Have any non-porn games been translated, comercially or by fans? I'm not completely averse to adult content, but it would be interesting to see a story that was more than click-through filler for CG galleries.
Kanon translation is about 60% complete and also works on the all-ages version of the game.
http://www.haeleth.net/kanon.html
Other then that, some groups have translated trial versions of adult games, but with no adult content in the trial versions themselves. I think INSANI is the most prolific but don't recall their site address.
http://www.geocities.com/max3075/tsukihime/walk/index.htm - Detailed synopsis of Tsukihime (all story paths)
http://home.comcast.net/~7hs/kagetsu-tohya.txt - Detailed synopsis of Kagetsu Tohya
These two are adult games but with incredible stories nonetheless.
Tsukihime is being worked on by Mirror-Moon (http://www.mirrormoon.org) at a rather steady pace, and by some very good translators to boot.
Best not to distribute the link though.
I would like to see the Visual Novel done for Digi Charat, as even if I know 0 japanese, I found it rather cute... I guess it would be more fun if I had a clue as to what they were saying :S
What about Sprung for DS?
The entire Hiyori scenario of Mizuiro was translated. The file by itself was non-ecchi and you had to use a patch to see the ecchi scene.
>>7
Did anyone purchase this? Is it any good? $10 seems reasonable but the main character looks kind of strange.
>>8
I purchased planetarian and loved it. There last few chapters seem just a bit rushed--much shorter than the opening chapters--but despite the lack of actual content, a lot of possibilities are implied. It's been two weeks since I finished reading it and I still think about it a lot.
>>9
A review within two hours, good service! I was hesitant to spend money on some story thing, but based on your review I purchased it.
It was, as you said, so excellent. I recommend everyone take this advice and buy the game, even if you don't like ero-games or robots.
The translator had this to say about his choice to release it as a patch and giving detailed instructions on how to purchase it:
> You see, I, too, saw this as an acid test of sorts for the so-called English-speaking bishoujo gaming "community". After all, kineticnovel.jp wouldn't exactly ignore the fact that suddenly, they were receiving a whole bunch of reviews that seemed to be written in English. However, if this was a test, it is obvious to me at this point that the "community" has failed it. Barely five hours after our translation patch went RTM, a fairly popular site posted a torrent of a cracked version of the Retail Edition, with our patch integrated. Now, our own patch has had about 380 downloads ever since we went RTM -- even if I were to be generous and assume a legitimate buy rate of 50% (which is, as we all well know, way too high), that's just 190 legitimate purchases of planetarian. I get the sick feeling -- and yes, it makes me sick -- that the download statistics on that pirate torrent are much higher than the ones that our patch torrent reflects.
His starry-eyed vision of the impact his translation could have reminds me so much of the robot! I sent him a message inviting him over here.
> I get the sick feeling -- and yes, it makes me sick -- that the download statistics on that pirate torrent are much higher than the ones that our patch torrent reflects.
That's awful. I'm unemployed and was still able to afford $10 from my savings. Seriously, I feel that I got a much better story and translation than what I paid for. To think that even such a fine piece can be reduced to just another object to possess, a bargaining chip to be shoved into the forgotten corners of some warez dealer's closet...
I wish I had something positive to say, but there isn't much that can be said without spoiling. Everything connects together so well that, as in life, one person's irrelevant nonsense can be another's touching personal insight.
planetarian～ちいさなほしのゆめ～ is the best kinetic novel ever. Although it's short, it deserves of winning numorous awards. I nearly cried at the end. If you want astonishing storyline with excellent music, you must play this game, especially if you are a visual novel fan. TOTALLY WORTH BUYING IT
I think the most important thing is not just that it was a stellar production by Key, but that it was well translated and a lot of love was put into the English work. When was the last time you saw a fansub with translation of this caliber?
What's the definition of "kinetic novel" vs "visual novel" again?
Anyway, I'll buy it once it works on Mac.
>What's the definition of "kinetic novel" vs "visual novel" again?
Visual novel: some interactivity
Kinetic novel: no interactivity
That's pretty much the only difference.
Did you download Hanihani?
It works on all platforms! :shobon:
insani's website is at http://www.insani.org/
Snatcher.
I just played Until We Meet Again. I liked it alot! I wish more visual amd kinetic novel games were translated into english..
Really big game translations are usually that level of quality, because game translation is in and of itself a thousand times harder than anime fansubbing or manga scanslation. Only really dedicated people are ever going to finish this stuff. And even then, short projects are all that get done nowadays. It's tough work.
I finished Planetarian a few day ago, and it really lives up to the other comments in this thread. It's a fantastic piece of work, and that's probably understating it.
It's a real pity that it's unknown in the English world.
What nice timing to comment on this thread dmpk2k.
You'll probably enjoy these short works translated by insani and some other contributers.
I'm talking about the "al|together 2005" project that was completed yesterday.
There are now seven short games to download.
I've already played "a midsummer day's resonance" which is really nice.
There are also two other kinetic novels on there released a couple of months ago so that's nine games in total.
They are torrents but they download rather fast.
Here is the webpage for it.
http://altogether.insani.org/2005/index.html
Bump for new interest.
A visual novel that wasn't linked here:
Windows - Mac - Linux - Free!
The VIPPERs are apparently working on their own dating sim, My Big Sister is a First-Rate Architect:
Hirameki is surveying fans on what they'd like to see in dating sims. Tell 'em we want the Holy Trinity: Kanon, Air, and Comic Party.
http://community.hirameki-int.com/modules/enqeute0/index.php?id=2
insani's just translated another free visual novel, "Red Shift".
Looks like 4chan's /a/ has taken it upon themselves to make a visual novel based on a single joke illustration (http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8638/1167954817756bh1.jpg) outlining a hypothetical game about disabled girls.
http://z8.invisionfree.com/Zettai_Shojou
http://bin.4chan.org/a/res/1682861.html
It's doubtfull it'll get anywhere, but still, it's inspiring that a single image could spark such enthusiasm.
Kana Little Sister is a great game. You can buy it from G-Collections.
Not only did they steal the name of the artist of the image, but they also misspelled it. The competence of the people involved is amazing!
>>32
And here you are, bitching them out behind their back! What a brave and principled individual you are!
You people have absolutely no penises
The true ending for Heart de Roommate was so shocking I almost fell off my chair. Also, age.
I just played the demo of Wind, which was just re-rereleased along with the english patch for the full game. Really nice, I like the OP a lot, though I know it for years.
for the list of games being translated, just refer yourself to www.shii.org/translate :o
love hina RPG for GBA?
Here's something interesting. A communal play-through of Crescendo, with screenshots of all the english text. It's a story-heavy game, with the sex playing only a secondary role. So far they've finished 4 of the paths. It's pretty convenient since you can read at your own pace without waiting for the text to pop up, and the comments from the peanut gallery are entertaining. It was also interesting to see many of the reader's perceptions of H-games change from "lol Night Shift Nurses" to "oh god are they all this depressing?". Also surprising is how effective it was at triggering high school nostalgia in several readers.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2405544
