Ao Oni 3.0 - English 2010 Translation

Reconstruction

If the game crashes upon opening the executable, open Game.ini and change "RGSS102E.dll" to "RGSS104E.dll".
Alternatively, you can try allowing the game through Windows' DEP (Data Execution Prevention) settings.

Puzzle & Horror-Adventure

In order to play this game, you need to install the RPG Maker XP Runtime Package.

Brief Explanation
While browsing YouTube in hopes to find any old Ao Oni content, I came across a four-part playthrough uploaded by theloafingone.
This playthrough was extremely interesting to me because of when it was uploaded and what language the game was being played in at that time.
The playthrough was uploaded in April of 2010 and the game was in English!
To understand why this is so surprising, HetaOni's English translation hadn't started until May of that year.
This means that not only does it predate what I had believed to be the first translation of Version 3.0 ever,
but it also was the first ever translation of Version 3.0 to exist!

Here are links to the entire playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faVHgdOLgaU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECpmUIVvCpk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYCZLLZ6KHo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtPQsvV2iG0

Considering that there have been many attempts at translating Version 3.0 from various people with varying results (most being horrifically bad),
this translation seemed to have been an actual, honest, and true-to-form attempt at translating Version 3.0 (with some slight hiccups/jokes).
Based on the video playthrough, it would seem that either theloafingone or a friend of his was responsible for the translation.
In the descriptions of each part, there is a shortened download link that has since become dead with time.
No one has ever reuploaded this translation to the internet since it had been overshadowed by the other translations that followed suit.
There is also the possiblity that the translation was never publicly released, only ever being shown in the video playthrough and nothing more.

Whatever the case, because of its historical significance and the possibility that we may never be able
to find the original on the internet without severe internet detective work,
I decided to do my best and reconstruct this old lost translation for the sake of preserving history.

If you're confused about the four different versions (with an entire package above it),
I've also decided to make three different versions with slight tweaks from the faithful-to-original version.
Before I provide descriptions of each, it's important to know that in the video playthrough,
all English lettering was being displayed with a Japanese font instead of an English one.
This is fairly common with early RPG Maker XP games being translated into English.
Because of this, there are two versions that will display the text using a Japanese font,
and two versions that will display the text using an English font.

Here's a description of each version.
All of these versions are included in the entire package download.

---WITH ORIGINAL JAPANESE FONTS---

The True Experience

You must use Japanese locale to play the game with the correct font.

Takeshi's name will be Andrew, like in the playthrough (except for in the menu).

The Takeshi Experience

You must use Japanese locale to play the game with the correct font.

Takeshi's name will be kept as-is.

---WITH ENGLISH-FRIENDLY FONTS---

The Alternative Experience

You don't need to use Japanese locale. 

Instead, an English-friendly font will be used, the text will display faster, and it's possible to skip text using Q.

Takeshi's name will be Andrew, like in the playthrough (except for in the menu).

The Pure Experience

You don't need to use Japanese locale. 

Instead, an English-friendly font will be used, the text will display faster, and it's possible to skip text using Q.

Takeshi's name will be kept as-is.