No.7596[View All]
Let's have a thread dedicated to visual novel discussion! Japanese or not.
Resources:
https://vndb.org No.9226
>>9225I assume they've played something due to the screwdriver meme
I kinda assumed the sleeping pills was also a reference to a yurige but I've never played one so I have no idea there (maybe it's the idea that yuri is so calming and moe/boring that it puts you to sleep).
No.9227
>>9224I wish yurige were cool like yaoige but yurifans would probably shit their pants over anything non-wholesome let alone rape or screwdrivers or amputation or any of the cool stuff in chiral games
No.9228
>>9227ehh I sort of get it, darker plots like rape or amputation would attract moid gurofags like flies to shit and they are the lowest of the low moids to pander work to. I know it sucks to compromise an interesting story because of the moid boogeyman but it just feels different to afflict extreme pain onto a woman rather than a moid even if its fictional
No.9229
>>9224This has to be a troll. Putting Katahane, Flowers, and Subahibi in the same category as Hanahira and Lilium x Triangle is comical.
No.10010
Not sure if this is the best thread for this, but I've been plotting the story for a BLVN that I've wanted to make for a while and I'm unsure whether or not I want to have H-scenes for the Pre-Climax Climax
It doesn't change the story if the characters have sex or not, but how much does it impact marketability or appeal? Some VNs are on Steam completely uncensored because they can claim "artistic pornography" or whatever, but do sex scenes ever push away more people than bring them in?
Doing separate clean and explicit versions seems like unnecessary extra work for writing a VN alone, so I'd rather just stick to one or the other
I'd be completely fine with either option so it's not like I'm forcing smut or forcing a lack thereof
No.10014
>>10010You could use a toggle for the smut and then people can choose the best experience for themselves. Personally I think a lot of "big" VNs are hurt by the sex scenes because it scares away people who would otherwise enjoy a PG13 work, but if you are only making it for BL fans I think it's completely neutral.
No.10136
I hate getting memed into trying galge with a "great plot," only for it to be something very standard and boring. It's so difficult to discern whether a VN is actually good, or if it's just scrotes overhyping something. I know it's easy to say, "just stop reading galge," but there are so many I've genuinely enjoyed.
No.10354
>>10353I have an aggressively negative reaction to
futanari sorry, heard it's ok though.
No.10355
>>10353No, because I haven't finished SubaHibi kek. It looks like it includes a lot of things. Do you plan on buying it, anon?
No.10356
>>10354It's wild to me that they're adding even more of it, I guess sca-ji's just really into that…
>>10355It's too expensive and I've already played subahibi and the 10th anniversary version of the tsui no sora remake (what a mouthful lol) so unless the general packaging really impresses me I don't have much interest in getting it. I'm hoping China will buy enough to fund a figure or something though.
No.10364
>>10356Yeah, that makes sense.
>I'm hoping China will buy enough to fund a figure or something though.Which character would you like to get a figure of?
No.10368
>>10364If I had my personal choice than Takuji but that'll never happen because he's a boy so Kimika and/or Zakuro would be cute.
No.10370
>>10010>but do sex scenes ever push away more people than bring them in?I think it really depends on the themes of the VN. Gore and questionable content (cannibalism, incest, self-harm etc.) are almost mandatory in Nitro+Chiral games, so any censoring of sex isn't going to bring over the portion of the fandom who do not wish to see such extreme stuff. On the other hand, if you include uncensored sex in something 'normal', it might repulse more people than it would attract. R18 otome games have an option to turn the sex scenes on and off for a reason. Ideally, you should always give the player the option of what they want/do not want to see, even if it's a crude one (two-tiered: R18/All ages, instead of selecting each element separately).
>Doing separate clean and explicit versions seems like unnecessary extra work for writing a VN aloneIf you consider this 'extra work', really reconsider whether you have the time and resources to work on one in the first place.
No.10371
>>10369Yes, because zoomies need to be reintroduced to NICE BOAT.
No.10373
>>10353I wish I could, but I won't be buying it sadly.
>>10356>I guess sca-ji's just really into that…He absolutely is kek.
No.10387
>>10386HE LOOKS SO CUTE!! KYOURI!!!
I know crossdressing is his gag and there's the Kaginado joke of him being the heroine but I do wish he could have been a butler too…
Aaahh, I just know I'll be on the hunt for theirs and Misuzu's merch from this collab. I hope they get acrylic stands!
No.10529
>>10524>something else?I honestly think there is a jrpg vacuum and people were chomping at the bit to try anything that even remotely falls under that umbrella. Some people picked Clair Obscur and don't talk about it anymore, some picked Hundred Line and are still playing! It's the fujobait that gives it staying power obviously.
No.10530
>>10524People really want another experience like danganronpa so it doesn't surprise me that not-dangan4-lite did well. Honestly, it really was kind of like brand recognition desu
No.10532
>>10529>It's the fujobait that gives it staying power obviously.I haven't bought it yet because my current backlog is too big to add more to it but I am definitely intrigued by all the art I've seen floating around of red guy and white guy. I was going to eventually buy it anyway due to already liking danganronpa but the fanart makes me bump it up the priority list.
No.10534
>>10524Sometimes I feel like people are so conditioned into playing gachaslop that they don't want to touch standalone games anymore since they have to spend $60 right away and get maybe 40 hours of gameplay instead of spending $150 every two months to get a new character and play 20 hours of a new patch. They're held hostage because they can't quit due to the sunk cost fallacy and all their friends are still playing so they don't want to miss out. It's sad.
No.10567
>>10534This makes me sad, but it does feel like a lot of the audience of VNs has moved on to gacha and vtubers, doesn't it? I think it's impossible for a medium with such a significant time investment to compete with gacha. It also kind of sucks because even if a specific gacha game is just like a visual novel with microtransactions, it can't last forever. Obviously, people will archive the stories of the big ones, but it's just sad to know a game could have the greatest story ever and have the plug pulled on it prematurely.
No.10579
>>10567Based on how popular gacha games for waifufags are in Comiket and how the ones for women are in Comic City events I'd say yes, they most replaced VNs in terms of popularity and target audiences.
No.10590
>>10534>conditioned They are!!! I hate to get all WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY about it but the average attention span has been eroded by short form content over the years and unless people actively make a stand against it by choosing long form and meatier media the markets are going to reflect this. They have essentially been groomed to find gacha and other live service games' "10 hours of new content every few months" shtick acceptable.
I've seen some (mostly western) VNs do the "episodic" thing and I'm not sure I like it as a compromise but also understand we no longer live in a world where you can work part time to support yourself while you pursue your creative passions.
No.10652
Still playing through everything tagged with Male x Male on VNDB but this one is so light on that I'm just going to post it here instead of the main BL game thread. VN of the day is "Case 00: The Cannibal Boy"
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1391450/Case_00_The_Cannibal_Boy/Short kinetic novel, definitely designed to be read in one sitting and is only a half hour. Has a namable MC but the default is Brucie which I find funny.
This one is centered around the framing device of friends telling each other urban legends instead of working on homework and is divided into three chapters with each being a different story. It's a bit 2edgy4me, but I think the second one "Doppelgangers" is the best. It focuses on two siblings Hans and Grete (like Hansel and Gretel, do you get it!?) as it deals with Grete crushing on a boy who is in love with someone else only for that someone else to be
her twin brother who she proceeds to kill and feed to his boyfriend unknowingly again very edgy. I'd give it probably a 3.5/5 and it'd appeal to people who are fans of games like Corpse Party and works with those high-school sensibilities.
No.10665
I'm afraid stuff like Sweet Pool may be the last of its kind.
>Itch.io releases strict new content rules banning depictions of rape, incest, bestiality, and related themes. The language is vague—terms like “pseudo-incest” and “implications” raise concerns about subjective enforcement.>Devs are biting their nails over a new Steam rule that prohibits—in painfully vague terms—certain kinds of content on its platform. The new rule (seemingly introduced incredibly recently, and definitely introduced since the Wayback Machine's last Steam rules snapshot from April 14 this year) forbids "Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers.">In other words: keep Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal happy or sling your hook. How do you do that? Valve doesn't say, only noting that particular care should be taken with "certain kinds of adult only content." No elaboration is offered as to what kinds of adult-only content that means, leaving NSFW devs groping in the dark to appease payments processors.>https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/steam-introduces-new-rule-prohibiting-certain-kinds-of-adult-content-that-might-make-visa-or-mastercard-unhappy-financial-deplatforming-in-action/>https://www.gamingamigos.com/post/timeline-steam-itch-io-adult-game-bans>>10652>Case 00: The Cannibal Boy is a half-hour visual novel partly based on a true story, written by a writer with a background in psychology. It is a psychological horror story with an urban legend theme.At least they know how to advertise it…
No.10668
>>10665So far it's only steam and itch that have been affected. As long as it stays that way, nsfw games will still be available for purchase on other sites like gog, fakku, jast, mangagamer, dlsite, and booth. And even if mastercard/visa stop payments to these sites, the sites will likely just find a way around it like dlsite did (not sure what gog would do though). Also while dlsite and I'm pretty sure booth both require genitalia censors, decensor patches are easy to distribute elsewhere for indie devs. But I really don't like that mastercard/visa are being allowed to dictate what adults are allowed to buy with their credit cards.
No.10669
>>10652>Male x Male I had no idea this one had any BL elements at all. How was the translation? The store page doesn't look promising…
No.10672
>>10669It's fine, it gets the story delivered, there are a few jokes that feel clunky and might have struggled to be adapted but without knowing Chinese I have no idea how faithful it is.
No.10673
>>10670>>10671I love Nazi shota.
No.10674
>>10668For how long? They'll be going after them one-by-one, just like they've been already doing with Japanese companies (DLsite, Melonbooks, NicoNico, Manga Library Z, Tora, Fantia, some otaku dating site -
https://automaton-media.com/en/nongaming-news/visa-payment-suspended-on-legal-dating-site-for-otaku-prompting-response-from-japanese-politician ).
Japan was their trial run (it succeeded) - they will come after American companies next.
>Ofcom’s Whitehead spoke about the importance of ‘harmonizing’ legislation, not just between different laws, like the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) and the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA), but also between government agencies and industry. “We say [the DSA and OSA] are regulatory cousins, they’re not twins. But they do share some things in common.” Whitehead said. “We don’t have powers to instruct folks to take content down, we’re not there to surveil and censor, we're there to improve governance, improve standards, improve safety by design,” she noted. “I think the onus is on us to explain what they have in common and also what the differences are.”>The FTC’s Slaughter picked up on this thread, explaining how harmony and directional convergence among international regulators is good not only for regulators but for industry, too. “It is how you foster coherent innovation, development, business growth, and opportunity, and we really want to see that,” she said. “The US hasn't had new legislation in this area recently, but there have been really important developments, many of which are consistent with some of the things that we're seeing across the ocean and around the country,” Slaughter added.>The two panelists also spoke about the importance of different jurisdictions being as aligned as possible on privacy and safety regulations, and how to help industry navigate areas where they differ. >One of Slaughter’s frustrations is that there’s still no comprehensive federal privacy bill in the US.>While Ruane thinks much of the DSA wouldn’t pass constitutional muster in the US, such as requirements to audit speech moderation decisions or measurements of systemic risk, what platform policies and decisions are made in the European Union could soon be applied in the US, too. “To some extent, what I think the government's involvement in content moderation should or shouldn't be, doesn't matter, even though I wish it did. It's already happening. We are already seeing governments involving themselves in content moderation in the EU. We’ve got some good safeguards, but there are also some significant concerns,” Ruane said.https://www.techpolicy.press/regulators-industry-ponder-how-to-integrate-online-safety-laws/ No.10703
>>10684Their localizations aren't always my favorite, but I appreciate them trying to hold the line.
Unrelated, after watching a bit of the Umineko stage plays I've been thinking about playing the VN. I never bothered with it before since it lacked any real shippable pairs to me (unlike something like Fate or Dies Irae), but Battler is surprisingly charming.
No.10704
Am I the only one who hated Umineko? I've literally only seen praise of it in the EN fanbase. I've never seen any other VN get glazed as much and I don't think it deserves it
No.10709
>>10703I like Ange more than Battler actually kek
>>10704I like Umineko but I also totally get why someone would hate it, it's one of those VNs that's more popular overseas like zero escape while Japan doesn't really like Umi.
No.10721
>>10709>>10704The women in the game definitely have much more going for them. I've always liked murder mystery plots, and the magic portions give me chuuni middle-school nostalgia in a fun way.
No.10849
>>10704I also disliked Umineko. I've mellowed out about it over the years, but I still dislike it. I wasn't disappointed by the ending because I hated it long before that. I am a huge fan of mystery novels, and it was such a huge disappointment coming from those books to Umineko. I think the strongest elements were the human characters' writing (I love Ange and Eva; I also thought Erika was pretty great even if she's not 'real'), and I unironically think it would've worked better as a family drama than as a mystery. I was spoiled on the solution to the mystery long before I read it, and while this can often enhance a good mystery novel, it just made Umineko more frustrating because there were more contradictions within the text that became obvious if you knew the solution ahead of time. I really think Ryukishi07 didn't know how he wanted the VN to end when he wrote Episode 1, or his friend who died had a bunch of information he wanted to include, but didn't write it down. I won't write out all of my grievances, as Umineko fans often don't respond too well to criticism, and it's kind of pointless to try to explain it, but you're not alone. I suspect most people who hated it did not make it through all 8 episodes, which is why you don't see many people shitting on it. I did read all 8. I kept waiting for it to "get good," and it never did.
No.10850
>>10849Erika's real, she's just a girl who got into a plane crash and probably drowned near rokkenjima.
No.10851
>>10850My bad it was actually her falling overboard on a boat, more or less the same thing though.
No.10852
>>10850Sorry, I meant Erika as she appears in the story. As in, the Erika whose personality is depicted within the text. The character herself, like you said, died before the plot, so the Erika we see within the story isn't "real." I don't know how else I can explain it, but hopefully you understand what I mean.