Raithfyre

Hey, I work for Sekai Project. I just wanted to chime in and mention that aside from Sunrider and Fault, we'll be bringing more of our titles to the platform over time. While we probably won't be offering our full catalog on there, we're looking forward to working with them. We actually announced this partnership at AWA last September, so we're excited to finally start selling our games on this platform!

Hey, I work for Sekai Project. I just wanted to chime in and mention that aside from Sunrider and Fault, we'll be bringing more of our titles to the platform over time. While we probably won't be offering our full catalog on there, we're looking forward to working with them. We actually announced this partnership at AWA last September, so we're excited to finally start selling our games on this platform!

Hey, I work for Sekai Project. I just wanted to chime in and mention that aside from Sunrider and Fault, we'll be bringing more of our titles to the platform over time. While we probably won't be offering our full catalog on there, we're looking forward to working with them. We actually announced this partnership at AWA last September, so we're excited to finally start selling our games on this platform!

Thanks for the kind words! The demo actually does have some exclusive content (the very first scene, as well as the chibi stuff, although the first scene might be included in the full game from the extras menu or something.)
Regarding HRP, we're still working on it, but it's mostly a matter of real-life issues causing a lot of delays and stuff. When we ran the Kickstarter most of us were in college or in one case even high school, so our availability has changed a lot since then. Most of us who have been working on other projects too are ones who do VN stuff full-time as a career (for instance, my day job is working for everyone's favorite localizer, Sekai Project) while some other members are doing dumb, boring stuff like medical research to cure cancer. Also, we were bad at estimating and planning schedules back then, so we dramatically underestimated how much time it would take (for most of us, HRP was our first ever project). So basically, we're still working on it at the same time as our other games, it's just taking longer than initially expected.

Thanks for the kind words! The demo actually does have some exclusive content (the very first scene, as well as the chibi stuff, although the first scene might be included in the full game from the extras menu or something.)
Regarding HRP, we're still working on it, but it's mostly a matter of real-life issues causing a lot of delays and stuff. When we ran the Kickstarter most of us were in college or in one case even high school, so our availability has changed a lot since then. Most of us who have been working on other projects too are ones who do VN stuff full-time as a career (for instance, my day job is working for everyone's favorite localizer, Sekai Project) while some other members are doing dumb, boring stuff like medical research to cure cancer. Also, we were bad at estimating and planning schedules back then, so we dramatically underestimated how much time it would take (for most of us, HRP was our first ever project). So basically, we're still working on it at the same time as our other games, it's just taking longer than initially expected.

Thanks for the kind words! The demo actually does have some exclusive content (the very first scene, as well as the chibi stuff, although the first scene might be included in the full game from the extras menu or something.)
Regarding HRP, we're still working on it, but it's mostly a matter of real-life issues causing a lot of delays and stuff. When we ran the Kickstarter most of us were in college or in one case even high school, so our availability has changed a lot since then. Most of us who have been working on other projects too are ones who do VN stuff full-time as a career (for instance, my day job is working for everyone's favorite localizer, Sekai Project) while some other members are doing dumb, boring stuff like medical research to cure cancer. Also, we were bad at estimating and planning schedules back then, so we dramatically underestimated how much time it would take (for most of us, HRP was our first ever project). So basically, we're still working on it at the same time as our other games, it's just taking longer than initially expected.

Thanks for the kind words! The demo actually does have some exclusive content (the very first scene, as well as the chibi stuff, although the first scene might be included in the full game from the extras menu or something.)
Regarding HRP, we're still working on it, but it's mostly a matter of real-life issues causing a lot of delays and stuff. When we ran the Kickstarter most of us were in college or in one case even high school, so our availability has changed a lot since then. Most of us who have been working on other projects too are ones who do VN stuff full-time as a career (for instance, my day job is working for everyone's favorite localizer, Sekai Project) while some other members are doing dumb, boring stuff like medical research to cure cancer. Also, we were bad at estimating and planning schedules back then, so we dramatically underestimated how much time it would take (for most of us, HRP was our first ever project). So basically, we're still working on it at the same time as our other games, it's just taking longer than initially expected.

Thanks for the kind words! The demo actually does have some exclusive content (the very first scene, as well as the chibi stuff, although the first scene might be included in the full game from the extras menu or something.)
Regarding HRP, we're still working on it, but it's mostly a matter of real-life issues causing a lot of delays and stuff. When we ran the Kickstarter most of us were in college or in one case even high school, so our availability has changed a lot since then. Most of us who have been working on other projects too are ones who do VN stuff full-time as a career (for instance, my day job is working for everyone's favorite localizer, Sekai Project) while some other members are doing dumb, boring stuff like medical research to cure cancer. Also, we were bad at estimating and planning schedules back then, so we dramatically underestimated how much time it would take (for most of us, HRP was our first ever project). So basically, we're still working on it at the same time as our other games, it's just taking longer than initially expected.

Thanks for the kind words! The demo actually does have some exclusive content (the very first scene, as well as the chibi stuff, although the first scene might be included in the full game from the extras menu or something.)
Regarding HRP, we're still working on it, but it's mostly a matter of real-life issues causing a lot of delays and stuff. When we ran the Kickstarter most of us were in college or in one case even high school, so our availability has changed a lot since then. Most of us who have been working on other projects too are ones who do VN stuff full-time as a career (for instance, my day job is working for everyone's favorite localizer, Sekai Project) while some other members are doing dumb, boring stuff like medical research to cure cancer. Also, we were bad at estimating and planning schedules back then, so we dramatically underestimated how much time it would take (for most of us, HRP was our first ever project). So basically, we're still working on it at the same time as our other games, it's just taking longer than initially expected.

I'm Josh, the founder of the Studio Élan. I'm also part of Alienworks, the group that released "Highway Blossoms" and is working on "The Human Reignition Project." With Studio Élan, we just released a demo for our first game, "Heart of the Woods." It's a yuri game through and through, although I primarily consider it to be a fantasy game with romance elements, rather than a romance game with fantasy elements. I've copy/pasted the synopsis for the game below. The demo is available on Steam for PC only, and it's on Itch.io for PC/Mac/Linux. It'll be on Denpasoft probably next week, and we'll also update the Steam version with Mac/Linux versions around then too. There's a free patch to add in the adult content - for the demo, this is just one scene. The character artist for the game is Rosuuri, whom I also worked with on HRP and HB, but who's best known for her gorgeous fanart, especially FGO. This will be her first ever time drawing adult content. Hope you like the game, please let us know any comments or feedback you have here or on the respective store pages.
And please, before anyone else asks: no, we're not concerned by the recent Steam takedowns and don't think it'll affect us (backtracking or not).
Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/
Itch.io Link: https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods-demo
Adult Patch Link: https://vnstudioelan.com/hotw-r18patch/
This demo is a sample of the full game and contains a selection of scenes from across the whole story. We've hand selected the scenes in order to give a taste of the game without spoiling too many of the major plot points (we figured it's a given that Maddie and Abby end up together). To help fill in some of the blanks though, there are demo-exclusive chibi versions of Maddie and Tara who will help fill you in on what's happening along the way.
Heart of the Woods is a fantasy yuri visual novel about paranormal investigation, ancient mysteries, and a love between two girls that transcends life and death.
Maddie Raines, manager, editor, and general business-handler for her best friend Tara’s popular paranormal vlog series, is swept up in a dangerous supernatural crisis when she’s dragged against her will to the remote European village of Eysenfeld. A strange young woman named Morgan has promised them undeniable proof of real paranormal phenomena, and what she has to offer eclipses anything they’d ever seen before.
However, out of all the strange occurrences the three of them bear witness to, one in particular captivates Maddie in a way she’s never been before: the ghost of a young woman. This woman is Abigail, the victim of a centuries-old injustice now bound eternally to the forest surrounding Eysenfeld. Drawn to Maddie in a way she can’t explain, Abigail reveals herself to another person for the first time in more than 200 years.
While Tara and Morgan investigate the mysteries surrounding the village itself, Maddie begins to form a bond with Abigail that grows to be more intense than any bond she’s felt before. As she learns the truth about Abigail’s death and imprisonment, she realizes that it falls to her and her friends to break the curse that has ruled over Eysenfeld for centuries. But more importantly than that, it falls to her to finally free the woman she loves.
Features:
-Chibi characters to fill in the gaps between scenes
-Incredible character and CG art from Rosuuri -Fully original backgrounds and soundtrack
-Multiple accessibility options
-Extra features including a music room, CG viewer, and guest art gallery
-At least one really, really gay ghost

I'm Josh, the founder of the Studio Élan. I'm also part of Alienworks, the group that released "Highway Blossoms" and is working on "The Human Reignition Project." With Studio Élan, we just released a demo for our first game, "Heart of the Woods." It's a yuri game through and through, although I primarily consider it to be a fantasy game with romance elements, rather than a romance game with fantasy elements. I've copy/pasted the synopsis for the game below. The demo is available on Steam for PC only, and it's on Itch.io for PC/Mac/Linux. It'll be on Denpasoft probably next week, and we'll also update the Steam version with Mac/Linux versions around then too. There's a free patch to add in the adult content - for the demo, this is just one scene. The character artist for the game is Rosuuri, whom I also worked with on HRP and HB, but who's best known for her gorgeous fanart, especially FGO. This will be her first ever time drawing adult content. Hope you like the game, please let us know any comments or feedback you have here or on the respective store pages.
And please, before anyone else asks: no, we're not concerned by the recent Steam takedowns and don't think it'll affect us (backtracking or not).
Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/
Itch.io Link: https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods-demo
Adult Patch Link: https://vnstudioelan.com/hotw-r18patch/
This demo is a sample of the full game and contains a selection of scenes from across the whole story. We've hand selected the scenes in order to give a taste of the game without spoiling too many of the major plot points (we figured it's a given that Maddie and Abby end up together). To help fill in some of the blanks though, there are demo-exclusive chibi versions of Maddie and Tara who will help fill you in on what's happening along the way.
Heart of the Woods is a fantasy yuri visual novel about paranormal investigation, ancient mysteries, and a love between two girls that transcends life and death.
Maddie Raines, manager, editor, and general business-handler for her best friend Tara’s popular paranormal vlog series, is swept up in a dangerous supernatural crisis when she’s dragged against her will to the remote European village of Eysenfeld. A strange young woman named Morgan has promised them undeniable proof of real paranormal phenomena, and what she has to offer eclipses anything they’d ever seen before.
However, out of all the strange occurrences the three of them bear witness to, one in particular captivates Maddie in a way she’s never been before: the ghost of a young woman. This woman is Abigail, the victim of a centuries-old injustice now bound eternally to the forest surrounding Eysenfeld. Drawn to Maddie in a way she can’t explain, Abigail reveals herself to another person for the first time in more than 200 years.
While Tara and Morgan investigate the mysteries surrounding the village itself, Maddie begins to form a bond with Abigail that grows to be more intense than any bond she’s felt before. As she learns the truth about Abigail’s death and imprisonment, she realizes that it falls to her and her friends to break the curse that has ruled over Eysenfeld for centuries. But more importantly than that, it falls to her to finally free the woman she loves.
Features:
-Chibi characters to fill in the gaps between scenes
-Incredible character and CG art from Rosuuri -Fully original backgrounds and soundtrack
-Multiple accessibility options
-Extra features including a music room, CG viewer, and guest art gallery
-At least one really, really gay ghost

I'm Josh, the founder of the Studio Élan. I'm also part of Alienworks, the group that released "Highway Blossoms" and is working on "The Human Reignition Project." With Studio Élan, we just released a demo for our first game, "Heart of the Woods." It's a yuri game through and through, although I primarily consider it to be a fantasy game with romance elements, rather than a romance game with fantasy elements. I've copy/pasted the synopsis for the game below. The demo is available on Steam for PC only, and it's on Itch.io for PC/Mac/Linux. It'll be on Denpasoft probably next week, and we'll also update the Steam version with Mac/Linux versions around then too. There's a free patch to add in the adult content - for the demo, this is just one scene. The character artist for the game is Rosuuri, whom I also worked with on HRP and HB, but who's best known for her gorgeous fanart, especially FGO. This will be her first ever time drawing adult content. Hope you like the game, please let us know any comments or feedback you have here or on the respective store pages.
And please, before anyone else asks: no, we're not concerned by the recent Steam takedowns and don't think it'll affect us (backtracking or not).
Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/
Itch.io Link: https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods-demo
Adult Patch Link: https://vnstudioelan.com/hotw-r18patch/
This demo is a sample of the full game and contains a selection of scenes from across the whole story. We've hand selected the scenes in order to give a taste of the game without spoiling too many of the major plot points (we figured it's a given that Maddie and Abby end up together). To help fill in some of the blanks though, there are demo-exclusive chibi versions of Maddie and Tara who will help fill you in on what's happening along the way.
Heart of the Woods is a fantasy yuri visual novel about paranormal investigation, ancient mysteries, and a love between two girls that transcends life and death.
Maddie Raines, manager, editor, and general business-handler for her best friend Tara’s popular paranormal vlog series, is swept up in a dangerous supernatural crisis when she’s dragged against her will to the remote European village of Eysenfeld. A strange young woman named Morgan has promised them undeniable proof of real paranormal phenomena, and what she has to offer eclipses anything they’d ever seen before.
However, out of all the strange occurrences the three of them bear witness to, one in particular captivates Maddie in a way she’s never been before: the ghost of a young woman. This woman is Abigail, the victim of a centuries-old injustice now bound eternally to the forest surrounding Eysenfeld. Drawn to Maddie in a way she can’t explain, Abigail reveals herself to another person for the first time in more than 200 years.
While Tara and Morgan investigate the mysteries surrounding the village itself, Maddie begins to form a bond with Abigail that grows to be more intense than any bond she’s felt before. As she learns the truth about Abigail’s death and imprisonment, she realizes that it falls to her and her friends to break the curse that has ruled over Eysenfeld for centuries. But more importantly than that, it falls to her to finally free the woman she loves.
Features:
-Chibi characters to fill in the gaps between scenes
-Incredible character and CG art from Rosuuri -Fully original backgrounds and soundtrack
-Multiple accessibility options
-Extra features including a music room, CG viewer, and guest art gallery
-At least one really, really gay ghost

I'm Josh, the founder of the Studio Élan. I'm also part of Alienworks, the group that released "Highway Blossoms" and is working on "The Human Reignition Project." With Studio Élan, we just released a demo for our first game, "Heart of the Woods." It's a yuri game through and through, although I primarily consider it to be a fantasy game with romance elements, rather than a romance game with fantasy elements. I've copy/pasted the synopsis for the game below. The demo is available on Steam for PC only, and it's on Itch.io for PC/Mac/Linux. It'll be on Denpasoft probably next week, and we'll also update the Steam version with Mac/Linux versions around then too. There's a free patch to add in the adult content - for the demo, this is just one scene. The character artist for the game is Rosuuri, whom I also worked with on HRP and HB, but who's best known for her gorgeous fanart, especially FGO. This will be her first ever time drawing adult content. Hope you like the game, please let us know any comments or feedback you have here or on the respective store pages.
And please, before anyone else asks: no, we're not concerned by the recent Steam takedowns and don't think it'll affect us (backtracking or not).
Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/
Itch.io Link: https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods-demo
Adult Patch Link: https://vnstudioelan.com/hotw-r18patch/
This demo is a sample of the full game and contains a selection of scenes from across the whole story. We've hand selected the scenes in order to give a taste of the game without spoiling too many of the major plot points (we figured it's a given that Maddie and Abby end up together). To help fill in some of the blanks though, there are demo-exclusive chibi versions of Maddie and Tara who will help fill you in on what's happening along the way.
Heart of the Woods is a fantasy yuri visual novel about paranormal investigation, ancient mysteries, and a love between two girls that transcends life and death.
Maddie Raines, manager, editor, and general business-handler for her best friend Tara’s popular paranormal vlog series, is swept up in a dangerous supernatural crisis when she’s dragged against her will to the remote European village of Eysenfeld. A strange young woman named Morgan has promised them undeniable proof of real paranormal phenomena, and what she has to offer eclipses anything they’d ever seen before.
However, out of all the strange occurrences the three of them bear witness to, one in particular captivates Maddie in a way she’s never been before: the ghost of a young woman. This woman is Abigail, the victim of a centuries-old injustice now bound eternally to the forest surrounding Eysenfeld. Drawn to Maddie in a way she can’t explain, Abigail reveals herself to another person for the first time in more than 200 years.
While Tara and Morgan investigate the mysteries surrounding the village itself, Maddie begins to form a bond with Abigail that grows to be more intense than any bond she’s felt before. As she learns the truth about Abigail’s death and imprisonment, she realizes that it falls to her and her friends to break the curse that has ruled over Eysenfeld for centuries. But more importantly than that, it falls to her to finally free the woman she loves.
Features:
-Chibi characters to fill in the gaps between scenes
-Incredible character and CG art from Rosuuri -Fully original backgrounds and soundtrack
-Multiple accessibility options
-Extra features including a music room, CG viewer, and guest art gallery
-At least one really, really gay ghost

I'm Josh, the founder of the Studio Élan. I'm also part of Alienworks, the group that released "Highway Blossoms" and is working on "The Human Reignition Project." With Studio Élan, we just released a demo for our first game, "Heart of the Woods." It's a yuri game through and through, although I primarily consider it to be a fantasy game with romance elements, rather than a romance game with fantasy elements. I've copy/pasted the synopsis for the game below. The demo is available on Steam for PC only, and it's on Itch.io for PC/Mac/Linux. It'll be on Denpasoft probably next week, and we'll also update the Steam version with Mac/Linux versions around then too. There's a free patch to add in the adult content - for the demo, this is just one scene. The character artist for the game is Rosuuri, whom I also worked with on HRP and HB, but who's best known for her gorgeous fanart, especially FGO. This will be her first ever time drawing adult content. Hope you like the game, please let us know any comments or feedback you have here or on the respective store pages.
And please, before anyone else asks: no, we're not concerned by the recent Steam takedowns and don't think it'll affect us (backtracking or not).
Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/
Itch.io Link: https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods-demo
Adult Patch Link: https://vnstudioelan.com/hotw-r18patch/
This demo is a sample of the full game and contains a selection of scenes from across the whole story. We've hand selected the scenes in order to give a taste of the game without spoiling too many of the major plot points (we figured it's a given that Maddie and Abby end up together). To help fill in some of the blanks though, there are demo-exclusive chibi versions of Maddie and Tara who will help fill you in on what's happening along the way.
Heart of the Woods is a fantasy yuri visual novel about paranormal investigation, ancient mysteries, and a love between two girls that transcends life and death.
Maddie Raines, manager, editor, and general business-handler for her best friend Tara’s popular paranormal vlog series, is swept up in a dangerous supernatural crisis when she’s dragged against her will to the remote European village of Eysenfeld. A strange young woman named Morgan has promised them undeniable proof of real paranormal phenomena, and what she has to offer eclipses anything they’d ever seen before.
However, out of all the strange occurrences the three of them bear witness to, one in particular captivates Maddie in a way she’s never been before: the ghost of a young woman. This woman is Abigail, the victim of a centuries-old injustice now bound eternally to the forest surrounding Eysenfeld. Drawn to Maddie in a way she can’t explain, Abigail reveals herself to another person for the first time in more than 200 years.
While Tara and Morgan investigate the mysteries surrounding the village itself, Maddie begins to form a bond with Abigail that grows to be more intense than any bond she’s felt before. As she learns the truth about Abigail’s death and imprisonment, she realizes that it falls to her and her friends to break the curse that has ruled over Eysenfeld for centuries. But more importantly than that, it falls to her to finally free the woman she loves.
Features:
-Chibi characters to fill in the gaps between scenes
-Incredible character and CG art from Rosuuri -Fully original backgrounds and soundtrack
-Multiple accessibility options
-Extra features including a music room, CG viewer, and guest art gallery
-At least one really, really gay ghost

I'm Josh, the founder of the Studio Élan. I'm also part of Alienworks, the group that released "Highway Blossoms" and is working on "The Human Reignition Project." With Studio Élan, we just released a demo for our first game, "Heart of the Woods." It's a yuri game through and through, although I primarily consider it to be a fantasy game with romance elements, rather than a romance game with fantasy elements. I've copy/pasted the synopsis for the game below. The demo is available on Steam for PC only, and it's on Itch.io for PC/Mac/Linux. It'll be on Denpasoft probably next week, and we'll also update the Steam version with Mac/Linux versions around then too. There's a free patch to add in the adult content - for the demo, this is just one scene. The character artist for the game is Rosuuri, whom I also worked with on HRP and HB, but who's best known for her gorgeous fanart, especially FGO. This will be her first ever time drawing adult content. Hope you like the game, please let us know any comments or feedback you have here or on the respective store pages.
And please, before anyone else asks: no, we're not concerned by the recent Steam takedowns and don't think it'll affect us (backtracking or not).
Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/
Itch.io Link: https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods-demo
Adult Patch Link: https://vnstudioelan.com/hotw-r18patch/
This demo is a sample of the full game and contains a selection of scenes from across the whole story. We've hand selected the scenes in order to give a taste of the game without spoiling too many of the major plot points (we figured it's a given that Maddie and Abby end up together). To help fill in some of the blanks though, there are demo-exclusive chibi versions of Maddie and Tara who will help fill you in on what's happening along the way.
Heart of the Woods is a fantasy yuri visual novel about paranormal investigation, ancient mysteries, and a love between two girls that transcends life and death.
Maddie Raines, manager, editor, and general business-handler for her best friend Tara’s popular paranormal vlog series, is swept up in a dangerous supernatural crisis when she’s dragged against her will to the remote European village of Eysenfeld. A strange young woman named Morgan has promised them undeniable proof of real paranormal phenomena, and what she has to offer eclipses anything they’d ever seen before.
However, out of all the strange occurrences the three of them bear witness to, one in particular captivates Maddie in a way she’s never been before: the ghost of a young woman. This woman is Abigail, the victim of a centuries-old injustice now bound eternally to the forest surrounding Eysenfeld. Drawn to Maddie in a way she can’t explain, Abigail reveals herself to another person for the first time in more than 200 years.
While Tara and Morgan investigate the mysteries surrounding the village itself, Maddie begins to form a bond with Abigail that grows to be more intense than any bond she’s felt before. As she learns the truth about Abigail’s death and imprisonment, she realizes that it falls to her and her friends to break the curse that has ruled over Eysenfeld for centuries. But more importantly than that, it falls to her to finally free the woman she loves.
Features:
-Chibi characters to fill in the gaps between scenes
-Incredible character and CG art from Rosuuri -Fully original backgrounds and soundtrack
-Multiple accessibility options
-Extra features including a music room, CG viewer, and guest art gallery
-At least one really, really gay ghost

Guys can we at least avoid throwing personal insults at dovac? Criticizing his job decisions is one thing (although I disagree with circlejerking over it but alas), but name calling is something I'd like to avoid seeing. Dovac is a real human being, please keep that in mind before commenting.

Not particularly.
People don’t defend ‘bad’ OELVNs. However, people who come from a Japanese eroge background will tend to put a heavy emphasis on a) sex and b) art, and therefore dismiss OELVNs out of hand. People from a Japanese storytelling background will put emphasis on c) play time. This causes problems because these are not areas the industry outside Japan excel in.
OELVNs tend to take the medium in a different direction than Japanese VNs. Japanese VNs are heavy on story and light on agency in games. OELVNs place a higher emphasis on agency, utilising to a fuller extent the ‘choice’ mechanic that the Japanese developers tend to use as a gimmick, but sacrifices overall length.
Because of this, many people from the Japanese world will deride OELVNs for being crap because they don’t follow the priorities of the Japanese industry. Hypocritically though they then mock them when they’re TOO much like the Japanese industry.
People into VNs for the ‘eroge’ will never like the direction OELVNs are going in. People into VNs for lengthy stories won’t appreciate that (currently) there isn’t the budget to make such things, or if there is more budget is spent on adding branches and consequences rather than length (like a book.)
VNs are one of the unique mediums that can take advantage of non-linear storytelling. Interactive storytelling. Player choice and consequence. OELVNs are heading in a direction where all of these things are explored, Japanese VNs tend to be books with pictures. In the Japanese industry, hardly any of the advantages of the medium are currently being explored, and most VNs can easily be written as books. On the whole it's a stagnant industry. I find the Japanese industry comparatively boring. That is, they don't tell as good a story as a novel, but they want to pretend they are. Maybe one day they'll awaken to the potential of the medium they're writing in and I'll be interested, but at the moment I don't get anything from a Japanese VN that I don't get from a novel.
I can go into more detail, but suffice to say that the OELVN industry is one with incredible potential, is growing rapidly, but is often derided by people unwilling to give it a chance.
That is why they’re defended so vigorously.
PS: I'd apologise for using the dreadful term 'OELVN' so much but alas, there's no suitable other atm.

Obviously someone who has not tried many EVNs. Trust me, there are some really really good ones out there that do their own thing. You just aren't looking, and the community shits on them because they arent weeb enough 

Well, there's a cliff between the reputation of OELVNs and Japanese VNs in the VN community, and for good reason- most if not all OELVN producers are very small-scale startups that find their employees in the English VN development industry, which is in its infancy if you ask me (an example: the sheer amount of the "I found out about VNs, I liked them, now I want to create one!" threads and the number of OELVNs created with this mentality is insane). As a result, cyclically, there's less budget and less talent to go around; which makes relatively less money, which lends a comparatively less budget for future works, and so on.
Furthermore, the developers being Western (assuming) while imitating a Japanese style of storytelling and art means that they will likely have some trouble with it as opposed to somebody who has grown up/been intimately familiar with Japanese culture and content from the outset (race isn't the defining factor, but upbringing/history of developers is- it determines the amount of exposure they have received of Japanese culture). It's just due to this disproportionate amount of exposure: It's only logical to expect that somebody who grew up within a culture and specialized in something related to that to be more proficient to some extent compared to somebody who decided to immerse themselves in that culture afterwards. I'm also talking about general trends, not individuals. It goes without saying that very few Japanese work on a VN being developed primarily by non-Japanese. The industry is divided in that regard.
The VN community, logically, is (overwhelmingly) comprised of people who enjoy Japanese media- in its current state, you cannot sustain a hobby of VNs without having some level of interest for Japanese culture; there are way too few VNs out there not shaped to some extent by Japanese culture for that. So, it's natural in a sense that OELVNs are trying to replicate Japanese VNs- that's what the VN fanbase has congregated for. It is also worth noting here the true roles of Westerners (hereafter I'll use "Westerners" as simply a substitute for "non-Japanese") in the VN industry. The Japanese make VNs the Japanese want, and the interests and tastes of some people outside Japan align with these creations. These people whose tastes align with the Japanese are the Western VN community: We are (mostly, though there are exceptions like 999 receiving a sequel thanks to Western acclaim) outliers, and the Japanese VN industry just interacts with us for more resources and a bigger audience/customer base. Western thinking and culture has very little bearing on the Japanese VN industry's development process. Japanese VNs do not try to adapt themselves to include more foreigners, the foreign fanbase that exists has aligned itself to the Japanese part of the industry. 
As said before, the existing VN fans like the output of the Japanese. Due to the nature and structure of the industry, Japanese VN developers are far more successful at delivering this output. This puts OELVN developers between a rock and a hard place: If they try to "be Japanese", they are outclassed on every count. If they try to be wholly original, then they will be unable to attract the majority of the community. As such, OELVNs -and their developers- are rendered unable to influence the industry by themselves.
The Western fandom, as said before, is founded on feeding from the Japanese VN industry- it adds practically no original thing of value or influence to the VN sphere. As such, unless it restructures itself to be less about Japanese stuff in VNs (all your -deres and classic slice of life novels and your moege) and more about the merit of the format and the stories the medium can tell, it can change nothing on a wide scale. However, this is also unlikely to be realized: It is very difficult to shift a community to principles and perspectives so wildly different from the ones that brought about the community in the first place (e.g. it's very difficult for anyone to cause the current VN community, based around Japanese culture, to shift towards appreciation of "telling a story via text, art and music all at once"). The amount of VNs with literary merit (independent of major influence of Japanese culture) is not sufficient to uphold and sustain the interest of the current VN community. 
This only leaves Japan itself as the possible catalyst of change toward a more global VN medium. However, why would Japan be compelled to do so? After all, the industry sustains itself on the Japanese works, the developers are most proficient in those sorts of works, those sorts of works are the ones that sell, that form the backbone of the VN customer base, that give the VN industry its reputation and determine the first impression it creates. Thus, Japan has no compelling reason to globalize the VN industry.
Outside interference cannot be considered possibly influential on its own, for the current state of VNs is the thing that determines who joins the VN community, and why: Any influence on the community from the outside will be one that supports the current state of the industry and drives it in that direction. People won't become interested in VNs because they want to globalize and popularize the medium, they will do so because they like the Japanese (anime) culture, and as such, they won't be compelled to bring about a fundamental change into the industry.
Therefore, there has to be vast cooperation within the whole VN industry if we want to see VNs as a global medium. Japanese developers and fans have to want it, the Western fandom ought to be especially supportive of it, and OELVN writers, instead of trying to snag themselves a spot in the Japanese status quo, need to create original works in this industry that take it beyond what we've come to think of about VNs if they want to ever be considered a serious part of the VN industry.

As an EVN developer, it's kind of frustrating to see this discussion a lot, with the same points being brought up, even when they're not true anymore (three or four years ago? Yeah, totally). I see the whole "EVN's are just wannabe JVN's and will never get anywhere until they stop copying tropes," as if that's the only thing getting made, but honestly that hasn't really been the case in a long time. Yes, there are still lotsa games like that getting made - I'm even working on one that's similar, myself - but the notion that nothing else exists is outdated. I'll give some examples:
Shameless self-mention first - Highway Blossoms, a game that I helped create. It's a GxG kinetic novel set in the American southwest.
Asphyxia - Genderbent British Romantic poets.
Menagerie (NSFW) - I haven't played this one, so I don't want to misrepresent it in a summary, but click the link and you should see what it's about.
Selenon Rising - Sci-fi/mystery/noir
Caramel Mokaccino - A dating sim with a female protagonist that lets you pursue men, women, and polyamorous relationships, with various gameplay elements
Yeah, most games tend to use anime art rather than "Western" art, I'll give you that. But I think that's to be expected - of course most EVN devs are JVN fans. What else would we be? EVN's haven't been even close to mainstream long enough for there to be a robust community that's never touched a Japanese VN. Even Lemmasoft, which is the largest EVN-specific community, has a long history rooted in JVN fandom. So give it time, and maybe that'll change. But considering that EVN's have only really been something that people took note of since Katawa Shoujo in 2012, I'd say we're doing pretty well for ourselves as it is.
And you know what? The reason that there continue to be tons of fanservicey, ecchi games dominating the EVN market is because that's still what sells. People - SO many people - say that they want to see EVN's with a more Western style, and then so few of them follow up on it with their wallet. Success doesn't just come from making good games, it comes from people giving those good games a shot too.
I'm not saying that consumers have an obligation to buy bad games to support the cause. I'm saying don't write off an entire subset of games because you haven't tried one in half a decade.

As an EVN developer, it's kind of frustrating to see this discussion a lot, with the same points being brought up, even when they're not true anymore (three or four years ago? Yeah, totally). I see the whole "EVN's are just wannabe JVN's and will never get anywhere until they stop copying tropes," as if that's the only thing getting made, but honestly that hasn't really been the case in a long time. Yes, there are still lotsa games like that getting made - I'm even working on one that's similar, myself - but the notion that nothing else exists is outdated. I'll give some examples:
Shameless self-mention first - Highway Blossoms, a game that I helped create. It's a GxG kinetic novel set in the American southwest.
Asphyxia - Genderbent British Romantic poets.
Menagerie (NSFW) - I haven't played this one, so I don't want to misrepresent it in a summary, but click the link and you should see what it's about.
Selenon Rising - Sci-fi/mystery/noir
Caramel Mokaccino - A dating sim with a female protagonist that lets you pursue men, women, and polyamorous relationships, with various gameplay elements
Yeah, most games tend to use anime art rather than "Western" art, I'll give you that. But I think that's to be expected - of course most EVN devs are JVN fans. What else would we be? EVN's haven't been even close to mainstream long enough for there to be a robust community that's never touched a Japanese VN. Even Lemmasoft, which is the largest EVN-specific community, has a long history rooted in JVN fandom. So give it time, and maybe that'll change. But considering that EVN's have only really been something that people took note of since Katawa Shoujo in 2012, I'd say we're doing pretty well for ourselves as it is.
And you know what? The reason that there continue to be tons of fanservicey, ecchi games dominating the EVN market is because that's still what sells. People - SO many people - say that they want to see EVN's with a more Western style, and then so few of them follow up on it with their wallet. Success doesn't just come from making good games, it comes from people giving those good games a shot too.
I'm not saying that consumers have an obligation to buy bad games to support the cause. I'm saying don't write off an entire subset of games because you haven't tried one in half a decade.

What's your favourite OELVN? - Analogue: A Hate Story
Will OELVNs ever be as good as Japanese VNs? - As a medium, No. There's too many structural limitations for western VNs to be better than the Japanese industry as a whole.
The nature of VNs are inherently more Japanese in nature:
Show Vs Tell (West prefers show, Japanese prefer tell) The west isn't all that keen on reading The west has established mediums to tell longform stories like radio shows/podcasts, TVs, actual books, etc. VNs are essentially a YA medium in Japan that's highly linked to weeb culture, Doubt the west could tackle that. Even if OELVNs got popular in the west it would probably be classified as adventure like the Telltale games mentioned in the podcast. Outside of the nature of VNs, I think that it would be very hard for the west to create a comparable industry of VNs to Japan. Japan can make VNs targeting the Japanese market and there will be a market in the west for it. The west doesn't have that advantage, and Due to the fact that the market is so predominately Japanese focused and has Japanese tendencies, I have a hard time believing it could pull away and thrive without the Japanese market like we have in games. There's also the fact that we have many established development studios in japan able to pour large budgets into the games, while it would take a lot for the western market to catch up, which I just don't see happening.

Individual titles? Hell yeah. Just because one's from a specific country doesn't make them inherently superior at making a work of art that's better than others. While sparse, there's already great OELVNs that are as good as Japan like Katawa Shoujo and Analogue.  
Why are OELVNs generally considered worse than Japanese VNs? - They're almost all indie, low budget affairs which inherently leads to lower quality. There's also the fact that while not all of them, quite a lot of them try to emulate the Japanese style with Japanese tropes, an approach that usually fails. There's also the fact that we're weebs and some weebs are elitist scum.
What are the attributes that make OELVNs stand out (in a positive way) from their Japanese counterparts? - Uh, idk. The only real difference should be who makes them. There's no inherent reason why OELVNs should have an atribute better than Japanese VNs or vice versa. Though, from what i've played, I'd have to say that they tend to tackle social issues that are more relevant to a western reader, and that they seem to have more stylistic liberties. 
Recommend a random (relatively unknown) OELVN - Even though I've mentioned it a fair amount of times in this post, gotta give more love to Analogue: A Hate Story  or anything by Christine Love for that matter. (See what I did there? See it? You weren't impressed by my bad pun? aww...)

As an EVN developer, it's kind of frustrating to see this discussion a lot, with the same points being brought up, even when they're not true anymore (three or four years ago? Yeah, totally). I see the whole "EVN's are just wannabe JVN's and will never get anywhere until they stop copying tropes," as if that's the only thing getting made, but honestly that hasn't really been the case in a long time. Yes, there are still lotsa games like that getting made - I'm even working on one that's similar, myself - but the notion that nothing else exists is outdated. I'll give some examples:
Shameless self-mention first - Highway Blossoms, a game that I helped create. It's a GxG kinetic novel set in the American southwest.
Asphyxia - Genderbent British Romantic poets.
Menagerie (NSFW) - I haven't played this one, so I don't want to misrepresent it in a summary, but click the link and you should see what it's about.
Selenon Rising - Sci-fi/mystery/noir
Caramel Mokaccino - A dating sim with a female protagonist that lets you pursue men, women, and polyamorous relationships, with various gameplay elements
Yeah, most games tend to use anime art rather than "Western" art, I'll give you that. But I think that's to be expected - of course most EVN devs are JVN fans. What else would we be? EVN's haven't been even close to mainstream long enough for there to be a robust community that's never touched a Japanese VN. Even Lemmasoft, which is the largest EVN-specific community, has a long history rooted in JVN fandom. So give it time, and maybe that'll change. But considering that EVN's have only really been something that people took note of since Katawa Shoujo in 2012, I'd say we're doing pretty well for ourselves as it is.
And you know what? The reason that there continue to be tons of fanservicey, ecchi games dominating the EVN market is because that's still what sells. People - SO many people - say that they want to see EVN's with a more Western style, and then so few of them follow up on it with their wallet. Success doesn't just come from making good games, it comes from people giving those good games a shot too.
I'm not saying that consumers have an obligation to buy bad games to support the cause. I'm saying don't write off an entire subset of games because you haven't tried one in half a decade.

As an EVN developer, it's kind of frustrating to see this discussion a lot, with the same points being brought up, even when they're not true anymore (three or four years ago? Yeah, totally). I see the whole "EVN's are just wannabe JVN's and will never get anywhere until they stop copying tropes," as if that's the only thing getting made, but honestly that hasn't really been the case in a long time. Yes, there are still lotsa games like that getting made - I'm even working on one that's similar, myself - but the notion that nothing else exists is outdated. I'll give some examples:
Shameless self-mention first - Highway Blossoms, a game that I helped create. It's a GxG kinetic novel set in the American southwest.
Asphyxia - Genderbent British Romantic poets.
Menagerie (NSFW) - I haven't played this one, so I don't want to misrepresent it in a summary, but click the link and you should see what it's about.
Selenon Rising - Sci-fi/mystery/noir
Caramel Mokaccino - A dating sim with a female protagonist that lets you pursue men, women, and polyamorous relationships, with various gameplay elements
Yeah, most games tend to use anime art rather than "Western" art, I'll give you that. But I think that's to be expected - of course most EVN devs are JVN fans. What else would we be? EVN's haven't been even close to mainstream long enough for there to be a robust community that's never touched a Japanese VN. Even Lemmasoft, which is the largest EVN-specific community, has a long history rooted in JVN fandom. So give it time, and maybe that'll change. But considering that EVN's have only really been something that people took note of since Katawa Shoujo in 2012, I'd say we're doing pretty well for ourselves as it is.
And you know what? The reason that there continue to be tons of fanservicey, ecchi games dominating the EVN market is because that's still what sells. People - SO many people - say that they want to see EVN's with a more Western style, and then so few of them follow up on it with their wallet. Success doesn't just come from making good games, it comes from people giving those good games a shot too.
I'm not saying that consumers have an obligation to buy bad games to support the cause. I'm saying don't write off an entire subset of games because you haven't tried one in half a decade.

This would be a great point if it wasn't exactly what I was talking about in my initial post though. That is, making these sweeping conclusions that aren't actually accurate.
None* of the five games that I listed are "generic high school slice of life" stories, set in Japan or otherwise.
-Highway Blossoms is about a roadtrip across the southwestern United States on a treasure hunt, and includes lots of national landmarks like the Grand Canyon, Arches, and more.
-Asphyxia is technically about school girls, but very little if any (it's been a while since I've read it) of the story actually takes place in a school. More importantly, the characters are based off of prominent (well, relatively) figures in Western literature.
-Menagerie I once again don't want to speak for and misrepresent.
-Selenon Rising is an investigative mystery story about an alien invasion, which is pretty far removed from high school drama.
-Caramel Mokaccino admittedly focuses on school life, but it's university life as opposed to high school, and deals more with adult struggles (finding a job, establishing independence, etc.) than adolescent ones. At least to my understanding, since the game isn't out yet.
And that's only 5 games off the top of my head. There are plenty of others out there - and even some of pretty nice quality. Yeah, at the moment there's no sprawling, multi-part fantasy story with volumes worth of worldbuilding and stuff, but a big part of that is because 99% of EVN devs (and I only leave that 1% open as a margin of error; I don't know of any exceptions) are indie devs or are backed by small-ish companies, and don't really have the budget to make something huge. I've been pretty open about the fact that Highway Blossoms was made on a budget of just about $10k, and that came with a lot of discounts from working with friends and people we know. The reason you're seeing most EVN's be rather short with less branching, as opposed to vast, epic stories, are because that's largely what's affordable to make. VN's in general are a niche market, and EVN's don't have the luxury of being able to charge a premium like popular JVN's can. For most developers, it's not feasible to sink your entire life's savings into a game that will recoup a fraction of the cost. Making shorter games with lower overhead that manage to break even or just barely profit is currently the safest and most stable way to do it.
There are some groups/people like Hanako Games that make a living entirely off of VN and dating sim sales, but they're few and far between and are generally individuals or pairs, as opposed to fully-staffed production companies.