Before we continue, please note I would not be offering this advice AT ALL if there wasn't something I liked about the game and wanted to see it succeed.
I accept your criticism of the quality of the translation. I also think it's unavoidable.
It's avoidable. There are a lot of errors that aren't translation errors but consistency errors. Mostly the characters' names and location names.
If you want some help with those things, I can help.
Right now the game doesn't provide enough revenue for me to hire a staff member to proofread all the English text,
and I have my own job that doesn't leave me much time.
This is, admittedly, a catch-22. The reason your game isn't making as much as it could potentially is because the gameplay and translation make it hard to access. But to improve those things, you need more money.
I accept your criticisms of the gameplay, such as the fact that some of the items are almost useless.
It's also because I only have a fraction of the time I need to make the game.
I couldn't design the gameplay as a whole.
As I said both here and in my review, the issue isn't gameplay or lack of gameplay, it's signposting. To address this retroactively is a big ask, but to address this from the beginning is actually very easy.
Let's take the very first thing you have to do in the game: Wait 8 days to go to school. Nothing really tells the player they have to do this, until it happens.
Now, during this time you can have Akatsuki talk about things going on in town: The convenience store is hiring. The tunnel is blocked off and dangerous, and it's really dark so a flashlight would help!
You can also set goals for the player, and use the calendar that's in the game to convey them: Earn some money being the big one.
This also affects the second game: After the prologue you're dumped out and shown a bunch of things, but not given any indication on where to go.
And these are not difficult or time consuming fixes. Simply add an interactable item on the existing maps with a little flash that gives a text hint of where to go. The second game does this sometimes but also tends to dead end, telling you WHAT you need but not HOW.
For example, for the Futuo Ambassador plot, Qin tells me I should "talk to my two friends" but one of them isn't in her room, and the lady at the embassy says to talk to Qin. Adding a note into Risa's room saying where she is or what she's doing would tell the player what they need to progress and not stonewall them. (I'm presently stonewalled at this part hah...)
Basically, don't start making a new quest without putting in a hook and a point-in-the-right-direction for it either in an area the player returns to often, or will go to at the insistence of another character or plot. Basically, making use of the Home calendar, PC, and phone are great ways to signpost.
So I'm kind of in a rut. I really want to make a good game.
I wanted to make a game where I could proofread every line of text and design every detail.
But I couldn't, because the game itself didn't pay enough to support me.
This is one of the more painful parts of content creation. You gotta know when to cut things. In game development this is sometimes called the "30% Rule".
What it means: Only 30% of what you actually plan makes it into the final product.
So, SO many developers here aren't willing to cut their losses and nix a feature or plotline that just isn't going anywhere.
This comes to another cliche/mantra of content creation: Don't sacrifice "good" for "perfect." A short, to the point game with a small quest that is FINISHED is far better than a sprawling, tangled mess that can't even be fixed because all the problems are at the core of it.
I need to work, and at the same time, work was limiting the amount of time I had to make a good game.
I don't have enough time to make good content and get more support.
I think most hobbyists face the same dilemma as me.
I'm not saying this to try to solve anything, but just to express my thoughts.
As I said, if you want help I'm willing to at least take a look at the script and tune it up, and at the very least explain what the actual problems are and MAYBE how you can fix them, as far as writing goes.
The problem is no one can read your mind, though. An actual review process would involve taking a step back from development to clarify things and establish consistency before moving forward. But once that's done things can move at a much crisper pace with a higher quality standard.
If anyone would like to proofread the text, please contact me.
I'll send you the game files.
Thanks, guys.
I'm more than willing to help, but if you can't tell I'm quite verbose/wordy. I will tell you EXACTLY what I see the problem as, though.
One last note, I DO see a marked improvement between the first and second games. You ARE improving, but there's still work to be done.