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English Translated Japanese Visual Novel/ADV Thread

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Lain

Member
atomicstrawberry said:
Some more info on the JAST Nitro+ releases. Not sure if they mentioned these details at AX or not.

http://www.nitroplususa.com/new-nitro-titles-announced-preorders/

Looks like to get them out faster they're doing bundled releases. Saya no Uta and Hanachirasu as a single bundle in Fall 2011, Kikokugai and Django as a second bundle some time in 2012, and Sumaga getting a non-bundled release some time after that.

Saya/Hanachirasu bundle is also up for preorder on J-List.
Does J-List charge you on shipping or when you order?

Also, your post has lead me to find out about the partnership between J-List and MangaGamer to distribute some physical copies. I'll have to pick a couple.

Oh, and I had missed the Innocent Grey interview on Siliconera. Good stuff.
 
Ra1den said:
So I just got my first ending with Ever17 (not a very happy one, lol). Such a mindblowing experience. I see there are another 10 to get. I REALLLLLY don't want to be spoiled on any plot points though, so I am hesitant to check a guide.

Does anybody know of any good spoiler free guides to help me get the other endings, and scenes etc? Or perhaps some advice on how to go about playing on subsequent playthroughs? I want to see everything. I presume what everybody does is use the "skip" function to zoom to key points, and change their decisions?

If you thought your first ending in Ever17 was mindblowing, you're in for a real treat. I followed this guide to get all the endings; there are also some more exhaustive flowcharts on GameFAQs now if you wish.

What I do for multiple playthroughs is to make a save at every single decision point - that's why you have tons of save slots in most VNs - and then go back to the first one I need to change to branch off to a new ending. Of course, I use the skip already seen text function as well.
 

Ra1den

Member
hosannainexcelsis said:
If you thought your first ending in Ever17 was mindblowing, you're in for a real treat. I followed this guide to get all the endings; there are also some more exhaustive flowcharts on GameFAQs now if you wish.

What I do for multiple playthroughs is to make a save at every single decision point - that's why you have tons of save slots in most VNs - and then go back to the first one I need to change to branch off to a new ending. Of course, I use the skip already seen text function as well.

Thanks, that is just the type of guide I was hoping existed.

Saving at every decision point...that will certainly speed things up on subsequent playthroughs. I will definitely do that from now on. Thanks for all of the advice.
 

iavi

Member
creid said:
Anyone finish Kara no Shoujo? Final impressions? I'm interested but I want to be pushed over the edge.

I'm actually going through this one right now. It's pretty well written, the art's pretty good, and the ost is apt, but this thing is creepy. as. all. fuck. That might not be the case if you're used to stuff like this, but I'm not a very big fan of psychological-slasher-esque narratives, so I'm trudging through it just because everything else is so solid.
 
I've been re-reading Umineko No Naku Koro Ni and Chiru (episodes 2, 5, 6, 8), mainly for personnal enjoyment and theory-making. Glad to see that even after several readings, its interest stills holds up pretty well (and dat music...so awesome).

Anyway, I've also decided to begin Clannad, having already read Kanon and liked the first animated season. So, after completing Misae's route, I decide to go on Tomoyo's route. I just completed it.

XsBi2.png


God that was awful. A pity too, as it showed real promise (Sunohara getting beaten up ? always awesome). But halfway through the interest falters, and we sink in complete sentimentality, to reach unprecedented levels of silliness
I luv you. Me too. Let's make out. 'k. Let's break up. But that would make me sad. I'm dragging you down, and I guess I don't love that much lol. Oh k :(. Then the epilogue : oh hai. hai. Wanna go out again ? guess I love you again lol. HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGG SO INFURIATING

tl;dr : I really didn't like this route, thus I really hesitate to go on reading Clannad.

By the way, has anybody here played Higanbana or Rewrite ?
 

Varion

Member
Tribes of Trusty said:
By the way, has anybody here played... Rewrite ?
Hi. Almost finished it, I'd be finished with it already if I could just get a day where I didn't feel half asleep to finish the final route off (reading Tanaka Romeo while half asleep is not a good idea).

Why do you ask?
 

Varion

Member
Tribes of Trusty said:
Just to have a feedback on it, since it has one route written by R07 and I like his works :)
Everyone who I've spoken to about the game loved Ryuukishi's route except me weirdly enough. I feel like the odd one out who thought it dragged and found the finale forced and pointlessly drawn out. Had high hopes for it being a big Higurashi and Umineko fan too (though I still haven't read Ep8). Think part of it might have been due to the fact that it's paced so the real overarching plot stuff comes the latest out of all the routes, and I left it to last though. Probably not the best order to do things in. Most of my favourite routes were Romeo's, think I'm going to have to hunt out more of his stuff sometime.

The game as a whole was really good, though. It's interesting seeing a Key VN that has the individual heroine routes giving you different perspectives on one overarching story rather than just being mostly separate. Can't really expect to fully understand the plot if you skip any of them. Loved almost all the characters, which is more than can be said for Little Busters where my finger unconsciously hovered over the CTRL key when half the heroines were on screen (I ended up dropping because of them in the end. Especially Komari.) Still a few things I could criticise about the scenario so it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination (and it's really long) but overall it's great stuff. Also the music's awesome.

Really hope they make an anime sometime.
 
Complete translation patch for Katahane released:
http://tlwiki.tsukuru.info/index.php?title=Katahane#Releases

The story takes place in a world with 3 kingdoms: the Red, White, and Blue Kingdom. In this world, they have highly-advanced dolls with some closely resembling humans. These dolls occasionally need maintenance which is done by a “tuner”.

A young playwright named Wakaba writes a controversial play about a traitor named Ein who killed a ruler of the White Kingdom, Christina. In Wakaba’s play, she presumes that Ein did not betray Christina, but was actually her loyal supporter.

When Wakaba’s friend Cero needs to make a trip to get Coco- an energetic doll that lives with him- maintenance, Wakaba and her brother Light travel with him. Wakaba travels in the hopes of finding some actors for her play. Along the way, they meet a beautiful doll with one wing named Belle and an aspiring actress named Angelina.

The story takes place in 2 parts:
1) Shirohane - the main story with Wakaba and gang
2) Kurohane - the historical events talking about the end of the reign of Christina

They've done two patches, a 'natural' one which removes honorifics and rewords some untranslatable Japanese things to English equivalents, and a 'literal' one which keeps the honorifics and wierd language artifacts. If in doubt, I'd guess that the natural option is going to be the better choice.

Anyone played this? I've had my eye on it but held off until the patch was done.
 
More fan translation patches. Apparently fan group Amaterasu's negotiations with Mangagamer to license their translations for official releases fell through, so the patches they've been sitting on are now available.
http://amaterasu.is.moelicious.be/index.php?page=downloads

rjyUE.jpg

Shikkoku no Sharnoth ~ What a Beautiful Tomorrow
The year is 1905 in the capital of the British Empire, the Engine City London, where the air is so thick with smoke that a mere glimpse of the blue sky is considered a miracle. The protagonist, Mary Clarissa Christie, is a girl living by herself while her mother works abroad. She attends university with her friends, Angelica Derleth and Charlotte Bronte, and lives a peaceful life.

However, through a chance encounter, she finds herself drawn into another side of London- spoken of only as rumors of "Metacreatures" who roam the night and attack people. She forms a contract with a strange man in a black suit, known as 'M', and begins to help him hunt these creatures...

rnZAp.jpg

Muv-Luv Alternative
Muv-Luv Alternative takes place after the events of the original Muv-Luv. Alternative focuses on the life of Shirogane Takeru three years after Muv-Luv; Takeru wakes up believing that everything that had happened was just a dream. However, he notices something wrong: he has been sent back in time to the beginning of the events in Muv-Luv: Unlimited. But instead of letting a disaster strike again, he decides to help stop it before it even begins. The solution: helping to complete Alternative IV.

A beta version of this patch was leaked a while back. Because their deal fell through they've also made their earlier patch for the original Muv-Luv game available again as well.

Both are pretty good, so if anyone's looking for something 'new' they'd be worth a look.
 
Steins Gate fantranslation patch available, yay ! I've made sure to be on an info lockout to be sure to appreciate it (contrary to Chaos Head where the anime undermined my experience with the VN).
Now, I have to find a way to bypass the regional protection...
 

Lain

Member
I grabbed the Kira Kira bundle off mangagamer and I'm having a blast with it. There are some minor annoyances with some text and the fact the text goes over the whole image, but the dialogue is just great.
I'm puzzled about why I can't see the opening of the game when I fire up the game or start a new game though.

Edit: As I wrote this, I finished the "prologue" and I got to see the opening XD
 

creid

Member
Tribes of Trusty said:
Steins Gate fantranslation patch available, yay ! I've made sure to be on an info lockout to be sure to appreciate it (contrary to Chaos Head where the anime undermined my experience with the VN).
Now, I have to find a way to bypass the regional protection...
Now that it's been out for a while, how's the quality? I'd be kind of wary given the nature of the Japanese text.
 
creid said:
Now that it's been out for a while, how's the quality? I'd be kind of wary given the nature of the Japanese text.
from what i know it still need some proofreading .it's defintly understandable ..but you might want to wait for the edited version if pourly constructed sentences is something that kill your enjoyment
 
So I recently finished an 11-12 hour marathon of Ever17's 'true' route.

Words fail me. I am in complete awe at not only how my mentality was ripped to quivering shreds by revelation after masterful revelation, but also at my utter failure to piece together beforehand the overwhelming majority of what my brain's just been assaulted with
(and that's despite the translation error on You(aki)'s route which gave away the date for LeMU Lap II).
Since this was my first proper VN, I'd been deliberating over the text fairly carefully as I was playing, and coming into the final route I thought I had at least a semi-reasonable grasp of the plot's intricacies. By the end of it I realised I might as well have been fumbling around trying to play Kick the Can with the lights off.

The translation errors aside, I have a couple of minor gripes, but on the whole they're trivial things which didn't really detract from my enjoyment. Also (and perhaps unsurprisingly) I still have a fair number of questions left over, but nothing that I feel I desperately need an answer to in order to make sense of the story / that would add much to an already fantastic experience anyway.

btw:

Best characters: 1 2
Biggest sad face moments: 1 2
Life Readings: 1
 

Ra1den

Member
Man that's awesome, I also just got the true ending. Unfrickinbelievable. No words to describe how insanely well done this plot is. I guess I should wait awhile before saying so, but as of now I'm considering it one of the most brilliant stories I've ever seen anywhere.

Does anybody know what the deal is with
Takeshi's epilogue, the one you unlock after getting the true ending? What do those German words mean?

By the way, there are a couple audio dramas which continue the story that are fairly long, so I'll check those out next. They have been translated, thankfully.
 

creid

Member
By the way, there are a couple audio dramas which continue the story that are fairly long, so I'll check those out next. They have been translated, thankfully.
Whaaat? First I'm hearing of it. I'm going to have to track those down.
 

Ra1den

Member
Anybody know what the deal is with an official English release of Chaos Head? I know the patch etc was taken offline by the creators, because they are working with Jast now...so why has there been no mention of an official release? The status update they released at the end of last month had no mention of it.
 

Torraz

Member
When does that get HOLY SHIT AWESOME like I've always heard it is? I finished the first episode recently and it underwhelmed me.

From the second on I guess? The third was was my personal favorite. Biggest letdown was the seventh, I suppose. From some people who have read the 8th (and final) episode it is apparently even better than the third.

I'd give the series 1-2 more chances!
 
When does that get HOLY SHIT AWESOME like I've always heard it is? I finished the first episode recently and it underwhelmed me.

first episode seems underwhelming but it has actually a lot of clues toward what's going on .knowing the answer of the riddle or what's going on , and you re read ep one , it's crazy how you'll realise what you've missed .

Episode 1 is a necessary step to pose the settings, characters and plot ..
From episode 2 and onwards , battler will be fighting head-on an antagonist and everything will be quite more "hetic" , impressive , WTF ..and so on..
In short , when people start arguing in ep2 is the "real" start of the awesome.
 
Yes, Episode 1 is more like a prologue in the grand scheme of things. A very, very long prologue, filled with clues and Chekhov's gun(man)/artillery/whatever.

The real awesome effectively begins at Episode 2, and it only goes up from there.

Personally my favourite episode is the fifth (Umineko No Naku Koro Ni Chiru), followed closely by the fourth. The one I liked the least would be the sixth, because it was more focused on the world's mechanics than the story.

The seventh episode was like a bomb in the narrative though.
 

creid

Member
Decided to take the plunge into Fate/stay night. Haven't played anything type-moon before, but I've heard nothing but good things. Any better options than $115 on J-list?

Edit: Ah, 6540Y on amazon.co.jp. Guess I'll use the opportunity to try out Tenso.
 

Lain

Member
Am I the only one anticipating the release of DEARDROPS from mangagamer?
I'm guessing it'll be 2012 (although I'd wish it would come out this month), just as it will be 2012 when some titles I'm interested in from Jastusa will be released.
 

Ra1den

Member
Started playing Chaos;Head, it's frickin awesome. Unfortunately my game keeps messing up at the same spot. It's one of those windows errors that says "an error has occurred and the program has to close, would you like to tell Microsoft about this?" or whatever.

Getting the English patch working was a pain in the ass, I don't even know if I did it totally correctly. After spending several hours trying to get the RC1 patch to work, I got ahold of an RC2 patch that worked after simply clicking on it and swapping the games chaoshead.exe file.

But now this crap happens. Anybody got an idea what would cause a game to give an error like that, always at the same spot?
 
Started playing Chaos;Head, it's frickin awesome. Unfortunately my game keeps messing up at the same spot. It's one of those windows errors that says "an error has occurred and the program has to close, would you like to tell Microsoft about this?" or whatever.

Getting the English patch working was a pain in the ass, I don't even know if I did it totally correctly. After spending several hours trying to get the RC1 patch to work, I got ahold of an RC2 patch that worked after simply clicking on it and swapping the games chaoshead.exe file.

But now this crap happens. Anybody got an idea what would cause a game to give an error like that, always at the same spot?

There's a bug on the english patch that makes all saves from chapter 5 (??) broken.

You have to load a save from an earlier chapter and NOT save until you finish the chapter unless there's other solution I'm not aware...so yeah basically you have to finish the chapter on one sit.

Edit: Now, on a second read I'm not sure that's your problem, does the error happens whn you load your save? if that so, is what I said.
 

Ra1den

Member
There's a bug on the english patch that makes all saves from chapter 5 (??) broken.

You have to load a save from an earlier chapter and NOT save until you finish the chapter unless there's other solution I'm not aware...so yeah basically you have to finish the chapter on one sit.

Edit: Now, on a second read I'm not sure that's your problem, does the error happens whn you load your save? if that so, is what I said.

Nope, I can load my save just fine, but when I get to a certain part it always gives me that error.

I'm not sure which chapter I'm on actually,but I don't think I'm up to 5 yet...but i will keep that in mind for if/when I get there.
 

Heya! I noticed that the original posts are from Feb. Mind updating the lists with some of the new and recommended releases? :D

The more accessible the thread is for newbies, the better!
 
Finished Twilight of the Golden Witch.

Episode 8 would be my second favourite just after episode 5. Concerning the overaching plot, it doesn't really achieve a lot (well I consider ep 7 to be the final episode and ep 8 to be the epilogue), but there are some hints throughout the VN.
As for the story, I really liked it. You get to see every character of the series in really tense moments, and the music is still awesome.

Overall I found the series really great and consistent with its quality, even if the ending would stirr up part of the fanbase.


SPOILERS OF EP8 ENDING : see Umineko thread.
 

iavi

Member
Fate/ Stay night has the most redundant prologue ever. Did I really need to be told the hierarchy of master/servant four~five times over?
 
Fate/ Stay night has the most redundant prologue ever. Did I really need to be told the hierarchy of master/servant four~five times over?

A universal problem amongst Nasu's writing is that he bogs down his stories with tonnes upon tonnes of exposition and worldbuilding at the worst times in huge chunks that take forever to get through.

F/SN is especially bad in this regard because there is so many different sections that Nasu feels is vitally important to explain in excruciating detail - how the Grail War works, how Servants work, how magic works, etc, etc.
 

iavi

Member
A universal problem amongst Nasu's writing is that he bogs down his stories with tonnes upon tonnes of exposition and worldbuilding at the worst times in huge chunks that take forever to get through.

F/SN is especially bad in this regard because there is so many different sections that Nasu feels is vitally important to explain in excruciating detail - how the Grail War works, how Servants work, how magic works, etc, etc.

I'm seeing. It wouldn't even be so bad were he to cover new, smaller details with each mention, but he doesn't; It's quite literally the same. exact. thing. Over, and over, and over, and over again. I'm trudging along because I enjoy the characters, and do have the hope somewhere in the back of my head that this needless exposition will cease, but I don't think I'll go for much longer. I'm halfway through the first path now, I believe, and it still hasn't stopped. At this point, it's insulting, really.
 
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