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purseowner

From the mirror universe
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,444
UK
Any recent releases or unexpectedly deep discounts in the Steam sale that shouldn't be overlooked?

My basket currently consists of Baldr Sky, Marco & the Galaxy Dragon, the rest of Higurashi, and Umineko's Question Arcs.

I'll note that I was impressed that 428 is 80% off:
store.steampowered.com

Save 70% on 428: Shibuya Scramble on Steam

A kidnapping on the streets of Shibuya brings together a hot-blooded detective, hard-hitting journalist, former gang leader, the head researcher of a big pharma manufacturer and a part-timer stuck in cat costume for a series of events each more unexpected and outrageous than the last.
 

Scheris

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,379
I found my copy of Ar Nosurge the other day and was thinking "I remember back then, Ciel Nosurge would NEVER happen because it's sort of like a VN..." Maybe there's some hope now? I'm not sure if K-T west would go for it, but a better chance now than then.

www.gematsu.com

Ciel nosurge DX and Ar nosurge DX announced

Publisher Koei Tecmo and developer Gust have announced Surge Concerto series titles Ciel nosurge: Requiem for a Lost Star DX and Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star DX. Platforms and a release date w…

At least cost-wise they wouldn't need to bother with a dub now, but who knows what the cost would be for the Japanese VA rights given just how much was voiced IIRC in the game. Given there's likely a PS4 & Switch port in Japan, that'd at least be better possible sales than the Vita version was during the original release.

Dunno how much extra money a Steam port would bring for a hypothetical localization, I don't really follow sales figures for Steam VN releases.
 

Deleted member 3700

User requested account closure
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,359
YES!
www.gematsu.com

Memories Off Historia collection announced

MAGES. announced Memories Off Historia, a collection of ports of the first seven numbered entries in the Memories Off romance visual novel series, during its Memories Off 20th anniversary live stre…
www.gematsu.com

SINce Memories announced – new title from Memories Off original staff

MAGES. announced SINce Memories, a new title led by the general producer Kazuhiro Ichikawa of the romance visual novel series Memories Off, during its Memories Off 20th anniversary live stream.
 

JosephL64

Member
Oct 25, 2017
469
Houston
YES!
www.gematsu.com

Memories Off Historia collection announced

MAGES. announced Memories Off Historia, a collection of ports of the first seven numbered entries in the Memories Off romance visual novel series, during its Memories Off 20th anniversary live stre…
www.gematsu.com

SINce Memories announced – new title from Memories Off original staff

MAGES. announced SINce Memories, a new title led by the general producer Kazuhiro Ichikawa of the romance visual novel series Memories Off, during its Memories Off 20th anniversary live stream.
I'm really excited about it myself. I think I only ever played the first one, so it'd be nice to just go through and enjoy the entire series as a whole.
---------------

As an aside, I actually did pick some stuff up for the first time in a really long time. It's the "Ultra Mahou Shoujo Manana" collected, all five volumes.

This wasn't really necessary since Alicesoft put them all up as freeware far after they originally were sold, but they have a weird history of being a mix of game pack-ins, and expo exclusives. It's just a neat novelty to obtain. They're all silly short stories, just above an hour each at most.

EaxhSfJX0AAKUbd
 

weblaus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
933
I saw this week that Grisana: Phantom Trigger 01 & 02 was indeed also released in the Western Switch eShops and for a price that seems quite reasonable (20 Euros/Dollars). And with no physical version available in Japan either, there's probably no reason to not get it.

But I'd still like some advice from people familiar with it: Will I enjoy Phantom Trigger if I liked pretty much everything (artstyle, VAs, plot, characters) about the Grisaia Trilogy a lot or would I be disappointed?
 

Layla

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,777
I saw this week that Grisana: Phantom Trigger 01 & 02 was indeed also released in the Western Switch eShops and for a price that seems quite reasonable (20 Euros/Dollars). And with no physical version available in Japan either, there's probably no reason to not get it.

But I'd still like some advice from people familiar with it: Will I enjoy Phantom Trigger if I liked pretty much everything (artstyle, VAs, plot, characters) about the Grisaia Trilogy a lot or would I be disappointed?

lots of people in the vn community seem to hate PT, a bit unreasonably imo
the episodes are pretty much self-contained stories, are kinetic with no choices, branching paths etc and are a bit short, about 4-5 hours each
but the characters are fun and the production values (art, music, VA) are just as good
so yes it's not as good as the og series but I still like it quite a bit, so if you want more Grisaia (and have read all the spinoffs) then go for it
 
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Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
38,394
Ibis Island
What are the Physical Switch Visual Novel Imports with English included?

Little Busters
Grisaia
Clannad
My girlfriend is a mermaid
The fox Awaits me

Are there any others outside of those? and out of those which ones are actually good?
I don't know much about any of these, just saw they all had english if imported.
 

purseowner

From the mirror universe
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,444
UK
What are the Physical Switch Visual Novel Imports with English included?

Little Busters
Grisaia
Clannad
My girlfriend is a mermaid
The fox Awaits me

Are there any others outside of those? and out of those which ones are actually good?
I don't know much about any of these, just saw they all had english if imported.

Those are the main ones I'm aware of. There's Tomoyo After (Clannad's sequel) coming in September also.

Out of those, I've only played Little Busters which I started recently on Switch. Less than an hour in, but really enjoying it so far - incredibly pacey and well-written dialogue with likable characters. Key certainly know what they're doing. (Planetarian was my only prior experience with them, which I love)
 
Oct 28, 2017
881
What are the Physical Switch Visual Novel Imports with English included?

Little Busters
Grisaia
Clannad
My girlfriend is a mermaid
The fox Awaits me

Are there any others outside of those? and out of those which ones are actually good?
I don't know much about any of these, just saw they all had english if imported.
There's also the Re;Master bundle that has English, it has both games together rather than full price separate releases like on the eShop.
 

Dany1899

Member
Dec 23, 2017
4,219
What are the Physical Switch Visual Novel Imports with English included?

Little Busters
Grisaia
Clannad
My girlfriend is a mermaid
The fox Awaits me

Are there any others outside of those? and out of those which ones are actually good?
I don't know much about any of these, just saw they all had english if imported.
I played Clannad and the Grisaia Trilogy (60/65 hours, 100/105 hours respectively - for Trilogy, I still have to play some Side Stories, and the Prequel, with those I would arrive to 115 I think). They are both really good, even though different.
Clannad is a masterpiece VN, which perfectly combines drama and romance. I would divide it in two parts (as for the two seasons of the anime, even though the first season cuts a lot of content). In the first part, there are multiple routes, each one dealing with a different theme and going in deep in the characterization of the route's character. The second part is instead the After Story for one of those routes. Many people consider this second part as the very masterpiece - I think the first part is very good too (I loved Tomoyo's route, for example), but there are moments of the After Story which you can't easily forget. I never cry playing games, but when my eyes get a bit weary, I understand how something really touched me, and Clannad did that.
Grisaia Trilogy is apparently more a slife-of-life story. It isn't only slide-of-life, but the first game of the trilogy (Fruit of Grisaia) has a very long common route, which is mostly made by slide-of-life episodic scenes. Then the different routes begin, each one focusing on one of the five heroines. And all five of them are well written. In this trilogy, the Cacoons' of Caprice route, in the second game (Labyrinth) is the very masterpiece in my opinion, with a very good continuation (and ending) in Eden. However, to reach those points, you must like slide-of-life for 30/40 hours at least out of 100. Another note: the main male character is one of the most interesting in (traditional) visual novels.
 

ShyMel

Moderator
Oct 31, 2017
3,483
What are the Physical Switch Visual Novel Imports with English included?

Little Busters
Grisaia
Clannad
My girlfriend is a mermaid
The fox Awaits me

Are there any others outside of those? and out of those which ones are actually good?
I don't know much about any of these, just saw they all had english if imported.
Nightshade's Japanese physical Switch release has English and Chinese included as well.
 

Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
38,394
Ibis Island
Looks like this is an upcoming Switch Physical release with English as well. Seems anything by Prototype has that little label on it.
No clue what the game is about, but I just have a bad habit about wanting to collect physical VNs on Xbox & Nintendo systems.

61wxvva0bXL._AC_SL1000_.jpg

Amazon | 智代アフター~It's a Wonderful Life~CS Edition - Switch | ゲーム

智代アフター~It's a Wonderful Life~CS Edition - Switchがゲームストアでいつでもお買い得。当日お急ぎ便対象商品は、当日お届け可能です。オンラインコード版、ダウンロード版はご購入後すぐにご利用可能です。
 

Shizuka

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,099
Looks like this is an upcoming Switch Physical release with English as well. Seems anything by Prototype has that little label on it.
No clue what the game is about, but I just have a bad habit about wanting to collect physical VNs on Xbox & Nintendo systems.

61wxvva0bXL._AC_SL1000_.jpg

Amazon | 智代アフター~It's a Wonderful Life~CS Edition - Switch | ゲーム

智代アフター~It's a Wonderful Life~CS Edition - Switchがゲームストアでいつでもお買い得。当日お急ぎ便対象商品は、当日お届け可能です。オンラインコード版、ダウンロード版はご購入後すぐにご利用可能です。

Prototype also did Grisaia and Little Busters on the Nintendo Switch, but no releases by LRG so far.
 

JosephL64

Member
Oct 25, 2017
469
Houston
It's just Tomoyo After consumer edition which has been released many times before. Still really good and I'd recommend it.

It's only missing the ero-scenes from the original, but that's to be expected.
 

Layla

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,777
Looks like this is an upcoming Switch Physical release with English as well. Seems anything by Prototype has that little label on it.
No clue what the game is about, but I just have a bad habit about wanting to collect physical VNs on Xbox & Nintendo systems.

It's a spinoff/epilogue to Clannad, I want to buy all those dual language Switch games too but luckily the prices are putting me off!

the Muv Luv stream was even more shambolic/amateurish than usual for a VN company, congrats I guess Age?
anyway they announced Photonmelodies should be out by the end of the month, and they are going to bring Muv-Luv Unlimited The Day After to the west.
 

Hours Left

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,394
Both Raging Loop and Root Letter are on sale on Switch right now. (Alternate Jake Hunter too.) 🤔

Thoughts? Suggestions? Warnings?
 

Dunnymeister

Member
Oct 25, 2017
197
Perth, Australia
I highly recommend Raging Loop, as do a lot of people on here. A great suspense VN with likeable characters, and some interesting twists. The end game can be a bit of a slog and there's one plot point that irks a lot of people but the rest of the game easily makes up for it. The post-game is great too as it's a replay of the game that shows the thoughts of the non-player character... it would absolutely be spoilers the first time through but it adds a lot when re-reading.

Root Letter is mediocre at best and there are better VNs on Switch you could put the money towards. Good character art, average music, poor plot, terrible characters.
 

purseowner

From the mirror universe
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,444
UK
Both Raging Loop and Root Letter are on sale on Switch right now. (Alternate Jake Hunter too.) 🤔

Thoughts? Suggestions? Warnings?

I'm still playing (and enjoying) Raging Loop, I dropped Root Letter a few hours in and never got round to going back to it. Take that as you will.

Is Alternate Jake Hunter on sale in EU too? It never seems to go on discount there.
 

Hours Left

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,394
Thanks everyone. I know Root Letter doesn't have the best reputation, but I'm pretty interested in the upcoming sequel, Root Film, so I'm still debating whether to just go for it.

I'm not a horror fan, but I have heard very good things about Raging Loop. I can handle DanganRonpa/Somnium Files levels of gore, and I read that it's pretty comparable in that regard.
 

eko

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,846
I just finished reading Adabana, and I must say that I really liked it. Nothing too ground breaking and maybe a little in the short side length wise, but it has a lovely story and the art is absolutely beautiful. Great ending too.

It's a real shame that for some reason aniplex decided to prevent the europeans from buying it, and it's specially strange because Atri (the other VN of the same brand they released alongside Adabana) doesn't have any kind of region block... I really don't understand how this works, maybe there is some legal issue going on that doesn't allow them on releasing Adabana in Europe?

Anyway, I think I will start Atri later today
 

ShyMel

Moderator
Oct 31, 2017
3,483
Thanks everyone. I know Root Letter doesn't have the best reputation, but I'm pretty interested in the upcoming sequel, Root Film, so I'm still debating whether to just go for it.

I'm not a horror fan, but I have heard very good things about Raging Loop. I can handle DanganRonpa/Somnium Files levels of gore, and I read that it's pretty comparable in that regard.
Just putting it out there that Root Letter is much cheaper on Steam at the moment:
store.steampowered.com

Save 88% on Root Letter Last Answer on Steam

A mystery adventure which is solved by using two visual features: Live Action and Illustrations.

If you still want to get it digitally on Switch, I would personally wait for a better sale price.
 

Hours Left

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,394
Just putting it out there that Root Letter is much cheaper on Steam at the moment:
store.steampowered.com

Save 88% on Root Letter Last Answer on Steam

A mystery adventure which is solved by using two visual features: Live Action and Illustrations.

If you still want to get it digitally on Switch, I would personally wait for a better sale price.
Oh thank you~ That is a much better price.

The Switch is like perfect for VNs, so I'd prefer to have it there, but I'm also poor AF so it would probably be better to go the Steam route at that price. Has it even gone that low on the eShop? (Or Raging Loop?)

I don't really need a game to play right now, as I'm already deep into some others, but I don't want to miss out on any good sales.
 

Dany1899

Member
Dec 23, 2017
4,219
I finally decided to get 428 Shibuya Scramble for PC, since at this point it won't ever be ported to Switch. I admit I prefer anime-sque visual than live action footage, but a good story is a good story, and I always read amazing reviews and opinions about this game.
For the moment, I played the first two slots. The story is clearly at the beginning, but there are so many characters - and that means there is room for big surprises. I am certain at least one of them is the mastermind, and I am ready to be surprised (after all, when a VN is so loved that means something). I admit currently I don't have clues, though.
Minorikawa is so fun, his part is my favourite one at the moment.
 

Layla

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,777
should be a bunch of localization announcements this weekend, wonder if we'll get anything big
Mangagamer already announced Jeanne At The Clock Tower by Liar-soft and an expansion for otome game Steam Prison by HuneX
 

purseowner

From the mirror universe
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,444
UK
Finally, I can cross off another Kickstarter as "complete"

www.gematsu.com

Muv-Luv photonmelodies for PC launches July 30

Muv-Luv photonmelodies will launch for PC via Steam on July 30 for $29.99, publisher aNCHOR announced.

$30 is a bit pricier than photonflowers was, no?

Sharin no Kuni and A Clockwork Ley-Line will release any day now.

I've been waiting patiently for Sharin for so long now. Looking forward to playing it on Vita. (Apparently still happening)
 

dodo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,997
hey folks!

so I recently re-read Umineko, a series that I followed as it was translated way back in 2009/2010. I adored it, but I basically never touched any other VNs aside from a few things here and there like Phoenix Wright. After rereading it, I'm in love with it all over again, and this time I really want to branch out and read some more VNs.

I'm currently reading Higurashi (I've watched the anime but never actually read the original) and I picked up Ciconia. I've heard good stuff about Higanbana too, but obviously I want to explore more than just 07th Expansion stuff.

I grabbed the House in Fata Morgana series in the steam sale; what else would people recommend? I think generally I'm more into the kinetic novel/sound novel format specifically, but I'm not totally against playing something with routes and choices.
 

Chairmanchuck (另一个我)

Teyvat Traveler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,077
China
Most of the SP announcements are still "Moe" visual novels...

Disappointing.

hey folks!

so I recently re-read Umineko, a series that I followed as it was translated way back in 2009/2010. I adored it, but I basically never touched any other VNs aside from a few things here and there like Phoenix Wright. After rereading it, I'm in love with it all over again, and this time I really want to branch out and read some more VNs.

I'm currently reading Higurashi (I've watched the anime but never actually read the original) and I picked up Ciconia. I've heard good stuff about Higanbana too, but obviously I want to explore more than just 07th Expansion stuff.

I grabbed the House in Fata Morgana series in the steam sale; what else would people recommend? I think generally I'm more into the kinetic novel/sound novel format specifically, but I'm not totally against playing something with routes and choices.

428.
 

Taruranto

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,046
hey folks!

so I recently re-read Umineko, a series that I followed as it was translated way back in 2009/2010. I adored it, but I basically never touched any other VNs aside from a few things here and there like Phoenix Wright. After rereading it, I'm in love with it all over again, and this time I really want to branch out and read some more VNs.

I'm currently reading Higurashi (I've watched the anime but never actually read the original) and I picked up Ciconia. I've heard good stuff about Higanbana too, but obviously I want to explore more than just 07th Expansion stuff.

I grabbed the House in Fata Morgana series in the steam sale; what else would people recommend? I think generally I'm more into the kinetic novel/sound novel format specifically, but I'm not totally against playing something with routes and choices.
What genres are you looking for specifically?
 

ZKenir

Member
Mar 31, 2018
4,437
Snagged a few games during steam summer sale:
- Ai: Somnium Files,
- Sakura Sakura
- Senren Banka
- Venusblood
- Newton and the Apple tree
- MLA Codex (ok, not really a game, but I like muv-luv)

I'm looking forward to photonmelodies but might not pick it up immediatly, also interested in the liar-soft game MG announced
 

Curler

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,596
Sega's Twitter sure has been covering a lot on the original Sakura Wars games in the past few days... Highlighting the series to try and promote the newest game, or is there something more to this, given those trademarks we saw recently? Such a tease right now...
 

thelongestj

Member
Oct 27, 2017
979
I have three big VN's I'm working on at the moment and I'm having trouble finishing them. One is The House in Fata Morgana. I'm on Chapter 7, which I think is most of the way through. I'm also about half way through Muv-Luv Alternative and maybe 10% through 428. I'm also realizing that I am much more invested when exploration is also an option like in Yu-No and Eve Burst Error, both of which I really liked.

I'm going to force myself to see it through to the end, but I wish VN's were shorter.
 

Dany1899

Member
Dec 23, 2017
4,219
428 is really getting to me, I have already reached the time slot 17-18. Some plot twists were easily predictable (for example it was evident that Detective Tateno was the man with the cane who continuously tried to kill Hitomi, while others were really well done. And I am sure that other surprising things are awaiting for me at the end of this VN. Humour and mystery are perfectly mixed, too.
Now my prediction for the mastermind if the following: I would say he's Maria's and Hitomi's professor. He is a named character who appearwd on screen, in particular in the first time slots was also briefly questioned by Kano, but then he didn't have other relevance. He isn't Japanese, so that suits an arm dealer who worked a lot in other countries.There could be other surprising masterminds of course, but the most suitable one is the professor, if the story follows a more traditional way to develop.
 

ShyMel

Moderator
Oct 31, 2017
3,483
Love how PQube clarified multiple times that it is development issues but people in the responses are still Tweeting otherwise.