ChaosRaven

Yeah, I'd also appreciate it if they wouldn't start straight up by trying the limits and throw a bomb like Maggot Baits on Steam. It's probably a more wise approach to start with something more light-hearted like an uncut moege. Or... they could go full scandal news and throw the most outrages stuff on Steam just to get into the news headlines. I'd really like to see the Kara on Shoujo series on Steam now, but I'm not sure if it would be a good start due to its gory parts. Denpasoft also announced that Shining Song Starnova will get its adult content as optional DLC, and I'm really wondering what that means for its visibility on Steam. Will the Steam filter hide it or not if there's optional adult content? If the title will then be treated as 'all ages' then, I wouldn't be surprised if many developers will try to hide their adult content in DLC just to to increase its visibility on Steam. And technically that would mean cheating the system again.

Yes, I'm also wondering how PayPal will react to this. I also find it hard to believe that the regular porn market will just ignore the new possibilities that Steam's new policy will offer them. Although adult VN's might be the first to make use of it, I wouldn't be surprised if Steam will soon be flooded by regular porn productions with real actors as well.

Very nice to see that there's now a legal way for VN's with ero content to be sold on Steam. I hope this will now make an end to the ridiculous H-patches for cheating ero content into all ages VN's. I'm also curious how PayPal will react to Steam's open adult philosophy now. Will they allow adult VN's to be bought via PayPal, or will they try to block it? Steam is a heavy weight client, so I wouldn't be surprised if they'd just turn a blind eye to it.

Hello Lady is indeed good news. I'll almost certainly pick that up. Technically, I'd also be interested in Sakura Game's Fortissimo and Midori no Umi, but those translations are pretty hard to stomach, even for my lowly standards.

I usually read several VN's at the same time, so I can pick one I'm currently in the mood to read. And just like others said, if you're not in the mood to read at all, then you can do other things like watching movies or anime's or play games.

It might be also worth checking out A Sky Full of Stars since it has a similar star theme like Hoshimem. I didn't play it yet though, but the ratings are pretty high for that kind of VN. Though currently, there's only the all ages version available, even if there's a restoration patch in the works. So if you're bothered by that, you can also just wait or ignore it altogether.

From the ones I played I liked Ibuki Mei from Edelweiss, and Kurokawa Sera from Lovely & Cation. The latter is Japanese though. I'd also suggest Canvas 2 even if it's a bit dated by now, but the protagonist is a teacher and you get all kinds of teacher-student and teacher-teacher relationships there. It has two teachers Kiri and Saya to choose from. And then there are some older nukiges from Jast like Cosplay Fetish Academy which has a teacher romance with Maika and Binetsu Kyoushi Cherry which has two I think. The first title was kind of okay, the latter not so much. There's also the untranslated Saint Estella Gakuin no Shichinin no Majo, but the teacher route with Anri is a bit NTRish. I think those are the only ones I can remember at the moment.

I actually found the problem - and it didn't have anything to do with Windows updates. I noticed that my file manager had problems with the miniature view of images and after some experimenting, I found out that the problem could be solved when I started it in compatibility mode with Windows 7. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that this triggered another side affect. All programs started with it were probably started in compatibility mode too, and that seems to have broken the hooking. What a mess.

I never had problems with Windows 7. I think that's more for older VN's < 2004 and I tend to stick to newer ones. Windows 10 Pro Build 17134.228. I think it's either update KB4343909 or KB890830 since I got them just a few days ago. There was also KB4343902, but it's an update for Adobe Flash Player, so I don't think it's the cause.

Anyone still able to hook games with ITH VNR? Because I can't anymore and I didn't change anything. I guess one of Windows 10 latest shitty security updates killed it. So since Chiitrans was already killed 1 - 2 years ago, now not even ITH works anymore. So this essentially means that text hooking on Windows 10 is completely dead now, because nothing works anymore. At least that seems to be the case on my system now. I still have a Windows 7 virtual machine, which I created for Caucasus, but it's a time restricted free version, so I'm not really sure if it works anymore. Guess I could create a new one, but I dislike the extra effort.

I guess the fandisc Hapymaher - Fragmentation Dream will have some more information about her. At least the synopsis seems to indicate that.

lol I knew that they wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to necro another title from the dead ChuableSoft. Amrilato seems to be an okay title for yuri fans and Horny Magical Princess a pretty crappy otome title. I'm interested in neither. Choukou Tenshi Escalayer is the remade predecessor of Beatblade Haruka which was a rather weak fetish nukige. I don't think I'll waste my time with that. Considering that they didn't even manage to get the minimum target Sakura no Mori Dreamers, that's overall pretty disappointing even for my already weak expectations. Well, only Rance fans seem to count for them nowadays, so I guess that was to be expected.

Da Capo 2 can be considered almost a remake of Da Capo 1, since story and characters are similar, just vastly improved. I'd therefore just skip Da Capo and go straight for Da Capo 2.

It's one of my favorite nakiges, along with Da Capo 2 and Clannad. Though my favorite imouto type character is probably Mayuki from Comyu.

So, I've finished Sekien no Inganock now. It was an overall nice read, though not without flaws. The setting is rather unique for VN standards, since it doesn't play in a happy and shiny world, but in a cursed city called Sekien instead. After a dreadful event called the 'Revival', the city turned into a place of doom and suffering, where the sun never shines due to a never ending fog covering the whole city, and its inhabitants full of sick and mutated beings. It's pretty much a cyber punk setting with a hefty dose of Lovecraftian horror thrown into it. Here the protagonist is a resident doctor called Gii in the lower districts with some magical powers that allow him to heal even magical sicknesses that cause horrible mutations. He also has some kind of shadow, a strong and most of the time invisible force behind him, that allows him to fight some of the more nasty inhabitants of the city. Those not so nice inhabitants are a bunch of super monsters that can be considered for all intents and purposes as Lovecraftian Old Ones that feed upon the city's denizens. So even if they are called a bit different here, you can expect to meet the likes of Ithaqua or Shub Niggurath. So in that hellish place, Gii saves the small girl Keea and cares for her from that moment on, together with his girlfriend Atty - the not so cute cat girl. The relationship between those three is very well written and certainly one of the highlights of the VN. Opposed to the never ending loli trend, Gii and Keea share a rather pure father-daughter relationship. Right from the start, it's more or less clear that Ati is his flame, even if they appear to the outside more as close friends and comrades, that stick stick together and help out each other. Gii itself is certainly one of the most likable protagonists I've seen so far. Mature and intelligent with strong ideals and a caring personality. Keea is adorable and written like a normal child would be and not like a lusty loli nympho in the making like in some other VN's. And Ati is probably the counter-example of a cute cat girl. Her cat features were caused by horrible mutations, and her body has the power of a dangerous feline predator - she's a real killer. Those three main characters were very well written. Story-wise the VN had a few more flaws and I think it shows a bit that this was one of Sakurai's earlier works. While the word building and the gloomy atmosphere is very well done, the episodes itself turn into a simple 'monster of the week' pattern very soon. And Ati frequently vanishes for entire chapters instead of involving her more into the story events, which reduces her more into a well written side character instead of a main character. And while Keea itself is a good character, as a simple child she couldn't contribute to the events all that much. The ending also came a bit sudden with little to no closure, as if the writer was in a hurry to finish the story. The audio part was good for the most part, even if the number of music tracks could have been higher. Some of them got a bit stale and overused after a while. The voice acting was stellar however, especially the ones of Gii and Ati. VN's rarely have good male voice acting, but here they were amongst the best. Art-wise however, the VN really showed its age. While the protagonist Gii itself was rather well drawn, many other characters had over-simplistic character designs, frequently not even colorized. And some event CG's looked more like abstract art, even though in some cases it emphasized the alien look of the creatures. Though the background CG's were better for the most part. But overall, from the Liar-Soft VN's I've read so far, this had certainly the weakest art. I had the mini games deactivated, so I can't comment about that. In comparison to the Ourai no Gahkthun I've just recently read, I consider Gahkthun clearly the better VN since it was overall more refined. The art was better, with more engaging battles and effects, a lot more CG's, and the episodes were more focused on the characters of the opposing Governing Council and not just random encounters with some beasts. I also prefer the not-so-grim-and-gloomy setting of Gahkthun, though that's more of a personal bias. The only point I think Sekien has a bit of an edge over Gahkthun would be the character relationships. The emotional connection between Gee, Kia and Ati felt a bit more convincing than the one between Neon and Tesla. Overall rating: 6.5/10 (I would have given a 7, but I subtract half a grade due to the outdated art)

BTW, apparently MangaGamer has now fully translated Rance IX... in addition to the already 100% translated Segoku Rance and Rance Quest Magnum. Maybe I'm a bit of a slow one, but is there some deeper marketing strategy involved in having three fully translated Rance titles lying around and doing nothing with them? Or do they want to translate Rance X first and then sell all four titles bundled together?

Sakura no Mori † Dreamers is probably one of the most likely titles they'll announce. Not just because of the Sakura hint, but also because of the 'Joker' from the Sorcery Jokers hint. Because judging by the synopsis of the successor Sakura no Mori † Dreamers 2, a certain Joker seems to have been some kind of villain there. Besides that I don't expect too much. Since bigger stuff like Eustia, Koihime or Eushully titles are either not accessible or too expensive, they'll most likely go for some low budget moeges from some struggling or dead companies in Japan. So maybe another Chuable Soft title and considering their obsession with Circus, I guess we might get their latest smash hit Tenpure!!. Personally, I'd love Walkure Romance, Unionism Quartet or at least Bakumatsu Jinchuu Houkoku Resshiden Miburo from the Chusingura makers, but that will also not happen.

Well 'great' would be a hard one. Unfortuantely, the majority of VN's aren't exactly blessed with those types of protagonists. I think Tokyo Babel had a pretty good protagonist and Suguha from Chusingura too - especially in the later chapers. The Overdrive VN's like Kira Kira, Edelweiss or Dengeki Stryker usually have decent protagonists as well. Kanon had a great one, but you're better off watching the anime since the VN is ancient now. I personally also liked the one from Koihime Musou and Da Capo 2 but I wouldn't go so far to call them great. If you're also fine with adult ones, then Gii from Sekien no Inganock, Reiji from Kara no Shojo 1 & 2, Hakuoro from Utawarerumono and Ryou from Eden are good. (Eden also a has strong caretaker theme, but it's very sad) Those are just notification sounds if you were quoted, mentioned or got a post reaction. I guess you can desctivate them in your profile settings if you don't like them.

Yeah, I was literally fuming in those scenes as well. Most people didn't seem to care though. Still, I didn't really hate Yuuji but he's certainly far from my favorite.

That alone already makes it worth playing for me. Though, if I understand it right, those are just alternative extra scenarios that open up when the main route was finished, so they are not integrated in the main story itself. I would have preferred the latter to have some meaningful branching choice in the game, but I can live with it. What matters is that it's there. I guess they were blocked to add more replay value. Though the time offset problem if you pick them later is certainly inconvenient. Not sure if I'd really read them all at once myself, since it really drags the pacing down - at least with my reading speed. In the original Koihime I just spread them over two play-throughs.

Depends which you are referring to. The usual numbers come from Steam Spy but since that is apparently very unreliable now, it has to be taken with care. But there was a Steam data list recently leaked with quite accurate sales data. And the sales data for Fata Morgana is even mentioned on Wikipedia.

I think the protagonist of Grisaia can be considered a caretaker for the heroines even if he's a bit of a weirdo himself. And the protagonist of Sekien no Inganock which I'm currently reading is definitely a caretaker for Keea. Simliar thing in Ourai no Gahkthun with Neon and Tesla.

I actually found the MangaGamer interview about Fata Morgana. I quote the part about the overall reception of the game:

Yikes, I didn't consider that. Actual sales will surely be lower than that I guess. But I definitely heard that Light was overall satisfied with the sales, so they can't be low. You have to put things into perspective. Just because Nekopara gained some kind of cult status and sold ridiculous numbers, doesn't mean others sold bad just because the numbers are much lower. Nekopara is a massive exception not the 'expected standard' and it's a low price title. When MangaGamer was still a young company they were a bit more open with info than today and gave some sales numbers out they considered 'good'. And a 1000 sold copies was already pretty good. Their best sellers like Koihime and Shuffle even reached more than 2000 sold copies. Though Koihime was even so expensive that 2000 sold copies was just enough to break even. So that was years ago and wages for translators are probably better today. But Fata Morgana sold about 8.500 copies on Steam alone, not counting the copies sold from the MangaGamer store front directly. And MangaGamer has more than 40.000 followers on Twitter, so you can expect more than a few copies sold from there. So Fata Morgana can be expected to have sold easily more than 10.000 copies. And Fata Morgana has no voices, is shorther that Koihime with much less production values but sold 5 times as much as the best seller from years ago. There's a reason why Fata Morgana got a hard copy - only successful titles get that from MangaGamer (the exception being ef). Success is measured by the difference of costs and sales revenue, not by comparing VN's to massive exceptions like Nekopara which is competing with high profile games like Final Fantasy or Wolfenstein if it comes to sales numbers thanks to a huge following and low price. And judging by the sales data that was posted in recent years, 10.000 sold copies in Japan are already 'good'. Only the absolute best sellers in Japan like Yuzusoft sell 40.000 copies. So, please don't judge the success of a title without considering the actual costs of it and the sales price.

Well, I'm not exactly surprised that it didn't do well. If you look at the Steam page it 'looks' like run of the mill school life moege 3728, just with outdated art. And if you the look at the story synopsis you get: What the heck is that supposed to tell me? And the more detailed description is so bizarre that it doesn't really make it better. Someone who isn't a VN insider would never get the idea that this is something worth reading. Apparently only the initial sales of Tokyo Babel weren't that good, but it picked up momentum afterwards. Conjueror made a twitter statement regarding that some time ago, that didn't sound like disappointing sales at all. Shadows of Pygmalion probably didn't sell that well though. But Fata Morgana did EXTREMELY well according to MangaGamer - I've no idea where you heard the opposite. It just wasn't a hit in Japan. Not sure about Ghakthun though, but if Steam Spy is still any guideline then both Tokyo Babel and Gahkthun sold about 10.000 copies just on Steam, not counting the copies sold at the MG store. And there are VN's that did pretty well, like Dies Irae for example which did fantastic with more than 50.000 sales. And there are more like Grisaia, Nekopara, etc. So could we please not judge overall VN sales just by one flop?!