Leaderboard

In my experience, linear VNs tend to tell a much tighter, not as meandering story as VN with branches. A VN with branches, though, can work out just as well if each branch is handled with the same amount of care and none of them feel wasted or less important. I've never quite understood enforced playing order in a VN with true routes since the true route, usually, nullifies anything else that happened previously.

Have a wonderful week.

I did come to Fuwa because I was unhappy with HongFire for many reasons (it was even better back then than it is today). It looks like I made the right choice because eventually I found @Happiness+ here

Note: in this post I'm talking only about plotge. In romance-focused VNs and charage routes often work perfectly as different what-if scenarios and they don't really have to connect to each other in any way other than thematically, and there are usually no problems with how they're handled. Which is understandable, considering that the classical eroge system of routes originates from dating sims, and thus generally works well with romance-focused games. First of all, I'd like to say that I really like the way how many VNs handle branching plots. The fact that you can basically combine several possible plot-lines into one story and explore all the different contradicting possibilities of what could possibly happen in one story is one of the reasons that originally made me fall in love with the VN medium. It's also a great way to show all the different ways how characters could develop in the different circumstances. It's especially true with the protagonists, and a good popular example is Fate/Stay Night. Another thing that make branching plots work better in my opinion is how different routes often compliment each other in presenting mystery and the world-building. In different branches of the story the protagonist can take completely different roles and explore the setting of the VN from different sides. Thus, the authors basically take the good point of both 1st and 3rd person narratives. At the same time, I start to notice that... the branching stories often have quite a lot of flaws, compared to the stories that take one plot-line and follow it to the end. The first flaw is that not all stories work equally well with multiple routes. Thus we come to a "ladder-type" route structure, where we have the main story-line and all the different routes, focused on non-main heroines, branching out at its different points. The apparent problem with this type of storytelling is that the authors often focus their attention strictly on the main route, and the side routes become pretty mediocre. And the second flaw I see with the branching plots ironically lies in the same field as one of the strengths: in character development. Linear story-lines by definition allow for uninterrupted character development for the whole length of a story, and doesn't have to "reset" at each route. And you know, I think this second flaw is the main reason why so many highest rated VNs on vndb are either linear, or almost linear, in one way or another. I want to bring an example of a story that wouldn't really work as branching story, unless the branches are very short. I personally adore slow-paced "growing-up" stories, where we can see over the years, starting with their childhood, how the protagonist becomes acquainted with new people and interacts with them, how his or her worldview slowly changes with time, and how they learn new things about the world. I think, there are some romance-based VNs that attempt something similar, but this particular type of the story simply doesn't work in the VN format, and one of the reasons is that you can't really make it into multiple routes. (Actually, if you know this type of the story in a VN, I'm always open to your recommendations! ) I personally would love to see more linear VNs which wouldn't attempt to make multiple romantic routes in stories that don't need it, but, considering how most VNs that come out are eroge, and that the market for VNs like that is much smaller, I understand that it's a pretty empty dream. (Note: I'm not saying that VNs like that should replace the multiple-route VNs, I'm just saying that I'd like to see more of them). So, I'd like to present you a few questions to discuss in this thread: Do you prefer branching or linear story-lines to each other, and why? Are there some other advantages/disadvantages that multiple-route VNs have compared to linear stories, and do they matter to you. Do you think there's something wrong with how VNs handle routes in general, and would you like it to change in some way? What branching VNs, in your opinion, would work better if they were linear, and, vice versa, do you think that there are some linear VNs that would work better if they had multiple routes? Any other things I brought up in my post. Well, that's all.

Which is exactly why it’s here.

Fureraba ~Friend to Lover~ Summary Springtime. The season of the cherry blossoms, and a time of new beginnings, new encounters, and new people. For Aoba Kyousuke, this new season marks the start of his second year in high school, and after taking a moment to reflect, and looking at the friends around him... All he can find is a dumbass too horny for his own good, and a weirdo who can't get over his strange fetish for lizard-humanoid creatures. Sure enough he enjoys hanging out with them, and he wouldn't ever think of giving it up, but something feels missing. A precious, valuable part of everyone's adolescence, and something he might just miss out on at this rate... What is that something? Why, love. So upon realizing this, he shouts out to the world-- "I WANT A GIRLFRIEND!" He'll need to give it his all, of course, because he knows that love does not come to those who just wait. Ending Guideline / Suggested Route Order There are four heroines. In order to get into the routes proper, you must select the heroine in the choice screen (when available) and then select to talk about topics that interest her. This walkthrough will, among other things, clarify which topics interest a heroine. By selecting the topics within the walkthrough you will always receive a decent amount of affection and you may choose any combination of topics that interests you. Walkthrough Talk topics will be in brackets [] with the relevant questions for any heroine underneath between quotes "". Sometimes these questions will lead to further questions, which will be indicated by -->. Some questions seem to provide more affection, so I'll mark those with (EXTRA). (Will be removed in the final version of the guide) Not all possible questions will be presented, but there are enough that you will be able to move to the next stage. NOTE: For some of the girls, when you have one at stage 4 and another at stage 3 a jealousy short scene will display. Hiiragi Yuzuyu Mochizuki Rina Minahara Himari ??? Bad Ends and Flags Attribution This walkthrough is based on info attained by me, playing the game. Synopsis from NekoNyanSoft's website. This Rina guide is based and tested by shadowice777, a Team Rina lover. Contributions by AaronCHM.

I'd say, give him a chance. The reason why he acts this way becomes way more apparent in the later routes, and he does get developed later on. Well, to be frank, I can't really say I ever became a big fan of his character, but nevertheless it didn't stop me from enjoying the game.

Hey guys, we're bringing you some insight on to what's been going on with Project Cappuccino recently. There is a new maid in development that will soon be making an appearance in the story! Our full introductory post for Cerise can be seen here. https://www.patreon.com/posts/introducing-to-18357865 Aside from this, we've also written up a more in depth road map as to what's in our development pipeline. https://www.patreon.com/posts/project-road-map-18015784

I can't really agree with this claim. Mathematics is never the final word in any scientific theory, there are tons of theories that are very logical and "beautiful" that simply turn out to be wrong in an experiment. It's more like: (real) scientists base their theories on actual experiments and observations, and conspiracy theorists believe all observations contradicting their viewpoint to be set up by lizard-people. Technically, it's impossible to prove them wrong since they are always going to find another bullshit argument to make their arguments seem valid, but this way of thinking is just completely irrational, and contradicts any reasonable methods of finding the truth.

Only for a really small portion near the end. Only route where he goes full stupid is Runa's which you don't plan on reading

+1 for Dal Segno. Had some tear-jerking moments (at least for me) and some say it is too slow, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. As for other school-romances, besides those posted by @littleshogun, you may also try Princess Evangile, Noble Works and KoiChoco. I liked them all too.

Strictly speaking, Fureraba is a lovely-dovely, icha-icha-heavy story all about a highschool guy and his GF with dating-sim elements and little else. If you are looking for something similar to Fureraba, then fruit of grisaia is definitely not it (it's a very good VN though and well worth your time if you are looking for something different) Frankly speaking, I don't think you can find anything like Fureraba if you can't read non-english VNs. I think these 2 are some of your best bet (Wagamama is quite a bit heavier on moe than Fureraba. Take note if you don't like this). If you do try IMHHW (Kono Oozora), make sure you install the fan translation as it is miles better than the official Moenovel TL. Clannad is a emotional tear-jerker story. It definitely does not have the same vibe as Fureraba and I'm not sure if it's what you are looking for. Lastly, heed the fact that the original Da Capo is an extremely dated VN (not to mention it's extremely expensive when compared to modern VNs). It has severe flaws by today's standards (The route-leading choices are not even clearly indicated. I had to make my own list of which choices lead to which route in order for the VN to be playable). If you want to get into the D.C universe, read D.C 3 instead, or perhaps even Dal Segno, which I think you will like.

How fitting for your nickname Right back at you buddy.

Do you prefer branching or linear story-lines to each other, and why? Branching, as I believe all stories are ultimately more satisfying when seen from different perspectives (of course only if they are done right). Also, a lot of story-focus VNs have to have branching routes incorporated into the title by default because of how they are written; can you imagine Rewrite being told from only 1 perspective? Are there some other advantages/disadvantages that multiple-route VNs have compared to linear stories, and do they matter to you. There is nothing inherently wrong with multiple routes plotges and Linear plotges by themselves. What matters is how the storyline itself is written; I would feel pretty weird having to read Planetarian with multiple routes and Ever17 linearly Do you think there's something wrong with how VNs handle routes in general, and would you like it to change in some way? A lot of VNs treats multiple routes like alternate times streams instead of incorporating them properly into the storyline. Not a fan of this and wish companies can do more to change this. of course I'm not asking them to 100% the routes into the main storyline/theme, but instead hope that many routes in many VNs doesn't have so many glaring differences What branching VNs, in your opinion, would work better if they were linear, and, vice versa, do you think that there are some linear VNs that would work better if they had multiple routes? Can't think of any Any other things I brought up in my post. One think I can think of is freshness of a long multi route plotge as opposed to a linear plotge. While, like you said, a linear plotge allows for better and uninterrupted character development, in a long title I think I will feel very bored reading about the 2/low number of characters for a long time. Thus, I believe linear titles should always have short stories, while it's almost mandatory for longer titles to have multiple routes.

Oh and this is still one of the best fucking series of all time

Don't worry; Shirou becomes much better in Heavens Feel. I initially hated Shirou too (like how I did for pre-CHOMP Takeru) but he soon became one of most favourite vn protagonists by the end of Heaven's Feel. The character development for Shirou is somewhat similar to that of Takeru, so I'm sure you'll enjoy it (but not before raging over stupid decisions that Shirou makes).

I like branching better myself, but one problem that i find with no-linearity is that the way plot points are revealed in each route get to the point where a "recommended route order" is required, and sometimes is gets so bad that people mistake it by "enforced route order".

Thanks everyone for the feedback! @Plk_Lesiak Yeah we didn't talk much about the VN part of the game! You got me! ahah There is a lot to reveal but for now we have been careful, we care a lot about this project and we really want to avoid making promises that we will not be able to fulfill Our game is inspired by Aristophanes' ancient work and we put a lot of effort into the story as well. We gave all the characters a meaningful backstory, let's take Cleonice as an example. There is a reason why she consider herself a merchant. It's true that we did our best to be faithful with our original source, but the Cleonice character will not be copy-pasted identical to the Aristophanes' one. She has secrets and her personality will evolve as a consequence of her skills and of course the player's choices. Give us a little more time, you won't be disappointed. We just published this preview just 2 days ago! If I must tell the truth now I'm curious; What would you like to know? We posted our project here because we want to have an open discussion with you guys, to learn and also improve our project. Ah yeah you will be able to find and interact with slaves during the game, also your opinion about them may lead to a negative or positive influence with other factions or characters. @Dreamysyu Thank you so much! @tymmur Thanks for your kind words, we are very proud of our skill tree and our art. If I must tell the true it took a lot of trial and error in order to find the right art style for the game. Concerning the animations we just displayed the most flashy and bouncy moves available, but I will guarantee you that the combat will not always be like so. An option to disable animations is actually a good idea, I will add it to our to-do list. Thank you very much! I totally agree with you. @phantomJS We fixed the links, thanks for the heads up! I spent a big deal of time gathering some info about Kamidori, since it was mentioned by tymmur too. That is a remarkable title and, while I agree that we haven't got the resources to create something majestic like that, I must disagree with the first statement. We really don't want to give up on the story and the VN part just to focus on the gameplay (that very important as well). I personally feel honored to have chosen a great work such as Lysistrata: "That is a very important milestone comedy from our western culture." -> (Those were the words from my Greek literature professor in high school). We will post some BGM very soon though! Anyway jokes apart, yes we are a little studio but we will do our very best to create an enjoyable game that will hopefully not be put in the -trash can- section of your Steam library. Also some users have suggested us a Kickstarter campaign, we are considering that option as well. Anyway thanks for your time and have a great day!

As for the recommendation, I can recommend you HatsuKoi, Saku Saku, Tsujidou, and Miagete. For Miagete, as long as you didn't mind with the H scenes is cut then it's fine. After that, maybe you can try Da Capo trilogy as well as ToHeart 2. Hope my recommendations will help you.

Welcome to Fuwa.

I will have to go with the normal and perhaps boring answer of depends. I have found VNs which have really not very enjoyable side-routes (G-senjou no Maou, ouch, why do you do this, you should have left it at one route) and stories that have, in my opinion, really well functioning side-routes (like Grisaia). I think you generally summed up my thoughts pretty well with your second and third paragraph about choices. If I were to add something however I would say that I personally really enjoy choice as a cause and effect kind of game mechanic, I love to see how my actions influence the world and its inhabitans. Especially if major changes can happen to the world outside of just which person you get together with. I do not really like how most VNs today (or atleast those I have read) have taken away this mechanic about major cause and effect and made it more about - here you go here are four choices for four heroines and the choices really do not make sense as to why you get your outcome (oh you went to the grocery store? Then that means you get to get together with Girl or Boy A). In these situations I do not feel like I am having any cause and effect depending on myself with meaning picking a certain choice and more like I am playing some kind of dice game to figure out who I land on and if I will have to revert back to the choice to go again. I am also not a fan of how when you go through some linear games sometimes you are forced to replay the entire game to get a new part of the story and you have no clue where the new content starts. Sometimes in these games you can skip dialogue to get to the new content but in some games that does not happen and you are left wondering what you have or have not read. If you in these situations miss really important information it can easily ruin your fun and you will be none the wiser as to why you are not getting what the characters are talking about. If I were to say what my dream VN choice management would be it would probably be a game all too branched out and too expensive to make with a bunch of different choices that effect large portions of the story, world and characters. It would also be a game where the choices do not seem minor, but actually seem to have meaning and make you actively think about what you would do in the situation. As I am currently reading Sakura no Uta, a linear VN with no choices (that make any difference to the story) and a, in my opinion, really good story that over time explain your character's life from childhood till now (whereby plot gets revealed), I thought I might leave you with that suggestion (it is not translated yet though :/)

Well said, man. I like both formats because it all depends on the story. In one hand, I like branching plot to explore new plot points and get new love interests, but at the same time I feel that linear story lines have less problems to handle its own lore. I mean, some VNs with multiple routes have a hard time to keep their routes from contradicting each other rules and flashbacks.

Honestly, I don't care about the plot format as long as the VN tells the story well in whatever format it chooses. I've had many good experiences with linear VNs and branching VNs.

Welcome to Fuwanovel!

I havn't played Fureraba yet, but I'll list some of the ones I've played... Grisaia is a great choice. Has quite a lot of comedy, sexual themes ...... and some strong emotional feels. Pretty unforgettable story, one way or another. If you enjoy it, you can check out the rest of the trilogy (and the Idol girl spinoff too). Katawa Shoujo https://vndb.org/v945 . Many people read this as their first VN. The characters are pretty well written. Kono Oozora https://vndb.org/v9093 . This is probably right up your alley. Quite light hearted, but still has some drama. Clannad https://vndb.org/v4 . If you want a read with massive emotional feels, this would probably be it (or some other title by KEY). It's ..... really long though. Nekopara series is all about adorably cute catgirls in comedic and lewd action (and even a few heartwarming moments). Each Vol is rather short. Wagamama High Spec https://vndb.org/v17823 . Great art, cute music, manga and eroge references ..... and more sex then the usual eroge. Symphonic Rain https://vndb.org/v38 . Consider this after you've read a few of the above suggestions, and are looking for something a bit different. The characters have surprising depth.

@Mr Poltroon Let me help you abit :3 In Hiiragi Yuzuyu Route you have to make 2 Choices at "11 May" »Just surprised that you're speaking your feelings so honestly« → »Ask if she has a crush on anyone« I found this on http://seiya-saiga.com/game/smee/friendlover.html Translated to English ■ 5/11 　It is rare and honest 　I will ask if there is a favorite guy Here is the japanese Version: ■５／１１ 　珍しく素直だな 　好きなやつがいないか聞いてみる After Hiiragi Yuzuyu Final Event. There is 2 more choices. (Translated from Japanese to English by Google Translate) ■ Yuzuru route 　I also got a first kiss 　Come on! I am the first to kiss! What? In the Translated Game Version it says »Yep, Today was our first kiss.« → »Wait, wait! Nobody ever said that wasn't my first!« I'm not sure if any of these choices makes any differences. Just wanted to add it.

I love Hokkaidô, personally.

Welcome, glad you're enjoying Tsujidou-san it's pretty darn good

Sakura is waiting for you! You have to read Fate/stay night. But I hate the first route... but Heaven's Feel is so much better, DARK & AWESOME.

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run— Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Thanks! Even though I know that it's going to be just another boring and unproductive week.

だが断る

You haven't read FSN? What have you been doing with your life; go read it now! Edit: You should probably read Dies Irae after FSN since they are both quite similar.

dont tell me what to do.

I am now done with this list

koe no katachi. so beautiful.

There are alot..... - Toradora! --> Best romance and drama Anime - Koe no Katachi --> Seriously, it's the best Anime movie I watched. There is also a really good AMV: - Little Busters! Refain - Nagi no Asukara - Angel Beats! - Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso - Assassination Classroom Season 2... Koro-sensei - Code Geass --> Man... That ending >.< - Shakugan no Shana III - White Album 2 --> So much Drama.... And I hate this cliffhanger at the end of the Anime. Please, someone have to localize the VN and bring it to the west.

This is the first thing I think of too when I wake up.