General Visual Novel Topic

Indeed, Kantoku is like the best. I would definitely do the same :slight_smile:

G-Senjou is in my top three! Didn’t really like Saya no Uta though~

It’s nice to see more Nagisa haters. Weak girl makes for weak story! Akio and Ushio were great though.

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I’ve been wondering if I should go and read Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two. I heard it’s quite superior to the anime, which I really liked, so I’m inclined to read it, but I’d like a second opinion.

I’d recommend it on the basis of, if it’s something you loved- Always hit up the source material. It’s (99% of the time) more stuff! I figure that’s probably a pretty popular view among most Key fans in general. xP

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Yeah, I can see that, and it’s that kind of thinking that made me love Key as much as I do now^^
I guess I’ll read it but after looking around these forums a bit I got a severe urge to reread Umineko, soooo… might still take a while.

I’ve read it and it was quite good. I’d definitely recommend it, it’s quite a different experience from the anime, but still nice.

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Honestly, I don’t think there’s a Ren’Py game that I’ve rated higher than 4/10. They aren’t great ^^;

If we’re talking about short quick VNs though (I’ve probably already mentioned this somewhere else on these forums) Tsuki no Terasu is amazing. When I first read it I was too young to understand what the story was about until I had finished it, but I still adored it. You can download it through insani.org (who have a bunch of other great VNs translated too!) Oh, but I recommend avoiding the synopsis! It’s better if you go in clueless~

Tokoyo no Hoshizora would have to be my second favorite. I’ve read it a few times now. VNDB lists it as ā€œShort (2 - 10 hours)ā€ but I think it only took me 3 or 4 hours to finish. Good comedy, good story, and a really nice cast.
It’s another insani.org VN, so you can download it from there~

If you like Vocaloids, or actually, even if you don’t like them, you should check out Mirai no Kimi to, Subete no Uta ni. It has a couple sequels, but the original is best~
I read it when I was very young, so I might remember it better than it actually was, but I really enjoyed it. It’s a nice story, and if you’ve watched Chobits, you can reminisce a bit~ They start off in very similar ways. The english translation project site has all the links you’ll need. It is really cheap to buy on DLsite, and well worth the money.

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OBJECTION!

Ren’Py is a very capable engine, although the low entry barrier means that it powers a lot of junk as well.

Take a look at Dischan’s (OEL) VNs, for instance, starting with Juniper’s Knot, a short story about a boy who meets a demon.
The same developer later made Dysfunctional Systems, of which Episode 1 is out so far.

Both of them also have stellar iOS ports, if that’s of any interest.

Oh yeah, I think it’s a good engine. It does above and beyond what people ask of it.
My problem is that it’s so hard to find stuff. It has the same issue that RPGMaker has. You have Ren’Ai archive and the Lemmasoft forums, but they aren’t ideal for finding the greats.

I used to follow Uncle Mugen, and he once did a kinda-review of ā€˜Tristan & Isseult’ a turn based strategy VN. It has a really interesting system, but it wasn’t even on Lemmasoft. The only way to find this thing was through Ren’Ai archive!

Speaking of Lemmasoft, I don’t really like the community it has. It seems a bit too… Tumblr-ish. Most of the popular VNs on there are BL, Otome or a Twilight knockoff. (I did like Always Remember Me though. That was fun.)

Yeeeah, Lemmasoft has the same problem a lot of newbie-friendly communities has - slowly dwindling competence and ending up shunned by people who feel overqualified for it.

Judging a game by the engine it runs on is kinda weird though, I quite like Ren’Py as an engine, but the only plus it gives me as a consumer is Mac and Linux compatibility by default. It’s so flexible that everything else is really up to how good the people making a game on it are, just like with any good engine.

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From what I’ve seen, it supports android pretty well too. That’s always a nice feature, especially for VNs.

I’ve only finished 6.

Little Busters!, being my all time favorite.
Rewrite, which was pretty good.
Grisaia no Kajitsu, which is probably my second most favorite. ANIME HYPE
G-Senjou no Maou, which was purely amazing.
Katawa Shoujo, where I ended up scarred for life after Hanako’s route.
And planetarian, which made me break down and just cry for the longest time.

I’m currently playing Fate/Stay Night with the new Realta Nua patch and am progressing on Fate. Will get back to you on it shortly.

Can I ask, what makes you like Grisaia so much? It was shocking to see Reddit suddenly go crazy over it.

The characters were amazing imo. I really loved the way they were done and their respective routes. I also liked the MC too, he’s one of the better protags I’ve seen in all the VNs I’ve read. The music was also great.

You really just have to play it for yourself if you want to know why. Too bad the patch is gone :frowning:

I played it a long while ago~ A few months after the patch came out. I actually had to look up a walkthrough after a couple days just to see if the VN actually had decision points!
I did the stabby girl’s route (only character I had an interest in) and started the older sister person’s route (looked up all the routes and it sounded the most interesting) but stopped because there wasn’t enough actual stuff happening. Just comedy and H. It was funny, but there wasn’t anything else really. I hear the rest of the routes are hit-and-miss. Some are good, some are awful.

It just seemed like an all-out slice of life VN… but a ridiculously long one.

Oh, and I didn’t like the MC. He seemed a bit… arrogant?

That’s why I was so surprised when everyone was suddenly talking about it. This time last year the only time I’d hear someone mention it is to ask if ā€œorchard-cum-prisonā€ meant what they thought it did~

I demand you go back and read the rest of the routes. Both of the routes you read are far inferior to the others imo and Makina’s is just pure awesomeness.

Sachi best girl

I’d have to buy an English copy, and then spend three or fours days reading it. That’s a reeeeaaally tall order! I can’t even watch 2 episodes of anime in three or four days.

I remember I dipped into the tsundere’s route, but it started to go in a direction I wasn’t fond of, so I jumped routes.
Sachi’s route sounded like it came from a Mashiro-Iro fandisk~ Didn’t really grab me. I also think the whole maid thing is annoying.
I was thinking about Makina’s route. She was probably my second favorite character behind stabby girl. Her accent is amazing. But then that ā€œcan I call you papaā€ thing started and totally creeped me out, so again, I noped out of there and jumped routes.

The reason why Grisaia is so good (I think) is because of the way they weave the comedy and ecchi jokes into the actual plotline, and from there on, use the main character as a focal point for the actual serious things that go down. I will admit it did have a pretty ridiculously long common route, but then again, what branching plot VN’s don’t? The transition it makes though once you make it through it is just one of the best I have encountered. As it actually ends up being incredibly deep and thought provoking. Amane’s bad end was one of my single favorite composed routes that I have encountered to this day. Once you actually make it into the routes it starts to show off the potential that is just kind of hidden from you in the common route. You’re meant to enjoy the common route, laugh a bit. and get to know the characters before things actually get serious.
I mean, if you don’t like the characters before they die, move away, etc etc, then it just takes away from the overall quality of the VN, no?

Digital: A Love Story was made on Ren’Py and I’d rate that at least a 6 :stuck_out_tongue:
Katawa Shoujo as well, but YMMV on that

Oh, Digital was Ren’py? I’m even more impressed at Christine’s presentation work now. I gave that a 7/10~

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