Are there any English VNs with exceptional prose?

[Gaijin]

21 hours ago, Zodai said:

Recently received some feedback on a draft of mine, and while it wasn't quite what I was asking one of the things noted was that the writing, while technically sound, felt generic - upon further analysis formulaic was another term used by a team member.

While it's not something I've noted personally, I'd like some examples of more exceptional prose/narration in order to base it off of.  If I knew Japanese, I would likely jump to Dies Irae, but I don't know nearly enough for that, and I'm writing in English to begin with.  If it's translated, something with exceptional quality in both the meaning, technical soundness, and especially the flow and impact of the words themselves outside of the dialogue.  NVL, first person preferred.

 

Is there anything that comes to mind?  How is the prose good in particular?  What does it accomplish and how does it tie in with the other elements of the story?

I'd actually say Katawa Shoujo and Huniepop might be worth looking at if you're developing a game in English.

WAIT! Before anybody jumps down my throat, consider the following:

Katawa Shoujo - despite being a F2P game about "katawa" (read: crippled) girls developed by some random anons on the net (in their spare time, might I add) - managed to be an emotional roller coaster that had characters that makes you want to play the game multiple times. Despite its many flaws and challenges, such as the inconsistent quality of art or the fact that the heroines were all physically handicapped in some fashion, it managed to appeal to the emotions of the players through character development... which is ultimately reliant on writing. While the prose might not be astounding as far as technical syntax or grammar goes, the use of rhetoric and the "impact" of the dialogue was quite impressive, for what the game was.

As far as HuniePop goes... well I guess they managed to give the characters clear, separate personalities via the writing. The addictiveness of it - and where the game truly shines - is in the minigames and emphasis on simple strategy and conquest.

[Scorp]

6 hours ago, Zakamutt said:

Nah, the writing itself (aka the prose) must be altered for an optimal fit with the medium it inhabits. To give an example from more ""traditional"" media, a screenplay is hardly the same thing as a novel, but they are both written by, well, writers.

It is not so drastically different, means if writer at least played some VN and understand how they work - he can equally adapt it to VN media. Or even someone else can do it. I think you saw how seamlessly Phenomeno was adapted to VN form.