AustriaVNFan

Yesterday I finished reading Grisaia no Kajitsu / Fruit of Grisaia. And while I still have no idea what Grisaia means (?) this was a truly awesome read. There were so many things done well in this VN that it's hard to count them all. Let's start off with the main character. Although he did have his flaws Yuuji was definitely the most entertaining MC I have had so far. I really liked how he did try to act on things immediately that bothered him. He wouldn't remain passive until someone else solved his problems for him. I loved how he he did not start stuttering as soon as a girl spoke to him and how he could handle them quite well without being a macho. Although I did find his reactions pretty rude in the beginning, after a while you start accepting the MC the way he is and it even makes sense when you progress further into the game. I also really liked his attitude towards sex and relationships, I could very well identify with that. Even to a degree that for the first time in a VN I wondered how those H-scenes actually played out - especially in Sacchis route (since I was playing the censored Steam version). But in the end it's not really bothering me. So - great MC! Then there is the girls: they are a really funny mix of totally different characters. The common route does an awesome job in making you acquainted with their habits and flaws. I remember the first dialogue between Yuuji and Michiru and how I thought 'WTF what kind of conversation is this supposed to be?'. Hard to believe that in the end I even got used to these conversations and actually even liked and enjoyed them. The common route is pretty long and just when I thought it dragged on for a bit too long the heroines routes finally started. Until then it's a lot of SoL stuff with many dirty jokes and other funny stuff. But in the heroines routes the game really starts to shine IMO (although there are many people out there who think the other way round). I gave this VN a final rating of 9.6 and will below name the reasons why I deducted those minimal points. Also what made this VN so awesome was that there was no bad, stupid or boring route. Even the girls that I did like the least and where I thought they could never sensibly match with the MC had great routes and in the end I really liked all the girls nearly equally (because after their stories their behavior suddenly made sense). Well done on a novel where none of the heroines feel neglected or have a lackluster story! I will now write a bit more about the individual heroines routes: Since there are spoilers I will make that section hidden. So as you can see I am really happy I started the Grisaia series. And of course I will now continue with Grisaia no Meikyuu which I have already bought in another Steam offer. Looking forward to it!

The Muv-Luv series Root Double The Grisaia Series Komyu G-senjou no Maou

Welcome to the forums! This is a great place to talk about everything VN-related and most people here are really relaxed and friendly Also try to make a VNDB profile and link it here so that when you ask about recommendations we know what you have already read.

Definitely! I looked through my visual novels and 3 stood out. In 2 of them the ending made the VN a lot better than I felt about it before. In the third VN it made everything worse. Dies Irae: That visual novel had awesome villains and scary hopeless moments, but somehow all the routes felt the same and it seemed to drag on and on. Then the ending or rather even the after story made it clear to me why the main story was as it was. It made my ranking of the VN a lot better than it would have been without that after story. I/O: As I wrote in another thread this VN was way too confusing for me. Although I like twists and turns in stories there is only so much brain power I am willing to put into it. The ending routes in I/O did not really help in understanding much about the story and the 'true ending' was completely strange in my eyes, but still - I cannot describe it any better - you could somehow feel the love in the endings and it made me rank that VN quite a bit higher than I had intended (or thought) before. Tsukihime: I really had troubles getting to the end of that VN, the story simply couldn't get me hooked. But since I had seen so many positive reviews about this VN I hoped until the end that there would be something really eye-opening and awesome at the end. But there simply wasn't and that was a big disappointment. I would like to see more endings like in Grisaia no Kajitsu where you have more heroines and no matter which one you pick you will get an interesting and satisfying ending. Meaning you can feel that effort was put into each heroines route, not being forced towards a certain main heroine that you possibly don't like but you realize that it is the one that is MEANT for you. I do understand however that this is pretty difficult if you have a sequel planned for a VN. Well, I didn't like Tsukihime enough to want to write a different ending for it so my choice would probably be Tomoya After - It's a wonderful life? Somehow - although I don't usually dislike sad endings, this one was for some reason too sad for me.

Hello and welcome to our forums. It's always a good idea to create a VNDB profile and link it here on the forums so that people know what you have read and what not. It's easier to recommend others VNs like that. Enjoy!

Isn't one of the heroines missing up there? Or did you not mention her for a certain reason?

Hanachirasu if you like a bit darker stories and are a fan of swordfights.

After a long time (because it's on my laptop that I don't use very often) I finally finished I/O. And I think I have never had such a difficult time rating a VN. The main problem ist that the story is good, interesting and exciting in many places but it's just wayyy too much of a brain f***, at least for me. There is virtual reality, different timelines and realities, quantum theories and a lot of hard-to-grip philosophical content. The way the routes are presented is way too confusing. And the 'true end', well... I didn't understand it at all. And to get the true ending you really need to follow a walkthrough and even then it's not easy. So my final rating for I/O was 7.7 and nearly all the points are lost on the story. Which is kind of a shame because there were so many things that I liked about the game: The art took a while to get used to. I found it ugly at the beginning but really grew to love it. The music I found also very charming There is a pretty huge character cast and most of them are interesting Although it is not much there are also a few very simple lovely romantic moments in it (all ages though) I read it in English and I bow before the translator. Translating such a difficult story must have been extremely hard, but it's well done For some reason even though it's so philosophical and sci-fi heavy you can still feel so much love through the game. The story can't be compared to any other. This VN is in many ways unique so it was very refreshing in that aspect. Will start with Moero Downhill Night 2 on my laptop now...

Welcome to our little community! I hope you will enjoy your time here on the forums

In Damenakoi pretty much everyone is working. In any case, it is not a school setting (although one of the heroines is a teacher )

ChuSinGura 46+1 is an interesting kinetic novel although it is pretty long - too long for 'in between'

Ahh, thank you so much for your detailed answer! It seems to be even worse than what I thought. It is amazing that their English is that bad when they should learn that language in school. But I guess that also comes from the huge difference of how the languages work. I mean, I have been learning (on myself) Japanese for 2 years now and even though I have the Kanji and Kana down now it is still such a difficult language to me. With a lot of stuttering I guess I might have a simple conversation now, but not much else. Well, there is one more topic I am interested in, sorry I didn't ask before. That topic would be religion. Not that I am particularly interested in that topic per se, but I am still confused about the many temples and religious group in Japan. Many temples seem to be Buddhist, there also seems to be Konfuzianism and also some Christians and even nature religion(?). How is that really? Did you make any experiences? How important does religion seem for the Japanese? Thank you in advance

Welcome to these boards. I hope you enjoy your time here! And yes, Grisaia no Kajitsu is pretty cool (I am just reading it atm)!

I am interested in one thing: You mention how Japanese do not speak good English and don't seem to like to speak English. How good or bad is that really? Because I have heard people who said they had no troubles getting through Japan with just English but in many travel guides they inform you that speaking Japanese is required for booking certain hotels or in various restaurants.

Well, I think the reason why this started is this one word: And if you are objective about it (@Stormwolf) you must admit that this word might seem a provocation to many. Because there is simply a clear difference between a pedophile (who usually sexually harasses younger people against their will) and a mutual relationship between an older and a younger person who happened to fall in love. I think this is the message that you actually wanted to get across and that makes the game uninteresting for you and I think no one would have any objections to that.

Ahh, the only VN I have stalled halfway in so far because I started it in Japanese when my proficiency of that language was still too bad. I will surely buy this and reread it. hmm, as I wrote above I got through the game about halfway. I would seriously disagree on calling this pedocrap. There is only one heroine under age and the game goes about this topic pretty seriously and there seems to be a strong conflict goin on in the MCs mind about that fact. I haven't finished her route so I don't know how it turns out in the end but it is far from 'loli H scene crap'.

Since you seem not to have read it I think this sage would fit quite well what you are looking for: Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative It is (at least the Steam version, not sure if there is a patch) not 18+ but everything else is pretty much what you want. The romance - even though not the main theme later on - is pretty well done and I have never grown as attached to the heroines as in these games. Just read through Muv-Luv Extra (the first part). There is not so much of a plot going on there, but I still think it's important to read it to really get involved in the whole story and it's still sweet. Yes, that one. I can second that. It will probably fit your requirements as well I would not say this VN has strong romance. If romance is an important part for you you will probably be disappointed. But - no doubt about that - the story is good and the villains beautifully evil! additionally I might add: G-enjou no Maou: has an intriguing plot and when the MC finally gets over his 'sucker phase' the romance is quite nice.

sorry, I was so sure that there hadn't been a topic like this until now that I didn't bother searching before starting this that will teach me! Other than that it seems Princess Evangeline is mentioned by a lot of people so that must be a pretty good one it seems!

I only know one VN that plays (partially) in space: Himawari but it is not really about space exploration...

I think the title says it all. The reason I am asking is that I am considering reading Clannad again. It was the first VN that I read and it really got me into the genre. I have very fond memories of it but I keep wondering if it's only because it was the first one I played or because it was really that good. Also there are so many other titles that I want to read that it kinda feels like wasting valuable reading time. So I wonder: have you read VNs twice? And if yes, did the second reading change your opinion about the VN?

Honestly, I can see nothing wrong with VNDB: I find it a truly amazing site and hard to believe that so many VNs are covered in an easy to look up way. There are so many trash VNs out there that I surely would have given up on VNs if not for that site. Since I don't use VNDB on mobile devices there is not a single thing I can complain about. I hope the site continues to exist as long as I read VNs And if you are really not sure about the rating of a VN try the VNDB profiles of Fuwa members like Clephas said and see how they rated it. I do that a lot to get an even better idea!

Lots have already been mentioned, I will add only this: Dies Irae

Care to explain your answer? I haven't been on this forum for very long but I think the OP has some valid points. A translation should usually pay off if you consider how much more of a potential there is outside of Japan that you can reach with an English translation. And if the audience gets bigger woudln't it be good if you had already made a name with it? But perhaps this is just naive? if so, why?

A pretty interesting question. I usually have a pretty clear heroine ranking after the common route. When I have to choose the first route I usually pick the one in the middle place or the one before last place. So let's say I have 5 heroines that are ranked 1 (best) to 5 (worst). Then my order would PROBABLY (there are always exceptions) be 3,5,4,2,1 or 4,5,3,2,1 I guess this is because starting off with the least interesting heroine seems too discouraging, but I always want to save the best for the end because that keeps me going! Although sometimes it happens that the route I thought would be the most boring turns out to be the best or at least very good (like Kazukos route in Majikoi)

I have 2 very memorable experiences. Clannad: While this game has been mentioned a few times because it has so many tear jerkers, well... that's true, of course. But the reason I remember this VN especially (except for the reason that it was my 1st VN) is that it was the only VN so far that made me shed tears by of laughing. Generally the baseball route is extremely funny but then there was this one scene involving Yoshino Yuusuke. And after that I couldn't stop laughing for minutes! I wonder if anyone knows what scene I am talking about Muv-Luv Alternative: This VN including it's prequels was mega epic per se but then (trying not to spoiler) there is this scene when they finally reach 'the antagonist' and this was just sooooo scary in many ways. All the revelations were like 'WHAAA!', the antagonist looked really scary and the music fits that epic encounter perfectly. I have a saved game at this point and still load it every now and then when I seriously want to get the chills. I found the BETA even scarier opponents than the members of the Longinus Dreizehn Order in Dies Irae (and these are already remarkably evil).