General Eroge Impressions & Discussion

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by kj1980

Actually that is a real dillemma for Japanese salarymen. I can't count how many times I have had to go out drinking with my boss as part of "social duty" after work when I want to come home.

I count my blessings that I don't have to do this sort of thing if it's not something of interest to me. The hours are still rather bad, but at least once I leave the office, that's usually it till the next day.

I wonder if I can find a copy of "Custom Mate 3" floating about somewhere. Its premise sounds different and rather interesting.

Back onto topic, looking at "Fate/Stay Night" at the moment, but pushed to the back burner for now. Have also "Canvas 2" and "Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito" waiting in the wings. Again, when I have time.

[DarkCntry]

Actually I found a copy of Custom Mate 3, unfortunetly it will not function on a system running XP, even while in compatability mode. Unless someone can find a way to register one of the dll files that it requires (which will not register), we're kinda stuck on the matter.

On a related note to the topic, I finished up Chain the other day, another quality release. Albeit the story is linear and only recieves one ending, it's still a very strong and fairly dramatic story. Good twist on an old Detective story...the translation was a bit rough but I could at least get the gest of what the story was. So far that's 4 G-Collection localized games that I can actually recommend.

[Thany]

Originally Posted by DarkCntry

Actually I found a copy of Custom Mate 3, unfortunetly it will not function on a system running XP, even while in compatability mode. Unless someone can find a way to register one of the dll files that it requires (which will not register), we're kinda stuck on the matter.

On a related note to the topic, I finished up Chain the other day, another quality release. Albeit the story is linear and only recieves one ending, it's still a very strong and fairly dramatic story. Good twist on an old Detective story...the translation was a bit rough but I could at least get the gest of what the story was. So far that's 4 G-Collection localized games that I can actually recommend.

If you're speaking of a Japanese game, the best way is to try to put your whole OS in Japanese like this :
In config pannel, go to Regional and Language settings
Go to the advanced tab and put Japanese instead of whatever default language you're using
Go to the previous tab and put your hours/money settings in Japanese too.
Restart your computer.
Try putting your game CD again to install it, it should work that way

[DarkCntry]

Originally Posted by Thany

If you're speaking of a Japanese game, the best way is to try to put your whole OS in Japanese like this :
In config pannel, go to Regional and Language settings
Go to the advanced tab and put Japanese instead of whatever default language you're using
Go to the previous tab and put your hours/money settings in Japanese too.
Restart your computer.
Try putting your game CD again to install it, it should work that way

No, actually Custom Mate 3 itself will not function on 2k/XP machines

As I also have a copy of XPj (which is the Japanese edition ) for when I need to play my Japanese games.

As for your steps, the only one you need to do is install the Japanese language pack and set it to recognize Japanese UNICODE. Changing the currency and hours setting is going a bit overboard

[naninani]

Originally Posted by kj1980

So far this year, they have been:

Fate/stay night
SHUFFLE!
CLANNAD
Aruru to Asobo!
Realize

My all time favorite list would compromise something like (in no particular order):

Dokyusei 1,2
Kono Sekai no Hatede Utau-mono YU-NO
Pia Carrot 1,2,3 TB
Shizuku
Kizuato
Saorin to Issho!
Hatsune no Naisho!
To Heart
Comic Party
Inagawa de Ikou!
Magical Antique
Utawarerumono
MOON
ONE
Kanon
AIR
Triangle Heart 1,2,3
SNOW
D+VINE LUV
Tobi D+VINE
Kana~Imouto~
Kazoku Keikaku
CROSS+CHANNEL
Tsukihime, PLUS+/-DISC, Kagetsu Touya
Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien
MuvLuv
Phatom~Phantom of Inferno~
Deus Machina Demonbaine
BALDR FORCE
Giniro
Clover Heart's
Wind-a Breath of Heart-
Mizuiro
Infantaria
Suika
D.C.~Da Capo~
Sorewa Maichiru Sakura no Youni
Kao no Nai Tsuki
Kichikuou Lance series
Dai Akuji
Dai Bancho

u kkno so much DAMN!!!!!!!!

[Thany]

Originally Posted by DarkCntry

No, actually Custom Mate 3 itself will not function on 2k/XP machines

As I also have a copy of XPj (which is the Japanese edition ) for when I need to play my Japanese games.

As for your steps, the only one you need to do is install the Japanese language pack and set it to recognize Japanese UNICODE. Changing the currency and hours setting is going a bit overboard

The hours settings can also help since it helps the game to show the Japanese characters, so you'd better use this too, it's not really a pain to use it actually
Edit : Did you try right click on the executable file to play the game, go to property, go to the tab compatibility, then checking Windows 98 or Windows 95 in this part? It might also help if you try this.
I personally never had to use it, but it is what is it for

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by DarkCntry

Actually I found a copy of Custom Mate 3, unfortunetly it will not function on a system running XP, even while in compatability mode. Unless someone can find a way to register one of the dll files that it requires (which will not register), we're kinda stuck on the matter.

Of course it wont.

The game is designed to run under Japanese Windows 3.1 or at the minimum, Japanese Dos 5. The most recent versions of Windows don't use or support the hymen memory drivers needed to run the game nor do they have actual Dos. That cheap version floating around the net is crap anyway, there were major conversion and porting errors which resulted in random losses of game data and the inability to save or load previous games. This means you have to start at day 1 every time you want to play.

The best way to play the game is to use an PC-98XX emulator with the floppy disk images or the hard disk image. Of course, you still won't be able to save your progress, but it's better than the alternative.

I'd recommend the Neko Project II emulator.

[lordwu]

I really like japanese RPG/Sim style so I try to get my hand on any h-games that has RPG or Sim element in it. Several RPGs and Sims from Studio e go! and also Dai Akuji/Bancho series were the ones I really enjoyed.

There are way too many ADV/Novel type h-games so usually I only pick the ones that are already proven to be good, like Kanon, KGNE and Kao no nai Tsuki. F&C also published several warm-hearted ADV games that I enjoyed quite a lot, although not as deep as the instant classics. It's a pity up to now I haven't got the time to play Tsukihime and Fate Stay Night.

Recently I was playing a daughter-raising sim from Studio e go! called Maoh no Musumedachi. It's not something ground breaking and is kinda short, but the conversations are pretty fun and the stories are warm (if you don't go for the bad endings). A nice game to spend a few days on.

[DingoEnderZOE2]

Just Managed to find Custom Mate 3 and here is what I think: This game requires alot of patience....And decent Japanese.Plus I heard theres alot of Endings and events in this game but I don't really know how to see them because theirs no Walkthoughs or faqs for this game in english or in Japanese.Plus for some reason I never get more Money after I spend them all in the game. Once I used all my money on one gift and I haven't gotten paid yet why is that? Also what are the requirements to increase or decrease your Wife's stats? Is there a way to make time go faster then just going by day after day? There are so many things in the game that I'm sure I don't know about but theres NO FAQS!! Some tips and tricks(or even a faq.) for this game would help alot

[Thany]

Originally Posted by DingoEnderZOE2

Just Managed to find Custom Mate 3 and here is what I think: This game requires alot of patience....And decent Japanese.Plus I heard theres alot of Endings and events in this game but I don't really know how to see them because theirs no Walkthoughs or faqs for this game in english or in Japanese.Plus for some reason I never get more Money after I spend them all in the game. Once I used all my money on one gift and I haven't gotten paid yet why is that? Also what are the requirements to increase or decrease your Wife's stats? Is there a way to make time go faster then just going by day after day? There are so many things in the game that I'm sure I don't know about but theres NO FAQS!! Some tips and tricks(or even a faq.) for this game would help alot

You should try, if you still haven't, to search on www.google.co.jp (for example) with the Japanese name and by Japanese I mean like for example おしかけ魔法少女ユイ : so you just need to find your game name in Japanese characters and do a quick search on a search engine
Note that the result will be most likely in Japanese, but you'll just need to translate them with an online translator

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by DingoEnderZOE2

Plus I heard theres alot of Endings and events in this game but I don't really know how to see them because theirs no Walkthoughs or faqs for this game in english or in Japanese.

There are many,many endings. How faithful you are to your wife determines what type of ending you get. I couldn't imagine a walkthrough for this particular game, it just doesn't seem possible. Walkthroughs and FAQs are great for event based games but this isn't an event based game, the events are pretty random (I've taken my wife skiing in July before).

Plus for some reason I never get more Money after I spend them all in the game. Once I used all my money on one gift and I haven't gotten paid yet why is that?

The two money indictors display different things, the top one displays your savings (rent, bills, trip costs, etc. all come out of here) and the bottom/lower one is your monthly allowance. Once you've spent your monthly allowance you'll have to wait until you get paid again before getting more money in it. I'd personally recommend sticking to the 1000 yen gifts until you've saved up some money in your allowance.

Also what are the requirements to increase or decrease your Wife's stats?

Talk to her, spend time with her, go out with her, buy her the occasionaly gift, don't lie to her (if you say you'll be coming straight home, you better come straight home) and don't cheat on her. It's all pretty simple, but in the end hard to get right at first. Also, if done properly, sleeping with your wife every now and then will also help. However, be careful, if you screw up you'll be sleeping next to the cold shoulder and get one of her lovely lunches for a couple days.

Is there a way to make time go faster then just going by day after day?

Of course there is, I'd suggest that you avoid it like the plague though. It can be set to do 1 day, 1 week and upto 1 month automatically. However, it will spend all your money, kill all your stats and make your life after it very, very misrable.

There are so many things in the game that I'm sure I don't know about but theres NO FAQS!! Some tips and tricks(or even a faq.) for this game would help alot

Play around with the menus and the settings and see what happens.

I've been working on making a guide to the wife 'design' stage and the between days menus for some time now, have patience. ^^;

[DingoEnderZOE2]

I just got done playing Green Green. Good game. I thought it was gonna suck but the stories were pretty decent.The only thing I didn't like about the game was the artwork wasn't exactly that good. But it was better then the art in the Tsukihime game. Anyway if you guys liked the Green Green Anime(which I haven't seen yet.) you should give the game a try its good.

[DingoEnderZOE2]

I feel like Bumping this. So Bump.

[babbito2k]

Originally Posted by Garylisk

Long ago, I got hooked on a H game called "Season of the Sakura" - but it's for DOS. It worked with some tweaking in Win98, but I don't think it'll work on 2K or XP... so it looks like it's lost forever. Unless someone finally makes a good XP dos emulator that'll run it.

In any case, it was a great game

The game runs on DOSBox in XP.

The game I like best is Houkago Mania Kurabu/Casual Romance Club, which is less of a story and more about little conversations with a lot of different girls.

[DarkCntry]

Originally Posted by babbito2k

The game runs on DOSBox in XP.

The game I like best is Houkago Mania Kurabu/Casual Romance Club, which is less of a story and more about little conversations with a lot of different girls.

CRC was a little tedious though...it took me 3 tries to actually get a 'good' ending, the rest I kept getting the standard "Have a nice day" picture ending :P Then it dawned on me, stick with Amy :P

However, CRC was rather funny listening to the voice actors speak in English, especially during the h-scenes....I don't know why, but I just couldn't stop laughing

[babbito2k]

Originally Posted by DarkCntry

CRC was a little tedious though...it took me 3 tries to actually get a 'good' ending, the rest I kept getting the standard "Have a nice day" picture ending :P Then it dawned on me, stick with Amy :P

However, CRC was rather funny listening to the voice actors speak in English, especially during the h-scenes....I don't know why, but I just couldn't stop laughing

"Tedious" you say... "3 tries" you say... perhaps there is some relation there...

If you stick with any girl you will get a happy ending with that girl. Jumping around too much will get you nowhere.

What's interesting is that some of them change when they become your girlfriend. A couple are more interesting to chase than to catch.

The English dub is funny once or twice but I'm glad the game doesn't rely on it.

[DarkCntry]

Well, not tedious in a bad way, just something that I wasn't expecting...see I'm not much for the active scrolling of the text, mostly I have it come up all at once allowing me to read it at my pace, however I have yet to find that ability in CRC

The interface was a bit clunky, but that's just me, the useless map window and the semi-annoying locale window didn't really do much, but were nice little immersion touches. Don't get me wrong, I liked CRC a lot considering the nature of the game, even though the original premise was based upon the fact for the relationships to be casual I figured it'd take the road well-traveled and 'evolve' from there See, what threw me most were the days that the characters would be absent...this is what caused me to stray away from a single girl a lot...for example, I'd be talking to Sophie one day, she disappears for two days then I get interested in Charolette or someone else...but hey, I do like that little diary thing, neat touch

[AG3]

Originally Posted by DarkCntry

CRC was a little tedious though...it took me 3 tries to actually get a 'good' ending, the rest I kept getting the standard "Have a nice day" picture ending :P Then it dawned on me, stick with Amy :P

A few of the girls have one or two critical decision points you have to get right in order to progress with them. This can be very annoying, since there's rarely a clear "right answer, wrong answer" in this game. While it makes the game more "realistic" (unlike some of the extreme differences you find in your character's replies in other games), it makes pinpointing critical topics and answers very difficult. Also, a few of the girls have some very specific dates you need to get right (with regards to dating/asking for dates etc.), which contributes to making them rather aggrevating challenges.

For example, I was unable to get Charlotte (or all of her CGs) in several of the playthroughs, simply because I didn't know you had to ask her to date you several days in a row for the second date. I was looking for a specific time to ask her, I tried chatting with Amy and giving all wrong answers to get her off me, etc. None of it worked, of course.

Of course, there are girls that are easy to get too, and not just Amy. By the way, Charlotte and Jeannie are my favorites in this game.

Originally Posted by DarkCntry

However, CRC was rather funny listening to the voice actors speak in English, especially during the h-scenes....I don't know why, but I just couldn't stop laughing

Yeah, the English voice acting is... quite unique. Though I've met people who think it's better than the Japanese ones. Weird people...
Well, it's definitely better than domestically dubbed voices.

(Imagines Jenna Jameson or another Western pornstar dubbing all of the cute girls' voices)

Oh, God, no....

[Arwyn]

So, overall what do you guys thing of CRC? Worth it or not? Is it one "happy" ending per character or more? I picked up Tokimeki Check In, and with 16 endings, its taking forever to finish, espeically with all the repetive stuff to slog through.

Also, how is the overall tone of CRC? I kind of overdosed on angst (still havent finished Kana because of it) so Im looking for something a little less traumatic.

[DarkCntry]

Originally Posted by Arwyn

So, overall what do you guys thing of CRC? Worth it or not? Is it one "happy" ending per character or more? I picked up Tokimeki Check In, and with 16 endings, its taking forever to finish, espeically with all the repetive stuff to slog through.

Also, how is the overall tone of CRC? I kind of overdosed on angst (still havent finished Kana because of it) so Im looking for something a little less traumatic.

Actually CRC, for the most part, is very light-hearted...it's almost to the point that you are playing a normal guy for a change

The sheer size of CRC is what keeps me from actively recommending it to people, while it's only a month in game time, the fact that there are 9 different girls to interact with is what makes the game feel much larger than most. Considering you start off in the diner with whatever girls are present that day (until the end of the month's CRC run, at most there were 4 girls absent at one time), you interact with them with a private message...you can talk with them, then you can either go out with them that day or give them a date coupon for the Saturday or Sunday of that week...If you ask them to go out that day, then the day moves on, if you don't go out or you give them a date coupon, then you can go another 'round' of talking with another girl...I believe there are 3 'rounds' before the day ends, but I haven't really tried to not go out with one of the girls.

As for happy endings...well, if you actually end with a girl then yea, it's a happy ending, but there are endings in which you don't actually end with a girl. At one point I even thought there might be an ending involving Jordan...albeit that would've scared me.

Being worth it depends on how you feel about Option ADV games...this one has a lot of variations, and like AG3 said, sometimes it actually requires you to pay attention to the conversations you have to answer some of the questions the girls ask of you. It's pretty well done in terms of that.

Oh, and AG3, it took me forever to get Charlotte too because I felt the same way you did...and I even ignored Amy thinking that would help, but alas, it didn't I still am a little smitten with Sophie though, maybe it's the older guy in me