I'm working my way through Grisaia no kaijutsu, it's my first visual novel.
I fell in love with Steinz;Gate and Fate.Zero when watching them as Anime and I wanted more!
I researched them both, discovering they were both originally Visual Novels, but that, disastrously... neither was on Steam! (very sad times). I flicked through the other VN's available on Steam and decided to purchase Grisaia, G-Senjou, Fault 1 & 2, Sound of Drop, Eden* and Planetarian. - Do people believe these will be good choices for a beginner? What should I go with after I finish Grisaia?
I'm a ways now into what I think is still the common route in Grisaia (I just met JB outside the school) and I'm finding it absolutely fantastic. Coming from a bit of a Fansub group background, What surprised me greatly was the quality of the translation, and how the jokes were just so damn funny. This is some of the funniest stuff I've heard in my life. Let alone read! I can't believe it was written in JP!
So far I'm finding all of the characters interesting, but when it comes time to choose I have been advised on going through them like this: Irisu > Amane > Sachi > Michiru > Yumiko. Thoughts on that order? Any advice on how to do it differently and why? I like Amane (sexy! confident! hilarious!) and Michiru (best. character. idea. ever.) the most. Sachi and Yumiko seem pretty great too. Though I'm finding the romance angle with Irisu to be a bit ... dodgey. I understand that's probably cultural. I've never been a lolicon.
I never really believed you could have such complex, compelling characters outside of a very well written novel. I've certainly never seen them in any other medium. Whether that be a critically acclaimed show like The Wire, or a great game like Bauldurs Gate. Even when characters are on that level, they never get enough screen time to make an impact, or their story is simply too spread out, to drip fed for the reader to keep it all together. Maybe they come across amazing on a Wiki article, but not in practice. It seems to me that Grisaia is striking just the right balance. And whether it's Sachi tracking your eye movements to pre-empt your needs (hinting at a dangerously subservient upbringing) or Amane feeling all too comfortable with using her body as a 'resource'. The idea that you get to pick the one your most interested in and learn more about them, seems pretty revelatory to me. Even books don't have that!
