Recommend me some VN's

Hey guys.

Just finished my first visual novel, 999. I lost countless hours of sleep trying to finish up all the endings.

I am now heavily interested in VN's so I am curious what titles I should pursue next.

Any recommendations, VN vets? Currently, I am looking at Ever17 since it's written by the same guy (unless I'm mistaken).

(P.S. Please write the system the game is on). (P.P.S. Please let me know if there's a similar thread here).

edited 5th Aug '11 3:29:45 PM by Jewbacabra

The recommendation threads were all moved to a separate subforum for future reference. That said, Ever17 is indeed very good. I also recommend G Senjou No Maou. There are also relatively lighter fares such as Clannad that are worth consideration if you want something more romantic in nature. And uh Utawarerumono is pretty good, but it's drastically different than those three and something of a game hybrid.

edited 5th Aug '11 3:39:33 PM by Arha

I recommend Saya no Uta to everybody. It's a rite of passage.

But seriously, check out Sharin no Kuni. It's entertaining, awesome to play through, and has a message.

Apparently they recently decided to release Saya no Uta in english. Neato.

999 is a fairly serious, bleak story. Can we assume you're not especially interested in cute stories, or (reverse) harem content?

If you're willing to try stuff that English speaking fans are creating, you may want to try Sakevisual's detective game Jisei. The story continues in its recent sequel Kansei. Also, if you have a 360, then you may like the indie game The Chaos Gateway. Be sure to browse the Lemma Soft forums — you can find all sorts of freeware and indie games in the completed games section.

On JAST USA's forums, Saya no Uta is stated to be "95% complete." (source: http://www.jastusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=29 , not really worksafe) The company has a history of delays, and it has a bunch of other games/stories that are close to completion...

Phoenix Wright is pretty good.

If the game is absolutly fantastic, it could be a porno. As long as it someone thinks it's worth playing I'll check it out. I have a largely open mind. (I'm also reading The World God Only Knows, so I am actually curious to play a "dating sim" type of game or two, just to experiment with it! Who knows, I may enjoy it).

I do think I would prefer games more similar to 999 though. Romance is fine, and honestly I think its one of the most important parts of stories (hell, even in 999, without the love interest you probably wouldn't care about the story).

Recommend anything though. I'll dabble before I choose to ignore

I also just found Sata no Uta online, so I may play it before they release it.

edited 5th Aug '11 9:29:10 PM by Jewbacabra

Sharin no Kuni has sex scenes. But seriously, go through with it.

If you want to play a very TWGOK dating sim style story you should probably check out something like Shuffle. Better dating sim high school romance stories would include Clannad or Kanon. After that you start branching out into more dramatic territory. For example, love is a big theme in G Senjou No Maou but the story revolves around revenge and yakuza rather than trying to get through school or find a girlfriend.

Most V Ns you'll find will contain at least some sex and romance. Clannad and Ever17 are exceptions, but apart from that... eh, not much.

edited 5th Aug '11 9:31:20 PM by Arha

Will do, since you seem so adamant about it.

Honestly, I'm open to anything at this point. I feel like a kid who just discovered candy stores exist. I want to eat all the visual novels I can right now.

Has anyone played Theresia? It's linked on 999's wiki page.

edited 5th Aug '11 9:31:35 PM by Jewbacabra

Then I definitely recommend G Senjou No Maou. If you like magic and fighting and stuff Fate Stay Night is an obvious choice. Utawarerumono is kind of like a story about feudal Japan, only people have cat ears and wings occasionally. That's a terrible summation but I can't think of a good one right now.

To summarize

• Clannad: Good romance story
• Ever17: Kind of like the thing you just played. Very interesting. Very spoilerprone so I won't go into it much.
• G Senjou No Maou: True love, yakuza, revenge with classical music and really petty overboard payback being Serious Business.
• Sharin No Kuni: Same company as G Senjou No Maou. Explores a different justice system, atonement and society in general.
• Fate Stay Night: Awesome fighting, exploration of the human psyche and what things are worth.
• Shuffle: Gives you an idea of what Keima is talking about. Good but generic.

Arha, you are a rockstar .

I'll be playing Ever17 I believe. Then Sata no Uta. Afterwards I'll refer to your list, probably CLANNAD first because I've heard a lot about it. I'll throw in Sharin no Kuni as well somewhere in there.

Guess I'm set for 2 days haha.

edited 5th Aug '11 9:49:08 PM by Jewbacabra

Keep in mind that CLANNAD is looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong even for a VN.

I would recommend Tsukihime because it is, despite its rather old art and repetitive music, an honest classic that deserves its fame.

For the record, the first VN I read and finished was F/SN. Technically the first VN I read was Higurashi a whole year before that.

Obligatory When They Cry recommendation. The difference is that they're pretty much books with pictures and music. The gameplay is just mostly figuring out what's going on in the plot.

Also recommending Tsukihime if you're planning to get into the Nasuverse.

edited 17th May '13 5:43:47 AM by CompassionateSadist

You may want to wait a bit for Katawa Shoujo to be properly released, though. There is a demo, but the full version will be out this year, so no sense rushing.

edited 5th Aug '11 10:39:08 PM by Heatth

Thanks for the tip. Any concrete way of staggering these is helpful haha.

Eh, no need to hurry, really. Apart from the half dozen really good ones I mentioned in a bit of detail there's stuff like Higurashi, Utawarerumono, Tsukihime, Cross Channel, Little Busters, etc that are all really good. Then there's pretty good stuff like Kanon or Da Capo, and Da Capo II which is better than Da Capo. Some of these take a really long time, too. For example, Clannad apparently takes some people three hundred hours to read. Presumably they're not skipping previously seen scenes or something, but that only accounts for so much.

Does anyone know of a reliable source that I can get ever17 from?

Here. Not necessarily fast, but fast if necessary. There may be torrents as well, check TPB or isohunt.

edited 7th Aug '11 10:51:10 AM by Five_X

If you like Saya no Uta, I recommend Kikougai - the cyber slayer. Though it is not as good as Saya no Uta, it has the same writer and good in its own right. Besides, who doesn't like kung-fu cyborg action?

Also, for something completely different, I recommend two visual novel/ videogame hybrids that parody the Fantasy RPG genre. Monster Girl Quest and the Rance series (namely Sengoku Rance). They both have a pretty good story and gameplay.

Monster Girl Quest seems like the Traditional turn based RPG, but lacks grinding and the battles involve a good deal of strategy. The story is refreshing if you grew up on stuff like Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy and is worth reading. Just be prepared for cute monster girls eating you (usually figuratively but sometimes literally) if you lose. The story has a mostly humorous tone but it definitely has depth and is interesting because of it.

The Rance series started in 1989 (in other words, it's almost as old as Final Fantasy). Despite that, the main series of games involve one continuous story about the Heroic Sociopath rapist on a quest of sex in a Medieval European fantasy World of Badass. The games are often comedic in nature, but the plots and characters can be epic/memorable and are worth playing just for them. Most of the Rance games are turn based RP Gs, but Sengoku Rance is a turn based strategy. The gameplay is also good.

Sengoku Rance does have a surprisingly good story and I like the soundtrack despite how wildly inappropriate it intentionally is on occasion. However, I would not recommend it to someone who hasn't read a lot of other VNs yet because it takes a lot to be able to accept Rance as being funny instead of horrible.

I agree with the guy above me. Don't play the Rance series unless you can see Rape as Comedy and can handle Dead Baby Comedy and Refuge in Audacity.

Anyways, for more serious stories, I would recommend Family Project and Yume Miru Kusuri, both by the guy who did Kana Little Sister (which I also am obligated to also recommend.} All are highly emotional Slice of Life novels.

Family Project discusses what it means to be a family. It is almost absurdly heartwarming and you will probably cry. Not as much of an Utsuge as the other two, but still memorable.

Yume Miru Kusuri - This one deals with heavy psychological issues like depression and many other things I won't spoil. Not for the faint of heart though not in the same way as Saya No Uta. Utusuge levels are almost to Key Visual Arts levels. Crying is virtually obligatory. A bit Anvilicious at times, but Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped.

Kana Little Sister: A bit of a Cliché Storm (since it did create many of those Cliches), but still compelling and worth a try. Ill Girl Ustuge.

Oh, and if you like Yandere Love Triangles, School Days is coming out next year.

edited 9th Aug '11 12:50:07 PM by encrypted12345

Finished Saya no Uta.

That was intense.

All three endings?