Have you ever played a Visual Novel?

[~Coffee~]

like most novels or anything - if you dont stick with it long enough, you dont get interested

[CBlitz]

yeah F/SN has a lot of boring moments in the beginning. But at least get past the prologue. Not that the Fate route is that good or anything, UBW and Heaven's Feel are the reasons people read this VN

[feisu-chan]

^^I've only played the PSP game! But thanks for that! Will continue with F/SN sometime! Any other vn suggestions? I downloaded Narcissu but haven't got it installed yet. Is it good? Worthy to try?

Oh, and there probably are more eroge out there than wholesome ones. Any great suggestions that are "not too much"? I live in an apartment, and sometimes with my little cousins. I don't want to risk having them walk in on me and get wrong ideas!

[Zeltrax]

Sad thread. Reviving it.
For anyone that has played Ever17 will probably know this, it's amongst one of the best vn for romance, mystery, story and
characterization. It's true, I just played it and wooooow.
It's one of those vn with no eroge at all and succeed extremely well. By the same writers from 999 on the ds, I recommend
anyone new to visual novels to give ever17 a go.
I could have wrote a review of it but I'll pass, going in there fresh and unaware is the best.
E17 also have the best characters I ever met and interacted with as a player, it draws you in and makes you fall in love

[phio_chan]

I've only played Umineko no Naku Koro ni. But I haven't finished that one yet, it's quite long and full of texts. XD
Visual novels are interesting. It builds the environment of the story better because of the pictures and the soundtracks, unlike when we read physical novels. That's what I like from visual novels. But from what I heard several visual novels involve the readers as well, in which you can make choices and lead the plot to different results. That is so interesting. :3

[Asarii]

I really want to play Amnesia, which is an otome game released in August. The situation is pretty unique in that you start out in a relationship with one of the guys and actually work to develop the personality of the protagonist. However, I'm pretty intimidated by the fact that there are way more bad endings than good.

[Zeltrax]

I think that you should take the bad endings as a form of experience. And like me, give it many hours
of thought why this had to happen and how all the factors affect that end. I just find it interesting.
Besides having so many bad endings and then a good ending, that feeling..

[Asarii]

You're more optimistic than I am. Now that I think about it, having more bad endings will be a good challenge to be careful with the choices I make throughout the game. It seems that the right answer is quite ambiguous in visual novels which is good! A game that is too easy to beat is no fun.

[phio_chan]

Someone has tried reading/playing a visual novel titled Katawa Shoujo?
A friend of mine, a boy, read that visual novel and he said it is good. He, who is not a fan of reading novels and not a fan of shoujo.

I gave it a try for few minutes yesterday, the beautiful music was the first thing I enjoyed. Graphic, not much, but not bad either. I wonder about the plot, though.

[Zeltrax]

I have KS on my comp, i just downloaded it a week ago
and really, I've played the demo(which covers up to a certain part) and it's not bad at all, at least for a fan-made game.
I want to play it as soon as I'm done with umineko, it seems interesting enough.
Uh, but I got to remember to turn the ero scenes off(or maybe not..) because I'm not sure I want to see them.
The girl that is closest to me atm is the one with that loves running but lost her foots..

I thought the graphic was okay(except for the background) for a fan-made game..its pretty good.

[phio_chan]

Ero scenes? And there is even an option to turn it off? I thought it is rather a calm, peaceful, and pure VN.

Either way, what bugs me so far is how I feel the letters are a bit too small, and with loads of texts in each wall, I feel a bit lazy reading it. Unlike Umineko with its huge fonts, makes it easier to read. ^^;

[Asarii]

I yanked this Gameranx article from aramatheydidnt: Are Otome Games the Next Big Thing?

Otome games will most likely not be a financial success due to the fact that video games are still perceived as being for men only. However, I've seen a sizable amount of English-speaking otome fans in online communities so I'm sure they'd be delighted. It's great that a new genre is making its way around the globe.

[phio_chan]

I finished Katawa Shoujo this afternoon. Faster than I thought, even with all my pauses along the way. By finished, though, I meant the completion was only as far as one of five heroines provided in the story. I'm not sure if I will re-play the series and to see what the outcomes would be through other characters, considering how I just finished one and that I couldn't really imagine things could be much different if I had chosen another girl along the plot. Still, it was a great journey. It taught you how to respect and appreciate life more, because you were luckier than these people who had disabilities.

As for another visual novel to try... My long-life debt to finish Umineko still haunts me here, but I'm thinking to try another visual novel too. :P Reading how everyone says Ever 17 is great, I might give it a try.

I yanked this Gameranx article from aramatheydidnt: Are Otome Games the Next Big Thing?

Otome games will most likely not be a financial success due to the fact that video games are still perceived as being for men only. However, I've seen a sizable amount of English-speaking otome fans in online communities so I'm sure they'd be delighted. It's great that a new genre is making its way around the globe.

Interesting. I didn't know that there are visual novels aimed for girls too; not that I played visual novels a lot, but so far they seem to be neutral or more towards men. That being said, I share Asarii's opinion about this. Also, from reading a back, it seems like visual novels would always have the erotic part. As much as it could be something interesting, perhaps it is also the cause of such low attention?

[Asarii]

Interesting. I didn't know that there are visual novels aimed for girls too; not that I played visual novels a lot, but so far they seem to be neutral or more towards men. That being said, I share Asarii's opinion about this. Also, from reading a back, it seems like visual novels would always have the erotic part. As much as it could be something interesting, perhaps it is also the cause of such low attention?

The reason why I think otome games are becoming immensely is because of the success of Hakuouki- it made the genre mainstream in a way. A growing number of otome fans = demand for more otome games to be made.

I do think that erotic scenes are probably one of the reasons why visual novels are less likely to be released overseas. There are definitely sex scenes in Western games as well, but those aren't as graphic as the ones in visual novels. There's also the mindset that violence (e.g. Grand Theft Auto) is acceptable in entertainment while anything sexual is still controversial. On the other hand, the gaming industry is probably going for otome games because it's usually rated no higher than R-15.

[Ruciful]

Hakuoki series is a popular one. It now has it's own anime series, OVAS, and movies.
Recently for Valentines Day, a North American version was released(No english dub).
The guys are really pretty ha. It was a lot more reading than I thought but still fun.
http://www.gamestop.com/psp/games/ha...-blossom/97906