Untranslated VNs discussion

[Vokoca]

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.

Can you elaborate a bit on this without spoiling anything, if possible? I am planning to read SubaHibi soon, and I'd like to get the best out of it. I generally dislike walkthroughs as they spoil the whole purpose of the choices for me, but I'm definitely okay with getting the route order/the equivalent of that. Unless the choices give you absolutely no chance to predict where they lead?

[Clephas]

I disliked Subahibi... for so many reasons it isn't even funny.  However, all those reasons are personal-taste reasons, so I won't enumerate them here.

[edwd2]

Can you elaborate a bit on this without spoiling anything, if possible? I am planning to read SubaHibi soon, and I'd like to get the best out of it. I generally dislike walkthroughs as they spoil the whole purpose of the choices for me, but I'm definitely okay with getting the route order/the equivalent of that. Unless the choices give you absolutely no chance to predict where they lead?

 

It's pretty simple. There are seven routes, or I should say seven points of view, you start with the prologue and for each route, you need to get to the True End to unlock the next one. That's the basic idea, you'll see for yourself once you play.

 

I'd really recommend Subahibi: simple plot, lots of nonsense but unique and interesting, stands out from the other denpa (IMO さよ教 is overrated, 終ノ空 and 101 were poor attempts).

[Clephas]

Denpa in general isn't all that good a genre... it is too all over the place, and the writers frequently use this as an excuse for shoddy scenario design and cutting corners.  Like dating sims, it is mostly a dead genre.  Occasionally new ones come out, but they are relatively rare in PC VNs...  The fad's biggest jump was between 1998-2005 (in both anime and VNs), and it died with surprising rapidity after. 

[dreamweaver]

Imo Subahibi is one of the best mystery VNs out there.

I heard the english translation progress is around 75% so i am

Hoping more people will play it too =]

[Vokoca]

It's pretty simple. There are seven routes, or I should say seven points of view, you start with the prologue and for each route, you need to get to the True End to unlock the next one. That's the basic idea, you'll see for yourself once you play.

 

I'd really recommend Subahibi: simple plot, lots of nonsense but unique and interesting, stands out from the other denpa (IMO さよ教 is overrated, 終ノ空 and 101 were poor attempts).

Ah, so it's not like there are several routes open at the same time? Sounds good, I'll read it blind then. I like the restricted order much more (be it a true route or something like this) than an open one, since you're much less likely to end with a lackluster route as the last one.

 

Anyway, to actually get on topic, I'm playing Muramasa right now, making steady progress through Ichijou's route. Well, been reading that for almost two months now, but that's just because I took a break after completing Kanae's route to read something easier for a moment. That VN was Reminiscence... god what a horrendous pick. Loved AkaGoei, but Reminiscence was just mostly boring and unlikeable with very few good parts far in between. I'll be staying away from the sequel.

[Ayana]

To what edwd2 was saying above about Subahibi, you especially want to get the stuff before immediately going to the true ends of each chapter as it's all important, and the guide for choice order on that is so hilariously simple yet still something one could easily forget if they didn't have it in mind.

And to be honest, Subahibi is not all that great as people make it out to be... I just simply see it as the most masterful story ever and obsess over it because of, well, personal reasons/attachments and also to do with my ideals... From an objective and critical standpoint, it's still an extremely good VN (in comparison to the majority of VNs) but not even as good as some of the real masterpieces out there. Don't let the hype get to you is all I'm saying.


OT: Well I think I'm almost finished with Baldr Sky Dive2 and I'm planning to read something else also really epic afterwards... Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai. Here's to hoping that I'll actually be able to even read this Novel (I say "novel" for a good reason... >_>).

[Mephisto]

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...

 

Well, Luna is obviously Luna so she's in a league of her own, but Ursulle is honestly really well utilized as well. She'd be the bane of all translators everywhere, but just everything about her is absolutely hilarious. 

 

Also, your older brother is kind of holy fucking shit. 

 

Risona easily contender for best imouto character ever. 

 

It may not have the "holy fucking shit is this for real, there's no way they're going to OH MY GOD THEY ARE GOING FOR IT" that Aiyoku has, but it definitely has a lot of its own strengths. 

[Chronopolis]

This game is an oddball and hard to describe but I like it, so I thought I'd randomly talk about this game, Gin'iro.

 

Each of the stories touches on one or a few themes, while also having a connection to the Gin'iro (The Silver Thread). Of the five stories, 3 of them take place a few hundred years ago, while 2 of them take place in modern times. The two stories don't really utilize the modern setting and are more of hurtful emotional and interpersonal drama. One of the themes that is touched upon are the lives of people, which go unrecorded in the annals of history. Lastly, two of the five stories cover the circumstance behind the creation of the Gin'iro.

 

Being an utsuge through and through, Gin'iro is a for-everyone game. Furthermore, being broken up into 5 stories, it's not so great if you want to be interested by the same character all game long. It's also devoid of moe. Some of the characters were quite remarkable (not sure if likeable is the right word...), while others were hard to look at at times.

 

I have troubling telling how strong the individual stories are, how cohesive the stories are, or how the themes hold everything together, which makes it hard to score the game, and leaves me with an empty feeling at times (beyond the ustu, lol). They might be mediocre, good, or great, I don't know. Except the first story, which I strongly believe is beautiful and equally special in concept and execution.

 

For those interested in an unorthodox game with a lot of sobering circumstances and thematic substance, Gin'iro might be worth a try.

[Dark Ariel7]

I really want to start reading Hello Lady. I have it primed and ready on my start screen. I tried playing it once but it was a bit hard too read. I've read some untranslated before but I guess its much easier when you already know the characters and setting beforehand. I will tackle it again in a couple of weeks after studying some more. I got so motivated for reading the Benkei route in Majikoi that I upped my Japanese by a level or two in just a couple of months. Learnt about 300 or so Kanji in that span that got me through the route very well. I will be counting on that motivation again. I already got in an extra 150 just in the st month or so. My motivation is UP! 

[Mephisto]

Everything by Akatsuki Works is really hard, and Hello Lady is no exception. The writer is a little bit of an oddball with really long sentences, so it'll be pretty rough going if you aren't familiar with the language. 

[Christfall]

Hello Lady's gratuitous Engrish doesn't help either. IIRC it has more infodumping than in Comyu and the writer usually don't write sentences in a straightforward way and likes utilizing metaphor, personification and the like all he wants. The prologue is probably the toughest part because you know nothing about the setting (assuming you don't do research beforehand) but it gets easier as you read on, some parts still require good comprehension to grasp its full meaning however.

[Dark Ariel7]

I definetly noticed that it was not nearly as kind to beginners as Majikoi was. But that said. I cannot leave it alone I will simply have to do what I can. I plan to get to at least 600 kanji before I tackle it again. That should be almost double that with which I tried the first time.

[Clephas]

Hello, Lady is a great VN... but Narita Shinri is going to kill you if you aren't used to using jparser to fumble through VNs...

[Dark Ariel7]

Hello, Lady is a great VN... but Narita Shinri is going to kill you if you aren't used to using jparser to fumble through VNs...

 I dont use Jparser. I do it straight from the Vn.

[Bolverk]

Read through the main routes in Hyper→Highspeed→Genius. I liked it surprisingly much. The story always never goes over the edge to being sad. But keeps action and interesting plot twists. Also the protag being like Lelouch in code geass, just great. Melodramatic ftw. Sometimes it's totally Chuuni awesome as well.

I am jumping to the sequel now, I am going to go back and read some of the other routes after that on both the sequel and prequel.

 

I am planning to read Nanairo after this.