ChaosRaven

Actually, that was one my biggest problems with the VN. Somehow, that combination just doesn't work for me since I simply can't stomach the huge mood swings it brings with it. Yeah, Shimizu Ichigaku was the one character I actually liked. Too bad she just didn't get a lot of screen time. But if you ever get interested in playing a gameplay VN from Eushully, you might consider Ikusa Megami Zero. For all the faults it has, Haishera is certainly the most badass heroine I've seen so far in a VN.

Well, A3 probably got the good sales the original would have deserved. A3... not really, although it has at least a lot of content even if it's just fan service. Though I can't exactly say I'm convinced about Re: LieF either. A story about a bunch of loosers who suck so much in life that they have to go back to a sheltered school life is probably a new low. Sora no Tsukurikata and Schwarzesmarken probably deserved good sales the most so it's nice to see them on 3rd and 4th place, even if there's a huge gap between 2nd and 3rd place.

Can I assume that Otomate are still on their PC hate trip and will release the new remake again only for the consoles?

So, I’ve finished the true route of Root Double now. It was on hell of a long ride, Steam logged about 75 hours for my play-through, and I still just got about 60% of the achievements. Not that I’d care much about Steam achievements, but still... Anyway, I think it was a good thing that I didn’t get the true route in my first run of route D, since it required the back-stories of several characters which would have slowed the story too much down at the first time. This way I had both, more patience and more interest in the back stories and the ending wrapped it up quite nicely. Route D was by far my favorite from the available routes. It wasn’t just random shit happening anymore, and everything made more sense. The pacing was better and the involved characters managed to grab me on an emotional level for the first time. I could even sympathize with Natsuhiko since his interaction with Watase was rather smooth. Overall, I think they succeeded with what they wanted to reach in this chapter quite well. And not to forget, it had Project N… In general I really appreciate how much effort Regista put into this VN. They certainly worked out the scenario quite well with lots of details, even if going too far and bombarding you with info dumps, over-explanations everything was a common problem of the VN. I also liked that they kept the VN for the most part ‘authentic’ in a similar way like Innocent Grey does. Meaning that the scenario was believable for the most part and the characters didn’t react too over the top exaggerated. The only character who stretched it a bit was probably Salyu with her Bruce Lee antics. The overall atmosphere was also kept on a more serious level and fortunately not ruined it by turning into a goofy comedy festival for some cheap laughs on every occasion. The art was also quite good and not too exaggerated, even if they took some liberties with the girls moe-levels. But well, I could live with that quite comfortably. That’s not to say that the VN didn’t have its fair shared problems since it certainly did. First, lots of stuff got over-explained and lots of scenes were shown from the perspective of different characters resulting in lots of repetition. Another problem was the overuse of some plot devices like finding AD. The biggest problem however, was that they tried to squish everything in one mega route. That works if it’s just a ‘long’ route, but not if it’s just made long because you have to experience it from the perspective of almost a dozen characters, each with their back stories. Biggest offender here was route B. Route A already stretched it quite a bit in the second half with its repeated AD search and everyone going crazy. But instead of progressing the story and shedding some light into the chaos, the VN completely killed the flow by going backwards, changing protagonist and setting and slowing everything down to a crawl. It got better with route C since it wasn’t too long but it was still one hell of a long time until you reach the real meat of the game which was route D. Overall, the VN should have been split into two major routes which are played one after another. One focused on Watase and his coworkers and one focused on Natsuhiko and his friends. That way the pacing and story flow would have been much better and you wouldn’t have been forced to digest all the information and back stories in one play-through. Actually, I got a lot more interested in the back stories of some characters when I reached the ending and had a better understanding of the story and its characters. I certainly would have enjoyed route B and C a lot more if it would have been a second play-through. Oh, and I would have loved some real romance in the VN. It's almost a sin if you have cool chicks like... ... and there's no route for them. Heroine ratings: Kazami = Ena > Jun = Mashiro = Yuuri > Salyu (Actually, it varied quite a bit through the story) Overall rating: 7,5/10 (Could have easily gotten more if the VN would have been split into two major routes)

Well, only stuff that has to be translated should concern the translator(s). Merchandising stuff is most likely done by other people and comes with most VN releases, so I don't think it should affect translation time.

lol, yeah that hurts the 'story' quite a bit indeed. Well, we'll see. I'll still keep an eye on it. It looks pretty great actually. I certainly wouldn't mind a new MuvLuv Alternative with an improved cast of characters. Wonder how long it is - the length entry is missing on VNDB. Eh, seriously? Does the translator first has to learn Japanese before he can start, or why does it take so long?

Man, that chick... Where's she from? Schwarzesmarken right?! So uh, when is this coming out? For some reason I suddenly got totally interested in its 'story'.

The old one is still around, although they use it mostly for all ages related stuff now like the Steam portal on their blog page. Anyway, anything worth knowing in the video besides two dudes playing games for kids?

Oh cool, I wasn't aware of that. Was a bit annoyed that my hardcopies were more or less made obsolete with the collector's edition, but if there's an official patch, it turns into a win for me. I knew that it was the same writer, that's why I was asking. But I only read the original Akagoei, not the successor Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron, so I've no clue about its endings. But if it's based on a bad ending, it probably has a more serious tone to it than the predecessor. Anyway, I've planned Reminiscence for reading next year. No real plans for Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron yet. Might pick it up afterwards maybe - will depend on my motivation and what else is available at that time.

I own the original and the fan disc as hardcopies, but I assume there's no patch to update them to the collector's edition? Kinda sucks... Anyway, how similar is Reminisence to Akagoei? Akagoei head a very good start, but after that it was mostly comedy and slice of life, with Reika being pretty much the only one that got a half decent route. Is the mood a bit more serious here? How's the protagonist in comparison? Are the routes better, with more action than in Akagoei? Sorry for the annoying questions...

Besides Kanon, the legendary tearjerker in winter, Kara no Shoujo 2 also has a very strong winter theme. Edit: Ah, and Cartagra too.

Man, that title really looks like a nukige. I guess this time the prime target are 16 year old horny french boys instead. Yes, but those had - what was the word again - ah yeah, a 'story'.

I think I'll give it a try then for the true ending. Hope it won't take too long with the walkthrough.

So have the other endings more to offer than just "Yay, you saved another team member."? I don't really expect more from the good endings but the true ending might have more to offer.

I've finished the three normal endings of Root Double now. Actually, the Double route was a lot better than the ones before and compensated for a lot of what was wrong with the previous ones and with B in particular. Still, I can't seem to get any other ending than the normal ones. The last choice always seem to lead to the same three endings regardless of my choices. I guess I didn't get the 'perfect combination' in one of the many previous choices. Are the other endings really worth restarting route D with a walkthrough? It would be a huge chore to go through that horrible choices system again, so it HAS to be worth it. Furthermore, I won't replay the previous routes A - C no matter what. So if the final endings require different sub-endings from the previous routes, I think I can comfortably live without the other endings.

I've neither seen Haikyuu and Diamond nor Ace yet, but I keep the suggestions in mind. Though I never really got the fascination for baseball, but it's about as popular as Mikado in my country, so that's that.

I already get more than enough slice of life in visual novels, so I don't need even more of it in animes and prefer something with a bit more oomph.

Currently watching the third season of Kuroko no Basket. Still the best sports action anime by a long mile, and I'm not even a particular friend of sports animes. Still, watching a bunch of ridiculous overpowered basketball dudes battling it out on the court somehow never gets old. Also love the highly physical approach of the show. For once, not a bunch of little 1,20 m shonen kids, but some really large 1,90+ dudes instead. And yeah, Midorima is still the coolest one of the whole bunch. From a pure logical point of view, his special skill is so broken, that none of the other guys should have a real chance against him. Wish there would be a martial arts anime of similar quality, but everything I've seen past Tenjo Tenge in that area was just crap.

I'll keep an eye on Sora no Tsukurikata. It's certainly one of the most interesting VN's you reviewed this year. A refreshing urban fantasy mix with various themes that appeal to me like vampires, mages, organized crime and not to forget - a detective protagonist!

That's the weird thing about this title, it's not a cheap cash grab at all. According to the specification page it has about 1 MB text and 20% more CG's more than the original, which was already a rather large game. It exceeds the scope of a simple fan disc by far. It's also their only release since UQ 2 years ago, while most studios have a yearly or even tighter release schedule. That's precisely why it was so unexpected that it's still structured like a cheap fan disc, just with much more content.

Yeah, I saw that reaction coming. I just made one play-through for Mariel so far, but the story parts felt very cheap in comparison to the original. It's like I said, more an art and scene gallery than a real homogenous story. Fortunately, I'll still get some fun from the nice art and the romance stories since I like the heroines, but it's hard to argue that they wasted pretty much all potential just to be able to offer a cheap cooky-cutter romance story for even the last side character. They added even a 'confession button' - it can't get cheaper than that.

Cartagra?

Damn! It would have been such a fitting description for it...

Chusingura, there's no doubt! It drove me up the wall, I won't forget that so soon.

So they're working on Go Go Nippon 2017?! I thought that would be already Overdrive's project...