adamstan

I just watched my first Ghibli movie - it was "Totoro". It was amazing - warm, nostalgic and moving story that took me back to magic childhood times.

Today I did Mio's h-scene. I think it's one of the better sex scenes in this VN (together with Ruri's), but translating h-scenes is nightmare in general. I feel sorry for whoever will have to edit that Thankfully, scenes in this game are short, and just one per heroine.

I just finished Folklore Jam. And I have veeery mixed feelings about it. The mood, art, music, characters - everything was great, and I was wondering, why doesn't it have better rating on VNDB... The prevailing score it gets is 7, why I was feeling, like it was aiming for the 8 level There was nice mix of action, mystery, friendship and just a tiny bit of romance. Maruto is pretty good at writing engaging character interactions. Even H-scenes, while rather fanservicey and unnecessary, weren't too jarring, and mostly in-character. It played like multiple route mystery, where each route showed different part of the backstory (with heroines being mostly pretexts to create different branches). After all that I had really high hopes for the true route, which I played today. And that's where they decided to completely ruin it, by inserting completely out-of-the-blue H-scene right near the climax - and afterwards it all jumps to rather mundane and unsatisfying epilogue, which doesn't even have a single CG... So, after such disappointing ending, my score also drops to 7...

Yes. 我々(われわれ) is transcribed as "wareware". From what I remember from reading Fan-tl, its main problem was naming inconsistency between routes - since various parts were translated by different people, and it seems that editors didn't catch everything.

Aand, translation of sequel has been just released. It's nice that Sekai's release is multilingual, with Japanese text included. (Actually was the same with first part I think)

Today I started reading Folklore Jam. It's one of the earlier Maruto Fumiaki's games. It seems quite different from others (White Album 2, Damekoi, Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o, Parfait) because it doesn't have romance as its main focus - it's mystery VN, and it seems that there will be both "normal" crimes as well as some supernatural stuff - after all, main characters are members of "Occult club" I really loved Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o, so, before reading White Album 2 I decided to read some more of those "lesser" Maruto's titles first. And Folklore Jam caught my attention because its initial premise seems a bit similar to World End Syndrome, which I finished recently Today I finished first chapter of FJ, and it was nice. A bit of mystery, a bit of comedy - and, even though it's one of the earlier Maruto's titles, he already is pretty good at writing amusing character interactions. I also like the way this VN looks and sounds - backgrounds are very nice, as well as music and voices. Character design is a bit... uhm... unusual, but I think I'm already getting used to it And it's great that even though not all characters have sprites, it seems that everyone (apart from MC) is voiced. Looking forward to it

Today I did Reiko's and Kiyomi's H-scenes, which brings us to 92%.

I just finished Yotsunoha TBH I have mixed feelings about it. Overally it was rather underwhelming experience - maybe I expected too much. There were many good parts, but it doesn't hold up as a whole - it feels very... scattered? Chaotic? The different parts of the story feel rather disconnected. I guess that's the result of relying mostly on flashbacks combined with lack of narration - this VN is 99% dialogues. That concept worked quite well in another Hiqosoft's title - Sakura Sakura - because there story was more linear and told chronologically. But in Yotsunoha it was often easy to lose track. It's just a simple moege, but it tries to force you to think as if it was some grand multiple route mystery, just to be able to follow the story I think main highlights would be both Matsuri's routes and Arisa's route. The latter was perhaps most consistent, since it happened mostly in the "3 years before" past, without constant jumps - it was just linear story. As for Matsuri's route - I really liked her tsundere character, and her relationship with protagonist was interesting. Iori's routes also had lots of good parts. Nono's route was also not bad, but nothing to write home about, although it also had its share of cuteness Also, for Nono, Iori and Matsuri, their "first" routes are more like an introduction/world building, while the "second"/alternative routes have more proper endings and feel more like "true" endings for those girls. Especially Iori's second ending felt very satisfying I played PS2 version, and then compared it with English PC release. I personally find console version to be better. I like its art style more, and it has better voices (especially Matsuri's voice - she's voiced by Gotou Mai in PS2 version, but she sounds pretty lame in PC version). Not to mention that English PC release has voices only for main four heroines. All side characters are unvoiced. Also, PS2 version features lots of cute, romantic scenes of kissing, lap-pillowing, hugging etc etc which, to my utter disappointment, were mostly absent in PC version, in favor of H-scenes. Most of those H-scenes felt really shoehorned in, placed completely randomly. (When I saw first scene, where, instead of romantic kiss from PS2 version they went straight to blowjob, I facepalmed really hard...) . Also, PS2 version has much more CGs in general - not just H-replacements, but also "normal" event CGs. PC edition has 94 CGs (including H-scenes) while there are 137 on PS2. Overally, I think it's something like 7/10 in my scoring system. Had some very enjoyable moments, but fell short as a whole.

Another progress report. It seems that I get to work on this project around the actual Season of Sakura Whatever, today I finished all four confession scenes in Chapter 12. So now we're at 90% Now all that remains are actual endings. ~1500 lines left to go.

Well, Ruu is the best girl, so that's no surprise

Recently I didn't have much time, so there was looong break. But I hate the thought of abandoning this project. Today finally I managed to go over some 300 lines, thus finishing retranslating Chapter 11 (Valentine's Day) and bringing completion counter up to the 85% Now what's left is Chapter 12 (White Day - Shuuji's reply to girls' confessions), and endings. Around 2200 lines.

Yesterday I finished (first part of) Matsuri's route in PS2 version of Yotsunoha. And now I'm not sure how to proceed from here. As you may know, PC version of Yotsunoha has strict enforced playing order - Nono 1 > Nono 2 > Iori 1 > Iori 2 > Matsuri 1 > Matsuri 2 > Arisa (true route?). AFAIK the "2" versions of three girls' routes are kind of alternate versions. But, back to the point. PS2 version doesn't have such strict system. At the beginning there are Nono 1 and Iori 1 routes available (you can choose which one to read first). Completing them both unlocks Matsuri 1 (and enables route selection screen at the start). After completing Matsuri 1 (that's where I'm currently) everything else gets unlocked at once, and there are four more options available at route selection screen - Arisa, Iori 2, Nono 2, Matsuri 2. And I don't know if it would be bettter to read Arisa's route before Iori's, Nono's and Matsuri's alternate routes (as PS2 walkthrough suggests), or save it for the very end, sticking to PC route order. PS I'm very disappointed by the fact that best girl Suzuki-senpai doesn't have a route (And she actually liked protagonist!)

Which one was that?

Did you play the old one or the remake? I have remake sitting on shelf waiting for its turn, but I keep hearing worrying things about this VN Some say it's almost like a bit tamer version of School Days - at least when it comes to shitty protagonists

Looks indeed like a neat tool to track play time for non-steam games

Not exactly, but my main motivation to start learning was to be able to read VNs one day. And, in turn, reading VNs definitely improves my Japanese Win-win If I remember correctly, main triggers were bad offical translation of If My Heart Had Wings (unreadable Ageha's route) and lack of translation for Mashiro Iro Symphony

While waiting for Higurashi to go on sale, I started to read PS2 version of Yotsunoha, which has arrived today in my mailbox It is unhookable, but, just like another Hiqosoft's game - Sakura Sakura - it seems to be dialogues-only, so it's fairly easy, since usually narration is the part I find most difficult to read in VNs Actually console edition of Yotsunoha is quite interesting phenomenon, since it looks like some kind of remake. It ditches map movement system and floating text boxes of PC version, replacing it with standard ADV interface and choices. I'm not a fan of map movement systems, so that's a big plus for me. And another, quite striking difference, is art. It uses completely different art, drawn in different style - especially sprites and CGs. It looks like an old-school anime - which is another plus for me, since I love that style (even despite overall lower image quality on PS2) Check out those screenshots from prologue. To the left - console, to the right - PC. Some more comparisons below: Also, PC version seems to follow YU-NO in its obsession with pantyshots in CGs The only thing that bothers me in console release is that white font - it's a bit hard to read sometimes. I wonder if it's perhaps emulation issue, since screenshots in manual feature red font, just like in PC version...

I also forgot to mention, that yesterday I finished Himawari no Kyoukai to Nagai Natsuyasumi. It took me ~90hrs over three weeks, so perhaps half or one-third of my "normal" (translated) reading speed It was great story about friendship, family and time, with a bit of magical undertones - a little KEY-like. In my previous post I mentioned Daiya's route - it was quite typical ojousama moege route, but very enjoyable. Then I read Ruka's route - it had very different mood, with a bit of mystery and magic, and quite interesting twist. Tsukiko's route (console only) was again more lighthearted, but it also featured some additional foreshadowing for Yomi's route. Yomi's route, unlocked after completing those three above, is kind of pre-true route It made the most use of the supernatural parts, and was quite nakige'y. I loved it. Completing Yomi's route unlocks Hina's, which is The True Route. Hina is much younger than the rest of the cast - when we meet her, she's little girl who just came to the Oboshiro church after loosing her parents (or so it seems), and Father Arakawa is taking care of her - just like he did for Yousuke (protagonist) years ago. Hina is really cute, and quickly becomes friends with Yousuke and the girls. It's really heartwarming to watch how they all are doting over her in common route and some parts of the girls' routes . Hina's actual route branches off early part of Yomi's route. It covers an (unexpected) link between Yousuke and her and ultimately ends with Yousuke becoming her guardian, and them living in (now closed) Oboshiro church. (I think the conclusion itself isn't that big of the spoiler, since the most interesting parts lie inbetween.) Luckily, Yousuke isn't lolicon, so there isn't any H stuff in this route in any version of the game Overally, this route was very heartwarming. But that's just a first part. After completing little Hina's route, the following part of the true route unlocks from the main menu. It is continuation of Hina's route after ten years timeskip, following the struggles of Yousuke's and Hina's family life and her growing up. It was really nice family-focused coming of age story. I think we could draw some parallels with Matsuri's route from Kazoku Keikaku, although it is a bit different. But the common point of two people with considerable age gap falling in love remains. Here we also get to know more about Hina's family. Daiya, Ruka and Tsukiko also come back as supporting characters. It was quite a ride, definitely pinnacle of this VN. And the ending was very fulfilling. Art and music is gorgeous. Voices were also nice, I'd just wish that all characters were voiced. As it is, only female characters are fully voiced. For male characters, only three of them are voiced - Father Arakawa, Daiya's grandfather and one other guy who's identity should remain secret, since it's a bit of a spoiler Other male characters are unvoiced and spriteless - those two things combined often tripped me up a bit, since I had to stop for a moment to check if the line I'm just reading is protagonist or one of those characters But that's just a minor complaint. It would also be nice, if common route had some more variety/branches. As it is now, while it has lots of choices, those choices are just convoluted way to select the route, and in common route they change just a few lines, if anything. So after a first playthrough, common route consist mostly of skipping I also skipped through +18 PC version. I didn't like placement of most of the H-scenes, and also I strongly dislike the style of HCGs this VN uses, with big focus on the genital area often taking up to the half of the screen. It's fine in the nukige, but in romance story I'd prefer something less obviously porny. Aokana did great job at that with most of its HCGs. So with that considered, I'd take additional Tsukiko's route of the PS3 version over those dubious H-scenes Time to sum up this horrible wall of text - HimaNatsu is definitely one of the charage gems, and I'm really glad I read it. 8.5/10

Yup. Also, I just found out that Steam version has both English and Japanese text included - so I'd probably will go indeed with Steam version + 07thMod. PS3 version is unfortunately unhookable. But I have to say that PS3 opening song kicks ass - so I'm really glad that 07thMod includes it too

I'm not sure if I'm actually that interested in console arcs, since they apparently are just extensions made by different(?) writers. Also, given sheer length of the story, maybe I should stick to the english version? I guess that finishing it in Japanese would take me something like half a year

Sadly, most of console versions newer than PS3 are no good for me. I don't own any console (and I'm not ready to go without text hooking yet since I have to look up lot of words), so I have to rely on emulators. PS4 isn't emulated yet, so that version is out of question. As for Switch - there's an emu, and I managed to play World End Syndrome with it, but the performance was far from stellar, and I'm not sure how hook-friendly Switch emulation is But then maybe I should try my luck with PS3 version? It looks like I could get it (used) from amazon for ¥4400 (incl. shipping). Just have to check if it's hookable beforehand, since some VN engines are weird, and don't have separate memory area for textbox contents. In those cases, or when the game uses non-standard text encoding, hooking is impossible.

Great. I have considerable backlog, so I guess I'll wait for Steam summer sale, since the whole package comes out rather pricey at regular prices

Hmm... apart from fucked-up h-content, I guess I'm also not good with too depressing mindfuck stuff, like death games etc. (Those two combined rule out things like Euphoria ) To give an example - I know that it's rather mild (and I think a talked about it once here), but I got severely disturbed by watching "The Cube" in the highschool (I think I was 16 back then). Not because of the gory bits, but more because back then I found the overall message kind of depressing. Mystery, violence etc are all fine, as long as it doesn't all spiral down into "All people are monsters, world is fucked-up beyond repair, no hope, no future, no love and it's best to die anyway" kind of stuff Basically - no hard utsuge please. It's just that after reading WES and finding out that I enjoyed its mystery part, I kind of started to warm-up to the idea of tackling Higurashi one day

Congratulations, you played yourself But, jokes aside, I'm also looking forward to the sequel Luckily, for this VN I managed to go spoiler-free. BTW I think that weird character limit for protagonist's name is there because developers couldn't be bothered to properly adapt the system from the Japanese version for English release - in Japanese number of characters would be enough for almost any possible name, when writing in kanji. BTW I have to ask - if I enjoyed this VN, would I be okay with Higurashi? (I'm almost 100% sure that Subahibi is a no-go for me, but Higurashi doesn't seem so fucked-up based on reviews) Yes it is, no doubts about it

https://old.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/lsp2vq/doukyuusei_remake_translation_announcement_by/ I'm mildly interested - although it might be too dating-simey for my taste. Main thing that attracted me to this game was PC98 pixel-art, but that is obviously gone in the remake, just like with YU-NO.