[size=200]Yea!!! It’s finally out!!![/size]
And, unlike my signature line, it’s [size=125]DEFINITELY[/size] something to ni-paa about 
http://www.minori.ph/lineup/ef/index.html
http://www.himeyashop.com/product_info. … ts_id/9660
Far too much backlog for me to be able to get to it until, at the earliest, the week after next.
G-Senjou no Maou, Bifronte… and I work full time.
Well, from what I’m reading on Hongfire and other places, It’s gonna DEFINITELY be worth my US$90.00. Hell, since it’s gonna be a few days before it gets here, I’m tempted to DL it and start playing (since I’ve already bought the game and all)…
Ah, if only the companies would work together and do simultaneous releases (english versions too).
I guess if the support for the games continues to grow in the english market, it’ll at least cut down on the lag time between them.
The funny thing is that a lot of this game (not the text part) is in English… I’d say about 5% of the stuff is English which is quite interesting…
Oh, btw, got the official download for this and I’ve managed to get thru about 1/3 and all I’ve got to say right now is Wow. Just wow. This game is [size=150]SO[/size] worth the US$90.00 I spent on it. The artwork is absolutely superb and everything is completely animated. The only thing I don’t like about it is that Renji is not voiced. Otherwise I have absolutely [size=150]ZERO[/size] complaints about this game. BTW, I saw a walk thru and there are only 2 decision points and they are both in Chihiro’s route. The other 2 routes have no decisions, so this is like a linear Visual Novel, not really like a game – which is just fine and dandy by me After I finish I’ll give a more complete review…
yeah, minori seem to be going the ‘as few decision points as possible’ route nowadays. -the first tale- had a handful. Haru no Ashioto had, like, 3-4 max throughout the entire title.
To be honest, I’m liking this approach more and more nowadays. I don’t need huge numbers of alternate paths that don’t matter in the way of my story–just one extremely strong story is enough for me.
Signed. I’m all about the storylines anyway and the fewer options the better, besides, playing this is more like playing an anime than a game. The correct word to describe this VN is “exquisite”. I don’t throw that word around lightly, either. It’s reserved for things like Shinkai Makoto’s By?soku 5 Centimeter and the Simoun DVDs.
Oh, btw, AGTH works quite well with this game, too. So if your kanji sucks like mine does, you can just have it running in the background and if you need to look smth up you can easily do so
I can handle Mikage-level crazy Japanese without too much trouble… Haru no Ashioto and ef -the first tale- were written quite elegantly, but there’s nothing too weird in there.
Might take a bit of a break, first. I’m still reeling with the shock from playing G-Senjou no Maou. Freaking awesome stuff.
Is the latter tale playable without having played the first tale? Minori seems to have a very good reputation for letting relatively new releases go out of print :roll:, and the cost of obtaining a second-hand copy via proxy or himeyashop could well be higher than the original retail price. I was hoping that they’d release both games as a set, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely.
If you’ve seen the anime ef-a tale of memories, you should be able to play the latter tale w/o any probs. However, Kei’s route isn’t really complete in the anime but it doesn’t really com in to play during the latter tale, so you should be fine…
BTW, SHAFT is animating a second season with Kuzo/Mizuki’s route and Yu/Yuuko’s route called ef - a tale of melodies http://www.ef-melo.com
Thanks :). I haven’t seen the anime but I’ve got a rough idea of the plot for the first two routes. I’ll wait for a while in the hope that minori will re-release both games together, but if not I’ll definitely buy this.
Heh, seriously? You don’t think minori will pull -the latter tale- just as quickly as they pulled -the first tale-?
Well, we’ll see. =P
minori pulls their games way too quickly. I was going to order the first tale and the latter tale at the same time, but the first game disappeared from Himeyashop before I could order it. 
I’m going to see if I can special order a copy.
ef -the first tale- isn’t super-interesting anyway… I liked -the latter tale- much more, but it’s nicer to have them both if you can manage it
Of course, the title I think minori should most start printing again is Haru no Ashioto, which is a wonderful game.
I guess given that they’ve reissued Wind a few times, it’s likely that they’ll reissue their next major franchise as well. Alternatively, they could do a console port of it, and let the PC versions go out of print 
. Either way, I think minori is entirely to blame for their financial problems if they don’t keep games in print when there’s a market for them :P.
Yeah. I mean, come on, would it be that hard to set up a download-purchase site to sell stuff through afterwards? No need to worry about activation and DRM and all that because:
- They aren’t selling the games otherwise anyway, so it’s not like any money would be lost
- At that point, the games are going to be fairly widely circulated on the internet
It then just costs a bit of bandwidth… if it’s successful. And nothing much if it tanks =p No loss, really.
minori is anally protective of its IP, so they’d probably be the last company to experiment with unprotected digital downloads. As far as some publishers might be concerned, it’s probably better for a game to be unavailable than for the property to devalue (via mass piracy or an excess of stock at retail).
From minori, I also detect some hostility toward foreigners (not uncommon in otaku culture, where there’re a lot of nationalistic types - but I guess it makes them less likely to do business with overseas companies), but I digress.
Console ports make sense, and I’d be surprised if someone didn’t launch the game on next-gen consoles.
The lack of PC reprints means that at this moment, minori doesn’t perceive enough demand to justify another run. I think they want their games to retain high value, whereas some other publishers might not mind budget prints and price cuts.
Just caught this when I was browsing through the getchu sales rankings: ef - the first tale was the 4th best selling game of 2006, whereas ef - the latter tale is only ranked 11th for the first half of 2008. Although there’s no absolute data (afaik) for 2008 at the moment, it’s not a particularly good sign for minori… unless this happens to be a much better year for games/sales than 2006.
That’s a real pity, honestly, because it does send the wrong message. Maybe the disappointment with ‘the first tale’ translated into poorer sales for the much better sequel.
Of course, that 2008-1 sales rankings disappoints me even more, but it’s sort of what I expected. Damn you, To Heart 2: Another Days. Damn you, FORTUNE ARTERIAL. I’ve played both of you, and really can’t see why people would want to buy you more than the beautiful Devil on G String
But yeah, at least -the latter tale- beat Natsuzora Kanata! That’s something to cheer about, at least.
TH2AD is a very good game~
Besides, it’s only getchu’s ranking, and they’re not representative IMO of overall sales. Adding their figures to Messe Sanoh and Sofmap’s may, but not taking them alone. Nowadays, the difference between different stores is because of the pre-order items and, really, Messe-Sanoh and Sofmap usually get better ones than getchu.