LemiusK

So how is it learning written Japanese for someone who is already fairly proficient with hànzi? I imagine that the multiple readings must still suck, but at least most kanji you may be able to recognize and at least figure some of the meaning (even if it's sometimes somewhat off), no? 
 

Hm. Can't say I really "like" other languages aside from English and Japanese, since I don't really encounter or use other languages that often.
Mandarin is my second language, but I have a difficult time reading traditional Chinese characters, so the "simplified" form is the way to go for me, and even that can be a challenge for me.
  I use Hokkien (a Chinese dialect) quite a lot around the house, but again, it's not really a language I "like" or anything, just a tool I happen to use.
  Cantonese has its appeal, since I happened to grow up watching quite a few Hong Kong drama/movies as a child.
For me, I really see languages as tools rather than some passion of mine, but if you really want to get into it, I guess you could say I do happen to like songs of certain languages over others. Growing up with a Chinese background, Mandarin and Cantonese songs are a big influence, and I found myself preferring their more emotional and passionate style of music over English music at times (I still prefer English music in general though if you ask me).
I have quite a few Chinese songs I liked, not the least of which are Jackie Chan songs (yes, he sings, very well in fact). Also, Andy Lau songs are not bad too. Chinese songs are a funny thing, because they can be so overly sentimental and sappy at the worst of times (much like their movies), but I guess that's also part of their charm that appealed to me as well. 

You may be right. TBH, I'm not sure what my feelings towards VNs are. I claim I don't like them, yet, I do like them on a very deep level. It's like I'm afraid to admit I actually like VNs.
I'm a tsundere!

Doki Doki seemed like a meme/joke VN to me, so I'm not surprised it's chock-full of cheap shock value. I didn't bother finishing past the first route because it's so stale and generic. Most of its "shock value" content was already spoiled by the ubiquitous Doki Doki memes anyway.

Doki Doki seemed like a meme/joke VN to me, so I'm not surprised it's chock-full of cheap shock value. I didn't bother finishing past the first route because it's so stale and generic. Most of its "shock value" content was already spoiled by the ubiquitous Doki Doki memes anyway.

Man, Ever17's ending just dragged on and on and on... It felt like I was watching the ending to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King".
I kept finding myself distracted and switching to another VN because it's so boring.
And that same soundtrack, that same song on loop; it kinda numbed my brain hearing the same music for 10 minutes. Ever17 definitely doesn't have a great selection of soundtracks.

YMK and Kanon come to mind, in that if you skipped a girl's route, she's pretty much met with trauma and a bad end. When I thought about that while playing those VNs, yeah, it did bum me out a little, but on the other hand, you can't really save everyone in real life either, so I like the realism of such a structure design. Having everything wrapped up nicely like the Kanon anime is just way too contrived and silly for my taste.

That's why TexasDice said you should keep the second best route for last. You still end on a high note that way.

Can't believe this wasn't explicitly mentioned yet: Read the route you want to read most first and the one you want to read the second most, last. Procrastinating the characters you don't care much about makes it almost impossible to get yourself to read the entire thing. 

Finally got started with Clannad. Too bad that I can only read it when I'm home alone, since I keep screaming at the screen... Yeah, I don't take second-hand embarrassment too well, and Sunohara is the goshdarned master of it. I mean, I like him - he's like that small dumb puppy that thinks it's a wolf and keeps getting chased by the neighbor's bulldog... But damn, are some of the scenes where he gets in trouble hard to read (for me, at least). Also, both him and Tomoya are arseholes. Likable arseholes, but still arseholes. I don't really have an opinion on the girls yet, since I've only met 4 so far, and just for a little while each (Tomoyo and the dorm mom whose name I don't remember yet seem pretty cool, tho). I wonder what's the deal with the dead world, too. It seems so out of place... We'll see, we'll see.
Ah, as a side note - I've finished Kokonoe Kokoro the other day. Man, was it painfully generic. I don't think that the script was even written with having a monster girl heroine in mind, it was just the plainest, most boring high school romance I've ever read. The fact that Kokoro is a giant fuckin' grasshopper didn't come up even once! I know that it'll sound pathetic, but I'm disappointed. Like yeah, I know, what the heck did I expect, but if Hatoful Boyfriend could do it, then Kokonoe Kokoro could too. Shame.

Well, when all is said and done, the most important thing is that you enjoy yourself. No point reading at all if you're not having fun.

I'd be lying both to myself and to you guys if I told you "do this do that" because I can never do things exactly like that. but, I can share my thoughts.
vn's are like books so, reading 5books at the same time of course would be impossible to finish. unless you're someone who can focus on something for a long time...which I'm not, like LemiusK said;
I get bored easily and need new entertaintment because my brain is curious and doesn't like rushing or being just too slow on things. and since i'm a multitasker I can't bring myself to do only one thing cause it just feels plain boring&tiring mentally.
Anyway, I dont' mean to talk about myself here but give the message. which is doing things that is compatible with your personality and brain can be a good idea. Like, I have tons of games to finish but although I ramble how I can't finish them all... to be honest, I just don't wanna lol. my pace is slow, so going with your pace and having fun is great.

Well, I'm a bit of an anomaly. Like I said, my attention span is short, possibly even to the extent of ADD, so my case is not exactly the normal kind of behavior most people would exhibit.

I don't think I'll ever not read multiple VNs at the same time. Personally, I'm more likely to stop reading a VN if I'm only reading one or two stories at the same time because of the lack of variety. For someone whose attention span is as bad as mine, I simply can't stand sticking to one routine for a long time. More often than not, I stopped reading VNs, watching anime, or playing video games because I was seeking something else more interesting, because I was getting that bored of the same scenery. So in order to keep myself interested, visiting six different worlds of different genres at the same time seems to be a more efficient method so far working for me.
If I had forced myself to read The Labyrinth of Grisaia in one go (instead of splitting it up between my reading of other VNs), I think I would have dropped it long ago. Same with The Fruit of Grisaia. As fun as the comedy was, as great as the story might be, the lack of variety is the killer of interest for myself.

Very well.
(for confused future people:
) courtesy of @Fiddle

im gonna beat your record
 

Now off to thirties

I found the new list so here's a early Christmas Present for you all! Merry Christmas ANIME WINTER LIST 2018/2019

6.
5s remind me of a lot of nukiges I read, particularly those 'translated' by Mangagamer. Those are rather awkward to read, and because the translation is so bare and minimum, lacking most of the interesting nuances that would have made reading the texts alone entertaining, there's very little enjoyment that comes from reading these VNs or the dialogue spoken. Thankfully, nukiges' real enjoyment value lies somewhere else... 
6s is the least I could tolerate if the VN I'm reading is a serious non-nukige story, because this time, I'm actually reading the VN for its story (and by extension, dialogue and narration), not for its... you know, ecchi stuff. 

I think I'm the weird alien here (which im not surprised) inside everyone that likes bad endings;
I mean...good endings are nice, as well as emotional ones etc. but, bad endings are more interesting in my opinion. I'm not a sentimental person but, I do feel a connection with something or someone if they click with me. So I guess in this case it depends on the game and the character's personality and traits. You know those 4th wall breaker games like Doki Doki Club and Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo no Koi? Now, those are the ones that I'm talking about. 
or crazy interesting stuff like Minikui Mojika no Ko, and The House in Fata Morgana series.
I guess it's probably because I like the twisted, but, nevertheless I like viewing differently so bad endings are fascinating.

It looks beautiful in the breeze.

By virtue of your 3D avatar, I've procured a 3D-looking hat.

Perhaps it would be the best here, considering that most of Never7 here is more in line with charage that did have some death hanging and moreso that Never7 biggest twist is sort of Ever17 prototype. As for Remember11, well if you did mean answer-focused story as a grand route should do the info dump the answer here, then it's should be good for you because Remember11 itself is infamous for didn't have the clear answer, and for the info Remember11 only have two routes compared of Ever17 five routes for the info. If anything, at least Uchikoshi here did up his games thanks to Shibuya Scramble according to his tweet below, so we have 999 here.
 

Fuwa female, sorry for intruding 
But if you're unwilling to buy Vita games just to test out, I have to suggest Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly. It have voices, more plot than romance, mystery and it's available on steam!

This thread is a variation of sorts from Rain Spectre's topic about ending structure.
A trend I noticed about "True Ends" is that many of them can have predictable sappy ends where everything turns out alright, or at least much happier than "Normal Ends" and, of course, "Bad Ends." As with all things in life, there are exceptions, of course, like Heaven's Feel in Fate/Stay Night, but most of them are so "wrapped up" and tied with a tidy little ribbon bow, where every protagonist makes it out alive and move on with their life. Obviously, real life doesn't work like that and sometimes, such a formula can feel trite and unrealistic.
Sometimes, even the "Bad Ends" can be much better written than the "True End" because of this. This might surprise you, but many people actually like tragic endings. If that's not enough to shock you... many people actually like feeling sad, which is why they read sad stories that make them cry. There's a catharsis that comes from crying or even seeing fictional characters go through tragedies that reflect our own. Sometimes, the "Bad End" is just that powerful or impactful enough that the "True End" feels predictable, generic, or just plain lame.
Personally, I don't mind "True Ends" that are written well, but sometimes, I do find myself preferring the more emotional and depressing "Bad Ends," especially when I'm a sucker for tragic stories myself. I don't really like it when everything gets "wrapped up" neatly at the "True End." That just cheapens the value of "Bad Ends" since they are just going to turn out alright in the end anyway, no point crying over some pointless "Bad End."
In particular, Cartagra made me feel something like that.
That's why I preferred the "Normal End," especially where Kazuna's life decisions are concerned.
Anyway, enough about me. What about you? How do you feel about "True Ends" being predictable and schmaltzy mainstream material? Do you like any particular "Normal Ends" more than "True Ends"?

Company, I suppose. Misery loves company. It's hard to go through tragedies alone. To have a story reflect that and understand your misery, that can be... uplifting in its own way.
In fact, some people are addicted to misery. It's an escapism too of its own form.