Anyone played any visual novel games?

[dreama1]

Anyone played any visual novel/Dating sim games? What's the consensus among you? They appear to be growing in popularity in the west. just a tiny bit more than previously. It definitely has to be the most obscure genre of video game in the west.

When I thought about it more deeply. The genre; it has to be a branch from the family tree of point and click adventure games originally if it was traced back far enough, that's kind of evolved into its own thing be it very japanese centric now.

I highly recommend YU-NO and Ever 17. But physical copy of Ever 17 is very rare now.

[kamikazekeeg]

Never been one for them in particular, because there isn't ever much actual game in them usually.  Think the only one I played for at least abit was Katawa Shoujo, mostly because I think it was free at the time.  A close proximity to those type of games, would be like the Telltale Walking Dead games, but even with the minimal gameplay they have, I lost interest after Season 2.

These games have definitely blown up over here though in the past year or so.  I think I have Hatoful Boyfriend on PS+ lol

[dreama1]

Never been one for them in particular, because there isn't ever much actual game in them usually.  Think the only one I played for at least abit was Katawa Shoujo, mostly because I think it was free at the time.  A close proximity to those type of games, would be like the Telltale Walking Dead games, but even with the minimal gameplay they have, I lost interest after Season 2.

These games have definitely blown up over here though in the past year or so.  I think I have Hatoful Boyfriend on PS+ lol

Sakura wars might of made a impact if it was localised sooner and for Dreamcast. It wouldn't of had to wait until the past couple of years for its renaissance in the west.

[pizzasafari]

Not into full-on dating sims, I haven't managed to find many VN's that interest me but I've recently played(/read?) The House in Fata Morgana and I LOVED it. Switched my avatar here to a Fata Morgana one cause it was amazing. You should all go check it out, it's in the Steam sale!

Other than that the closest I've played is the Danganronpa, Zero Escape and BlazBlue series, which have gameplay so aren't technically VN's. I'm open to reading more but most of them don't seem like my cup of tea at all. And the ones that do generally have Japanese voices only which are just distracting while I'm trying to read.

If anyone has any suggestions of VN's with English or no voices that aren't overly weeby, hit me!

[azure]

Been dabbling with them for quite some time. Wish all the official translations existed back in my day, haha. Anyway, I don't play a lot of them because I tend to just write them off as not worth it for me to invest my time in. There are a couple that I really like though; Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, Fate Stay Night, Clannad, and Kanon, to name a few. Then there's the debate whether games like the Zero Escape Series, The Silver Case, Ace Attorney, Etc are VNs. If so, I would include those as well. I like VNs, but I really cherry pick the ones I invest my time into, because they can often be long with many routes.

[dreama1]

Not into full-on dating sims, I haven't managed to find many VN's that interest me but I've recently played(/read?) The House in Fata Morgana and I LOVED it. Switched my avatar here to a Fata Morgana one cause it was amazing. You should all go check it out, it's in the Steam sale!

Other than that the closest I've played is the Danganronpa, Zero Escape and BlazBlue series, which have gameplay so aren't technically VN's. I'm open to reading more but most of them don't seem like my cup of tea at all. And the ones that do generally have Japanese voices only which are just distracting while I'm trying to read.

If anyone has any suggestions of VN's with English or no voices that aren't overly weeby, hit me!

g senjou no maou. Starts slow and picks up after a few chapters.

[desocietas]

I like VNs, but I really cherry pick the ones I invest my time into, because they can often be long with many routes.

That's the part I have a hard time with. I don't normally replay games, so it's kinda odd for me to play through VNs multiple times to get *all* the endings. I did replay 999 to get all the endings, though, 'cause the different pathways all give you enough different information to make it easier to piece the "true" ending together. That, and the fact that you get different puzzles depending on the path you take. It worked well with that game's storyline but I have a harder time believing that the same can be said for other VNs.

[ignition365]

I've never beaten a VN as far as I can recall.  I may have played some flash based ones back in the day but I for sure don't recall them.

I think I played Katawa Shoujo and Clannad, but I haven't beaten either.

[matimo]

I enjoy them, i've played a couple, im currently going through Chaos; Child on the Vita atm...and man does it get weird.. but it's still good.

[badATchaos]

Do you mean things like Life is Strange?

[thewelshman]

I've platinumed a few and they were pretty boring. Of course I played the free PS Plus otome style games that aren't my style. I honestly sped through most of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ and Amnesia:Memories after the first chapter or so for easy platinums,

I can say the Steins;Gate games seem to be pretty fun. I also have Root Latter I'm looking forward to playing. There's also the Zero Escape series that has great reviews.

Are the Danganronpa games considered VN?

[kashell]

I've played a few visual true novels such as Hakuoki and Norn9.

I've played more lite-visual novels. Games like the Zero Escape Series, The Silver Case, Dangan Ronpa, etc. I consider these lite-visual novels because the player gets to interact beyond picking a dialogue option.

Currently, I'm playing Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth. It's another game I consider a lite-visual novel because you're reading dialogue 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time has you participating in battle. I haven't played it yet, but Tears to Tiara II is supposed to be the same way. I'd really like to play more Aqua Plus games because I love their art style and their stories.

[thewelshman]

I forgot to mention the Telltale Games releases. I really enjoyed A Wolf Among Us and look forward to season two coming out in 2018. The Walking Dead series has been great as well. Lee in season 1 has to be one of the best protagonists in awhile. Season two is pretty good as well. The have others, but I haven't played them yet. Sometimes they're free on PSN.

Tales from the Borderlands
Game of Thrones
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series

Among other titles. I can't recommend A Wolf Among Us enough. It was a fantastic take on Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series.

[tripredacus]

I have a few but haven't played them. I have played games of a similar type in the DOS/9x days.

[davifus]

I play them.

Most of the VN Sekai Project tries to localize are pretty solid in general.

Grisaia no Kaijitsu is still my favorite VN atm [A long read for sure].