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#81

Ah, thanks - the walkthrough I’m using also has those routes listed last, so it’s good to get confirmation that that’s the best clear order. In Subahibi, the differences between Sca-ji and the other writers were hardly noticeable. Of course, looking at the interview in the artbook tokuten, the other writers were given the least ‘important’ parts of the scenario, or rather the parts that didn’t require as much specialist knowledge, such as the first half of Down the Rabbit Hole. (I’m not sure if any eroge scenario writer other than Sca-ji would be able to make It’s my own Invention as effective as it was.) Hm, and I still haven’t started Natsu no Ame yet, but if that’s as good as Lancer-X has made it out to be, then I’m very much looking forward to your diary as well.

In other news, Softhouse Seal’s Daisuki na Goshujinsama turned out to be better than I expected. In addition to being Seal’s longest eroge by a reasonably large margin (without even taking the sim part into account), the characters, jokes, references and general writing are also the best I’ve seen in a Seal game. The sim part is also reasonably well put together, although it did get a bit repetitive by the end of my first playthrough, I’ve only reached one ending so far (waiting for a kouryaku before I attempt the rest, as I’m not sure exactly what triggers the various routes, especially for the two sub-heroines from the other cafe).

OP for RaiL’s Albatross Koukairoku is out. Rather unusual and impressive in all respects. On the other hand, the trial came out today, and I think that killed any aspirations I had of preordering it. Not because the trial’s bad - in fact far from it, but the writing itself is exceedingly difficult to read. I finished Saihate no IMA a month or two ago, and as challenging as that was in places, it’s still far easier to process than Albatross Koukairoku, both in terms of vocabulary/kanji usage, and general flow and ease of reading . As good a writer as Mareni is, passages like this feel needlessly verbose and overall they obfuscate the story a bit. (my language skills suck though, so ymmv. I can read it, but I’d probably be spending 3 to 4 times longer on it than a normal eroge, which would somewhat kill my enjoyment of it. One day though…)

There aren’t any sample HCGs for Kud Wafter on the game’s homepage, but Gamestyle recently posted some… they seem to have lolified her even more than in the original.

Finally, although there’s usually at least one interesting and/or very well known eroge put up for dlsales each week, last week was exceptional, with Haruka, Toushin Toshi 3, ONE and Sabae no Ou being added to pro.dlsite and StarTrain being added to gyutto (should appear on dlsite in a few months :().

Edit: Sca-ji posted a link to this on his twitter account a couple of weeks ago, but I think I forgot to post it here. Anime version of Tsui no Sora. Maybe awesomely terrible is the best way of describing it?

#82

Speaking of Kud Wafter the Chara page just had an update the other day, revealing that both Kanata and lovely A-chan Senpai from Little Busters! will join the team for some Wafuuu action and therewith almighty Hinoue Itaru will also participate as supporting artist on this Key project…which certainly adds a sales point as far as this Itaru addict is concerned ^^

On other news 0verflow launched a page for SCHOOL DAYS HQ - 2010/08 “slated”.

On total unrelated more personal note SubaHibi finally arrived here (still with pre-order campaign bonus waiii) together with some SubaHibi Comic1 Doujin goodness (Suzuri sure is a weaponry Otaku O_o)

#83

That’s almost got to be a crime, jeez, getting March’s eroge in June. I’d be extremely upset if they did that to me

#84

I figure this is as good a time as any to look at June titles, although maybe a little late now for some of them~

DEAR DROPS - OVERDRIVE
Band eroge by Overdrive. Given that their last band eroge was so good, I should be pretty much rushing to get this one, right? Well, actually no. New scenario writer, semi-new artist and I’m just not feeling all that rock and roll after reading the synopsis. Can always get it later if it turns out to be particularly good. The main reason I got into Kira Kira was the fact that Setoguchi Renya wrote it and without Setoguchi I just don’t feel like bothering.

Kourin no Machi, Lavender no Shoujo - Akabeesoft2
I admit I’m not exactly expecting good things from this either, but nonetheless I preordered it out of some misguided brand loyalty to Akabeesoft2 and based on the fact that I didn’t hate the trial (I found it highly odd, mostly) and that Looseboy said it wasn’t a landmine. New writer, old artist that we know and love. The thing that most confuses me about the game is the extremely twisted brand of logic that everyone seems to bring to the table in reasoning things. Something highly odd seems to be going on in the background and I’m not sure if this is part of a greater plan or just particularly bad writing.

Kud Wafter - KEY
Preordered. The main attraction for most people here is probably the Rewrite trial it comes with; however, I loved Kud as a character and didn’t get nearly enough of her in her route in Little Busters!

bitter smile - GIGA
Unfortunately there’s not nearly enough bitterness in the smiles as I look at the demonstration movies and the concept. I just see boring, although it is rather nice looking boring. Not preordered. I’m suspicious about Nekonyan actually writing this. Since when is Nekonyan a writer? I’d have a much higher likelihood of getting it if it was written by Maruto.

Angel Ring - MOON STONE
MOON STONE is dead to me.

Soranica Ele - Light
R.U.R.U.R artist, ars:magma writer. It’s the latter I’m worried about, given that it seems to have been Light’s worst landmine. A few people seem to be looking forward to this one; can’t personally fathom why.

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi - feng
Pass because feng.

Consome: combination somebody - Silver Bullet
Wait and see- it looks interesting enough, I suppose, but I wasn’t really grabbed by the concept. I’ll get it sometime later if it turns out to be good.

PARA-SOL - ROOT
Was going to preorder, changed my mind. Wait and see. Fantastic artist, bizarre plot and crazy writer.

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: Futari no Elder - Caramel BOX
This is a sequel to Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru with a new cast etc. Again, wait-and-see. This could turn out to be rather good - it’s by the same staff, the character designs look great, so I’d say there’s a good enough chance I will get this at some point.

#85

Oddly enough, DEAR DROPS has some direction competition in June, in the form of ad:lib’s Bokura wa Piacere, another band game. The first trial made it seem like the game had some potential, although it was very short (haven’t looked at the second one yet). In the song department I think it’s possibly the equal of DEAR DROPS, (although it pretty much goes without saying that both seem to be a fair way behind WA2IC). After having looked at the trial, OVERDRIVE’s new writer isn’t bad, but is no Setoguchi Renya either. Wait and see for both.

Nothing of the other June trials I looked at were quite interesting enough to make me preorder. Consome’s was probably the best, and I’m at least hoping that Kourin no Machi will turn out to be playable (incidentally, it’s been confirmed that there’s no direct connection to Sharin no Kuni). There’s still no trial available for PARA-SOL, although now that voice samples are up for it, I assume that it’s not going to suffer any more delays.

In other not directly related news, Real Imouto did turn out to be very good, although the story was rather surprising (in a good way), particularly on the final, and presumably true route. There’s a lot more to the game than the title, or even the trial suggested but I still wouldn’t recommend getting it unless there’s something about the story that catches your interest, as above all else, it’s still an ???.

Mashiroiro Symphony is being ported to an as yet unnamed console with the provisional title Mashiroiro Symphony mutsu-no-hana. As the subtitle suggests, there are two new routes (in addition to the four routes from the original game), one obviously being the ‘missing’ Sana route (I’m not quite sure if it was as ‘deliberate’ an omission as say Nanami’s route in the original Asukimi, but it’s certainly right up there.) and the other being a new heroine, Mutsuki (scan courtesy of 2ch). Pity they’ve gone down this route instead of making a fandisc, as despite the game’s immense popularity, I still doubt they’ll report this version back to the PC.

Niijima Yuu, the planner (and one of the scenario writers) of Natsuyume Nagisa is writing an original light novel of the aforementioned eroge, titled Natsuyume Nagisa NOSTALGIE (VA Bunko page) that’s being released on the 26th of June. Normally novelisations aren’t all that interesting or meaningful for people that have already played the original game, as they’re often condensed retellings of the game’s story, reusing at least part of the original text whilst not adding much in the way of new content, or by writers who have had no connection to original game. NOSTALGIE doesn’t fall into either, and it does seem like it might add something genuinely new, so once I finish the original game I’ll probably buy this. [Incidentally, there was a Hiei Murasaki BALDR SKY light novel spinoff announced a few months ago, but it seems that the story is now going to be part of Dive X (BALDRSKY the Another ?Bound for Seventh?).]

#86

DEAR DROPS - OVERDRIVE
Band eroge by Overdrive. Given that their last band eroge was so good, I should be pretty much rushing to get this one, right? Well, actually no. New scenario writer, semi-new artist and I’m just not feeling all that rock and roll after reading the synopsis. Can always get it later if it turns out to be particularly good. The main reason I got into Kira Kira was the fact that Setoguchi Renya wrote it and without Setoguchi I just don’t feel like bothering.

Every time I see the box art, W.B.X ~W Boiled Extreme~ starts playing in my head.

#87

In other Setoguchi Renya-related news, the 0.2 trial for his light-novel-turned-sound-novel Kurai Heya was released, with a full release date of 6/30.

If you were expecting a visual novel adaptation of the light novel or something similar you may be disappointed because this is more novel-ish than most. In other words, you literally click and read.

It’s not quite what I was expecting but, whatever, I’m willing to give it a shot.

#88

It is a crime indeed, though honestly more my fault (cutting back for the Tokyo trip in August hence had it shipped together latter with Comic1 sneaks rather than past the release date) than Tora no Ana’s order processing ^^
Btw. thanks to your great SubaHibi blogging coverage (which I’m tempted to continue reading once I progressed further with it) I lastly understood Zakuro’s narration in the beginning (which after countless listening attempts I gave up to make sense of cause my Engrish skills seemed to be not sufficient enough >_<)

Anyways on the upcoming release side of news GIGA launched a site for JINKI EXTEND Re:VISION…now that’s a GIGA project I’m instantly interested in!

#89

It helped that Zakuro was just quoting from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There which I happened to have read.

#90

When I played the 0.1 trial, I assumed it was just a very simplified version of the system to demonstrate the text and format, but 0.2’s is equally minimalist. I also wonder how long the story will be (the lengths of his other light novels/novels are PSYCHE, 234 pages, ??? ??, 379 and ??? ??, 434). I’m not sure if the original Kurai Heya was intended as a single, or a multi-part work, but either way, with the lack of voices and the presentation it’s going to have a rather short playtime. Hopefully there’ll be enough text to justify the 2000 yen pricetag.

I had a look at the trial for Clockup’s Eroge! today (yes, that is the title, or in full Eroge! ~ H[Ecchi] mo Game mo Kaihatsu Sanmai~). Being a Team Anise eroge, I originally assumed it would just be a pure nukige that used the eroge company/production setting as a gimmick. Completely wrong. Although it’s hard to read too much into the trial, there’s a lot of background information about the development process itself, and in places it kind of reads like a do’s and don’ts of eroge production. Characters are fun, writing’s rather good (obviously, I imagine a lot of what the author’s writing is based on personal experience) and the scenario setup is strong so there’s a lot more to it than the title and very large percentage of sample HCGs on the homepage suggests. As the game will eventually be available for dlsales, I’ll wait until then though, but this is looking like it’ll be one of June’s best titles.

#91

In oldish news, the port of STEINS;GATE has been delayed to the 26th of August, and will come with DRM, as will all of Nitro+'s future titles (from August on).

A few comments on other recent demos I had a look at…

CanFes (short for Candy Festival - the Pumpkin Soft staff working on this title are mostly the same as Mikoko’s/Imouto Smile’s) - Very very odd story, that probably can’t be evaluated until the whole game is cleared. Really not sure what to say beyond that, apart from that everything seems to be of an above average quality. I don’t think it’s at preorder level, as there are a few similarly offbeat but seemingly better eroges in the surrounding months (such as Okiba). I do tend to prize originality in eroges though, so if it gets decent reviews I’ll probably grab it for dlsite prices.

Steal My Heart - probably going to turn out to be fairly mediocre to average overall, and certainly much worse than Sakura Strasse/Mashiroiro Symphony. There are a few decent jokes (just as a caution, it’s nothing like Palette’s other recent titles, and although the game is supposedly set at a school, it’s really just a place where they can shove all the characters together. It’s the most ‘unschool’ like school I’ve seen in an eroge, and the game might have been better if it used a different basic setting), but it’s got some highly annoying characters, an overly small cast size, and above all the bits of the trial I played were like a one day time-loop :P. The game doesn’t seem to have much substance to it at all, and although an hour or two is decent/tolerable, 15-20 hours will probably be far too much. It’s at least one, (and probably two to four in most cases) levels below Palette’s previous two eroges in every respect. I can’t really see myself playing the full version at any stage.

Deep onE - Not exactly a Fate/stay night clone, but something that seems to draw an unhealthy amount of inspiration from it (although it seems like it will have more story depth than Fate). The bits of the trial I played were good, but almost everything about it, structure/writing/some characters/battle presentation basically screams Fate, although it may go in a different direction further on in the story. The game also seems to be extremely long, so I’ll be waiting for reviews to determine if it’ll be worth the (seemingly) 30+ or even 40+ hour time investment (I don’t really want to go through a direct knockoff of Fate, as the lower production values will hurt the experience. It seems like it might have the potential to be better than in the story/depth department though, so that’s the main thing I’ll be watching out for in the reviews.) [incidentally, for Narg’s reference, one of the three heroines (and possibly the main heroine?) is the protagonist’s twin imouto.]

Edit: ??? ??? - is anyone surprised? :roll: (I think the original release date was December 2009)

Edit 2: ??? ??? ??? Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi’s comment also applies here. The voice recording’s been completed though, so I think this will see a July release.

#92

And on the news of delays ROOT announced yet another one for PARA-SOL from 2010/06/30 to 2010/07/23…they really should start to come up with a more realistic schedule than pushing this project back on monthly basis. Anyways a definite pass for me now given that July is all about Oretsuba for me. But they’re not the only Brand in need of some delay feng does that as well for the 6th time now (not that I personally cared much for their new project to begin with though ^^).

#93

Now this is an absolutely cruel move by KEROQ/MAKURA - almost one year past their website renewal they finally launched their mail order/shop section with the Supre~me Candy Korie Riko and Inugami Kira Comike76 (2009 summer) Sets representing the first available MAKURA Goods (not KEROQ Goods at this point). I waited for both of them (given their not only done by two of my favorite artists in Bishoujo spheres but also fully dedicated on my favorite heroines of SC) to be put up for online order ever since they announced such back shortly past the event (C76) via the MAKURA HP but since that notification banner was just, well, a banner without any proof to their plans I was about to give up hopes…and now this. 18,000 Yen (the @event price!) and the worst order deadline I’ve ever witnessed (orders accepted till 30th June 18:00)…

#94

Ouch. I wonder why they haven’t listed anything else in their store yet either.

Type MOON’s Mahou Tsukai no Yoru has a release date (September 30), and a price (8400 yen). As was the case when it was first announced, it’s still an all-ages work, however they’ve decided not to voice it - short reason being that Nasu wants players to imagine their ideal voices for the characters instead. On a cynical note, I bet they’ll add voices when (when, not if, although it might be a little while down the track) it gets a console port. :roll: It’s also completely linear, but that’s understandable as it wasn’t originally conceived in this form. The other really noteworthy new announcement is Hatsukoi Sacrament, a new Purple Software eroge, by Nakahiro, the Hoshizora no Memoria/Happy Wardrobe writer. (Also a few other things like a new Lump of Sugar eroge from the Tayutama -It’s Happy Days- artist and one of the writers, 11 Eyes fandisc, Shukufuku no Campanella fandisc, Skyfish music themed eroge etc.)

#95

Well, up to now merely the button for a “web shop” was put up by KEROQ with their site renewal last year…clicking on it was no use as the URL behind was the top page as well (believe me, I tried it multiple times…about each time I dropped by their HP). But oh well, here’s at least hoping they’ll attend Comike78…man, trying to keep financials tight before my Tokyo trip really sucks >_<

re: Mahou Tsukai no Yoru

Now if that’s not the most silly excuse to save on Seiyuu that I’ve ever heard…also I’m sure not the only one who’s not expecting them to really keep up with the September release or? But if then I guess this shall lend some better explanations as to why it’s non-voiced / no-routes, etc. At least the collaboration with Supercell sounds interesting (though seriously everytime I read something about this Sound label I wonder whether their ryo is the very same ryo who already worked on MAKURA/KEROQ projects as it would suit given also Yanagi Nagi was involved).
But it’s still Girl’s Work I’m most keen on getting to see some progress / news (like for example who’s going to be the freaking artist in charge >_<)

I’ve got to ask, where did the news for 11Eyes FD come from? I mean, yeah Lass announced that shortly past the Soft’s release, but it didn’t go further than that they were working on such…now past the horrible Anime I wasn’t expecting this to be formally announced at last but their official HP doesn’t state such yet?
Speaking of FD minori announced that they’ve decided on a release date for Tenshi no Nichiyoubi which is going to be announced with further details within the upcoming (06/21 release) issue of TECH GIAN.

The same issue of TECH GIAN also contains a first scoop on YuzuSoft’s new and 5th anniversary project ??? (Noble Works)…mhmm Muririn and Kobuichi maids sounds nice ^^

#96

In addition, when (again, when, not if) it gets animated, it’s definitely going to be voiced, so we won’t really be able to disassociate a character from their voice after that. I can’t really see cost-cutting as being an issue either, as they’re going to make a profit on it regardless, and choosing not to voice it will probably cost them a lot more than (estimating the voice costs) 1000-2000 copies in lost sales. (Of course, they could well recoup the cost of those and more with a voiced console port.)

And yes, I’d much rather find out more about Girl’s Work too. Whilst predictable is much too strong a word, Mahou Tsukai no Yoru is probably going to end up being a rather ‘familiar’ story, whereas Girl’s Work could go in all sorts of unexpected directions.

I noticed the news on ?900, which I assume they took directly from TECH GIAN.

#97

Interested in:
[list][]Hatsukoi Sacrament - Has people from Hoshimemo working on it, and it’s from Purple.[/]
[]Noble Works - I’m a Yuzusoft fan.[/]
[]Hello, good-bye - I love Lump of Sugar![/]
[]Shukusai no Campanella! - Fandisc for a game I own.[/][/list]

#98

Oh, I can see the headline to this already “Mahou Tsukai no Yoru theatrical road-show! No voices and static pictures because Nasu thinks animation would crush his aim to inspire the fans’ imagination” :smiley:

You see, what I don’t get about this is the inequality there. On one side something considered elementary nowadays is completely passed on while at the same time they’re hyping the project with the musical side (supercell collaboration) of it and personally the latter never ranged among those strength I associate with nor expected TYPE-MOON to excel. Somehow also I don’t really think it’s the cutting costs reason behind the lack of voicing…especially in connection with the other straight-forward aspects like “no routes (because it’s a visual novel :roll:)” and quite surprising close date of September (mere few months to go for) at least announced for it (still not expecting them to keep up or stick to that date ultimately) the whole seems more like they (Nasu) were under release pressure of some sort which then again leads to these unattractive package insert announcement. If so, I for one (and I’m certain many other TYPE-MOON fans out there) would prefer them to take their sweet time in order to present an impressive first part out of their new project wave…because honestly with details like dropped for Mahou Tsukai no Yoru this doesn’t bring up a bright prospect on the Tsukihime remake either…

And breath some fresh wind into TYPE-MOON-verse. You know even before Girl’s Work I felt like it would be utmost interesting to get a TM project without Nasu in charge of scenario (and maybe doing the world setting instead…while I’m sure he’ll be involved on GW on some way too) as that could turn out really awesome.

Also much thanks for the 11eyes FD details!! Sounds interesting and also nice to see both Hayakawa Halui and Hatori Piyoko listed among the artists rather than Lass graphic/CG staff.
That said, apparently the same issue of TECH GIAN announced a new Nitro+ project by the Sumaga team - Axanael

#99

Hatsukoi Sacrament should be good, of course. Noble Works looks like ???, pass. Hello, good-bye-- I figured Lump of Sugar was a dead end since their only decent game was by a writer that left them for propeller, but it actually looks like it could have some potential - definitely considering it. Mahou Tsukai no Yoru, wait and see-- 15 hours, unvoiced, 8000?- maybe a few years ago, not nowadays. 11eyes FD, pass (under my blanket FD exclusion rule, which I only break if the FD really looks that good). Campanella FD, pass.

#100

The sites for Noble Works (proxy required) and Hello, good-bye are open. Tayutama wasn’t really my cup of tea, but Hello, good-bye looks more interesting. For me, the writer’s the biggest sticking point, although only his first eroge Akasen Gairo was a solo project (available for dlsales, seems interesting enough and like Hello, good-bye has some sort of historical emphasis to it so I guess if I enjoy one, I might enjoy the other), which makes it a bit hard to gauge his abilities.

Hatsukoi Sacrament sounds promising, but I’m rather unsure about Purple Software Delight’s Orange Delight. Purple Software’s new sister brand is described as a moe specialist label, which sounds a bit odd as it’s not really the area their games need improving in. The story page for Nobel Works is a bit devoid of said story, so pass for the moment.

There’s been a CG renewal and promotional movie (which highlights the horror side) for Hourglass’s Kono Uta ga Owattara (proxy required). More interested in the game than I was, but the writers don’t have a great past record, and July’s got a lot of better titles anyway.

Edit: 11eyes -Resona Forma-.

I actually don’t mind the lack of choices, particularly if the game is a direct reworking of the novel’s story (which was probably never originally written with the intent for it to be adapted into other forms). Agreed on everything else - having seen the lack of voices here, the chances are that Tsukihime will also be devoid of them. (if they took that argument further, they could also choose not to redraw the art :roll:)

(edit: Pre-site is open.)