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.
Visual novels I've read. (this is not every one I've read, but it's the most memorable of the bunch.)
Clannad - Key
Little Busters! - Key
Cross Channel
Yume Miru Kisuri: A Drug that Makes you Dream
Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My Girlfriend is the President
Hoshizora no Memoria: Wish Upon a Shooting Star
Katawa Shoujo
Fate/Stay Night
Tsukihime
These are not all the visual novels I've read, but I've been typing for a good 90 minutes now and it's nearing 7 AM.
If this thread get's any kind of traffic, I'll gladly update later, feel free to post recommendations/mini reviews of your own, please add spoiler tags for anyone who hasn't read them/may want to read them in the future.
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.
Visual novels I've read. (this is not every one I've read, but it's the most memorable of the bunch.)
Clannad - Key
{Most people should already know Clannad (if you're a VN reader or even if you watch anime). The anime was pretty well done, both the English and Japanese versions. But the VN brings even more to the table than the anime did. Take into account that the regular anime is 12 episodes per season. ~24 minutes per episode. Clannad was 2 seasons, so we have roughly 600 minutes of anime. That boils down to roughly 10 hours. The Clannad VN is roughly 30-50 hours, so you get to spend even more time with the stellar characters and learn more about them as people. 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. Also, while the anime did a great job adapting the story to a different medium, there were just things they could not fit due to time constraints. So playing the VN you get quite a few "extras" that didn't make it into the final cut of the Clannad anime. I may be a bit biased, because Clannad was my first VN. But I give it a 9/10}
Little Busters! - Key
{I have not watched the Little Busters! anime yet. TBH I haven't heard the kindest things about it. But the Visual Novel is a pretty stellar experience. Key has a way of tugging at your heartstrings, and you will likely cry at least once for their animes/VNs. LB! is split into 2 parts, the main story, and the afterstory (Refrain). The main story is pretty good, it's mostly comedic, with touches of romance. If I had to grade LB! off of the main story I'd give it a 7 or so. But Refrain is a whole other beast. It keeps the comedy, and to a lesser extent the romance, but it focuses heavily on the true message of LB! Friendship. Taking Refrain into account, I give LB! an 8.5/10.}
Cross Channel
{Ah, Cross Channel. Before I even start, I'll say that this is one of the very few VNs I give a 10/10 to. This game just has so much going for it. The synopsis is pretty straightforward, and really odd at the same time. It's a schooldays type VN, but with a twist. The character's all go a a school for people who can't adapt to society for one reason or another. They are given adaptation quotients, measured in percentages, the higher the percentage, the less likely they are to be able to adapt to regular society. Our main character (Kurosu Taichi) has a mind boggling adaptation quotient of ~90%. I'll say this as well, Kurosu is probably one of my favorite protagonists of all time. His main issue is he sees sexual harassment as a form of love. He's not above flipping a girls skirt, or remarking on what kind of underwear they are wearing. He tries to control this part of himself, playing it off as regular teasing/joking, but he's got a dark side of himself that he can't always quite control. But at the same time he cares for his friends, to the point that he sacrifices literally everything to make them happy. Combine great characters with great character development, and the unexplained fact that literally everyone in the world vanished one day except for the main cast, and you get an experience that's at once heartwarming, surreal, clever, funny and tearjerkingly sad.}
Yume Miru Kisuri: A Drug that Makes you Dream
{This VN falls safely into the Eroge zone. I'll mention this, I don't mind sex/sex scenes in my Visual Novels. But I read them for the story. As long as it doesn't detract from a good story, it's all vanilla in my book. The synopsis of YMK is pretty cool. In most VN's, you have a protagonist who is at once unique, but at the same time has enough leeway for you, the reader, to put yourself in his shoes. The protagonist of YMK bemoans the fact that he feels like he is "colourless". He feels that he has no personality to speak of, he's not unpopular, nor is he hated, but he feels that he adapts to the people around himself, and puts on a false mask, trying to be a "normal" person. That is until he meets the heroines, and slowly gains the "colour" he was missing in his life. The sex can get a bit over the top, but it's an eroge, so you really can't blame it. Overall the game is pretty well done, and has some stellar scenes/routes. I give it an 8/10. }
Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My Girlfriend is the President
{The synopsis of this game is pretty out there. The idea is that one day an alien was piloting her ship near earth, she lost control and crash landed in Nippon (Japan). She landed on the Diet building, accidentally killing the Nippon government officials. She decides to fix everything, but to do so she has to brainwash the masses, so they won't panic. She institutes a democracy, mistaking the idea that all governments have one, and appoints your childhood friend (Yukino Ohama) as President of Nippon. This game is another one that falls squarely into the eroge zone. Four beautiful girls (your childhood friend, the president of Rusia (Russia), another childhood friend who turned you down in the past and is now the secretary of state and the aforementioned spaceship [in human form] that crashed into the Diet building), a protagonist who also shares the same mindset as Kurosu Taichi from Cross Channel (ie. seeing sexual harassment as a form of love), and various risque occurences between the protagonist and the heroines. With a ridiculous plot, and a game geared toward the eroge market, you'd expect something that isn't terribly well thought out story wise, but you'd be sorely mistaken. The character development in this game is amazing. The characters grow as people, their relationships feel real, and the protagonist get's stars in my book by discarding his playboy attitude once he commits to being with a girl. Add to that the great comedy and stellar supporting cast, you get a hell of a read. 8.5/10.}
Hoshizora no Memoria: Wish Upon a Shooting Star
{Just finished this VN today. The story is pretty interesting, the main character, Kagisaki You, used to play with a girl at the lookout when he was a kid, they used to watch the stars, and she was his only friend. He had to move away because of family issues, but they vowed to meet again one day. Seven years later, he returns to the town, and travels to the lookout, hoping to get a clue. All he has is the girls name, but he knows that if he tries, they'll reunite eventually. Once he gets to the top, he's surprised to find a young girl, who looks exactly like the girl did when she was a child. She says she's a shinigami (grim reaper) who reaps nightmares, and on a subsequent visit, she stabs him with her scythe and he looses the girls name from his memories. The cast in this is great, there are 7 routes, 3 of which are open from the beginning, 2 which open after completing one of the initial 3, and 2 which are what I would assume are the "true ends." All of the heroines are great, and there's a lot going on in the town that isn't initially obvious. They even make callbacks to a myth in town of a guy and girl who had their love reaped, and this myth is slowly revealed as being tied into the protagonist and his story. This game was emotional, and the twists were very well implemented, the only downside are the eroge scenes, let's just say they can be a bit awkward (as one of your heroines is your half sister, and another is the aforementioned shinigami (who as I've stated appears as a gradeschooler.) Still, great story, beautiful visuals, 8.5/10.}
Katawa Shoujo
{This one got a fair bit of attention some months ago, and deservedly so. I assume many people already know about this, but I'll put a bit about it down. This is an English VN (which is not terribly common). The synopsis is the protagonist has a heart defect that causes his heart to fail if he gets too stressed or hit in the chest. He has his first heart attack as a girl is confessing to him at school. After this he ends up being transferred to a school for "special" cases such as himself. This is a story about overcoming ones depression, and seeing the beautiful in life. The protagonist is initially pretty bummed about his circumstances, the girl who confessed to him grew apart from him emotionally, and he's feeling abandoned and alone. He meets several girls, with varying disabilities, and he begins to look past these issues, and see the girls for themselves. This game is pretty emotionally well done, the main issue with it is that the routes were not all written by the same person/group of persons. So some routes are fantastic, and others are noticeably less so. Overall though the routes are all pretty good, and as I said there are 1 or 2 that are noticeably stellar. 8/10.}
Fate/Stay Night
{This is the VN of VN fans. Everyone who has read a visual novel should have at least heard of this game, if not already read it. The synopsis is as follows. The protagonist is an aspiring mage, who only has one talent to speak of. The ability to "strengthen" items. And tbh he's not very good at doing it initially. He get's drawn into the Holy Grail war, and summons a "servant" to fight for him (all completely by accident might I add). Generally the servants are meant to be front line fighters, while getting support from the mage, but the protagonist can't really do much and is at a disadvantage. Still, he vows to fight and put an end to this conflict which is taking lives, because he wants to be a superhero, like his adopted father who saved him from death when he was a child. This game has 3 very different routes, Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel. Each route, while following the same story, are completely different in so many ways. You really feel like you are playing 3 different visual novels going through Fate/Stay Night. Fantastic game, 9/10.}
Tsukihime
{This is a classic. It's a bit dated, the art isn't the best to look at, but the story more than makes up for it. The main character Tohno Shiki, used to live in the Tohno estate, until one day he had an accident, and got sent off to live with a foster family. Several years later he's called back to the house, as his father has just passed away. After living for seven years in a family that was pretty much middle class, he has trouble adapting to the super stuffy/aristocratic family. Add to this his strange ability to see what he calls "lines of death", which is an ability he got after his accident when he was a child, and the various supernatural occurrences that seem to be drawn to him, and you have one hell of a story. Shiki can see "lines of death" which he can cut no matter what. He can use any instrument, even one such as a butter knife, and can cut through anything, even steel, as long as he can see the lines. He feels like this ability (basically being able to see "death" in everything he looks at) would have driven him insane, if not for a kind older girl who gave him a pair of glasses which block the lines from his vision. He tries to live like normally, but as I've mentioned already, strange occurrences just seem to be drawn to him whether he likes it or not. 9/10, may upgrade to a 10/10 in a few years (since they are doing a remake of the game with enhanced graphics)}
These are not all the visual novels I've read, but I've been typing for a good 90 minutes now and it's nearing 7 AM.
If this thread get's any kind of traffic, I'll gladly update later, feel free to post recommendations/mini reviews of your own, please add spoiler tags for anyone who hasn't read them/may want to read them in the future.
