Decay

Well, they should be watching mine, because they're the only good ones in the thread.

I would recommend the games in release order. You can go in chronological order if you want, but even in the modern setting games they work with the backstory quite a bit and the prequels expect you to know a lot of those plot details. Metal Gear 1 and 2 are interesting games but they probably aren't very playable by today's standard. Nor is the story particularly important. They adequately explain everything in the other games. Main thing you need to know: Big Boss was a big baddie and double crossed you, Solid Snake, hoping to build his ultimate mercenary empire, outer heaven. He manufactured conflicts, recruited child soldiers, the works. At the end of MG2 you melt his face with a lighter and aerosol spray. Metal Gear Solid is practically a 3D remake of MG2 but with a new story and a ton of cinematic flair. The gameplay and controls are almost identical, interestingly enough, as are many of the encounters and boss fights. I guess that means the controls are pretty awkward for a PS1 game. It was an extremely groundbreaking game that laid a path for cinematic storytelling that many followed. But maybe not super great to actually play unless you're very patient. Twin Snakes is also an acceptable version to play if you want to go that route. Metal Gear Solid 2 is probably the first "playable" MG game by modern standards, although it also has a really weird control scheme. Still, it's very good. It's absolutely absurd in many ways and is possibly the weirdest MGS game, but that works to its benefit. I found it to be a highly entertaining and thrilling title from start to finish, although I did first play it over a decade ago. MGS3 is my favorite in the series, telling story full of memorable characters, thrilling plot twists, and even some touching moments. All without ever taking itself too seriously (one of the bosses is a man who can control bees. He makes a gun out of bees that shoot bee bullets). Also I really enjoyed its brand of stealth. MGS4 I never actually played since I never had a PS3, but I did watch an LP of it. It actually controlled halfway decently and had a ton of options for guns and that kind of thing, while still staying true to the stealth gameplay. It seemed solid, but the story also kind of got up its own ass. The plotlines of the MGS series are inherently absurd, that's part of the fun. They've always been a little self aware, but only a little. It was a fine balance that allowed it to tell some incredibly bizarre but entertaining tales with a straight face. But MGS4 kind of messed that balance up. It's still good, but like I said, it just felt like it was a little too up its own ass. Also a lot of very, VERY long cutscenes. Peace Walker brought itself back to a much more gameplay focused experience. There was still a bit of a crazy plot with some really entertaining moments, but there was also a whole lot of side missions, a base management system was added where you recruit and manage soldiers, and a lot of other neat gameplay features. It was cool and good. MGS5 I'm still playing, but I like it a lot. It's very different from most other MGS games. It's reasonably similar to Peace Walker with the mission structure and side missions and research and base management and all that, but there are also a lot of differences. It's very much a gameplay focused experience. The story is sporadic but at least it's still delightfully bizarre and full of twists. The protagonist is a lot less chatty than usual, which feels a bit weird at first but it kind of fits what the character has become. The gameplay is fantastic, though. I really love it. For the first time, an MGS game controls and plays really, really well. And all of the gameplay systems are very polished and work like you would expect. The disparate mechanics like base building, research, and the gameplay in the field all fit together surprisingly well. It's a pretty great experience so far. So yeah, that's my take on the MGS series. I'm glad you're giving it a shot, Zeno, and I hope you stick with it. It's very much a worthwhile endeavor. If you do, after you finish MGS3, I suggest watching a LP of MGS4, I guess it may not be absolutely plot critical since nothing but Revengeance takes palce after that (and Revengeance isn't really relevant, although it's very entertaining and worth playing as well), but it's good to know a lot of the backstory they delve into in order to flesh out the events of MGS5. Suggested LP: edit: wow that was a long post. I have a lot of things to say about metal gear solid, apparently.

Oh really? https://twitter.com/moogy0/status/640817443926081536

Before a product's release, excitement levels rarely drop, ideally it keeps building up as you go through your PR cycle, as the customers have no release for their excitement. When done correctly, hype reaches critical mass just prior to the game's release. When this happens, the hype goes viral, people tell their friends about the game, etc. Your customers do the lion's share of the work for you at that point. Then you release, everyone who was excited for it plays it, they talk about it for a couple weeks, and then are forever silent. If you do your marketing after release, it is substantially less effective because you can't build up those hype levels among people who are already playing it, and it doesn't spread as widely. edit: And Sanah just barely beats me to the punch. There's also the factor that money now is better than money later. Even if you could get an equal number of sales by marketing post release (you can't), you want that money as soon as possible so you can invest it back into your company.

thank you for making this the first post in this thread

From the creators of Aselia the Eternal and Yumina the Ethereal comes Seinarukana, the sequel to Aselia. Set in the same world but with an all-new cast, Seinarukana is a highly rated and respected H-RPG/VN hybrid. The gameplay resembles Ogre Battle a little where you order multiple parties around to fight for control over a larger map, capturing towns and harvesting resources. From what I know, playing Aselia first is optional. Description gracelessly stolen from VNDB (thanks sanahtlig!): This game's translation has been in the works for a very long time, and after years of delays and poorly scheduled development, it's finally releasing. When? This month! Maybe early next! But it's really soon! Seriously, its release is actually imminent. Not that you'd know this unless you were REALLY closely paying attention. But at AX JAST announced that it would be released this September. And, well, it's September! When Shiny Days was delayed, someone asked JAST if Seinarukana was still on track for September, and they basically reaffirmed it. Their project status page says that all they have left to do is produce some of the Limited Edition goodies and they'll be ready to ship. I'm still not fully confident that it will be out this month just because it's JAST and you never know with them, but it's seriously not going to take much longer. So where are the preorders? The PR push? Any marketing at all, even simple tweets? You've got me. Shiny Days and Starless were preceded by months of promotional tweeting, which isn't that big of a deal but at least it's something. JAST is taking the bold strategy of "release the game and tell no one about it until it happens." Ask Sega how well that worked with the Saturn. I wonder how salty the translator Aroduc will get over this, considering his reaction to Romanesque's release. My guess is that they don't want to get hopes up with pre-release hype and then get hit by even more backlash if something unexpected happens and they're forced to delay. But that doesn't really explain the complete radio silence. They really ought to be telling people about this game. Because it's good! And people deserve to know about it, and it deserves to sell well! Aroduc is a solid translator and his work should be rewarded! So I guess I'm here to do the job JAST won't. And yes, yes, you can unleash all of your jokes about how this game is never getting released, JAST time, etc. But also feel free to actually talk about the game. These dark times are finally coming to an end.

No. That's just a japanese cultural thing.

Latest news on the patch: https://twitter.com/moogy0/status/640816301427060737 "Subahibi patch delayed while we work on the installer, please be patient." While it's unfortunate that it has been delayed, it didn't exactly have a concrete release date to begin with and if all they have left to do is work out the installer, that sounds pretty positive. edit: I have a feeling that tweet was a reference to something I don't fully understand.

There are not 8 translation projects on that list, but 6 of them. One of them is complete, another is a VN that is still actively in development in Japan, the rest besides WAS actually do receive updates. WAS hasn't received one since the alpha went live back in may and that's a pretty confusing situation.

I pretty much agree with Sanah on this. Exact project status is a luxury that normal customers do not need to know, nor are they entitled to that information. It's cool that MangaGamer does it, but if Sekai Project doesn't think it's worth their while, then, well, oh well. They operate like almost every single other video game developer/publisher in the world. It's unreasonable to expect more. Well, what IS reasonable, like Sanah says, is to expect more transparency when it comes to the 18+ stuff. Outside of that, I don't think anyone has a right to know SP's inner workings.

To be fair, they had regular updates on Kajitsu's 18+ version via their forums.

Don't be that pessimistic. SC is finishing up soon and Corpse Party is next on that particular programmer's schedule. It's supposed to be out sometime this year, maybe early next if we're unlucky.

There is a localization of the PC version in the works, but Trails in the Sky SC's delays have trickled back to Corpse Party, since SC is the higher priority for XSEED.

If the product itself adheres to all rules and guidelines, which it appears to, I don't think they'll take it down. But they may make them remove all mention of where to buy the full version.

Why would it get removed? The free version will have no h-scenes or anything, just a bunch of girls sitting around chatting about fapping. It's dumb but it's just stupid enough to work as a publicity builder for their off-site eroge. edit: Although yeah, maybe linking to DLSite in their description is something they won't allow. I'd actually be interested to see if this actually flies, it could be a new way for eroge sellers to market their wares.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=503649142 What is Ona-Ken! -International-? Well, let's let Greenlight do the talking for us!

Not to diminish what the others have done, but at this point I don't really see a complete patch ever happening. If I was you, I'd go for it.

A lot of eroge authors seem to have super conservative and backwards views on gender roles and that kind of thing, so yeah I can see some people getting bothered by that. I'm not sure how this is supposed to be related to this thread.

I don't see this blowing up. Some people might get huffy, but this won't be a big thing. People have tolerated the mingling of adult and non-adult content at american video stores for ages. Americans ignore this shit, there are christian fundamentalists who object strongly to porn but nobody listens to them. As long as it's not anything too deviant, Americans have proven themselves perfectly willing to ignore matters such as these. So yeah, one largely tame title being released on Steam may cause some upset tumblrites to rant but it's not going to cause a scandal. Also expect the publicity to do wonders for the game and MangaGamer.

At least this is going to change soon. I give between six months to a year before Citra, an extremely promising 3DS emulator from some of the minds behind Dolphin and PPSSPP, allows most games to be playable. They're making huge strides each month.

Huniepop's Steam version withheld the post-sex CGs, so no, it doesn't really top this in lewdness. And it's not just boobs, but they're depicted partaking in sex acts, so it's more lewd than a girl simply exposing herself. I don't actually think Steam has anything *more* sexual than this. You also have to look beyond the tame HCGs and into the actual narration, where AFAIK it does go into some explicit detail. Again though, like I said in the OP, it's super softcore, but I also think there's not anything on Steam quite like it. I also don't think this is going to immediately usher in a new era of eroge on Steam, but the winds are shifting and this may be a sign of that. Here's a relevant image from the developer of Beach Bounce:

http://blog.mangagamer.org/2015/09/01/kindred-spirits-on-the-roof-is-coming-to-steam/ MangaGamer's release of Kindred Spirits on the Roof will be released on Steam uncensored. According to several people in the industry, Valve has acknowledged the potential for adult titles on the platform and some people within the company are pushing to make that happen. Kindred Spirits will be the first uncensored VN release with sex scenes on the platform, which is pretty exciting. But why the "kind of" in the thread title? Well,Kindred Spirits isn't a full-blown eroge, it's kind of softcore. There are sex scenes, but the genitalia are obscured and it's like Skinemax-levels of porniness. That's still way more erotic content than any game on the platform, but it's not on the level of a standard bishoujo eroge. I see this as a start of a trend, though. If this doesn't go over too poorly among the userbase, perhaps Valve will be persuaded to release even more pornographic titles on the platform. What do you guys think? I think that MangaGamer stands to sell a lot of copies due to having the only actual pornographic title on the platform, even if it's softcore porn. Good on them for pushing boundaries. edit: Doddler claims there are other games already on the service that are more erotic but I can't really think of any off the top of my head.