Untranslated VNs discussion

[Satsuki]

  On 7/22/2014 at 1:13 PM, Aggressor said:

It's not that I'm into cute little imoutos – I like them mentally mature and more cool, with some nice story and close-to-real "forbidden love" development. Hope SakuSaku that I've started reading yesterday can give me some of these

I heard lots of different opinions about Konami route ( the whole VN actually ), but personally I think it's quite good~ 

[Aggressor]

Finished sempai's route in Sakusaku. Yes, I was going to read imouto first, but well, An was really cool so I changed my mind The only thing I didn't like in her route was

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how they dealt with Eleonore. What the heck, protag didn't even have to make any efforts at making her fall for him, and after she did anyway, he didn't try to love her as much as he should have, not to mention there was only one half-scene with her. It could've been so much better, with proper rivalry, threesomes in dream world etc.

After all I'm glad that when most moeges are obviously weak, there are some makers that can produce high quality VNs in this genre.

 

Need a break before imouto route, will be starting something else today, probably Death March.

[Clephas]

Yeah, there are makers that can produce excellent games that balance moege qualities with a good story/stories.  Palette is a bit hit and miss, though... they have a few excellent games and the rest are mediocre.  When they do well, they really do well, but they don't usually do a good job.

[Aggressor]

Have to agree, about every 5th game of theirs is a success, but if you count "mashiroiro-style art" only, the rate gets higher

Clephas, do you have some other quality moege makers in mind? I can name only Lump of sugar and probably Navel.

[Clephas]

Whirlpool always makes pretty much the same type... but they also manage to make a high-waterline game, for the most part.  This is especially true since they made Suzukaze no Melt, which seemed to signal that they were going to put more emphasis on the plot of their games.  If I have a complaint, it is that their protags are mostly 'regular guy' protags, like most VNs of this type.

 

EX-ONE's Manatsu no Yoru games and Tsukiakari Lunch were both good, though the former is a nakige and its fandisc and the latter is a story-focused that surprised me with its quality.

 

Yuzusoft's moege are pretty good, with good stories (though by now, I imagine everyone knows Yuzusoft).

 

Ensemble does ojousama-ge (games where the heroines are mostly from wealthy families), the most famous of which is Otome ga Tsumugu, Koi no Canvas (this game is awesome). 

 

The second Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteiru is really, really good.

 

Purple Soft is really, really unreliable... but they occasionally produce true masterpieces.

 

Chuuning Lover is a bit over the top at times, but it is rofl worthy and has a decent story hidden under the weirdness.

 

Lovesick Puppies by Cosmic Cute (a sub-brand of AB2) comes to mind.  The second game by that company is chuuni, but Lovesick Puppies is classic high-quality charage material.

 

Alcot and its subsidiaries (ignoring their occasional blunders and nukige) manages to make some good moege with story.  (I loved Naka no Hito nado Inai)

 

Whale comes to mind... but the brand is dead, with only one work to their name.  Ore no Tsure wa Hitodenashi (surprisingly serious and interesting stories hidden under the surface of the somewhat goofy monsters trying to escape their racial stereotypes).

 

I could go on... but to be honest, most VN companies that make really, really good moege also make other types of games.  It is rare for a company that specializes only in moege variants to be any good or dependable. 

[Famichip]

Been playing Majikoi S (the untranslated routes) and Majikoi A-3 lately, haven't really played a translated VN in a while. Next on my play list will be Astralair no Shiroki Towa.

[Satsuki]

And as usual, Yuuki Route is locked till the end 

[Dark Ariel7]

  On 7/30/2014 at 9:48 PM, Famichip said:

Been playing Majikoi S (the untranslated routes) and Majikoi A-3 lately, haven't really played a translated VN in a while. Next on my play list will be Astralair no Shiroki Towa.

Have you finished all of S yet? Im still doing Kazuko and Miyako. MUST UNLOCK YUKI!!!

[Famichip]

  On 7/30/2014 at 11:02 PM, Dark Ariel7 said:

Have you finished all of S yet? Im still doing Kazuko and Miyako. MUST UNLOCK YUKI!!!

I'm trying to unlock Yuki's as well!! I'm currently still left (I think) with Kazuko's and Yukie's routes.

[Tatsujin]

Clephas, have you played HapyMaher?

[Clephas]

Yes, Hapymaher was my VN of the Year for 2013.

[FruitsPunchSamurai]

Is Daiteikoku worth a playthrough? For anyone who has played it.

[Mephisto]

The protagonist for Daiteikoku is kind of just a huge asshole, and unlike Rance, he isn't funny. The visuals/interface of the game are pretty terrible as well. I couldn't play through it, it was just ugh. 

[Sparkker]

O goodness, Astral Air is out... I want to play it even if I don't understand 1-99% of the dialogue so help me VN CG's...
 

[FruitsPunchSamurai]

  On 8/5/2014 at 3:43 AM, Mephisto said:

The protagonist for Daiteikoku is kind of just a huge asshole, and unlike Rance, he isn't funny. The visuals/interface of the game are pretty terrible as well. I couldn't play through it, it was just ugh.

I see. Well then no use going through it if it's not worth it. I shall continue with そして明日の世界より――

A very nice and warm SoL if any one Is interested.

[Chronopolis]

  On 8/5/2014 at 4:16 AM, FruitsPunchSamurai said:

I see. Well then no use going through it if it's not worth it. I shall continue with そして明日の世界より――

A very nice and warm SoL if any one Is interested.

Minami Route! No seriously, I came to like the slice of life, maybe because the novel also feels very down to earth. One of the only VN's where I enjoyed it from start to finish "as a slice of life + route" VN.

[Satsuki]

  On 8/5/2014 at 3:56 AM, Sparkker said:

O goodness, Astral Air is out... I want to play it even if I don't understand 1-99% of the dialogue so help me VN CG's...

 

I got through the common route after....a week of playing 

Not sure my pace is slow, or the vn is long 

[Clephas]

I'm at the last scene... it is a long VN.  The common route is about one third of the game, with the heroine routes collectively making up the other two thirds. 

[Sparkker]

  On 8/5/2014 at 6:37 AM, Satsuki said:

I got through the common route after....a week of playing 

Not sure my pace is slow, or the vn is long 

Hope that the plot is good and won't force me to skip. <Yup even though I can't understand the dialogue>

A long VN = Long skipping

[Aggressor]

Dat lolis...

Finished Kanon route in Kakurenbo - damn, this game is dangerous

If you're into lolis, you should definitely try it, but be careful - it's pretty hot...

[Christfall]

  On 8/5/2014 at 6:37 AM, Satsuki said:

I got through the common route after....a week of playing 

Not sure my pace is slow, or the vn is long 

 

A combination of both, probably, assuming you have a busy life.

 

If what was said by the game's promotional details is to be believed, AstralAir has the length of Hoshimemo + its FD, so it is definitely a lot longer than most other games. I actually like how Favorite uses route locks for the characters. This is to ensure that the best route is always left for last so you can get 100% completion without losing the motivation to play the remaining ones (and people usually play what they like the most at first chance)

[Mephisto]

So, as clephas and accorda know, I'm playing 月に寄りそう乙女の作法 and I have to say, I really really really like this game. 

 

I had some fears at first, especially in regards to whether or not Asahi possessed the abilities of taking personal action, but now those doubts are completely gone. I'm still not that far in to the game, but the writing and the major characters really have me glued. 

 

It's been a while since I've had that feeling, last time was probably Aiyoku. 

[dreamweaver]

  On 8/5/2014 at 2:34 PM, Christfall said:

A combination of both, probably, assuming you have a busy life.

 

If what was said by the game's promotional details is to be believed, AstralAir has the length of Hoshimemo + its FD, so it is definitely a lot longer than most other games. I actually like how Favorite uses route locks for the characters. This is to ensure that the best route is always left for last so you can get 100% completion without losing the motivation to play the remaining ones (and people usually play what they like the most at first chance)

 

Yup i agree and i think it works really good too!  (Unless its a chara-ge...)

You get more story and play the best route last while 100% completing the game!

Other games that i loved using the route locks is Majokoi, HatsuSaku, Oretsuba, Subahibi and Ruitomo...

[Aggressor]

  On 8/8/2014 at 7:35 AM, Mephisto said:

So, as clephas and accorda know, I'm playing 月に寄りそう乙女の作法 and I have to say, I really really really like this game. 

 

I had some fears at first, especially in regards to whether or not Asahi possessed the abilities of taking personal action, but now those doubts are completely gone. I'm still not that far in to the game, but the writing and the major characters really have me glued. 

 

It's been a while since I've had that feeling, last time was probably Aiyoku. 

Were there other characters except of Luna?

Not sure why you like it so much, imo it was okay but far far away from Aiyoku...

[Ayana]

  On 8/8/2014 at 9:29 AM, dreamweaver said:

Yup i agree and i think it works really good too!  (Unless its a chara-ge...)

You get more story and play the best route last while 100% completing the game!

Other games that i loved using the route locks is Majokoi, HatsuSaku, Oretsuba, Subahibi and Ruitomo...

 

I can see it with the others, but... I really really wish Subahibi had complete linear restriction with choices rather than just chapter/route locks. Managed to seriously screw myself over in a chapter by sheer coincidence. -.- If I need to recommend a friend that VN I'll have to have them write down the proper order of choices every single time, even if it is easy to follow... I guess this is just me complaining because I regret it even today. >.<

I do tend to like this approach to VNs the best, with the "saving the best for last" style.