Canicheslayer

Dra†KoI : A crazy, wild, naughty, funny and very short fairy tale 
Quartett! or Period. :  With Ooyari's works, it's love or hate  Having said that, the first is a cute musical Slice of Life and the second is a bittersweet romance (with a drop of fantasy).
11eyes -Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shoujo- : A cool chuuni VN with a great route system and a very interesting scenario.
Yume Miru Kusuri : Without this underestimated treasure, I would not be there. it was one of my first visual novels. With Steins;Gate, It was one of those who made me love the genre 

I am interested: what VNs have you found by pure random that hardly anyone talks about and that have a rating at least below 7.5 on VNDB but that you found really good?
One such VN for me is Hanachirasu
I usually don't read such short VNs but I found that one really captivating although you have to be somewhat into sword fights. I know it is not really unknown to real VN fans but still...

I loved Chaos;Head , which is made by the same people that made Steins;Gate.
One of my all time favourites euphoria has a rating of 7.41.

I usually stick to the CGs, but I'll check it out if I find it well-written, interesting, or arousing enough

 
One ~Kagayaku Kisetsu e~
  Summary One's story revolves around Kouhei Orihara, the main protagonist, who suspects that at some point his current life will change while living a peaceful daily routine. Due to this, he begins to seclude himself in the Eternal World, a world within his mind. The game's main recurring motif is a focus on the Eternal World, a mystical alternate space which is never clearly explained, and the details of which are unknown.   Ending Guideline / Suggested Route Order There isn't really a best order in this game, so just pick a girl you like and do her route. After you've gotten one good end you can do Hikami's route. I personally went Nagamori-Misaki-Mio-Akane-Nanase-Shiina-Hikami.   Route Guideline  
Nagamori Mizuka
     
Kawana Misaki
     
Kouzuki Mio
       
Satomura Akane
         
Nanase Rumi
       
Shiina Mayu
    Hikami Shun   Attribution This walkthrough is based on info attained here with some adjustments made by me.

Have you tried playing KEY games? I'd recommend Clannad and Air. I also see that you haven't read Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate, and from your list on VNDB this is the best option for what you are looking for.

+1 for Tropical Liquor in the "worst of 2018" bucket (I didn't play the other Sayori one being mentioned, Monmusu). Even Frontwing's blatant Huniepop clone from back in 2016 had less awful gameplay than Tropical Liquor.
And next up would definitely be Magical Marriage Lunatics. Literally everything about it was bad. First off, the art is bad—have you seen those sprite poses? Second off, the story is bad—because there isn't one. Third, the characters are neither likeable nor memorable. Like, I probably spent 10 hours playing this game and it's a major struggle to even dredge up their faces, let alone names.
Sorry dude, but I couldn't disagree more. MML is genuinely bad. If you want a game with the same general flavor but which does literally everything right, while MML does literally everything wrong, Ponkotsu Akuma is where it's at.

The thing is.... It isn't really Sayori's fault since they were banging on the hope her art would sell copies and so did fk all about the story and characters.... Can honestly say I'm not surprised and feel quite vindicated when I told people to stay away from those 2 VNs.

Still though, I hope she gets pulled into better VNs. Her artwork is really up there.

The worst of 2018 ? Maybe Tropical Liquor. The puzzle part sucks, the date part sucks, the VN part sucks, the Girls s...err...are not very interesting (even Sayori's art is disappointing)  Not much to save...except one or two H-scenes, maybe 
https://vndb.org/v20527

The only 5 Visual Novels in 2018 I read
Dies Irae - Honestly I found it kinda overrated. It had some cool/interesting characters and setting and powers. But I hated the long winded-ness of the 'prose'. These villains dont need to speak dramatic metaphorical essays for me to understand the point. Also the romance (outside Kei's route) sucked, Ren was a meh protag, and it kinda suffered from the too many characters not getting enough development. Honestly Shirou might have been my favorite character just because he didn't give a crap about the plot and just did what he wanted and looked badass doing it. Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road - I've seen mixed reception of this VN but I personally consider it a solid spiritual sequel to MajiKoi. Pretty funny comedy and I liked the fun delinquet girl setting. Routes were a bit inconsistent. Ai was clearly the 'canon' heroineand her relationship and personality was overall the best but Hiroshi became a little too forceful of what he wanted his GF to be without any balance on his side for my liking. Maki was alright but a little too forceful and kinda forcing Hiroshi to do what she wanted while also guilt tripping you for not picking Ai. Renna in theory was the best since it was the most about accepting the actual delinquet side but I liked her the least of the main 3 personality-wise. Also Ayumi is best girl she needs a route Root Double - Pretty good. A nice spiritual sequel to the Infinity series (I don't like I/O very much). Had cool plot twists and interesting developed characters like any Infinity series VN. It was missing something t make it really stand out as a favorite (E17 and R11 are in my top favs) maybe it was none of the characters stuck out too much or the plot twists im comparing too much to Infinity seires but I overall still like it Fureraba - I actually expected to think this Vn was meh but it was pretty decent. Very moege but it got to teh point very quickly, the main protag was actually kinda funny in how dumb he acted. Every heroine turned out fairly likable (though I thought Himari was a little meh/disappointing/boring which is odd since I usually like childhood friends winning). I think it got a little too formulaic where the progression of routes was almost exactly the same in each but the interaction was likable enough that I didnt mind much Dracu-Riot - This had all the makings of a great VN for me. Great comedy (sometimes), interesting setting and plot, some fairly likable characters (Elina is bae), and decent enough character development and pacing. Some things I REALLY didnt like bring it down. Mostly some of the humor later on (The MC got bashed on by the girls WAY too much when he didnt deserve and I hated the doctor character from the beginning) to the point where it killed some actually pretty good romantic development for me, especially in Miu's route who I thought was a decent character up to that point. If it weren't for that (and maybe some little things like the 'secret' route being kinda dumb but thankfully short) I would have given this at least a 8. Sadly I only gave it a 6 and am scared to try out other Yuzusoft VNs now since this was apparently the most liked one before Sanoba came out.

2018 was the year I really started reading VNs on a regular basis, and it also happened to be a year where I had a lot of time to kill, so I finished about 18 of them (including several long titles), and started a few without finishing them. So my list obviously contains well known ones since so far I mostly read those.
 
1. Umineko. I don't even know where to begin with this one. Both parts are only sitting at a 9.5 on my vndb list because each one suffers from some minor flaws, but as a whole it's closer to a 10.5. Also gave us Goat-kun and Erika wearing a pirate hat.
2. Steins;Gate. Great in every aspect. It's a shame they had to cut 4°C for the anime adaptation.
3. Muv Luv Alternative. Has the highest quantity of "holy sh*t"-moments ever. And Meiya.
4. Clannad. I love Clannad despite thinking it isn't that good. Has several mediocre routes and heavy pacing issues, but it still got me on a personal level in a way I didn't expect, mostly because I just love 90% of the characters.
5. The House In Fata Morgana. Soo much pain and suffering.
 
As for honourable mentions, I'd pick VA-11 HALL-A and fault Milestone 2 (side: above).

Monmusu is in my opinion an even worse Sayori VN released in 2018, but ye Tropical Liquor is really bad.

G-senjou no maou

So, forgive me for making a post like this: But I have the sudden urge to tell everyone how much otaku shit I’ve done in 2018.
Without further ado, let’s get started with this.
I’ve only read six visual novels this whole year. Which is a lot for me. DDLC kinda rivitalized my interest in VNs again. It’s what led to me making a that reddit post. The controversy that led me to here on Fuwanovel to begin with.
So, here are my top five visual novels for 2018 that I read.
1. Subahibi 
Why? It’s pretty damn obviously why this takes the top spot. I was skeptical about it being a God Teir Visual Novel, but it magically exceeded my expectations and changed me a bit. Before reading it, I was on a anti philosophy binge. Because I felt as though, that science ended philosophical thought. That was when I kept reading the words of Wittgenstein over and over again. I am no means a logical positivist, yet just like how Evangelion got me into learning about philosophy eight summers ago, I found appreciation in learning about how to live happily. I can go on and on. Yet, everyone here knows why this VN is a masterpiece.
2. Kara No Shoujo 1
This VN feels kinda underrated to me, because I hear a lot about Subahibi and Saya No Uta as wonderful medium defining visual novels. However, KnS1 is actually scary a little bit. The mystery was really fun. I really enjoyed binge reading this VN and losing my mind trying to solve it. 
3. Saya No Uta
This VN is not scary. Disturbing, not scary. Hell, even the disturbing stuff was meh to me. After seeing blood and guts plastered everywhere for about an hour, you get used to it. However, what I love about this VN is that it’s a lovecraftian love story. It’s not really that long either. I can recommend to some of my friends and family who don’t mind this kind of disturbing stuff. You can finish all of it in five hours which is super lovely. The reason why it does not top because competition is fierce up there, plus it’s not that scary which is why I started reading it in the first place. It’s hard to be scared of Saya when you keep finding her so kawaii. 
4. Phenomeno
Damn. Everything about this VN is spot on. The music. The sounds. The effects. So damn atmospheric. I read this with a friend and they were spooked because they actually are afraid of ghosts. LOL. I don’t usually like NVL but this VN made me enjoy it. It uses the power of the VN to tell such a hauntingly good narrative. I am sad that it’s only the prologue to the actual book series. This is a great VN to read with a friend because it’s really short. Like less than 2 hours long. And it uses that length to it’s advantage quality over quantity. DAAAAMMMNNN this was so good. I would pay AAA game money for a sequel even if I like finish it in like a few hours. 
 
5. Kara No Shoujo 2
Personally. This VN is more comedic and light hearted than KnS 1. Why? Well, it’s hard to discuss without getting into details. The first VN felt depressing with it’s themes of obsession and lost. It made me feel horrible for a lot of things. Meanwhile in KnS2, I was laughing my ass off for a decent portion of it. Plus the murderer was so obvious to figure out. Like, by the second victim I knew who it was thanks to the flashback you get in the prologue of the VN. Plus the religious organization did not get that much explanation. Plus, the main girl Yukiko, cannot replace the main girl from the previous VN, Toko. Yukiko is so boring. She’s shy. But when she opens up. We don’t get that much into her character. Every time she would be on screen, I would be like, “okay, she’s going to say something cool or do something interesting.” And then I would be disappointed. The main girl from the Previous game can easily steal a scene. She basically made KnS. Her humor, wit, and charm is replaced with some mopey indecisive teenage girl. Like, we don’t get into her backstory. Who’s her biological parents? Why she’s so important to the religious organization. It’s really weird.
 
2019. I will read a yuri. Thanks for reading my post. 

I started Naoki's arc. I have one minor complaint - I wish they kept his face and voice as a protagonist too... I actually like voiced protagonists - it worked pretty well in Air or Planetarian. And here, since he already was pretty well developed as side character in Tooru's arc, sudden switch to faceless/voiceless form is a bit jarring.

Yesterday I finished Nanako's route. It was good I will elaborate when writing final impressions after completing the VN, but for now I have to say, that for this game adult patch is a must-have, as the so-called "all-ages version" is really half-assed.
Also, maybe I'm weird, but I don't hate Naoki at all. As a side character he's rather funny.

Here's all your hatless avatars back. Personally, I'm going to change mine back when the liturgical Christmas season ends, because I'm not a heathen.
@1P1A

@Akshay

@alpacaman

@bakauchuujin

@Canicheslayer

@Dergonu

@Dreamysyu

@Emi

@Funyarinpa

@Happiness+

@LemiusK

@MaggieROBOT

@mitchhamilton

@SeniorBlitz

@Silvz

@tahu157

@Thyndd

@UnlimitedMoeWorks


@wei123


@Zakamutt

(Man, the @ function is buggy in every way imaginable. Fix that shizzle, Tay.)

The results of the poll and the suggestions from the community are now up here!
Thank you to everyone who voted or offered ideas to add to our list! I hope you had fun with the poll and see a few new VNs you might be interested in this winter season~

Might be unpopular opinion but I believe they should not waste resources for Hard Copies. (for now) 

Saki's route was cool  For the rest of the VN, it was not bad or uninteresting...but it was not great either (apart from saki, the heroines were not very endearing or memorable).
Edit : I forgot this, this and that.

NOT having a full time job, or not having a family, or other time wasters ........... also helps

Merry December! 'Tis the season for everyone to adorn their avatars with Santa hats and forget about them well into February.
How does this work? Well, you either edit a Santa hat from below—or from elsewhere on the Internet—onto your avatar, or you get Fiddle to do it. No, he isn't busy or anything. (He probably is busy or anything.)

So: if you're too lazy to put a Santa hat on your avatar yourself, then ask for one of the ones above, and I'll put it on your avatar in a mere [INSERT TIME HERE DURING REVISION] hours!
Before requesting a Santa hat, make sure:
that I haven't already Santified your current avatar during a previous year. that you numerically specify a Santa hat from the list above, or else consign yourself to my artistic taste. that you prepare yourself for the worst if your avatar is not hat-friendly, such as those in which the character's head is largely cut off from view. that animated avatars require a lot of work, and I might not be able to Santify yours. that you are free to make special requests, but with each special request, a kitten dies somewhere. You probably don't have to worry about saving your original avatars, because I keep them all in a chamber somewhere and ping you when Christmas is over and it's time to switch back. But maybe you should save your original avatar if you don't trust me, and I don't trust me.

I am a curious man (sometimes I paid the price ) and female protagonists are not a problem for me (I venerate Estelle, heroine of Trails in the Sky 1 & 2 ). And so i read half a dozen of Otomes. One was really great (Mystic Messenger), three were very good (Amnesia: Memories, Enigma: & Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome), one wasn't perfect but has very cool elements (Collar x Malice), one has a lot of potential but was a bit too boring (Code:Realize) and one was...a major disillusion (Norn9: Var Commons) 
Edit : I forgot The excellent Will: A wonderful World (just like Enigma: It’s a a borderline Otome) 

To stay on a sad note, I propose Steins;Gate 0 (a good part of the game seems to be in December) OR (to return to something more joyful) maybe...Snow Sakura.