• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Dipping into Visual Novels

Q

Quasar

Member
So with the Steam sale going on I thought this might be an opportunity to finally dip my toe in.

Not sure where though. I considered Clannad, but its pretty highly priced and the anime made me a blubbering wreck. So I might skip that for now. Have been considering Grisaia. I didn't mind the anime. Is it voiced and with the same people? Also been considering World End Economica as its by the Spice and Wolf writer.

Tangentially related, are the many visual novels on iOS? Or does Apples policies get in the way?
 
If you have a 3DS the Ace Attorney Trilogy's on sale.

Not sure about iOS stuff.

There's Dramatical Murder Re:Code on the Vita which is clean but that's JP only. Avoid Mink though.
 
I'm going to try and recommend porn-free and SFW VNs in my current folder on the PC that are pretty universally well received:

Ever17
Steins;Gate
Umineko
Narcissu

I ran out of VNs without sexual content.
 
If you're looking for titles that have to be on steam, a lot of people have enjoyed Grisia even though I despise it, but it's certainly worth giving a look. I've also heard a lot of good things about Fault Milestone One and Two.

If you're willing to venture off steam, you can probably get a copy of Stein's;Gate on your platform of choice (PC/PS3/Vita) on the cheap right now, and it's a very solid entry level game.

As for games on IOS, there are a lot more in Japanese than there are in English, and unless there's been some English release I haven't heard about since I last had an idevice the best VN in english is probably the port of Kira☆Kira.

Shameless plug for the community thread while I'm here.
 
I assume you've played a lot of the pseudo-VN's that have gotten popular in the west? Stuff like the Zero Escape series, Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa? If not, all those are worth a go.

In the pure VN space, Steins;Gate is awesome. I also recommend Uchikoshi's Infinity Trilogy (Never 7, Ever 17 and Remember 11). They are by the same guy that did the Zero Escape games and are all pretty incredible. Never 7 in particular really got to me. Unfortunately, only one of those got an official English release and is now super hard to find, but all 3 are worth playing.

There's also shit like Fate/Stay Night. I'm not a huge fan, but it's still sort of worth reading. It has terrible pacing, a pretty unlikable cast and some ugly art, but there are interesting ideas here that spawned a huge multimedia franchise, so it might really click with you.
 
yami4ct said:
I assume you've played a lot of the pseudo-VN's that have gotten popular in the west? Stuff like the Zero Escape series, Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa? If not, all those are worth a go.
Click to expand...

I've not played much at all, just watched quite a bit of anime based on VNs. In part because I've mostly been a PC only person (and never owned a dedicated handheld).

As for Steam, I only brought it up because with the sale on I figured I'd find some stuff discounted to try/start with.
 
Quasar said:
I've not played much at all, just watched quite a bit of anime based on VNs.
Click to expand...

Ok. Then I say start with the Zero Escape games (999 and Virtue's Last Reward) if you can. The DS version is easily the best if you can play that and VLR can be played on 3DS or Vita.

If you have access to zero handhelds, then I still say check out his Infinity Trilogy like I mentioned. I found those games to be incredibly emotional and fun experiences. As a word of advice, don't read anything about them before reading. They aren't purely surprised driven games, but letting the plot hit you naturally makes them work so much better.
 
Steam unfortunately doesn't have many of the "greats" just yet. Ace Attorney, Steins;Gate, Danganronpa and Zero Escape are the big ones, none of which are on Steam, though Danganronpa and Steins may be coming to it.

Though you do have access to some other well-regarded PC ones outside of Steam like Saya no Uta and Swan Song. Just keep in mind some of the genre's better titles are partially porn.

Edit: Completely forgot that Higurashi is on Steam, though you won't get the full story of that for a while.
 
cosmicblizzard said:
Steam unfortunately doesn't have many of the "greats" just yet. Ace Attorney, Steins;Gate, Danganronpa and Zero Escape are the big ones, none of which are on Steam, though Danganronpa and Steins may be coming to it.

Though you do have access to some other well-regarded PC ones outside of Steam like Saya no Uta and Swan Song. Just keep in mind some of the genre's better titles are partially porn.

Edit: Completely forgot that Higurashi is on Steam, though you won't get the full story of that for a while.
Click to expand...

Saya no Uta was my first pure VN. Boy that game is...an experience. Not sure I can recommend someone willingly put themselves through that.
 
Just to get this out there since it seems a lot of people are not aware of it: S;G is not coming to steam due to contract restrictions, and won't ever unless an alternate publishing deal is worked out with 5pb/N+ or they self publish it, which may be a difficult task due to the rights to the translation being otherwise locked up (if I remember who has the rights to what correctly).
 
Spyder_Monkey said:
I heard School Days is good.
Click to expand...

School Days is an interesting study in lavish cheapness. It claims to be fully animated, but most "animated" scenes are either just their mouths moving or panning shots of the background. Several scenes are reused as well, sometimes regardless if there would be any lip-sync issues. Since the Japanese version was censored in accordance with Japanese law, most of the dicks look like fleshy fungal growths when uncensored (was about to say uncut, but that means something entirely different here).

The sequel, Shiny Summer Days, just came out in English a few months ago, and is more of the same...with two major differences.

1: Crashes like a motherfucker. Saving, re-sizing the screen, fast-forwarding, skipping ahead, all things that can and will crash the game, even when fully patched.

2: Something about twelve-year olds. I wouldn't know. Mllf-trio for life.

Umm...So I've heard anyway.


Anyhow, if you want an amazing visual novel on IOS, get "Cry Of The Banshee". Really well done and definitely worth a play through. I would also recommend "The Secret Of Chateau De Moreau" for IOS. It's more of a puzzle game, but there are a bunch of VN elements there as well. Winter Wolves makes some pretty good VN/RPGs for PC, and even though the Steam versions have mild editing, it's easy to make them the unedited versions
 
yami4ct said:
999 loses the puzzles on iOS and some moments lose their impact because of it.

Haven't heard really anything much about the PW trilogy. The reaction was tepid at best.
Click to expand...

Wait they really took out puzzles from 999? That is the dumbest thing omg. The most important story point is based around
being able to solve puzzles.

Also, here's something else about the PW series: It's fucking awesome and it's awesome and really fun and you should play it.
 
I never got around to finishing Hate Plus because I was wanting the achievement for waiting the actual amount of time in real life for each sequence rather than using the in-game skip... meh
 
MasterHoodie said:
Wait they really took out puzzles from 999? That is the dumbest thing omg. The most important story point is based around
being able to solve puzzles.
Click to expand...

Certain puzzles required two screens, as does the entire story if I recall. I thought the top screen was the present and the bottom screen was the past, so I guess the way they got around that was just tell you story outright.
 
Yuuichi said:
Just to get this out there since it seems a lot of people are not aware of it: S;G is not coming to steam due to contract restrictions, and won't ever unless an alternate publishing deal is worked out with 5pb/N+ or they self publish it, which may be a difficult task due to the rights to the translation being otherwise locked up (if I remember who has the rights to what correctly).
Click to expand...
A Steins;Gate app was found in the recent leak, so someone has/had the intention of putting it on Steam.

The translation was recently used for the PS3/Vita versions and that's from a different publisher as well.
 
0kKzRCr.jpg
Click to expand...
For a first Visual Novel, I'd actually recommend Katawa Shoujo. It's much better than a lot of the other visual novels I've tried. It's pretty short and less daunting than other visual novels (e.g. Clannad and Steins;Gate). I wrote a review on it a few years back if you're interested in learning more.

Here's the link to the game: http://www.katawa-shoujo.com/
 
Banshee's Last Cry on iOS is pretty great. Murder mystery set in a snowed in cabin/ski resort.

I also second Planetarian. Short and sweet, and no choices so only a single ending. No hassle of fast-forwarding text and picking alternate choices.
 
Quasar said:
Tangentially related, are the many visual novels on iOS? Or does Apples policies get in the way?
Click to expand...

For iOS there are:

Banshee's Last Cry
999: The Novel
Hakuoki
Corpse Party
Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Trilogy HD
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

Banshee's Last Cry and the Phoenix Wright games are awesome visual novels for iOS. 999: The Novel is good, but the DS game is better.
 
AFI-kun said:
For a first Visual Novel, I'd actually recommend Katawa Shoujo. It's much better than a lot of the other visual novels I've tried. It's pretty short and less daunting than other visual novels (e.g. Clannad and Steins;Gate). I wrote a review on it a few years back if you're interested in learning more.

Here's the link to the game: http://www.katawa-shoujo.com/
Click to expand...

for a game about fucking handicapped teenage girls it sure had a nice ost
 
yume miru kusuri
kana: little sister
bible black
saya no uta
fate stay/night
tsukihime

good
ero
vn's arent on steam, sorry
 
Vlaphor said:
Certain puzzles required two screens, as does the entire story if I recall. I thought the top screen was the present and the bottom screen was the past, so I guess the way they got around that was just tell you story outright.
Click to expand...

That's so stuuuuuuuuuuupid.
 
Looking around the App store, it appears that Planetarian and a bunch of the Higurashi games are available there too if you're interested.
 
cosmicblizzard said:
Steam unfortunately doesn't have many of the "greats" just yet. Ace Attorney, Steins;Gate, Danganronpa and Zero Escape are the big ones, none of which are on Steam, though Danganronpa and Steins may be coming to it.

Though you do have access to some other well-regarded PC ones outside of Steam like Saya no Uta and Swan Song. Just keep in mind some of the genre's better titles are partially porn.

Edit: Completely forgot that Higurashi is on Steam, though you won't get the full story of that for a while.
Click to expand...

There are more and more high profile VNs on Steam. I would recommend Grisaia e.g.
If my heart had wings is also quite nice, though you need the uncensor patch because of story reasons.
 
If you're willing to go off official channels like Steam and iOS, there are plenty of well-done visual novels out there as well (just not localized for the US - have to download translation patches).
 
Eila said:
Try Planetarian. It's by Key, the creators of Clannad. It's pretty short and it's on steam.
Click to expand...

Yuuichi said:
I've also heard a lot of good things about Fault Milestone One and Two.
Click to expand...

kagamin said:
Should I recommend people Analogue: A Hate Story as a starter VN? lol
Click to expand...

AFI-kun said:
For a first Visual Novel, I'd actually recommend Katawa Shoujo.
Click to expand...

Looks like all 4 of my recommendations have already been mentioned.

Planetarian is a kinetic VN (no dialogue choices) but it's fairly short and if it doesn't make you shed a tear by the end you're probably dead inside. Fault Milestone One and Two are part of a continuing series of (basically) kinetic fantasy VNs that are notable for their high production values (particularly Two), compelling story and complete lack of fan service, I cannot recommend them highly enough. Analogue is an interesting one, you spend your time reading through ship logs with the help of a cute AI girl to discover what caused the downfall of a civilization and the death of everyone on the ship. It deals with some heavy subjects and also has a fairly unique gameplay segment. As for Katawa Shoujo, what can I say? Engaging, thought provoking and surprisingly tasteful for what appears outwardly to be nothing but some kind of cripple fetish game. It's essential.
 
AFI-kun said:
For a first Visual Novel, I'd actually recommend Katawa Shoujo. It's much better than a lot of the other visual novels I've tried. It's pretty short and less daunting than other visual novels (e.g. Clannad and Steins;Gate). I wrote a review on it a few years back if you're interested in learning more.

Here's the link to the game: http://www.katawa-shoujo.com/
Click to expand...

I would echo this as well. Katawa Shoujo is a great game for getting into visual novels due to it's smaller size, but it is still pretty strong. Each route should be able to be cleared in around 3-5 hours, and the choices aren't too complicated from what I remember. It's also free if that's appeals you more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Best visual novels?
2
70
6K
Shaggidy replied
Visual Novel recommendations
2
60
3K
KiteGr replied
Yorhel, founder of VNDB (The Visual Novel Database) has passed away
0
267
nial replied
BL visual novel #ThisGameIsNotReal banned from Steam due to not meeting the distribution standards, will be available on DLsite
43
493
dgproject replied
  • Featured
Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse |OT| Square Enix Mystery Visual Novel
|OT| Trailer 
20
2K
Vampire On Titus replied
Top Bottom