Your gateway VN?

No wait, I take that back, I actually think my first VN was Animamundi. Yeah. I'm fairly sure that was it because it's the only VN I ever remember buying in disc form.

Or it might have been Yojinbo. I got both the discs at the same time, but I liked Animamundi much much better. Just because Mary Sue female surrogate characters don't really do it for me.

I don't think I ever finished Yojinbo...

• sigh* It's a shame that Hirameki died.

edited 19th Feb '12 2:21:37 PM by Anarchy

Saya No Uta.

It blew my mind away and later melted it for use by Doctor Frankenstein.

Clannad was my very first VN. Admittedly, not a good choice for a beginner VN but thankfully, I seem to have inherited some of Katsuragi Keima's skills.

Mine was Clannad/Katawa Shoujo, got both of them the same day.

Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors is the earliest one I remember, if you don't count Ace Attorney. I probably played some freeware games beforehand, but I don't really remember any specifics.

Tsukihime, shortly after it was translated. Which I guess was 2006? I can't remember why.

Saya no uta. I remember the atmosphere was so tangibly depressing (or dark?) I could feel it slip into me in the days I played it and even recalling it. Even being a short visual novel, it felt long (draining perhaps?) when I was in the middle of it, because I was inevitably unable to stop reading. I swear, when you play that game, your mind instinctively shields you from realizing and recognizing the full horror of what you see. At least until after you finish, when it's safe to wonder. Otherwise I think I'd have gone insane.

My 'first 3' (in chronological order) insofar as getting into visual novels is concerned:

1. Crescendo: Diverse characters with individually unique backgrounds and endings in a single package. During the course of novel, there are both funny and gloomy moments.

2. Kana Little Sister: More challenging to complete than Crescendo. After completing the very first session, I felt numb for a few days. Yumi's role felt rather underrated — two of her endings have turned out to be actually pretty interesting.

3. Private Nurse: Each character provides unique storyline with distinctively different flavor. Maria — felt like a fairytale of some sort once I realized that Maria is definitely someone very different from others. Ayano — feels like a high school romance. Mio — feels rather subdued as her route develops slower than the other two but there are some surprises towards the end. The only downside is it only allows mouse command, making it more tedious to go through.

This is probably a typical response, but it's Tsukihime.

edited 7th Apr '12 10:04:10 AM by AStrayBard

Yume Miru Kusuri. Specifically Mizuki's route. A really enjoyable rollercoaster ride, with a gloriously satisfying happy ending. While I admit that I felt it was a bit over the top at points, as a whole it was a great experience, and remains one of my favourite VNs.

One of my favourite aspects was the Soundtrack, which managed to take the title theme and weave it through a variety of the tracks in a way I really enjoyed. It also seemed to fit each scene perfectly, whether it was a tender moment, or a wacky comedic occurrence.

edited 12th Apr '12 12:23:07 PM by CFodder

This is a tough one, but I'd say Fate/Stay Night (very stereotypical, right?). It's the first VN where I was genuinely interested in the story, and it got me reading many other V Ns where story was key, rather than the sex.

Bible Black, or at least that's the one I remember.

See, I discovered the OVA, and a quick trip to The Other Wiki revealed it was based on a VN. This led to not only the VN in question, but also Sagara Family, Snow Sakura, ect.; basically the entire G-Collections/Peach Princess catalogue of lighthearted harem-type V Ns. This also led me to the Game FA Qs Kana Little Sister board, which despite the website it's hosted on is a damn good place to discuss V Ns in general with some big fans of the genre. Crescendo, KLS, and YMK were introduced to me me here; so was FSN and Tsukihime which led to a love of the Nasuverse, as well as various other V Ns I'm too lazy to list. For the most part, if it's a VN that's been translated to English, there's a good chance I've played it at some point.

The last new VN I've played was Katawa Shoujo, although I've yet to complete it. I'm currently at the end of a replay of Mizuki's path in YMK, when work, life, and console games don't get in the way.

Man, that answers the question and then some, does it not? ;)

edited 1st May '12 11:28:34 AM by Ifritsparda

Fate/Stay Night.

It was discussed a bit on the Game FA Qs Contests Boards and I go there often so I decided to check it out.

While it isn't one of my favorites I did like it, though it was a while before I read another one.

A little something called Hourglass Of Summer. The World God Only Knows got me interested in these kind of games, and I wanted to try one. I could get this one for only 7 euros.

It was very sweet. No hentai either, which seems pretty rare for a visual novel, as far as I know.

edited 4th May '12 2:05:36 AM by Kayeka

Not really as rare as everyone thinks it is.

Point taken.

Type-MOON stuff, although I didn't really start reading visual novels in earnest until I discovered Yume Miru Kusuri and began reading it. Coincidentally, this was around the same time I discovered TV Tropes. Thus, a page was born.

I have an odd gateway to vns. While I did play some before, my gateway to visual novels was Neon Genesis Evangelion Girlfriend of Steel. Though it feels more like an OVA at times...

My first VN was Katawa Shoujo, but I didn't really plan to start playing more except that so many people were saying it was a gateway VN I decided to check out what it was a gateway to. I checked out Family Project, and was sufficiently unimpressed that I decided I probably wasn't going to play any others. It wasn't until I gave Fate/Stay Night a try because I knew Eliezer Yudkowsky was a fan of it that I decided to actually start seeking out other visual novels, so I consider that my gateway along with Katawa Shoujo.

Unless we're counting Ace Attorney, I'm pretty sure my first visual novel was Kanon about a year ago which I stumbled upon just by trying to find something sad and it really was the most tear-jerking thing I'd read at the time. Then I decided to read Clannad which is currently still the most tear-jerking thing I've read.

Only problem is most of the popular/well-known ones have hentai scenes of some kind.

True Love '95 and Season of the Sakura were what made me aware of the genre (both were played at relatively around the same time; it's been years, so I don't which was first). Narcissu and other free VN were what officially pulled me in, though, when it was released during the first al|together "festival."

Katawa Shoujo. I don't know how I got to know about it first, really. Probably some news item somewhere on the internets; might've seen some stuff about it on TV Tropes too, that and previously stuff about CLANNAD. Eventually, I got interested enough in the whole thing to d/l it, played it and enjoyed it, then moved on to the heavier stuff like CLANNAD and F/SN and Ever17 of course. So yay for KS!

I'm aware of the genre a bit (played True Love '95 and such), but I think it's Narcissu that actually got me in...back at the first al|together festival...

edited 5th Dec '12 11:28:24 PM by onyhow

Some old one I can't remember the name of. The first one I do remember is Clannad.