Clephas' Translated VN recommendations
As you can imagine, I got a lot of requests for a similar list over the years, but the thing is, I don't play VNs in English that didn't start out in English. As such, my recommendations are based entirely on my experience of the Japanese versions of these VNs, rather than the localization. As such, don't hold me responsible for your personal experiences, lol. I'm going to split these by genre so I don't have to answer questions along those lines. For the purposes of fairness, I won't include anything with a machine translation (which means no Chuushingura).
Chuunige
I/O (yes, I did indeed play this, and it was good despite being dated horribly)
FSN (you saw that coming, right?)
Tsukihime (again, you saw that coming, right?)
Comyu (fantasy)
Ayakashibito (fantasy)
Tokyo Babel (fantasy)
Dies Irae (fantasy)
Demonbane (fantasy)
Sorcery Jokers (fantasy)
Hello, Lady (upcoming fantasy)
Hatsuru Koto naki Mirai Yori (upcoming eventually, fantasy)
Baldr Sky (whenever it comes out (*crosses fingers for your sake* sci-fi)
Phantom of Inferno (despite all the problems with the localized version it is a great read)
Muv-Luv Alternative (this one is borderline, because it makes you read two mediocre games prior just to understand it)
Charage/Moege
Noble Works
Majikoi (classified this way as long as you don't include the true/last route)
Da Capo (the original only, and only because it is wrong not to have the archetypical moege experience at least one time in your VN lifespan)
Shuffle (truth be told, I'm basing this assessment off of the expanded version, not the version originally released over here)
Sanoba Witch (Yuzu-soft and thus predictably overdone with the ichaicha since this is one of their less plotge-style ones)
Dracu-riot (Wait until an official release comes out. The patch currently floating around is a nonentity in comparison)
Senren Banka (Sadly not out yet, but something to look forward to)
Chrono Clock (I listed it in this one rather than plotge because the 'plot' was a bit too thin)
Akatsuki no Goei (the original falls, barely, into this category, despite some seriously disturbing shit involving Kaito's origin story that was dropped here and there and the dystopian nature of the setting. Fan patch will probably be released next year)
Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road (yes, I put this here)
Note: For those who wonder why my list is sparse on a lot of names beloved by those who play localized games obsessively... you do realize that a lot of the charage that get released over here are from the bottom of the pile, right?
Nakige
Hapymaher (probably my biggest recommendation for this genre)
Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no (for the distant future, something to look forward to)
AstralAir no Shiroki Towa (whenever it releases)
Hoshizora no Memoria (yes, I recommend it, lol)
Irotoridori no Sekai (Eventually. And again, more Favorite... despite the fact that its staff idolize mysterious lolis)
Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura doki (I was insanely surprised that this got localized at the time, considering the normal sluggishness of localization at the time)
Plotge
Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate (partial with two routes done. Definitely worth reading, if only to get an idea of what AXL is like)
Cross Channel (weirdly, I've always had a fondness for this game and its clinically insane protagonist)
Yume Miru Kusuri (yes, I played it. Yes, I liked it)
Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake (no idea when this will come out... but definitely a recommendation, for all the screwy shit that happens in it)
Nanairo Reincarnation (upcoming soon hopefully for you, since that would mean two kamige releases in two years, lol)
Hello,Goodbye (this was a possible for chuunige, but I put it here. This will supposedly release before the end of the year, but I'm guessing March)
Gameplay Hybrid
Eien no Aselia
Seinarukana
Ar Tonelico
Ar Tonelico 2 (this and the one above can only be considered to be borderline VNs in an odd way, because they are mostly jrpgs with a few VN elements)
Note: I don't include anything Eushully, because none of the good ones have a translation that isn't a machine one.
2 Comments
Recommended Comments