AOISHIRO HD REMASTER

It saddens me deeply to say this, but the English translation is just awful. Do not bother buying this unless you know Japanese. I waited over 10 years for this game and Akai Ito to receive official english releases, and this is what I get. Figures.

basically machine translated,has parts that obviously no human that knows english ever went over and many parts with things like words smushed together or the translation treating descriptions and such as names. (for example treating kenki as a name when it is a description (the sword demon) so you have a line like "do you think i am kenki?" when a non machine translation would at minimum be "do you think i am the sword demon?" or more likely find a less clunky term to use in english since kenki is used very often) there are also things like dictionary entries that are simply empty presumably because the automatic translation tool didnt parse them correctly. while the story itself is fine i cant recommend it as most people will not enjoy trying to decipher it through the "translation".

The Sister-Game to the ORIGINAL Yuri VN. Aoi Shiro is a game from the storied past of the Visual Novel genre; combining elements of mystery, mythology, yuri, and horror into one utterly fantastic package. Unlike its sister-game, Akai Ito, its less of a horror experience and more of a supernatural adventure, though it has scary parts. I've played the original so many times I feel confident in my approval right away, but i'll get into the Remaster some more later. First off a warning; this game is hard. Harder then Akaiito. It was designed like an Adventure Novel first and foremost; far more then most modern VN's, there's a ton of choices, and alot of choices lead to horrible deaths. This has been called the "Dark Souls of Yuri" for a reason, there's about FORTY bad endings (and a couple are super depressing). It also has "normal" endings, but those are often even sadder then the bad ones. But the system is supported by a built in flow-chart, and "seals"; to unlock certain options, you need to PLAY other routes to keep everyone alive. The game is centered around Osa; a young kendo ace going on a summer camp with her comrades to an ocean-side temple. During the night a girl washes ashore on the beach; which heralds the coming of many strange happenings that Osa must solve, alongside a blossoming of adolescent love towards her partner. There's SIX routes in Aoi Shiro; which roughly translates to forty hours of gameplay; it's a very lengthy VN. Happening at the same time is a light romance story; yes, the girls have romantic feelings for each other, but its "all-ages"; no eroge or h-scenes. But unlike Akaiito, there's several steamy kiss scenes. Aoi Shiro's greatest strength however; is it's presentation. The game is GORGEOUS, with some stellar and moody atmosphere, helped by excellent voice acting and an amazing soundtrack (composed by MANYO, of Flowers fame) The Remaster has redone the visuals and audio quality, making it even more amazing looking and sounding. The translation is of the "better then I thought after fearing the screenshots; but less then I hoped when the game was announced". Its decent, but only that. The changed the horrible font, and it seems like they were using an older version of the game, but its still not perfect and could use an edit. Perfectly readable though. In conclusion; play this masterpiece of Japanese Mythology and Yuri. I am so glad it finally got released to the West.

分享个小彩蛋。 游戏界面的女主语音会在各个角色现实生日那天祝她生日快乐，非常惊喜。

I want to preface this review by saying that I'll primarily be focusing on how this particular port fares compared to the "r3227" English fan translation of the original Windows release that I've played a few years back (I never played the PS2 original since that was never released overseas, and I've got a level of comprehension of the Japanese language that's likely worse than a toddler's so playing the game in its original Japanese script was obviously out of the question for me). I also think I've seen enough of this port's in-game assets to compare how they look/sound to the original Windows release despite the short play-time I currently have on record as of this writing. I'll start by talking about the positives first: First, it's nice to have ALL the UI fully translated into English. Navigating the fan translation was often a pain in the bum because most of the UI was still written in Japanese Kanji, but with this remaster finding workarounds for the old UI is now a thing of the past. Audio quality across the board sounds okay, pretty comparable to the original PC version. Controller support has been added, which I imagine was probably added so you could probably play this thing on a device like the Steam Deck. Whatever the reason may be, I'm pleased to see some additional functionality options added to this release. ... Now for the stuff I'm neutral about. Bezels have been added to both sides of the screen in order to completely and artificially fill in a 16:9 screen ratio, since the original 4:9 in-game aspect ratio hasn't been altered in any way. I'm conflicted on this. On one hand, I typically prefer having borders of some kind if none of the original art assets can be redrawn to accommodate a wider aspect ratio, in order to preserve the original presentation of the game -- having black borders on both sides of the screen in cases like these, whenever I'm using a widescreen monitor or TV of some sort, isn't a deal breaker for me when it comes to enjoying 4:9 content. [i]Buuuut[/i], on the other hand, there doesn't appear to be any option to alter or turn the borders they've put in off, so you're gonna have to get used to seeing those waves the entire time you're playing this particular release, although whether or not this will actually bother you is a matter of personal preference. Now for the negatives. While the CG and background art definitely has been messed with, the images have a faint pixelated look to them that is particularly noticeable in zoom-in shots. I went and compared a screenshot I took from the HD Remaster and looked at the same CG image from the OG PC release - in the OG release, the picture looks slightly blurry likely as a result of the game running natively at a lower resolution than my 1080p PC monitor, but I didn't notice any particularly noticeable pixilation like I did with the HD Remaster. So on this particular point I guess you could say this is a matter of whether you prefer your background/CG art to look slightly blurry on HD monitors, or slightly pixelated on HD monitors. At any rate, as far as the HD Remaster is concerned, I don't consider the artwork that I've seen so far to be much of an overall improvement - depending on how you look at it, I think one could reasonably argue that these particular assets were slightly vandalized in a way, because while the OG PC art may look slightly blurry on my monitor I doubt I'd notice any pixilation in any of it if I looked at that version of the game on a PC monitor it was actually designed for. To be fair, the visual presentation of this port is at least passable by my standard - I just think the actual remastering of the artwork wasn't as good as it could've been. Moving on... Besides the previously mentioned added controller support, I haven't seen any new quality-of-life features added to this release - it functions almost identically to the original release. No options to adjust the in-game resolution exist, so you're stuck with whatever resolution the game natively runs in the second you boot it up. The actual translation for the in-game script, dictionary, glossary, encyclopedia, etc.... [i]Jesus Christ[/i]. It reads like something that went through a machine translator like Google Translate. Grammer mistakes aplenty -- odd capitalization of random words, missing periods for the end of sentences, poor choice of wording for describing certain things (things like "it seem to me" rather than "it seemed to me"), and lots of instances where written dialogue seems to say a lot more than the amount of dialogue that's actually being spoken by the character, so much so to where I'd say it's the most egregious case of it I've seen in recent memory, and sentences that just don't plain sound like something a human high school girl would naturally say (although the bizarre dialogue isn't limited to just the main character)... or any human, for that matter. I took the time to read a couple entries from the in-game dictionary (something about the two islands that the game takes place in), and it was more of what I just described. It was painful for me to read. I'm gonna try to go through more of the remaster whenever I can squeeze in the time, but I can tell you guys that, so far, out of the box I'm not enjoying it as it is. It makes the fan translated version I played a while back look like the work of a professional by comparison, and I'm just assuming this but I wouldn't be surprised if the r3227 fan translator basically did the work for free. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to believe that an actual human did the translation for the HD Remaster, and that this script got proofread by somebody else [i]then[/i] given the green light for publication and distribution to the general public. While I would say that, so far, the translation for the in-game script is the biggest problem with this HD Remaster, the other things I've highlighted in both the neutral and negative sections are other issues with this release that make me hesitant to call this thing an HD Remaster, or at least a properly-done one, and show that the issues with this remaster extend past it's machine-translated script. ... So, do I actually recommend you buy and play this version of Aoi Shiro? Ultimately... yes, but [i]only[/i] if you can get your hands on a backported r3227 English translation and install it into the HD Master's files. Fortunately this is easy to do, so I'll give a quick tutorial for anyone who wishes to play the HD Remaster this way in the comments section of this review. The quality of the translation for this port as is, is simply unacceptable, and given how this game is a visual novel... screwing up the game's script is pretty much the worst thing you can possibly do. If there was [i]absolutely no way[/i] to fix/replace the translation this port comes with, it'd be very easy for me to not recommend buying this port based on that one factor alone. I'll admit the r3227 translation has its fair share of problems from a writing standpoint, but to me its at least readable/understandable when compared to the HD Remaster's script. While I wish the artwork had more work done on it, the now fully English UI, used in tandem with the r3227 translation, [i]still ultimately[/i] makes this HD remaster the definitive way for English speakers to play this classic visual novel on current PC platforms. So if you're willing to put in a little extra leg work to get the r3227 English translation installed in your copy of the HD Remaster, then at that point I'd say go ahead and buy the Aoi Shiro HD Remaster and either replay this 2008 classic if you've played it before... or experience it for the first time ever if you're a new player who thinks this VN might be worth your time. Although given this is far from an ideal/decent remaster of the original game, I certainly wouldn't fault you if you decided to get this port at a discount rather than pay for it full-price...

[h1]--跨越海坂的阶梯--[/h1] 《青城》（又名：蓝白奇缘） 本作是由SUCCESS制作的一款包含神话，百合，悬疑题材的全年龄视觉小说，最早发行于PS2主机平台。[b]（注：姊妹作红线与本作为相互独立的故事，可单独游玩）[/b]steam为本作的PC高清重制版，追加了英文与简繁中文的支持。作品含有56个结局，大量cg图以及超长的分歧线路图，但56结局中仅包含6个happy end，其他均为普通结局与鲜血结局[b]（注：普通结局代表故事情节结束，但女主未死亡。鲜血结局代表女主死亡）[/b]且游戏中需要按照指定的线路顺序推进才能解锁下一条线路。本作游玩时长约为25-50h，由于编者基本只看文本，不听完语音所以玩的稍微快些（）推荐的游玩顺序是 保美|汀→夏夜→琥珀|奈美→Grand路线。首次达成结局后解锁剧透模式，支持查看游戏线路图，结束Grand路线后可以一键解锁全部cg和支线路线。编者玩视觉小说时的习惯是只遇到选择支建立存档，本作是第一款让我把99个存档位全部用完还存不下的游戏（）游玩时建议搭配攻略食用，一个一个选择去试路线还是太坐牢了。最后需要注意的是，本作虽然追加了简繁中文，不过制作的很烂，[spoiler]看社区情况英文好像也很烂，好多歪果仁都在吐槽不如饭制翻译[/spoiler]在游玩时你将会看到 意义不明的指代；在一段话中同时出现简繁英日 四种文本；中文异体字文本 等等情况，不过并不影响理解游戏剧情。原作汉化组也制作了重制版的补丁，介意的玩家可以去下载使用。 [h1]--沙罗双树花的颜色--[/h1] 下面来说说编者认为的系统和内容优缺点，由于编者并没有玩过老版本的《青城》，所以就把可能原作就包含的一些点一起塞里面了（） [b]优缺点个人主观性极强，请结合自身来进行判断[/b] [h3]优点[/h3] [b]——系统中词典[/b] 作品中含有大量的日本神话故事以及部分专业术语和地方词汇，游戏系统中内置了方便查阅的词汇词典，便于游戏理解（虽然不理解也能玩懂就是了） [b]——手柄适配[/b] 印象里大部分视觉小说是不支持手柄适配的。本作不仅完美适配，甚至还拥有手柄震动的功能，实属眼前一亮了。但是手柄布局延续了PS2时期的O确定X返回，对美式手柄布局用户可能不太友好。 [b]——支持Steamdeck原生游玩[/b] 大部分视觉小说都无法用Steamdeck原生系统直接游玩。编者使用了Steamdeck游玩了本作其中两条路线，除了最后的ed会花屏以外，没有任何闪退，卡死等情况，完美适配。 [b]——可选人物攻略[/b] 这个点放其他旮旯里可能普普通通吧，不过在百合旮旯里这种可选人物线路的游戏太少力，基本都是固定cp。可能是编者先入为主的原因，个人是更喜欢多个可攻略角色的类型。 [b]——大量的支线[/b] 在这6条线路里，平均一条线路20多个分歧路线，给了玩家选择的权利更多，而且线路内容都挺完整的。不过之后的gal基本都舍弃了这种大路线，多分支的设计[spoiler]可能是选项太多太容易be了吧[/spoiler]仁者见仁智者见智吧。 [b]——CG和文本量大管饱[/b] 老游戏都太实诚了，随便一个选项就画一张新差分，每个结局前的路线都写的挺完整的，而且这个价位也良心，他真的我哭死。 [h3]缺点[/h3] [b]——官方汉化[/b] 编者前文已经提及过，这里就不过多赘述。 [b]——键盘适配差[/b] 究竟是谁设计的F12自动文本，和steam的截图键完全冲突了，而且本作不支持改按键配置，导致编者好多百合相声都没截到图，还有这个键盘B键看log也比较难受，习惯了滚轮看log一下适应不过来。 [b]——画面比例[/b] 重制版还是和老版一样的4：3，剩余部分用游戏主题色填充。重制版都上了ns和pc竟然不做相关画面适配也是挺让人意外的。 [h1]--从海渊的王座升起的一千的地狱--[/h1] 本作以日本三大神器中的 剑 为中心叙述。 女主角山之内梢子就读的青城学校剑道部举办了社团研学，与社团成员乘车前往南方的海滩，并在联系的和尚寺院中下榻。 寺门旁似曾相识的花朵 海边倒下的白色少女 夜晚里出现的吸精幽灵 森林里的椿之精灵 以及可疑的谜之生物 在这些层层的既视感之下，主角随着鬼踏石踏上了传说中的岛屿，为了寻找事件的真相…… 游戏中你将能体验到 青梅小学妹 短发武术家 骨科堂姐姐 异瞳阴阳师 以及我们的封面女主 白毛[strike]无口[/strike]小萝莉的五条线路和封面女主的真结局grand线路。 整体剧情水准不错，悬疑氛围塑造的也很好。美中不足的是，每条线的结局太过仓促，有种故事戛然而止的美（）而且后日谈特别特别的短，进而导致本作的百合糖分相较其他真百合作品稍显不足。而且有的角色路线连个kiss cg都没有，还有个角色kiss cg塞be里了，蚌。不过看在吸血cg这么多的情况下，还是原谅了(*´▽｀)ノノ 吸血hso，请务必狠狠补魔。 [h1]--诱水--[/h1] 总的来说，本作作为经典的百合视觉小说，无论是剧情还是人设即使放在现在也没有过时。适合每一位百合爱好者游玩，是值得推荐的一部佳作。 PS：由于我挺喜欢封面女主刚开始那会无口的系统音的，通关后一直没换，今天写评测那会上游戏取材，没想到是主控女主生日，正好撞见了封面女主对主控女主生日祝福的彩蛋XD [code]欢迎关注群组[url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/yuriful]提灯喵甄选百合[/url]及鉴赏家[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45153090/]提灯喵甄选百合[/url] 献给热爱百合的你[/code]

First of all, make sure to download the fan TL patch for a much better experience than the official TL. Second of all, this is an amazing visual novel with excellent music, art, characters and world building. The world really needs more yuri action content, and this certainly delivers - even more than it's predecessor Akai Ito. It has 56 endings, many of which have stories and CGs associated with them, and that breadth is very impressive. It is light on the yuri, though, so don't go into this expecting romance to be the focus. Mostly, it's a story of lots of sword fights and oni slaying, with yuri on the side.

Another yuri classic alongside Akaiito, glad to see it officially localized. [spoiler] Also Kohaku's still so cool wtf [/spoiler]

Видимо я здесь первый буду кто напишет русскоязычный отзыв на эту игру здесь. Да действительно это культовая новелла для своего жанра. И в отличие от Akai Ito которые мне не сразу зашла. Эта новелла с самого начала игры увлекла. Если сравнивать эти две новеллы так как у них действия происходят в одной вселенной. В Aoi Shiro мне понравилась главная героиня и потенциальные руты например забавной Мигивы или миленькой Нами-чан. Ну и второстепенные персы здесь довольно интересные например монаха, Аой сенсея ну и конечно моей любимицы вечно требующая на еду мяса Момоко. Теперь к минусам игры. И ОН ЗДЕСЬ ОДИН ЕДИНСТВЕННЫЙ. ЭТО ДАННАЯ ВЕРСИЯ ИГРЫ. Существует более ранняя пк версия этой новеллы 2008 года для которой существует нормальный фанатский перевод. И гайд по прохождению которые основывается именно на фанатском переводе. Я молчу про то что стим версия новеллы не работает нормально с экранами меньше 1080p. И последнее что разочаровало это тот факт что 2d платформер мини игра здесь доступна сразу. (В версии 2008 эта игра станет доступна после получения все тру эндингов + гранд энд.) Итог: Игру рекомендую к покупке, но играть не в эту версии. Может когда-нибудь Success исправят это и мы получим нормальную стим версию. Но мне крайне слабо в это верится.

青城红线这两款游戏剧情是真的好，希望接着这次重置能再次出续作。