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Even more free yuri OELVNs (Yuri Game Jam, NaNoRenO & more)


Plk_Lesiak

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Some time ago I've offered you a short list of stand-out Yuri Game Jam VNs - titles that went beyond what you normally can expect from the free game jam entries, presenting compelling stories and surprising aesthetic values. While that list included some of the most-appreciated western yurige, such as well-known Ebi-Hime titles, among hundreds of YGJ and NaNoRenO entries produced over the years you can find many more worthwhile VNs with f/f romance themes that never received similar recognition. Today, I'm presenting you a list of another 5 free OELVNs with yuri elements, along with some honourable mentions for games that I'm less comfortable recommending to everyone reading this post, but are still worth appreciating for some of their achievements. Every title will be listed with an appropriate link to download them on Itch.io - I hope you'll find them to your liking!

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Butterfly Soup

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Brianna Lei's story about a group of lesbian teenagers has gathered a significant amount of mainstream attention thank to its unique subject matter (focusing on minority queer women and their experience) but is definitely more than just a piece of social commentary. It offers a well-written, charming story that tackles its main themes with a lot of subtlety and doesn't overstate the sexuality of characters, saying more about universal challenges of growing up than just minority issues. And while it definitely attempts to create a more realistic representation of homosexual relationships, straying away from the typical, idealized yuri romance, it's a fun and lighthearted read that should be appropriate for anyone not allergic to close-to-reality LGBT stories. 

Her Tears Were My Light

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Nami's allegoric love story about Space and Time is a simple, short game, that nonetheless managed to gather an impressive amount of praise from the readers, apparent, among other things, through its impressively high VNDB rating (7.54 average, 6.91 Bayesian). With beautiful visuals and high-quality writing, it's a really touching and surprisingly unpretentious read, appropriate not just for yuri fans, but rather everyone not afraid to shed a few tears.

Disaster Log C

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Sofdelux's Disaster Log C is not in any way a traditional love story, but apart from some slight LGBT+ themes and wacky visuals it offers a highly amusing, unusual story about two drastically different and initially antagonistic individuals trying to survive through a cataclysm that threatens to destroy their world. Interesting characters and Nami's strong writing makes it a thoroughly enjoyable read, if you can get past the game's obvious eccentricities.

Taarradhin

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Taarradhin is a fairly well-known NaNoRenO VN that only partially relies on yuri themes, but manages to stand out thanks to an appealing aesthetic, India-inspired stylization and a simple, but well-executed plot. It follows the story of Netqia, a young and naive daughter of a powerful noble in a country struck by catastrophic drought, who's unexpectedly presented with a gift of two beautiful slaves. While, just like other games on this list, Taarradhin is fairly short, it manages to create a setting unusual for VNs on a few different levels, a pretty well fleshed-out cast of characters and an interesting intrigue, that lets you connect to the main cast through multiple playthroughs and rewards you with a compelling "true" conclusion at the end of the road.

Romance Detective 1 & 2

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Quintessential work by Nami, the Romance Detective duology showcases both her characteristic artstyle and the casual, mostly-comedic storytelling typical for her VNs. While the second game was never truly finished, missing some art assets, the whole series is complete story-wise and offers a lot of fun for those looking for a light, cheerful read - although the sequel has its share of more sober, touching moments and should be compelling also for those looking for some actual romance and drama.

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The honorable mentions go to the second Sofdelux title, Mermaid Splash, for a great aesthetic and atmosphere, despite rather predictable writing, Nami's Tunnel Vision for another minimalistic, heartwarming story that charms the player with its visual style, Toki Production's Princesses's Maid for a great protagonist and amusing romance, and finally npckc's Magical Witch Bell and Her Non-Magical Friends for great writing and the simple, but effective stylization. If you enjoy cute, cheerful stories, all these games are also worth your attention. And regardless of whether you decide to check them out, I hope you found this week's recommendations interesting.

As always, all feedback will be deeply appreciated. Have a great week everyone! :)

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1 hour ago, DarkZedge said:

The last one of the main list of course heh

If you ever try it out and like it you should enjoy most of Nami's games, they have a fairly similar feel to them. :) Witch Bell also have a similar vibe to it, putting stylization over detailed art and relying on fun dialogue. 

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Thank you for the recommendations! 

Aside from Taarradhin, I think the rest of yuri OELVN tend to go with simplistic style, huh? Clearly it's a far cry from Japan's sometimes overly sexualized depiction of this genre.

Some of them have been downloaded and I'm looking forward to play them. I've also played SilverHyena's Mira's Magical Mishap (kind of a fan for their easy-in-the-eyes sprites ever since their first game).

And I'm looking forward to another witch themed VN Escape from the Princess, which kind of bordering on Japan's take on yuri.

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10 minutes ago, runeraccoon said:

Thank you for the recommendations! 

Aside from Taarradhin, I think the rest of yuri OELVN tend to go with simplistic style, huh? Clearly it's a far cry from Japan's sometimes overly sexualized depiction of this genre.

Some of them have been downloaded and I'm looking forward to play them. I've also played SilverHyena's Mira's Magical Mishap (kind of a fan for their easy-in-the-eyes sprites ever since their first game).

And I'm looking forward to another witch themed VN Escape from the Princess, which kind of bordering on Japan's take on yuri.

The simple style might be the case with free yuri OELVNs (although ones by Ebi-Hime are definitely exceptions), but not necessarily to all of them. It's s bit different with commercial titles, there's a fair share of those with high production qualities and pretty heavy sexual content. The games made for jams often explicitely distance themselves from the Japanese formula and oversexualizing yuri romance, but when you want to sell something to broader audience, few things sell quite like fanservice and hentai. ;] 

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That's true. I might have also read this entry of your blog before any other entries and completely assumed that this was your #1 recommendations. 

Anyhow, the blog seems interesting. There are several youtubers covering Let's Play for OELVN, but I'm not a fan of watching videos at all, so blog entries like yours is precious. Great job, looking forward for more niches and more recommendations of the OELVN field from you. 

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