Why it's called "Remastered"?

[Black99]

The Steam page doesn't specify nothing but a recently interview explains it:

Originally posted by JP Dev:

It indicates that it’s been ported to the Ages Mark 2 Engine, which is the same engine we used for The Day After. It has a number of advantages because it’s much more modern and much easier to maintain.

The big goal with the new engine is that we can ensure that the game will still be able to run for the next 20 years, because the old one was kind of long in the tooth.

Interview link: https://twinfinite.net/2022/07/muv-luv-alternative-total-eclipse-interview/

[Hentaika]

For those who want a bit less biased info than dev interview and a much shorter summary:

It's a remaster of PS3 game called... the same...

PS3 game never came to english language though.

The PS3 game itself had not as crisp CGs... this one looks like a 'modern VN' instead.
That's the only change, no new stories, no new anything, literally a slight upgrade on CG of a game that already had some hottest looking CGs out of all game series...
Speaking as a fan of old VNs who would rather have some of the 90s-00s VN get remastered in same fashion... than improving good ones to look somewhat better. Which honestly felt pretty lazy at times too, feeling like they simply added some filter and that's it.

Honestly speaking - it's a combination of slightly improving graphics of PS3 game and milking the western audience at the same time... Kinda kill 2 rabbits with one shot - sell the game again to die hard JP fans AND profit from the NON jp speaking westerners as it's entirely new game to them.

Hell, I would even take the remaster of Muv Luv alternative itself...

If someone wants a short TLDR of the game itself if you somehow didn't stumble it in alternative media of LN/Manga/Anime:
It's a much weaker Muv Luv Alternative set in the settings of alternative.

If you didn't play it yet - certainly play Muv Luv Alternative instead.. and unless you are a diehard VN fan - stop at that.. some people might recommend you to play the original first.. or play some side games... don't listen to them, those are die hard fans.

I won't deny Muv Luv Alternative is a masterpiece... but every other game is literally milking off on it's success, don't waste the time like I did to come to that conclusion, it only leaves a sour aftertaste to the series.

The only game that comes remotely close to it is Schwarzesmarken, but it's only available on JP.

TLDR:
No matter what - play Muv Luv Alternative first...

Most suggest the Muv Luv Extra/Muv Luv Unlimited first.. don't listen to them, those can be quickly summed up in one sentence each:
Muv Luv Extra - typical romance VN, quite bad at that.
Muv Luv Unlimited - alter version of the romance VN with same characters... also an inferior version of Muv Luv Alternative which has same concept.. this one would be okay'ish if it didn't require going through Extra. The relation to alternative can be summed up as 'bad ending timeline' that leads to trying for 'good ending' in Alternative.

After that decide - do you want to play the other way worse VNs including this one?(still okay, just that muv luv alternative sets bar super high)
In that case that's your most modern option that's tightly knitted to alternative.

[Schlumpsha]

I wouldn't say the story of Total Eclipse is bad by any means. But at the same time I found Schwarzesmarken way more interesting as well. In terms of my own ranking of the franchise I'd say Alternative -> Schwarzesmarken -> The Day After -> Total Eclipse -> photon* -> Unlimited -> Extra.

The hypothetical spinoff I waited for years (and likely will continue waiting for even more years still) would be about what actually happened to humankind leaving Earth. A space opera game within the Muv-Luv setting would be quite something. Especially if the makers of the BETA make an apearance.

[Hentaika]

Originally posted by Schlumpsha:

I wouldn't say the story of Total Eclipse is bad by any means. But at the same time I found Schwarzesmarken way more interesting as well. In terms of my own ranking of the franchise I'd say Alternative -> Schwarzesmarken -> The Day After -> Total Eclipse -> photon* -> Unlimited -> Extra.

The hypothetical spinoff I waited for years (and likely will continue waiting for even more years still) would be about what actually happened to humankind leaving Earth. A space opera game within the Muv-Luv setting would be quite something. Especially if the makers of the BETA make an apearance.

I mostly agree with your rating except one thing:

Alternative >>>>>>> Schwarzesmarken > The Day After >> Total Eclipse > Unlimited(mostly for sake of what made Alternative possible.. as well as making the day after, which is not the worst) > Every other money milk.

The day after simply felt too weak for the potential it had following the end of unlimited. Other than that it was certainly mostly good.
I would also say it's the last one non die hard fans should go for in this list... EXCEPT not, since it actually requires playing unlimited.. hence why I skipped it's mention.

I also am somewhat interested in the Muv Luv Integrate plans as well... but honestly my bar is super low with all those low tier VNs, felt like Alternative was their one well thought out story and the rest was mostly milking the success of it... but we will see, always glad to be wrong.

Not as interested in the 'Resonative' aka The Day After conclusion myself... since well.. I see it as 0 potential at this point.

[fertygo]

For you two in this thread, would you think its still worth reading if I adore the setting?

I even like the total eclipse anime back then despite I can see its not good lol

[Schlumpsha]

Yes. If you are already a fan of the setting there's really nothing holding you back giving Total Eclipse a read here. It's not bad at all. Just not as good as some others of the franchise. But that's a subjective matter of taste more than anything.

[Hentaika]

Originally posted by fertygo:

For you two in this thread, would you think its still worth reading if I adore the setting?

I even like the total eclipse anime back then despite I can see its not good lol

The game is specifically designed to milk fans like you, yeah, you will enjoy it in that case.

VN covers more details compared to anime. That being said it's not too different from anime either.

It's worst 'big project' side game to franchise... by big project I mean not counting some totally small side stories... only counting 'The Day After'(4 games, 1 unreleased) and Schwarzesmarken(the most similar game to this one, following another country)

That being said when you compare it outside the scope of the series to your average VN - it becomes kinda 'good to okay' tier.

[Smokey]

So, whats been censored/localised 👀

[Scyris]

Extra kinda sucked, not gonna lie, I tried 3 routes, Sumika, Meiya and don';t remember who's 3rd route I did. Unlimited is actually important to Alternatives story, what they tried and failed to accomplish in unlimited to save humanity, kinda succeeds in Alternative. Also the takeru from unlimited is the same one in Alternative, with his memories from unlimited intact. So those 2 are kinda deeply linked. Honestly you can use fast forward in Extra and just do the required routes to get into unlimited. Extra pretty much sucked, it was a generic slice of life romance thing, and it was kinda meh overall. Unlimited is where the real actual story begins then alternative is where it finishes.

Total Eclipse is basically taking place in Alternatives world, just a few years before Takeru's time there. Has its own unique set of cast as well. I mean TBH u could prob just jump right into total eclipse as it has none of the chars from alterative/unlimited in it iirc. Also doesn't spoil Alternative as its before Takeru was even there, other than maybe the general state of the world. Humans will be Humans as usual.

[Chronix112]

the whole point of extra is to be a generic rom com story. Takeru's life in extra is what alternative takeru is fighting so hard to return to, that care free, generic as hell life.

[Hentaika]

Originally posted by Chronix112:

the whole point of extra is to be a generic rom com story. Takeru's life in extra is what alternative takeru is fighting so hard to return to, that care free, generic as hell life.

Problem is not motivations but the fact that extra could literally be summarized as some flashback in a few sentences and not much would change.

Unlimited could also be entirely replaced by a smart use of flashbacks, maybe ~5-10 min worth of read would be more than enough as well.
Which is even less than the alternative already does for you...

Having to bear through pretty meh to okay tier VNs to get into a top tier one is the main gripe.
Extra can be skipped entirely by simply reading your one sentence and taking for granted that it's the motivation of Takeru.
Unlimited can be skipped since key details are already overly repeated either way.

[Piankhi]

I liked how Extra got you to know the characters, to care about them at some level. Made you more invested in them before moving on into Unlimited and Alternative. To me, it is an important step rather than just skipping ahead. Starting straight on Alternative or even Unlimited would have greatly lessened the impact of the story for me. I went into the series relatively blind on the whole thing, which also helped.

[Smokey]

The structure of the trilogy is important, extra is not throw away, highly disagree. You may as well just watch some gundam instead of just focusing on betaverse/mech stuff in muvluv

[Graciaus]

Originally posted by Hentaika:

Originally posted by Chronix112:

the whole point of extra is to be a generic rom com story. Takeru's life in extra is what alternative takeru is fighting so hard to return to, that care free, generic as hell life.

Problem is not motivations but the fact that extra could literally be summarized as some flashback in a few sentences and not much would change.

Unlimited could also be entirely replaced by a smart use of flashbacks, maybe ~5-10 min worth of read would be more than enough as well.
Which is even less than the alternative already does for you...

Having to bear through pretty meh to okay tier VNs to get into a top tier one is the main gripe.
Extra can be skipped entirely by simply reading your one sentence and taking for granted that it's the motivation of Takeru.
Unlimited can be skipped since key details are already overly repeated either way.

Been awhile since I've seen such a terrible opinion.

[Hentaika]

Originally posted by Graciaus:

Been awhile since I've seen such a terrible opinion.

Honestly it's downright the only realistic non biased one here though.

I have also followed the stupid recommendations of 'you have to play extra/unlimited' first....

I did extra with all routes and completed the unlimited.. had a pretty terrible time on Extra(one of the worst VNs I read)... a somewhat okay one during time I played unlimited(but playing Alternative made me feel sorry for reading unlimited as it now felt a waste of time)..

Alternative was a pleasant experience for sure... not top VN tier 100%, but a very enjoyable experience. A bit too mild for my tastes based on what it wanted to be.

Yet never during the whole Alternative did I feel that I needed any knowledge I gained through all my needless extra/unlimited playthroughs...

Extra is something fully unnecessary, as already mentioned - it's enough to know that as shallow as it is - that's the motivation for MC to get through all the challenges of Alternative world and returning to the bland world he was in before... character personality/background changes so much that knowing more about girls felt like it was mostly pointless..
Not to mention a quick wiki summary read would be far more info than you would ever want.

Unlimited content was literally spoonfed in Alternative covering even more details than you needed... I was always like... 'but why did I even play unlimited if MC just repeats every single thing of what happened'?
That being said unlimited by itself is not a terrible VN during the time you read it...
Again - a quick summary of the story + the repeated information from MC is certainly more than you need to perfectly understand the story.

If you find it hard to understand what's happening with so many repeats - I am kinda in awe of how badly you perceive information given to you.

If anything - Unlimited is somewhat required if you want to play The Day After series, which is actually not repeating much AND requires more knowledge of what happened... certainly also doable with only playing alternative, but on that one - I would agree that the experience would not be totally same.

That being said The Day After is(so far) a tie and a half lower than alternative and certainly not something I would actively suggest to anyone yet..
Kinda want to see what the 4th and final game of this timeline provides, since I already got invested into the series, but the way it was going - I am not expecting too much at this point...
I would say Integrate has bigger chance of becoming something great... but also has chance of becoming another meh VN, only time will tell.

[Lemonov]

Why are all "realisic and unbiased" opinions so delusional and idiotic whenever I see them? You need to read the VNs with your ass to think that Extra and Unlimited are "unneeded".