How do you choose your first route?

[Sekan Orochi]

I really get into role-playing when i play VNs, so it all depends on what sort of character i am role-playing as, but sometimes i pick characters that remember someone i like a lot.

But there also is VNs in which you can sort of choose how your character will be like, in those cases, i choose the route i see as "unique", because normally that route is the one that will have the most unexpected, unique and satisfying plot, and that's one of the things i like the most.

 

What sort of unique, you ask me?

Well, let's use isekai as an example, do you know why Isekai is getting a lot of attention nowadays? Simple, if you're writing a isekai story, you're free to do whatever you want, there is no restrictions, while with non-isekai stories, you still need to maintain a certain connection with the real world, otherwise you would have to explain the whole world and how the MC lives in such world, what is normal and not normal to him, which most of the times, if not done by a professional, will make the story boring and time-taking.
It isn't a impossible task, is just really hard, you have to maintain a coherence/consistency on the story, which is reaaally hard if you're working with a completely new world, but isekai doesn't need to explain any of these, it's basicly a normal person in a world completely different from the one we know, thus both we and the MC can get to understand the world while the story passes by.

 

That's why it's so satisfying when we find a anime/mangá that is not isekai, but is also offering us something new that we've never seen before, and that's the "unique" i'm talking about, the "non-isekai but still new, out of the conventional and satisfying while still maintaining consistency on the plot."

[JoshB2084]

I always hold the best girl route last.

[dwaif]

I'm a sucker for anyone that's a kuudere, and more often than not start off with their route . If there aren't any kuuderes, then it's whoever I end up liking the most by the end of the common route. In most cases, I brush up beforehand to get an idea of what I'm getting into. This includes things such as looking at the character list in vndb, or skimming over reviews to get an idea of route quality.

I've followed route guides before, and I'll say that starting with a less interesting route does leave a sour taste in my mouth. that's just my matter of preference though

 

[PrincessOfFinch]

Usually I go in whichever order of the girls I like the most. Though sometimes I'm surprised when a certain character's route is better than my favourite girl's route lol