Favorite Visual Novels?

[KefkaCultist]

Katawa Shoujo is the only one I've ever played and I love it a lot, so that.

 

[Twilight.falls]

Katawa Shoujo was the first Visual Novel I've ever encountered. As my avatar may imply, I simply adored it.

It's gotten me interested in the genre, so right now I'm working my way through Fate/Stay Night.

 

[StormShaun]

Well I love Visual Novels, and I like to play many.

I'll include a list of the best!

Katawa Shoujo (Currently playing)
Fate/Stay Night (Completed....SO WORTH IT!)
Clannad (Sill No 1 on my list! Also completed)
Kira Kira (Completed and one of my personal favorites)
Wanko to Kurasou (Really good and emotional but needed more routes - completed)
Shuffle (Completed, it was pretty good, needed...well more content)
Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo (Down right awesome, a chunky plot with an awesome protagonist....also its REALLY long so I only got through one route)
Da Capo and Da Capo 2 (I just felt they were really good - both completed)

I highly suggest all of them, but do a bit of research so they suit your taste!

I really need a bigger hard drive (No sex joke intended).

 

[Kotaro]

Only played four, only liked three. The three I liked are:
Fate/stay night (with fan-translation) (I skipped over the H-scenes, due to being poorly-written, and not adding much to the story)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (Fucking awesome)
Time Hollow (I just wish this one was longer)

 

[Euphbug]

Only Katawa Shoujo, though I have been interested in trying some other Visual Novels...but trying to get translated versions are always so bothersome. Don't know where to start looking to be honest. So if anyone could point me in a general direction...

 

[NerfedFalcon]

The only one I've played is Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. So I guess that. Though I am looking with interest at Katawa Shoujo...

 

[NeutralDrow]

Well, I've actually played enough by now to make singling out "favorites" to be viable. And they tend to offer similar things to me, even despite different genres and stories: more significant emotional content than I find in many other media. As for my favorites...

My big three would be <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.128851-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Tsukihime>Tsukihime (plus <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.139628-TYPE-MOON-reviews-Kagetsu-Tohya>its sequel, which is basically an old-school text adventure game in VN format), <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.135672-Neutral-Drow-reviews-A-Drug-That-Makes-You-Dream>A Drug That Makes You Dream, and <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163769-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kanon>Kanon...for separate reasons, naturally.

Really big ones besides that are <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.223721-TYPE-MOON-Review-anniversary-Fate-Stay-Night>Fate/Stay Night and <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.308335-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Symphonic-Rain>Symphonic Rain...also for separate reasons. And if the last two routes of Katawa Shoujo are as fantastic as the first three, it's a shoe-in for for the category in my mind.

...

Also, <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.206764-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kana-Little-Sister>Kana: Little Sister. I don't trust myself to speak more of it. ;_;

Fate/stay night (with fan-translation) (I skipped over the H-scenes, due to being poorly-written, and not adding much to the story)

In the context of Heaven's Feel and the second scene of Fate, I couldn't disagree more.

In fact, the only one I could genuinely bash would be Unlimited Blade Works' offering. That really added nothing, even emotional context. At least Fate's main offering (i.e. not the threesome) coincided with Shirou and Saber opening up and accepting the other's feelings openly for the first time (including the moment directly after where Saber mentions that she's recharged and capable of fighting the next day...and then saying they can plan tomorrow; for the moment, she wanted to sleep like that).

 

[NeutralDrow]

This is actually the first I've heard of 'em. Are they commonly translated to English?

Well...not really. At least, there's far more that are made than make it over the ocean. And strangely enough, the things that do get translated into English aren't necessarily cherry-picked from the best. We get at least some of the crap along with the best; for every Kana: Little Sister or Crescendo that gets translated, we also get a Do You Like Horny Bunnies? or Slave Pageant.

But there is a significant number, including some fantastic ones, that get either official releases or fan translations. People have been noting some of their favorites here (far more people than I expected, to be honest), and I certainly agree with the ones I have played.

 

[Arina Love]

i'm big vn player and here is my favourites.
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru 1 and 2 ( http://vndb.org/v195 and http://vndb.org/v3861 )
Princess Lover ( http://vndb.org/v765 )
Appare! Tenka Gomen ( http://vndb.org/v7881 )
Hana to Otome ni Shukufuku wo ( http://vndb.org/v1545 )

only English translated VN i liked is Snow Sakura.

PS yes they are not translated and never will be. i play them on Japanese with help of hook programs when i have difficulty reading.

 

[Heaven's Guardian]

I've played Fate/stay night and two routes of Katawa Shoujo (Shizune's and Emi's). Katawa Shoujo was really impressive overall in terms of managing to really address the emotional issues of disabilities and neither belittle them nor pretend that they weren't there. Also in not being fetish porn, which I suspected when I first heard about it.

That being said, Fate was a lot better, even if I wanted to punch very badly whichever member of Mirror Moon loved the word "vexing". Frustrating, annoying, infuriating: there are lots of synonyms that people actually use in speech, and I definitely thought that being translated made the writing occasionally stilted. However, Unlimited Blade Works was absolutely brilliant and one of the most compelling stories I have read in any medium, even if Fate was a bit standard and I had issues with Heaven's Feel.

Spoiler

It makes it so that neither of the other routes actually have anything resembling a permanent solution to the problem, and so another Grail War will likely appear soon as once again the Grail was destroyed without the True Grail also being destroyed. And I really, really liked UBW True.

 

[xshadowscreamx]

i have alot to research in my new found interest

 

[psychic psycho]

What are your favorites? How many have you played? Why did you enjoy them?

I've played a decent amount. Off the top of my head I've played four Ace Attorney games, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Ever 17, Remember 11, and 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. I actually enjoyed all of them except for Remember 11.

I highly recommend to anyone interested in Visual Novels to try Ever 17 or 999. The two games share some writers. Between the two I'd suggest the Sci-Fi/Horror/Mystery DS game 999, since it's much easier to get a copy of. Plus the localization is much better. Afterwards, if you enjoy it play Ever 17.

999 takes story telling in games to new levels. (The same thing applies to Ever 17 but from now on to make things easier I'll be talking specifically about 999.) It's hard to explain what makes 999 special without spoil the crap out of it. The thing is the narrative in 999 is something that can only be done in videogames. The game is very text heavy but the interactive parts are just as IMPORTANT to the narrative. This includes the act of simply playing the game, the process of trying to seeing all the endings, even the presentation of the text and puzzles. It's done so subtly throughout the entire game that the big reveal is a one-two punch: the twist itself, then the realization how every aspect of the game is connected to the narrative.

 

[Lillowh]

Little Busters! has come recommended highly from many people I know. As well as pretty much anything by KEY.

 

[Chicago Ted]

I've read a couple mangas, but I mostly felt meh about them.

I've read a couple comics, but I mostly felt meh about them.

I haven't read much, but if I had to pick anything, probably V for Vendetta. I'm the opposite of a lot of people in that I prefered Watchmen the movie to the comic, but liked the V for Vendetta comic more than the movie. Watchmen you can at least draw several times where scenes are directly lifted from the comic and transplanted into film. It doesn't work nearly as well the other way around.

 

[teh_Canape]

Katawa Shoujo is my favorite [sub]Hanako fuck yeah[/sub]
then there was another one I used to play on my Dreamcast but I don't remember the name

Spoiler

also, Meet'n'Fuck, but nobody cares about that

for good reason

 

[NeutralDrow]

I had issues with Heaven's Feel.

Spoiler

It makes it so that neither of the other routes actually have anything resembling a permanent solution to the problem, and so another Grail War will likely appear soon as once again the Grail was destroyed without the True Grail also being destroyed. And I really, really liked UBW True.

If it helps at all, the only difference is that

Spoiler

Shirou (or Ilya) is the one who destroys the Grail for good in Heaven's Feel.

According to outside material, the system for summoning the Fuyuki Grail is dismantled by Waver Velvet (a character from Fate/Zero) in Fate and UBW.

The Nasuverse actually has a ton of material like that, beyond what's specifically shown in Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, and Kara no Kyoukai.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

I've played Katawa shoujo and bible black. I'm currently playing fate/stay night.

 

[NoOne852]

I also have only played Katawa Shoujo, but I loved it. I would reccomend it to anyone who hasn't tried it yet.

I will probably be checking out a few of the titles that were mentioned in this thread, that is, if I don't have to pay for them. I can't really afford to buy anything else currently as I am saving up for something else.

 

[Heaven's Guardian]

If it helps at all, the only difference is that

Spoiler

Shirou (or Ilya) is the one who destroys the Grail for good in Heaven's Feel.

According to outside material, the system for summoning the Fuyuki Grail is dismantled by Waver Velvet (a character from Fate/Zero) in Fate and UBW.

The Nasuverse actually has a ton of material like that, beyond what's specifically shown in Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, and Kara no Kyoukai.

Ah. Thanks. My inability to read Japanese prevents me from looking at a lot of source materials, but this helps it make a lot more sense. Still seems like something that should have been important enough to cover in-series, but I guess they needed to keep some surprises for HF.

 

[McMarbles]

I really liked Hotel Dusk and the Phoenix Wright games.

Touch Detective was a guilty pleasure as well.