Get Steve back to VNs (aka "recommend me VN" topic)

[Steve]

So as it turns out I didn't FINISH a visual novel in a year (last finished 31 January 2013). Since then I only played 2 routes of Rewrite, 1 route of Hatsukoi, started playing common of some VNs and never got back to them even though they seem nice (like Shinikiss etc, some of the 2013 released projects).
 
Quick summary why I didn't finish some of the examples from above as it will help to understand the requirements I have for a VN.
Rewrite: I played 2 routes and started common for 3rd, BUT there is SO MANY CHOICES AND MINIGAMES that the skipping of common and getting to the next route takes so long that it just bored me to quit. Sure there are few "extra" scenes that I didn't have the first time but those are not often that funny or entertaining as the remainder of the common route, especially because I don't know where exactly in the common I am. And most of the time is just watching quickly flashing images.
Hatsukoi: This time the choices are pretty bad. There is also tons of them but I even got it wrong on my first playthrough that I had to use Japanese walkthrough to get into the correct route. I started playing the second route but I didn't want to alt tab all the time to look what choice I need to select while images flash through my eyes.
Shinikiss: I liked the beginning but I didn't LOVE it, it was interesting but not as entertaining to hook me up to so much, It seemed pretty slow paced to me, maybe its the way the characters speak. Same with some other VNs.
 
 
Yet it was possible to hook me up so much to a game before, with Hoshimemo I was supposed to go to sleep but then I ended up playing 6 hours because there was constantly some mystery happening, some characters being introduced, some comedy. Same goes for rewrite, the first time playing that game I even said that Rewrite has the best common route of any game. But unlike Rewrite, in Hoshimemo there is like 4 total choices so skipping to the next route was really quick, the choices are straightforward, you literally cannot make mistake there.
 
 
So with that said, these are my requirements:
 
Required traits:
- Voiced heroines, protagonist is preferred to be left unvoiced and side characters can be unvoiced but I want main heroines to have voice.
- English translation in a good state
- Very catchy common route that will hook me up from the start, even before the Opening, something like Hoshimemo, Rewrite, even Flyable Heart
- Low amount of choices, about 0.5 choices per hour (for example Hoshimemo first few playthroughs require 6 choices while the common route is more than 12 hours long - less then 1 choice per 2 hours)
- Easy choices to understand what girl I'm going for
- Happy endings that don't have tricky choices, even better if there are no bad endings
- Moe looking characters like in Hoshimemo, Rewrite and such, not necessarily lolis or pettan, just cute like Komomo for example (who has large boobs but I still like her very much)
- Awesome personality of characters that separates them from each other, again for example like Komomo xD
- Good protagonist that I can immerse with
- Great story overall, making me want to play so much to find out the truth behind some mystery
- Good music fitting the situations and reinforcing the feelings of them
- Focused on love and friendship so romancing like in Hoshimemo or bromancing (not to be confused with yaoi) like in Little Busters, all hail Masato xD
 
Preferred traits:
- A loli with a route, can be just one of them, if its the true route it might be even better
- Good looking interface like menus and anti-aliasing, you look at that all the time so it needs to look nice, take Rewrite for example, awesome interface
- Comedy scenarios, it should be serious at parts but funny at others
- True end with happy ending
- Mystery that makes me want to continue playing the game, nearly required but maybe there is something else that can replace the mystery
- H-scenes with good production, yes I put it only in preferred and not required as I am willing to try a non H if all the other required traits match
 
Unwanted traits:
- Gameplay that would only distract me from the actual story
- Pure horror story that uses some monstrosities and such
- Gore or too much blood (pools of blood), if someone gets stabbed or something it should be fine
- Too much violence that is not comical (like battle system of Little Busters is fun and so like that it is fine)
- Yandere heroine, I don't like violence so I don't like yandere either xD
- Yaoi in any form whether it be H or non-H
- Trap heroine, that's the worst xD
- Other weird stuff like tentacle rape or weird monsters in sexual acts
 
 
____________________________________
 
Ok, that should be all, now go crazy and recommend me... all the... one game that fits these traits (with luck there will be at least one)

[Kaguya]

There are more than a few, Steve. I'll go check all of the VNs I read and I'll edit this post soon.

 

Rose Guns Days- The interface is pretty and easy to navigate (though very simple), the story gets going pretty fast and it keeps you interested, the choices are more about which part you want to read first because it switches the view between characters, but you will finish all of it anyway, so no need to worry, you can skip through the minigames, the story (specially in season 2) keeps you guessing at what is going to happen next at all times, awesome music, has all of the figuring out the true meaning of your relationships and deep friendship in face of adversity you could wish for, good character development and a protagonist with a lot of personality. The story overall is good (I'd give it an though most of Ryukishi07 other works are better than it story-wise. The focus isn't too big on romance, since it happens near the end of season 2 (though it had plenty of build-up before) so you'll read it for the bromance. A few characters are a bit cliche, though these are mostly non-important characters.

 

Symphonic Rain- You can turn off the minigame and I suggest you to do so. The beginning isn't very strong (though it's still interesting) and some people dislike the character designs, but it isn't too long and it doesn't drag on for a long time. You'll probably feel like it's an ordinary moege until halfway of every heroine route. Doesn't have all of your specifications, but I get the feeling that you will like this one the most for romance. 

 

 

I could keep spamming works like this, but I'll only leave these two suggestions for now.

[BookwormOtaku]

The only game I can think of that fits most of your requirements is Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru if you want a good slice of life scene filled kind of game.

[Steve]

Ill check them all tomorrow since its now time to sleep for me Kud Night~

[Kaguya]

kud night for you too, Steve.

[Flutterz]

Off the top of my head - Grisaia no Kajitsu?

 

 

Required traits:

- English translation Check

- Very catchy common route Check

- Low amount of choices Check

- Easy choices Check

- Happy endings Kinda check, it has bad endings as well as good

- Moe looking characters Check

- Awesome personality of characters Check

- Good protagonist Check

- Great story overall Kinda check, not much of a mystery

- Good music Check

- Focused on love and friendship Check

 

Preferred traits:

- A loli with a route Check

- Good looking interface Check, iirc

- Comedy scenarios So much check

- True end No

- Mystery No mystery but the characters are great

- H-scenes I don't remember them being particularly bad, except a few outliers...

 

Unwanted traits:

- Gameplay None

- Pure horror story There's a bit of nastiness in 1 route, but that's about it

- Gore or too much blood A bit gets implied I think

- Too much violence A bit of srs violence

- Yandere heroine No yandere

- Yaoi in any form No yaoi either

- Trap heroine No traps

- Other weird stuff Well, there is that one scene, but it doesn't stay for long

[Kaguya]

Off the top of my head - Grisaia no Kajitsu?

Grisaia has a bit of a slow start, though. Actually, nevermind the story is pretty interesting from the beginning. I second this.

[Yukiru]

Grisaia has a bit of a slow start, though. Actually, nevermind the story is pretty interesting from the beginning. I second this.

Grisaia is the one visual novel that has taken more of my time, 120+ hours more or less, so i wouldn't recommend it as a come back to VN.

 

I second Lise i mean Symphonic Rain.

[Kaguya]

Grisaia is the one visual novel that has taken more of my time, 120+ hours more or less, so i wouldn't recommend it as a come back to VN.

 

I second Lise i mean Symphonic Rain.

Huuuh???? How does one manage to spend over 120 hours on grisaia, kouhai of mine?

I finished it completely in about 2 days marathoning (counting the time to rest, eat and do other basic stuff), shouldn't take more than 40~60 hours to most people. Are you sure you're not mixing it up with something else, like Kamidori?

[Yukiru]

Huuuh???? How does one manage to spend over 120 hours on grisaia, kouhai of mine?

I finished it completely in about 2 days marathoning, shouldn't take more than 40~60 hours to most people. Are you sure you're not mixing it up with something else, like Kamidori?

Not at all, it did take me that much. I'm surprised myself It took me three days per route (including common route)

[Kaguya]

Not at all, it did take me that much. I'm surprised myself It took me three days per route (including common route)

Grisaia is about the same size as Fate, text-wise. I was under the impression you finished Fate in less time, and Grisaia generally feels smaller (since the dialogue isn't as exotic). How weird.

[Flutterz]

Grisaia is the one visual novel that has taken more of my time, 120+ hours more or less, so i wouldn't recommend it as a come back to VN.

 

I second Lise i mean Symphonic Rain.

I love Symphonic Rain with all my heart, but I wouldn't recommend it in this particular situation. Steve's problem seems to be getting through the common route, and Symphonic Rain's common route isn't anything to write home about. Plus there's the music minigame, which, while you can set to auto, you still need to listen through the whole song every time, whereas the Mappie sections of Rewrite can be skipped entirely.

[Kaguya]

I love Symphonic Rain with all my heart, but I wouldn't recommend it in this particular situation. Steve's problem seems to be getting through the common route, and Symphonic Rain's common route isn't anything to write home about. Plus there's the music minigame, which, while you can set to auto, you still need to listen through the whole song every time, whereas the Mappie sections of Rewrite can be skipped entirely.

Compare the lenght of Rewrite's common to SR's common, though. It isn't anything to write home about, but since it's way shorter than most Key VNs (which he has mostly read) I think it would be passable. Also, 1 or 2 minutes of listening to the song sometimes should be okay, it's not that big of a deal.

[Yukiru]

Is there even a common route in SR? you can practically go to the old building all the time, there are only a few scenes where is Torta helping you and Falshita is doing her usual stuff but they don't even last  an hour.

 

The minigame is the main problem, but there are enough lolis if you ask me (just kidding you can never have enough).

 

EDIT: so many typos~

Edited January 21, 2014 by Yukiru

[Mephisto]

I think we already talked about this, broaden your horizons and try a gameplay game~~~ lol.

 

The reason I didn't suggest Grisaia to you earlier is because the protagonist is a cynical asshole like me, not a love solves everything person like you. You should probably still try it though, because grisaia is amazing. (The loli route has violence though, be warned)

[Tay]

There can be only one, brother.  Katawa Shoujo.  

 

It's time.

 

Actually, KS fulfills very few of your requirements.  But it's still the right choice.

[SieghartXx]

I have to say, Grisaia +1!
Katawa and Little Busters! maybe... Dengeky Stryker? I liked it, it was funny and the whole hero setting was enjoyable (at least for me). I can't remember many visual novels at the moment, at least ones with nice common routes ;A;

[Hoshizora]

The two VNs that come to mind is Grisaia and also If My Heart Had Wings~

[CodeUltra]

;-;

Hoshi memo ftw! D;

[Zalor]

Quartett! is a great VN that fulfills most of your requirements. The only demand that Quartett! might lack in is that it has somewhat frequent choices. However! The choices are really easy and obvious, and the choices only seem frequent because the VN itself is quite short. In fact, that's another reason Quartett! would be great to get back into VN's. It is short and sweet and could work as a great appetizer. Also the Interface and presentation are amazing in this VN. The game doesn't use text boxes and is like a colored manga only even smoother and better. It's hard to explain the presentation, but it's very good and quite innovative. I highly recommend you give Quartett! a shot!

 

Here is an example of how the presentation of the game looks like: 

 

[Steve]

Rose Guns Days

 Well seems interesting story but the characters aren't really moe like Komomo for example (from the big boobed chars)

 

The only game I can think of that fits most of your requirements is Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru if you want a good slice of life scene filled kind of game.

 Hm, Im not sure how I feel about playing as a trap protagonist :/

 

Off the top of my head - Grisaia no Kajitsu?

 Oh that grisaia, I did want to play it but then I got scared with the bad ends and the "weird" scene that people mention, I don't actually know what the scene is though so maybe it wouldn't bother me.

But again must impress me till the OP.

 

Steve's problem seems to be getting through the common route, and Symphonic Rain's common route isn't anything to write home about.

Compare the lenght of Rewrite's common to SR's common, though. It isn't anything to write home about, but since it's way shorter than most Key VNs (which he has mostly read) I think it would be passable. Also, 1 or 2 minutes of listening to the song sometimes should be okay, it's not that big of a deal.

Well that would probably be the problem, I LOVED rewrite common regardless of the length, because how good it was, if the common doesn't catch me I wouldn't be able to get to the later stages of the game, I have really short attention span.

 

There can be only one, brother.  Katawa Shoujo.  

 

It's time.

 

Actually, KS fulfills very few of your requirements.  But it's still the right choice.

 ... Noo ;( they are broken and I'm afraid of them xD

 

Katawa and Little Busters! maybe... Dengeky Stryker?

 Well I did play (and finish) LB but that one has really slow start but is great in the end. But in my current state I don't have the patience to try something similar to that. Katawas are broken And as such not moe to me

And Dengeki Stryker seems interesting, but I have to ask isn't there too much fighting and action and violence? Like take action in Hoshimemo, there is some and it is significant but the amount of it makes it really epic and tense as it is the very small minority of the game. That's the kind of action I would allow.

 

The two VNs that come to mind is Grisaia and also If My Heart Had Wings~

 I might indeed try Konosora, however I would have to avoid the disabled girl, I just don't know if I can handle such girl. Another thing is, it doesn't have much mystery, does it?

 

Hoshi memo ftw! D;

 Indeed, why can't I just forget about Hoshimemo so I can read it again for the first time :/

 

Quartett! is a great VN that fulfills most of your requirements.

Yeah I know about Quartett, the question I have that I didn't find when I looked previously is if it has voiced heroines, thats another requirement I forgot to mention xD

Also what would you say about Period, I was going to try that one like a year ago but never got to it.

 

 

 

 

__________

 

Added one more requirement to my list

- Voiced heroines, protagonist is preferred to be left unvoiced and side characters can be unvoiced but I want main heroines to have voice.

[SieghartXx]

I don't really remember how much action there was, as I played it quite a long time ago (and I was thinking of picking it up again xD), but I do remember that there was a lot of comedy mixed in with the fights and all that >-< 
Edit: And you're missing out from a lot of moe from Katawa ;u; at least try Emi's route alone (?)

[Zalor]

Yeah I know about Quartett, the question I have that I didn't find when I looked previously is if it has voiced heroines, thats another requirement I forgot to mention xD

Also what would you say about Period, I was going to try that one like a year ago but never got to it.

 __________

 

Added one more requirement to my list

- Voiced heroines, protagonist is preferred to be left unvoiced and side characters can be unvoiced but I want main heroines to have voice.

 

Yes, Quartett is fully voiced. However, the main protag has a voice as well. This actually works quite well though, and I can honestly say that due to the visual presentation it would have been awkward if he didn't have a voice.

 

 As for your question about Period, It does not get a recommendation from me. Period is quite banal and in my opinion all around dull. It even lacks the very neat presentation style that Quartett has, and instead uses a text box. I really wanted to like the VN since I enjoyed Quartett, but I just couldn't since it lacked any kind of originality. 

 

Also, I'm going to let the critic inside me continue. In my opinion the writing in Quartett is nothing special either. If I were to judge Quartett only on its writing I actually wouldn't recommend it. However, the music, visuals, and technical presentation are so excellent that it makes up for the bad writing, and even allowed for me to enjoy it. And usually good writing is a must for me, so for me to still derive pleasure from it still says something.

[Flutterz]

Oh that grisaia, I did want to play it but then I got scared with the bad ends and the "weird" scene that people mention, I don't actually know what the scene is though so maybe it wouldn't bother me.

But again must impress me till the OP.

 

Added one more requirement to my list

- Voiced heroines, protagonist is preferred to be left unvoiced and side characters can be unvoiced but I want main heroines to have voice.

Well, here's an very mild spoiler about the scene

2 side characters having sex with a bit of gore around them

As I mentioned, it's short so if all else fails hold down Ctrl.

Oh, and I should note that Griasia fulfills the new requirement too.

[Kaguya]

Dengeki doesn't have much in terms of blood nor anything like that. Sure, there's action, but it's more like the "hero saves the day" kind of action. I'm still suggesting either Rose Guns Days or Grisaia, though. Gave up on SR because of your problems with common route.