Visual Novel Suggestions?

[h0m3r0w]

Hey, came across this forum when I downloaded "Deardrops", and noticed that this place has TONS of VN download links, games, etc. So, I figured this would be a great place to ask for some suggestions as far as visual novels go. I'm trying to create checklist of must-plays before I go and play a bunch of not so popular games.

I know about the list from 4-chan that has a bunch of suggested reads, but I'd like to start with a more personalized list before I go and tackle VN's like Saya no Uta haha.

Completed Visual Novels
-Muv Luv Extra / Unlimited / Alternative (all time favorite as of today)
-Yume Miru Kusuri (wonderful story... loved Aeka's route)
-Katawa Shoujo (was good)
-Deardrops
-Kono Oozora ni, Tsubasa wo Hirogete (If my heart had wings. Pretty good)

Plan to Play
-Narcissu
-Steins;Gate
-Ever17
-Little Busters!

Will not play
-Sengoku Rance (Not knocking anyone. People have fantasies. But I tried to give this game a chance... I can't do rape at all. Sorry.)

Any help would be appreciated. If you need to forewarn me about any of my "Plan to Play" games, feel free to let me know. If there's a game I MUST jump on ASAP let me know please. I've just discovered visual novels for myself about a year ago. Picked up Katawa Shoujo. Was amazed. Then Muv Luv just blew me away. I've yet to find anything even CLOSE to Muv Luv. Basically, my main attraction: FEELS. My favorite anime's are Toradora, Berserk and Evangelion... so yea, feels.

Thanks again for any help I may receive.

 

[unownHGSS]

Hmm..fomr those you have listed I've only played Ever17 (have planned to play Little Busters sometime soon though)
As for Ever17. I thought it was great. It can be pretty consufing at times but please don't let that stop you. The main/final route is so rewarding. It's also full of interesting facts about 1st, 2nd, 3rd en 4th Dimensions. You actually need a set of brains to understand some parts of it :3 There's a total of 6 (if I recal correctly) routes to go through. Although this is my opinion, the quality of the routes varies. Some are better than the other. You should give it a try, play a route and then decide if you want to play the rest.

Still a bit hard to vote as I haven't played the other VN's. I'll leave it up to you unless you REALLY want me to vote xD

I've heard about Little Bustes! being a good VN but I have yet to play it myself. Have some others to finish on my list first :3

So far I've played the following (I only got into VN's like..since this years :x)
- All the translated Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o VN's (I'm a sucker for Yuri..)
- Hoshizora no Memoria (Good VN and a great Final route. Not so much of a fun play if you're against loli's though. Wonderful soundtrack and I liked the artwork)
- Cross Channel (Pretty good VN but I had some troubles going through the game and had to use a walkthrough..)
- Katawa Shoujo (Splendid)
- Shuffle~! (Ok VN, nothing special)

Currently playing My Girlfriend is the president (if my signature didn't already give away :3)

I you have any further questions, feel free to ask/VM me ^^

 

[nanashi1]

Well, I've already you on the poll my vote given, but was just - I want you say: Can also not translated or just translated VNs be?

Because I had some out of my recommendation source from all both side (Not translated and translated) for you...~>

Notice: Please give me a meation (@ nanashi1 ; - so meant, but without space), if you answer can, okay?

 

[h0m3r0w]

Hmm..fomr those you have listed I've only played Ever17 (have planned to play Little Busters sometime soon though)
As for Ever17. I thought it was great. It can be pretty consufing at times but please don't let that stop you. The main/final route is so rewarding. It's also full of interesting facts about 1st, 2nd, 3rd en 4th Dimensions. You actually need a set of brains to understand some parts of it :3 There's a total of 6 (if I recal correctly) routes to go through. Although this is my opinion, the quality of the routes varies. Some are better than the other. You should give it a try, play a route and then decide if you want to play the rest.

Still a bit hard to vote as I haven't played the other VN's. I'll leave it up to you unless you REALLY want me to vote xD

I've heard about Little Bustes! being a good VN but I have yet to play it myself. Have some others to finish on my list first :3

So far I've played the following (I only got into VN's like..since this years :x)
- All the translated Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o VN's (I'm a sucker for Yuri..)
- Hoshizora no Memoria (Good VN and a great Final route. Not so much of a fun play if you're against loli's though. Wonderful soundtrack and I liked the artwork)
- Cross Channel (Pretty good VN but I had some troubles going through the game and had to use a walkthrough..)
- Katawa Shoujo (Splendid)
- Shuffle~! (Ok VN, nothing special)

Currently playing My Girlfriend is the president (if my signature didn't already give away :3)

I you have any further questions, feel free to ask/VM me ^^

I'm okay with using my brain! :) Trust me, Muv-Luv requires thee most information processing I've ever experienced. It also deal with alternate universes and time travel and the like. Great read. Seeing as how you believe Ever17 is so great and you have a long list of visual novels under your belt, I'm definitely thinking of jumping into that game. Thank you! I'll PM you about some more questions I have.

Well, I've already you on the poll my vote given, but was just - I want you say: Can also not translated or just translated VNs be?

Because I had some out of my recommendation source from all both side (Not translated and translated) for you...~>

Notice: Please give me a meation (@ nanashi1 ; - so meant, but without space), if you answer can, okay?

I'd prefer translated, but I can still play untranslated. I'm only a 4th year Japanese student in college, but my reading abilities / comprehension is pretty good. Especially if they are voiced. I can have a conversation through speaking / listening but I'm still a little bad with kanji :(

If you have any really good untranslated visual novels to recommend for me, by all means go ahead :)

 

[nanashi1]

I'd prefer translated, but I can still play untranslated. I'm only a 4th year Japanese student in college, but my reading abilities / comprehension is pretty good. Especially if they are voiced. I can have a conversation through speaking / listening but I'm still a little bad with kanji :(

If you have any really good untranslated visual novels to recommend for me, by all means go ahead :)

Oh, sorry for the late reply, but by the big update from ASF have I not your Quote noticed...y_>

Well, some not TL-ed VNs:

- Oretachi ni tsubasa wa nai (From the developers from Shuffle!, Navel) - You should with all 3 edition (...-Prelude, ...-Under the innocent sky and ...-After story) try, because it are awesome games: The plot is interesting, the charas and the setting also...

- Kourin no machi, lavender no shoujo (From the developers from Sharin no kuni, himawari no shoujo, Akabe-soft2) - The spin-off from Sharin no kuni (and of Yuukyuu no Shounenshoujo's fandisc) is really interesting; because it out of friendship goes, what later dramatic and life and death attitude has...

- Sara Sara Sasara (From the developers from Anejiru, Atelier Kaguya-BerkshireYorkshire) - Well, it's a nice fantasy-miko srory, really recommendable....

- Kaigen Seito (From the developers from Steins;gate and Chaos;Head, nitro+) - It's really RPG-epic-apocalyptic VN...


Well, some TL-ed VNs:

- G-senjou no maou (From the developers from Sharin no kuni, Akabe-soft2) - Look to Kourin no machi, lavender no shoujo; it has the same attitude...

- Sharin no kuni, himawari no shoujo (-,,-) - Already told.

- Dra+Koi (From the developers from Kaigen seito, nitro+) - A nice short (2-10 h.) VN: Where about dragon girl meets with boy...

- Koihime Musou (From the developers from Haru+Koi, BaseSon) - A really long (50< h.) RPG-strategy VN, what in the antique China leads...

- Kira Kira ~ Curtain call (From the developers from Edelweiss, Overdrive) - The music oriented spin-off VN from the original, Kira Kira is really funny...

Well, I hope, that this for a moment you enough is, okay? But if you still some requests have, then let me or whom know...~>

 

[HatoriTakaya]

[MENTION=75161]h0m3r0w[/MENTION]: Welcome to ASL, just noticed you're just under 10 posts when I posted this.

For the Translated Vision Novels. Official and Fan Translated.

Personally I voted Ever 17. Due to the nature of the game and how it was already translated, it's a decent visual novel to read. If you're interested in the quantum theory or space and time theorems and mythology of ancient civilization. This visual novel covers it with a touch of romance, which is natural in most visual novels now days.

On the other hand, Stein;Gate has garner a lot of attention and it's also worth going through. Since it has been translated. its a worth reading. It based directly on the butterfly theorem alongside with quantum physics and possibilities that comes with it. The Cause and Effects of changing time and so forth.

For Fantasy Action and Epic stories that has a translation and you're willing to put in 120 hours into it. Might be shorter, since there's no voice unless you do this and that. Fate Night/Stay visual novel has been translated and it talks about the Holy Grail War and people battling out to be the last one standing. It's worth reading though you can't completely control the actions, you can still choose options to take which shows the results of your actions... almost immediately.

Utawaremono is another on that is based on action and fantasy. It's a SLG (I think its categorize under that) where you follow the story of a guy who remembers nothing and control characters to do battles each scenario till the end. You can't influence the ending however.

Clannad and Kannon is quite famous romance visual novel you can try. If you enjoy school life titles with romance and some touching moments. This is the visual novels you want to be spending your time on.

For Pure Japanese Titles

Okay, I know you're 4th Year Japanese Student but honestly it doesn't hurt to try these titles and learn it as you go along.

Recently I liked the following titles in each respective category.

Action and Adventure

• Sengoku Hime Series (三極姫 made by gesen18) [Based on Chinese and Japanese Histories of warring periods. Chinese one is based similar to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Japanese one is based on the Sengoku Period.)
• Material Brave and its related series (I perfer Material Brave though.)
• Venus Blood Series (I don't think you'll like it since it includes at the start... yes... rape. They however do fall in love the main character due to his past and true intention. For Venus Blood -Frontier- the main character may be a ass at the start but later on you'll learn that he's doing it to find out the truth of his mother death. Still it can be pretty graphic and you probably won't like it.)
• Black Bunny Series (I haven't got time to get to it but it's another SLG)
• Tear of Tiara (It's can be translated or played purely in Japanese)
• 11eyes (Pretty bloody and has a lot of bad endings. When you get to a good ending, you'll be so happy by then)
• Prism Heart and Prism Arc (Lots of Comedy, RPG fighting and End Character Romance in it. Really, really play it. I've actually liked it since the final character combo moves are epic funny to perform in battle.)

Romance (I named the Company that released the games since they majority releases Romance Themed Visual Novels)

• RICOTTA (They are well known for producing QUALITY games like Princess Lover and Walkure Romanze. Consider playing it too.)
• Lump of Sugar (My suggestion is Nursery Rythme. Very strong school life, romance plot)
• August (Personally ASL have Fortune Arterial Translated. That was a good school life, romance plot too. Another one I would suggest if you're into middle ages era lifestyle is Aiyoku no Eustia. Slightly dark title but it explores worst of life and everything around it.)
• Circus (Da Capo Series. Period. High School romance is strong in this one. Pick it up and you'll learn pure love games are made of. Girlcelly can advocate it and so can I. Although we haven't talked for age due to username differences. I didn't carry it over from the previous forum. But that's another story for another day.)
• Willplus (Recently I just noticed them and they are pretty good at romance in different fields. Try モテすぎて修羅場なオレ if you're into being a popular playboy scenario.)
• Navel (They are relatively famous for 'Shuffle' and its series.)
• Moonstone (Honestly they are kind of my favourite due to certain aspect of the games they made. If I had to pick you one to start. Try 'Princess Evangile' since it's about a guy who's in debt and helps a girl revolutionize a all girl school to accept co-education in the future.)
• Sphere (People would know them for the game 'Yosuga no Sora' and the animation for the most Hentai like scenes that is rated as not hentai. It's pretty good however to read through it. Country side schooling with romance in it)
• Yuzusoft (Has quite of few games of High Romance. If anything, it has pretty good plotlines that can a lot of time to finish. With that said, try Duca-Riot or Noble Works since they're both pretty good romances to read)

Just here for the hentai or ecchi?

• D:drive and C:drive (Makes a lot of games that is basically that. Search it up and you'll get what I mean. It's a choose your adventure option picking note)
• Moonstone Cherry (They are still from Moonstone company but this particular brand focus on Ero-Scenes more than their main counterpart)
• Norn and Norn-Soft (This is another one that produces short Visual Novel that has a lot of it)
• Skyfish (There's only one game that I know that has it from almost the very start. Nyancafe is the one you're looking for. Dressed up cat girls from High School and you're a teacher to top it off that runs a Cat Cafe.)
• Illusion, Teatime, Fulltime, Kiss and Real (They all work on 3D modeling games. Try any of their products and don't let the bad names get to you. Oh... just don't pick any rape games though and you should be fine. Try 3D Custom Maid. That's not rape at all.)

Anyway, consider any of them and if you want to ask question or post question here in the open. Feel free to do so.