Burnsy
V.I.P. Member
Nobody here plays visual novels as far as I know and I feel it's because you have no idea what they are or if they're at all worth playing or you have some preconceived notions about them and I'm here to get you to see how good some of them are.
A visual novel is a cross between a game and an anime. The story gets told via artwork and text (and music) which you click on to progress the dialogue. Some VNs even have voice acting but I actually prefer it if they don't.
With a VN you often get some degree of freedom of choice which dialogue you wanna choose or in extreme examples, follow many different paths to the story and get potentially tones of different endings. Lot of VNs also come with demos so that you can have a taste of what you're buying to know if you'll like it.
Lots of VNs can be very long or boring and not at all interest you with the genre so I have some hand picked ones here to turn you from haters into fans...
All you need to play these is a PC and steam.
1) Doki doki literature club https://store.steampowered.com/app/698780/Doki_Doki_Literature_Club/
Easily the one that will break all preconceived notions and expectations of any player and make you see the value of VNs as a medium of story telling, it starts off cheery and cute with you joining your school's literature club but get ready to experience a kind of story you'll never experience from any other medium. I won't say more because if you guys play this you'll thank me for not spoiling any of it. And it's completely free.
2) Fault -Milestone one https://store.steampowered.com/app/286260/fault__milestone_one/
This game and it's sequel especially in terms of production quality are simply out of this world. It's basically the unfotable show of VNs. It's a fantasy world with magic and mana and the story of a princess and her guardian who are attacked by an unknown group trying to assassinate the princess and they escape via magic but end up on the other side of the world. If you want world building and a story that explains it's magic and a great fantasy adventure that will make you laugh and cry I'd go with this.This is not free but the demo of it is free you should try that at least and the second game improves on virtually every aspect of this game.
3) Cinderella phenomenon https://store.steampowered.com/app/568770/Cinderella_Phenomenon__OtomeVisual_Novel/
You play a cold and distant princess who hates people but as a twist to the fairytales you might have heard, gets cursed with the cinderella curse, which takes away her royal status and makes everyone forget who she is and she must break her curse by doing 3 good deeds while she has no money or a home or anyone to rely on.
This is more of a romance but the story is great and depending on the path you choose the story is quite different between them. But if you play all the paths which is very realistic because how good this is it is a good 50 hours of entertainment. Also it's free which is pretty ridiculous for the quality and length. I have paid for significantly worse games.
4) A Light in the dark https://store.steampowered.com/app/766280/A_Light_in_the_Dark/
The most modest one of the list.The whole VN takes place in one room. It's a dark and sad tale from the perspective of a kidnapped teen being held for ransom. But perhaps there is more to this than just money...
"The rich boy stuck in his never changing daily life...
The fierce girl struggling for survival...
Two people in totally opposite positions in life.
During his days of imprisonment, they will learn of a world they were never aware of which will crumble away at their deep-rooted prejudices"
There are no happy endings here. It's really short though so I'd get it if it was on sale like it is now.It's got it's own demo too which you'll find on the page.
None of these are japenese so I found them to be a refreshing change of pace from a lot of stereotypes and overdone tropes. Happy playing.
A visual novel is a cross between a game and an anime. The story gets told via artwork and text (and music) which you click on to progress the dialogue. Some VNs even have voice acting but I actually prefer it if they don't.
With a VN you often get some degree of freedom of choice which dialogue you wanna choose or in extreme examples, follow many different paths to the story and get potentially tones of different endings. Lot of VNs also come with demos so that you can have a taste of what you're buying to know if you'll like it.
Lots of VNs can be very long or boring and not at all interest you with the genre so I have some hand picked ones here to turn you from haters into fans...
All you need to play these is a PC and steam.
1) Doki doki literature club https://store.steampowered.com/app/698780/Doki_Doki_Literature_Club/
Easily the one that will break all preconceived notions and expectations of any player and make you see the value of VNs as a medium of story telling, it starts off cheery and cute with you joining your school's literature club but get ready to experience a kind of story you'll never experience from any other medium. I won't say more because if you guys play this you'll thank me for not spoiling any of it. And it's completely free.
2) Fault -Milestone one https://store.steampowered.com/app/286260/fault__milestone_one/
This game and it's sequel especially in terms of production quality are simply out of this world. It's basically the unfotable show of VNs. It's a fantasy world with magic and mana and the story of a princess and her guardian who are attacked by an unknown group trying to assassinate the princess and they escape via magic but end up on the other side of the world. If you want world building and a story that explains it's magic and a great fantasy adventure that will make you laugh and cry I'd go with this.This is not free but the demo of it is free you should try that at least and the second game improves on virtually every aspect of this game.
3) Cinderella phenomenon https://store.steampowered.com/app/568770/Cinderella_Phenomenon__OtomeVisual_Novel/
You play a cold and distant princess who hates people but as a twist to the fairytales you might have heard, gets cursed with the cinderella curse, which takes away her royal status and makes everyone forget who she is and she must break her curse by doing 3 good deeds while she has no money or a home or anyone to rely on.
This is more of a romance but the story is great and depending on the path you choose the story is quite different between them. But if you play all the paths which is very realistic because how good this is it is a good 50 hours of entertainment. Also it's free which is pretty ridiculous for the quality and length. I have paid for significantly worse games.
4) A Light in the dark https://store.steampowered.com/app/766280/A_Light_in_the_Dark/
The most modest one of the list.The whole VN takes place in one room. It's a dark and sad tale from the perspective of a kidnapped teen being held for ransom. But perhaps there is more to this than just money...
"The rich boy stuck in his never changing daily life...
The fierce girl struggling for survival...
Two people in totally opposite positions in life.
During his days of imprisonment, they will learn of a world they were never aware of which will crumble away at their deep-rooted prejudices"
There are no happy endings here. It's really short though so I'd get it if it was on sale like it is now.It's got it's own demo too which you'll find on the page.
None of these are japenese so I found them to be a refreshing change of pace from a lot of stereotypes and overdone tropes. Happy playing.
