I experienced this problem as well when I tried and then realized that Illusion checks your Registry to see if the game is listed in it... so, you need to double-click on the "[BR] HoneySelect 2 Registry Fixer.bat" file in your game folder to list the game in your Registry, then set your entire system to Japanese and retry using your VPN... then you should be able to get in and download characters.
PROTIP: Use the search function, kids!
Well I tried it, unfortunately it still gets stuck with the same error. I think at this point, I may just save my cards and coordinates somewhere else, then wipe and redownload the game.
I've never tried to connect to the illusion server, but if you're just after the cards there's a file dump of 'em you can find at the BetterRepack site. Here's the Mega link:
Oh I know, I've already grabbed most of the cards that interest me from the mega link and/or the google drive.
Illusion likely upgraded their geo block list to include anyone using certain VPNs. Illusion is very much aware of the pirate and modding community behind their games, especially in the west, so it stands to reason they would block us. They don't have a hard stance against us using the programs, but that doesn't mean they won't try to incentivize us into buying instead. The only reliable way to get on their server is to actually be in Japan. Also keep in mind that literally nobody outside Japan should have this game at this point as it has never been distributed outside Japan, so that also gives them reason to not include service for other areas. If and when they branch out, they will likely start a western server.
You can't, really. You would have to create new animations from scratch.
I can't blame them either, I mean the crap that happened to them back during the days of RapePlay really left a sour taste for them and for those of us that were around for that mess...
To be fair, that was backlash at trying to sell a game that 'glorifies rape' legally, they got backlash INSIDE Japan for that, and the original Honey Select was sold to the west. Also, they have branched out over the last two games, both are on Steam with even a proper translation applied and a patch to get around Steam's stupid policies. This is the only one so far that hasn't been sold outside Japan out of the last three, yet.
optional pack is studio related stuff i think
One of the plugins creates a backup of the card whenever it changes. If you decide that you did something wrong, you can retrieve the previous version of the card from the basket. I don't remember the name of this plugin, since I deleted it from myself.
Actually, the original backlash came from the States, here, and they pressured the Japanese government to enforce the actions taken against Illusion Soft. As for their games being sold outside of Japan on platforms like Steam, those are releases made by another company who purchased and secured the rights to those titles from Illusion. Not unlike how Crunchyroll or Funimation purchase the licensing rights to stream or dub anime titles.
