Can Yumina the Ethereal Come To Other Platforms?

JAST Games Game Discussions
#1

Hello,

I use to be hugely into Visual Novels and have not played one for about 10 years.
Then I played Muv-Luv and forgot HOW much fun Visual Novels are.
So then I came back to my old sites I use to go too JAST usa and J-LIST

and found Yumina the Ethereal and Boob wars? XD
I have not played Boob wars yet, BUT

Yumina the Ethereal has been the most fun I’ve played in YEARS and not just in Visual Novels but in gaming as a whole.
I was shock to see it supported a controller and I couldn’t be more happier to play it like that. <3

but then I felt sad… Yumina the Ethereal should get to be played on PS4, Xbox, Steam and Handhelds
I don’t mind if you have to remove the adult stuff… The over all game it’s self out classes many AAA games.

SO~
PLEASE, PLEASE
Think of a way to release to more people then just the adult PC group.

The last time I had this much fun with a Visual Novels was with Brave Soul.
and it’s cause of that I’m afraid Yumina the Ethereal will fade away like how Brave Soul did with many people.

You may not in control of such things… but you need put in forward to those who are.
Yumina the Ethereal is simply one the top best JRPGs ever… Help others find it and it might help bring more awareness to Visual Novels to the US as well to other platforms…

Thank you very much for hearing me out. ^-^

#2

Jast and MangaGamer are both PC-only outfits, except for a few Mac ports MangaGamer did (because they have their own in-house porting team, and they use Unity). They’ve gotten some games released on Steam, but no console releases of any kind. Console is significantly more expensive and harder to work with.

So there’s good news - a Steam port isn’t out of the question! And also bad news - almost certainly nothing else.

#3

Pretty much what Nandemonai said.

If you liked Yumina, give Seinarukana a try. You can find a link to my review a few threads down. It has controller support, although the game doesn’t control well with a controller alone (I alternated between controller and mouse).

#4

@Nandemonai
I can understand that… it’s just with PS4 and Xbone being pretty much PC them selves now.
porting it over is not as of nightmare as would have been with 360 and PS3

But, if that can’t happen then it REALLY needs to come to Steam to drive up sales and bring more awareness of it
and more money back and awareness can help drive a console release as well.

I’ve played “many” games and collect a great deal of them… and I know that they are setting on a GEM with Yumina the Ethereal.
I love it so much that I forgot it was even a 18+ game until a sex stuff popped up… it’s got to be my second greatest ARPG (Anime Role Playing Game)
I’ve EVER played… just shy behind Ar Tonelico 2.

I refuse to let Yumina the Ethereal fade away, like Brave Soul did with the gaming world.

@sanahtlig
Thanks, I’ll look into it.

I had my eye on it and I see “The Spirit of Eternity Sword” is a 2 prater.
I was never really big into the “Valkyrie” theme in stuff… but I’ll for sure give it a try.

#5

The cost of creating the port in terms of coding work isn’t the major issue with consoles. The major issue is that the console maker wants control over the platform. They have a list of standards you have to meet, which means processes and procedures, which cost money. They also have to approve your project, and while it’s much easier to get these sorts of releases approved now than it was even 5 years ago, it’s still not guaranteed. Working Designs went under when they couldn’t get approval for Goemon, back in the day.

#6

@N Game Arts said:
I was never really big into the “Valkyrie” theme in stuff… but I’ll for sure give it a try.

There’s no “Valkyrie” themes in Seinarukana, despite the look of Satsuki’s outfit. The setting is original, and the overall feel is fairly similar to Yumina, with a slightly greater focus on the fantasy elements. Overall I’d say it’s a better game than Yumina. Yumina’s space chapter was a bit of a mess. Seinarukana manages to establish a fantasy setting that isn’t completely farcical. I prefer the battle system also.

#7

@Nandemonai
All in all
Sounds as if it could easily become a thing on console… They just need more support on the idea and know there’s enough interest from buyers of it.
That’s why it needs to release on Steam help build awareness and interest…

I wonder why it has not release on Steam after 3 years?
I mean both the The Spirit of Eternity Sword games are on steam? :confused:
Seems like a no brainier to release Yumina the Ethereal on it as well? :angry:

“Working Designs”… boy do I miss those guys. :frowning:

@sanahtlig
Really?.. I mean it REALLY looks like it’s got some “Valkyrie” themes going on. :confused:
but that’s fine… I already gone ahead and order it… should I play the first part as well?
“Better” then Yumina the Ethereal??
it be awesome if it is… but I didn’t see any chibis which I adore those things :blush: … well I’ll let you know what I think of it.

PS:
Can anyone tell me
I’ve been trying to get the h-scenes with the other school girls at the Academy
and I’ve fallowed walkthrough and did everything… but I never get anything?

I’'m using my New Game+ is that the Problem?

Also if you wanted to see my video on Yumina the Ethereal (Unboxing/Breakdown/Demo)

#8

Getting the H-scenes with the side characters in Yumina requires meeting very specific conditions.

I comment on the connection to Aselia in the review. In short, you should play Aselia because it’s a good game in its own right. They’re both extremely long (longer even than Yumina, probably) so plan to set aside some time.

Also, these might be of interest to you:
http://fuwanovel.net/2013/07/yumina-the-ethereal-the-first-high-profile-official-h-rpg-release-in-english-but-will-jast-drop-the-ball-and-forget-to-market-it/

#9

@sanahtlig
Well then I’ve got to be doing something wrong?
cause I’ve fallowed “Rillania” walkthrough to the letter and nothing. :confused:
I’ll see what I can do.

I won’t lie to you. ^^;
Your Review… … … it’s a lot to read. xD
But if you say both are good I’ll trust ya pick them both up… Upset I can’t get a Physical copy of the first part on J-LIST.
and I don’t do Digital… but for JASTusa… I’ll buy it anyway… but not happy about it. -_- xD

SO~
JASTusa is like SONY… They can’t market their games for shit… (Not trying to insult)
Well my Channel is not popular… but I’ll be doing more Visual Novels on my channel now and I’ll make sure to include JASTusa games as much as I can.

ALL this Visual Novel talk giving me back memories when I was 15 and played my first Adult Visual Novel from J-LAST. :3
it was “Heart de Roommate”. :3

GOOD MEMORIES. ^w^

I’ll support you all as much as I can, it’s a promise. <3

PS:
Yumina is crying! Don’t make Yumina cry, JAST! xD

#10

Hey, @NGameArts! First, on your glowingly positive sentiments toward Yumina the Ethereal… my friend, I agree 110%. As a holistic gaming experience, I probably enjoyed Yumina more than any other game I’ve played in the last 10 years. The characters and music were stellar; the writing was alternately hilarious, touching, and sweet; and I was pleasantly surprised that the dungeon-crawler-style gameplay never felt tedious somehow, maybe because of the goofy character interactions and the ability to find upgrades to your special moves. I think it’s a total “recent classic,” so I’m in full agreement about drawing more attention to it whenever and however possible.

Nandemonai and Sanahtlig brought up most of the difficulties that trying to move the game to home consoles would entail. I don’t think it’s impossible, but it would be quite an investment in time and resources for a company whose expertise is all in the PC market, and it would be a pretty big risk for that reason. (Possibly a huge payoff, too, but it would require them to put a lot of eggs in one basket.)

For a Steam port, I would love to see Yumina make an appearance there, and I think it has the potential to do outstandingly well. Its crisp artwork, cartoony character graphics, and badass-looking special moves should mean that the passage of a few years won’t make it look or feel dated. The sex scenes in the first half of the game would also be extremely easy to remove… To be honest, they never made much sense even in context. (“Ruh-roh, our latest opponent is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted from our battle. Ayumu! Invade their minds and refresh them with the healing power of your ethereal schlong!”) Haha!

Taking the sex scenes out of the second half of the game once you enter a route for one of the main girls would be much harder, though, and would probably be the most difficult part of that port. Those scenes make all the sense in the world, and they’re usually book-ended on either side by relationship-building dialogue that the story depends on. For that reason, I don’t think simply taking them out would be an option unless you offered a legitimate replacement. If JAST ever gets really interested in a Yumina Steam release, it might make sense for them to touch base with Eternal (the original studio) and see if they could hook them up with some new, non-explicit romantic artwork (kissing, longing looks, etc.) to substitute in. I think the story could move along just fine on that for the most part with little to no harm to the key plot points.

All this to say: “Hells-to-the-yeah!” about getting Yumina on Steam at some point. I’d probably re-buy it just to support it, especially if it offered a few alternative scenes to make the purchase feel more like bonus content than a donation.

#11

Follow-up question, out of curiosity: favorite character?

#12

@jacksprat1
Yumina the Ethereal, was a joy I have not had in a long time in a video game… Last time was with Ar Tonelico 2 and my god I want a HD remake of it. xD
but, Yumina the Ethereal had a charm to it with it’s well made Gameplay, Story, Music, Characters… and man was it funny as well… I found my self laughing out load reading it. xD
… but I agree 10 fold Yumina the Ethereal NEEDS more more attention to it.

I know, I know… it’s just I’m a console guy and PC second… and I just would LOVE to see a Yumina the Ethereal PS4 case sitting on my shelf… and console seem to have a way to bring lot a attention to a game… even if it’s not a Big Hit title.

Steam would be the best safe bet to go with to try to do.
and I’m sure, just up and removing the sex scenes is not as easy as pie.
but if it’s to get Yumina the Ethereal on Steam…it’s worth it!

I to have thought of reordering another copy of Yumina the Ethereal to help support it even more… but do to my channel and my game collecting… leaves me little play money. :’(

My favorite character would HAVE to be Kurokawa Kirara… she maybe a loli… but her Character just made me laugh and smile every time she was there… most of all that onii-chan part! XD lmfao
and yours?

PS:
I just got in Seinarukana - The Spirit of Eternity Sword 2 I will make a video of it when I’ve beaten it or felt I’ve seen enough to get a good understand of the game.
I may not do a video on “Flowers” do to I’m not into Yuri and feel I may not give it a proper video for it… but if people request of it heavily then I MAY look into it…

#13

Yumina was amazing, I hope that someday we can get the fandisc as well.

#14

THIS MADE ME SMILE! x3

ALL MUST LOVE Yumina the Ethereal! <3

#15

Sorry for the late response, but in answer to your question, I was probably a bigger fan of Kirara than anyone else, too. She was so freaking terrifying, cute, smart, and likeable all at the same time. I felt like her physical age was kind of indeterminate, which was a plus in my book, since I’m not into loli stuff but can swing with the whole “flat is justice” notion. :slight_smile: Her route, too… The ending actually had me weeping some manly tears.

I honestly loved all the main girls, though… I appreciated how Yumina was a ditz who knew she was a ditz, but tried to overcome that handicap through sheer verve and enthusiasm. Ai would almost be a standard kuudere character, but she’s so bitingly, unmercifully blunt about everything she says that it brought some really funny originality to the character. Heck, I’ll also get on board with praising Ayumu, who had about 8X more personality than your average male H-game protagonist. It was just a really fun, well-written story with good characters all around.

I know the play style of Aselia and Seinarukana is very similar to Yumina, but I always got the impression that the first two took themselves much more seriously in terms of their plot and storytelling style, which could either be good or bad depending on your preferences. Aaaanyway…

#16

@jacksprat1 said:
Follow-up question, out of curiosity: favorite character?

I feel like the main character, Yumina herself was my favorite. The characters of Yumina are all wonderful. Though looking at Yumina’s journey, she develops so much as a character in every route of the game, and like how she is in game good with gaining supporters for her campaign as the Student Council President, she’s also won my heart. She stands strong during the Election for the reasons @jacksprat1 has said.

(Also her songs are just beautiful, the song “Please Listen” in particular is a very heartwarming song that always makes me feel better after listening to it. I understand not liking to sing, and I personally don’t enjoy singing, but I have to thank Kirara for forcing Yumina to sing in this case since Yumina’s voice is too awesome.)

Kirara’s ending for sure was sweet, I do think Kirara’s route was the most interesting, with how we learn a lot of her history in the Space part of the game, how she rises over her desire for revenge to protect her friends and the universe as a result. And the ending, uuuuuuuu I also cried there. It was the best ending of the 3 main routes.

And yea, even though Aselia & Seinarukana have a very similar gameplay style to Yumina, the stories from those games seem a lot more serious compared to Yumina. The Battle System from all these games is one I really love as there’s nothing else like it it feels like. It’s a very unique system, and I love all the improvements done to the system in Seinarukana, but won’t get into those now since this is about Yumina.

I think the stories of Aselia/Seinarkana compared to Yumina also serve slightly different needs as well. Yumina for if you just want to have a fun time and see lots of funny situations. And Aselia/Seinarukana when you want a different World kind of story where everything is at stake for the main characters who previously were civilians that now find themselves having to fight in the Military of another World’s Army. I do enjoy the contrast in the themes and stories of this group of games compared to each other despite having a very similar battle system between them.

#17

Chiming in on this. We work with a team that released a game for PS3, and they basically had the most painful and impossible experience you can imagine, working with Sony’s engineers remotely, all questions handled through tickets that took 3 weeks to be replied to. PC is at least

a) a somewhat sane way to make software since you have control
b) the only reasonable way to publish 18+ games
c) PC avoids all the crappy limitation and needs for ESRB ratings.

So yes, any adult game will likely be PC, or else it will go away and not be ported at all.