Clephas

G-senjou is the only one from ABS2 that uses that format. Sharin no Kuni uses the format that is mostly a straight line, with the heroine 'paths' basically only the epilogue. Basically, the aftermath changes, not the story. Akabeisoft2's subsidiaries produce some games that are similar to theirs, some significantly different. Akatsuki no Goei was by one of its subsidiaries, as was Ruitomo.

There is some iai use in Shinigami no Testament... Ayakashibito has a significant amount of martial arts (one of the main antagonists is a serious badass)... Yurikago yori Tenshi Made has some really vicious martial arts use... the Akatsuki no Goei games' have a significant amount of martial-arts related material... Shuumatsu Shoujo Gensou Alicematic goes pretty deep into the world of sword-wielding martial arts... VNs with pro-wrestling in them are nonexistent as far as I can tell. All those above have serious martial arts as a part of the game, but none of them are entirely focused on them. Completely sports or martial arts focused vns are rare, to say the least.

SAO was excellent, and I'm going to pretend like the original material went no farther, even if they release a second series, lol. Welcome to Fuwa.

My thoughts after finishing Sengoku Koihime: As to be expected of a game that follows an identical track (without a battle system) to Koihime Musou, this game has excellent writing and a great set of characters. tbh, the story is far more personal from beginning to end than Koihime Musou was (except for Cao Cao's path) in that it goes away from the historical path very early on. The appearance of the man-eating 'oni', the conspiracy behind their rise, and the rise of the protagonist's harem give rise to a mix of hilarity and serious story that makes for some truly dramatic moments. While this game requires you to suspend your sense of disbelief, much like with the other Koihime games, it also has many moments that grant you a fairly accurate glimpse into how people lived during the Sengoku Jidai. That the protagonist isn't a total wimp or incapable (just less so in some ways than the over-powered heroines) also helps to make the story enjoyable. Unsurprisingly, I can say outright that this game is a definite candidate for my game of the month for December, though I still have four more games from this month I plan to play before making the decision. Edit: as a note, I meant Shin Koihime Musou, not the original. Shin Koihime Musou has a significantly better story than the original game, as well as three distinct paths with endings and a process that vary wildly from beginning to end.

*Clephas eats Hazel's bun, looking satisfied* Welcome to Fuwa.

Welcome. I can't provide any recommendations for you until you run out of translated games and are ready to take the plunge into the abyss. However, until then feel free to check out Kaguya's thread, lol.

*makes a fire from the moe, then uses it to roast chestnuts*

.... *is a bit stunned at the excess of capitol letters* Welcome to Fuwa.

Fudge, a fake tree, presents, stockings, and lots of food.

Merry Christmas, all. If you want recommendations for reading over Christmas, please use the thread before midnight central time tonight, as I will be unavailable until the 27th.

*dances the dance of welcome, tossing flaming loli skulls into the air as a greeting to the newcomer* Welcome to Fuwa.

*becomes conflicted briefly, as the loli is a kitsunekko, but solves the problem of his fetish by making her an adult then kidnapping her for his collection* Welcome to Fuwa.

*summons a giant demon cat, who promptly eats the moe, giving itself heartburn* Welcome to Fuwa.

*welcomes the newcomer with a fountain of blood from the neck of a hobo and three dancing nekololi ninjas* Welcome to Fuwa.

Mapping: When you choose a route through an area, you can either go with the default by just clicking on the point you want to get to (and possibly running into an enemy you don't want to fight) or you can map your route point by point. The latter method is mostly useful in the parts of the game where you have to do something in a very short period of time. As an example, there is a part early in the game where you have to maneuver through an area to rescue civilians from monsters. If you fight a monster along the way, the other monsters will start moving and eat the civvies. So, in order to get the best quest reward, you have to map out a route that avoids all the enemies. You do this by highlighting each point along the route you want to go in order (if you miss one, it resets your efforts) until you come to the point you want to get to. This isn't covered by the tutorials and is only referred to obliquely in the Japanese walkthroughs, so I figured I'd put this down here. Edit: Here are a few early strategies that will help you for the late game. First: Replicate all the early cards at least twenty times. Most of them come in handy for alchemy later on, letting you create items that will be useful to you later. In addition, keep all the coins and other items that seem only good for selling. Just playing the game you'll have more than enough money to get what you want, as long as you aren't overly greedy. Many of those items get used in late-game or second-run alchemy for high-level special character and leader cards. Second: Build yourself a varied stock of cards of all types. The mid and late game arena has a lot of special conditions to some of its battles. Third: Protag's Finishing Art is only useful at first glance. Narumi's is far more useful when it comes to dealing with late-game enemies, so having her as your partner for boss battles is a life-saver. With her help, it is relatively easy to clear the bosses' most powerful allies. Fourth: Do NOT play the Demon route your first or second time. Get the other two routes out of your way first, so you can access the EX scenario as early as possible. That EX scenario is the only way you can get non-protag leader cards and the Control 2 protag card.

http://vndb.org/v13188 I'll be starting this as my first game for December, tomorrow after I'm done with my fourth playthrough of Soukoku no Arterial (just finished all three paths and all the extra content/bosses/goodies, want to get one more heroine ending)

Short common route, long individual routes, or no splits whatsoever with a single path (no crappy side-heroine paths like in G-senjou).

lol, I didn't mean it as an insult to moege. I use it as a derogatory term frequently, but in this case, I'm referring to it as a simple descriptor. There are lots of VN-lovers who like the gooey stuff, after all.

Some VNs do fine without them, some don't. Personally, I think that all characters should have voices, if they are going to have voices in the first place *is referring to the lack of protagonist voices in most VNs*.

My prejudice against English and for Japanese VA comes from having begun watching anime in the early nineties, when Japan already had a viable professional VA community and the US didn't. I saw so many terrible dubs over the years that I got to where I can't stand watching dubs for anything that has the original language. Also, I find Japanese to be a prettier and more interesting language to listen to, overall. lol

Moege are VNs that exist only to provide fanservice, archetypical heroines (like tsundere, Kud-style lolis, and osananajimi), and general cuteness/soft and gooey emotional drama (though not to the extent Key lays it on, usually).

*eats a hobo in celebration of the new arrival, smiling with the poor fellow's foot still sticking out of his mouth before biting it off at the ankle* Welcome to Fuwa.

*adds the loli to his army of loli warriors, devoted to the extermination of lolicons everywhere* Welcome to Fuwa.

Second Post: 2nd playthrough benefits: First, you get to keep everything that isn't a key item related to story progression, including your experience and party levels. The level cap is increased from 9 to Z (essentially level 35). In addition, you gain access to the cameo side-stories from the append discs, like obtaining the protagonists from Himegari and Kamidori, as well as Haishiera from the Ikusa Megami series (in Zero she is one of those cliched rpg bosses that you aren't supposed to beat, who treat you like a small child by letting you hit them a few times then wiping you out in a single hit). You can also activate 'clone mode', which lets you keep all your characters and their accompanying skills. For those wondering when the final skill for most characters is activated, most are activated at level A, in the second playthrough. All levels past 9 require the same amount of experience to raise, and since you should have Madoka's exp modifier on you from the beginning, regardless of what path you chose, it is fairly easy to level up steadily as you go. Suggestions: Play the human and angel paths first, as completing those gives you the items to synthesize a special item necessary for accessing Shuuya's final leader card, certain secret characters, as well as the other Append disc 3 benefits. A last few words: For those who can't read kanji on their own, use the agth code, even though regular conversation show up in ITH. The agth code also lets you access item, skill, and other info.