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English Translated Japanese Visual Novel/ADV Thread

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Setre

Setre

Member
What are some recommendations for visual novels that have an official English translation? Here's what I've played so far.

Higurashi (loved it)
Hourglass of Summer (was alright)
Crescendo (loved it)
Snow Sakura (was alright)
Digital: A Love Story (liked it)

I plan to buy Steins;Gate when that gets released as well. I've still got Katawa Shoujo to play.
 
N

Necrovex

Member
Higurashi and Umekino are in the same universe, right? Should I play Higurashi prior to playing Umekino? I tend to wait for several months to pass between VNs. Once I finish Xenoblade, I plan to attack another VN.

ShogunDarius said:
Can anyone suggest a few vn with really good stories, thanks
Click to expand...

I'll say the obvious one and say "Steins;Gate." But if you have a 3DS, then 999/Virtue's Last Reward.
 
S

ShogunDarius

Member
Necrovex said:
Higurashi and Umekino are in the same universe, right? Should I play Higurashi prior to playing Umekino? I tend to wait for several months to pass between VNs. Once I finish Xenoblade, I plan to attack another VN.



I'll say the obvious one and say "Steins;Gate." But if you have a 3DS, then 999/Virtue's Last Reward.
Click to expand...

I get the feeling I may get flamed for this, but what is steins gate?
 
I

InfiniteNine

Rolling Girl
Necrovex said:
Higurashi and Umekino are in the same universe, right? Should I play Higurashi prior to playing Umekino? I tend to wait for several months to pass between VNs. Once I finish Xenoblade, I plan to attack another VN."
Click to expand...
Kinda but aside from some references to higurashi in umineko you'll be fine just playing one, but I recommend playing both if you like one.
 
N

Necrovex

Member
ShogunDarius said:
I get the feeling I may get flamed for this, but what is steins gate?
Click to expand...

cj_iwakura said:
The microwave is a time machine. Okarin proved it. The self-anointed mad scientist nuked bananas into some gelatinous version of the future.
Or maybe it was the past. Doesn’t matter. No one thought he could do it, but he did it anyway.
He sent text messages through time to people he knew. To his friends. Some of them female. Pretty. He should have been more careful.

He should have stopped.
Click to expand...


This is essentially the plot summary for Steins;Gate. Many consider it the best in the VN genre. It's getting an English release in the near-future too. I love Steins;Gate, and I don't believe I have met a person here who has disliked the game. It's universally loved.
 
X

/XX/

Member
Is this all finally the beginning for 5pb.'s overseas 'plan of attack'? I definitely thought that it at first would involve Hideo Kojima's collaboration as a 'Trojan horse' for the market expansion they wanted:

The Adaptability Of Visual Novels: An Interview With 5pb's Chiyomaru Shikura - Siliconera said:
Chiyomaru Shikura: We are aware of the overseas market, of course. We will capture the populace with visual novels, and we will then commence a unique plan of attack for overseas, so please look forward to it!
Click to expand...
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/04/2...els-an-interview-with-5pbs-chiyomaru-shikura/

Steins;Gate Series Ported to PS3 + English Steam Release Rumours | Unofficial Steins;Gate Wiki said:
Chiyomaru Shikura: After succeeding with Robotic Notes, the next title will be created with Kojima and be released outside Japan. The plan is to create fans for the ADV genre.

My strategy for the foreign market is to make sure that these titles get popular within Japan before releasing them overseas. After the title becomes popular in Japan, the fans overseas will surely catch on to it, which will give us confidence to release an international version.
Click to expand...
http://ibm5100.net/steinswiki/2012/...-ported-to-ps3-english-steam-release-rumours/

Basileus777 said:
Little Witch Romanesque is the translation that had that aborted kickstarter. It's kind of amusing how it's now JAST's project.
Click to expand...
ponpo said:
Holy sheeeeeeeet Romanesque owns. Special place in my heart. Much better than Steins;Gate! ｷﾀ━━━━━━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━━━━━━━ｯ
Click to expand...
YES! Okito Endō & Oyari Ashito 'combi' works will keep on living! If only this additional exposure would have come earlier... :-(
 
X

/XX/

Member
ponpo said:
Indeed. Ah well, Tenco lives on and maybe they'll do Rondo Leaflet or Period or something if they're bored.
Click to expand...
I still hold a grudge against Tenco for their foreigner IP blockage on conquest game Eiyuu＊Senki... but you are right, it is time to go past that and wait for the better! :)

ponpo said:
Also someone else on gaf who follows oyari and endo on twitter? Let's get married, /xx/
Click to expand...
I also follow you... ;-)

Also, it is sad Extollere isn't visiting this forum nowadays, he was also a self-confessed big fan of both!
 
R

R_thanatos

Member
Necrovex said:
Higurashi and Umekino are in the same universe, right? Should I play Higurashi prior to playing Umekino? I tend to wait for several months to pass between VNs. Once I finish Xenoblade, I plan to attack another VN.
.
Click to expand...

Higurashi & umineko are in the same Meta-verse , that a big difference.

The difference is that both stories / games can be enjoyed stand alone.
You will however miss the TRUE origin of 3 characters in umineko if you haven't played higurashi untill the end but that information bear no relation to the real plot of umineko.

So play them in order for the best , but that's not a requirement.
 
O

OnFire331

Member
Some high profile VNs announced on AX goddamn. Cartagra, Kara no Shoujo 2, Shiny Days, Romanesque and Steins;Gate.

/XX/ said:
Is this all finally the beginning for 5pb.'s overseas 'plan of attack'? I definitely thought that it at first would involve Hideo Kojima's collaboration as a 'Trojan horse' for the market expansion they wanted:
Click to expand...

Not if they aren't planning on putting S;G through Steam Greenlight.
 
R

R_thanatos

Member
After watching the first episode of the anime , i really wanted to play dangan ronpa since it was translated recently..

This is like the BEST decision i've made in a while..

This game is ....AWESOME. It's like a delicious mix between phoenix wright and VLR ... it's incredibly addictive and all the mecanics are trully well made.

I've finished the prologue , chapter 1 & 2 and so far it was a ride i can't forget yet..

The way everything fall appart , the way everyone has squelletons in their closet , the way you're free to explore, the way the game sometimes trick you in order to confuse you ( but in a good way ) ..

What annoyed me is that i managed to predict sucessfully only half of the truth... Chapter 2 resolution was something i wasn't expecting and they trully did their best to hide it.

I'm so impressed but right now i don't have any battery left in my psps so i was forced to stop ...

Based on what i've seen i cannot praise this game enough.
 
P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
Censored but NWS Romanesque PC box http://i.imgur.com/pI02cii.jpg

So excited. Haven't played it in years. I think I'll be in Japan during the Oyari gallery exhibition too ｷﾀ━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━ｯ
 
N

Napalm_Frank

Member
Necrovex said:
Higurashi and Umekino are in the same universe, right? Should I play Higurashi prior to playing Umekino? I tend to wait for several months to pass between VNs. Once I finish Xenoblade, I plan to attack another VN.



I'll say the obvious one and say "Steins;Gate." But if you have a 3DS, then 999/Virtue's Last Reward.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest playing Higurashi first or watching at least the anime (wich is ok, compared to Umineko anime that is terrible and it only covers first half of the story). I think there were few non-story things that really are better if you know Higurashi. It's hard to explain how the two are linked but if you only can tackle one then don't hesitate to go straight to Umineko if you want to.

Also if you play Higurashi worry not about the terrible creatures that greet you, there is a patch to replace the PS2 images in.

Started Dangan Ronpa a few days back, we shall see how I'll like it. Haven't really done much VN:s, just Higurashi, Umineko and Zero Escape. You could maybe add Corpse Party kinda sorta?
 
A

aravuus

Member
Dangan Ronpa seems really awesome but as I don't have a PSP, a Let's Play of it has to do. I'm not far in, but the premise alone is so crazy this just can't be bad.
 
M

Marche90

Member
Muntu said:
Dangan Ronpa seems really awesome but as I don't have a PSP, a Let's Play of it has to do. I'm not far in, but the premise alone is so crazy this just can't be bad.
Click to expand...

I'm planning to get a PSP again solely for this (and if they decide to release it soon, the VC3 fan translation too). I don't have the money to buy a Vita for the localized version, but a PSP + this game is not totally out of reach for me.
 
A

aravuus

Member
If I had the tiniest bit more money than I currently have, I'd do the same thing. Some day I will get a PSP since it still has a few JRPGs I have to play, but unfortunately the time isn't now.
 
T

Taruranto

Member
Necrovex said:
Higurashi and Umekino are in the same universe, right? Should I play Higurashi prior to playing Umekino? I tend to wait for several months to pass between VNs. Once I finish Xenoblade, I plan to attack another VN.
Click to expand...

You should play Higurashi before Umineko because Higurashi is awesome and Umineko is awful.

Poetic.Injustice said:
Just finished watching a 9 hour video series on Umineko series ending theories. I gotta say that
Rosa and George being the culprits really fits instead of the bullshit Yasu/Shannon theory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHMta4YbjSM
Click to expand...

It really doesn't. And
Yasu
isn't a theory, he's the official explanation. Umineko is simply badly written. Accept it and move on.

Setre said:
What are some recommendations for visual novels that have an official English translation? Here's what I've played so far.

Higurashi (loved it)
Hourglass of Summer (was alright)
Crescendo (loved it)
Snow Sakura (was alright)
Digital: A Love Story (liked it)

I plan to buy Steins;Gate when that gets released as well. I've still got Katawa Shoujo to play.
Click to expand...

Ever17. Always Ever17.
 
A

aravuus

Member
I have to say, this Dangan Ronpa lp is absolutely fantastic. So if you're interested in it but don't have and can't get a psp and/or the game, you should check out orenronen's very nicely formatted let's play in something awful forums.

_Keiichi_ said:
Ever17. Always Ever17.
Click to expand...

And after that, 999 and VLR.
 
R

R_thanatos

Member
Poetic.Injustice said:
Just finished watching a 9 hour video series on Umineko series ending theories. I gotta say that
Rosa and George being the culprits really fits instead of the bullshit Yasu/Shannon theory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHMta4YbjSM
Click to expand...

loool

The rosa+george theory is full of holes and doesn't make sense in many scenarios.

Besides , the
yasu/shannon
part is the only one that can explain everything except the
Rudolf, Kyrie, Battler theory
.
 
M

Mamont1537

Member
I'm close to the end of Kotori's route in "If My Heart Had Wings" and translation is getting worse :(
There were several random lines that didn't match VO (like completely different lines from some other part of the game).
Some characters are referred as he/her or she/his in the same sentence (
I couldn't figure out Isuka's gender for about half of the game
).
And there were a lot more lines than in the beginning that seem unedited (you can easily understand what they mean, but it looks like they were translated without any context).
I find all of this quite disappointing...
 
P

podracer35

Member
Mamont1537 said:
I'm close to the end of Kotori's route in "If My Heart Had Wings" and translation is getting worse :(
There were several random lines that didn't match VO (like completely different lines from some other part of the game).
Some characters are referred as he/her or she/his in the same sentence (
I couldn't figure out Isuka's gender for about half of the game
).
And there were a lot more lines than in the beginning that seem unedited (you can easily understand what they mean, but it looks like they were translated without any context).
I find all of this quite disappointing...
Click to expand...
That's disappointing... Man I really want my copy to come in already so I can judge for myself! (Screw you, playasia economy shipping!!! Who ships an American game from China?!?)

I wonder who is to blame, though... The publisher MoeNovel? Or the translator(?) AGM? Both? I'm sure a lot of the blame should go onto AGM for poor translation, but I'm sure MoeNovel is partly at fault too. They were the ones who ordered the close/literal translation, after all. Ooohhhhh it'll be (depressingly) fun to see how badly things get twisted in the other routes! Hope that full fan patch comes out soon!
 
A

aravuus

Member
I should have finished Sharin no Kuni before I check Dangan Ronpa out, this stuff is captivating as fuck :lol

This is like 999, only a bit more straighforward, a goddamn shame I can't play it myself. Oh well, I'm still loving it!
 
M

Mamont1537

Member
podracer35 said:
I wonder who is to blame, though... The publisher MoeNovel? Or the translator(?) AGM? Both? I'm sure a lot of the blame should go onto AGM for poor translation, but I'm sure MoeNovel is partly at fault too. They were the ones who ordered the close/literal translation, after all. Ooohhhhh it'll be (depressingly) fun to see how badly things get twisted in the other routes! Hope that full fan patch comes out soon!
Click to expand...
Feels like they gave up on testing the last third of the game.
Or it could be just this one route. Though Kotori's story is supposed to be the main route, I think.
 
P

Poetic.Injustice

Member
R_thanatos said:
loool

The rosa+george theory is full of holes and doesn't make sense in many scenarios.

Besides , the
yasu/shannon
part is the only one that can explain everything except the
Rudolf, Kyrie, Battler theory
.
Click to expand...
Yasu/Shanon
doesn't make sense in many scenarios as well. Particularly the
linked room puzzle where it is clearly stated in red that 6 people are dead. And shanon and kanon were stated as different people.
 
R

Red_taiyaki

Member
Mamont1537 said:
Feels like they gave up on testing the last third of the game.
Or it could be just this one route. Though Kotori's story is supposed to be the main route, I think.
Click to expand...

Let us know how the other arcs are. I bought a physical copy from JLIST @ AX, but I don't really plan on starting it until I finish Rewrite.
 
A

aravuus

Member
Muntu said:
This is like 999, only a bit more straighforward, a goddamn shame I can't play it myself. Oh well, I'm still loving it!
Click to expand...

I'll take this back slightly, the actual proper gameplay parts seem like shit to be honest. They have
an awesome court room, something like PW's relaxed system would have been perfect but they decided to make it a kind of a weird shooter?
Lmao. It's the same with Catherine, I want to play it for the story so much but the gameplay parts are just so utter shit I can't.

The story keeps on getting better and better though!

e: holy shit
what a way to go
 
B

Basileus777

Member
podracer35 said:
That's disappointing... Man I really want my copy to come in already so I can judge for myself! (Screw you, playasia economy shipping!!! Who ships an American game from China?!?)

I wonder who is to blame, though... The publisher MoeNovel? Or the translator(?) AGM? Both? I'm sure a lot of the blame should go onto AGM for poor translation, but I'm sure MoeNovel is partly at fault too. They were the ones who ordered the close/literal translation, after all. Ooohhhhh it'll be (depressingly) fun to see how badly things get twisted in the other routes! Hope that full fan patch comes out soon!
Click to expand...

It feels like a rushed translation. The turnaround on this product seems to have been very quick.
 
R

R_thanatos

Member
Dangan ronpa Chapter 3
WHAT a chapter !

WHAT a twist !

WHAT a cliffanger !

Woah the non-stop debates in chapter 3 were quite devious , with plenty or reversal of evidence to make in order to sort everything out.

I HAVE No idea of what's going on after that cliffanger and the note pior.

This game rocks

DAT "Kaiji" reference when you talk to celes in free time .
 
A

aravuus

Member
Yeah, the characters are just fantastic. There were two I really didn't like at first, but now, close to the end of chapter 2, I think they're great. Especially the other one, who really turned out to be... quite something I wasn't expecting :lol

e: dangan ronpa ch2
I'm not very squeamish, but holy shit these punishments are brutal as FUCK! The first was just horrible, the (ending of) the second one was simply disgusting. And why oh why must they kill off the best characters first :(

Chapter 2 was very, very good indeed, can't wait to continue
 
R

R_thanatos

Member
yeah a bro , playing at the same time as me . i plan to play 1 chapter a day at least ..

i hope you have a good battery ( for your psp ) , and good reflexes :)
 
B

Basileus777

Member
R_thanatos said:
i hope you have a good battery ( for your psp ) , and good reflexes :)
Click to expand...

This game has actually reminded me how much longer the PSP's battery lasts in sleep mode compared to the 3DS. I've had it in sleep mode for over a week and it's still got a charge, my 3DSXL lasts a few days at best.
 
I

iavi

Member
Basileus777 said:
This game has actually reminded me how much longer the PSP's battery lasts in sleep mode compared to the 3DS. I've had it in sleep mode for over a week and it's still got a charge, my 3DSXL lasts a few days at best.
Click to expand...

The 3DS is also doing a lot more while sleeping, to be fair.
 
M

Maron

Member
I know I'll get hate for this but I'm actually interested in playing School Days sometime (and I know it got an official release)...but with a Mac there's no way that would work would it.
 
I

iavi

Member
Maron said:
I know I'll get hate for this but I'm actually interested in playing School Days sometime (and I know it got an official release)...but with a Mac there's no way that would work would it.
Click to expand...

Bootcamp or VMware it. Schooldays is no intensive game, so either should work just fine.
 
B

Blusby

Member
_Keiichi_ said:
You should play Higurashi before Umineko because Higurashi is awesome and Umineko is awful.
Click to expand...
I found the writing in Higurashi to be worse than Umineko's regarding it's final two solution arcs and the development of its cast.
_Keiichi_ said:
It really doesn't. And
Yasu
isn't a theory, he's the official explanation. Umineko is simply badly written. Accept it and move on.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say that, Umineko + Higurashi spoilers:
Yasu was just the solution to Beatrice's games, which made Umineko turn out to be a twisted romance drama. How the Prime mystery went down was pretty much a little variation of the Ep. 7 tea party with the perp's being Battler
s parents. Higurashi's ending was pretty bad, with all the conspiracy and parasite/homesickness making people go crazy bs (Though I still really liked Higurashi)
.
 
I

InsaneZero

Member
I hear that Super Dangan Ronpa 2 surpasses the original in every regard (gameplay and writing), so I am now extremely hyped for a translation.
 
B

Blusby

Member
InsaneZero said:
I hear that Super Dangan Ronpa 2 surpasses the original in every regard (gameplay and writing), so I am now extremely hyped for a translation.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure NISA is localizing the two games on the Vita next year, so you'll be getting an official translation soon! :)
 
A

Aytrial

Member
June said:
I'm pretty sure NISA is localizing the two games on the Vita next year, so you'll be getting an official translation soon! :)
Click to expand...

NISA clarified that only Danganronpa 1 is being released here, despite 1 and 2 being bundled together for the Japanese Vita release. Annoying, I know. Everyone better buy 1 so that we can secure 2 for a release!
 
A

aravuus

Member
R_thanatos said:
yeah a bro , playing at the same time as me . i plan to play 1 chapter a day at least ..

i hope you have a good battery ( for your psp ) , and good reflexes :)
Click to expand...

Well, actually, I'm reading a let's play.. I don't even own a PSP.......

To be perfectly honest, I'm not that sad about it. The gameplay parts look like something I wouldn't enjoy and as the LP is fantastically well written, I don't miss out on any bg music, references and so on. And everything that's not just talking is also in video form.

The same guy's also lp'ing the sequel right now, so I can jump right into that after DR1

R_thanatos said:
That's a bold statement , i honnestly don't know how that is possible but if it's true i'm hyped like no tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Well, everyone thought VLR possibly couldn't be more batshit insane than 999.. And then VLR happened :p
 
A

aravuus

Member
I doubt many knew the writer in VLR's thread, and I do remember half the thread going "the ending twist just can't get crazier than 999's!"

I mean it's not like in books or movies, where you get this massive "THIS GUY KNOWN FROM THIS THING EARLIER PRESENTS...", maybe if they were made by KID but no, I seriously doubt most people knew Uchikoshi then.
 
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