starfighter9 Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Stumbled upon these forums while browsing the internet for visual novel recommendations. I'm a relative newcomer to the world of VNs, its been only about half a year or so since i started playing. At first, like 99.99% of the people i thought visual novels were basically just hentai games (most are labeled as eroge), and generally avoided them. But i was always partial to games with strong storylines, when i was a child i was an avid bookworm, although that later changed to video game addict i still sought rpgs with a solid plot. One day, i was directed to TLwiki looking for the fan translation of Idolm@ster SP, and that's when i started to realise VNs were more than just hentai - script counts in the tens of thousands, and a storyline that was definitely more than just sex. From there i went to vndb, and then i decided - story plus visuals, i shall definitely try this. Started on Fate/Stay Night, and after the prologue i knew i was hooked. And that's also why i joined this forum, i like the concept of fuwanovel (also my lectures are terribly boring). Too many people have misconceptions about the world of VNs, and only a few ever move beyond thinking that VNs are just otaku fanservice, and it would be great if more people like me could realise how great VNs are. And hopefully one day there will be a large enough fanbase that publishers will see fit to localise VNs in English, although its probably just wishful thinking. And that does it for my rambling introduction. Hope my time here will be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tay Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Well said, and well met! I appreciate and agree with many of your sentiments. I'd have fallen in love with VNs long ago if I hadn't originally seen them as hentai games (I still blame the covers and advertising for many VNs for this misconception). Fate/Stay Night was my second VN. I loved it. What have you played since? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilegend Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Welcome! I totally agree with you! VNs (and many eroges) should be enjoyed as what they ARE (stories with good plots and nice visuals) and not what they HAVE (H scenes). Also before they decide to localise their VNs in English, I feel that they should first remove their "Japan-only" restriction in the games.. So translators don't have to do more hacking, and do what translation groups does best: translating. Enjoy your stay on fuwa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starfighter9 Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 Well said, and well met! I appreciate and agree with many of your sentiments. I'd have fallen in love with VNs long ago if I hadn't originally seen them as hentai games (I still blame the covers and advertising for many VNs for this misconception). Fate/Stay Night was my second VN. I loved it. What have you played since? Yeah, i hate how VNs are usually categorised as 'sex games' or 'dating sims'. However the problem with this is that the majority of VNs are really hentai games, which brings down the industry name (i stopped clicking 'random visual novel'on vndb, the premises of some games are just OMGWTFBBQWHYYYY). I think at the moment only at most the top 3 pages or so of vndb rating is worth playing. As i recall, in order of playing: 999: 9 hours, 9 persons, 9 doors (I actually didn't know this could be considered a vn, i played it in 2011 and always thought it was a puzzle/rpg) Fate/Stay Night Tsukihime Kagetsu Tohya Ever17 Saya no Uta Muv-Luv Muv-Luv Alternative Planetarian Narcissu Narcissu Side 2nd True Remembrance Mirai no Kimi to, Subete no Uta ni (I'm also a vocaloid fan lol) Katawa Shoujo Hoshizora no Memoria Zanmataisei Demonbane Yeah, i mostly neglected all other forms of gaming ever since discovering this. Currently in a limbo, not sure what to play next. Welcome! I totally agree with you! VNs (and many eroges) should be enjoyed as what they ARE (stories with good plots and nice visuals) and not what they HAVE (H scenes). Also before they decide to localise their VNs in English, I feel that they should first remove their "Japan-only" restriction in the games.. So translators don't have to do more hacking, and do what translation groups does best: translating. Enjoy your stay on fuwa! I think the 'Japan only' thing will probably stay until VNs become accepted as part of the mainstream (if it ever happens), by restricting region it eliminates all the bad publicity and flaming and whatever they will get from moralfags. Also some Japanese companies seem rather xenophobic. Even then there will probably still be some form of region locking, just look at the prices of VNs. Only Japanese are willing to pay that much for anything, the rest of the world would be like '>$100 for 1 game? u mad bro'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tay Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 ... Wow. You've played a lot of the classics! I'm super impressed! This probably should be posted in another topic, but since you mentioned them I might as well ask: tell me about the Muv-Luv games. Is Alternate really worth going through Extra/Unlimited? I'm having a hard time getting through the first game (not sure why, but this is the first VN I've had trouble enjoying). Most people out there think "Alternate" is the greatest VN of all time. Do you feel this way, too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starfighter9 Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 ... Wow. You've played a lot of the classics! I'm super impressed! This probably should be posted in another topic, but since you mentioned them I might as well ask: tell me about the Muv-Luv games. Is Alternate really worth going through Extra/Unlimited? I'm having a hard time getting through the first game (not sure why, but this is the first VN I've had trouble enjoying). Most people out there think "Alternate" is the greatest VN of all time. Do you feel this way, too? I based my play choices off recommendations on the internet, so yeah it's going to be a list of classics. For me, be it game, movie, anime, book, whatever - Muv-Luv Alternative is the best anything i have ever seen. Is it worth it to play Extra/Unlimited? If i had to play every character route in Extra/Unlimited twice over, i'd do it unhesitatingly. Extra is probably a very love-it-or-hate-it game - a cliche storm, full of goofiness and over-the-top characters, although personally i found it rather amusing so i had no trouble sitting through it. Unlimited is slightly better, there's more seriousness and less jokes (although it's still not epic). Alternative, however, makes everything worth it. At the risk of sounding like a raging fanboy, i wouldn't miss Alternative for the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Hi welcome~ little busters is missing from that list? https://fuwanovel.net/novels/21 great comedy and great nakige Yeah I try to present VNs as not a sex romp but theyre stories, like hollywood stories (which also has sex) That's why I didn't bother with including all the translated sex games on fuwan, they just don't fit. I made Sono Hana an exception though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starfighter9 Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 Hi welcome~ little busters is missing from that list? https://fuwanovel.net/novels/21 great comedy and great nakige Yeah I try to present VNs as not a sex romp but theyre stories, like hollywood stories (which also has sex) That's why I didn't bother with including all the translated sex games on fuwan, they just don't fit. I made Sono Hana an exception though I'm aiming to expand my list, currently im stuck in deciding what to play next, Little Busters! is one of the candidates i'm considering. I wish i had more time so i can just play everything as and when i like but university thinks otherwise I'm curious though, why include SonoHana? I picked up one out of curiosity and dropped it after half an hour, the story is painfully bad. It's not even Muv-Luv Extra standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry_kinomoto Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Yeah, i hate how VNs are usually categorised as 'sex games' or 'dating sims'. However the problem with this is that the majority of VNs are really hentai games, which brings down the industry name (i stopped clicking 'random visual novel'on vndb, the premises of some games are just OMGWTFBBQWHYYYY). I think at the moment only at most the top 3 pages or so of vndb rating is worth playing.This, so much. Suppose we can't REALLY complain when pple think VN=hentai, given these statistics... Funny we should mention SonoHana in the same breath though. I think the initial ones were successful purely because people liked their art style (read: their ability to draw good yuri); but then the makes actually realised they couldn't rely only on that to keep the series moving and actually tried to start adding some storyline. It probably isn't top-tier VN level, but still something to take note of. Anyways welcome to the boards! Keep it coming with the wall-of-text lectures - you'll probably notice I do it alot too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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