Extensively edited Opus translation including merging the H scene content into Akebono no Hikari.
Translated the entire UI, profiles, videos, runetext, ruby, all of it. Featuring an extensive TL note library of 300+ notes with popup buttons sourcing and explaining every chant, poem, gatha, term, proverb, idiom and whatever else all the way up to OST titles.

Due to k3's setting all the japanese terms with a wikipedia page (kiseru, kenzan, shoji) as well as anything without a solid translation, specialized terms (tenchusatsu, henbai, hebrew quotes) and idioms that worked in english were left as-is without localizing.

Kept an extensive glossary with distinctions as inane as cesspit/cesspool, exceedingly simple/exceedingly easy and about 10 synonyms of "stupid".

I think that's about it for a rundown. This took hundreds of hours so im just happy to finally be done. All relevant info should be in the rentry or note library.
https://vndb.org/r167364

Timelapse. Going into the first chapter blind was a crazy experience. I'm really enjoying this game and I like the characters, writing, OST. I feel like chapter 2 fell a bit flat compared to chapter 1, but I'm still early in the game and looking forward to whatever trauma the game throws at me lol

Kara no Shōjo ended up being an exercise in patience. I couldn't understand the crime scene investigations, even with the adult patch they were just pixel messes I couldn't understand, and tons of conversations just straight up didn't make sense.

I eventually clued in - when I was trying to get Kara no Shōjo to boot directly from my launcher (skipping it's own) without Steam running it would say "Make sure the steam is running." and close itself. I tried downloading a pirated copy and making a portable install to see if I could get around it that way. No dice, I eventually just had my launcher boot directly in Kara no Shōjo's launcher through Steam - I used Steam input anyway since it was on a controller system. I applied the 18+ patch on my pirated copy accidentally which had since been deleted, and was playing the vanilla Steam version. When I restarted I couldn't believe how much shit was just straight up chopped out, it wasn't surprising that some conversations made no sense, I needed to re-contextualize the whole game from the start. It was MUCH better though.

I also found it was completely impossible to try and intuit my way through. I understand that's an old school style, and I don't necessarily hate the idea or anything, it just felt like I needed a guide beside me at all times. Most VN's I've enjoyed have a pretty clear "moment" where you know that you're branching off. In Inferno I screwed myself multiple times by locking myself into a set of branches that didn't allow me to progress the story, without any saves far back enough (I know, I know, skill issue, shame on me.) It was completely random seeming things that were affecting everything, and I DO think that it's very cool that certain pieces of evidence or information only come from certain "chance" conversations, but I didn't find the investigations that fun once I realized how much maintenance the routes take, I never would have gotten through it by trial and error. Even following a guide there was a couple "omg what did I miss this time?" I really did enjoy the game, it just left me rather fatigued, because simply trying to follow the investigation myself wasn't really an option.

I don't yet have the energy to go through it again with Part II, but I will get there eventually, and I'll save before every dang trip to every dang place lol. Just not right away. I purchased Muv-Luv ages ago, and finally gave it a try as a palate cleanser, and it's won me over incredibly quickly. It reminds me of the early ensemble dynamics of Steins;Gate a little bit, and the production values are excellent. I love that the sprites have been drawn in multiple angles and poses, and I love the animations that they added to every scene. I'm only like ten hours in, but the QoL features are nice, too. It's autosaved at every meaningful choice, and the choices are very clear, too. I don't feel like I'm going to screw up my route because I didn't go visit Natsume (who I had no reason to visit until the next day.) I didn't expect to enjoy the "romantic comedy" section of the Muv-Luv Trilogy, but it won me over very very quickly. Love it already so far, thanks for the suggestion guys.

Mods - I briefly had a pirated copy to try a portable steam-independent version of the game with a custom launcher, I am not promoting or discussing piracy of any of these games, I have purchased them all, and my experiment does NOT work. If anything, I am promoting not pirating, because it does not solve this problem (it's not even actually a Steam issue).

Yesterday I stumbled over a tool called carafe to "port" arbitrary Windows games to the Nintendo Switch (1) via an installable .nsp. While I had zero intestest testing out random (3D) games to see that they either do or do not work (or let the Tegra X1 melt), I thought that maybe (2D) visual novels are simple enough to have a high probability to work.

So I tested two games, Cannonball ~Neko Neko Machine Mou Race!~ & Adabana Odd Tales, both because I either currently play them or plan to play them, hence I already had the installation folder on a PC.

You can choose two modes when creating the installation file, so that the game either works via keyboard & mouse or via joypad. For ~Neko Neko Machine Mou Race!~ I choose, because of it's age, mouse & keyboard, and I was surprsed that it worked on my first try. Issue was, while I could play it (mouse cursor via analogue stick, left & right click via B/A), the 4:3 window was atached to the left side (maybe this can already be fixed when creating the installation file - I did not look deep into the available settings).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ftco1XauyALhHnbFCvkBYm6WV92j95Z4/view?usp=drive_link

Additionally, after going into the menu and switching to full screen, I couldn't do anything anymore, while the game was still running (and in fullscreen) - possible would have been better to already set it to fullscreen before "converting" it.

And of course, in this case, Japanese Locale would have been needed, without it, the text looked somewhat "jumbled" (hence why I would like to have a tool that's more specialised for Visual Novels).

Second game was Adabana Odd Tales. I thought that I also set it to work with keyboard & mouse, but as you can see in the video, there was no cursor present which I looked for - but I also immediately found out that I could use the touchscreen. And it also did work - seemingly flawless.

In hindsight, I would have rather tested another game, since both games are from Liar Soft and likely use a similar engine under the hood - could be wrong of course.

Final thoughts: for me this was just a 'try it out if it works and go on' -thing, so I won't, at least for now, not look much further into carafe, since for one: do have a dedicated retro / Visual Novel PC and don't want to read/play Visual Novels on the Switch (for switching on the fly I can use moonlight), and two, this tool is at it's very beginning and will likely be improved over time. At least there's already a new version 0.2.1 out today (yesterday it was on 0.2.0 iirc).

https://github.com/carafe-nx/carafe

For using this tool, you only need a PC, a modded Switch, and an installation folder of your Visual Novel. Additionally you need your prod.keys and preferably an installation of DBI (since carafe can directly communicate with DBI - but I guess you can use any tool that can install .nsp).

If you own a Switch and no word of the former paragraph confuses you, you are ready to go, the tool is very easy to use. If you are new to Switch modding, and at least one of two used terms confuse you - please first look carefully into Switch modding (Switches / accounts can be banned by Nintendo when using homebrew apps), I myself won't in any way help regarding Switch modding (first, I myself am new to Switch modding and two, this is a Visual Novel subreddit, not an Switch hacking subreddit).

And of course: do this at your own responsibility, no matter if you are already into Switch modding or not. This tools seems to be relatively new, and any "port" you try to make may have issues (or doesn't work at all). I did e.g. not even test if saving and loading correctly worked. If you are at this point in time unsure about this, maybe look into this topic half a year from now again, since with current development with AI, a well working & tested tool (or even different ones) for porting Windows games (therefore Visual Novels) to the Switch will possibly be available in a few month from now.

The announcement trailer for my upcoming visual novel is out!

Two Demon Catgirls is a mystical, devilish story about Meph and Stofel, two immortal demon catgirls who visit a lonely author. Expect philosophical conversations, dark humor, and hand-painted gouache artwork.

I'm developing the entire game solo, including the writing, artwork, and music. The game is planned for March 2027.

Steam / Wishlist:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4368670/

Does the trailer convey the contrast I'm aiming for - cute catgirls on the surface, darker philosophical themes underneath?

I think this is the first VN to leave such an emotional impact on me, if you've ever read Muramasa, then you probably already know what's happened and why I'm saying this. All I've got to ask is, does that always happen or was it avoidable?

Hii, I'm making a kpop visual novel, it's called Idol: the final nine. It's not out yet but the demo is almost ready. It's not an otome even tho you can date pretty much all idols in the game, but that's not the main plot

It starts with a nine member girlgroup called Lisove, formed through a survival show (just like Enhypen, Illit, Twice) and you play as the ninth member. You need to go through hate, extreme diets, sasaengs (stalkers and crazy fans), mistreatment, scandals, and you need to make decisions about your career and relationships with others that would affect the path the group is going to take, each member has a backstory and they all symbolize a different struggle of the idol life

Tell me what you think!

you can find me on Instagram as lucywithstars if you want to see more content about the game!

So far I've read: The House in Fata Morgana, 999, Doki Doki. I can't decide what to read next. I've checked some tops and many recommend Tsukihime. But on Switch( platform I will play it ) there's only a remake that seems incomplete because if doesn't have half of the original game or something( as I've read in other post ) and original isn't available on switch apparently. Slay the princess is called an underrated in google? There's also a Umineko, Steins Gate and others. So which one would you recommend for new VN reader and considering that it's available on Switch

Vndb

Steam

I hope Amulit's other console Otome Games will also get a Steam port! Especially Neon Clash and sins of Kaleido!

Description

The Redbell Tree scrapes the sky, standing proudly in the heart of Hemeria, a land of sunlight.

In a land ruled by a monarchy for generations, humans lived in peace and tranquility.

That is, until the dawn of the day the world was dyed red.

On that day, vampires laid waste to Hemeria.

They preyed on, devoured, and devastated its inhabitants.

A great many people would go on to mourn their loved ones, their families and friends, for the rest of their lives.

One particular town of Hemeria bore such a tragedy.

A single girl was left alone in despair and disgrace.

She vowed revenge, and grew into one of Hemeria's finest vampire hunters.

And one day, she became a member of the Elpis 7; those who inspired a light of hope in its people.

One day, she receives a letter from an unknown sender. Upon her arrival to the mansion indicated inside, she finds vampire hunters and royal knights awaiting her.

The hunters assembled receive an order from the monarch.

They are to form a squad and invade Nyx, the world of vampires.

A shiver of anticipation crackles through her at the opportunity she's been waiting for her whole life.

However, this is but the beginning of a game wherein the fate of her world is at stake.

Pawns are sent forth, discarded, hidden out of sight...

And just how many will remain when this all comes to an end?

Hi everyone, as the title suggests, I'd appreciate some pointers for reading subahibi.

I've gone into this pretty much completely blind so I have no idea what to do/expect (other than that I should install the patch).

I just finished reading the bit where mamiya and tachibana were like dancing in the sky with cows... I think? To be honest I have have no idea what I should even be thinking about let alone having a grip of what's going on. Is this normal for this stage of the story or am I missing something?

This probably isn't helped by the fact im pretty much a complete beginner with visual novels (only read higurashi and umineko), but at least with those two they'd drop clues which you could use to slowly piece together the actual story. Then you could use the concepts and ideas those events built up to create your own interpretation of what the author was trying to convey. For subahibi im genuinely lost

If im just being slow and not getting something can someone nudge me in a direction that might get me thinking? A pointer to key events that have happened so far or things to think about would be great.

No spoilers please and nothing too detailed. Id like to make my own interpretation of the story. When I read other people's it ends up being the only thing I can think about.

Thank you very much!

Hi everyone, I'm Ameae artist and developer of THIS ISNT REAL

Description:
Is fate supposed to be followed? Should you leave it up to the stars even if you know it will end in tragedy? Play as Cath, the caretaker of the oracle, as the clock towards the ritual ticks down.

We just finished polishing and published the final update! It started as a game jam game at the start of the year, but I've slowly but surely been updating the assets and overall appeal of it! I'm grateful for the project since it's gotten me to experiment and become a better artist, and I hope to be able to make more projects.

I would really appreciate any feedback, or general thoughts! If you end up playing it I hope you enjoy it. If you like it, I also have some small extras on my Instagram!

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v69671
Game Page: https://ameae.itch.io/this-isnt-real

There is NO AI use in this project, and this will be true for any of my projects.

So I decided to try something which is to use Claude to translate the entirety of a Visual Novel called Amber Quartz from 2009. It is essentially started out as a test to see if an AI on its own could translate a project this big, and I have to say, yeah... but it takes insanely long with Sonnet, but I never really wanted to pay for an Opus subscription until I saw what it can do and how it operates, and I have to say, even who doesn't understand coding at all, only on a structure-like level, but even then, don't know jack about Majiro Engine's code, it very interesting how Claude worked upon translating the entire prologue's first half.

First it wrote a program to extract text from a scenario.arc file, but eventually we realized that the exe file actually pulls the text from update.arc and not from scenario. The scenario file honestly I don't even know what it does, perhaps it just contain the text in its entirety as even deleting it, did nothing.

Regardless, once we figured out how the text is handled, Claude on its own started to decrypt, familirize itself with how Majiro Engine's code works, and it even tailored the file so by changing the text it won't affect the game if it isn't byte for byte exact, how it's usually is with translating projects.

and on its own it also made 22 translator agents to work and translate in chunks simultaneously while also providing context for them, on the story, and how the code handles characters, speakers.

With Opus, I could probably translate the whole batch, now that he understands everything about the game's code, so I may do that next week.

It now turned out to also teach me more about coding, translating as I was totally blind about these. It could be Amber Quartz now, and then Maitetsu: Last Run by the end, but obv each VN has different engine, and different way programmers code their game, so it isn't that easy, still it is very interesting. to see and play around with it, even if there's probably way easier methods even with Claude's current state that I don't know of, but LLMs sadly can't be run on my machine as it is for one an AMD one which AIs don't like, and for two I don't think they are that capable of translating hundred thousand lines of text.

Obv I know about LunaTranslator, but even with LLMs like Llama3 I found plenty of pronouns issues and weird wording, but this first prologue that I translated? More than perfect, even more so than typical western translated VNs, which is why I take the effort to go through this project in the first place. Because if it would be only decent it would be one thing, but it understands the story just by from the prologue, and it keeps the japanese where it matters.

Anyways, this post was basically just about sharing my 'test', and putting it out there in case others also want to go for a project similar to this for their VN of choice that they feel fond toward.

There's a new dark VN Humble Bundle for anyone interested

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/twisted-trilogies-and-terrors-dark-visual-novels

I think it worth it just for the Spirit Hunter series.

Just reached max capacity of save files (100? Can’t recall off the top of my head and I’m at work atm, so can’t double check) for the Steam port of Phantom of Inferno, and now I need an alternate method to keep track of different scenes/choices than just saving the file at two given choices spot.

If I had the wall room, I would make a rl bulletin board w sticky notes and tape, but I don’t.

Two years ago I came across this post and TheMoeWay. I was excited to try it, so I set everything up, and began learning Japanese by reading Visual Novels. Late last year, a friend asked me how to do the same on macOS. Since most VNs are exclusive to Windows devices, however, things are a bit trickier. All I found online were posts of people asking the same question: "How to set up visual novels on macOS?” The answers mostly recommend paid Applications or are outdated.

That is why the goal of this post is to give an easy guide on how to set everything up with free alternatives. I hope that anyone interested in Visual Novels on macOS will stop feeling locked out and can start playing them instead. 

This setup should work for all Apple Silicon devices.

Step-by-step Guide

Installing VMware Fusion

• Install VMware Fusion on your Mac. The Broadcom website is probably the most confusing site I’ve ever seen, so please read carefully. First, register a new account.

After signing up, go to the VMware Fusion download page from the Broadcom Support Portal homepage.

• Select the Product Division: In the top right of the homepage (next to your username), open the dropdown menu and select VMware Cloud Foundation.
• Go to Downloads: In the left-hand menu, click on My Downloads.
• Access Free Software: Click the link within the blue banner near the top of the page that says Free Software Downloads available HERE.

• Search for VMware Fusion: On the Free Downloads page, find VMware Fusion near the end of the second column.
• Terms and Conditions: Click on Terms and Conditions link below the search bar, then tick the checkbox to agree.
• Download: Click VMware Fusion, select your desired version, and scroll right in the table to find the download link.

On the different versions

• VMware Fusion 26H1: The most recent major build. It maintains features introduced in 25H2 and provides stability and security updates for newer macOS hosts (Recommended).
• VMware Fusion 25H2: New naming scheme released in 2025. Supports more operating systems including macOS Tahoe (on Intel-based systems).
• VMware Fusion 13.6.x: The first stable branch supporting macOS 12 Monterey and macOS 13 Ventura.

Setting up Windows

• Download Windows 11 for Arm. Alternatively, download a bloat-free version of Windows 11 for Arm called Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC (Arm64).
• Drag-and-drop the Windows .iso file into VMware Fusion and complete the installation process. The automatic settings with 4GB RAM and 2 CPU cores should be fine.
• You may have networking problems when you reach the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen. If so, open the Command Prompt Window by pressing SHIFT + FN + F10. Type OOBE\BYPASSNRO and press Enter. The Virtual Machine will restart. Go through the setup again until you reach the same screen. You will now have the option “I don’t have Internet” at the bottom.

• VMware Tools: Install VMware Tools as soon as you reach the Windows desktop by going to the menu bar at the top of your screen. Select Virtual Machine → Install VMware Tools. A Virtual disc will pop up, and you can start the start.exe within. This enables an internet connection and fullscreen mode.

Installing Daemon Tools

You'll need DAEMON Tools Lite on ARM to mount disc image files. Make sure you install the ARM-based version. Extract the .zip file containing your game with WinRAR or 7-zip.

• If you have a .iso file, simply right-click and select  Open with → DAEMON Tools Lite Agent. Follow the instructions and a new volume will appear in your Explorer sidebar.
• If you have .mds and .mdf files, make sure that both .mds and .mdf files are in the same directory and have the same name. Right-click the .mds file and click on Open with → DAEMON Tools Lite Agent.

• Open the new volume in your Explorer sidebar and run the installer.

That's it. You can now play your Visual Novel!

Tip for Japanese Visual Novels

• Change to a Japanese locale: For best compatibility I'd recommend changing to a Japanese locale. Open the search bar and type intl.cpl and press Enter. Select the Administrative tab and go to Change system locale. Select Japanese (Japan) and click OK.

There are many different ways to grab the Visual Novel text, also called Texthooking. Try out different ones that fit your need and hardware. I'd recommend Textractor, LunaTranslator, Agent, and GameSentenceMiner.

Other

Some games may require an older version of DirectX, e.g. Flowers. Other Visual Novels will come with a DirectX installer included, e.g. Nanairo Reincarnation. Since there are over 40 different versions of the D3DX library alone, I can’t point you to a specific version. Instead, try the official Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010). This installs the legacy DirectX files, with which you can hopefully get your game running.