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35% edited edit: I'm also doing a tl check on the scripts

I can't tell you what he was trying to say on a grander scale, but there were times where I feel like he was trying to say "fuck you" during certain events.

Try typing “nscdec.exe nscript.dat” I guess you have to specify the file you’re decoding. I thought it tried to look for one automatically but I guess not, sorry.

Yesterday I finished Lovers ~Koi ni Ochitara...~, which is a remake of Love Escalator that I played before. It's quite decent high school romance VN with some light dating sim elements. Main heroine is Rie, and her route is pretty good. I guess I actually shouldn't use the word "route" here, as it doesn't apply too much. The thing is - Rie and Takashi (MC) get together at the end of the prologue, and whole game is mostly about her. There are two side heroines, Noriko and Hanako, but they don't have proper routes. And to get their endings you basically have to be a dick and neglect your girlfriend, while dating side chicks instead. It's all especially grating in PC98 version, where in story part there are no choices, and everything happens in dating sim part. By taking chosen girl to a date that she likes, you collect "relationship points". If you fail to establish good enough relationship with Rie she'll leave in December, and that opens path for other endings. But other than that, the story doesn't in any way react to the fact that you're cheating bastard neglecting his cute girlfriend. And as for Noriko and Hanako - apart from some scenes in prologue when they get introduced, they don't have any events at all. You just take them to the dates during dating sim segments - which are just a few repetitive lines, and once you get enough relationship points, you can take them to the love hotel and watch h-scene. And then hold ctrl key right to the end - which again is very short and rather unsatisfying. That's why, even though main route was good, I rated Love Escalator with 7/10. It would probably be 6.5 or even 6, but it got bonus points for great pixel art graphics But with only one good route per three heroines, it doesn't deserve higher score. Now, having the bad out of the way, let's talk about good. (this applies to both versions, I'll point out the differences in text where relevant) While MC isn't exactly great person, he was relatable to me with his insecurities. And his indecisiveness comes back to bite him in the ass. I really liked the main story - it follows basic high-school romance conventions, but not necessarily moege conventions, since it predates almost all moeges So it isn't all fluff, flowers and rainbows - MC has his insecurities, there are rivals appearing a few times, and well, there's main problem of secretly dating a girl that your best friend has crush on. The thing that stood out - in a good way - was how side characters were treated. This VNs introduces tons of side characters - and almost all of them have sprite and voice. Also, the friends of MC and Rie aren't there just to provide background - they have their own little stories, and they even get short arcs shown from their perspective. There are lots of funny interactions between cast. Well, there's one thing this VN shares with lots of moeges - best girl Mayumi isn't a heroine (and there were no fandiscs...) Lovers ~Koi ni Ochitara...~ was great improvement over Love Escalator when it comes to the structure/system - it at least partially fixes the most glaring shortcomings of previous version. Main story got extended - they added two additional arcs (school trip and cultural festival) that were only briefly mentioned in PC98 version. Also, there are lots of choices added - some are meaningless, but some affect relationship score, so now it isn't restricted to dating sim part. Noriko and Hanako got at least their mini-routes. When you unlock them by getting enough relationship points and failing Rie's route, there are two additional events for each of the girls. So while not full-fledged routes, it's great improvement over PC98 version. (Also, they added more h-scenes for them, with the first one happening in-story instead of dating sim.) Noriko's story was okay. Hanako's was a bit WTF to me, I don't get what did MC see in her, but to each their own Dating sim part was greatly improved and expanded. Now for each date spot there are bunch of scenes, which also form kind of mini stories (and some are random). Also, in some spots there are quite funny minigames of various kinds. Beating those unlock secret CGs or H-scenes. Which brings us to the next point... H-scenes. Animated and interactive. It's quite interesting, since it adds kind of role playing element to the game. There are only two in-story scenes in Rie's route. The rest is up to the player. You can go to the love hotel or home on every date and keep fucking (and there's a lot of animations/CGs to discover), or you can have more "wholesome" relationship. It doesn't affect the ending, so it's possible to finish this VN with different approaches. And the H-scenes are also kind of separate minigame, where both characters gradually "level up". MC has "action points" - starting with 3, but can get up to 7, while Rie has "endurance" - some actions have greater cost, so when you overdo it by demanding too much, she'll either slap you (at low relationship/sex skill levels) or start to cry, so you have to watch out. So I guess it's kind of realistic in showing that when it comes to sex people need to get used to each other, and it was actually quite satisfying to observe how they gradually got more comfortable with each other. Also "leveling up" gradually unlocks different poses or variations of those. For side heroines Noriko and Hanako the system is simpler - after the first time, if you go to the "H" date, you get three random poses each time. The animations looked very good, and I found them quite hot. I think they were the best animated H-scenes I've seen so far. So, considering all of the above, I'd rate Lovers ~Koi ni Ochitara...~ with 7.5/10. Good, but not without thorns - I stil miss a bit longer epilogues, proper routes for side heroines, and Mayumi's route And I still consider the way to enter side routes solely via dating sim part flawed. Also, there's this review. I mostly agree with it. For my next read I might finally try Bokuten. But it's also possible that I'll get tempted by Sakura Strasse or Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi