Recommend a VN

[Ryto]

Does 'Kana - litte sister' count as a classic VN?

If so...that has to be the most heartwrenching/saddest game of all time - playing it (and obviously getting the bad end) literally knocked every ounce of joy out of me for at least a week.

I haven't played many other visual novels, but Kana-Litle Sister is amazing. It was one of the first times that something not from my real life made me really cry. I don't just mean a few tears, I might as well have been bawling like a baby.

[Bix]

As much as I would love to play another VN, I dont think I can take any more feels right now.
This was my first VN, and I don't know how I would handle another.

[melloace]

I'm kind of new to the visual novel genre and have found myself really enjoying Katawa Soujo. I did a quick search but didn't turn up much besides dated top 10 lists on google. What are some other must play visual novel games? Thanks! =D

[Vorgier]

http://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=tagspoil-0 ... d;s=rating

[gekiganwing]

It looks like Vorgier went into the Visual Novel Database, filtered the results for products which have at least a partial English version, and then listed them in terms of users' rankings. A lot of those top 25 or 50 products have very good reputations, though some of them are long out of print, or only available through fan translation patches.

Personally, I've read only a few of those top-rated VNs. Back in the early 2000s, I had the time to read the entirety of Kana Little Sister... but I currently find it tough to focus on long stories and games. A lot of what I personally recommend is short stories, especially ones which are free or inexpensive. The other stuff I like are stories/games which will work on my portable systems, from my iPod Touch to my DS to my PSP.

But enough about me. What sort of stories do you enjoy, Melloace? What types of games do you like? That will help fans here give you more useful recommendations.

[Wahahahaha]

Does 'Kana - litte sister' count as a classic VN?

If so...that has to be the most heartwrenching/saddest game of all time - playing it (and obviously getting the bad end) literally knocked every ounce of joy out of me for at least a week.

I haven't played many other visual novels, but Kana-Litle Sister is amazing. It was one of the first times that something not from my real life made me really cry. I don't just mean a few tears, I might as well have been bawling like a baby.

This.

I literally NEVER cried about anything not real life related until playing that game. (at least until KS got released )

A master-piece.

[oasis789]

Well, if you can wait a little bit, the official english localization of School Days is out in Q2. Fully animated and voiced

Except I already saw the anime and know how the story goes (including all the bad endings), so there's that

[Xuan]

I won't recommend School Days, really. Reading through the initial reviews I had thought it to be good and downloaded the Chinese version, but in the end it turned out (for me) to be very, very boring. It's an attempt to emulate an anime, but things progress at such a turtle speed it's not even fun to read.

[Valtameri]

As much as I would love to play another VN, I dont think I can take any more feels right now.
This was my first VN, and I don't know how I would handle another.

I second that! Too much feels to handle...

[gekiganwing]

I won't recommend School Days, really. Reading through the initial reviews I had thought it to be good and downloaded the Chinese version, but in the end it turned out (for me) to be very, very boring. It's an attempt to emulate an anime, but things progress at such a turtle speed it's not even fun to read.

The leader of my local anime club has talked about waiting for the official localization of School Days. I can't say that I'm interested... but I certainly know what it's like to really anticipate a game, and start it up the moment I'm done with work and have it in hand. For instance, Sakura Wars 5 was my "gotta have it" game of 2010. It let me down in a number of ways, but I'm glad that I finally had a chance to play a game from the series in English. Later that same year, I followed the progress of the Tokimemo Girls Side DS fan translation very closely, and while I had some complaints with that game as well, I enjoyed the vast majority of it. And over the last decade, there have been three new main series Dragon Quest games in English -- one of which was a huge letdown, one a good experience, and one not half bad.

If you're curious, the VNs which I'm currently waiting for include Moacube's story Cinders, Hanako Games' project Long Live the Queen, and Winter Wolves' game Roommates. All three have vague release dates, but they're being made by indie developers who charge money for the products they create... which means that they will be released when they're done. (As much as I admire the freeware and the fan translation scenes, I acknowledge that there's always the possibility that a project will never be finished or released.)

[kidlat020]

I can't believe no one recommended Brass Restoration. It's the closest VN TLed in english that ties with KS and about disability.

http://yandere.gray7.com/?page_id=50

Edit: Oh, someone did. That's good.

[laamentio]

I can't believe no one recommended Brass Restoration. It's the closest VN TLed in english that ties with KS and about disability.

http://yandere.gray7.com/?page_id=50

Edit: Oh, someone did. That's good.

I like it very much.
The amazing thing is involves many emotions, and every path (yes has multiple paths and endings) have a different approach.
In this case is the protagonist who is dealing with a disability and are the other characters are the ones that will help him.
So is a little similar in the topic to KS.

[Bix]

I currently have Narcissu installed on my computer, though I have been hesitant to try it.

[Xuan]

Hmm, Long Live The Queen and Cinders looks interesting, will look out for it.

The one VN I really want to read right now is d2b vs Deardrops: Cross the Future, but unfortunately I cannot find a single torrent or download link anywhere and it frustrates me to no end. Ever since Overdrive's release of the musical VN Kira Kira I've been a loyal fan of the series (VNs that took place after Kira Kira) since; it was truly amazing.

[wendeego]

If you're just getting into visual novels, probably the best possible starting place is True Remembrance. Not only is it short and completely free of objectionable material, but it also has one of the best English translations of any visual novel. It's not an all-time great, but for what it is it's certainly a classic.

Once you've finished it and have some other games under your belt, you might want to try out the following...

1. Cross Channel. The big one. A brilliant deconstruction of visual novels, a story about high school that proves to be deceptive and probably one of the best written visual novels of all time. Features a memorable, unsettling and ultimately tragic protagonist in Kurosu Taichi.

2. Muv Luv. Pretty much the absolute worst first title for beginners, since the meat of the narrative (Alternative) is preceded by what is essentially eight or nine hours of fluff (Extra and maybe Unlimited.) Once it gets going, though, it transforms from a simple romantic comedy into a testament to courage and responsibility in the face of all consuming despair. The fact that it has an incredible budget is only icing on the cake.

3. Forest. Just recently translated! Hilarious, depraved exercise in fairytales and metafiction, with images that are guaranteed to sear themselves into your skull. I can't say I understand all of it, but it's unmistakably a work of genius as well as being totally unique. This game knocked Ever-17 out of my top five, and since Ever-17 is a classic of the medium I assure you that means a lot.

4. Sharin no Kuni. Character study masquerading as social commentary masquerading as dating sim. A little inconsistent, but frequently emotionally powerful and genuinely thrilling. It's spiritual sequel, G-Senjou no Maou, is pretty great too, but the former's probably the more consistent of the two. Has a great villain in Houzuki, and a pretty good protagonist in Kenichi.

5. Sekien no Inganock. Pretty much every game in the What a Beautiful series is worth reading, but this one's probably my favorite. Picture the bastard child of Perdido Street Station and Revolutionary Girl Utena and you're halfway there.

There's obviously a ton of great visual novels I'm leaving out (Ever-17, Higurashi and Umineko, Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime, Swan Song, maybe Clannad if you're into that kind of thing) but those five are probably the best I've played. Heard great things about YU-NO too, so if you ever get your hands on that I'd certainly recommend it.