No.112372
My semi-annual Ace Attorney DS/3DS re-read is now at 4 out of 6 as I've finished Apollo Justice. There's just something really satisfying about these games/VNs that I go back every few years and re-read them in bed, but only the 2D sprite-based ones. I've read through the 3D ones, but I've just never felt the same connection to them. Apart from visuals I assume there are new writers or something else changed behind the scenes. I do like them, but I've never gone back to them after one read through.
Anyway, the great characters, the fantastic localization (although people do joke about the location thing) and the perhaps most of all the charming portraits really make it an enjoyable experience. Presenting every single character your badge and having the humorous reactions never gets old somehow. "You show this to me every time, pal."
Although, I've been very hesitant to start Investigations 2 as my old DS firmware was missing so I had to get a new one and I can't get the cheats to work. The cheat I use is "unlock all chapters" which, for some strange reason, is tied to fast text speed. You can't hit a button to make the text immediately load unless you've seen it already. Otherwise y... o... u...
s... e... e... t... e... x... t... m... o... v... e... a... s.... i.... f.... t.... h.... e.... y.... w... e.... r.... e.... *animation plays* s... p... e... a... k... i.... n... g...
It's a bit mind-boggling that they do it like that, but I guess in theory they don't want people to skip past valuable information.
Although he's kind of ugly, I think the reporter Brushel has the best overall set of animations of the mainline series. Even his normal/default portrait is full of personality
No.112515
>>112514Thank you, but...
I actually did try those, too. There were save converter programs I used to make it compatible with mine (M3 Sakura) but nothing seemed to work. The option left to me was to try new firmwares, but it's such an annoying thing and it would invalidate saves for other games I have on my cart- saves I have from 15 years ago (but are backed up on computer of course). I guess I could try it, though, and then switch back.
It's really such an annoying process to switch micro SD cards around- and I worry I'm going to break it since it's so thin
No.114641
>>112372I did decide to toughen it out and read though Investigations 2 even with the occasionally really slow text.
With that
16-bit anime seemingly making reference to VNs, I should read one soon. I'm thinking I'll finally read through To Heart since it or the second one got a fan translation somewhat recently. Soon the weather will cool down and I'll be able to lay in bed with my tablet screen over my bed and the window open. Ahh, it will be nice.
After I read To Heart I want to play the original Dungeon Travelers DRPG game which unlike its sequel uses characters from the To Heart games instead of original characters.
It's crazy to see Tatsuki's art improve from back then to his newer stuff.
No.114647
>>114641play some Gal Pani X it features the To Heart girls
you can find it on some abandonware site probably and play it on windows XP in a VM
if you cant find it i can dig it up
No.114665
>>114641>After I read To Heart I want to play the original Dungeon Travelers DRPG game which unlike its sequel uses characters from the To Heart games instead of original characters.Actually DT1 is a spin-off of To Heart 2, not To Heart.
No.114676
>>114674>I'm not looking forward to play the sequelsWHAT?
She may not be a main character, but Utawarerumono 2 and 3 are so highly rated and fantastic that you should definitely look forward to them. Oh, to be able to look forward to experiencing it for the first time, you are so lucky!
The characters, the art, the music, the story, the Kuon!
No.114677
>>114674Honestly, yeah, I also feel the Uta1 cast is really strong, and that's probably the reason I didn't find 2+3 to be a lot better than 1 as seems to be the common opinion. I would rank them 3 >= 1 > 2.
No.114687
>>102417I've lost count to how many. Way too embarrassing to list off, I have a weird aversion to recommending anything because it made me cry. It feels way too personal to try and set an expectation for someone else. The staff all share some thought, pouring hours into something they want you to feel, and it resonates - it's the sort of stuff that makes media worth your time. Even better, the senses are all able to be overwhelmed with VNs/games/anime.
> I avoid stuff that's specifically labeled with that 'crying game' label, but maybe I shouldn't. > For me it's a strange thought to know a game will focus on sadness from the start and I think that people should perhaps not label them at all. What does /qa/ think?I've avoided all of the key games for this reason. Everything I've seen makes me think they're specifically written to punch you in the gut. Nothing to gain, nothing to learn from the experience, just a way to make you feel attached.
Clannad had its cute moments though.
No.114709
>>114687Im surprised they've never done NTR for that reason
No.115214
Okay, HOLD UP! You guys may remember that I made a thread(s) lamenting pic related entering licensing hell at 99% translation status due to a terribly managed company that went defunct after a guy took the money and ran.
Well...
IT GOT A REAL RELEASE!Who here is up to reading 'together'? By that I mean I'll make a thread and we can talk about it as we read it by ourselves. I still want to finish playing Dungeon Travelers 2-2 first so it will be a couple weeks, but
WOW!https://vndb.org/v22899 is the VN and yes it's ero. It became popular on futaba when it released and I was eagerly waiting its translation. Finally 4 years later it's here.
No.115215
>>115214This is a high holy commandment from Jesus Christ himself telling you to please use the improvement patch if you're going to read it.
No.115216
>>115215Looking at those notes on vndb, that does seem to be a requirement. Yeeessh.
No.115234
Was reading a vn with a black side character... I didnt know the "every black guy is named Bob" stereotype was still a thing.
No.115238
>>115237Impressive to be racist against the Japanese and foreigners at the same time
No.115239
>>115237>>115238Its not the faces that make japanese hard to tell apart, its that at any time an age group has like two haircuts popular
No.115796
I recently learned that a couple games I enjoyed are getting English releases, going to do brief writeups on them in case anyone is interested.
Criminal Border
This one was a nice surprise. The basic premise is that our protagonist, your average loner who spends a lot of time on the internet (wow, he's just like me), was making anime MADs when he accidentally develops a digital drug that makes the viewer uncontrollably horny. Sounds like a typical nukige setup, right? Here's the surprising part - despite the ridiculous subject matter, the game keeps a relatively serious tone and stays focused on the story, and we follow the MC as he explores the possible uses of his chance invention, and gets tangled up in some shady dealings involving delinquent gangs, yakuza and prostitution.
The art style is pretty divisive, can't say I'm much of a fan but you get used to it.
It's an episodic release in 4 parts, with each one being about 5-10 hours long and focusing on a particular character. Part 1 in English and part 3 in Japanese come out later this month. If you're familiar with 9-nine-, it's the same writer.
No.115797
Amazing Grace
This one seems be generally considered one of the better VNs in recent years. Sadly I can't give a 100% positive opinion, but I'll get to that later. The game starts with an amnesiac protagonist in an unfamiliar town that seems to be rooted in classical European culture, but he quickly realizes that something seems odd. Not only is the town surrounded by a barrier separating it from the outside world, it's also focused on the arts to an unnatural degree, with the only school being an art school where students are given an environment to learn and practice many kinds of art such as painting, sculpting and film. As a new transfer student he begins to adapt little by little, as he learns more about the town and its inhabitants. (it's in the synopsis, but mild spoilers:) On Christmas day, the town is struck by a fire that is reminiscent of the apocalypse that's said to have destroyed the outside world 101 years ago. The protagonist goes back in time to try to learn what happened and how to prevent it. Yes, it's a time loop game, with various mysteries and reveals and all that good stuff.
(not really spoilers but don't read if you want to go in completely blind:) So my main gripe with this game is the way it's written. I've read other games by this author, Fuyuakane Tom, and they also had this issue but to a lesser degree. The game repeats information way too often and goes out of its way to explain everything in detail. Nothing wrong with making yourself clear, but at the expense of good pacing and a sense of tension...? The feeling I get is that plot twists are a major focal point for him, and he does this to avoid making them feel like asspulls, but still. Rather annoying. Despite this I think the core mystery is pretty fun, and the game has interesting things to say about art and how we engage with it. Also a great game to read during the holiday season.
No.115829
>>115796>despite the ridiculous subject matter, the game keeps a relatively serious tone and stays focused on the storySounds interesting, I like my eroge with a good story behind them to get me hooked. Although just to make sure, it still has ero options right? Would be a shame to have such a premise and not a chance to take advantage of it for some prime H-material.
No.115861
>>11582320-30h
>>115829Yeah, of course. Speaking as someone who tends to skim through H scenes, the ones in Criminal Border were pretty high quality.
No.119558
>>119522The pouts are a big plus but if i understood the translations right, megumin has to wear clothes that make her the opposite of a loli? That doesn't sound good.
No.120035
I'm surprised this thread is still alive.
No.120036
I'm reading The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles right now
No.120044
>>120036How is that one so far? How does it compare to the older ones? I've read through the original trilogy and the 3DS stuff but haven't touched those newest ones.
No.120072
>>120044I played through them a few years ago. They were pretty fun overall, but I enjoyed the original trilogy + Rise from the Ashes and Investigations 2 more. Otherwise I think they're better than the rest of the series (4, Investigations 1, Professor Layton VS, 5, 6).
Chronicles is a port of the two Dai Gyakuten Saiban / Great Ace Attorney games on the 3DS. The first game was made with a sequel in mind, so it leaves a lot of plot threads hanging, which makes it feel lacking as a standalone game. In contrast, I think even if you stopped at 1 or 2 in the original trilogy you'd be able to feel satisfied.
The games take place in Meiji-era Japan but also in Victoria-era London. The main character is Naruhodou Ryuunosuke, a university student and ancestor of Naruhodou Ryuuichi / Phoenix Wright. シャーロック・ホームズ / Herlock Sholmes and Natsume Souseki also appear as characters. Personally I'm not familiar with Sherlock Holmes, but I think The Great Ace Attorney contains many references to the original stories that were written about him, but the games are still enjoyable even if you don't catch them. Natsume Souseki is caricatured as referring to himself in the first person as "wagahai" due to his famous novel Wagahai wa Neko de Aru.
In some respects they feel like a spiritual successor to the Professor Layton crossover. They share the same director/writer (the guy who also wrote and directed the original trilogy), the same main composer, London as one of the settings, and mob testimony.
The soundtrack is great overall but feels different from the other games except the Layton one because it relies on more period-appropriate instrumentation instead of, say, square waves and electric guitars. The tracks associated with Asougi and Susato blend Japanese and Western elements in an enjoyable way similar to what
>>119364 described for Utawarerumono.
Unfortunately the Western releases lack the option to set the text to Japanese while the Japan and Asia releases let you switch between Japanese and English as you please. The first three Japanese DS games were like this too, except that in those games each language gets its own save file, while here you can continue right from where you left off in the other language. Also the port doesn't feel like the definitive edition because it's lacking some of the 3DS DLC, such as a meta skit where the characters in the courtroom talk about buying the DLC, some videos of the developers talking to the camera, and two other neat bonus episodes where you get to play as some characters you don't get to use in the main story. There's also a part that I think originally might've made use of the 3DS's stereoscopic 3D gimmick that had to be re-adjusted here, but that's a minor issue.
Pic related is Iris. She makes some cute pouts.
No.120073
>>120044I like it, it's pretty fun. I think it's just as good as the originals. Also they turned Watson in a little girl
>>120072 No.121716
That feelio when almost none of the cute and fluffy VNs/dating sims without s*x are translated. Amagami got a translation recently however:
https://nishishitranslations.wordpress.com/ still in (beta) whatever that means though. I intend to play that soon.
No.123688
>>123687It is the simplest way of doing this because you just need to play the sound file when the dialog is displayed.
No.123699
>>123687Not unless you want a VN taking the max adorable memory
No.123706
catpicture just took max adorable memory