/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46705829
It depends on how text focused the VN is, but generally it's going to be pretty bad.
If it's something that has a very heavy focus on gameplay, you could probably MTL it and have an enjoyable experience. (E.G. Dungeons & Dolls, Waidonyo, Mahjong Connect, anything by Illusion)
If the writing is meaningful it's going to be gruesome. The more lovely a work of literature is, the worse MTL will mangle it.

MTLing is not significantly easier than learning Japanese.
Studying is more difficult up front, but only gets easier and easier as you go on. MTL is always a slog, no matter how much time you spend doing it. If you don't read very slowly, carefully, and awkwardly, you won't catch its mistakes.
MTL fucks up constantly. Even a completely raw beginner will make less major mistakes. It especially struggles with positive/negative; it can't tell the difference between "We should go to the beach" and "We shouldn't go to the beach". Sarcasm is a complete non-starter. Metaphors are hopeless.

In time, these problems may be fixed. But much of the challenge of reading Japanese comes not from the language itself, but understanding the cultural context the text was written in.
I'm sure that some MTL exists that can correctly translate 「おうちをきいてもわからない　なまえをきいてもわからない」, but there are none which will tell you that they are lines from いぬのおまわりさん, which is what's actually crucial to know to understand that text.

MTL may well be better than official translations, but that's like saying mud is more nutritious than cement. Both are terrible options only the desperate would consider.