Which visual novel should I start playing

[VirginSmasher]

I recently finished Saya No Uta. I'm feeling a VN void and I need something to fill it and I have 3 visual novels in mind.

Cartagra- I loved both Kara no Shoujo games and this one is the prequel to them. I've heard some good things about this VN as well.

Kira Kira- my friend Shaun says that this is a pretty good VN and I have liked the few things I've played from Overdrive.

Comyu- it looks like a lot of fun. The main heroine is pretty appealing to me as well.

[Valmore]

I liked Kira Kira. My avatar is actually from it. I haven't read the other two.

[Ariurotl]

KiraKira is good (if you can stomach the protag).

[Decay]

This thread should have probably been posted in the recommendations forum.

Anyways, of those three Comyu is probably the best. But if you're looking for more straightforward romance with some good old fashioned summer vacation adventure (a theme under-explored in Japanese VNs), and if you already know you enjoy Overdrive's style, then Kira Kira will probably be pretty good for you. I feel like I'm one of the few people here who will go to bat for that game. Do note that despite its usually light-hearted tone, it gets pretty serious at points. (edit: lol, apparently more people here like it than I expected)

Comyu is much more somber experience all throughout the work, it's much darker and grittier overall. It takes a more realistic approach to human relations. The action is alright but the CGs and special effects were lacking, in my opinion. I still liked the VN a fair amount, probably more than Kira Kira but it's reasonably close. It depends on what you want.

Cartagra is okay, but it's not nearly as good as the KnS games. You should probably play it at some point to finish that series off, although it would have been much better if you started with it instead. 

Edited November 25, 2015 by Decay

[Scorp]

Btw PS2 version of Cartagra have more endings and more contents... Never ever seen by average VN reader  But it is censored as hell, obv... No blood, no boobs, nothing which makes it an IG game. 

Anyway, Cartagra is quite short, comparing to Kara no Shoujo, maybe 8-10 hours, and almost straightforward story, so you would not spend lot of time on it. Maybe you can read it for completeness sake.

[VirginSmasher]

This thread should have probably been posted in the recommendations forum.

Anyways, of those three Comyu is probably the best. But if you're looking for more straightforward romance with some good old fashioned summer vacation adventure (a theme under-explored in Japanese VNs), and if you already know you enjoy Overdrive's style, then Kira Kira will probably be pretty good for you. I feel like I'm one of the few people here who will go to bat for that game. Do note that despite its usually light-hearted tone, it gets pretty serious at points. (edit: lol, apparently more people here like it than I expected)

Comyu is much more somber experience all throughout the work, it's much darker and grittier overall. It takes a more realistic approach to human relations. The action is alright but the CGs and special effects were lacking, in my opinion. I still liked the VN a fair amount, probably more than Kira Kira but it's reasonably close. It depends on what you want.

Cartagra is okay, but it's not nearly as good as the KnS games. You should probably play it at some point to finish that series off, although it would have been much better if you started with it instead. 

Yeah. I was confused on where to put this thread so I decided to put it here. Based on your description of Comyu, it interests me even more. I love when visual novels delve into a singular topic because balancing a lot of themes and succeeding in doing that usually ends in failure. I didn't even know that Cartagra was a prequel to KnS until after I'd finished KnS 2 so it's too late for that. Apparently a lot of people like Kira Kira as well. It has to do with music and I hope it doesn't end up like how K On did things with nothing happening.

Btw PS2 version of Cartagra have more endings and more contents... Never ever seen by average VN reader  But it is censored as hell, obv... No blood, no boobs, nothing which makes it an IG game. 

Anyway, Cartagra is quite short, comparing to Kara no Shoujo, maybe 8-10 hours, and almost straightforward story, so you would not spend lot of time on it. Maybe you can read it for completeness sake.

Cartagra is that short? Well, it was Innocent Grey's first VN if I'm not mistaken. 

[The Striker]

This is very relative

but i recomend action VN's like grisaia and majikoi.

[Scorp]

 

Btw PS2 version of Cartagra have more endings and more contents... Never ever seen by average VN reader  But it is censored as hell, obv... No blood, no boobs, nothing which makes it an IG game. 

Anyway, Cartagra is quite short, comparing to Kara no Shoujo, maybe 8-10 hours, and almost straightforward story, so you would not spend lot of time on it. Maybe you can read it for completeness sake.

Cartagra is that short? Well, it was Innocent Grey's first VN if I'm not mistaken. 

Unfortunately Doddler do not have any total time estimator in the savegames (maybe we should request him for his future ports?)... So I base this only on my rough playthrough. And as I completed it in 3 days... While I think max I played it per day was dunno, 4 hours, while usually max 3... Also most of time I was reading for h-scenes - there is really a lot of them and they are quite long - so if you're not really interested, you would do it even faster. 

Also Cartagra for PC looks sort of abrupt, it was quite more extended on PS2 (I believe 16! endings, new content, new CG, new intro, quite a shame this was never integrated into Mangagamer release)...

[VirginSmasher]

 

Btw PS2 version of Cartagra have more endings and more contents... Never ever seen by average VN reader  But it is censored as hell, obv... No blood, no boobs, nothing which makes it an IG game. 

Anyway, Cartagra is quite short, comparing to Kara no Shoujo, maybe 8-10 hours, and almost straightforward story, so you would not spend lot of time on it. Maybe you can read it for completeness sake.

Cartagra is that short? Well, it was Innocent Grey's first VN if I'm not mistaken. 

Unfortunately Doddler do not have any total time estimator in the savegames (maybe we should request him for his future ports?)... So I base this only on my rough playthrough. And as I completed it in 3 days... While I think max I played it per day was dunno, 4 hours, while usually max 3... Also most of time I was reading for h-scenes - there is really a lot of them and they are quite long - so if you're not really interested, you would do it even faster. 

Also Cartagra for PC looks sort of abrupt, it was quite more extended on PS2 (I believe 16! endings, new content, new CG, new intro, quite a shame this was never integrated into Mangagamer release)...

Yeah. That'd be awesome to have. I usually get all the h scenes but I skip through the parts I've already gone through. I'm a completionist as well so the playthrough will probably be longer.