-traversing RPG

www.gog.com

This title features mature content that may not be suitable for all all audiences, including fictional depictions of graphic violence, polygamy, drug use, hypnotism, assault, and incest; both consensual and non-consensual graphic sexual scenes between adults featuring men and women, women with other women, multiple partners, machines, and fictional creatures.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Adding to the list of things I didn't expect:

GOG is now selling Evenicle

Evenicle

GameplayWith mountains, valleys, seas, and skies to explore, it's a world-traversing RPG

www.gog.com

Not too surprised considering it's (the first game) also on Steam. Now if Rance makes it on GOG, I'll be shocked.

Though I wonder if this is how Alicesoft EN plans on getting Evenicle 2 out to the west. I feel like if a deal was going to happen with MG/JAST/etc. by now, it would've already happened.

 

[Kvik]

I feel bad for Alicesoft because it sounds like they had big plans with self-publishing Evenicle 2. But with Steam the way they are ...


On a much lighter note, JAST Halloween sale is on now.

Games & Visual Novels

jastusa.com

Grab that Muramasa now, fellow VN enjoyers~

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa

Rooted in traditional warrior philosophy and packed full of action, drama, and humor, this epic visual novel is an experience you'll never forget.

jastusa.com

It's only 10% off but still worth every cent.

 

[ExistentialThought]

I feel bad for Alicesoft because it sounds like they had big plans with self-publishing Evenicle 2. But with Steam the way they are ...

When Alicesoft said they were taking over publishing on Steam themselves (and I pretty sure they were going the no patch/censor/etc route), I 99% assumed it was going to be banned.

It still surprises me the first game has not been removed.