Recommend a VN

[Nobody in Particular]

I can't help but wonder if Age made the two games separate primarily to not have Muv-Luv drag Alternative down, because I'm almost 100% certain that if the 2 were a single game, it wouldn't be the top rated game on VNDB. Maybe I'm just overthinking.

It was originally meant to be part of Muv-Luv but I think they had to delay it for three years due to it being unfinished and financial difficulties.

By the way, does anybody know where I can find a translation of the final scene of Alternative? Because everyone talks in Japanese without subs for quite a while and I have no idea what they're saying.

Here is the Pastebin (Muv-Luv Alternative ending spoilers):

Ah, speaking of that idea, this video is pretty much the closest you'll get to VNT3K.

Wasn't the only reason people thought that VN was bad was because of a shitty ending?

[Mysterious Stranger]

Ah, speaking of that idea, this video is pretty much the closest you'll get to VNT3K.

Wasn't the only reason people thought that VN was bad was because of a shitty ending?

As far as I know Retsupurae has no prior experience with visual novels, so they're just trashing it for the Let's Player's commentary... that, and his decision to record and commentate over a visual novel (more specifically, an H-scene) in the first place.

[Nobody in Particular]

As far as I know Retsupurae has no prior experience with visual novels, so they're just trashing it for the Let's Player's commentary... that, and his decision to record and commentate over a visual novel (more specifically, an H-scene) in the first place.

But that VN is essentially a sequel to one of the non-canon routes of Clannad, so that's kind of dumb.
Although apparently the first few hours of that VN is nukige-tier, as far as H-scenes are concerned anyway.

[Mysterious Stranger]

Is there a reason why Kimi ga Nozomu Eien remains untranslated? I recently watched the anime adaptation and now I'd quite honestly kill to be able to compare it to the original VN.

[Nobody in Particular]

Is there a reason why Kimi ga Nozomu Eien remains untranslated? I recently watched the anime adaptation and now I'd quite honestly kill to be able to compare it to the original VN.

I've never quite understood this myself since it came out around 2000-2001 and was the thing that made âge famous. It's also highly rated among the Japanese and moon readers. Then it also has an anime adaption, and most (good) VNs with (at least average) anime adaptions tend to get translated. It's hard to understand why anyone hasn't bothered to pick it up.

I remember Ixrec mentioned something about a KimiNozo translation, but since then he has mentioned he never wants to translate anything Muv-Luv so that looks unlikely. His hacker said the same thing, apparently, although that was because of rUGP. Maybe someone will pick it up once Altered Fable and Chronicles have been translated, it'll probably get done sooner or later.

How was the anime anyway? I keep meaning to watch it.

[Mysterious Stranger]

I've never quite understood this myself since it came out around 2000-2001 and was the thing that made âge famous. It's also highly rated among the Japanese and moon readers. Then it also has an anime adaption, and most (good) VNs with (at least average) anime adaptions tend to get translated. It's hard to understand why anyone hasn't bothered to pick it up.

I remember Ixrec mentioned something about a KimiNozo translation, but since then he has mentioned he never wants to translate anything Muv-Luv so that looks unlikely. His hacker said the same thing, apparently, although that was because of rUGP. Maybe someone will pick it up once Altered Fable and Chronicles have been translated, it'll probably get done sooner or later.

How was the anime anyway? I keep meaning to watch it.

I tried searching for any news on a translation project, and it turns out there's actually a site under the name of www.kgnetranslation.org, but their forums haven't seen any activity since 2011, and their wiki is apparently down. Not very promising. I also read a lot about how overwhelmingly massive the game is, which led me to the only explanation I can think of - nobody wants to take it on just because of its sheer size.

My thoughts on the anime are a little mixed. I was aware of the fact that it was based on an utsuge, so I went into it braced for emotional trauma, and... well, I can't spoil anything, but to me the ending as well as the overarching plot was more reminiscent of a nakige than anything else (I would hazard a guess that that's simply the result of the adaptation, though). The first two episodes or so are hilariously cliche-ridden, but after the... main event that initiates the actual story which hopefully hasn't been spoiled for you yet... happens, it manages to branch off from those cliches to an acceptable degree. The characters are probably the best aspect, though, the majority of them are very vibrant and fun to watch... with one glaring exception whom you can probably guess at. Also, the animation itself is pretty lacking - that's not one of my major complaints when it comes to anime, but it's definitely there.

It's nowhere near great, but it was pretty enjoyable overall. And like I said, it got me even more interested in the VN.

[Flutterz]

I've finished Yukizakura, and it was nice. It wasn't anything more or less than I had expected - a simple romance/SoL and borderline nukige VN, lighthearted and funny if you enjoy the kind of humor it employs. It was a nice change of pace after True Remembrance, the true route of Rewrite and Muv-Luv. Now it's time for something a bit more serious - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni(now that's a mouthful).

[stanman237]

I've never quite understood this myself since it came out around 2000-2001 and was the thing that made âge famous. It's also highly rated among the Japanese and moon readers. Then it also has an anime adaption, and most (good) VNs with (at least average) anime adaptions tend to get translated. It's hard to understand why anyone hasn't bothered to pick it up.

I remember Ixrec mentioned something about a KimiNozo translation, but since then he has mentioned he never wants to translate anything Muv-Luv so that looks unlikely. His hacker said the same thing, apparently, although that was because of rUGP. Maybe someone will pick it up once Altered Fable and Chronicles have been translated, it'll probably get done sooner or later.

How was the anime anyway? I keep meaning to watch it.

I remember reading Ixrec mentioning how great SiglusEngine was compared to rUGP when he saw that you could import sprites from other Key games to Rewrite if you wanted to. All it required was to change the name of it.

But back to rUGP, he said he hated how it "intentionally breaks everything" and how some images couldn't be hacked and translated in Muvluv and MLA because it would crash the game or something

[ReCodes]

i didn't read any pages on this thread
but here's my suggestion:
Deardrops (Band VN - 4 girls)
My girlfriend is the president (really funny - 4 girls)

[Nobody in Particular]

I remember reading Ixrec mentioning how great SiglusEngine was compared to rUGP when he saw that you could import sprites from other Key games to Rewrite if you wanted to. All it required was to change the name of it.

But back to rUGP, he said he hated how it "intentionally breaks everything" and how some images couldn't be hacked and translated in Muvluv and MLA because it would crash the game or something

Apparently rUGP is horrible to work with, with translations anyway, hence why the chances of Kiminozo getting translated are somewhat low. We should be fortunate that AF and Chronicles are getting translated anyway, since it seems not many people want to touch âge/Muv-Luv stuff because of the engine. Most likely because of the common "If you can't read Japanese you don't deserve to read it" mentality that plagues many top VN companies.

Some guy on 4chan did manage to get around the text inserting issue though, and it was around that time the AF translation really got serious.

i didn't read any pages on this thread
but here's my suggestion:
Deardrops (Band VN - 4 girls)
My girlfriend is the president (really funny - 4 girls)

If you liked Deardrops, play Kira Kira.

[ReCodes]

If you liked Deardrops, play Kira Kira.

i didn't enjoy Kira Kira
that's why i didn't list it

[Kyllmann]

This may have been mentioned already, but for a less traditional VN, I'd suggest Digital: A Love Story. I just finished it, and it's really good. and free.

[Mirage_GSM]

Just stumbled upon Dizzy Hearts, a project currently in the works with a projected release early 2014 (though I'm a bit sceptical regarding that date...)
There's a demo out and the artwork looks very good already. Not much info regarding the story yet.
The VN also has a kickstarter currently running to expand the story and secure a sequel if stretch goals are reached. I won't put a link to the Kickstarter here, since I'm not sure how SC feels about stuff like that. I'm sure whoever is interested can find it themselves.

[Flutterz]

I'm done with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and it's certainly something else. The developers and everyone else refer to is as a "sound novel", but I don't really like that title. It's still a visual novel, even if it focuses less on the visual aspect and more on the writing and sound. While the music is nice and thematic and the sound effects are fitting, it's not that much more than some other VNs do, and the visuals aren't completely unimportant either. But both of those combined with the great writing (if you can ignore Mangagamer's horrid qc) create a very powerful and tense atmosphere at just the right time. The first time the "change" happened (you'll know what I'm referring to), I actually jumped.
It's very reminiscent of Fate/Stay Night for a few reasons. It's dark, it's in the NVL format where the textbox covers the whole window, it has an enforced playing order, and while F/S N has a linear plot, Higurashi is a kinetic novel, which is essentially the same thing, without the periodic "pick the right choice to not die" checks.
The VN is a large and incredibly confusing, as well as somewhat disturbing, murder mystery. It gives you an incredible amount of questions, constantly makes you rethink any sort of explanation that you may have developed, and gives very few answers, yet by the end of it you should have a vague idea as to what is actually happening. All of the answers are, apparently, given in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, which I am doing next.

[OtakuNinja]

I'm done with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and it's certainly something else. The developers and everyone else refer to is as a "sound novel", but I don't really like that title. It's still a visual novel, even if it focuses less on the visual aspect and more on the writing and sound. While the music is nice and thematic and the sound effects are fitting, it's not that much more than some other VNs do, and the visuals aren't completely unimportant either. But both of those combined with the great writing (if you can ignore Mangagamer's horrid qc) create a very powerful and tense atmosphere at just the right time. The first time the "change" happened (you'll know what I'm referring to), I actually jumped.

So is it worth $15?