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How the hell do you guys deal with choosing with the millions of VNs out there?


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There are so many VNs that look so good that I want to read but I just get so overwhelmed trying to decide. This is followed by depression that i'll never get to read anywhere near a quarter of them. They will forever be a mystery to me. Due to all of this I usually just end up not reading anything due to the futility of it all. Sometimes I am able to read for a couple of days or a week or two but this feeling always returns and I lose all motivation. Its so frustrating. :( 

 

How do you guys deal with this? 

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Make a bucket list of VNs you absolutely HAVE to play.  I suggest you then pick a second-line list of VNs you just have an interest in.  Then, just alternate between them using a random number generator or your moods until you've read them all, then make a new list.  In my case, I played nothing but chuunige and fantasy charage for the first two years after I began playing untranslated VNs.  After that, I began picking by fetish and recommendations from veterans.  Eventually, I just began picking out games that came out each month, then I started VN of the Month and did that until last year...

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I won't be bored for the rest of my life, that's for sure.

@namiultedjapanXD Simply read. That's all the advice I can give you. I used to have a similar problem in the past and often ended up postponing or even ditching the works I'd really like to play. When it came to me I'm simply wasting time and not doing anything useful, I began to read; if not what I wanted, at least whatever I had on my list. Now I typically leave the tastiest treats for best days - either weekends, days off work or vacations, occupying myself with shorter works on week days. Having a backlog helps greatly and if you're like me - having a bread range of interests - it definitely helps with organizing on what do you want to read and when. Growing numbers give off some sense of accomplishment and pride, ultimately making me want to read more.

Edited by Narcosis
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There was a time that I would sit on VNDB for a bit just pressing random visual novel looking for stuff that seemed interesting. I still do that a little bit but not as often. Some of them appeared several times during those safaris and stuck in my memory. They’ve basically become my to-read list for the foreseeable future. Due to my limited budget I’ve  been reading in a cheapest to most expensive order.

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16 minutes ago, tahu157 said:

There was a time that I would sit on VNDB for a bit just pressing random visual novel looking for stuff that seemed interesting. I still do that a little bit but not as often. Some of them appeared several times during those safaris and stuck in my memory. They’ve basically become my to-read list for the foreseeable future. Due to my limited budget I’ve  been reading in a cheapest to most expensive order.

I have also done the VNDB refresh to see what stuff comes up. I've been doing that for a long time sadly. With the addition of being able to read some japanese it makes this even harder. The list of stuff that I found incredibly interesting is so large it would take so many years to finish if it all. I end up torrenting most of my VNs. I hate doing it but I have little money and an expensive addiction so I have little choice. I just need that little niche of happiness that VNs can give me.

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7 minutes ago, namiultedjapanXD said:

I have also done the VNDB refresh to see what stuff comes up. I've been doing that for a long time sadly. With the addition of being able to read some japanese it makes this even harder. The list of stuff that I found incredibly interesting is so large it would take so many years to finish if it all. I end up torrenting most of my VNs. I hate doing it but I have little money and an expensive addiction so I have little choice. I just need that little niche of happiness that VNs can give me.

Well, torrenting has a $125,000 price tag on my school network so I'll stick to DLsite for now lol

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I know exactly what you mean by not knowing what to read. I'm still the same way, and tend to drag my feet when searching for a new story to read.

I've learned that it doesn't really matter what you read as long as what you find interests you, even if it's just a very slight interest.
What works for me is sorting by rating on vndb, and I always search under the theme of romance since I'm drawn to those types of stories. It's not bad to peek at the characters to get a general idea of who you might enjoy, like if you want to know who's a kuudere. :yumiko:

The rating isn't an end all conclusion as to what's better though, it's just a rating according to the user base as to what's subjectively good enough to be considered worth reading. More often that not it's worth taking the risk since there's bound to be at least one character that you'll connect with.

If you don't feel like you can commit much time toward reading any of the lengthier novels, start with something small and read just 30 minutes to an hour each day.
There's no rush to blaze through each novel just to get things over with. It's alright if you leave novels unfinished, and you don't have to read everything anyone recommends either.

I'm sure you'll find the right visual novel for you sooner or later :sachi:

Edited by dwaif
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Not sure how many people would agree with what I have to say, but apart from reading stuff on a regular basis to review it on the blog, I can keep going by putting convenience over quality. I read a lot of short VNs, put let's plays in the background whenever I'm working from home, or even when I'm working out. Basically, if you can't find motivation, it's best to follow your mood and choose things that you're unlikely to get tired of. Also, if you prioritize smaller VNs, your to-read list will at least look a little bit less scary after a while, even if it's just an illusion because every game you're left with is a 40-60 hours behemoth. :P

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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11 hours ago, namiultedjapanXD said:

There are so many VNs that look so good that I want to read but I just get so overwhelmed trying to decide. This is followed by depression that i'll never get to read anywhere near a quarter of them. They will forever be a mystery to me. Due to all of this I usually just end up not reading anything due to the futility of it all. Sometimes I am able to read for a couple of days or a week or two but this feeling always returns and I lose all motivation. Its so frustrating. :( 

 

How do you guys deal with this? 

It's funny how I am in the same situation but feel completely different about it. To know that there is a huge amount of VNs out there that I still have to read makes me happy actually. After all I don't want to FINISH reading VNs and I am glad that there will always be more. And really, I am never planning ahead about what to read next. When I am finished with the current VN I look what's on my list OR if there is a VN with a discount on Steam and that's the one I pick. Although often, after reading a very long VN I tend towards the next VN being a shorter one. Since I love reading longer VNs - because I get more involved with the characters - my list is rather growing than shrinking in size. But as I said: the more VNs on my list the happier I am :)

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I just read whatever I feel like at the moment. I've put off reading several high ranked VNs for quite some time due to this, and while the ones I chose to read instead may objectively be worse, I still enjoyed reading most of them, and that's really all that matters.
What you're describing is an issue with movies, TV series, etc as well, so you should just go with your gut feeling and pick whatever strikes your fancy right then and there.

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I only read visual novels who have either a nameable protagonist or unnamed one. VNs with that feature are really low compared to how many visual novels are out there so even though my selection is relatively short it at least leaves me with a very manageable catalog of games. Also helps that they are usually nukige so i usually skip the H while reading the rest of the novel (And sometimes that helps me apreciate a VN more, like i read Youkuso Sukebe Elf no Mori e, i was hyped for being a vanilla elf nukige but my favorite aspects of it are the non-H parts which has genuinely good character development and the whole relaxing campy setting).

So maybe a good way for you is to think of what is your favorite "tag" and then filter VNs based on that tag and look for the higuest rated one, you will likely find something appealing to you and if you hopefully finish everything with that tag you move to another one of interest. Or just look Michi's blog and see what of those releases catches your attention as they cover not only moeges but also storgyges or moenukiges.

Edited by kratoscar2008
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Just like what others said, rating are relative. I tried this method:

1. Create a thread here at Recommendations or vnsuggest at reddit.
2. Describe your interest and any hardware/software issue you require.
3. After suggestions were given, do some research on them at vndb, reviews, etc.
4. Create a "To Read List" for that. I prefer to try the short VN first.

Edited by ztrepzilius
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I go through several bouts of intense soul searching and feelings of existential dread before randomly deciding to pick up a vn that looks remotely interesting to me.

 

I eventually decide based on if it has a good protag that won't make me want to drive a cement truck through several orphanages

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At the start I kind of picked a bit random titles, but now I pretty much only go for titles that gets a physical release unless it is something I really really want. Also I know pretty much everything that has been officially released in english as well as roughly the score it has on vndb so I don't really have to look around at old things but can rather just focus on new releases as all the old ones I want are on my wishlist on vndb. As for japanese ones, well I probably won't pick up that many next time I go there but last time I just looked through CG galleries to find things that I thought looked good and seemed to have the type of content I wanted then checked if it was well recieved on vndb.

Edited by bakauchuujin
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You have to be trolling lol. First of all, there's not that many VNs published in English each year. Since 2012, and especially 2015 with Steam into the fray they have been mounting. But still you can clear them in some years, depending on how fast you read. Also I don't really think that just EVERY VN out there appeals to you, right?

If you know Japanese the thing is different. Yes, there are bazillions of titles, but available? Not so many of them. There are lots of old ones that maybe you can't grab. Anyway, I'd suggest, either English or Japanese, to draw a schedule and stick to it. Yes, it sounds like a job, but there's no other way around it.

Edited by Okarin
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59 minutes ago, Okarin said:

You have to be trolling lol. First of all, there's not that many VNs published in English each year. Since 2012, and especially 2015 with Steam into the fray they have been mounting. But still you can clear them in some years, depending on how fast you read. Also I don't really think that just EVERY VN out there appeals to you, right?

If you know Japanese the thing is different. Yes, there are bazillions of titles, but available? Not so many of them. There are lots of old ones that maybe you can't grab. Anyway, I'd suggest, either English or Japanese, to draw a schedule and stick to it. Yes, it sounds like a job, but there's no other way around it.

I do know a good bit of japanese now. So i'm not trolling you dumbass sperglord.

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19 hours ago, namiultedjapanXD said:

fate hasn't always been a friend of mine

it hasn't always been a friend of mine, either. but fate doesn't deal with what is good, bad, right, or wrong: only with what could possibly be the case. it isn't inhibited by indecisiveness, which is what makes it so useful in situations where we simply can't decide. when you make a list of vns that you think sound cool, but you don't know which one to start with, rngs can do the work for you.

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