Please recommend some VN to my to-read list

[gijimu]

So I read Princess Evangile, but I've become bored of it, and some time after trying each character's route, I decided to drop it. For me, the central heroine feels like insignificant and boring. The childhood friend heroine is a bit meh. And I can guess the story line quite easily.

Then I thought about trying another VN. Something like Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort comes to mind, but I find it (maybe) as same as Princess Evangile (harem, heavy moege stuffs). Then Clannad and Rewrite come to mind, but I doubt that I would stuck in stereotype heroine again. 

I also consider something untranslated like Dies Irae, but I doubt the VN Reader would do the translation right (I'm amateur at using VN Reader though). So I would like something that won't be confusing when translated using VN Reader.

Oh, I also dislike chuuni characters, but I don't dislike Yuuji from Grisaia. Please fellow fuwareaders (or whatever you're called), recommend something to me.

 

[The Striker]

Have you played majikoi? its the best VN i have played .

 

[gijimu]

6 minutes ago, The Striker said:

Have you played majikoi? its the best VN i have played .

 

Yes, if you want to see VNs I've played, you may look at my VNDB profile.

[The Striker]

Look do not know if I can recommend you, but I'm in the middle of Rewrite and I'm actually really enjoying the game, I hold you well, so far I would recommend.

[Dergonu]

Maybe Shuffle! will fit your taste. It is kind of that standard harem romance, but with unique heroines, a fun fantasy setting and its not too long, so you don't get bored of the same repeated stuff before you finish the novel.

 

[gijimu]

17 minutes ago, The Striker said:

Look do not know if I can recommend you, but I'm in the middle of Rewrite and I'm actually really enjoying the game, I hold you well, so far I would recommend.

I will look on this one.

12 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

Maybe Shuffle! will fit your taste. It is kind of that standard harem romance, but with unique heroines, a fun fantasy setting and its not too long, so you don't get bored of the same repeated stuff before you finish the novel.

 

I checked it at VNDB, and its Bayesian rating is not too good. Well, maybe it is based on personal taste. But honestly, I'm somewhat unsure of VN which Bayesian rating is below 7.

[Nashetania]

White Album 2~~

[Dergonu]

8 minutes ago, gijimu said:

I will look on this one.

I checked it at VNDB, and its Bayesian rating is not too good. Well, maybe it is based on personal taste. But honestly, I'm somewhat unsure of VN which Bayesian rating is below 7.

Probably personal taste. It's not the deepest VN story wise but in contrast to similar titles it offers colorful and unique characters that have fairly enjoyable but fluffy routes. Also has a range of fun and entertaining supportive cast.

I think one issue a lot of people have with it is that the drama that sets it towards the end of the character routes are resolved very quickly and feel a little predictable. Some people don't particularly care for that. Basically, don't go into it expecting something deep like Clannad. It's more comedy and slice of life romance oriented, though the fantasy genre has its play in the story as well.

[Okami]

1 hour ago, gijimu said:

I will look on this one.

I checked it at VNDB, and its Bayesian rating is not too good. Well, maybe it is based on personal taste. But honestly, I'm somewhat unsure of VN which Bayesian rating is below 7.

 

If you are thinking of giving Shuffle a try I would recommend going after anime rather then a VN as Anime is way better, VN itself is rather bad.

 

[DarkZedge]

MM how about things like: Coμ - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku - / Noble Works / Sharin no Kuni / G-Senjou no Maou / Cartagra / KNS /Otoboku / Harukoi Otome / Shuffle! / Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate / Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort / Hoshizora no Memoria  /  Grisaia no Kajitsu/ Edelweiss

 

 

My apologies of you read these already, just wanted to give some selection Hope i was able to help and if you do pick any hope you enjoy them

Best of luck

[ChaosRaven]

Judging by your avatar I guess you like scifi stuff. Therefore I would also recommend Comyu, but also add Demonbane, Soullink and Ever 17 to the list of suggestions if you haven't played them yet.

[Eclipsed]

Sounds like u need a change of pace from the moege crap, go Cartagra + Kara no Shoujo, 1950's murder mystery, or if you really wanna see how fked up life can be post apocalyptic society earthquake scenario, go Swan Song

[Clephas]

If you are willing to try untranslated using TA/jparser without an actual translation engine, I'd suggest Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no.  It is on the second level of my beginner's list (check the stickied post at the top of this forum section for the lists of threads like that).

[Fred the Barber]

I'm surprised to see you dropped Comyu, as it looks right up your alley from your other ratings, but no matter. It looks like you haven't played a lot of nakige, but the little bit you played, you liked. Maybe try Eden* - it's short, so even if it doesn't end up being to your taste, it's not a lot of time lost. Or perhaps Planetarian, though I haven't played that one yet myself (I should really got on that...)

[ChaosRaven]

6 hours ago, gijimu said:

I checked it at VNDB, and its Bayesian rating is not too good. Well, maybe it is based on personal taste. But honestly, I'm somewhat unsure of VN which Bayesian rating is below 7.

Something you should consider if you are checking VNDB ratings is that it's extremely important to know WHAT you are looking for. The VNDB rating isn't just a measurement for quality, it's also a bit of a mind-fuck-meter. A rating how screwed up the content is.

I give you an example from my earlier VN times when I was still young and naive: One day I was just looking for a nice feel-good moege and was picking Sharin no Kuni because it was highly rated and I liked the art. The VN started quite nice with the protagonist walking peacefully in the fields. Then a girl came running by and I thought, hey she's really cute, I'll probably go for her route first. The next thing that happened was... a guy appeared, shot her in the head and she died. I was actually so shocked that I rage uninstalled and didn't touch the VN again for at least half a year.

Another example: Ef - A fairy tale of the two looks like a very beautiful moege and also has a pretty good rating of 8,2. Now, ef is one of the only VN's that got an ESRB rating and MangaGamer posted it 1 - 2 years ago without saying for what VN it was just to see the reaction. Almost everyone thought it was for Euphoria: Adults Only 18+, Blood, Nudity, Sexual Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content. And so far ef is the only VN where I had to stop reading in the route of one of my most favorite heroines because it was so depressing that I couldn't continue anymore.

And then I played Kara no Shoujo... *dies*

Anyway, the whole point of those examples is to show that a high rating doesn't necessarily mean that a title is 'better' than others, it can also mean that it is simply 'different'. Usually, if I'm looking for a feel-good moege, then I look for ratings between 6.5 and 8.0. If it's higher than 8.0 then you're most likely already in nakige or even worse - utsuge territory. But there's another factor which is at least or even more important than the pure rating: The vote count. Many people who don't like a VN simply don't vote for it or they are so uninterested in that they don't even bother to try it. That's the reason why there are some highly rated titles with much lower vote counts. In case of popular moeges, many people follow the hype and then bash the title because they expected more serious story content.

Nukiges are even lower rated than moeges by default, so you can enjoy even titles with a rating of a lowly 5. Story titles, including nakige and utsuge, are the most highly rated titles on VNDB. Usually, they get at least a 6 just for trying even if it's the biggest crap ever written. The good ones usually have a rating of at least > 8.0. If they are lower they aren't good or they have a certain style not everyone likes (Liarsoft titles come to mind). The best titles like F/SN or G-Senjou have both a very high rating and a high vote count.

So in short words, the vote counts indicates how popular a title is while the rating stands not just for quality but also how sophisticated its content is.

Shuffle might just have a rating of slightly below 7, but it has a vote count of almost 2.500. You won't find a lot of VN's with a comparable vote count. For obvious reasons time also matters. But most VN's will never get such high vote counts regardless how old they are. 

I guess that got longer than intended, but human "voting psychology" is quite fascinating. I usually also compare EGS and VNDB ratings and sometimes even those have vast differences I have a hard time understanding.

[Clephas]

Generally the ratings go like this: Translated>Moe>Looks interesting on first glance but sucks>Everything else.

[gijimu]

7 hours ago, DarkZedge said:

MM how about things like: Coμ - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku - / Noble Works / Sharin no Kuni / G-Senjou no Maou / Cartagra / KNS /Otoboku / Harukoi Otome / Shuffle! / Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate / Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort / Hoshizora no Memoria  /  Grisaia no Kajitsu/ Edelweiss

 

 

My apologies of you read these already, just wanted to give some selection Hope i was able to help and if you do pick any hope you enjoy them

Best of luck

Well, I have finished some of it, and dropped some of it. Thanks anyway. 

 

5 hours ago, Eclipsed said:

Sounds like u need a change of pace from the moege crap, go Cartagra + Kara no Shoujo, 1950's murder mystery, or if you really wanna see how fked up life can be post apocalyptic society earthquake scenario, go Swan Song

I guess I will try something like them. Thanks. 

Maybe I've read a bit too much moege in a row that I grew a bit bored of it. 

5 hours ago, Clephas said:

If you are willing to try untranslated using TA/jparser without an actual translation engine, I'd suggest Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no.  It is on the second level of my beginner's list (check the stickied post at the top of this forum section for the lists of threads like that).

I am a bit vague about 'beginner' of visual novel readers community's. Is it a level where VNs are recommended to prepare someone's mind before reading a more complex VN? 

Anyway, maybe I should read more about using VN reader before proceeding to your recommendations. 

4 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

I'm surprised to see you dropped Comyu, as it looks right up your alley from your other ratings, but no matter. It looks like you haven't played a lot of nakige, but the little bit you played, you liked. Maybe try Eden* - it's short, so even if it doesn't end up being to your taste, it's not a lot of time lost. Or perhaps Planetarian, though I haven't played that one yet myself (I should really got on that...)

Actually I don't mind losing time on reading VN that doesn't really suit my taste (I read VN to spend my free hours anyway), but maybe I will grow to regret reading it because of mediocre satisfaction. I am also unsure of VN which size is big but offers only short gameplay time (like Eden*). But maybe I will try them, one day. 

 

3 hours ago, ChaosRaven said:

Something you should consider if you are checking VNDB ratings is that it's extremely important to know WHAT you are looking for. The VNDB rating isn't just a measurement for quality, it's also a bit of a mind-fuck-meter. A rating how screwed up the content is.

I give you an example from my earlier VN times when I was still young and naive: One day I was just looking for a nice feel-good moege and was picking Sharin no Kuni because it was highly rated and I liked the art. The VN started quite nice with the protagonist walking peacefully in the fields. Then a girl came running by and I thought, hey she's really cute, I'll probably go for her route first. The next thing that happened was... a guy appeared, shot her in the head and she died. I was actually so shocked that I rage uninstalled and didn't touch the VN again for at least half a year.

Another example: Ef - A fairy tale of the two looks like a very beautiful moege and also has a pretty good rating of 8,2. Now, ef is one of the only VN's that got an ESRB rating and MangaGamer posted it 1 - 2 years ago without saying for what VN it was just to see the reaction. Almost everyone thought it was for Euphoria: Adults Only 18+, Blood, Nudity, Sexual Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content. And so far ef is the only VN where I had to stop reading in the route of one of my most favorite heroines because it was so depressing that I couldn't continue anymore.

And then I played Kara no Shoujo... *dies*

Anyway, the whole point of those examples is to show that a high rating doesn't necessarily mean that a title is 'better' than others, it can also mean that it is simply 'different'. Usually, if I'm looking for a feel-good moege, then I look for ratings between 6.5 and 8.0. If it's higher than 8.0 then you're most likely already in nakige or even worse - utsuge territory. But there's another factor which is at least or even more important than the pure rating: The vote count. Many people who don't like a VN simply don't vote for it or they are so uninterested in that they don't even bother to try it. That's the reason why there are some highly rated titles with much lower vote counts. In case of popular moeges, many people follow the hype and then bash the title because they expected more serious story content.

Nukiges are even lower rated than moeges by default, so you can enjoy even titles with a rating of a lowly 5. Story titles, including nakige and utsuge, are the most highly rated titles on VNDB. Usually, they get at least a 6 just for trying even if it's the biggest crap ever written. The good ones usually have a rating of at least > 8.0. If they are lower they aren't good or they have a certain style not everyone likes (Liarsoft titles come to mind). The best titles like F/SN or G-Senjou have both a very high rating and a high vote count.

So in short words, the vote counts indicates how popular a title is while the rating stands not just for quality but also how sophisticated its content is.

Shuffle might just have a rating of slightly below 7, but it has a vote count of almost 2.500. You won't find a lot of VN's with a comparable vote count. For obvious reasons time also matters. But most VN's will never get such high vote counts regardless how old they are. 

I guess that got longer than intended, but human "voting psychology" is quite fascinating. I usually also compare EGS and VNDB ratings and sometimes even those have vast differences I have a hard time understanding.

Thanks for enlightening me about vote, score, or rating matter on VNs. Yeah, we usually compare things based on ratings, much like me (thinking that the better rating, the better gameplay, story, etc). Then I found out that VN with better rating won't do any better than a VN that really suit our taste (like Saya no Uta, some people give it 10, while others give it no more than 8). Well, it is just a matter of preference, but I recently become interested in something beyond moege after reading Saya no Uta, though. 

[Clephas]

I don't recommend using VNR if you can use any of the other hookers.  It is the least efficient of the text hooker programs, and it devours computer resources to a ridiculous degree considering its actual functions. 

[gijimu]

6 hours ago, Clephas said:

I don't recommend using VNR if you can use any of the other hookers.  It is the least efficient of the text hooker programs, and it devours computer resources to a ridiculous degree considering its actual functions. 

I only know VNR when it comes to VN text hookers. What do you recommend? 

16 hours ago, Nashetania said:

White Album 2~~

Is it something like moege? 

[Nashetania]

4 minutes ago, gijimu said:

Is it something like moege?

No way. It's the ultimate Nakige/Utsuge.

You'll be depressed even week afterwards.

[Dergonu]

10 minutes ago, gijimu said:

I only know VNR when it comes to VN text hookers. What do you recommend? 

This tutorial by Deep Blue is great. 

Personally I run a mix of programs and only use that one ^ for the parser and furigana, but its overall a better program compared to VNR. Much more lightweight and incredibly simple to use. 

OriginalRen also has a great guide on such programs and he talks in general about what they do and how to use them, though the guide is about a year old now. Still great though. 

[gijimu]

2 minutes ago, Nashetania said:

No way. It's the ultimate Nakige/Utsuge.

You'll be depressed even week afterwards.

I only played one nakige before, Little Busters, and since then become one of my most memorable VN because it often reminded me of its power of friendship. 

Is White Album of the same thing? Maybe in other sense. 

[Nashetania]

Just now, gijimu said:

I only played one nakige before, Little Busters, and since then become one of my most memorable VN because it often reminded me of its power of friendship.

Is White Album of the same thing? Maybe in other sense.

I never played Little Busters, so I don't know.

...but, I would dare to say that White Album is better than Little Busters

[gijimu]

7 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

This tutorial by Deep Blue is great. 

Personally I run a mix of programs and only use that one ^ for the parser and furigana, but its overall a better program compared to VNR. Much more lightweight and incredibly simple to use. 

OriginalRen also has a great guide on such programs and he talks in general about what they do and how to use them, though the guide is about a year old now. Still great though. 

Finally, I don't have to wait for fan translations again for my wanted visual novels. Thanks. 

5 minutes ago, Nashetania said:

I never played Little Busters, so I don't know.

...but, I would dare to say that White Album is better than Little Busters

Hmm... Nakige = Clannad. White Album = Nakige. Then White Album is something like Clannad then?