Usually I would use 18+ patch but in my region it costs as much as the base game on Steam 😭 Will its absence greatly impact the game, or is it more like a bonus?

Hi friends! What do you think?

Shop Crush is a mysterious shop simulator with psychological horror elements, set in the early 2000s.

In this hybrid visual novel, you run a small thrift shop, get to know your customers, figure out what they really want, and decide what to put in front of them. Every customer has their own personality, preferences, and hidden motives - and it’s up to you to figure them out.

Behind each customer is a small psychological mystery waiting to be uncovered. Read their behavior, make the right calls, and balance profit against customer trust as you try to keep the shop running for one more day.

The attached pic shows the files from Kuroinu installed on my PC. Since there isn't a detailed wiki about it, and the VN contains many lore details that are never mentioned in the anime (unironically), autistic me wants to catalog all the world, character and history lore.

The problem is, I don't want to painstakingly read through everything and catalog it manually. I'd rather extract all the text as quickly as possible and then have an AI analyze and organize it for me.

How can I do that using these files?

I bought the game from DMM and started playing it, and I thought it was weird that the opening never played.

So I grabbed a 100% save, because there was supposed to be an music player with the opening song and a movie player with the opening in the Extra menu.

Long story short: the DMM version doesn’t have the opening, at least not the version I bought. I looked through the game’s scripts, and they basically commented out part of the code responsible for the opening menu. Now I’m literally going to have to make a patch so the game can play the opening.

EDIT:

I managed to make the patch. The opening now plays in the DMM version.

Anything interesting that landed on PS5? Aside from Tsukimime remake and Witch? Kinda getting into Visual Novels now after playing the two.

I was looking through what I've already read and I've realised that I've already done all of the big names. There's maybe a few left that I haven't done, but we're talking single digits at this point.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Baldr Sky now and while I'm loving it so far, I'm getting this sensation that once I reach the end, that'll be one more VN off the list (on a list that is already getting quite short).

I don't really want to read 7 out of 10 slop for the remainder of my time in this genre and I'll be honest, I don't really have the time to learn Japanese nor the inclination so really I can only read fan-patched or officially translated novels anyway.

This is less a "what should I read next" and more a bittersweet reflection that I don't think I will find anything that makes me feel the same way that Fata Morgana, Steins; Gate, Clannad, Umineko, Subahibi etc etc etc made me feel.

Highschool J is a psychological horror yuri VN with romance, religious themes, and a glitch-inspired aesthetic.

Yuki lives an ordinary life, weighed down by debt, school, and poems she shares with no one. Then a mysterious transfer student arrives in her class.

Some presences cannot be resisted. You can only surrender.

We’ve just opened the Steam page for the game, so I’d really appreciate it if you could give it a look.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5111980/Highschool_J/

I’ve attached some of our illustrations and visual material from the game. Thanks for taking a look

im playing Subahibi right now, and im currently at the part where Yuki found Kagami's dead body. Did they show Kagami's dismembered body in the original scene? Because mine didn't, and im just thinking if I installed the patch right (I use the patch from JAST).

Looking for vn specifically for some great dark humor. I’ve played plenty of dark vn but they’re usually very serious in tone so I’m looking for something that’s more light but still dark. It can still have serious moments but I want it to be funny in the darkest way possible.

Language and platform doesn’t matter. I’ve already played all the rance games.

I want to know which visual novels changed your lives and touched your hearts in a way that made you look at life differently—ones you can say actually improved your lives.

This one took me longer than usual... I added more CGs instead of the covers and doodle art they used to have... I legit needed to redownload most of those games @_@ I put more effort into this version because I think this one will be the last monthly version for quite some time... I have some big VNs I want to play for the next months, and I have already started working on my wrapped list for everything I read and their rankings + my VNs book... so the next version of this tier list will be released on 1/1/2027 with everything else @_@

Just curious because I was considering getting into the genre of visual novels as I keep debating with myself if I should get the Steam version of Kanon for someone looking for such an experience.

However, I would like to know if the Steam version of Kanon has any changes specifically made for the USA version since I would like to know what is the best way to experience the visual novel again just in case certain versions have alterations.

I can really recommend this one! It's tagged as self-promo since my game is on there as well (Monster Girl Therapy), but the team seemed incredibly motivated and did a LOT to connect game devs and influencers. Accordingly, this week should be a good time to catch a new visual novel or two in streams... or just a nice little discount. 8D

I'm definitely getting the new Sucker for Love!

Welcome to the Monthly "What's Been Going On?" thread!

Every Friday we used to have a "Off-topic" thread, but it's been inconsistently active.

We're going to try a topic where you can say what you've been doing outside of visual novels every month. Feel free to say anything about yourself you feel comfortable sharing like favorite games, movies, your job, how's school going, or any other interests you might have.

You can keep using this thread as the regular Off-Topic Thread if you like.

Do you think we’ll ever see Muramasa on Steam? Also, there’s something I don’t quite understand... When eroge games are released, they often come to Steam alongside an optional R18 patch on the same day. Why don’t we see that with more “literary” visual novels? Is it something to do with the companies?