I heard about the steam ban but please bring over Dungeon Travelers 2 and 2-2 to GOG or any platforms

[Complete Domination]

Not all of us westerners are prudish SJWs who'd get offended by every little piece of drawings and these two games are two of the best dungeon crawling blobbers in Japan. If steam won't allow it then please bring it to pc on other platforms like GOG or dlsite. I'm sure there are many wanting for a chance to play it especially as there's currently no way to play them other than buying a dead sony handheld and 2-2 wasn't even ported to west.

[etch]

It is probably going to be entirely up to Aquaplus. They may not trust other platforms like GOG and their contract may only allow a PC port of the game to be available on Steam. Also, doubtful it will come to DLsite since the PC port is being published by DMM and DMM's English publisher Shiravune, so no way they would allow it on their direct competitors site. Also worth noting, Aquaplus delisted a bunch of their PC versions off of DMM's site a while ago with the only one still up being White Album 2. I can't see them offering it on DMM as it will kill any potential growth of sales outside Japan. I can't see them putting it on MangaGamer, JAST, Denpasoft, Fakku, Kagura Games or any similar sites since Shiravune has actively denied putting other games on those platforms and those platforms are generally associated with eroge which Aquaplus has moved away from. If they continue to work on the PC port and release it, I think the only real options are either Johren since it is DMM and Shiravune's storefront or try to keep pushing to get it onto Steam. The issue with Johren is I don't think they allow people in Japan to buy from there while the Utawarerumono ports and Monochrome Mobius on Steam are open to those in Japan. Even though it was banned on Steam and Steam has made it near impossible in most cases to re-submit and try again, we don't know the full situation of the ban and there may still be ways they can try to get it through despite the ban even if chances are slim. Similar to how Shiravune was able to attempt to re-submit Meteor World Actor at least four times, but was still kept banned from Steam (despite the sequel being fine). Or how Sekai Project's Amatsutsumi was banned, then they tried to re-submit it under the Chinese title and it was still banned.

[WhiteAlbum2IsAMasterpiece]

lol this is funny because:
- DT2 is not relevant to Monochrome Mobius
- SJW strawmanning, even though there is no evidence "SJWs" banned the game
- the game's PC port has never been officially announced by any publisher, so it's possible Shiravune aren't involved with publishing a DT2 PC port, and publishers are not going to comment on things they haven't officially announced

etch's comment is the most accurate responsde to the reality on the ground. we cannot say for sure what's happening but if it does release it will likely be exclusive to Johren (assuming Shiravune are handling it).

as an aside i hope this dosen't put them off porting their other games such as Tears to Tiara II, To Heart 2 DX Plus and of course the White Album series. Cause as much of their back catalogue deserves to be put onto steam.

[Complete Domination]

Originally posted by HaruIsMyWaifu:

lol this is funny because:
- DT2 is not relevant to Monochrome Mobius
- SJW strawmanning, even though there is no evidence "SJWs" banned the game
- the game's PC port has never been officially announced by any publisher, so it's possible Shiravune aren't involved with publishing a DT2 PC port, and publishers are not going to comment on things they haven't officially announced

etch's comment is the most accurate responsde to the reality on the ground. we cannot say for sure what's happening but if it does release it will likely be exclusive to Johren (assuming Shiravune are handling it).

as an aside i hope this dosen't put them off porting their other games such as Tears to Tiara II, To Heart 2 DX Plus and of course the White Album series. Cause as much of their back catalogue deserves to be put onto steam.

1. Starting the post with "lol this is funny" ,belittling a comment is not how you start your reply in civil manner.

2. Published by Aquaplus in JP using their assets and I'm posting here to raise awareness and hope that they'll see it and consider my proposal. At the very least I got your anti-camp attention, didn't I ? You probably come checking after TGS, thanks for reviving the thread.

3. SJW is a very real term that started out as something of a badge to be worn with pride but has become so stigmatized that even original coiner try to distance themselves from it. They know it cast them in negative light and so they'll never admit to being one or even involved to it although it's still very easy to isolate them out as they stick out like a sore thumb always currying in favor of censorship and hating anything remotely ecchi . Don't like how people call you out ? Stop treating everyone with that snowflake attitude of yours then. Babies can't eat adult food that doesn't mean adults are the ones who had to remove their teeth.

4. Anyone following the news knew its asset was listed on steamdb which is to date always happen to every title that was deplatformed from steam. And this is something all reported in every news outlet about the ban. I appreciate your disingenuousness by not bringing that up in pursuit of what I assume your admirable attempt to defend steam but you'll only drive up curiosity trying to hide what happened.

5. On contrary moving forward I don't think steam would be a good partner for Aquaplus' products any longer. They should follow Alice soft's suit and start looking for alternative platforms so as not to cave to the fickleness of steam inquisitors unless of course they plan to eliminate every elements of ecchi-ness which was the root of their products or simply like gambling.

[Shadic]

Originally posted by Complete Domination:

Not all of us westerners are prudish SJWs who'd get offended by every little piece of drawings and these two games are two of the best dungeon crawling blobbers in Japan. If steam won't allow it then please bring it to pc on other platforms like GOG or dlsite. I'm sure there are many wanting for a chance to play it especially as there's currently no way to play them other than buying a dead sony handheld and 2-2 wasn't even ported to west.

Vita is worth it if you're a weeb.

[Minneyar]

Originally posted by Complete Domination:

They should follow Alice soft's suit and start looking for alternative platforms so as not to cave to the fickleness of steam inquisitors unless of course they plan to eliminate every elements of ecchi-ness which was the root of their products or simply like gambling.

Ironically, all signs indicate that they do want to tone down the amount of "ecchi-ness" in their games. Keep in mind that technically, all of their R18+ titles were released under the "Leaf" label; "Aquaplus" has never released any R18+ titles. Leaf hasn't released anything (except re-releasing White Album 2, their perpetual moneymaker) since 2011. The last thing Aquaplus released that was really remotely ecchi was Dungeon Travelers 2-2 back in 2017; everything since then, which includes Zan 1 & 2, Lost Frag, and Dokapon UP!, has been relatively tame, and Monochrome Mobius looks like it's going to follow suit.

It's a shame DT2 got rejected, but there's really no reason for Aquaplus to stop releasing games on Steam, considering that Steam still dominates the PC gaming market and most of their titles can be released here without any issues. (and let's be honest, DT2 has some really questionable images of underage-looking girls, which is the main thing that will get you in trouble on Steam)

[etch]

If something like Tears to Tiara got banned that would be major cause for concern in my eyes.

[WhiteAlbum2IsAMasterpiece]

Originally posted by Minneyar:

Ironically, all signs indicate that they do want to tone down the amount of "ecchi-ness" in their games. Keep in mind that technically, all of their R18+ titles were released under the "Leaf" label; "Aquaplus" has never released any R18+ titles. Leaf hasn't released anything (except re-releasing White Album 2, their perpetual moneymaker) since 2011. The last thing Aquaplus released that was really remotely ecchi was Dungeon Travelers 2-2 back in 2017; everything since then, which includes Zan 1 & 2, Lost Frag, and Dokapon UP!, has been relatively tame, and Monochrome Mobius looks like it's going to follow suit.

Re-releasing white album 2 under Leaf is is blatantly ironic given the lack of other new Leaf stuff (and no nintendo switch port which is the only viable handheld for VNs now). that said, given this exists Shiravune will localise it officially someday cause it bloody deserves it (and will make AQUAPLUS lots of money even if no 18+ version ccame out in English). but i digress.

Originally posted by Minneyar:

It's a shame DT2 got rejected, but there's really no reason for Aquaplus to stop releasing games on Steam, considering that Steam still dominates the PC gaming market and most of their titles can be released here without any issues. (and let's be honest, DT2 has some really questionable images of underage-looking girls, which is the main thing that will get you in trouble on Steam)

yep. DT2 had to be censored when it came out in the West on Vita otherwise it would have been rated AO by the ESRB, which basically kills the release because no console format or major storefront would stock AO rated games. Weebs who are direhard into ecchi and eroge conveniently ignore the reality.

it wouldn't surprise me if whoever ported it to PC tried their luck by attempting to put it on Steam uncensored in an attempt to sell this port to the "anti-censorship" crowd and it backfired via this rejection.

[etch]

My guess is they were going to do something similar to Utawarerumono Mask of Deception, where the English PC version retains the censorship made for the original PS4 and Vita localizations, but the Japanese PC version was left uncensored. They probably were going to do that for DT2 and leave the Japanese version unaltered.

[Red]

Originally posted by etch:

My guess is they were going to do something similar to Utawarerumono Mask of Deception, where the English PC version retains the censorship made for the original PS4 and Vita localizations, but the Japanese PC version was left uncensored. They probably were going to do that for DT2 and leave the Japanese version unaltered.

My thoughts exactly, I don't see why they would risk it with Steam being itself.

[WhiteAlbum2IsAMasterpiece]

Originally posted by etch:

My guess is they were going to do something similar to Utawarerumono Mask of Deception, where the English PC version retains the censorship made for the original PS4 and Vita localizations, but the Japanese PC version was left uncensored. They probably were going to do that for DT2 and leave the Japanese version unaltered.

I never knew that. So i guess that means that assuming this is true for the PC port of DT2, if somebody started the game in Japanese they'd see that content and because both the censored EN released and uncensored JP version are part of the same release / store listing, Valve rejected both versions.

It should've just been censored for Steam then just release an uncensor patch offsite. Applying the same technique across multiple games isn't always the best option cause the context is different (and one spanking scene in an epic tale compared to an ecchi lewdfest are quite different).

that said, given the game will have to release on other sites now anyway you may as well uncensor the whole thing cause without Steam's reach, fewer people will even know it's on PC, yet alone buy it. and i say that as someone who is broadly pro-censorship for lewd content.

[etch]

I think it is very possible as well that Aquaplus are against patches. When Sekai Project used the less-lewd CGs for Rewrite+ using the CGs from the original Rewrite Japanese release, all the language used indicated Key or Visual Arts were against the production of patches to re-insert the lewder CGs. With Aquaplus trying to move away lewd content, I could easily see them being fine with DT2 being re-released with everything intact in the Japanese version, but viewing an offsite patch as something that goes against their image in some way or sets some weird precedent.

[Red]

Originally posted by HaruIsMyWaifu:

Originally posted by etch:

My guess is they were going to do something similar to Utawarerumono Mask of Deception, where the English PC version retains the censorship made for the original PS4 and Vita localizations, but the Japanese PC version was left uncensored. They probably were going to do that for DT2 and leave the Japanese version unaltered.

I never knew that. So i guess that means that assuming this is true for the PC port of DT2, if somebody started the game in Japanese they'd see that content and because both the censored EN released and uncensored JP version are part of the same release / store listing, Valve rejected both versions.

It should've just been censored for Steam then just release an uncensor patch offsite. Applying the same technique across multiple games isn't always the best option cause the context is different (and one spanking scene in an epic tale compared to an ecchi lewdfest are quite different).

that said, given the game will have to release on other sites now anyway you may as well uncensor the whole thing cause without Steam's reach, fewer people will even know it's on PC, yet alone buy it. and i say that as someone who is broadly pro-censorship for lewd content.

I remember reading something about Valve's reviewers not actually caring about the Japanese versions and only the English ones, but that might have been speculation. What I can say for sure though is that the Vita release was rated by CERO, ESRB and PEGI: as long as none of the content was altered (so not making the game lewder), the ratings should still be a good enough point of reference to say "hey, our game was fine on consoles, why not here?".

Originally posted by etch:

I think it is very possible as well that Aquaplus are against patches. When Sekai Project used the less-lewd CGs for Rewrite+ using the CGs from the original Rewrite Japanese release, all the language used indicated Key or Visual Arts were against the production of patches to re-insert the lewder CGs. With Aquaplus trying to move away lewd content, I could easily see them being fine with DT2 being re-released with everything intact in the Japanese version, but viewing an offsite patch as something that goes against their image in some way or sets some weird precedent.

I hadn't thought about that but it's certainly a possibility, even though it wouldn't be a 18+ patch as many games have but rather a "restore what Steam wanted cut" one (which also sucks when it's a port from a game that was fine on consoles). But hey, at least if they were to make that kind of patch they could potentially have full control over how censored the game is and have an opportunity to bring the Western release on par with the Japanese one (while also being able to give other options to make it on the same level as the Western Vita version, with a possibly trimmed-down "base" Steam version on top of that).

[Complete Domination]

Chaos Head Noah was recently unbanned from steam.

https://www.spike-chunsoft.com/news/update-steam-version-of-chaoshead-noah/

In the steam announcement they mentioned "We've also examined the process that led to the previous decision about CHAOS;HEAD NOAH, and made some changes to avoid situations like this in the future."

Maybe now the prude reviewers who rejected Dungeon Travelers 2 would now get told to stay away and it could get accepted again ? Please try again Shiravune/Aquaplus/whoever that's responsible for bringing this over the first time.

[etch]

Originally posted by Complete Domination:

Chaos Head Noah was recently unbanned from steam.

https://www.spike-chunsoft.com/news/update-steam-version-of-chaoshead-noah/

In the steam announcement they mentioned "We've also examined the process that led to the previous decision about CHAOS;HEAD NOAH, and made some changes to avoid situations like this in the future."

Maybe now the prude reviewers who rejected Dungeon Travelers 2 would now get told to stay away and it could get accepted again ? Please try again Shiravune/Aquaplus/whoever that's responsible for bringing this over the first time.

JAST tried to ask Valve about Muramasa and were told Valve is not going to re-review banned games
https://twitter.com/jastusa/status/1580302000348049408

[Red]

Originally posted by etch:

Originally posted by Complete Domination:

Chaos Head Noah was recently unbanned from steam.

https://www.spike-chunsoft.com/news/update-steam-version-of-chaoshead-noah/

In the steam announcement they mentioned "We've also examined the process that led to the previous decision about CHAOS;HEAD NOAH, and made some changes to avoid situations like this in the future."

Maybe now the prude reviewers who rejected Dungeon Travelers 2 would now get told to stay away and it could get accepted again ? Please try again Shiravune/Aquaplus/whoever that's responsible for bringing this over the first time.

JAST tried to ask Valve about Muramasa and were told Valve is not going to re-review banned games
https://twitter.com/jastusa/status/1580302000348049408

Oookay, so it's up to the players and the press again to raise their voice loud enough that Valve does something about it out of fear of getting bad PR. Wonderful.