So I decided to make a thread for the general discussion of Visual Novels. For those of you who don't know what a Visual Novel is. TVTropes gives a good summary. I myself have read and recommend: - Tsukihime - Great story imo and for those who don't like ero-scenes, the translation patch has the option to take them out C: - Fate/Stay Night - Also a great story and made by the same guy who wrote Tsukihime. Unfortunately, the ero-scenes can't be taken out on this one. One route wouldn't make much sense if they were taken out too. - Umineko No Naku Koro Ni -A Super Mod and Pokemon like this VN so why shouldn't you? xD - Katawa Shoujo - Weird premise but handled very tastefully imo. - Saya no Uta - Strong violence/sexual content so I wouldn't recommend this to everybody but it's still a good read from what I've read so far - Ace Attorney - Over the top lawyers pointing at each other. What's not to like? Its localization is top-notch too. So...yea...DISCUSS AND RECOMMEND! xD Important Note: If you're going to talk about a specific series, make sure to put spoilers in spoiler tags. Some VNs e.g. Umineko can really be ruined for most people if somethings are spoiled.
When They Cry (Umineko/Higurashi) Saya no Uta Links to other discussion threads provided. The exact definition of a VN seems to be fairly loose. If Phoenix Wright counts, then does Professor Layton? If so, how about other such puzzle games? No doubt a VN is allowed to incorporate some element of gameplay, but at a point it ceases to be a visual novel and becomes an RPG.
These are a majority of the games I have played and highly recommend. You'll notice one or two have already been mentioned, but I figure mentioning them again even if others have mentioned them just shows how good they really are. So here we go: Fate Stay/Night - Amazing... one of the most famous VNs ever. Clannad - Again... amazing and probably my favourite. I have 300+ hours invested into this game. Also, interestingly enough, it's probably the most successful VN that doesn't have H-scenes. And to be honest... it doesn't need them. They'd likely ruin it actually. Kanon - Anything by KEY (like Clannad, Air etc) is great really. Kanon is no exception. Shuffle! - This one is just... hnng.... So so so good. Snow Sakura - This one isn't very well known, but I rather enjoyed it. Good story and art, and nice characters. G-Senjou no Maou - Another one of my all time faves... the music, art and story are fricking fantastic. Play this before you die. Please! It's too good to miss. Katawa Shoujo - I doubt I need to say much about this to fellow KHV-ers. Umineko no Naku Koro Ni - I'm pretty sure that P has this one covered... lol Wanko to Kurasou - Adorable and lovely. It tugs at my heart strings in a whole different way to the other games. Kira-Kira - Ah... this is essentially K-On... but more adult and more dramatic. School Days - ...Nice Boat. That's all I'll say here. I didn't include all of my visual novels... Some of them are probably too extreme... lol But yeah, I personally think that games like Ace don't count as VNs. I mean, that'd make Persona (great game series too) count. I personally think VNs are plain and simply: text with pictures and character sprites, perhaps some video/animated scenes thrown in, voices for most (although not all games have voice), and for most... H-scenes (although as proven by Clannad and games with patches to remove them, not all have or need H-scenes) I think any further interaction takes away the VN aspect. But that is just my opinion. Anyway... I've been playing VNs for a long time, and I've played a lot as you can see from my list (which isn't even the full thing, lol) and my collection is growing more and more all the time. PS:...I can't believe I didn't find this thread when it first started... I mean... this is a major necro bump, lol
I've seen these as ANime and I admit, theya re good animes, and School Days, saw that, i refuse to see any form of it ever again even if you pay me £1 million pounds for it. Youd d forget to mention Da Capo and it's titles, I admit, there are some H-Scenes in it but this also spawned a anime that gave it like 4 seasons, two for Da Capo and Da Capo II and it's characters and art are quite enjoyable.
As I said, I didn't mention everything I actually have lol And also, to be fair about School Days (I mean, I expected and respect such a reaction, but...)... in the VN, you can make your own route anyway. It doesn't have to follow the anime. You can actually aim for something other than the 'nice boat' ending. In fact, there are in fact a fair few happy endings. ...and yeah... a lot of badends... but that is beside the point. The route you can get ultimately is down to you. (although, I'm aiming for 100% completion like I have with all my other VNs) Either way, I think School Days is great, it's just that a lot of people were shocked by the way they chose to end the anime, but really... that's one of the things that made it as famous as it is in the first place. Same with the novel... and since the new translated HD release of the VN is out at last... School Days is back and better than ever.
