ChaosRaven

Minori VN's are usually very heavy on drama, I'd therefore recommend eden. And if you'd still be willing to give highschool theme a try, then I'd suggest ef - A Fairytale of the Two which is also from Minori. It's the only VN I ever had to stop reading, because it managed to throw me in a serious depression. And Fata Morgana no Yakata is probably one of the best drama VN's ever written - I highly recommend it.

A VN Kickstarter with a 180.000 $ goal - that's quite... ambitious. It's a popular Key VN so it has probably good chances to reach it, but I don't think I've ever seen such an expensive Kickstarter campaign for a VN. Would have been nice if they'd listed the differences between Rewrite and Rewrite+ in the FAQ section, since I've actually no clue what they are.

By oversaturation I mean there are too many companies for the existing market. If you look back to the early years of eroge when Fate and Clannad were released, there were much less companies at work that released products of adequate quality, so the few that did exist could sell a lot more titles. I'm also not sure if the total number of companies is really getting smaller since there are also new companies joining the competition, and there's usually not a extra forum post when that happens. So the overall negative impression might be misleading.

I actually played Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi in Japanese from Feng and I kinda liked that. It's a pretty old title though and their shorter titles after that weren't particular impressing. I think I even tried Gakkou no Seiiki but dropped it pretty soon. That's probably because the Japanese eroge market is highly oversaturated, which is holding back bigger productions like MuvLuv Alternative was to be realized. So while I wouldn't say that I'm happy that a rather average studio closes, I at least hope that this gives the more established (or even new) companies the chance to make better games. Though, for what its worth I consider the closing of Light a huge loss, since they were one of the only ones that still tried to make story rich titles (even if I wasn't the biggest fan of Dies Irae). Feng... not so much. Though, it's not unlikely that the employers find a new job at other studios. At least their writer Nakahiro now seems to work for Purple Software with Realive - that's not the worst company you could end up with.

I was really hyped when I saw that this VN get localized. It'll be a day one buy for me when it's released. It pretty much combines all the things I like: murder mystery, Japanese history and knight girls. I was even thinking about reading the Japanese version, but fortunately that won't be necessary anymore.

The demise of Sprite wasn't particularly surprising, considering how long they took for their games. I'm not a big fan of the one release per year cycles of most studios and I'd vastly prefer 2-year cycles, but a development time of 4 years for Aokana is pretty damn long. You need a serious smash hit then or a very tiny studio with little operating expenses to compensate for that. And even then, if you need 3 years for a short fan disc then you don't have to be surprised if your finances aren't balanced anymore.

I can just speculate, but it's possible that Nexton's interest in the west has increased and MangaGamer doesn't have the necessary translation capacities anymore considering they are doing little else than Rance games these days. Innocent Grey did the same after all. And Nexton might also want to have different translation partners to not be too dependent on one alone who's madly in love with AliceSoft and did very little in the last 5 years to make their brand more popular in the west. Especially since they are a founder. And yeah, the slightly bitter undertone of my statements is completely incidental and not itended.

Well, I've voted for Koihime Musou Kakumei of course. Not that I'd have a lot of hope for it, but considering it's not a MangaGamer poll maybe Nexton itself can find a way to make it happen.

Ugh, Ryuukishi07 really did it again and drew the art himself for Ciconia. I had really hoped that the world could convince him to stick to writing.

I'm very interested in this new remake. The art of the old one was simply too outdated for me, so I can't exactly say that I'd miss the old art. I mean, I can somehow see the point of the old designs being a bit more striking when comparing the minimized portraits on VNDB. Their lighting is more crisp, while the new ones look a bit pale in direct comparison. But if I check out the full high resoultion screenshots on Steam then it looks vastly better. Besides that, some of the old character designs look really weird: That looks more like alien from Mars to me. On the other hand, there are also some that look better in direct comparison like this one: In that particular case, a simple color and resolution update would have given a better result I think. However, the new characters are more detailed in the high res screenshots than in the minimized portraits and the backgrounds are so much better, so I definitely prefer the new art.

Did anyone understand the strange explanations and diagrams of this title? I mean, I get a diagram where all grav shoe types have the same acceleration, and below it an explanation text claiming they are different. And why does an all-rounder has just the same lame top speed like a Fighter? Shouldn't it be somewhere inbetween?! I'm also pretty sure that you need a high acceleration to reach a high starting speed, since that's pretty much the whole definition of it. So I personally don't get why we need 3 bars here at all. It could make sense for initial acceleration and mid-speed acceleration, but that should be already clear from the top speed differences. From my understanding it's just a high acceleration of Fighters vs. high top speed of Speeders comparison. Fighters need to be agile and flexible and therefore need a high acceleration, while Speeders accelerate slower but reach a higher top speed. The easiest real-life example for a Speeder would be sprint star Usain Bolt. He always had a worse start than the other sprinters and was therefore initially behind, but since his his top speed was just higher than the rest, he passed all of them sooner or later.

Then you certainly didn't play much: Princess Evangile, Little Busters, Majikoi, Walkure Romanze, Flowers, 9-Nine series, Tsuriotsu, Shuffle, Akatsuki no Goei, Reminiscence, etc. just to name a few. And I guess lots of Illyasviel fans would burn you on a stake for denying her main heroine status in Fate/Stay Night just because she doesn't have her own route - she *only* has several anime series for herself. And Inui Sana from Mashiro no Symphony got her own route after she won the official (!!!) character poll. And just to put things clear, I personally will comment about ANY character of a VN that pleases me, even if he or she doesn't even have a sprite or a text line. If a side character gets mentioned a lot in a positive context, it means that the developers did a good job for the support cast so there's a definite meaning behind it. Naturally, the same also applies reversed for a negative context as well.

Well, Aoi is probably less about her appearance and more because she's more mature and I don't have the feeling of talking to a 5 year old kid in conversations with her like the others. XD But I'm not a big fan of Sprite's character designs anyway, so none of them makes my heart throb. Backgrounds are great though, especially since they also have background characters. Why should it not be allowed to mention side heroines? It's not unusual that side heroines overshadow main heroines. Lots of VN's even have fan discs where side heroines ascend to main heroines.

Guess it's time for some comments about a few VN's I played recently. So I finished the first two parts of the 9-Nine series and so far I'm liking the direction Palette are going here. SakuSaku had charming heroines, but suffered heavily from 'boredom syndrome'. Here they added a bit of a murder mystery to spice things up and while it's certainly not a mind blowing plot, it's working good enough to keep things interesting. It also gives the main characters a nice team spirit when they have a common goal and enemy together. Each of the heroines also has some quirks that make them likable. Overall, so far it's a healthy mixture of slice of life, humour, thriller and even a bit of chuuni action thrown in. To connect the individual chapters, they had to throw in a bit of Stein's Gate which felt more clumsy than smart to be honest. I guess that's the price you have to pay if you want an ongoing plot through several heroine routes. Quality of the art was pretty high - it had even (well) animated H-scenes. Music could have been better though, I listened mostly to the OST of Fatal Twelve instead. Heroine ranking: Haruka > Sora > Myako > Noa I'd rate both chapters a 7/10 so far, but since I don't have the big picture yet, it's definitely possible that I upvote (or downvote) the whole series again if it's finished. Next of the list is The Eden of Grisaia, the last part of the trilogy. For me this was the weakest part so far, although people who appreciate Grisaia's comedy more than I do would probably like it much more, since the first half of the VN resembles more a slap-stick circus campaign of the Grisaia girls. During that half, Yuuji himself had also so few appearances that he barely justified as a side character. Even if it got better in the second half, my hope for an interesting back and forth duel between Yuuji and Oslo wasn't fullfilled. Instead I just got a final over the top chuuni crusade to hunt Oslo down. The VN still gets some bonus points for bringing back Kazuki again. I really liked her cynical interactions with the other characters. Her comment about Sachi was just priceless: "You're all smart and a nice diligent girl - but something if off about you." (don't remember the first half of the phrase exactly, but it was something like that). Overall, I'll give if it a 6.5/10, though I would have rated it even lower if it wouldn't be for Kazuki. And the last on the list is Bishoujo Mangekyou -Norowareshi Densetsu no Shoujo-. This is a very unusual VN for me since it's a nukige centered on a loli girl. Usually I skip loli routes and a nukige about one is usual the last thing I'd want to read. But well, this is one of the rare exceptions from the rule for several reasons. I always had a thing for vampires and especially vampire love stories (not so much Twilight, more Bram Stokers and Interview with a Vampire). Despite being a vampire, the main heroine is an angelic white haired beauty and I have a bit of a crush for those. Others would be Suigintou from Rozen Maiden or Sion from Eden. Furthermore, the VN has a very artistic drawing style that fits the gothic theme perfectly. And it was indeed a very unusual nukige. While most most nukges are more about the 'physical' merits, this one also has a very unusual emphasis on the emotional part. Shigehiko, the protagonist, is a rather handsome and likable guy (which is in itself already very unusual) and he falls deeply in love with Kirie, who turns out to be a 300 years old vampire princess. And this isn't just a cheap saying, Shigehiko would DIE for her in the most literal sense. Kirie herself, despite being an unapproachable tsundere, feels rather lonely for quite some time now. She's also the more provocative character of the two, approaching a sexual relationship with all the suppressed passion of a lonely vampire. That's not to say Kirie would be slutty, she's actually quite the ice queen, but Shigehiko is probably the first person she really trusts and can fullfill her desire for physical and - probably even more - emotional closeness. So even if they play sometimes even rapey domination games with each other, there's also this umbrella of overwhelming trust that Shigehiko would never hurt her. Although the many H-scenes were definitely a bit much for me, I definitely enjoyed the rest. It's actually the first nukige that had me in tears at the end because it was so touching. Production values are almost over the top. High quality art works for backgrounds and characters, animated H-scenes and a very atmospheric soundtrack. It's also one of the rare nukiges I'd also recommend for female readers. I'll give it 'only' a 7.5/10 since I would have preferred it less ero heavy and with a higher emphasis on an interesting plot around the romance, but for loli fans this could be an easy 10/10 as well.

For me it's exactly the opposite - the main heroines lack some 'bite'. Most of them seem clumsy deredere airheads which is my least favorite heroine type. The only main heroine I kinda like so far is Misaki and I'd take Aoi or Reiko over them all.

This seems to be extremely popular on Steam. It has almost 1700 reviews - that's very unusual. And it's dirt cheap even without a sale - just 8 €. Since it's also from Otomate, I'll certainly keep an eye on that.

Bought it! Not sure if all the hype is justified, but since I always had a thing for sports and fighting competitions, it should be something I'd like. It's also fairly moderately priced with just around 25€, especially compared to Haretaka.

I actually remember having that seen before. Mainly because the protagonist is a super hot chick. Along with PersonA ~Opera Za no Kaijin~ it's one of the two Japanese otomes with ero I'd really like to see translated sometime.

I heard good things about Code: Realize and Collar x Malice is even higher rated. Both are Otomate and therefore reek of quality. Too bad they are not available on PC. Though, considering Otomate doesn't seem to hate the PC as much as they used to be, there might still be hope. Hmm, not really sure what to think of this one. The art is kinda weird and while its tagged as mystery, it looks more like slice of life. I think this nails my taste: Medieval fantasy, gothic romance and strong protagonist - what's not to like?! It's tagged as utsuge though, which makes me a bit worried. Nothing against bad endings, but I hope it has good ones as well. Art style is a bit unusual, but I'll certainly check this out. It's an Otomate VN available on Steam - there aren't that much of that kind. Not really sure what to make of this one, but it reminds me a bit of... the Fruits Basket anime?! An original korean visual novel - how unique!? It looks pretty decent, although the backgrounds are a bit rough. I'm a bit troubled by the whole highschool theme though - I wanted to avoid exactly that. This looks and sounds pretty good. It's an OELVN - how unexpected! And it's even higher rated than Heart of the Woods. I think I'll keep an eye on that one. Definitely looks like something for me. Hmmmmmmmmmm... I don't know, something about that art style ticks me off. Yeah, it certainly looks interesting. It's unfortunate that it's not available on PC. Yes, I had my eyes on this one already. It looks interesting, but Dreamysyu wasn't so fond of it apparently. It's higher rated than MangaGamers previous title Ozmafia though. I think I might pick it up if it's reduced in their upcoming sale. Thanks all for the suggestions.

Since I enjoyed both Hakuouki ~Shinsengumi Kitan~ and Nightshade quite a bit, I'm wondering what other interesting otome titles are available. While I'm usually adequately informed about bishoujo titles, both in English and in Japanese, the same can't be said for otome titles. Though, even if I do read japanese titles as well, I'd prefer to stick to translated titles for now. I've already read Ozmafia as well, but that was a bit of a so so experience. I think I heard that some translated otome titles are only available on Switch, but since I'm PC only they aren't an option for me. I don't mind if they are mentioned though, since they might get available in the future like Hakouki. I'm mostly interested in historic or alternative history settings, but as long as it's interesting I'm rather open minded. Currently, I just want to get a bit of an overview what potentially interesting otome titles are available in English.

Very nice that they could finally resolve their payment processor issues. Would be interesting to know what happened this time. Since they are not giving out Steam keys anymore, it shouldn't be the same thing like last time. Well, maybe they make a blog with some insights about it. Anyway, concerning Haretaka, I do have some interest in it since it was rather high in the Getchu award ratings a few years ago. However, for the current price it doesn't really look good or interesting enough for me, so I'll abstain for the moment. But since MangaGamer also announced an upcoming sale soon, I'll finally take the opportunity to pick up The Most Forbidden Love in the World and the Hapymaher hard copy.

Well, I hope for some of their older titles like Natsuzora no Perseus or Soreyori no Prologue. However, I also wouldn't be surprised if they'd come up with another crazy idea for their never-ending Supipara campaign.

I think my favorite school uniforms are the ones from Unionism Quartet.

Interesting. I'm currently reading the first one and it's shaping up to be better than expected. If it keeps up that way, I'll surely get the second one as well.