alpacaman

Started reading Cross Channel after @AmelieDoree's glowing review using the Amaterasu TL since it's supposed to be the only out of the three that's at least attempting to be somewhat accurate. I really like the game so far, but the TL notes are killing me sometimes.
Like what the hell is this? 1) "My stomach bug" is not a personification. 2) English has a metaphor with the identical meaning: "my stomach growls". It's even comparing the noise to one an animal makes. 3) The phrase "stomach bug" also exists in English, and means something different.
I'm usually quite lenient when it comes to TL quality, at least as long as there is some basic flow to the translated text, but when it's making me read three lines of text consisting of a wrong translation accompanied by a wrong TL note to explain a three word Japanese phrase that has an accurate three word English translation, it takes me out of the scene. So much so I decided to interrupt my read through and rant on the internet about it.
 
Edit: the next line is "like a beast". Goddamnit.

Started reading Cross Channel after @AmelieDoree's glowing review using the Amaterasu TL since it's supposed to be the only out of the three that's at least attempting to be somewhat accurate. I really like the game so far, but the TL notes are killing me sometimes.
Like what the hell is this? 1) "My stomach bug" is not a personification. 2) English has a metaphor with the identical meaning: "my stomach growls". It's even comparing the noise to one an animal makes. 3) The phrase "stomach bug" also exists in English, and means something different.
I'm usually quite lenient when it comes to TL quality, at least as long as there is some basic flow to the translated text, but when it's making me read three lines of text consisting of a wrong translation accompanied by a wrong TL note to explain a three word Japanese phrase that has an accurate three word English translation, it takes me out of the scene. So much so I decided to interrupt my read through and rant on the internet about it.
 
Edit: the next line is "like a beast". Goddamnit.

Started reading Cross Channel after @AmelieDoree's glowing review using the Amaterasu TL since it's supposed to be the only out of the three that's at least attempting to be somewhat accurate. I really like the game so far, but the TL notes are killing me sometimes.
Like what the hell is this? 1) "My stomach bug" is not a personification. 2) English has a metaphor with the identical meaning: "my stomach growls". It's even comparing the noise to one an animal makes. 3) The phrase "stomach bug" also exists in English, and means something different.
I'm usually quite lenient when it comes to TL quality, at least as long as there is some basic flow to the translated text, but when it's making me read three lines of text consisting of a wrong translation accompanied by a wrong TL note to explain a three word Japanese phrase that has an accurate three word English translation, it takes me out of the scene. So much so I decided to interrupt my read through and rant on the internet about it.
 
Edit: the next line is "like a beast". Goddamnit.

Started reading Cross Channel after @AmelieDoree's glowing review using the Amaterasu TL since it's supposed to be the only out of the three that's at least attempting to be somewhat accurate. I really like the game so far, but the TL notes are killing me sometimes.
Like what the hell is this? 1) "My stomach bug" is not a personification. 2) English has a metaphor with the identical meaning: "my stomach growls". It's even comparing the noise to one an animal makes. 3) The phrase "stomach bug" also exists in English, and means something different.
I'm usually quite lenient when it comes to TL quality, at least as long as there is some basic flow to the translated text, but when it's making me read three lines of text consisting of a wrong translation accompanied by a wrong TL note to explain a three word Japanese phrase that has an accurate three word English translation, it takes me out of the scene. So much so I decided to interrupt my read through and rant on the internet about it.
 
Edit: the next line is "like a beast". Goddamnit.

I think Serbia was genuinely quite good! At least it stood out. Croatia was funny and I like the relentless political parody, but I wish it was a bit more catchy/less messy.
Welp, we'll see whether something in the second semi-finals tops what we've seen so far.

I've been quite happy with the line-up so far in terms of entertainment factor. Countries like Holland, Malta, Switzerland or Ireland especially suck almost every year, so I expected nothing else. But there has also been stuff like Serbia with its weird Gundam video show:
Or Croatia with whatever this is:
My personal favourite was Finland with its weird mixture of EBM and Eurodance, but performed with the right dose of self-irony.
Also worth mentioning is Israel, who managed to send a pop song so generic yet overflowing with terribly misguided attempts at being quirky that it transcends our pedestrian notions of what constitutes good or bad.
 

This year's Eurovision kind of sucks, and the Polish entry is just a full-on travesty, but there's always something exotic enough to make the contest amusing for me. My current favourite is this Moldovan-Turkish guy with a midget playing the flute:
So, anyone else following this very important cultural event? 🙃

Let the wall of beautiful noise blow you away. Anyway, I recently discovered that Japan might be the country with the best shoegaze scene around (at least after its first wave). J-rock typical chord progressions and its tendency for hymnic choruses work really well with a dreamy wall of noise it seems.

I totally get it. Lessons in Love at least has a really regular release schedule with one or two updates each month. It does probably work better though if you've started reading it when there wasn't nearly as much content. Then it feels more like an ongoing tv series where each episode has its own A and B plot while the overarching story moves forward really slowly until it culminates in the series finale. The next one introduces new threads and characters and so on. Once you've caught up you only need two spend one or two evenings each month to keep up to date.

Back in the day, we had a list of English-language-first visual novels. Unfortunately its OP, nohman, has left us. Fortunately, a lot of good EVNs have been released since then! As Fuwanovel's resident Japanese-knowing, JVN-enjoying EVN reader, I figure I'm in a unique position to moderate this thread.
The previous list focused on "notable" EVNs, but to be honest, these days there are arguably so many notable EVNs that the list would get unwieldy. Besides, the reason to read anything is if it's good — or at least interesting — right? I want to see what you like.
Anyone can contribute with suggestions. If you think it's good or interesting, tell me why, link the game, and I'll add it to the list. To get us started, I'll seed the list with some of my own favorites . Don't be discouraged if what you like is nothing like what I do, though — that's a sign that we need your help!
The Fuwanovel List of Cool EVNs
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Actual Sunlight by Will o'Neill

Notable tags: Depression, Utsuge, Suicide
Zakamutt: This is a dark VN, and it came to me at a dark time in my life. It's one of the most uncompromising depictions of depression I have seen, and the writing is as funny as it is cutting. Not for everyone, but for me: one of my two 10/10 VNs.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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An Octave Higher by Kidalang

Notable tags: Fantasy, Magic/ESP Combat, Fictional World
Zakamutt: This is an honest-to-god fantasy VN made by the Indonesian studio Kidalang. It reminds me a lot of Terry Pratchett: you have a big medieval-ish city, magic and technology combined, and some interesting social commentary. The creators' Indonesian roots show through here, as Indonesia lived through an attempted communist coup, then an anti-communist purge, in 1965 — the story centers around people of different classes dealing with the rise of industry and capitalism, with such fun things as magic used in factory production, and even factory-provided mana potions... This is not an uncritical communist paean by any means — read it and you'll see.
Where to get: Steam
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Blankspace by NoBreadStudio

Notable tags: Escape Game, Mystery, Romance
Zakamutt: Where 999 flavors its mystery with science-fiction technobabble, Blankspace flavors it with messy human drama. You wake up tied to a pipe, and the only one that can help you is Beryl, a teal-haired beauty who was trapped along with you. As you unravel the mystery to escape, you can also pick how you interact with her, perhaps even fall in love — there's a text-only (no CGs) sex scene patch, and I highly advise you get it, as it's written more like erotica than a normal VN h-scene. Quite interesting. The character writing is some of the best I've seen in a VN, with interactions being both natural and entertaining, but also moving the plot forward. The point-and-click elements aren't bad either, and serve the plot as much as less interactive segments.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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Cinders by MoaCube

Notable tags: Lots of Choices, Proactive Protagonist, Fairy Tale
Templarseeker: It is a reimagining of Cinderella with unique art style.

Bonus: Fuwanovel review.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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Corpse Factory by RIVER CROW STUDIO

Notable tags: Thriller, Horror, Modern Day Tokyo
Templarseeker: By the title alone you might think its a rip off of Corpse Party, nevertheless give the VN/Game a try and you'll witness a interesting, gloomy, dark, and semi realistic depiction of modern society. A psychological horror VN at its very core.
In addition this VN/Game has decent English voice acting in it on some of the important dialogues!
Where to get: Steam, GOG
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Digital: A Love Story by Christine Love

Notable tags: Operating System Simulation, Interactive Adventure Game
Zalor: "It's not what you say, it's how you say it that matters", is the first thing that comes to mind with this VN. The story itself is quite simple, but the presentation is so excellent that it makes up for where the story might slack. Especially as somebody who is quite fascinated with old computers, I loved how the whole story is told through BBS messages. BBS standing for Bulletin Board System, and was essentially the internet before the internet. Its presentation mimics said environment very convincingly as well.
Where to get: Creator's Website (FREE!)
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Digital Seclusion by Zalor

Notable tags: Otaku Protagonist
Zakamutt: Digital Seclusion is a story of a person who might be a bit like you — though I hope none of you are as extreme. He's a shut-in collector of old Japanese visual novels, which he posts about on his blog. It's also an (opinionated) history of the medium, introducing many old, and for some, nostalgic, visual novels. One day, a girl that looks just like a heroine from one of his games steps out of the screen. But is she real, and if so, should he trust her — or is she nothing but bad news?
Digital Seclusion was written by one of our forum members, Zalor, and we also have a Fuwanovel review of this VN if you're interested.
Where to get: Itch.io (FREE!)
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Doki Doki Literature Club! by Dan Salvato

Notable tags: Poetry, Student Club
Alpacaman: I know this one is kind of controversial in the community. It's still one of the titles that introduced many people in the west to visual novels. Yes, it's gimmicky, but what it sets out to do it does very well and doesn't overstay its welcome. Many people in the community saw the game as an attack on VNs as a whole, but I think it's more about player agency and the relationship between games and the ones playing them.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io (FREE!)
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Heart of the Woods by Studio Élan

Notable tags: Fictional Modern Day European Town, Girl x Girl Romance Only, Contemporary Fantasy
Silvz: Heart of the Woods is amazing! I loved the characters, the art style and the story in general. Iirc there was a voice patch released after I read it, so it may be even better now. It's also good to have some LGBTQIA+ representation in the list!
(Also recommended by: Templarseeker, Plk_Lesiak)
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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Juniper's Knot by Dischan

Notable tags: Multiple Protagonists
Zalor: A short, well written story that nearly a decade later still leaves quite a good impression. Focused on the interactions between a lost boy and a demon confined within a magic circle, it has some folklore-ish vibes to it. However, the bouncing between the two perspectives of the boy and the demon girl adds a modern flair to a story that otherwise does feel like it could be within a Grimm Fairy Tales book. This is all not to mention the beautiful art. For more info here's a review.
Where to get: Steam, Dischan (FREE!)
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Katawa Shoujo by Four Leaf Studios

Notable tags: Nakige, Romance, Disabled Heroine
Zakamutt: Back in the day, there'd be no point in putting this on the list. Literally everyone knew about it, and it was many people's first VN. Today, I think this story is worth recommending anew. The central conceit is the protagonist, Hisao, transferring to an academy for the disabled after suffering a heart attack. But the depth in this VN lies in not the disabled girls he meets there, but in what lies beneath. Pretty much every character has hidden depths to them, and the story arc usually ends up much like a Key tearjerker (without the supernatural hijinx). It's not just nostalgia, mom, I swear. Katawa Shoujo is genuinely a good VN.
Where to get: OG, Moddable Fan HD rerelease with accessibility options (both FREE!)
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Lessons in Love by Selebus

Notable tags: Dating Simulation, Student-Teacher Romance, Lots of Choices
Alpacaman: A work in progress that at this point is even longer than Umineko and according to its creator is the longest VN in existence, period (each update is about 30-60k words long and there's been about 50). Which shouldn't keep you from reading it. At least to me this one is more about vibes than plot and works very well despite its length.
Where to get: Subscribestar, Itch.io (FREE but one of those things where the patreon is further ahead)
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Lynne by ebi-hime

Notable tags: Modern Day British Isles, Utsuge, Psychological Horror
Zakamutt: Ebi-hime is a well-regarded VN writer among those in the know, and for a reason: she consistently delivers well-written interesting stories. Lynne is one of her free offerings, and takes place in a lower-class British milieu, with all the stress and envy that often implies. Both the soundtrack and graphics match the griminess of the setting, with ebi-hime opting to work with the electronic music producer sleepy agents for the sound. Lynn, the protagonist, is haunted by nightmares as the national exams she simply cannot afford to fuck up approach. Almost everything around her seems practically designed to stress her out more. In school there is a girl that she feels has everything that she does not, Lynne. Will Lynn pass her exams, or will she break from the stress she is under? And what will happen to Lynne? Find out in this VN.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io (both FREE!)
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Meeting in the Flesh by inkEthic

Notable tags: Monster Hero, Body Horror
Alpacaman: An inversion of Saya no Uta's themes, showing you can find beauty anywhere.
Where to get: Itch.io (FREE!)
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Pale Cachexia by Argent Games

Notable tags: Dark Fantasy, (Gothic) Horror, Illness
Zakamutt: Our protagonist, Esther, is afflicted with the Pale, a disease that causes its victims to waste away at terrifying speed if they do not take medicine every day. Even with the medicine, sufferers are often doomed to a life of slow degeneration and disability, with everything from their mood to too much exercise affecting the condition. Esther has made a desperate bid for a cure, the last step of a journey in search of a cure the cottage of a dead scholar of the Pale in the forest — and the young girl who lives there. They build up a fragile relationship as Esther researches his notes, trying to find something — anything — to help her condition. But those same notes might hold horrors she never knew...
I liked this one so much it made me write like a pretentious twat on vndb. So I'm just going to reproduce that here. I'm not sorry.
A languid walk, rarely a run, into the terror and beauty of the darkness. The will to be independent yet the need to depend. The intense portrayal of guilt and avoidance in this is sublime — or maybe just too deeply #relatable for me to give it, with its beautiful immersive atmosphere and, for once, solid writing anything else but an "excellent" rating.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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Sensei Overnight by Pers0nas

Notable tags: All-girls School, Teacher Protagonist, Memory Alteration
Danmaku: it is a "psychological horror mystery grooming dating sim" obviously inspired by Lessons in Love but focuses more on its underlying mysteries and how all of its characters relate to it and without as much of the grind and wiki-searching. Like its contemporary, it has a strong visual flair and strong comedic and story/character writing with a heavy focus on psychoanalysing its characters. It has rather low sexual content, when it does have h-scenes, it will be rather weird and/or focuses on realism. It really creates its own highly unique identity later on, the earlier parts can be a slow burn. Very importantly, the choices you make will matter.
Where to get: Itch.io (FREE... but you can subscribe on patreon/subscribestar for early access updates)
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SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair by Gosatsu Visual Novels

Notable tags: Detective Work, Murder Mystery, Interactive Adventure Game
Danmaku: a murder mystery visual novel with refreshing story pacing due to its straightforward honkaku structure. The character writing is amazing and the tricks used in the murder(s) are unique enough to give it its own identity.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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 Solstice by MoaCube

Notable tags: Multiple Protagonists, Mystery, Lots of Choices
Templarseeker: Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi thriller of a VN
Where to get: Steam, GOG
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Soundless by milk+ visual

Notable tags: Bullying, Denpa, Cult, Mystery
Zakamutt: Mercy sees things. It’s too bad that what she sees are warped distortions, filthy beetles, tentacles, horrifying flesh-beasts and all that, but at least it isn’t permanently on so she’s not quite Fuminori yet. Too bad it’s getting worse, though.
Mercy lives in a small, secluded village; the village is strongly religious, ruled by the local church, and all the kids around see her as a convenient punching bag. But hey, it’s probably her fault anyway, she was cursed by sinning at the tender age of ten. She was seeing nice things before that.
Mercy is the protagonist of Soundless, a game taking inspiration from the classic in the "denpa" subgenre of visual novels, which tends to concern itself with madness, unreliable narrators, and horror.
Every person I've gotten to play Soundless has liked it, without exception. Any denpa fan that hasn't tried it is making a mistake. And I played it back when the well-received rerelease with an extra chapter wasn't even out yet. If you try nothing else, try this one: it's free!
Where to get: Itch.io (FREE!)
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Sweetest Monster by ebi-hime

Notable tags: Relationship Problems, Modern Day British Isles, Dark Fantasy
Silvz: a very short VN with great art and a plot twist that rivals the best mystery novels out there, at least in my humble opinion :3
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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The Dandelion Girl by /jp/ project / Outis Media

Notable tags: Literary Adaptation, Time Travel, Romance
Zalor: Another entry in that short and sweet department. Although often overshadowed by it's more successful sibling (the other 4chan visual novel, Katawa Shoujo), I think its charm shines through. And that's really the appeal I find with this VN. It's nothing amazing, but has a soulful charm to it.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io (FREE! — this is a remake by one of the original's creators. Links to the OG are dead.)
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The Language Of Love by ebi-hime

Notable tags: Heroine with Children, Adult Heroine, Only a Single Heroine
adamstan: I think The Language of Love by ebi-hime should be added to the list. Short, but very heartwarming and wholesome love story - I loved it. It's also one of the few EVNs that manage to pull off the japanese setting without being all cringey
Bonus: Fuwanovel Review
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io, Denpa, MangaGamer
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The Sekimeiya: Spun Glass by Trinitite Team

Notable tags: Confinement, Mystery, Hard Science Fiction
Danmaku: a highly elaborate ontological mystery visual novel. The music can be jarring and ear-grating at times and the characters can be pretty bland. One thing I can highly compliment this visual novel is the underlying mystery itself. It is highly engaging and may seem perplexing and complicated but the puzzle pieces connect together pretty nicely. You will answer about 50 questions at the end to solve it, you will be ranked with other players to see how you did. The individual mysteries are segmented enough that if you didn't get some of it you still will be able to solve the rest.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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VA11 Hall-A by Sukeban Games

Notable tags: Bartender Protagonist, Cyberpunk, Dialogue Based
Alpacaman: It's cyberpunk bartender action, what more could you possibly want? It nails the aesthetic with great visuals and BGM, has great characters, some actual depth to its themes without ever getting anywhere close to being pretentious. Also it has some of the best comedy in any VN I've read so far.
Where to get: Steam, Itch.io
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YOU LEFT ME by Angela He

Notable tags: Interactive Adventure Game, Surreal, Depression
Kawasumi: just because of how absolutely stunning visually it is.
Zakamutt: I would definitely recommend trying other Angela He VNs like Missed Messages out as well. She has a pretty unique style.
Where to get: Itch.io (FREE!)

Let the wall of beautiful noise blow you away. Anyway, I recently discovered that Japan might be the country with the best shoegaze scene around (at least after its first wave). J-rock typical chord progressions and its tendency for hymnic choruses work really well with a dreamy wall of noise it seems.

Too bad the guy wasted his time on a mediocre series. 

Siren's Call: A free Denpa visual novel where you escape from an actual tourist trap.
Siren's Call is a Denpa visual novel loosely based off of my experiences living in (and escaping) Central Florida as an adult on the autism spectrum. The game was a passion project made by myself, my wife, my best friend, and a couple other close friends and freelancers. It took us roughly four years to complete and is now out on Steam for free. While your millage may vary on how scary you find the game (much of it is based off of my own personal fears), I can say with conviction that you will feel the love and effort put into this project.
Steam Download: here
Features and stuff:
7+ hours of Visual Novel Gameplay with dire consequences for how you choose to spend this final day of yours. 55 journal entries and and 60 unlockable gallery images for those who want to explore everything this town has to offer. An original story centered on saying goodbye to friends rather than saying hello to strangers. A dynamic, original soundtrack meant to perfectly capture the feel of central Florida music. A cast of lovely characters that only want what's best for you. A 94% positivity rating on steam with 150+ reviews! (not a feature, but I'm proud of this one} Characters:
Judith, the exceptionally sweet (and extraordinarily intense) sovereign of Siren’s Call!

Andi, the sovereign’s sassy twin sister whose strength and spunk speak volumes on their own!

 Ashton, a hero in training whose sizable fist is matched only by the size of his heart!

Emil, the once timid boy turned man who will not stop until he reaches absolute perfection...

and, of course, Violet: your actual girlfriend.

We've finished the main game which you can find on steam right here, but my team and I are also making extra story content as well! 


Prove You Aren't Dead: A Epilogue
While it is true that our team succeeded where many others have failed and got Siren's Call out in a playable state, it is far from being "complete." Over the course of the past five months, I've released a few bonus stories acting as a prequel of sorts to the events of the main game. But in terms of the true epilogue...that is what I'm going to be working on for the foreseeable future. If you would like to support this project, there's a link to the kickstarter right here, but I mostly just wanted to create this post as a little home where I can post updates on not just this new content, but Siren's Call as a whole.

If anybody has any comments or feedback on the project, I am very excited to hear them and discuss your experiences. This VN has been my wife and I's life for the past few years and if ya'll have any thoughts, don't hesitate to share them. Until then, enjoy your stay in Siren's Call.

I really love this game. I don't do well in multiplayer environments *and* I love AI, so a singleplayer social deduction game is something I've always looked forward to. All the better that this game has an actual story to tell, with actual characters.
I love the story, the characters, and the gameplay. This game makes me a happy bean.
I think the best part is that the characters have personalities, and these personalities inform gameplay. Here's some rambling on how gameplay functions:
I think, in the end, what really makes my day are the deductions. Spending a few minutes looking over all the reports and systematically detecting all the enemies is absolutely fantastic.
Raqio is the best.

A friend last year recommended the VN Gnosia to me. I, being who I am, resisted for a while. VNs had hurt me. They had abused me. Pancaked my love for storytelling. But then, I saw the artwork for Gnosia and said "Screw it, letsago." 

I grabbed it for the Switch and went to town playing it. It is the perfect type of VN to play in short bursts. For me, that meant before bed usually for 20-30 minutes a night. For those that don't know, Gnosia is a social deduction VN that plays out a bit more like Town of Salem than it does Among Us. For starters, the game's story is told in loops. You wake up at the start of a loop on a spaceship, assigned a role. The ship AI has detected a Gnosia may be on board. These parasitic aliens seek to infect each crew member and make it to a space port to continue spreading as far as they can. The goal of those not infected to to find the Gnosia and put them into cold sleep where they can spread no more.

Each character is assigned a role on each loop. Some may be engineers that can find out who the Gnosia is each night. There may be a doctor who can discover the identity of anyone put into cold sleep. Those with Guard Duty are those who never left the ship and therefore cannot be Gnosia. AC Followers worship Gnosia and do everything they can to help them. Then, anywhere from 1-4 characters can be Gnosia. They can lie, cheat, and steal their way to survival in order to either put every crew member into cold sleep, or kill each person. They can select one person each night to kill.

The main bulk of the gameplay is made up by debates, where characters discuss and vote on who they must put into cold sleep. Engineers and doctors share their reports, though Gnosia and AC Followers can like about their role to muddy and confuse the debate, or convince others that the true engineers or doctors are in fact Gnosia. Each character has stats that dictates how they will act during debates. One character, for example, who hates lying and is super perceptive, may be able to immediately tell when someone is lying, but has low charisma and as result, struggles to convince others of the truth.  You yourself also have stats that go up against other characters stats to see how convincing you are, or how trustworthy.

The story is told in between the debates, as you can visit parts of the ship to talk to characters. Under certain conditions, you may get character events that shed more light on their character and their story. As you are only one of two people aware of the looping, you must discover as much information as you can to find a way out of the loop. For me, this took about 130 loops. Later in the game, you will be able to alter the starting conditions to better set up the conditions needed to trigger character events. And the game will auto-set them for you to nearly guarantee the character events as well if you so choose. 

The game is addicting, pretty to look at, and the story quite engaging. It is the type of game better suited towards short bursts rather than hours long sessions as the loops can feel repetitive as you try to trigger events. As each loop normally only takes 5-10 minutes, playing for 30-40 minutes at a time can net a solid 3-6 loops which I think is a solid amount for a single sitting. 

To sum up my thoughts, allow me to simply state, Setsu masterrace please play gnosia do it for setsu 

thoughts?

 
 

Gnosia was one of the games I preordered back when it was coming out to Switch, due to how highly people thought about it on the Vita. It's an incredibly good Werewolf sim considering it's single player, you touched on it but I want to elaborate on just how well they pulled off the transformation from a social game based on reading people into a single player story based game. Each character has AI and likes and dislikes and preferences, even down to the little known fact that the player selects a favorite color for their profile and this gives them minor bonuses and penalties with individual characters, setting up individual player's casts slightly differently from the very start.
It works wonderfully as a social deduction game despite being single player because they set it up where the main plot mostly involves just learning about the cast, which directly translates to a better understanding of what is happening in debates. Every character has invisible values for how much they like and dislike each other character. You find out X character loves Y character, which might make some of their previous actions make more sense but more importantly helps you "read" X better. You need to plan around the fact that X doesn't like accusing Y, and if they do end up accusing Y then you better pay attention because that is not done lightly.
The RPG style skill levels for things like if they're good at lying all tie into their personalities: The shy dude can get away with not speaking up because everyone knows he is shy, the loud and rude dude can get away with some bold actions because people expect him to take them, the cute girl can more easily charm certain people into being on her side just by asking nicely. These are all real types of players if you play any social form of Werewolf, and Gnosia does a perfect job at making them all feel alive. It didn't take long before I was thinking about the characters and not meta gaming, just like IRL Werewolf, with thoughts like "she's being a bit aggressive today/he's staying oddly quiet/why would X say that about Y out of nowhere/oh damn I think this person just pissed off the group with their personality and not because they are guilty".
It's the little quirks that really make the cast shine in the end, the stuff beyond the personalities the RPG stats indicate. Late game in Gnosia the cast shines the brightest, several characters gain a complex moveset they can use, with some characters even having unique moves (that they can teach the player) far enough into the game. As new discussion skills are introduced, characters will have preferences on how to approach those skills. An easy example is to demand everyone say they are human (aka not Gnosia), each cast member has different innate feelings on this question. There's at least 1 cast member that actually hates the idea of admitting they are human, on top of several cast members that are wary of this approach because they don't like to think of themselves as human or aren't a member of the human species or they dislike speaking up in general. Characters can stay silent and just let the rest of the group speak up, and some people can flat out demand the group stop this activity. There's a lot of good mental work involved in these situations, did they stop the group because they just hate the idea, or are they the Gnosia, or are they a role that wants to cause chaos, or do they think it's a waste of time for a character specific reason? It really makes each character feel "real" because they all have different opinions and thoughts that the player can never directly see, only learn through observation, which is the heart of a game like Werewolf.
 
Also something important to note, I've talked to several people that think they finished the game but actually haven't. The credits rolling do not signify the full ending of the game has been reached. For a more direct spoiler for anyone that is unsure what I mean but wants to be sure they get the ending:
 

So apparently AiD released a prequel to the prequel (which is in development hell) to the fault series (whose latest entry is in development hell) three months ago already without anyone noticing as there's only 20 reviews on vndb so far. It's called fault - StP - Lightkravte. Has anyone read it and can comment on whether it's any good?

Probably because she's married to a US-American who also produced a couple of her albums. It might also be the reason her English lyrics are less cringeworthy than those of most of her peers from the time period.
Anyways, her album Communication is perfect 80s kitsch from start to finish.
 

Hey, don't die quite yet Fuwa. I won't allow it, because my favourite studio, Ekachi Epilka of Maou-sama Retry fame, is going to deliver us the culmination of anime history, this fall: My Life After I Became a Dummy Head Mic One Morning. ASMR themed shoujo ai original series starring a dummy head ASMR microphone as a protagonist, apparently. We can all die in piece, after we watch it. 

@alpacaman Just wanted to give an update. Started playing Little Busters yesterday and i am enjoying a lot! So thanks again for help!

Over the last couple of weeks I watched the anime adaptations of Key VNs I hadn't seen yet, namely Air, Little Busters and Rewrite.
 
Air: This is the only one out of the three where I haven't read the VN so I can't really comment on how good of an adaption it is. What I can say is that I enjoyed it quite a lot despite the rushed pacing at times. I feel like three or four more episodes to properly establish the heroines and backstory could have worked wonders for its general quality because what is there in the anime is in no way weaker than Kanon imo except maybe for the one route by the guy who hasn't written anything since whose name I'm too lazy to look up. It's quite atmospheric and Air as a story feels like the logical link between Kanon and Clannad thematically. I get why it is the closest thing Key has to a "forgotten" VN, with the game being (and looking) quite old and the anime falling somewhat short of the amazing adaptations of Kanon (at least the one by KyoAni) and Clannad, but I'd still highly recommend checking it out.
 
Little Busters: Out of the VNs written by Maeda I think Little Busters is the hardest to adapt, mainly because of all the minigames that make up a lot of its charm that won't work as well in a linear medium. Considering that I thought the adaption was pretty solid even though the drop in production quality when compared to Kanon or Clannad is immediately noticable. I feel like they tweaked a few of the heroines' personalities a bit, sometimes for better (Kotomi), sometimes for worse (Haruka). Also some of the heroine routes were actually handled better in the anime than the VN, especially in Mio's case. And is it just me, or is there a lot more fanservice than in the KyoAni adaptations? I'm not fundamentally opposed to it, but in a couple of emotional scenes it got quite annoying.
 
Rewrite: I know this one is kind controversial, as it has an original route and is pretty obviously rushed trying to cut down an 80+ hours VN into 24 episodes. Despite that I think this version of Rewrite is probably close the best that's possible considering the restraints in terms of time and budget the studio apparently had to work with. Yes, the way they handle Lucia's and Shizuru's backstories is clunky, and the bad CG, animation and direction in some scenes when compared to others make it pretty obvious what parts of the anime they thought were important to get right and which ones not so much. But I think in terms of what Rewrite wants to convey as a story they did a solid job. The new route itself captures the spirit of the VN well enough and where they make changes to mechanics or personalities they are sensible. Would I recommend it someone who hasn't read the original? Still no. For that it's just moving through things way to fast to make sense of what's happening without prior knowledge. But I think it shows they consulted Tanaka Romeo for the new route and if you're looking for a somewhat different take on some material you already know, I think its worth checking out.

I'd say the second part is worth reading on its own. It's a lot better than the first one and its main plot is pretty much self contained anyway. Most of the overarching plot and worldbuilding is kind of lame anyway, so I wouldn't mind it never being completed as long as AiD manages to put out at least one or two more episodes on the level of M2S:a (is that how you abbreviate the title?).

Hello all!
I wanted to post this and share it with everyone here, since I think people here would find it interesting.
As I've started getting back into visual novels and had the urge to make videos again, I decided to start doing video reviews and essays on the games I play. As of now I'm mostly focusing on older titles, since those seem to get the least attention and I wanna give them a spotlight, both because their history is interesting and because some of them are still fantastic titles!
My latest video is on Kanon and its themes, and what it means to me personally: 
The rest of my videos are on the channel it self here: https://www.youtube.com/c/AmelieDoree/featured
As of now I've covered both of the PC Engine Galaxy Fraulein Yuna VNs and Welcome to Pia Carrot, all of which I think are pretty good for different reasons! The next game I plan on talking about is Angelique, specifically the Special version, widely regarded as the first otome game. 
If you have any suggestions on VNs from around 2002 and earlier you'd like me to check out, please let me know! Right now I can only handle translated games but I'm hoping to change that. eventually ;____;

Is your second paragraph referring to G-Senjou no Maou again? If so, first you should probably hide it behind a spoiler tag. Second, I'm not saying it's a great twist, just that it makes at least some sense in the context of the narrative so the twist itself doesn't bother me as much. Also, is it even true there is no proper setup?