ChaosRaven

So I finished Dracu-Riot! now, or to be more precise Rio's and Miu's routes. Originally, I planned to at least play Nicola's and maybe even Elina's routes too, but decided against it at the end. Dracu Riot has a great prologue, a funny and entertaining common route, but somehow after that, as soon as the individual routes start, it stops being good. And there are several reasons for that.
First, I had the impression that they pretty much run out of budget when they finished the common route since almost nothing new was drawn anymore except for the H-scenes. You can count the number of event CG's for each route more or less on one hand and even major characters aren't drawn anymore. I appreciate Yuzusoft's attempt to add an interesting story, but it's not particularly convincing if they abbandon it half-way and don't even give a rats-ass about it anymore. They kept a good balance until the common route ends, but after that... ugh! 
The second major problem is that the romance scenes and the H-scenes in particular are akward at best and cringeworthy at worst. Yuzusoft's biggest strength is the comedic interaction between the characters, but the actual routes focus more on rather unconvincing romance scenes and a half assed story instead of that. It was a real chore to go through it. Though partly that's also a general problem of comedy VN's. Good romance requires a certain amount intensity and sincerity, which comedy VN's usually lack.
The VN is also a bit too 'light' for a vampire VN. The characters are far too over-cutified for vampires and the whole theme is more about comedic detective work than vampires anyway. Dracu-Riot might be a good comedy VN, but it's certainly not a good vampire VN. And considering how the overall quality drops in the individual routes, I would also call the story barebones at best.
That's not to say they wouldn't have had have some funny ideas. I'm still awed that one of Dracu-Riot's 'greatest' vampire strengths is that they can drink booze with 100% alcohol without dying. 
On the other hand, where's the fun if you don't even get drunk from it... 
Overall, it was still a solid read thanks to the great start, the entertaining common route, the good comedy and not to forget, Yuzusoft's great sprite dynamics which are almost unrivaled in the business. But yeah, two routes were enough for me.
Heroine rankings: Miu > Nicola > Elina > Mera > Rio
Overall rating: 7 / 10

https://fuwanovel.net/reviews/2017/01/18/himawari-the-sunflower/
 
So this game was moderately hyped and I personally was really excited for it. I didn't exactly like it as much as a lot of other people, though. For funsies, here's a list of VNs I think are better than this legendary doujin kamige, according to my VNDB ratings:
Princess Evangile Noble ☆ Works Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My Girlfriend is the President. Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! S Deardrops Games I think are exactly as good as Himawari, according to my VNDB ratings:
Edelweiss Duel Savior What great company Himawari keeps.

After some discussion, we on VNDB decided that it made no sense for all of the Majikoi A VNs to share a single entry. They comprise of entirely separate, unconnected stories, and are simply a series of fandiscs. Them sharing one entry also gives us a lower fidelity of data, the ratings can't be for individual parts and the tags are less useful. As such, we split them.
However, in this process we are also getting rid of all old votes, since the old ones weren't tied to any specific release. If you have rated Majikoi A on VNDB in the past, please rerate each entry you have played. Everyone who has rated A in the past should receive a notification about its deletion with this information contained within, but I'd like to be thorough, so I'm letting everyone here know in case any of you don't regularly visit the site.
Some tips from VNDB's admin Yorhel:
Be sure to recast those votes! Thanks to the split, you can now cast a different vote for each individual entry, giving a more accurate representation of how much you enjoyed each one. And apologies to everyone for the inconvenience.
The new entries: A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5

Actually, it already looks very 'databasey' to me. I mean I can already go back and browse all titles from 2010. As a pure news site I think Omochikaeri has more charm since they have nice blog articles where they bash comment all the individual releases.
But this site allows me to browse all the titles of a particular year seeing the cover image, short info and a small description side by side. VNDB is a great database, but it's just horrible for browsing since you just get a huge list of titles and have to click each entry individually to get some info about it. It's great for search and for linking, but not really suited for relaxed browsing for an interesting title.

I think it's great if - like Toranth mentioned - this is kept up to date. There's the cover, a short description and links to all relevant sites. Though, I'd have some suggestions for improvement:
First, the cover images are a bit small, and since those are usually supposed to grab your interest they should be bigger i think.
Second, the EGS links use IP-blocked links which isn't useful for a non-Japanese audience. Conjueror posted an EGS link which isn't IP blocked some time ago: http://egs.omaera.org/~ap2/ero/toukei_kaiseki/. I think it would be better to use this one. (Guess that's what Sana is indicating they'll fix...)
It also lacks a search and a various filters like by year, month, language, etc. But the yearly top 100 are nice.

Last year they specifically pointed out that their top ten doesn't count steam sales. Those simply weren't accounted for at all so in reality Eden was first with quite a gap when you actually add steam numbers. 

MangaGamer finally posted their year 2016 review with several top ten lists. In short:
Pretty much all their older big nukiges made it back to the top ten, with ImoPara leading the way. Only the new nukiges Beat Blades Haruka and Funbag Fatasy could fend off their dominance. Rance going strong as expected and Princess Evangile also made a return. No story titles in sight though... . Not really shocked about that anymore - it's every year the same. Although Eden got a top three ranking if I rememer right. I'm not really sure if Steam sales are included or not though since Steam sales got their own list. 
Not much to say here...
Several titles like Eden celebrating a comeback and Kindred Spirits and Ozmafia leading the pack. Would be interesting to know how big Steam sales are in comparison to sales on their own site.

MangaGamer finally posted their year 2016 review with several top ten lists. In short:
Pretty much all their older big nukiges made it back to the top ten, with ImoPara leading the way. Only the new nukiges Beat Blades Haruka and Funbag Fatasy could fend off their dominance. Rance going strong as expected and Princess Evangile also made a return. No story titles in sight though... . Not really shocked about that anymore - it's every year the same. Although Eden got a top three ranking if I rememer right. I'm not really sure if Steam sales are included or not though since Steam sales got their own list. 
Not much to say here...
Several titles like Eden celebrating a comeback and Kindred Spirits and Ozmafia leading the pack. Would be interesting to know how big Steam sales are in comparison to sales on their own site.

Adding those two groups sounds like a great idea. 
Meanwhile at VNDB... Decay seems to fight for the splitting of the Majikoi A titles. lol

Adding those two groups sounds like a great idea. 
Meanwhile at VNDB... Decay seems to fight for the splitting of the Majikoi A titles. lol

I wonder if my brain blocks Yuzusoft or something, but I somehow managed to miss it everywhere, even in Decay's post. Looking at it now, damn... it should have been in my top 10 best rated list. I'm pretty sure I looked through that Fuwanovel's list and then used all the filters to see VN translations released in 2016 on vndb and still didn't see it.

Anyway, in response to all of the recommendations in this thread I'm thinking to add two more groups:
E) Bunny Black 2/Koiken Otome/Beat Blades Haruka/Majikoi A1-A2
F) Funbag Fantasy/Yoake Mae yori Ruri Iro/Nurse Love Addiction/Dracu-Riot

I reeeeally hope none of these games break something, especially Majikoi......
Maybe I'll make an extra round with Nekopara after all is over too.
 

Yes, since you've used VNDB for the top ten, it would have probably been best to stick to that rating for choosing the other titles. It just looks weird if you exclude some titles because of low VNDB ratings but leave oddities like Memory's Dogma in.
Though the popularity of a title is not only measured by the height of the rating but also the vote count. I know for a fact that some people prefer to not vote for a title instead of just giving it a low rating. So having a high vote count is usually a plus. For example, you also didn't include Koiken Otome because it just got a rating of 7.03, but it got more than 600 votes. In comparison, the top rated VN Fata Morgana just got 371 votes. So technically, the fairest rating would probably the bayesian one from VNDB. But well, even that 's problematic because it penalizes titles released at the end of the year... 
Anyway, I'm aware that this is just a fun contest, so don't take my criticism too seriously. 

Yes, since you've used VNDB for the top ten, it would have probably been best to stick to that rating for choosing the other titles. It just looks weird if you exclude some titles because of low VNDB ratings but leave oddities like Memory's Dogma in.
Though the popularity of a title is not only measured by the height of the rating but also the vote count. I know for a fact that some people prefer to not vote for a title instead of just giving it a low rating. So having a high vote count is usually a plus. For example, you also didn't include Koiken Otome because it just got a rating of 7.03, but it got more than 600 votes. In comparison, the top rated VN Fata Morgana just got 371 votes. So technically, the fairest rating would probably the bayesian one from VNDB. But well, even that 's problematic because it penalizes titles released at the end of the year... 
Anyway, I'm aware that this is just a fun contest, so don't take my criticism too seriously. 

I'd say Majikoi A-1 and A-2 qualify, even if they're fandiscs. I count them as fully independent releases, and they're pretty big. 
I'd also count Nekopara Vol. 2 for sure. That might actually tilt the vote a little, the nekopara fanbase is scary, lol.
And if it was me, i'd throw in Koiken Otome just because it was a somewhat popular release, even if it wasn't particularly well received.
edit: There's also...
Bunny Black 2 if you're doing gameplay VNs 
Tomoyo After if you want to count a retranslated, enhanced release (and Muv Luv for just a retranslated release) 
Funbag Fantasy because it's a popular nukige
Yoake Mae yori Ruri Iro na had a full translation release although theoretically an improved translation is still on the way (same with Dracu-Riot, tho less "theoretical")
Nurse Love Addiction was a solid yuri release.
Kiss for the Petals - New Generation as well, though it's not quite as highly rated as NLA. 
 
Not quite sure what kind of standards you're using here, but these are the other most notable releases of the year to me. I don't really think they stand much of a chance of actually winning it all but some of them may do better than some of the other games present.

Guess it actually became public at least a week ago, so no reason not to mention that I'm one of the new translators.  They needed translators wiling to work on H-scenes, and I want to play SKM; that's a win-win for everybody.

You can alternate them, and feel bipolar.

Hi there everyone. A few of you may have heard that my dad has passed away this Monday from cardiac arrest. Never before have I felt so broken. It's like there's a hole in my heart that would never heal again.
But after close to a week, I felt the healing process taking place. I can now smile again, and I no longer break into tears at random. When I reflect, my dad's passing has helped me grow so much in the span of three to five days. It's not at all worth the exchange, but now I hold Mum's hand a lot more, and the whole family is closer from the incident. My mind seems to have pushed all of Dad's flaws aside, so now he's turned into some kind of deity who I can always count on to watch over me. I've never been spiritual, but maybe it's all I have now to keep me sane.
But as the title suggests, my dad's funeral is on this afternoon, and I'm so nervous about it. I haven't seen Dad's face since I left the hospital on Monday, and after the cremation ceremony tomorrow, I'll never get to see him again. Really scared to guess how I'll respond when I see him today. My wounds have at last begun to heal, but the funeral might tear those stitches open again, which is so tough to bear. I feel terrible for worrying about myself at a time like this, but I must own up to what's going through my mind. For now, I'm telling myself that the funeral should be a celebration of my dad's legacy, but once those doors open, my narrative will probably fly out the window.
So yes, if anyone has any advice for me, I'd appreciate that so much. I'm up typing this at 3am because I really can't sleep, so maybe I'm a bit desperate. Of course, I'd be thankful for any good wishes you have for my dad as well. Just a lot of selfishness and confusion on my part.
Thank you so much everyone.

I think before I start caring about the potential ending of the VN, I first want to know if the stuff BEFORE the ending is actually worth reading. Otherwise I couldn't care less.
Judging by his previous works, Niijima Yuu seems to be a rather decent writer - you could do worse than having written Hatsusaku I think - so I don't really see it that negative.
Some writers also possess the incredible brain power to recognize that visual novels allow for different endings, including good and bad ones. Who knows, maybe he can make everybody happy... or nobody. 

Overdrive has fairly entertaining slice of life comedy VN's. Edelweiss, my favorite is probably the most crazy one with rather over the top comedy. On the other hand, it can get surprisingly bitter-sweet in some routes so I'm not sure if it would be the right suggestion for what you are searching. Kira Kira or Deardrops would probably better suited here.
Alcot's My Girlfriend is the President is also some of the most funny VN's I've read so far and certainly light. And there's still the Shuffle! series, but it's probably a love or hate thing.
I've also started reading Dracu-Riot! a few days ago and so far it was a real blast. The prologue was almost like an action movie peppered with YuzuSoft's unique comedy style. The sprite dynamics are even better than in NobleWorks, especially the facial expressions and the eyes. The characters feel so dynamic and alive, it's no suprise that their titles are so popular - it's just extremely well done. In contrast to NobleWorks, they also seem to have gotten the story right this time, although I'm not far enough to really judge it accurately yet. But there's certainly a reason why it's so highly rated and popular. But it's also tagged as long on VNDB, though the same applies for NobleWorks which didn't feel that long too me.
So yeah, I think my personal recommendation would be Dracu Riot! despite its length, since it's such a high qualiy moege that everyone should at least give it a try.

Besides Kanon, the legendary tearjerker in winter, Kara no Shoujo 2 also has a very strong winter theme.
Edit: Ah, and Cartagra too.

That's easy, Sekai Project is taking the deals that Jast and MG would have walked away from.  Jast cancelled the release of Cleavage because the original uncensored CG data has been lost; in their estimation, that meant there was no point in bothering with a release.  Neither Jast nor MangaGamer would ever license a title where the developer made them remove the h-scenes.  For MangaGamer, the closest would be when they removed the voices from Kara no Shoujo and Koihime back in 2011 when they were a lot smaller, and they simply couldn't afford to pay the license fees.  For Jast, the closest would be Shiny Days, and the whole mess around the unofficial patch; and that was for legal reasons (as in, Mr. Payne does not want to go to jail).
If a Japanese VN company is open to releasing in the west (more and more nowadays), but nervous about backlash over the h content (which is a lot of them, they remember RapeLay), Jast or MG are much less likely to cut a deal with them.  If they can't get a deal finalized that includes the H-scenes, they just won't sign it.  Sekai Project has been willing to sign those deals; so they have all-ages versions of some titles, but haven't been able to get a deal signed for complete versions.
Jast and MG are eroge companies first, and all-ages companies second (if Jast even has any all-ages releases; I'm not sure they even do Edit:  Forgot about Aselia).  Sekai Project - well, by their own admission in this AMA, they chose to focus on all-ages, and were surprised at the amount of pushback that they got.
So it has nothing to do with "having no idea how to run a business".  The bad PR that comes from not knowing how to properly say "still in the works, we can't comment" is totally their fault, but in general, when negotiations are ongoing, companies keep their mouths shut.  All of them do.  Funimation doesn't say why they can't get show XYZ; they just say "there are some issues we need to work out with the licensor".  And I guarantee Jast and MangaGamer have equally strict confidentiality policies regarding their negotiations.  (Don't believe me?  Go ask Doddler why he had to review Oyatsu no Jikan all those years ago.)  It's just that, Jast and MangaGamer don't sign all-ages-only deals.  Sekai Project does, and then keeps negotiating to make the adults-only release happen afterward.
Jast and MangaGamer avoid these complicated PR problems, not because they know what they're doing (Jast is so slow because it's terribly run, although that's been changing recently) and Sekai Project does not - but because Sekai Project says "something is better than nothing" whereas Jast and MG will just not release the title at all if they can't get the h-scenes.

Finished Feena's route in Yoake Mae yori Ruri Iro na now and as much as it hurts to say, but it was horribly generic. Considering that Feena is supposed be a moon princess you might at least expect a visit in a moon city, but there was nothing like that. Just ultra simplistic school life moege. Presentation wise it's still quite decent despite it's age and it also has some surprisingly good soundtracks, but besides that it has very little to offer. It's neither particularly funny nor dramatic, the romance wasn't particularly engaging with little to no chemistry between Feena and the rather bland protagonist and there's no interesting story either. And by removing the H scenes you can't even play it for fan service anymore.
Overall, I'm thinking about dropping this completely and just ignore all the other routes. I always wanted to play Feena's route since she kind of stood out with her moon princess charme, but the rest of the cast simply lacks that appeal. So I think I move on to Dracu Riot now besides the Hanachirasu I'm also currently playing. It's supposed to be pretty good, and considering Noble Works was already a quite decent moege it at least shouldn't disappoint.

Finished Feena's route in Yoake Mae yori Ruri Iro na now and as much as it hurts to say, but it was horribly generic. Considering that Feena is supposed be a moon princess you might at least expect a visit in a moon city, but there was nothing like that. Just ultra simplistic school life moege. Presentation wise it's still quite decent despite it's age and it also has some surprisingly good soundtracks, but besides that it has very little to offer. It's neither particularly funny nor dramatic, the romance wasn't particularly engaging with little to no chemistry between Feena and the rather bland protagonist and there's no interesting story either. And by removing the H scenes you can't even play it for fan service anymore.
Overall, I'm thinking about dropping this completely and just ignore all the other routes. I always wanted to play Feena's route since she kind of stood out with her moon princess charme, but the rest of the cast simply lacks that appeal. So I think I move on to Dracu Riot now besides the Hanachirasu I'm also currently playing. It's supposed to be pretty good, and considering Noble Works was already a quite decent moege it at least shouldn't disappoint.

You just finished her initial route, right? I'd at least recommend going through her second route that unlocks after you clear all the routes. It's a lot better than anything in her initial route. 

http://prefundia.com/projects/view/project-to-lead-dies-irae-to-the-atziluth/11416/

Some bullet points:
$160,000 initial goal. $500,000 for a new story. A split release, with both parts releasing May 2017.  18+ patch confirmed, will release 3 months later. Non-sexual content censored in the JP version of Amantes amantes will be restored. Both 16:9 and 4:3 versions will be available for people who dislike cropping. 16:9 version will have CG panning. Will be uprezzed to 720p/768p Translation team includes Conjueror, Garejei (the Tokyo Babel/Himawari duo), ReadingSteiner (Steins;Gate, Nympho Sensei Ryoko fame), and GundamAce (Root Double and I thought also Steins;Gate but it's not mentioned on the prefundia). It seems like they're addressing pretty much all of the major concerns right out of the gate. I'm sure some people will be disappointed by the delayed 18+ patch, but well, that seems to be how things are these days.