Cross Channel vs. Cross Channel: Reprint Edition (+ Bonus 360 comparisons)

Some quick notes on Cross Channel: Reprint Edition.
Click pictures for larger version.

I was less dreading it than expecting it, but still… package = 😦

Ported to Willadv. No simple tools for this, so I can’t extract the scenario and see if they changed anything. The only part I suspect to be a typo (Kiri’s intestines/fire extinguisher) is unchanged.
Resolution supported apparently are quite high, but it’s just stretching the original images.
Crass doesn’t seem to like this new format of Willadv, so I can’t extract images for a direct comparison. ~~For all I know, it’s still 640×480 internally, just stretched to the new resolutions. Hopefully it was actually rerendered from the originals at least at 800×600.~~
EDIT 04/12/2012 Someone managed to dump all the graphics data. The files are 800×600, ~~but whether they are rerenders or not it’s hard to tell. It does seems likely, though,~~ and after some closer examination, the detail is noticeably improved. The censorship in sex scenes (FWIW) is much less severe.

And I wonder if, ten years later, anyone at FlyingShine has even realized it.
By default, resolution stretches to full screen, no black bars. It naturally looks ugly. Or, if you’re crazy, there’s even an option to letterbox up and down, just like the Xbox 360 version… which makes some parts of the menu inaccessible outside of keyboard shortcuts – and you can’t access the shortcut review either unless you remember the shortcut key for that. This is what it looks like (full screen cap):
Disclaimers screens. Don’t think the original PC version had those.
Hey, I can run this side by side with the old one. 🙂 Should be obvious which is which. Running at 1024×768 though it’s not its highest resolution so they’ll both fit on screen.
Main menu changed. Looks like a temporary slapped-together screen now. Not a good start.
Spinning cross cue was changed into a squiggly, ugly cross. This change was needless and feels really off tone.
Config menu naturally entirely redone.
At least the engine has the decency to support furigana, unlike the 360 version.
Some visual effects seem to have been simplified. Hard to show without a movie.
Backlog changed, of course. Goes back much farther than the few sentences in the original.
Sakuraba’s voice is still the original, mercifully. Notice proper speaker tags.
Once I went two you just know I had to go for three. 🙂 Recording of the 360 version (WIP) on the top left.
The script certainly doesn’t seem to have been all-agefied. 360 Touko says a simple “you hentai!”.

Similarly, every of the three choices at Misato’s rooftop scene bring the same sentence (it’s different for each choice in the 360 version). It’s definitely the same script so far.
Choices are centered. Choices previously picked light up faintly in yellow.
The 360 version of this sign has no text, because the rant against lolicon… did not survive transition.
Powerpuff Taichi and Tomoki are also present. It’s the PC CGs, certainly.
Sex scenes presence confirmed.
The opening is partly new. It looks similar enough, but on direct comparison, it’s kind of a cheap imitation. (Remember that this used by Amaterasu is already a higher resolution version than the 640×480 original version).
On the other hand, it’s way sharper than even the 360 version, which itself also suffers from audio compression issues for some reason. (I have a complete data dump of the disc, and the video is in plain format, so it’s not my set.)
Here’s a comparison. Black bars are in the original video files.