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The Visual Novel Thread


Jave
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So, in a hope to get together the VN crowd at SF I figured that I might do a thread.

The Visual Novel is essentially a genre of gaming that is focused almost entirely on story. Gameplay elements can widely vary from one VN to another, whether it's puzzle elements, point-and-click, dungeon crawling, mystery solving, decision making, or simply scrolling through the text. However, the big draw from VNs is always the story, characters, and plot twists.

Over at NeoGAF, they call the VN thread "A little something for everyone", which I think it's a pretty apt description. VNs can deal with drama, romance, humor, horror, mystery, suspense, and plenty of other genres. If you are willing to take the time to look around, you're likely to find something up your alley.

So, what VNs are currently being played at SF? Any experiences you want to share? Recommendations? Are you new to the VN scene and want to know where to begin? Any upcoming VNs you're excited about? This is the thread to talk about that.

(OP will update in the future with recommended games and how to get them)

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I played one called Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, Directors Cut years ago. Wikipedia classes it as a point and click, but I call it a visual novel because even the more intense sections were impossible to fail. It's a pretty interesting, albeit somewhat cliche story (it originally came out in 1996).

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VNs are books disguised as games. Kinda like Fig Newtons.

Is Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth a VN?

This is the kind of post I was hoping wouldn't show up in this thread. Should have added a Zera disclaimer in the OP.

Edited by Jave
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I've played... plenty. I personally find the horror, suspense, and mystery genres, among them all, to be most fulfilling.

I just finished one the day before, and I found it okay. One thing I liked about it was how quickly it turned from simple life to war story to Sci-fi(a bit). Even if certain major plot points went over my head at times.

I take it that it goes without saying that adult-oriented visual novels aren't to be recommended on this thread?

I would think it's fair game if you give a heads up about that, but I'm curious at that too.

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Bal's current/recent VN news:

I finished the House in Fata Morgana demo recently, and was really quite impressed with it. I should have picked it up while the release 15% sale was on, but I had a bunch of other things in the backlog and couldn't really justify the purchase. Maybe they'll put it back on sale for Halloween?

I have nothing but the highest of praises for Kindred Spirits on the Roof (some minor NSFW content). I will probably buy the limited edition physical that's being released in July, despite already having purchased and 100% the game.

I'm still slowly chugging away at Beat Blades Haruka (NSFW), which I can't really recommend for the plot, but as fap material it ain't half bad.

I'm still slowly chugging away at translating Atlach=Nacha (NSFW).

My backlog of titles continues to swell.

I should probably do a more in depth post on my favorite VNs of all time or a little more polished review and recommend section, but it's lunch break and that's too much effort for now.

Edited by Balcerzak
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I take it that it goes without saying that adult-oriented visual novels aren't to be recommended on this thread?

I'll confer with the other staff, but I think as long as there's no linking, posting of images of the adult CGs (censored or not), nor any quoted explicit text, simply mentioning titles with Adult Content should be perfectly acceptable, provided of course that the mention is made that, yes, the title in question is not suitable for All Ages (to save people googling it an unexpected and unwelcome eyeful).
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I suggest any 18+ VNs to have a NSFW tag put on them if people are recommending them, to distinguish them, some also have All Ages versions so people can check them out without 18+ material.

The entire Ace Attorney series is considered a Visual Novel, btw, including the Miles Edgeworth spin-offs.

On my hand I'm re-playing Osananajimi Wa Daitouryou (NSWF) and Kamidori Alchemist Meister (NSFW) and I'm really waiting on the release of the Perfect Edition of Little Busters, which is the 12+ edition which includes all the routes from EX.

My list of waiting on translations would take forever that I'd spend all of today listing them otherwise, Little Busters and Angel Beats 1st Beat are just biggies on my list.

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I recommend a pretty praised romantic VN, because I'm a sap, and it's safe for all ages.

Well, unless you'd rather watch the anime.

Clannad.

Vndb is a good resource for looking things up in regards to this.

They're pretty good about labeling things and hiding NSFW content unless you... pun intended... explicitly look for that kind of content.

Edited by shadowofchaos
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I'm currently playing Root Double on Steam, which also falls on the Horror/Mystery category and is by the director of the Infinity trilogy. I finished the A Route, which is incredibly intense and it hooks you right up, and the bad endings can be pretty brutal. Currently on the B Route which is mostly exposition, but sets you up for the rest of the game.

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I'll confer with the other staff, but I think as long as there's no linking, posting of images of the adult CGs (censored or not), nor any quoted explicit text, simply mentioning titles with Adult Content should be perfectly acceptable, provided of course that the mention is made that, yes, the title in question is not suitable for All Ages (to save people googling it an unexpected and unwelcome eyeful).

Hmm... feel free to spoiler tag it if mentioning NSFW titles is prohibited even if it's explicitly labeled as NSFW.

On my hand I'm re-playing Osananajimi Wa Daitouryou (NSWF) and Kamidori Alchemist Meister (NSFW) and I'm really waiting on the release of the Perfect Edition of Little Busters, which is the 12+ edition which includes all the routes from EX.

I'm a fan of Kamidori Alchemy Meister (or God Catching Alchemy Meister) myself! Heck, it's the NSFW VN I'd recommend. In addition to the usual visual novel elements (like lots of dialogue, decision making, and branching storylines -- there are 3 different endings to the game), there are also turn-based SRPG elements that Fire Emblem fans would have an easy time adapting to. There is also NG+ (New game+) content which includes new weapons, quests, and playable units. There are also some sidestories that take place outside of the main game that can allow you to get a few new units for NG+ as well.

Similar to Fire Emblem Awakening, you can easily break Kamidori Alchemy Meister by grinding for stats via level-ups (you can reset your unit's level to 1!) but that's NG+ content and would require going to endgame dungeons.

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You're at endgame at the point you get the fountain to restart at level 1 as the level you have to complete to get said item is probably top 5 hardest in Kamidori, it also requires artifacts which are either stupidly hard to grind up or decently easy to get for no reason.

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THe only VN I have played was katawa sougo. Good game. Its one of those pieces of media that takes what most people expected to be a horribly disturbing premise (a dating sim involving disabled girls), and does it in an very respectful manner (its moral is "don't let yourself be defined by your disability"). It has nsfw scenes, but they are not the main point. there is a menu option that replaces all nsfw graphics with pictures of food.

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Recently I've played fault milestone one after getting it on the Steam Golden Week Sale and Danganronpa 1 and 2 some time before that

Besides that I've played Fate/Stay Night, Tsukihime (both are NSFW), the Ace Attorney Trilogy and 999

I've also dabbled a little with Fate/Hollow Ataraxia and Kagetsu Tohya(again, both NSFW) but never got too far in either and been stuck near the end of Virtue's Last Reward for a while now not wanting to bother with the current escape room :^)

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I'm currently playing Root Double on Steam, which also falls on the Horror/Mystery category and is by the director of the Infinity trilogy. I finished the A Route, which is incredibly intense and it hooks you right up, and the bad endings can be pretty brutal. Currently on the B Route which is mostly exposition, but sets you up for the rest of the game.

Root Double, huh? I'm strongly considering that one, how would you sum up your opinion on what you've played so far?

Edited by Soledai
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Root Double, huh? I'm strongly considering that one, how would you sum up your opinion on what you've played so far?

Despite there being a bit too much exposition in the B Route which I'm currently playing, the A Route is absolutely fantastic and really hooks you into the game, and it only gets more and more intense as you continue. If you like VNs with suspense and horror, as well as paranormal stuff, then I recommend this one.

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Danganronpa is one visual novel with game elements that managed to draw me in from the beginning. It is full of anime stereotypes mixed with what you'd expect from the mystery and suspense genre, added with Ace Attorney-esque investigations and trials. Still, it is fun for those who are ok with anime pandering.

Other VNs that come into mind are Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (the anime adaptation is good, if you'd rather watch it) and Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (the anime adaptation is mediocre, I don't recommend it), from the same author; G-senjou no Maou, which is NSFW but Steam has a censored version that skips past those scenes, and.. well, pretty much the others ones that I had in mind were already said (Ace Attorney, Tsukihime, F/SN).

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im not really a fan of the romance visual novels i like ones with complex stories and have puzzles in them or are more point and click oriented

because of that my favorites are the Ace Attorney series, the Zero Escape series, the professor layton series, and hotel dusk room 215

if there was any other games like this out there i would enjoy it... id love recommendations because its few and far between that i find stuff like this.

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If you like Zero Escape, you should check out Ever17. They share the same author, and are both very worth reading. There's no gameplay, and at face value it looks like it will play out more like a romance VN, but the story is tightly woven, and has the complexity you would expect from him.

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If you like Zero Escape, you should check out Ever17. They share the same author, and are both very worth reading. There's no gameplay, and at face value it looks like it will play out more like a romance VN, but the story is tightly woven, and has the complexity you would expect from him.

ill give it a look, no guarantees ill like though...

but just because he wrote it doesnt make it good, that author did also write the dialogue for the ps1 game Pepsiman.... prolly not a proud moment of their life.

but ill give it a look

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I've played Ever17 and trust me, it's REALLY good.

I'd recommend YU-NO as well, but that one is NSFW. It's worth mentioning because it did a lot of things the Zero Escape series did, but over a decade earlier.

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The only one I've played is Time Hollow (DS), which is rated T IIRC. Has some disturbing imagery (not images), and the names are a little cheesy, but it's all right. Music's decent, too.

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