Clephas

First, I should say this: I hate Minori. I won't bore you with the details of the how and why, but the only game of theirs I am unreservedly impressed with is Eden*. That said, 12 no Tsuki no Eve is a pretty good game (if i cut out my negative bias, which takes some effort). There are a few jarring moments, and some things they should have blurred in the story ruined the effect later on (this is an honest complaint rather than an impression born of bias, lol). However, overall I think Minori fans and those who don't possess my bias would enjoy this game, given that they like surrealist fantasy story-focused VNs (got that's a mouthful, but that is how I describe ef, Himawari no Kyoukai, and a few other games by other companies that hold similar qualities). First, this is both a romance and a time-travel story. The game is structured so that you automatically proceed through the two sub-heroines to the true heroine in that order. The two sub-heroines are the protagonist's childhood friends, Mizuka and Anzu. I'm pretty sure most people who like the older style of Japanese love-comedy/drama that has sort of gone out of style in recent years will like their character dynamic and how it forms the basis of the first two arcs of the story. The story for each of the first two arcs is suitably dramatic, the character interactions are hilarious, and all three heroines have comprehensible issues and psychological problems that I'm sure fans of this kind of thing will eat up nicely. Perhaps the biggest jarring issue happens in the middle of the third and final arc, when a certain 'revelation' is made (not the obvious one) to the protagonist. Unfortunately, it is a 'revelation' that is made to the reader fairly early on in the game, which reduces the impact significantly and jars you out of whatever empathy you might have had for him for the next few scenes. That is the biggest downer for the game, for me; though for most people I'm sure it will be a minor or irrelevant point (especially if you aren't used to picking up every scrap of info that comes your way in the course of playing a VN). What is the final word on this game, from my point of view? The ending made me cry, was decent, and brought a good close to the overall story, so I can't say I'm unsatisfied. The fact that I am not unsatisfied (though I'm not content either) says more for the story than I would like, being a contrary Minori hater. For Minori-lovers, this will be crack; for your average vn lover, this will be a good game, and for Minori haters this will be a game you might reluctantly acknowledge as being worth playing. Now, onto my final game of the month candidate: http://vndb.org/v13717 Honestly, having played several of the other games in this series, I don't have huge hopes for this one. However, if nothing else, their games are moderately enjoyable in my experience (also, it is obvious they based the protag's physical appearance off of Sora from DDC, so I'm curious as to whether his personality is similar too).

Yah. The otome game market here has only begun to get developed over here, so it is no surprise that a company would decide to jump on the bandwagon... Non-ero VNs are going to have trouble over here for a while, though I tend to not care one way or the other about ero-content... This is mostly because the original VN-lovers in the West were all nukige addicts who spread their love around to everyone they could... more serious VNs only really became a force to be reckoned with post-Tsukihime (in Japan and here), though there were occasional anomalies like YU-NO previous to that. Even now, a lot of VN fans here play as much for ero as they do for story (or moe). Edit: Incidentally, it was Kanon that seriously gave a boost to the moe genre, whereas Tsukihime caused a revolution in thinking about serious fantasy and VNs. There were a few classic games before those two, but the explosion really began after these two came out.

This is part of my 'Love of' series of VN list threads. This thread covers all the genres I read (I don't read horror most of the time, nor do I read nukige or VNs centered around the entertainment industry, like idol games) that aren't necessarily fantasy, sci-fi, or chuuni. For this one, I won't be presenting a translated list, as Kaguya already provided that with his 50 translated VNs thread. The lists in the other threads were to help those looking for those genres but unsure where to find them inside that list or others. Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no (a classic kamige, one that most of you would probably like) Noble Works Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas (one of my favorite trap protags) Aete Mushisuru, Kimi to no Mirai (this is sort of fantasy as well, but I didn't include it in that list) Chuning Lover Hotel. (post-apocalyptic utsuge) Ichiban Janakya Dame Desu Ka (comedy) Kimi to Boku to Eden no Ringo Konna Ko ga Itara, Boku wa Mou...!! Koiiro Soramoyou Mashiro Iro Symphony Midori no Umi (horror/utsuge for those who like it) Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou (also its sequel, Otome Riron) Prism◇Recollection! (it has some sci-fi elements, but it is so near-future in some ways that I decided to ignore it) Sakura Tale -the tale of cherry blossom septet- (is good, has a fandisc) Shiawase Kazoku-bu Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi (this is Key-style fantasy, which means it is weird and never really explained but good) Unmei Yohou o Oshirase Shimasu (this is drama/romance) Walkure Romanze (and its FD) W.L.O. Sekai Ren'ai Kikou (this game is just generally rofl) Acchi Muite Koi Dolphin Divers Duelist X Engage Flag Heshiori Otoko (pure comedy, no depth, but funny) Grisaia series (duh) Lovesick Puppies (This game was pretty hilarious, overall) Namima no Kuni no Faust (this could be considered anti or pro capitalist propaganda, depending on how you look at it. It shows the best and worst sides of the system) Strawberry Nauts (one of the few pure straight raburabu ichaicha moege that I thought was actually worth playing) Tenshin Ranman (probably should have included this in fantasy, but I forgot about it) Tsujidou-san series (generally a weird series, even for Minato-soft... but it IS funny) Sekai Seifuku Kanojo (one of those games that is hard to classify, despite stealing elements from several of my favorite genres...) Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate - The Code Name is "Shield 9" (the classic trap protag bodyguard, lol) 8/13/2014 edit Love Revenge Oni Uta Semiramis no Tenbin (really dark, will probably disturb most people) Golden Marriage (another ojousama-ge by Ensemble) Ojou-sama wa Gokigen Naname End Sleep (horror) Hikoukigumo no Mukougawa (one of the best releases of 2014) Baka Moe Heart (pure comedy) Tsuisou no Augment Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai (seishun romance. not to my tastes, but people who like this kind of thing will eat it up) Primal X Hearts Love Revenge Reader Recommendations: Sore wa Maichiru Sakura no Youni Iinchou wa Shounin Sezu! Blue-sky-Blues Sekai de Ichiban Dame na Koi Reconquista Edit: lol, I've noticed this before, but it is actually very hard to find decent vns that don't include some kind of fantasy or sci-fi element... even some of these have them. I guess it is because dreamers, which comprise a good portion of the best writers, tend to head for fantasy or sci-fi or at least use them in their writing... Edit2: I had to sift through the games I had played on my vndb list, remembering which ones were decent and which ones were crap... vs which ones I liked and which I didn't. It is almost a certainty that someone's favorite game won't be on here (I have a ton of pre-2010 vns in my backlog that I haven't played). If you have a suggestion - untranslated for this list - I'll consider it. These are ultimately the ones I ran into that I thought fulfilled at least two of these conditions: 1. Has a good story 2. stimulates the intellect 3. stimulates the emotions 4. is hilarious 5. Has good characters A game that fulfills all five is ideal, and those I generally call kamige, as they bring together all the elements of a good VN. Those games aren't necessarily my favorites, though some of them do have a place in my favorites. However, even setting aside my personal tastes, they are games that can be considered 'great'.

PC because everything is more flexible on a PC. Consoles, portables, and even phones... are less so.

lol... that's just my opinion on moege. I recognize they fulfill certain needs... I just like to have moege with spice rather than plain vanilla ones. A good protagonist, an interesting setting, an unusual situation, etc... something that isn't an average guy surrounded by pretty girls who love him for no reason that makes sense (this is pretty much the standard for all straight moege).

I wouldn't go that far... though moe does turn people's brains off when it is presented in excess. That's the primary reason why I have trouble with straight moege... they do their best to turn off your brains and reduce you to a baby-talking creep. I get enough of that when I talk to my cat.

Loppez, if you want to troll, pick another site. There is no place for trolls here. Except for Muv-luv Alternative, none of the translated ones has serious action. For the untranslated ones, Harumade Kururu; Sakura, Sakimashita; Komorebi no Nostalgica; Natsukumo Yururu; Ryuusei☆Kiseki -Shooting Probe-; Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete; and Reminiscence are free of chuuni. Harumade Kururu, Ushinwareta Mirai wo Motomete, Natsukumo Yururu, and Reminiscence are free of excessive moe. Really, Komorebi no Nostalgica and Sakura, Sakimashita are also free of excessive moe, but you might consider them borderline. Edit: When I say 'free of excessive moe', I mean moe for the sake of moe. In that sense, Ryuusei Kiseki is completely out, as it is basically a moege, as is Sakura Iro Quartet. You can't really play, watch, or read anything otaku without some moe in it, lol.

There are other translated sci-fi VNs as I recall... but their stories were pretty weak. Also, they haven't aged well (most were from eight or nine years ago). I also forgot to add YU-NO because I haven't played it, lol

Both games are interesting... I liked the little sister's path the best on Reminiscence... Shuumatsuron was just all-around fun.

There is also the possibility that they used a path/ending that wasn't actually in the game, though.

Akatsuki no Goei ~ Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron defaults to Reika's bad end the first time through. I'm not certain, but that might be the ending that potentially leads to Remiscence (made by Tigre, same world, Kaito returns as a side-character along with Nozomi)

The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson, and the Foreigner series by CJ Cherryh are two of my favorite series. I take books with me everywhere I go when I'm outside the house or at social events.

This is a description of Raziel's bad ending in Tokyo Babel.

Nao's isn't a route, its a ten-minute (for me) set of scenes that basically reveals one vital thing about her then ends. Edit: Incidentally, I'll be starting Minori's new game next, and after that, hopefully the newest Soleil game will have a release available for me, as I intend to make that the last one I play from January for now. Edit2:... just saying this beforehand, but I don't really like Minori, as a company. I'm only playing this because I know the fanboys want someone to tell them what it was like and whether it was any good. Also, leaving a Minori game out of the candidates for game of the month would be an abuse of my evil power as the master of this thread. Production values for their games are always high... but the only time I felt a sense of satisfaction after a Minori game was Eden* I'll strive to evaluate the game objectively, but I'm just warning yall in advance that a game being from this company is always an automatic -1 one for me.

Just finished Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de. I'm glad to see that Lump of Sugar has regained its magic after two disappointing releases in a row. This is a nakige, with a surreal fantasy story that is centered around the heroines. Unfortunately, revealing any of the details would ruin it for those who want to play it, so I'll avoid spoilers. There are four heroines in the story: Kokoro the imouto, Minori the two-faced honor student, Haruka the mimikko mathematician, and Aira, the poker-faced girl with the beautiful singing voice. Overall, this game feels like a shorter version of a Key game, and each of the routes - except Kokoro's - follows this pattern: split off from the common route>fall in love>ichaicha with occasional foreshadowing>drama and nakige-tears. This game doesn't really make you laugh, which is the biggest difference from a Key game. Rather, it is more of a 'chicken soup for the soul' type of game. As such, if you want to play something that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside at the end, this game is a good choice.

For me... Tokyo Babel. It had some really screwy bad ends. Raziel's bad end was particularly interesting, if more than a little creepy and gruesome.

Incidentally, there is such a thing as moege with good story... but Feng didn't write any of them. Try Lump of Sugar or Whirlpool for that.

Because Feng's VNs are all straight moege with no real value except cute girls and mindless ichaicha. It is a complete waste of time to translate that type when watching a few love-comedy or moeblob anime will fulfill the same needs. Also, that company seems to be incapable of writing a real story that is worth reading (speaking from experience). They fulfill the needs of 'mainstream' otakus in Japan, but their games aren't something worth waiting for. Edit: Let me put it this way... if you were a translator and you had the choice between translating mindless drivel and a masterpiece of VN literature, which would you choose? (this is a valid comparison, as there are numerous VNs out there that fit the latter example and are untranslated)

http://vndb.org/v7777 Forgot to put this on the list. This game is based in a future where everyone has the right (yes, a right, not a privilege) to be freed from the threats of death by age or illness... and it is also a rather interesting view into what that world might be like. There are a few huge twists to the unlockable endings, and if you have a heart you'll probably cry through the first two endings you can access, if for different reasons. I know I did. This game does have its flaws, but it is still something people with a fascination for immortality should try.

God, this project is going to kill so many people. All the people who will hang themselves when they read it when it is done after all that waiting because it ends on a cliffhanger for the third game, lol

Considering how many abortive projects I've seen over the years... it is probably closer to one in fifteen. Less than ten percent, anyway. Most projects get started, do a little, then fall apart when people get frustrated.

To add one more onto my list... Kokoro from Evolimit

If there is a harem ending, it always has h-scenes. Non-ero vns tend to be single heroine or no-heroine endings only.

http://vndb.org/v13342 Just finished this. It looks at first glance like your classic moege, but as you go deeper into it, it becomes apparent that it is really a story-focused VN. The story is focused around a dueling system where groups of 'knight students' from each of the twelve branch schools in this imaginary town that seems to promise success to all those who come out of it. In the system, the ones who hold the 'princess' when the 'king's power' awakens gain the right to grant a single wish. Overall, the story isn't the best I've ever read, but it does reach a high enough level that I feel like I could recommend it to those who want something lighter than a chuuni game but heavier than your average nakige. If there is an aspect that stands out about this game to me, it is the protagonist. He is... a strategist/tactician with an incredibly ruthless side that he shows early on (I won't spoil it for you). Honestly, this type is pretty rare in VNs outside of dark nukige (usually revenge fantasies and the like) except as an antagonist, and so it was quite interesting to have his type as a protag. The biggest downside to this game is that there were no heroines I felt matched the protagonist. All the girls (except Vivian, who is too simple to be normal) are fairly archetypical, and I didn't really find a heroine I fell in love with (though I love the antagonist of the true route, which is also an extension of Kei's route). The true route is defined by a mindfuck twist, so there is a minor treat in there for those who like that kind of thing.

Also... it takes all the fun out of playing a game for the first time when they tell you everything about it... I love stumbling across hidden gems as a result of my random game purchasing habits.