Obligatory post and open invitation to all into our resident <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Visual-Novels>Visual Novels usergroup.
Honestly, I'm surprised I'm the first one here...
Diddy_King said:
So, I've been on a visual novel stint lately. I started reading visual novels about a year and a half ago after I decided I wanted to continue the story of Clannad (ie. read stuff that was left out of the anime). Ever since then I've been reading/playing VN's pretty voraciously. Can't decide what I want to read next, so let's talk about some Visual Novels and maybe I can get some ideas on what to read.
Also, as for recommendations, I'll take any, but tbh I really enjoy romance in my Visual Novels, it's not a deal breaker if it doesn't have it, but I do enjoy it.
Well, you already have four of my major recommendations (Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, YMK, and Katawa Shoujo), so I have fewer recommendations than I might normally. On the other hand, since our tastes seem to match...
<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.308335-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Symphonic-Rain>Symphonic Rain is very good. That's almost all I can say about it...other than pointing out that it also has a rhythm game.
You might be interested in <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163769-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kanon>Kanon if you liked Clannad. I haven't played the latter, so I can't really compare them, but Kanon is one of my big three favorites (along with Tsukihime and Yume Miru Kusuri), and the comparison opinion I seem to hear the most is that Clannad has the better story and side characters, but Kanon has better heroines.
While I had a...
mixed opinion of it, you might give <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.237875-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Crescendo>Crescendo a try. I had problems with it, but I can see why it's a fairly popular title.
<url=www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.252998-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Princess-Waltz>Princess Waltz is a bit light on the romance, and is pretty expensive compared to other VNs, but I'll throw it out there. I liked the characters, and it's quite pretty.
You played Tsukihime. Have you played <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.139628-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Kagetsu-Tohya>Kagetsu Tohya, yet?
Obligatory <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206764-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kana-Little-Sister>Kana: Little Sister recommendation. I'd almost consider it required reading, though it's also a hard game to recommend, in a way.
I haven't finished them, just yet, but I'm having a lot of fun with Family Project and Snow Sakura. They're both really funny; the latter I'd describe as a romantic comedy with major,
major emphasis on the comedy. And the former has Norio Wakamoto.
I'll admit watching the anime, I wasn't really a fan of Nagisa. But after playing the Visual Novel, I can say I really loved her as a character.
Oh! That sounds promising. I haven't played Clannad, yet. Well...finally got it installed, at least, but I have a few games to finish first; my backlog is huge (playing Da Capo now). I have heard complaints about her even from people who share my tastes, but since those seem to be anime-centered, I might have a better reaction than I thought.
Okay, so I've heard more complaints than that, but none of the other ones seemed to match my personal tastes, so it's one of the few I take seriously. Besides, I loved Kanon.