MaggieROBOT

I will take off the hat after I take down my Christmas tree. So, probably in March. 

Liturgical Christmas has ended, so it's time for you dopes to actually switch your avatars back this year. Otherwise you'll be inflating the value of Christmas.
@Dreamysyu

@Zakamutt

@Dergonu

@Silvz
or
@Sillysa
I hope you saved your old avatar, because it's time to switch it back, bucko.
@droganpc
Change it back, nerd.
@FinalChaos

@MaggieROBOT

@mitchhamilton

@Mr Poltroon
As beautiful as your Santa hat avatar is, I insist you change it back to whatever it was before.
@1P1A

So  I am a newbie and  my VN is an otome dating sims where you romance aliens. And I suddenly realized that non-humans might not be what the majority prefers... But I swear, I made them as humanoid as possible! I wonder if other people are as attracted to them as I am. I mean, I did draw my preference afterall so I'm abit biased hehe.  Side note, I would love to make new friends with starting out developers too!

Yup, alien LIs are something people appreciate. Probably less human-like ones too. If you throw in an android one you also get an 80% chance to summon a wild @MaggieROBOT.
Seriously though, all kinds of variety and unusual themes will get attention. Otome, just like other VNs, are a bit stale when it goes to types of characters one can romance, don't be afraid to go outside the usual tropes. Even if people are not specifically into aliens they'll be happy to see something new.

Just came back to participate in the best (only?) Fuwa event there is.
Hat me up pls. I would like the 27 or 28 appends too, if they are like free dlc.

Guys, please stick to this version of the image going forward.

Of course they're free when I'm your official #1 fan.

MAN DOWN, MAN DOWN!!!!
 
What Okarin-senpai said is the golden rule, play the H scenes when you're fully alone, it's better for your heart. Even when the game is not in euphoria's level I always get embarassed when someone is walking around in the house 
...Unless the other person is as strange as you . I didn't played euphoria, I'm just not into this, but my younger sister did. She tried to hide, but eventually she herself told me. Now that I know her true colors, she keeps suggesting strange games to me without a shame. What a lovely family we are.

While not the average weeb's first choice, I can't not recommend Shibuya Scramble.
The game works in chapters and more or less you play 5 routes (with different protagonists) at the same time, where your goal is to make everyone reach the chapter's end alive and well. One MC's choice may very well ruin things for another (or for all of them) so even choices that seem useless at first can lead to some... meme interesting endings. And this game have around 80 bad ends iirc, so if ending hunting is your jam, this game is a delight.
I know it sounds a bit confusing and it kinda is at first but it's a ridiculously fun game. It does have a flowchart and a hint corner in-game to help too.

While not the average weeb's first choice, I can't not recommend Shibuya Scramble.
The game works in chapters and more or less you play 5 routes (with different protagonists) at the same time, where your goal is to make everyone reach the chapter's end alive and well. One MC's choice may very well ruin things for another (or for all of them) so even choices that seem useless at first can lead to some... meme interesting endings. And this game have around 80 bad ends iirc, so if ending hunting is your jam, this game is a delight.
I know it sounds a bit confusing and it kinda is at first but it's a ridiculously fun game. It does have a flowchart and a hint corner in-game to help too.

Key VNs generally have quite a lot of choices that generally matter to some extent. The best example would be Clannad. Though you will probably need a walkthrough to play it, since the choice system is just too complex, so getting some specific routes may be troublesome.
Otome game Steam Prison has a pretty interesting route system and quite a lot of endings. Though, in this case, not that many of the individual choices matter, but they affect affection counter with the characters, and which ending you get is decided by how much affection the target character has (there are exceptions though).
Not what you ask for, but I'm also going to mention Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo no Koi. as a VN you may be interested in. It's very linear and, in a sense, only has a single route, but the choice system in it is very unique, for a lack of a better word.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, guys! <3
I've been playing ff14 lately and hey, there's Nier colab raids with accompanying thematic outfits so I'll soon get my wish to be able to 2D cosplay as 2B, butt and everything, and then my life will be complete 

Thanks for the birthday wishes, guys! <3
I've been playing ff14 lately and hey, there's Nier colab raids with accompanying thematic outfits so I'll soon get my wish to be able to 2D cosplay as 2B, butt and everything, and then my life will be complete 

i love the list! very concise and easy to check. everything you mentioned about MG are available now. Check Steam! there's plenty of BL but a lot of them are not translated (it's a shame). i want you to check a title called: Nessa No Rakuen. The hero is voiced by Kaji Yuki. Very sensual game

Happy Birthday! @MaggieROBOT
Wish you all the best!
And also happy birthday @Kenshin_sama
May he find happiness wherever he is....

Happy birthday to @MaggieROBOT!

All Best Wishes to @MaggieROBOT! May the year bless you with awesome android stories and everything else that's good in life.

Happy belated 27th birthday to @MaggieROBOT, and I hope you'll have a good birthday.

It's as Templarseeker said. Even if you read a in-depth review, your experience can still be very different. I had my share of reading full of praise reviews of games I found interesting at first glance, just to play it myself and not find anything praise worthy anywhere.
In the end, ratings are just highly subjective numbers. Everyone have their own standards, so nothing stops someone to give 10s to nukiges they enjoyed  or giving 1s to games that have a 10 seconds NTR scene when they weren't expecting any.
It's all about your expectations and if they're fulfilled I guess.

It's as Templarseeker said. Even if you read a in-depth review, your experience can still be very different. I had my share of reading full of praise reviews of games I found interesting at first glance, just to play it myself and not find anything praise worthy anywhere.
In the end, ratings are just highly subjective numbers. Everyone have their own standards, so nothing stops someone to give 10s to nukiges they enjoyed  or giving 1s to games that have a 10 seconds NTR scene when they weren't expecting any.
It's all about your expectations and if they're fulfilled I guess.

Trust no one but yourself.  In the end, your thoughts and experiences regarding playing a particular Eroge/Visual Novel is what truly matters.  
Don't let the majority's opinion cloud your better judgement. Just avoid reading those lousy review scores and play the Eroges/Visual Novels that interests you straight away!
If you'll only follow the crowd, you're no different from the livestock that roams the endless horizon of the Internet.
Learn to decide for yourself and everything will follow...
 
 

Alriiiiiiiight, now comes the moment no one asked for: the disappointing answers and the shocking results!
1) A
Not my fault the teachers never picked a book I actually wanted to read so classic lit usually put me to sleep. My school's cafeteria was also so-so most of the time so lunch break didn't deserve top spot by any means either.
2) B
I wanted to argue with Poltroon's motive but... eeerrr... Last time I tried to argue with a friend I don't like DMC all that much they pointed how I was buying my 2nd copy of DMC4 in that same instant so welp, I give up trying to hide it.
3) A
I FEEL LIKE A CHAMPION OF SELF-CONTROL WOOOO! I hope the streak doesn't break any time soon. And yes, there are BL gachas but either their translations or gameplay sucks too much for me to care about grinding them so I usually stick to otome ones.
4) B
At least that was the original answer, but turns out I beat one more yesterday after posting. Go me, but oops. I'm sorry for breaking my promise that all questions had one right answer, so everyone gets a point for this one as an apology. Bonus 0.5 for Lesiak for getting it right the first time, bonus 0.25 for Zaka for having faith in my capacity of beating 11 bosses and bonus 0.1 for Kiri because he picked the 11 option too one way or the other I guess.
5) A
I'm real sorry, but my shit sense of humor kinda prevents me of not choosing Mogeko Castle. I do love To The Moon, but default assets, the align puzzles serves no real purpose, yadda yadda technical bullshit excuses yadda yadda
6) C
The other options are glorious, but the last one comes with an extra Archer and oh my god, imagine being served by Archer and eating with him, yadda yadda fangirlism yadda yadda
7) A
I prefer 9S as a character, but voice prize goes to Eve. This is him btw (on the right):
 
And if anyone's wondering what the コノママジャダメ is: 
 
 
So after this breakdown, the final score ends up as:
1st - Fiddle (4 pts)
2nd - Zaka (3.25 pts)
3rd - Poltroon (3 pts)
4th - Kiri (2.1 pts)
5th - Lesiak (1.5 pts)
So our crowned champion whose badge is coming soon-tm-maybe-never is: FIDDLE!!!
 
Moral of the story: Sheeps are powerful and now I'm scared

ifyouremoveallkanjijapanesewillbesomewhatlikethisandthisispainfulenoughtoreadanditsonlyonesentencelongseriouslyyoudontwantthat
 
*cough*  that said, my big brain take is that kanji is nothing and the true beast of Japanese is deciphering katakana because maaaaaaaaaan the way they spell some foreign words...

I should note that anything will be hard and what matters is that it's something you can keep reading, not that it's the absolute easiest. Here are some personal recs from what I've seen others rec and experienced myself:
Axanael - https://vndb.org/v3971
from what I've heard not super long (so you can actually finish), lots of dialogue (easier to read usually), lots of voicing, fairly quickly paced.
Aiyoku no Eustia - https://vndb.org/v3770
apparently the sentences are decently short, and it's plot focused with an interesting setting? idk
Sisters ~Natsu no Saigo no Hi~ - https://vndb.org/v3896
A fully animated short vn people often recommend for beginners, I think?
Stargazer https://vndb.org/v15636
Short yuri doujin vn with one main character voiced. Not an amazing vn but also not super hard to read I think...? I read it a while ago.
Kimihane Couples - https://vndb.org/v20444
Yuri. I read the non-expanded version of this vndb lists as a "prequel" but this includes all of the old kimhane as far as I know. All characters are voiced and it should be reasonably short. Some narration in a particular route might be somewhat difficult though, unsure if it matters.
---unvoiced lol
Watashi wa Kyou Koko de Shinimasu - https://vndb.org/v21768
A very short (2265 lines vs like 10k at least in most recs) nakige about two misfits trying to deal with the world being shit, suicide themed. Good pacing means it has a decent lot of plot in its short runtime and little wasted time, which helps when reading it will take 20 hours instead of 2 because japanese is hard. But it's unvoiced feelsbadman.
Watashi no Real wa Jujitsu Shisugiteiru - https://vndb.org/v13321
And entaining otomege with a protagonist with personality. I found this easier to read than a decent lot of things, and it's free to download too. However, it's unvoiced.

Once NEKO WORKs's patent on adjustable boob jiggling expires, VNs will enter a new era of greatness.