To fans of Visual Novels...

[uchytjes]

Hisao (the main character) can be a bit unlikeable though... It might just be me and my hate for protagonists in this kind of thing though... I generally hate the protagonists of most Japanese media...

Trust me, you are not alone. I almost put the game away from how mopey he was during the majority of the introduction. I mean seriously, he has survived a heart attack and just spent 4 months in a hospital. He should be almost overjoyed he can finally leave!

 

[SckizoBoy]

I kid, I don't even know what slash fantasy is.

Oh, how innocent you are! *pats head*

Ehm... I was intrigued enough by Katawa Shoujo to get it... still haven't played it yet, though it'd be my first VN, and considering how a load of pretty good anime (inc. Steins;GATE) are based on VN's, it might be an idea for me to get into them... as though I didn't do enough crap as it was though...

Still, one of my friends is almost addicted to Fate:Stay/Night or whatever the punctuation in it is, so that might worth a look... *shrug*

 

[Lovely Mixture]

Also: Where exactly does Katawa Shoujo lie on the scale of VNs? Is it extraodinarily good (Sure felt that way to me!)? Is it barely mediocre? What kind of quirks (Apart from the obvious disability thing) does it have that I shouldn't consider "normal" for the genre?

This may be my own experience but...

The problem is that ranking and scaling VNs is even harder than anime, because usually your first experience with a visual novel will be very polarizing that you might have trouble looking at the others objectively.

I played Tsukihime as my first visual novel and loved it. I played Saya no Uta, Fate/stay night, and Umineko (1-5) and thought they were good. I looked back on it, and Saya no Uta was the only one that I could remember fondly with the other two having good elements but being incredibly wordy and convoluted.

But as for some truly useful advice here is how to look at some of the production studios.

Nitro+ and Type-Moon tend to focus on story over the sex aspect in their VNs: Saya no Uta and Tsukihime (as already written)

Key and Minori make generally sad-melancholy VNs: Planetarian (already mentioned in this thread), Ef~a tale of memories~

Alicesoft and Eushully focus more on sex and gameplay in their VNs: Sengoku Rance (immensely popular), Ikusa Megami Zero, Kamidori (again, already mentioned)

Hisao (the main character) can be a bit unlikeable though... It might just be me and my hate for protagonists in this kind of thing though... I generally hate the protagonists of most Japanese media...

I'm not doubting the utter detestablity of 90% of Japanese protagonists (god you could write an essay on it). But in the efforts of correctness I should point out that Katawa Shoujo is an original English language visual novel (based off an omake page from Naussica doujin).

So while Hisao may be based partially on the protagonists of Japanese Media (as you can suspect Katawa Shoujo follows certain Japanese cliches), he is not in a piece Japanese Media.

 

[VanQ]

im very new to visual novels,i was watching a let's play of kana my little sister and was getting pretty involved despite the commentating,(then again i got used to it and seem to subconsciously bond with the commentator) 'and well i have not seen her playthrough to the end becouse there isent any available yet or ever.

but my question is where do i go to download these games, or a good youtube channal to watch playthrough's.

EDIT: it seems to the best way to play them is to legitimately buy them.

There are two ways to find VNs. The first is, as you thought, to buy them online. AmiAmi sells and ships VNs worldwide at decent prices. All you have to do that way is install the game and then the English patch assuming there is one.
As for the other way, saying it here is against the forums rules for obvious reasons. However, feel free to contact me privately if you have other questions.

You should probably slap your friend silly for that. Seriously, that's like spoiling the 3rd episode of Madoka Magica.

Don't worry, he copped it good from me for that one. He knows how much I hate spoilers and he did it anyway. And what kind of asshole spoils episode 3 of Madoka? Some people really need to learn to use their head.

 

[Padwolf]

Good sir do you have a PSP? if so I highly highly recommend Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom. It's one of the best VN's I have ever come across and I have come across so many. Check out the VN Database website: http://vndb.org/

 

[hawkeye52]

Katawa Shoujo was good and the feels I got from the wonderfully weird Rin Tezuka were immense. The last scene for her good end was amazing.

The next one I played and again really liked was Kira Kira as people have suggested and actually made me cry which is an amazing feat for any type of media considering I usually take each thing as it comes with a stone face. Though that might have been because I was going through an emotional time myself then and it dragged up old feelings. Especially one of the endings for Kirari (It also doesn't help that cats are one of the few animals I get emotional about as well).

I have also played Fate/stay night and that was good but I have never gone back through it trying to find a particular scene like I have for Kira Kira or Katawa.

I am currently playing through G Senjou Maou and I am kinda torn on that one. It's good but also at the same time bad because the protagonist who we are meant to be in semi control of and rooting for almost is an absolute and utter asshole. It might be just me but that lone fact makes a disconnect for me even if I know the reasoning behind it and if in the same circumstances know that I would most likely make the same distinctions he is still an absolute asshole just from other things he does. Like for one of the bad ends I have seen he just becomes a worse version of Gonzou and not that he is more successful then him just more morally questionable.

 

[hawkeye52]

Actually one of my favourite ends for Katawa Shoujo just for the wtf value was the "manly picnic ending"

 

[wottabout]

I have only played two visual novels: Katawa Shoujo and Hatoful Boyfriend. Hatoful Boyfriend is about a girl who goes to a posh school for pigeons in a future where birds are intelligent and have become the dominant species. And you date pigeons. When I first heard about this, I thought, "Haha, that sounds so weird I'll have to check it out!" But then I found out that it's not just weird, it's also well-written and has lots of interesting characters. It's not as emotionally flaying as Katawa Shoujo, but I did find myself tearing up a couple times. Overall, I think I enjoyed Hatoful Boyfriend more because it had more chances for interaction, and I didn't feel like I was stuck doing stuff with a specific character for the whole game. (When I first played Katawa Shoujo, I ended up with Emi even though I wasn't trying for her at all, and I ended up restarting the game once I realized that I was stuck with her.) During a playthrough of Hatoful Boyfriend, I spent the beginning hanging out with one character, but then I got him murdered and I went off to date another character I'd barely interacted with, and I even got the best ending for that character without doing the introductory stuff you're expected to do. It felt less linear than Katawa Shoujo, and I liked that. I don't know how Hatoful Boyfriend compares to most visual novels, but I really enjoyed it.

And it's only five dollars to download!
http://www.dlsite.com/eng/work/=/product_id/RE091090.html

 

[sextus the crazy]

I haven't played a ton of visual novels outside of KS, but the DS/3DS series extreme escape (9 hours 9 persons 9 doors, and its sequel, virtue's last reward) is worth checking out. Those games are some of my favorites on the systems.

also, if you can't get a copy of some of the visual novels, many have anime series (with any of adult scenes cut out, if there were any). I've seen and recommend the anime adaptions of: Clannad (especially, clannad: after story), Steins;gate, and higurashi no naku koro ni. Also, heard ef- a tale of memories/melodies is pretty good.

 

[MammothBlade]

Steins;Gate and Kara No Shoujo are my chief recommendations. They both have a good degree of interactivity and deep story, KNS more than S;G.

If you want a romance however, Clannad or Shuffle are probably more suitable.

 

[Zyst]

From the VN list I am playing through Muv-Luv so I can't vouch for that yet but it's fucking great so far (Although seriously long as hell) Steins;Gate is my favorite so far, dem feels man... So many feels. Then Snow Sakura is one of the first ones I played which really riled me up and finally I'd just recommend waiting for Little Busters Ecstasy fan sub to end. I love the game and I am fortunate enough to know Japanese so I don't have to wait that long.

Sorry if this feels all over the place, I've been up for a long time now and I think I'll now go sleep.

Good luck! if you got any questions feel free to ask. Also do check out the site Fuwanovel, great place to get your torrents.

EDIT: I forgot about Kana, holy-shit. That was the first Visual Novel I played and man, I was way out of my fucking league. I got destroyed for days after I finished the route my friend recommended. I never saw life the same way, and I still like to re-play the same thing I already cleared over and over just to get a slight glimpse to that feeling I once got. Don't get me wrong, in my recommendations Steins;Gate is still over it but I've never been so thoroughly desolate as with that one Kana route. I think the name of the route is "Winter" or "Scientific" route, it's just very good and if you don't mind playing a VN like a book I'd recommend checking it out.

 

[Iron_will]

Snip.

YMK was my first ever VN and is still one of my favourites and Saya no Uta is one of those make or break games. Sometimes it will enthrall a person and make them want more from VNs, like it did me and sometimes it'll scare them away for good. I've been meaning to get around to Muv-Luv but my friend always calls it

Spoiler: Seriously, DO NOT CLICK THIS SPOILER IF YOU WANT TO BE UNSPOILED FOR MUV-LUV

Everybody Dies: The Game

And for that reason, I'm both curious and hesitant. I may give it a shot once I'm done with MajiKoi S and KamiDori: Alchemy Meister.

It has all my recommention and more!

And while it is a spoiler, I'd argue that it the road towards it is what made it so effective for me. Also, anyone who's reading this and hasn't read the series, don't take this as a point to open that spoiler.
DO NOT. OPEN. IT.

I actually half-spoiled myself on what happened to one of my favourite characters in Muv Luv and it still hit me like a a concrete wall.

Spoiler: Muv-Luv

It isn't as grimdark and depressing as people make it out to be.

The general setting isn't exactly what you'd call "optimistic" but it doesn't constantly shove in your face how terrible it is to live there. There are plenty of fun times to be had with the characters and they have downtime in between killing aliens and training missions. Just be warned that Extra tends to be quite a slog and most people are turned off by that more than anything else in Unlimited (which for the most part is very light hearted compared to Alt) or Alternative.

Spoiler: More Muv Luv

I agree. They were probably my favourite parts of the game too. I grew to love all of them so much during those that I was nearly bawling like a newborn by the end.

I highly enjoyed Extra, myself. I certainly didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

i played Katawa SHoujo, and though it was a chnage of pace it bored me about 30% of the time. But just recently, I bought School Days HQ. I have not been able to put it down for the past couple of days. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Netorare.

 

[Breaker deGodot]

As far as VNs go, I'm pretty tough to please. KS was my first, and it's still my favorite! The others I've played are:

ef: a Fairy Tale of the Two - Didn't finish, the characters were unrelatable, and it just went on and on and on.
Kana Little Sister - Excellent, truly depressing though. Wouldn't recommend unless you're ready to go through the emotional wringer.
MuvLuv - SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS. Even fans of this one say that it doesn't get really good until MuvLuv Alternative, but I really didn't care enough to stick with it. Boring as hell.
Narcissus - Haven't finished yet, though I'm digging it so far.
Clannad - Ehhhh. I don't really like the afterstory that much, mostly because I find it to be a bit to melodramatic. Still, when I was actually playing it it was fantastic. It's only in hindsight that I find it dull.
True Rememberance - Pretty good, but I don't remember much of it.

 

[natster43]

I have only played 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors and Virtue's Last Reward, so I recommend those. I need to play Katawa Shoujo still.