I thought it would be interesting to dicuss some rare VN’s. If you have some collection post about how you came across it.
I have been collecting VNs since the early 2000’s. Many of the releases from back then is rare nowadays. Unfortunately, I don’t still have most of my boxes - ran out of space for those. But I actually own Ever 17 on disc; I also own Divi Dead.
@Nandemonai said:
I have been collecting VNs since the early 2000’s. Many of the releases from back then is rare nowadays. Unfortunately, I don’t still have most of my boxes - ran out of space for those. But I actually own Ever 17 on disc; I also own Divi Dead.
How many of those discs still work though?
Ohh, Divi Dead was a good one, they even got a dreamcast hack for it XD
I have a couple of domestic (USA) releases that probably qualify as being kind of rare – not necessarily super-valuable in terms of dollar value, but definitely hard to find. To be honest, in basically every instance these were eBay finds…
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Viper V-16: Hyper Animation Series – Released by Sogna / Hobibox Europe for Windows 95/98, but shockingly this dude still runs on Windows 10 with no noticeable problems other than my antivirus thinking its .exe file is malware, haha. This is one of my favorite old, rare games. It’s almost less a visual novel than a short interactive cartoon on CD-ROM. The owner started off selling this one quite high, but patience paid off, and I got it for a reasonable cost on the second or third re-list.
- YouTube -
Graduation for Windows '95 – This was a weird, botched attempt by TokyoPop to enter the visual novel business under the pseudonym “Mixx Games”; this is their only title. Surprisingly, I think this one also plays okay on Windows 10! Kind of a standard dating / raising sim where you help a group of high school girls toward graduation. It’s mainly notable today for its hilariously bad voice acting and huge-ass game box that contained nothing but the game in a thin paper sleeve.
卒業II [Sotsugyou II] - Graduation II Character Introductions - YouTube -
Casual Romance Club (Limited Edition) – This was the original physical edition of this game, still purchasable digitally on the JAST shop, and it’s really quite a snazzy little package. It includes a really pretty white art-box and a hardback artbook.
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Original Higurashi and Higurashi Kai (physical edition) – The physical edition of the first game was pretty common, but the second was and is really rare. I think it may have only been made for sale at conventions.
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Kira Kira (limited/convention edition) – The backstory to this one is kind of odd… I bought it off eBay from someone who said it was a version purchasable at conventions. I believe it’s the uncut version of the game, and it came with a bonus box separate from the main DVD Amray case that was full of various goodies. Other than this one eBay listing, I have never seen the bonus pack mentioned or sold on any other occasion.
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Hirameki games – I have an almost complete collection of the visual novels Hirameki released back in the day… I’m only missing Tea Society of a Witch (no big loss), Animamundi, the physical version of Yo-Jin-Bo: The Bodyguards, and Ever17. The last one is a real stinker to find at an affordable cost these days… It will basically boil down to luck if I ever get that one.
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Eve: Burst Error – Not a lot to say about this one other than that it’s the physical edition and it’s old. A mystery VN that was pretty stellar in its time, I think.
On the subject of rare games, it would be neat to come across come across some of the titles from what I call JAST’s “lost years” between their original big three (Season of the Sakura, Three Sister Story, and Runaway City) and the formation of Peach Princess with the release of the first X-Change. There were several titles from those years (1997-2001ish) that I know exist but have never seen listed for sale – especially Transfer Student, True Love, and Legend of the Fairies. I have heard those titles don’t hold up well at all to the passage of time, and they may not even run on modern Windows, but they’re a neat piece of history I would enjoy trying out.
Rarest valuable eroge I own is Eien no Natta Rusuban from Touchy. I’ve seen it resale secondhand for 12800 yen at Softmap and Traders for a complete set at “B Grade” quality (this is about VG+ in a western equivalent). That’s more than the game actually cost to purchase when it first came out… a VERY rare occurrence (most games of that era sell secondhand at about 2000 yen these days).
Hardest to find eroge I own is Mugen Yasoukyoku from apricot (aka Nocturnal Illusion) in the 3.5 diskette variant. Floppy drive games are difficult to locate because secondhand retailers can’t guarantee the magnetic media still works, and so avoid dealing with them. I doubt the install disks even work anymore. Japanese eroge floppy disks used the cheaper quality magnetic film – they weren’t intended for long term storage – and time naturally degrades their quality. I saw a slightly worn copy for sale at a Comiket vintage vendor for 2500 yen back in 2008. I waited until the third day before trying to buy it, because I already had it, and didn’t want to deny someone else the chance to own that gem. It was sold out by then… not regretful, because I’m glad another fan got a chance to own such treasure.
Hey, welcome back, Narg. In the States again?
Yea. Back in good 'ole America.
@jacksprat1 said:
3. Casual Romance Club (Limited Edition) – This was the original physical edition of this game, still purchasable digitally on the JAST shop, and it’s really quite a snazzy little package. It includes a really pretty white art-box and a hardback artbook.
Like you, I too own the physical copy of Casual Romance Club.
On a separate note, it’s good to see your familiar name here even after I’ve been inactive for so long Narg. You as well Nandemonai.
Yeah, always good to see someone pop back up. What brings you back around? A lot’s changed in the last few years. MangaGamer grew up and started putting out respectable releases; Key started releasing their VNs in the West; cats and dogs living together; total chaos.
Oh, and as for the topic, I also have Casual Romance Club in a box. And Ever 17. And an original copy of at least Divi Dead; I think a few other Himeya-soft releases.
Don’t forgot Donald Trump is future President of the USA. World has gone upside down. 
Amazing to see MangaGamer is the 800 pound gorilla of eroge. I remember when their website was first created and people thought it was a pirate site because of the super shitty translations. Releasing euphoria (and the upcoming Maggot Baits) has them very high on my respect list. Was getting to the point I thought no commercial entity would release high quality dark eroge with plot in English. Looks like it’s opening the gates for more in the foreseeable future.
I wasn’t as impressed by Euphoria as I’d thought I would be. It tried to be something more, but I don’t think it really succeeded, and the reason why is that I think the pacing was off. This game was sold to me as ‘the dark sexual content is a key part of the story they’re telling’, but I never really found that to be true. Instead it seemed to me like the devs spent so much time and energy putting it there that they ran out of time to do the ending properly.
Events happen, especially towards the end of the true route, without sufficient buildup or explanation, a key character’s actions in the ending make no damn sense, the explanation for what they’re trying to do and why they’ve chosen to do it in that way makes no sense given what the collars do. More importantly, it’s thematically inconsistent: the theme of the demon inside us all get dropped once The Game is over, despite it having been built up as a key part of the game’s story, because now it’s time for the story to change focus. Indeed, it’s entirely possible that the demon inside him wasn’t even native to his personality to begin with!
@Nandemonai said:
Yeah, always good to see someone pop back up. What brings you back around? A lot’s changed in the last few years. MangaGamer grew up and started putting out respectable releases; Key started releasing their VNs in the West; cats and dogs living together; total chaos.
Yeah, I’ve been away from the game so long that I’m going to have to ask for advice on what to get. The only thing title I know for certain I want is Shiny Days. It would probably be best if I do that in another thread though, so as not to derail this one.
I disagree with the thematic inconsistency, but rather think they could have better handled it.
[spoiler]When I play Grand Theft Auto, I’m evil incarnate: I run innocent people over, I murder cops, I beat prostitutes until they can’t move. Why? Three reasons.
(1) There’s no repercussions for my utterly deprave actions.
(2) I am rewarded by the system for being the worst monster I can be.
(3) The game punishes me for NOT being a social abomination.
And then the alarm rings. Time for work. I save the game, shut off the console, and go to work. Suddenly I’m an upstanding citizen again. I’m not being a one man domestic terrorist organization. The entire game is out of mind as I tackle whatever is going on in the real world. What happened in the game, stays in the game… at least until I return to the game.
I think euphoria was being meta with that.
The rape game ended when the characters believed the rape game was over. The “social barriers” of no repercussions for one’s actions – i.e. raping the shit out of the girls – no longer existed and the MC’s “ordinary” personality took over. At that point in the story: the MC no longer believed there would be zero repercussions, he would be rewarded for being a rape beast, and there would be punishment for not following rules of the rape game.
What happened in the rape game; stayed in the rape game. At least until the immediate “real world” survival dilemma of the second act was survived or escaped.
My view is euphoria was too abrupt with the meta handling. I feel the second act, to make it more jarring, was purposely abrupt. The second act was supposed to be confusing so the player could experience the “WTF” is going feeling as the MC. Too meta? Too soon? Probably. But not true inconsistency IMHO. More of a misplaced execution in presentation.[/spoiler]
EDIT
Heh… is it just me, or did Kimuzukashii MEIJI mash the thread? 
I’m not sure what did it, but something royally screwed up the formatting. I think my use of the spoiler tag might have done it? Not sure. Anyway I’ll create a bug thread for it, this is really hard to read.
Edit: Seems like you and I mangled the thread. Edit your post and fix the spoiler tag. (See my bug report thread about it). Basically, if the spoiler tags aren’t nested exactly right, they break in a way that seems to corrupt the CSS or something.
It’s ruined!!!
lol… that’s an awesome bug. I actually broke a forum.
does evil dance