I just read some rumors on 2chan that an expansion/fandisc is coming for DDC. I suppose that’s proof enough, the game is a financial success for them.
EDIT
Ah… the official site is the source of the rumor buzz.
Turns out the teasers ARE NOT an expansion for DDC… it’s an entirely new game.
The misconception was born from some hyperlink errors. Originally the teaser news and images, would redirect visitors to the DDC page.
Official site for the new Atsuki Works project is up:
http://www.akatsukiworks.com/product/com/top.html
Kagome has that “I’m a badass bitch and I know it” look all about her. 8)
There’s a lot of empty space on the Character page… I’m expecting a much larger cast.
crosses fingers for twincest
Three more girls added to the cast page.
Still no sign of twincest. 
It looks like ‘Dark Translations’ will be picking this up as their next commissioned project. Shion should be completed by the end of the week.
The question is - is this game really worth it and is it dark? 
Based on the sample images and from what i’v heard, it can be considered ‘dark’. It just depends on how someone defines a dark game ( some think of it as a game with a dark theme, for others it’s a game with violence, ect )
And according to ErogeReview it is worth it.
As long as commissions for other games don’t overtake it in the meantime.
On the other hand, DEVILS DEVEL CONCEPT currently has a mean of 67 on EGS from 60 reviewers (in my experience, if something doesn’t break the 70 barrier (putting it outside of the top 1500 releases or so on EGS) then it’s likely to either have some serious and noticable flaws or just be a very average sort of title, only worth getting if there’s something specific in the title that catches your interest). It also has an extremely high ‘give up’ ratio of 14% (it’s very rare to find a title over 6%, with most major titles being around 1 to 3%). Granted, I haven’t played DEVILS DEVEL CONCEPT but from these signs, even if the setting/themes/story of the game catch your eye, it’s still a second rate title compared to what else is out there. It’s had very mixed reactions from the people I know on irc that have played it as well. I guess what I’m saying is not that people shouldn’t play DEVILS DEVEL CONCEPT, but I’m questioning why people would want it translated over other much better titles.
Well I lost most of my faith in erogamescape, after the Dies Irae fiasco. That game is so unfairly rated poor, it’s not even funny. Plus as some have pointed out to me: there’s a bias against dark games on that site.
Still… didn’t see that coming (the translation effort).
Going purely with story and characterization, something like Draculius is generally superior to Devils Devel Concept. Not to mention longer. Then again Draculius only has two endings and five sex scenes, so that can upset people. Some of DDC’s greatest plot strengths are it’s greatest weaknesses. Diverse storyline with multiple scenarios, but fractional and with a short story feel, rather than an epic saga feel you’d get out of Draculius. I only compare DDC and Draculius at the moment, because the two appear to be in the same level of development budget and target audience (that I’ve reviewed).
I suppose it depends what you’re looking for. I mean something like Nukenin is massively inferior if you put it up against Gore Screaming Show in a plot comparison. But if you want to feed that ninja fix, Nukenin is vastly superior. I’ve heard my share of complaints concerning DDC, and came to a conclusion that the more quality dark eroge you’ve been exposed to, the worst off it seems. However if you’re fairly casual or a hardcore fan of goth themes, it’s on the average to above average threshold. It also gets compared to Tsukihime a lot (sometimes unfairly, sometimes justly). Personally I don’t see it as a this is so leet release, nor as anything irredeemable. In the end I liked it for what it was: relatively short, divergent plots, cute twincest, and gothy. Can you do better? Certainly. Can you do worst. Definitely. And let’s face it: for early 2009, there really wasn’t anything that much superior in the dark goth arena. So not a waste of cash for me… kept the beast fed. 
Worthy of translation? Sure why not. In retrospect Draculius would have been better, but then again, it’s also a hell of a lot more text driven and only good for one play through.
Plus you can buy Draculius off dlsite now. As such: much higher chance of people obtaining the game legitimately if it’s given a translation patch.
As far as EGS goes, the median results generally come fairly close to my own retrospective opinion with the majority of games. However, it’s not unusual for me to enjoy a game a lot more on the first playthrough than in retrospect, and I think it’s the same for other people too.
I’ve played and enjoyed 60% titles on EGS. I’ve played and enjoyed 50% titles on EGS. Heck, I’ve even played and enjoyed a 30% title on EGS. 30%. (AQUA BLUE is rated 30%!) True, I didn’t finish it, and there are so many negative points about the game I’d need pages to list them all, but the story’s interesting, unusual and oddly fascinating, so the bits I enjoyed I truly loved.
And all these games are better than Shuffle!. Shuffle! I disliked the first time I played it, and I hate it even more in retrospect. What an awful game.
EDIT: Also, Narg, you should review Mugen Kairou. I’m not quite finished it yet, but I’m up to the final loop, and… wow. I honestly never expected Black Cyc to be capable of something like this. Will need to wait until I can judge it more objectively, but it’s looking like Black Cyc’s best title. It’s certainly their darkest title.
Well, I picked DDC because of its shortness;textwise it’s about twice Shion’s size, amd bear in mind money is involved. Also I figured that it would be better that DT translated DDC, a good game, as opposed to this:
http://www.getchu.com/soft.phtml?id=626745
One thing you should know though, at the moment Taimanin Murasaki has taken the lead by a dollar. Edit: Never mind…
On a side note though, is Draculius kirirkiri based or compatible with OAGT? That’s the only way Nephirin can translate the games (which is why Nukenin won’t be translated by them).
True, Dies Irae is a much better game than the score suggests, however what light did was fairly duplicitious and I can understand that some people would be very disappointed given that they’d pre-ordered with certain expectations in mind. It’s a similar situation with Garden (only half completed or so when it was initially released) and Kawara Zakike no Ichizoku where the DRM for the game includes malware. I’d argue that all the zeroes each game has received are justified, as although they are objectively all deserving of at least 70%, on another level there’s something badly ‘wrong’ with each eroge. There are certainly a few users who should have their accounts deleted, like the guy who gives every game with ‘Fate’ in the title 0, or another guy who gives almost every Key game 0, but those users are few and far between. And as for low scoring games that I liked, be alive had a mean of 26% before I played it (then again, there are definitely some double-standards involved with the main route) :P. On the whole though, EGS’s ratings are usually very close to my own, and it’s always my first port of call when I come across a new title for the scores, POVs and reviews. (I think the bias is more against sex-fests, particularly dark ones, rather than dark games (after all Black Cyc, Nitroplus, Type/MOON, Alice Soft, 07th Expansion, propeller, ruf etc. do rather well, along with numerous other one-off dark games for companies) - depends on how you define dark though :P)
(ah, and I was thinking of dark games in general, not dark, gothic titles - if it’s the latter, despite the negatives, Draculius might still be a better option as like Lancer-X says, it was recently put up on dlsite, so it’s easier and (probably) cheaper to get hold of)
It’s a Kirikiri game, yes.
lol… well yea… DDC is better than the general stuff Dark Translation has done.
Honestly though, since it’s your money, pick which one you liked better. I’m guessing you’ve played DDC and Draculius (or any other theme related title), so which one interested you more? Even if you don’t understand all the text: I’m sure the artwork/characters/erotica/music/etc of one over the other impressed you more: so go with that one.
We all have personal tastes and opinions, but they don’t mean jack to what YOUR personal tastes and opinions are, when you’re holding the check. DDC has good points and bad points; Draculius has good points and bad points. No self respecting collector of dark eroge should not play them; but the issue of which is more interesting, largely depends on the viewer and what you think is interesting.
I think Bure is an outstanding eroge, but the erogamescape crew argue otherwise. Doesn’t change the fact that I like it, and feel they can go to Hell for giving it low scores. :lol:
Same situation as you: go with what you want and to hell with everyone else. It’s your money, and as long as you feel it’s well spent and you get what you want, you’re likely to be happy. What other people think is just - what we think - not what you think. :o
Well then, I think I’ve found next year’s commission (I say this because it’ll probably take that long for DDC to be translated as Shion took 2-3 months (maybe I should count 2 due to a side project being taken up) so DDC would take 4 months at least provided everything is paid in full and after that only time will tell if my budget can meet the requirements).
Incidentally, how long is Draculius?
It will take a large chunk out of your day, if you don’t skip text. I’d say the scenario in Draculius takes about the same amount of time and text, as one of the longer scenario (including seeing all possible side quests while getting it; like the academy rebellion) in MinDeaD BlooD.
There’s only one real scenario though: with an ending for Rian and then the true Harem ending. Game was probably released incomplete, seeing how the non-hentai PS2 added individual endings and more characters… but that’s not anything new to eroge, is it?
I’m one of those people who isn’t impressed by Mugen Kairou. I’ve heard a lot of praise for it, but I’m not a fan for the scenarios. I even canceled my preorder for MK2, because I learned it doesn’t include the soundtrack (which I really wanted because it’s a Fairy Yui work). I know it gets rated as high as MinDeaD BlooD with fellow goth gamers in Japan, but this is one title where I deviate. I’ve been reluctant to review Mugen Kairou because of these views.
And how dare you question the greatness of BCyc. Between 2004 and 2007 BCyc was almost nothing but win (only that Yami title after the MDB expansion broke the string). 3 years of dark eroge excellence. It wasn’t until 2008 that they lost their touch (Yami Zero and BDD are just run of the mill). While I’m not a fan of MK, I’m carefully watching to see how MK2 fares with those who are, to discover if BCyc is back or truly a lame duck now.
Well, I’ve finished MK now. There’s actually a secret good ending in MK if you look hard enough.
Well, I mostly meant that none of their other titles that I’ve played (Yami no Koe, Mushi-Tsukai, MinDead Blood, Gore Screaming Show, Extravaganza, Gun-Katana, Before Dawn Daybreak) radiate the same sheer depressing aura that Mugen Kairou does. Dark games need to depress me to be dark, and for this reason Black Cyc have never produced a title I would consider dark* - other than Mugen Kairou. The others generally go too far. A lot of the eroguro scenes, for example, extend past a certain point of ridiculousness and the events in the game don’t really feel like they’re happening. I’m not saying MK doesn’t, in this way, but the game deliberately gives you a lot of other things to be depressed about. Mugen Kairou just radiates this aura of hopelessness throughout.
That said, I’m not sure I’m looking forward to MK2. MK was great stuff, but I’m not quite sure about repeating the experience at this stage. What have they done to my Nanaka 
- ← from the ‘a game with good endings isn’t an utsuge’ crowd
Oh, and about EGS - to be honest, I find it more annoying when EGS completely ignores a title I like, rather than giving it a bad score. That’s far more of an insult.
Take this game, for example. Simply brilliant stuff - not only by far the best game in its genre that I’ve played, but one of the best eroges I’ve played period. What does EGS think about it? EGS doesn’t even have it in its database. You can download it off dlsite so it’s not exactly obscure or hard to find or anything…
yes, I could add it, but that’s beside the point =p
Ah… gotcha.
That’s exactly the main reason why I couldn’t get into MK… I’m a sadist, not a masochist, so poor Narg was traumatized from the constant abuse his role was taking. Narg was constantly rooting for the underdog to win… and it never happened.
Wait, what? They did what?