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Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:21 pm
by Xenokitten
Well It's been a year+ since I played Tsukihime, I thought it was described as "life lines" It could more accurately be a death line I guess. But life line works, until he breaks it. It's more like the object or person's physical being more than "life" anyways since it applies to non living objects, talks about how he would cut through the headboards or tables in his room out of boredom.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:14 pm
by _abscess
Xenokitten wrote:Well It's been a year+ since I played Tsukihime, I thought it was described as "life lines" It could more accurately be a death line I guess. But life line works, until he breaks it. It's more like the object or person's physical being more than "life" anyways since it applies to non living objects, talks about how he would cut through the headboards or tables in his room out of boredom.
Well, I'm a Type-Moon fanboy, so I'm somewhat nit-picky when finding mistakes in the concepts of the nasuverse. But this is me derailing the topic, so I'll stay shut about it. For translated VNs, you guys should check insani's website. It's a good place to start and has a number of translated free VNs that are a good read. Link
here
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:23 pm
by SirMax
abscess wrote:
As for something light, you could try True Remembrance. It's a good story that can be read without a hassle and it's legally free to download.
Edit: Also, True Remembrance has no porno.
D-awwww I loved the ending. Also Blackiris is badass. But LIGHT? It's not what I'd call light-hearted :/
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:01 pm
by abscess
SirMax wrote:abscess wrote:
As for something light, you could try True Remembrance. It's a good story that can be read without a hassle and it's legally free to download.
Edit: Also, True Remembrance has no porno.
D-awwww I loved the ending. Also Blackiris is badass. But LIGHT? It's not what I'd call light-hearted :/
Well, it is for me. It's not like there's impending awesome
all the time or that the character can get killed by pretty special effects if he faces at the wrong place, but more along the lines of "Oh maaan.... this... this is...... *manly tears*."
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 6:10 pm
by SirMax
abscess wrote:SirMax wrote:abscess wrote:
As for something light, you could try True Remembrance. It's a good story that can be read without a hassle and it's legally free to download.
Edit: Also, True Remembrance has no porno.
D-awwww I loved the ending. Also Blackiris is badass. But LIGHT? It's not what I'd call light-hearted :/
Well, it is for me. It's not like there's impending awesome
all the time or that the character can get killed by pretty special effects if he faces at the wrong place, but more along the lines of "Oh maaan.... this... this is...... *manly tears*."
it is about what is essentially a plague village in a dystopia of fatal depression that is completely incurable except by shunting it onto other people. There is a part in which you are the target of a terrorist group. How is that lighthearted? 
also the lack of choices was a little disappointing.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:39 pm
by Guest
I'm almost done playing Yume Miru Kusuri. It's pretty good, but it has given me a new-found appreciation in the consistency of KS's writing. Specifically in KS's quality, personality consistency (and its development) of its characters.
Yume Miru Kusuri is quite good overall, but some of these scenes are pretty painful to read.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:03 pm
by Deimos
Although it has already been mentioned in here I would advise to play Crescendo for those who do not fear erotica. I does not use the first-person-narration that is so common in Visual Novels and features a Main Character that stays consistent in his (admittedly minimal - but that's normal for this genre) character. Most of all it has a cast of believable heroines whose reasons for liking Main Character are not that unrealistic.
The art of Crescendo takes some time getting used to, though.
PS: I am going to play True Remembrance this week because of the numerous recommendations in this thread.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:44 pm
by vaen
I have to suggest brass restoration as VN similar to KS.
I haven't played through it all yet (only got all the endings of 1 character, and that one has the fewest) but in style and theme it reminds me of KS a lot.
it's about a dude who's really great at drumming but loses his left arm due to incredible stupidity and bad luck and sees his hopes and dreams dashed and crumble. he's the only one who gets disabled though.
the dialogue is a bit wacky and you either hate the style of humour or love it. basically the girls tend to help you get over what happened or you fuck everything up and everybody hates you
like KS act 1, it has no H-scenes btw.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:04 am
by G3n0c1de
Dear god, I just finished Narcissu. It was so good, but so sad at the same time... The second to last chapter almost left me crying. I can definitively say that this is the first time a damn video game almost made me cry. And now I appreciate KS even more for being relatively light, both in tone and on my sad emotions. Also with some of these other VNs, are there easy ways to download them? I've noticed that some of the good ones have been released commercially. So I'd either have to buy it, or P2P it.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:06 am
by vaen
G3n0c1de wrote:Dear god, I just finished Narcissu. It was so good, but so sad at the same time... The second to last chapter almost left me crying. I can definitively say that this is the first time a damn video game almost made me cry. And now I appreciate KS even more for being relatively light, both in tone and on my sad emotions. Also with some of these other VNs, are there easy ways to download them? I've noticed that some of the good ones have been released commercially. So I'd either have to buy it, or P2P it.
you can get brass restoration here
http://yandere.gray7.com/?p=64
I torrent all my other VN's. there are a few collection torrents around with everything from type moon or released by late hirameki. I can definitly recommend those. (though, hirameki released a lot of weird stuff for dvd. I don't think you can watch a VN comfortably from a DVD even though it does allow choices.)
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:09 pm
by Xenokitten
Hello can anyone recommend some sim/vn games based on the following information please?
Requirements:
1.) I GREATLY prefer english language - either commercial or fan translated
2.) I'm not "afraid" of ero, but I would greatly prefer a game that focuses on story/character developement, Romance story preferred. Ero scenes are ok, but should be well timed and few in comparison to non ero scenes. I played Tsukihime and loved it, even though it had erotica. The erotica made up maybe fewer than 2 hours in each 8 hour path, with the majority of it being well written and well timed and seemingly appropriate for the situation. I don't want a game that's JUST a porno. (or more porno than plot) I'd like some actual moving, emotional plot and character development.
3.) Must have interactive, branching plot, with multiple paths and endings
List of VN/Sims (or games with partial vn/sim qualities) I have played:
Tsukihime
Clannad
Princess Maker
Tokimeki Memorial Girl's side 1 and 2
Graduation
Dark Alchemist
Ai Yori Aoshi
Piece of Wonder
Phantom Inferno - didn't really care for this one
Yojinbo
Thousand Arms
Persona 1-4
Lost in Blue
Phoenix Wright
Princess Debut
Avalon Code
Harvest Moon (various in the series)
most of the fan ren'py games from lemmasoft forums
I recently ordered Ever17 yesterday icon_smile.gif Been wanting it for years. Tried to buy it once before on ebay and the seller supposedly "died" and his "brother" refunded my money O_o; Can't wait to play it though icon_biggrin.gif
I plan to eventually order Kanon and Fate/Stay Night. - Importing is expensive and I'm lazy and don't want to install japanese unicode again (had it on here before I had to reformat)
I've probably played other games which I am now forgetting
----------------------
I'm considering buying "A drug that makes you dream" - I am aware it contains alot of adult content But it has high ratings on vndb. Can anyone tell me anything about it? Would I be happy with such a purchase or is it a rampant tasteless porno? The artwork is very pretty. I can't imagine a game with poor writing scoring so high on the database. Is it worth playing through for the storyline?
Also, all of the above questions, but in regard to following games which I know even less about:
Figures of Happiness
Crescendo
Snow Sakura
Princess Waltz
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Can anyone recommend anything not in my list that I may like? Thanks for your time and consideration.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:04 pm
by delta
Xenokitten wrote:
"A drug that makes you dream"
Figures of Happiness
Crescendo
Snow Sakura
Princess Waltz
Yume Miru Kusuri is pretty well-written and has a good scenario. I'd recommend it. It does have a lot of porn, but it's worth bearing it, and the porn in itself is even somewhat justified and well-done, as far as porn goes.
I started on Figures of Happiness and it really, really bored me. It was just nothing special in any way whatsoever, maybe except for the flying girls that want to have sex with you in the clouds for spurious reasons. And it should tell you something that not even this could save it from being totally boring.
Crescendo is very good too, once you get past the ridiculously shoujo character design. It has a a bit of porn, but not that much. I consider it slightly better than YMK (which it is pretty similar to) as a whole since it lacks the copious amounts of drama (mostly).
Snow Sakura is pretty bad, unless you have a gigantic interest in lame slice of life about very unoriginal and boring teenager character archetypes. It does have a few good laughs, but not nearly enough to coast you along its endless expanses of words. The art is nothing special either.
I haven't played Princess Waltz, but I've been hearing very mixed reviews.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:43 pm
by Deimos
Xenokitten wrote:
I'm considering buying "A drug that makes you dream" - I am aware it contains alot of adult content But it has high ratings on vndb. Can anyone tell me anything about it? Would I be happy with such a purchase or is it a rampant tasteless porno? The artwork is very pretty. I can't imagine a game with poor writing scoring so high on the database. Is it worth playing through for the storyline?
Also, all of the above questions, but in regard to following games which I know even less about:
Figures of Happiness
Crescendo
Snow Sakura
Princess Waltz
----------
Can anyone recommend anything not in my list that I may like? Thanks for your time and consideration.
"A Drug that makes you Dream" is possibly a very good starting point because it is realistic in a sense that there is no supernatural stuff like in Tsukihime. It is very good in showing the interior of a high school student who is somewhat lost or stuck in this world and that may be one point why it is so popular because the main character is not a faceless guy but has his own personality although he is so well written that it is easy to identify yourself with him.
Each path is also written with a powerful leitmotif (Bullying, Drugs, Interpersonal
The girl is afraid of facing the future that you will have surely encountered in your life in one or another way.
It contains porn - I will not deny it but the protagonists are more or less exploring themselves rather than having endless orgies although you might wonder sometimes how quickly they can become aroused (a fault of the genre, really).
IT IS WORTHY!
Figures of Happiness has a great cast of female characters in terms of numbers and in terms of archetypes. Most of the times it is pretty predictable but maybe the last bonus ending earns this game some merit. Other than that it ... well it often plays the stereotype card - powerfully I will admit but nonetheless unsurprising most of the time.
MAYBE WORTH A LOOK!
Crescendo - it has another point of view - 3rd person narrator who is not omnipotent and the characters and their stories are diverse and touching although the short time span of this game makes the sex scenes some kind of rewards after solving that specific person's problem rather than implementing them in the story.
IT IS STILL WORTHY! (The art takes some time getting used to, though.)
Snow Sakura can be described as some kind of love comedy it is very very light-hearted and it may have its moments but I was not convinced by the game.
MAYBE WORTH A LOOK. Some other members of this forum can probably give you more advice about it than myself.
Pricess Waltz has a story that could have been a really good shounen anime but it is often overrated by gamers.
It has a canon girl and if you can stand characters that sleep with other people while being in love with somebody else - well ... .
Probably has the best effects in a translated eroge you can buy and contains some good pieces of music.
The Story itself never changes after one playthrough and every replay gives you some extra time with your chosen object of affection and the respective sex scenes but the rest is unchanged. One save file 2 hours before the end and you can get all scenes. Sounds cheap, you say? It is.
TAKE A LOOK ONCE. Then decide.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Kana: Little Sister.
Not so much sex but really nice bonding between the characters - a game with very emotional endings and probably something that can be considered a classic.
VERY WORTHY!
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:06 pm
by Caesius
Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars for the GBA was the first game I played that was anywhere close to a VN, way back in 2002. I was still too young to like reading, and I'm pretty sure I skipped through a few briefings/debriefings, but I remembered really liking it anyway so I played through it again a few months ago.
It's a turn-based strategy game with mechs, though the gameplay itself is somewhat mediocre and it's perfectly possible to get through a mission without a single hit. The story feels cliche at parts and there are a few plot elements that are obviously borrowed from Gundam as well, but the story has its merits. I think it does well in fleshing out the characters and making you empathize with them, which is probably what you'd want when looking for a game similar to KS -- you know, aside from the whole "dating sim/eroge" thing.
There are apparently multiple endings, but there are very few menu-based choices to make in the game. Rather, I think your progression through the story is based on your actions and performance during battle, such as choosing to defeat one boss mech over another or successfully saving all civilians. I don't know, it really is quite opaque.
I think the game is some 10 hours long, with maybe 4 of those spent reading. Anyway, if you can't find it on eBay or whatever, I'm sure those of you who want to play it can figure something out.
Re: Similar games to Katawa Shoujo
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:03 pm
by Xenokitten
Thanks for all the helpful replies ^^. I don't think the art in crescendo would bother me since I'm a HUGE shoujo fan. (My favorite anime are Peach Girl, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Chobits, Pretear, and Aishiteruze Baby) <-- Also because of my tastes in that regard I'm still considering Snow Sakura, since I enjoy "slice of life" anime. Probably won't be the first one I buy next but the "boring" factor probably wouldn't strike me as so (unless it was badly written or with unmemorable characters). I think based on the suggestions here Crescendo or Yume Miru Kusuri will most likely be my next choice. I still have a couple paths left on Dark Alchemist and Ai Yori Aoshi and with Ever17 shipping I'll be busy for awhile
. I will check out more info about Kana. My first impression when I read about it awhile back was that it was like a weird incest porno type game. But the way you describe it makes it sound more like Grave of The Fireflies which I love and makes me cry every time I watch it.