Games similar to 999 in theme (no slice of life BS, with insane ending twist etc.)

[Erikwithafro]

I've played a total of 3 VN's: 999, Virtue's Last Reward, and Ever17, so I'm still very much a beginner in this world. I played 999 right when it came out in 2010 as all the reviews raved about the story, and it's been my favorite game since because of how amazing the story was. Then Virtue came out and it floored me (in the best way of course), and these two games are my favorite story driven experiences ever. I just finished Ever17 after hearing the best of things about it. While it was very good once the true ending finally came together, almost everything before the true path was utter nonsense. I just learned the term slice of life, and I really didn't enjoy that aspect of the game. When plot details were revealed I was very interested, but they were so few and far between that it was a huge slog going through the whole thing. I thought 999/Virtue had very little fluff as opposed to Ever17 which was 70% reading about kick the can and chicken sandwiches and other useless things. I just felt that 999/ Virtue were far better games that told a much more cogesive story than Ever17. Ah, I'm rambling here, but I'm looking for something like this--

 

tl:dr--Looking for a VN with an insanely mind blowing twisty ending that you never see coming THAT MAKES SENSE with no Deus Ex Machina/Space magic crap, that has a more serious tone, and with little slice of life/filler junk. Not concerned about any sort of gameplay like in 999, and length doesn't matter. And if there's a VN out there with a better ending than EVER17, throw it out there. Does anything like this exist?

 

Games I've read are similar (with the great ending twists at least)

1. G-Senjou no maou

2. Steins;Gate

3. Saya No Uta

4. Umineko

[Kaguya]

I see what you want. And for once, it's my favorite kind of game as well (though I do enjoy SL too)

I'd suggest all of the four games above. Also, these:

First, Corpse Party. You'll enjoy it.

Swan Song- Post apocalyptic, so while there is character interaction, you can feel the despair in the air. It's awesome.

Sekien no Inganock- Steampunk, very heavy atmosphere. There are so many twists in that, it's probably one of my top recommendations.

Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni also have a few mindblowers. Why not try it?

Also, Muv Luv Alternative. Don't bother with the first one, since you wouldn't be able to stand it from what you said.

I guess this is enough for now. If any more are needed, tell me~

[nohman]

You might indeed enjoy G-Senjou no Maou. Going by your post, there'll be a good deal of fluff you won't enjoy. Luckily you can neglect all the routes leading up to Usami's route (the true end) as they don't have any supplemental bearing on it. Playing all the routes will make the epilogue after Usami's route more meaningful, though.

 

 

Swan Song- Post apocalyptic, so while there is character interaction, you can feel the despair in the air. It's awesome.
 

 

I'll second Swan Song. It might be to your liking.

 

Keep in mind both of these contain H-scenes, unlike any of the games you've played.

 

Oh, and you might look into Never7 or Remember11.

[Erikwithafro]

I see what you want. And for once, it's my favorite kind of game as well (though I do enjoy SL too)

I'd suggest all of the four games above. Also, these:

First, Corpse Party. You'll enjoy it.

Swan Song- Post apocalyptic, so while there is character interaction, you can feel the despair in the air. It's awesome.

Sekien no Inganock- Steampunk, very heavy atmosphere. There are so many twists in that, it's probably one of my top recommendations.

Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni also have a few mindblowers. Why not try it?

Also, Muv Luv Alternative. Don't bother with the first one, since you wouldn't be able to stand it from what you said.

I guess this is enough for now. If any more are needed, tell me~

 

 

You might indeed enjoy G-Senjou no Maou. Going by your post, there'll be a good deal of fluff you won't enjoy. Luckily you can neglect all the routes leading up to Usami's route (the true end) as they don't have any supplemental bearing on it. Playing all the routes will make the epilogue after Usami's route more meaningful, though.

 

 

 

I'll second Swan Song. It might be to your liking.

 

Keep in mind both of these contain H-scenes, unlike any of the games you've played.

 

Oh, and you might look into Never7 or Remember11.

Kaguya to the rescue hah! Thanks for the other suggestions, I've heard good things about Corpse Party so I'll pick that up soon. I've been wanting to play Steins;Gate since doing some VN research as it seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. Do I need to read Chaos;Head first tfor it to make sense, or is it a standalone?

 

Thanks for the H scene heads up Nohman, as long as it makes sense within the VN, I'm certainly not against it. I know there's quite a bit of slice of life/H scene happy VN's out there, and that's just not my thing.

 

And is Muvluv really worth the length? I've heard the end is a big let down, and I'm really interested in "Oh mah god my head asplode from how insane this is" type of endings, know what I mean?

[Down]

 

And is Muvluv really worth the length? I've heard the end is a big let down, and I'm really interested in "Oh mah god my head asplode from how insane this is" type of endings, know what I mean?

 

Muv-Luv Alternative is incredibly worth the length, but it's not the "unexpected plot twist blows your mind" kind of a VN. It's more "plot twist/event you saw coming for a few scenes already but still blows up your mind". And the ending is not incredible, since the last arc is a bit less good and the epilogue is meh. 

I'm not sure it's a good idea to get into Alternative without having played Muv-Luv (which you probably won't like) anyway. Lack of bonding with the characters, foreshadowing and world building would lessen the experience. 

[Erikwithafro]

Muv-Luv Alternative is incredibly worth the length, but it's not the "unexpected plot twist blows your mind" kind of a VN. It's more "plot twist/event you saw coming for a few scenes already but still blows up your mind". And the ending is not incredible, since the last arc is a bit less good and the epilogue is meh. 

I'm not sure it's a good idea to get into Alternative without having played Muv-Luv (which you probably won't like) anyway. Lack of bonding with the characters, foreshadowing and world building would lessen the experience. 

Hmm, well I may look into it after finishing some of the other VN's mentioned previously. Is there much slice of life in Alternative? I'm not going to torture myself with the first one, and I feel like I can connect with characters well enough even without lots of backstory.

 

Anyone know about the official Steins;Gate US release? Hope it releases later this year like they've said it should.

[Down]

Hmm, well I may look into it after finishing some of the other VN's mentioned previously. Is there much slice of life in Alternative? I'm not going to torture myself with the first one, and I feel like I can connect with characters well enough even without lots of backstory.

Almost none past the beginning (and even there). Lots of infodumps though. I love infodumps but some people don't.

MLA assumes you read the first Muv-Luv, so it's written like a sequel. Not going to try to force you into reading muv-luv if you really feel like it's torture though.

[Albedo]

Almost none past the beginning (and even there). Lots of infodumps though. I love infodumps but some people don't.

MLA assumes you read the first Muv-Luv, so it's written like a sequel. Not going to try to force you into reading muv-luv if you really feel like it's torture though.

 

Thing is, if you want to really understand MLA, you must at least play Muv Luv Unlimited (second half of Muv Luv). Yes, playing Extra could help, but you can still get most of the info you need through flashbacks and the like. The problem is that MLU is basically a military slice of life where not much happens, but the things that do happen, man, they are incredibly important for MLA. Character-defining important in one or two cases. Probably the worst thing about MLA is that it requires such a huge commitment to truly enjoy it, and this is coming from someone whose favorite VN is MLA.

 

You might like Remember 11, 0 slice of life (a group of people trapped in a mental institution with a killer roaming free and another in a shelter cabin amidst a snowstorm with limited supplies, so moe) but it is incomplete and you will likely need to google for answers to some of the unanswered questions. But it is a mindfuck, and if that is what you're looking for, it's pretty good. Never 7 is also in the same vein as Ever 17, but it has slice of life. Steins;Gate is great, but the twist is not unexpected at all; rather, the point is that you can see it coming.

 

Veering off track for a bit, Kara no Shoujo, a detective story in 50's Japan, is also a mindfuck and has zero slice of life. YU-NO is also a mindfuck without slice of life but its old school gameplay might turn you off a bit, and the latter half is not as good as the first one. Still very much reccommended, though. Umineko might not qualify and it is long as hell, and I'd say is more meta than a mindfuck (or it becomes so later), but has almost no slice of life. Finally, Chaos;Head could be what you want... for the first half or so. Then the story goes south, fast. But it is pretty entertaining if you choose the "sick" delusions.

 

tl:dr try Remember 11, Steins; Gate, Kara no Shoujo and YU-NO. Maybe Umineko and Chaos:Head. MLA is pure awesomeness, but you need to endure at least Unlimited. Then the fun times start.

[Skeith]

Agreed with what others said about reading Unlimited before doing MLA. When I first read MLU, I think I just fast forwarded it to hell, only bothering to read when there's mecha actions. Then, when I got to MLA, there were some stuffs/events that I cannot relate to, because they happened in MLU. It got to a point where it just became annoying, and I ended up fastforwarding much of MLA to hell as well. Which was the dumbest mistake I could make. >_<

[Erikwithafro]

Thing is, if you want to really understand MLA, you must at least play Muv Luv Unlimited (second half of Muv Luv). Yes, playing Extra could help, but you can still get most of the info you need through flashbacks and the like. The problem is that MLU is basically a military slice of life where not much happens, but the things that do happen, man, they are incredibly important for MLA. Character-defining important in one or two cases. Probably the worst thing about MLA is that it requires such a huge commitment to truly enjoy it, and this is coming from someone whose favorite VN is MLA.

 

You might like Remember 11, 0 slice of life (a group of people trapped in a mental institution with a killer roaming free and another in a shelter cabin amidst a snowstorm with limited supplies, so moe) but it is incomplete and you will likely need to google for answers to some of the unanswered questions. But it is a mindfuck, and if that is what you're looking for, it's pretty good. Never 7 is also in the same vein as Ever 17, but it has slice of life. Steins;Gate is great, but the twist is not unexpected at all; rather, the point is that you can see it coming.

 

Veering off track for a bit, Kara no Shoujo, a detective story in 50's Japan, is also a mindfuck and has zero slice of life. YU-NO is also a mindfuck without slice of life but its old school gameplay might turn you off a bit, and the latter half is not as good as the first one. Still very much reccommended, though. Umineko might not qualify and it is long as hell, and I'd say is more meta than a mindfuck (or it becomes so later), but has almost no slice of life. Finally, Chaos;Head could be what you want... for the first half or so. Then the story goes south, fast. But it is pretty entertaining if you choose the "sick" delusions.

 

tl:dr try Remember 11, Steins; Gate, Kara no Shoujo and YU-NO. Maybe Umineko and Chaos:Head. MLA is pure awesomeness, but you need to endure at least Unlimited. Then the fun times start.

 

 

Agreed with what others said about reading Unlimited before doing MLA. When I first read MLU, I think I just fast forwarded it to hell, only bothering to read when there's mecha actions. Then, when I got to MLA, there were some stuffs/events that I cannot relate to, because they happened in MLU. It got to a point where it just became annoying, and I ended up fastforwarding much of MLA to hell as well. Which was the dumbest mistake I could make. >_<

Well it looks like I'll have to check out Muvluv at some point. Probably won't be for a while. Just started G-Senjou, and so far it's pretty interesting. The translation is really well done, far better than Ever17 haha. And thanks for the other recommendations Albedo, I'll add them to the list!

 

According to my specifications in the first post, would Narcissu, Planetarian, and Katawa Shouju be others I might enjoy?

[farispie]

Umineko's ending is more ambigious than mind blowing, but its an amazing vn nonetheless.

 

Rewrite is great, but it does have a "common route" which is heavy on the slice of life. The actual story is mindblowing once you get to the true routes.

 

There's also true remembrance, a short vn with a sorts twisty ending. 

 

Cross Channel, while has slice of life portions at first, gets twisted near the end.

 

Steins;Gate and Choas;Head too.

 

As other's said, MUVLUV ALTERNATIVE IS AMAZING. But you do have to suffer through extra and unlimited, but its well worth it. Trust me.

[Erikwithafro]

Umineko's ending is more ambigious than mind blowing, but its an amazing vn nonetheless.

 

Rewrite is great, but it does have a "common route" which is heavy on the slice of life. The actual story is mindblowing once you get to the true routes.

 

There's also true remembrance, a short vn with a sorts twisty ending. 

 

Cross Channel, while has slice of life portions at first, gets twisted near the end.

 

Steins;Gate and Choas;Head too.

 

As other's said, MUVLUV ALTERNATIVE IS AMAZING. But you do have to suffer through extra and unlimited, but its well worth it. Trust me.

Do I need to play Chaod;head before playing Steins;Gate? Thanks for the recommendations also!

[Down]

 

Do I need to play Chaod;head before playing Steins;Gate?

 

Nope you don't. 

[Albedo]

Well it looks like I'll have to check out Muvluv at some point. Probably won't be for a while. Just started G-Senjou, and so far it's pretty interesting. The translation is really well done, far better than Ever17 haha. And thanks for the other recommendations Albedo, I'll add them to the list!

 

According to my specifications in the first post, would Narcissu, Planetarian, and Katawa Shouju be others I might enjoy?

 

Dunno about Narcissu, never played Katawa Shoujo which is about dating disabled girls, so I'm guessing no. Planetarian... well, it's a whole different kind of game. As in, sad as hell and wants (and will probably get) your tears. Maybe you'd like it; again, no slice of life and it's like 2 hours tops.

[Erikwithafro]

Dunno about Narcissu, never played Katawa Shoujo which is about dating disabled girls, so I'm guessing no. Planetarian... well, it's a whole different kind of game. As in, sad as hell and wants (and will probably get) your tears. Maybe you'd like it; again, no slice of life and it's like 2 hours tops.

I've been wanting to check out Planetarian for a while now as I heard it was so depressing. If a game can make me feel that, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Ever seen Grave of the Fireflys? Probably one of the saddest things I've ever seen. Tears were shed.

[trustmeplease]

i don't know if dagaronpa is a vn or not but you should try it,i think its ending is really twisted,it's on psp but there are emu for psp.

and don't know why you hate ever17 so much,it was a great game for me haha.

[Erikwithafro]

i don't know if dagaronpa is a vn or not but you should try it,i think its ending is really twisted,it's on psp but there are emu for psp.

and don't know why you hate ever17 so much,it was a great game for me haha.

No no, I don't hate Ever17 haha. I read everywhere that it was the greatest VN ever, made by the same guy that did 999, and had a way better ending. There were a few really cool plot twists and all, but it didn't make my jaw literally drop and keep me up into the wee hours of the morning contemplating what just happened to my brain like 999 or Virtue's Last Reward. I was just expecting something so out of this world from all the hype, and it didn't fully deliver. And the slice of life added nothing to the experience for me, the game could have been 20hrs shorter without all that nonsense.

 

tl;dr Ever17 is a very good game, but way over rated, while 999 is a masterpiece in my eyes. Again, these are the only VN's I've played so I don't have a lot to compare to haha.

[Albedo]

No no, I don't hate Ever17 haha. I read everywhere that it was the greatest VN ever, made by the same guy that did 999, and had a way better ending. There were a few really cool plot twists and all, but it didn't make my jaw literally drop and keep me up into the wee hours of the morning contemplating what just happened to my brain like 999 or Virtue's Last Reward. I was just expecting something so out of this world from all the hype, and it didn't fully deliver. And the slice of life added nothing to the experience for me, the game could have been 20hrs shorter without all that nonsense.

 

tl;dr Ever17 is a very good game, but way over rated, while 999 is a masterpiece in my eyes. Again, these are the only VN's I've played so I don't have a lot to compare to haha.

 

That could be because you played 999 first. I played Ever 17 first, and a lot of 999 feels familiar (I do like it a lot, and I do think it's better than Ever 17 in some areas, mind you), and while I haven't played VLR, that twist with sigma is straight out of Ever 17. Never seen Grave of the Fireflies, but Planetarian is indeed sad. If you are interested in that kind of games, check this tag in vndb: http://vndb.org/g596

[trustmeplease]

No no, I don't hate Ever17 haha. I read everywhere that it was the greatest VN ever, made by the same guy that did 999, and had a way better ending. There were a few really cool plot twists and all, but it didn't make my jaw literally drop and keep me up into the wee hours of the morning contemplating what just happened to my brain like 999 or Virtue's Last Reward. I was just expecting something so out of this world from all the hype, and it didn't fully deliver. And the slice of life added nothing to the experience for me, the game could have been 20hrs shorter without all that nonsense.

 

tl;dr Ever17 is a very good game, but way over rated, while 999 is a masterpiece in my eyes. Again, these are the only VN's I've played so I don't have a lot to compare to haha.

Maybe 999 is really better than ever17,i've not play it yet so i can't say.i'm about half to finished remember 11.i think i can play 999 tomorrow or the day after,

i've seen somewhere that you are playing g-senjou no mou now.i've just finished that game about 4 or 5 days ago.it is really great game.i like a lot of thing in this game,bgm is far better than others game for me and really love its epilogue,i would rate it 9.3/10 but i don't sure if that was  twists or not,maybe i don't  under stand what twists really means,english is not my first language.=w=

[farispie]

Do I need to play Chaod;head before playing Steins;Gate? Thanks for the recommendations also!

 

Technically no. They are both set in the same universe, and there common elements that connect them. That being said, their atomospheres are completely different (choas;head is certainly on the darker side). 

 

That being said, I'd say play both when you have the chance.

[Erikwithafro]

That could be because you played 999 first. I played Ever 17 first, and a lot of 999 feels familiar (I do like it a lot, and I do think it's better than Ever 17 in some areas, mind you), and while I haven't played VLR, that twist with sigma is straight out of Ever 17. Never seen Grave of the Fireflies, but Planetarian is indeed sad. If you are interested in that kind of games, check this tag in vndb: http://vndb.org/g596

Ahh, I truly believe I still would have enjoyed 999 more because it's atmosphere and theme were far more serious and dark, and that's more what I'm into. And yeah the VLR thing was definitely taken from Ever17, but I thought it was done far better and made much more sense in VLR. How did you even know about that without playing it haha.

 

Maybe 999 is really better than ever17,i've not play it yet so i can't say.i'm about half to finished remember 11.i think i can play 999 tomorrow or the day after,

i've seen somewhere that you are playing g-senjou no mou now.i've just finished that game about 4 or 5 days ago.it is really great game.i like a lot of thing in this game,bgm is far better than others game for me and really love its epilogue,i would rate it 9.3/10 but i don't sure if that was  twists or not,maybe i don't  under stand what twists really means,english is not my first language.=w=

Twist means that something happens in the plot of the story that you had no idea was going to happen. Basically the entire ending route of Ever17 was a huge plot twist because so many things were revealed that the reader did not see coming. Does that make sense? And yes I'm currently on G-senjou, and so far it's really cool. The slice of life stuff in this one isn't all that bad either, and that may be due to the awesome translating job.

 

Technically no. They are both set in the same universe, and there common elements that connect them. That being said, their atomospheres are completely different (choas;head is certainly on the darker side). 

 

That being said, I'd say play both when you have the chance.

Hmm, then I may play Chaos;Head first to get familiar with the game world. I've heard it's still a good game, but no where near the magic of Steins;Gate. Is that about right?

[Zakamutt]

Interestingly, Moogy is actually listed as the editor for the g-senjou tl project (I agree that the tl job is very good). I just felt like pointing that out

[Albedo]

Ahh, I truly believe I still would have enjoyed 999 more because it's atmosphere and theme were far more serious and dark, and that's more what I'm into. And yeah the VLR thing was definitely taken from Ever17, but I thought it was done far better and made much more sense in VLR. How did you even know about that without playing it haha.

 

A friend told me about it, and then I said that Ever 17 did it before it was cool, hipster-style.

[Erikwithafro]

A friend told me about it, and then I said that Ever 17 did it before it was cool, hipster-style.

Ah that's weak, haha. Like I said, the way they do it in VRL is done much better.

 

Would Fate/Stay Night be something I'd enjoy? I've heard the beginning is lots of SoL, but after that things pick up and stay pretty interesting. Is that right?

[Down]

 

Would Fate/Stay Night be something I'd enjoy? I've heard the beginning is lots of SoL, but after that things pick up and stay pretty interesting. Is that right?

 

The amount of slice of life is decent but mostly boring. Overall F/SN has insane amounts of text (not only SoL but infodumps, a few repetitions, and the Nasu-style of writing in itself), so be prepared if you want to try it. It's still very good though. 

Oh, and the first route is the less good of the three.