adamstan

Looks like I found small bug. "Text border" option doesn't do anything, so it becomes necessary to use high textbox opacity, or gray text becomes invisible on the backgrounds.

Finished Byakko, and started Aokana. Oh my, how beautiful that art looks The only thing I'm missing for now is language switching via key shortcuts (like in Sanoba Witch for example) - you have to go to the options menu to do it.

Well, when phrased like that, you may have a point. (I disagree about Arisa being shit, but I'm sure we won't agree on her ). However it has redeeming qualities too. Main story and characters were good enough for me to keep me interested despite shitty h-scenes and rushed romance. But then, indeed I might be the one with weird/shitty taste here, as I liked glider stuff in Konosora, astronomy stuff in Sky Full of Stars or planes in Hitotsuba And I bought Maitetsu (all ages version of course) for trains, silly me... (haven't read it yet)

Have you read it, or do you speak based just on forum posts and your prejudices/bias? Nah, I wouldn't say it felt especially awkward or "westernized" - actually opposite, it was rather smooth (excluding those editing hiccups I mentioned). Of course, it's stylistic thing so it's all about personal preferences, but while this VN has many problems, IMO translation style isn't the biggest of them (And there's no "dude" in this one )

Finished. Natsu's route indeed had nice build-up. If other routes had it too, it would have been great. I have an impression, especially after true route, that romance isn't focus of this game. It's a bit tacked onto main rocket story. And then there are h-scenes tacked onto the tacked-on romance - probably that's why they felt jarring to me. There were some nice parts, but overally they had "nukigey" feeling to me. And the way all heroines turned instantly into non-stop-orgasming sex demons was so over the top, that it felt almost like a parody. Of course, there are many positives too I liked all heroines, and the main story. True route was pretty good, although writer opted for similar kind of drama as in some of the SukiSuki routes - maybe they went a bit overboard. Still, nice. If I had to rate routes, I'd say that my favourite was Natsu, followed by Kaho, Arisa and Honoka. However I have problem with choosing my favourite heroine - I liked them all almost equally. If pressed to answer, it would be probably Kaho > Arisa = Natsu > Honoka. Art was mixed bag for me. Sprites and CGs were nice, but some of the backgrounds had very 'cheap' feeling to me, with their overuse of simple shapes (like taken straight from 3d modelling software) and gradient fillings. This approach might look good in 16 colors on PC98, but in modern titles I prefer more "hand-drawn" and detailed look. (Aokana would be good example to compare). Now let's talk a bit about English version. The translation leans to the liberal side of the spectrum, however it was fun to read. They ditched the honorifics, but kept name order and distinction between using of first and last names. However that last point turned out a bit messy, probably due to lack of sufficient editing QC. By this I mean, that sometimes they are swapped for no apparent reason. There were also a few editing mistakes that resulted in slight mistranslation (like missing negation or particle in some lines), but nothing too serious or impossible to figure out. The attempts to translate jokes turned out fine Final score - 7.5/10. Points detracted mostly for unsatisfying handling of h-scenes. While it was better than Suki Suki (which got same score from me), I still feel that it didn't reach the level of other "8" VNs from my library. So maybe it should be something like 7.7 or 7.8, but I don't want to introduce that level of details into my scores Not the greatest, but enjoyable. Worth giving it a try (especially if you score it on some sale - base price feels a bit steep)

Can anyone comment on recommended route order? Walkthrough at seiya-saiga.com goes with Asuka -> Mashiro -> Rika -> Misaki, (probably because that's the order in which the routes branch off from the common) however when googling "Aokana waltkhrough" I also came across the posts that suggested reading Rika nad Mashiro before Misaki and Asuka.

I wanted to say something about "3rd person" in Japanese, but since I don't even care about this particular game, and won't convince anybody no matter what, maybe I'll refrain from it...

I'll probably play this after I finish Byakko. For now I just skimmed through screenshots on Steam, and I love art style. It looks absolutely gorgeous!

Aaaand - it's released! There's Steam version, Adult version on NekoNyan's store, and free adult patch for Steam version. There's also soundtrack available, both on Steam and NN.

Wow, I'm really surprised that they covered it. And that review is pretty good.

Yeah, I found this attempt to tie sex scenes to the main story genuinely hilarious (though I noticed it only in Honoka's route, not so much in Arisa's and Kaho's) Oh, really? Then I'm looking forward to it, since it's the thing that remaining three routes lacked IMO. I happened to like Arisa. However the beginning of her route seems like they tried to mimic Ageha's route from Konosora. Kaho was genuinely sweet, I agree. Yep. Rocket stuff didn't bother me (I actually liked it), but it's a pity they didn't manage to handle relationship stuff well too.

They say there is, but I'm still not ready to wade through gorefest in search for good story

So far I finished two routes - Arisa's and Kaho's. My opinion for now - it's definitely better than SukiSuki. I actually like the main story about rockets, common route is good, and I like the heroines, but I'm not satisfied with how romance and ero stuff is handled (especially going into this right after Mashiro Iro Symphony which was definitely above average in those aspects...). There are too sudden jumps in the relationships - the confession and start of the relationship lacks proper build up - and h-scenes, while better than in SukiSuki, are still a bit over the top for my taste. (not that there's some extreme content there, they are just "typical-eroge" scenes, with most of the bad tropes present ) Also, I feel it actually is pretty close to the "Konsora with rockets" I was hopinig for, but Konosora handled relationship stuff much better IMO. Will post more once I complete it. PS I was really surprised that Kaho and Rina from Fureraba have same VA, since their characters are so different

I just started it today. So far I'm liking it. I'm still in the common route, just a bit after prologue and OP.

Whew, finished Mashiro Iro Symphony. It was definitely the best moege I've played so far (I read it two times in a row, first PC, then PSP version, and had great fun both times ) I liked almost everything about it - likeable characters, nice comedy parts, just right amount of drama for things to not become stale, pretty good stories in routes, beautiful art and music... BTW I feel that Princess Evangile was quite inspired by this title. The highlight is without a doubt Airi's route, and it was the first one I've read. Airi is tsundere, but a lovely one And her route features great character development. It was quite heartwarming to watch how she changes and opens up to others. I also loved how the relationship between her and Shingo progresses naturally, without sudden jumps (this applies to most of other routes as well). The H content was also handled exceptionally well I'd say. (The only part that felt shoehorned-in was obbligatory classroom scene Same in Sakuno's route). The scenes were focused mainly on the bond between characters, and generally had that "sex as expression of love" approach. They weren't rushed, there was proper relationship build-up before. The characters mostly retain their personalities and don't turn instantly into pornstars (at least, as far as eroge constraints allow...). Next one, Sakuno's route, would be a treat for all imouto-lovers I have to say, she's my favourite character of this VN, together with Airi. Her comments are pure gold Also, I love her friendship with Airi, really heartwarming. The story in this route itself is nothing special, maybe a bit weird due to setting, but the characters make up for it - finally I liked it very much. The third one that I've played was Angie's route. This one is for maid fans I think it was my least favourite route (but it's still good), but had very nice ending. Also, this route shows us again the importance of Multi's route in first To Heart - it turns out that she, being maid-robot, inspired not only other "robot-girls" routes, but also some of the maid ones. Just compare those two scenes below Fourth, and last, route in PC version is Miu's. Miu is lovely(loli) senpai, almost always seen with mysterious cat-like pet, Pannya. Main theme of Miu's route is her unofficial school club ("Nuko club") that consist of her and Sana and together they take care of wounded animals. The route features many emotional moments, and would be great, but there was one thing hindering it. It is the only route where I felt H-scenes were overwhelming, rushed, out-of-character and disrupting the flow of the story. It was really disappointing, since all other routes seemed to handle this stuff very well (above the eroge average). But, OTOH, there were three different writers - one for Airi and Ange, one for Sakuno, and one for Miu - so maybe the other two were just better at this. However, the story doesn't end here. Sana, who in other routes serves mostly as a comic (or hitting) relief, is very prominent character in Miu's route. So (see spoiler above), after Miu's route I felt really sorry for Sana, despite her many flaws, and felt like she deserved a route too. So I got PSP version, where there is one Sana's route branches off from the Miu's. It was very good - it shows different, and sometimes surprising, sides of Sana, and gives pretty satisfying conclusion to her story. Then I played Yutsuki's route - who is completely new character, present only in PSP version. So, common route has been expanded a bit, to acommodate for the new character. It went quite smoothly. Yutsuki's initial appearrance is kind of playful subversion of "Onee-sama" trope. She's adored by many girls in school, but, as Sakuno put it in one of her brilliant comments, she's "Onee-nii-sama" She's more "cool" and "handsome" than "cute", and always plays male roles in drama-club. Her route is most light-hearted one in whole VN, and revolves around her struggle to be more feminine. Pretty good I'd say - I enjoyed it. Afterwards I started to reread other routes, to compare them with PC version. I've reread Airi, Sakuno and Miu. Since console version has "C" rating (+15), obviously the routes were toned down and rewritten a bit, to exclude H-content. In exchange, we got some additional "normal" scenes. Also, in kissing scenes most of the sound effects were replaced with narration. All in all, console versions of PC routes are all very good - the writers took care to rewrite them properly, not just cut things here and there. I'd say, that for Airi's route I slightly prefer +18 version, and for Sakuno's route it's a tie. However, Miu's route in console version is waaaay superior - it flows better, and additional scenes are very good. Actually I feel that some of them should be in original version as well, since they give some important background info. Also, we got one quite hot new CG, especially for +15 title , that was used as replacement for H-scenes (since in Miu's route some of the sex scenes have been replaced by general making out in Miu's bed) New New Year party scene was hilarious This VN, despite being romance-focused, does also the "group of friends" thing surprisingly well. Other heroines (and Shingo's buddy Hayata) don't disappear once you enter the route, but become great supporting cast. The only exception is Yutsuki in PSP version, who disappears after common route, since probably it would be too much hassle to rewrite all routes to acommodate her. But the other side still stands - whole cast is important in her route as well. I loved this aspect. To sum it up - I totally understand those who say, that it's kamige among moege. It certainly worked for me. Also, this VN was my initial reason to start learning Japanese, so being able to read it feels absolutely great and fulfilling. Considering that I feel like it surpasses both Princess Evangile and Koichoco, who got 8.5 from me, I have no other choice, but to give it 9/10 score. Now I think I'll take a breather by reading something translated Probably Farther than a blue sky.

Yeah, it's a bit expensive, although it seems to be standard MG price.

MG has resolved their payment processor issues, the store is operating again, and Farther Than Blue Sky should release as scheduled

Yaaay! Finally I managed to get ToHeart PSE First Press Limited Edition Actually it's my second attempt at buying it. I ordered it for the first time waay back in February, but sadly the package was lost and never arrived. Recently I found pretty good offer on ebay, so I decided to give it one more try, and this time it arrived safely It was advertised as used, but actually looks brand new, and has all extras included. The DVD case is enclosed in additional hard sleeve: Inside there is game disc, manual and extras - some weird cardboard-cutout advertisement thingy, set of cute stickers with chibi-versions of characters, and magnetic payphone card (!) with Multi's picture

Yeah, seems like it. Since I first saw it announced, I've been hoping for "Konosora, but with rockets"

I just hope it will be better than Suki Suki, since premise seems promising (I base my hope on the fact, that it's "regular" VN, without added dating sim mechanics, so that should allow for more coherent story)

No, it's a PC port of a console version. The cuts weren't done by translation team.

Same for me. Fortunately, the version I stumbled upon was translated I'll quote myself from similar thread we had some time ago: True Love might be partially responsible for my soft spot for osananajimi heroines, because of Mikae

+1 for Princess Evangile. Also I really like girls' uniforms in Mashiro Iro Symphony. They give off similar vibe to me.

As always - make sure to get retranslation patch.

Whoa! You're absolutely right. I just looked at it, and felt it all again. Apart from IMHHW, other VNs that I got attached to would be definitely Princess Evangile, Clannad and, for some mysterious reasons, Kazoku Keikaku. I get that strange nostalgic feeling whenever I just hear main menu music, or see title screen. Maybe some day I'll try to reread it untranslated.