Muv-Luv is out, it was leaked a couple of months ago and is “almost” final, totally playable.
So you just need to look around for a proper link, it’s out there, just not officially.
it’s also a lot more interesting than the original.
It’s suddenly Christmas: http://amaterasu.is.moelicious.be/blog/?p=962
Meaning that:
- Muv-Luv Alternative patch is now official and final.
- Shikkoku no Sharnoth is translated.
- Forest planned for translation.
There’s also this guy who does very good reviews of VNs: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.290270-Deskimus-P-Presents-Awesome-Games-With-Stupid-Names-Part-2-Muv-Luv-Alternative
If you go at the bottom of the post there are links to other important VNs like Clannad, Ever17, Cross+Channel, Chaos;Head.
And beside that, Steins;Gate english translation is imminent: http://vn.shourai.net/ (the other MUST-READ, the anime is also almost complete and everyone is raving about it)
The translated Prologue is already precisely on the point of why I want to read this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbsHqzxiYxg (WATCH IT! it’s just a couple of minutes)
It all means we can have nice things, and I’m very happy because I’m perusing this path about “mindscrews” in every form.
I’m told one of the greatest mindscrews is also in Visual Novel form and translated: Ever17 (for example here). So I’m playing that.
Then, derailing, I was able to secure a copy of A Dream of Wessex by Christopher Priest. Read the plot, this author is now on my to-read list and first priority.
I also found some movies to watch on the same line, like: Synecdoche, New York, that Ebert thinks is the best movie of the last 10 years. And to follow on that line, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, both from the same nutty writer. And I should also see the other two movies on lucid dreams: The Science of Sleep, and Waking Life.
The new book by Christopher Priest is also imminent: http://punkadiddle.blogspot.com/2011/09/christopher-priest-islanders-2011.html
And while I’m at it, I’ll get Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions:
Often overlooked as self-indulgent and uneven, Breakfast is a personalized account of the phrase “perfect paranoia is perfect awareness.” Pontiac salesman Dwayne Hoover becomes obsessed with the work of sci-fi writer Kilgore Trout, eventually spiraling into acute eruptions of anxiety when he believes that he is the sole human combating a world of reificated humanoids.
Obviously, I already read Infinite Jest, even if it should belong, and lead, this list (as well Bakker’s Prince of Nothing and “Disciple of the Dog”, which is most representative of everything here: mindscrews, fake realities, revelations, delusions, personal perceptions).
Before I move this post on the book forum, can anyone suggest other works, in any medium (comics, anime, books, games, movies), that can be considered a masterwork of “mindscrews”, playing with perception of reality, dreams, hallucinations and the secret behind life? :)
The more revolutions in the plot, the better. I want the crazier, most ambitious works a human mind ever conceived. Spectacular failures work too (Herzog movies, for example).
Huh. I’d thought Nitroplus unofficial translation projects had been killed off by the JAST deal, so I’d abandoned any hope of seeing Steins;Gate translated in the next decade. (Seriously, how long did it take JAST to release Deus Machina Demonbane, which isn’t even one of the Nitroplus games people had been raving about?)
Edit: Oh cool, news about that: next releases will be Saya no Uta (which they’d already had almost fully translated prior to the official deal) bundled with a VN I’ve never heard of, called Hanachirasu, supposedly by the end of this year. For $30 on disc. Then Kikokugai: The Cyber Slayer and Outlaw Django as another bundle, and Sumaga as a standalone, for next year. (never heard of those either).
Yeah, even with Muv-Luv they seem to be allergic to money. They only proposed them to translate their minor title (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) instead of an official release of Muv-Luv.
It seems like the Japanese businesspeople think the western audience could only enjoy their school romance and nothing more complex than that. It’s actually the opposite.
Ok, I admit I am pretty confused by all these Muv-luv variants and translation projects, even after spending some time of the internet reseaching what the heck you people are talking about here. >:) At the same time I am intrigued by what you guys have posted here. Since I like RPGs and I like good japanese anime, it does sound kindof interesting.
Ok, I got that patch for Muv-Luv, but if I understand correctly it still require the japanese game (novel?). Would someone be so kind to provide link to where the original japanese could Muv-luv be found? Disclaimer - I never tried any interactive novels before, and if I’ll like it, I’ll certainly purchase it - I don’t pirate games or movies, and I’ve been on Q3 for a long time. But considering that there are no english versions whatsoever, and that I don’t speak japanese, I would like to try this fan-made english patch and this game/novel before buying it. (assuming it is even sold in US at the present - is it?)
Thanks a lot!
Also should I check Muv-Luv before trying Muv-Luv Alternative? From my digging around online it looks like people seem to think that Alternative is considerably better then original. Is it true? What about several other Muv-Luv-related variants?
EDIT: Nevermind, found it in one of the above links, thanks! :)
Muff love? Awesome!
Look around for the original versions:
マブラヴ DVD-ROM版
マブラヴ オルタネイティヴ DVD-ROM版
The site linked a few post above also has it, but download the patches from Amaterasu directly.
One of the tricks of Muv-Luv is that it twists the genres. So it’s 20 hours of typical school life, then 20 hours things escalate toward war, and then the remaining 40 hours of Alternative which is where they say the story goes on high gear and drama.
To properly enjoy it you have to experience this escalating effect and see the characters turn on their head, otherwise it’s less powerful. All of this you can read directly in the readme files on Amaterasu site, or in the review I linked.
Probably a good idea should be going with some other VNs that is more close to 15-20 hours and that goes straight to the point. Chaos;Head, or Cross+Channel. Or even Fate/Stay Night, which is the most famous and is Fantasy/RPG.
Moe girls? Mecha highschool love comedies? Alien/demon invasions and waterworks? Mur-Love;Gate College for baka no gaijin steins?
How does this work?!
Thank you HRose. I’ll check it out.
About Steins;Gate, we are going to have the Drama CD too (and I utterly love these things):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQy79q0GyE4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNjUDDqThqo
These are supposed to be ridden with spoilers, so best wait for the VN and the end of the anime.
This is in Japanese I assume? So far as I know the translation is not complete. And where the hell do you pick up a copy of this anyway? Best I could find was the 360 version at PlayAsia but not PC.
The Steins;Gate anime is currently airing, and in fact the last episode airs in the next week. If you’re curious about it, it’s currently available on Crunchyroll with (professionally translated) English subtitles. It’s an excellent show all by itself! You can sign up for Crunchyroll’s subscription service for free for some period of time - be warned that it’s the typical “we start charging your card if you forget to cancel” deal when the free period runs out. If you pay the subscription, you get access to all the back episodes, so anyone who’s interested can see the whole show from the start.
As far as sources of Japanese games, particularly VNs… you can get some items from PlayAsia if there’s a 360 or PS2 version. Given that we’re talking about the Japanese market, PS2 is the better bet most of the time. However, some items are getting ports to 360 now because porting from Windows to 360 is so easy, especially since VNs don’t really have a graphics engine to speak of and therefore never needed driver support anyway. It looks like a 360 port of Muv-Luv is going to be released in October - see http://www.play-asia.com/MuvLuv_Twin_Pack/paOS-13-71-br-49-en-70-4cg6.html.
There used to be a nice storefront for buying PC VNs, but it got shut down at some point during the recession, allegedly because of exchange rates. Currently the best place to go is paletweb.com. In spite of the eye-blistering website design and the incoherent mixture of warnings and promises made on the subject of when you must pay them, it’s actually a legitimate, trustworthy site. You can get a fair number of PC Japanese games there, and they apparently restock stuff on request - which I’m pretty sure means “once your check clears, we will send a guy to the department store to buy your item”. They don’t provide polish, but they do provide service, including email support from actual human beings. Just don’t expect the human beings to write grammatically-correct English.
There’s two things to remember when deciding whether to get a 360/PS2 version or a PC version.
First, the console versions are obviously region-locked. PS2s are super-cheap, but you might hesitate to buy a Japanese 360 which you will probably never user for anything else. You could of course also unlock your box using nefarious hacker-jutsu, but that has its own set of problems.
Second, the console versions typically have the sex and nudity cut out. This does not necessarily result in a fun-for-the-whole-family experience, since VNs with action stories might still have plenty of blood 'n guts, which often will still be depicted at the level of an R-rated movie. But if you’re bothered by cartoon sex - or by the prospect of explaining the cartoon sex DVD to your significant other - then the console version is the way to go.
If you’re bothered by cartoon sex but still don’t want to spring for a Japanese console box, remember: You can use the fast-forward button to skip all the sex scenes in the PC version… but you can’t prove that you used it when your significant other asks.
There’s also a small amount of configuration you need to perform to make a US computer properly display Japanese text in Windows, which I can post here if anyone cares.
Oh don’t worry, I’m following Steins;Gate slavishly :)
Thanks for the advice. Very helpful.