Clephas' custom recommend a VN thread

[Clephas]

The concept for this thread is simple... on request, I will attempt to recommend at least one VN for each person, based on whatever qualifications they put forth.  I will not recommend more than three for each person (the top three I can think of).  These VNs will universally be untranslated (see Kaguya's thread if you want translated games), so if you don't intend to learn Japanese, don't know Japanese, or don't think you have the ability to muddle through with a machine translation, I wouldn't recommend this thread for you.

 

For those thinking to rely on a machine translator such as Atlas or Google translate, while I recommend against it, if you insist I will provide you with the best and most easily machine-translated VN titles meeting your standards that I can think of (these will utilize mostly simple writing with commonly-used kanji and kanji combos, thus making them easier for the translator machines to handle).  However, be aware that any such titles I recommend will necessarily be of lower quality than those I would prefer to introduce.

 

This is meant to be a help for those who have run out of translated VNs, want to avoid 'jirai' (horrible games that look good at a glance), or who aren't sure of where to start.  Here, I will put down a suggested form for you to use.

 

Genre:  (chuuni, moege, charage, utsuge, nakige, story-focused)

Linguistic level (from 1-10): (with the understanding anything below 4 is going to be very... bad)

Stimulus preferred: (do you want to be stimulated emotionally, or do you want the game to make you think?)

What is your list of no-nos?: (can you not stand blood, or maybe you have problems with idiot protags... put down what you don't want in the game here)

Other:

 

 

[Albedo]

I'll give it a shot, but my japanese still needs a lot of work.

 

Genre: Don't care.

Linguistic level: 4

Stimulus preferred: Again, don't care.

What is your list of no-nos?: Eh, I probably can laugh at anything, so nothing, I guess.

Other: Must be short (2-10 hours tops), since it's gonna be my first VN in Japanese.

[Clephas]

Wow... if you'd just asked for 4 or a short game, I would have been able to do something... but decent games with a 4-rating are hard to find in the first place.  Not to mention that 2-10 hours pretty much limits you to kinetic novels, which are in short supply in any case.  Gothic Delusion comes to mind, but if I recall correctly, at its most difficult points it is a 6-7, with the normal conversation at a 4.  Ideally, I'd provide you with a moege, but ironically, decent moege generally average 20 hours in length.   If you were willing to settle for something that was linguistically easy but longer, I'd recommend Tayutama, simply because it is the first moege I played in Japanese...  Mashiro's route would probably take me seven to eight hours to complete, if I included the common route, so technically it would be fulfilling your request if we were talking about only one route, lol.  Not to mention that there is a lot of repeated text in the game, haha... 

 

To be blunt, if you ask for something decent that is 2-10 hours long, most of them are going to be hard linguistically.  A lot of skilled writers prefer to write kinetic novels, which make up the greater majority of such games.  With easy games, you are only going to see nukige and moege variations, which is why I generally suggest people start with a moege.  This is despite the fact that I'm bored of moege, lol.  The majority of the length of such games is the common route, with individual heroine routes generally only being two to three hours of reading on their own... not only that, but ones that can be read easily are pretty simple to find. 

[Albedo]

Obviously the good stuff is going to be longer, harder or both, so don't worry that much about quality, after all, it's just to try and read something. Anyways, I guess I'll try Tayutama even though I really, really don't like moeges (it's Tayutama - Kiss on my deity - right? There's 2 of 'em on vndb), thanks for the recomendation!

[Clephas]

Tayutama is a good choice... I suggest you start with Mashiro or Mafuyu, as both their paths are interesting and good.  Mashiro's differs greatly from the anime ending, and it is satisfying for people who hate the way Japanese treat immortal heroine paths most of the time. 

[meru]

I bow before your encyclopaedic knowledge, Clephas!

Genres: horror, utsuge, nakige, mystery

Linguistic level: any

Stimulus: anything really, as long as I'm interested in some way it's all good

No-nos: high comedy content, annoying heroines

Other: the shorter the better because I'm lazy and easily distracted ^^;

[Clephas]

Hmm... Konakana (Konata yori Kanata made) is my suggestion for you.  This game is relatively short, an utsuge (the best of all time), and is just generally well-written. 

[Aggressor]

Hey Clephas, hope you don't mind that I'm not following your template, because my request is a bit specific. One VN for each item would be enough, though I'd gladly have more.

1. Something with a scientific, serious route for AI heroine (like Floralia route from Komorebi no Nostalgica).

2. Something with a over-the-hundred-years-old-non-human-loli-heroine route where the heroine does behave her age. Well, since I'm yet to find such a route, I can only name Sendou Kaya, Erika's mother from Fortune no arterial as an example. And yes, if Amaterasu from Kanojo wa Sora ni Inoranai was a loli, she'd be okay too.

Thanks!

[Clephas]

For your first request, check out http://vndb.org/v7773

http://vndb.org/v542

http://vndb.org/v10447

 

 

For your second:

http://vndb.org/v453 (Belche, the best loli vampire ever, though she is just one of several heroines on the true route)

http://vndb.org/v1308 (Mei, though her everyday personality is not what I would call mature, she isn't a tsundere or an idiot... she just doesn't understand humans)

http://vndb.org/v7650 (Vivi)

[TotalDereMan]

I'm a little confused about the "linguistic level". Mostly, I don't understand what the rating would actually mean...

 

Could you give some example sentences, or something similar?

[Clephas]

lol, linguistic level is based off of word choice, kanji choice, sentence complexity, and dialect difficulty.  Games with difficult kanji use and complex sentences tend to have higher linguistic difficulty, and those with the highest level of dialect difficulty and word choice are those given the highest of all ratings (Kajiri Kamui is currently the most difficult VN I've run across, due to its use of pre-modern terms and the only one to get above a 9 on a scale of one to ten).  If it is above 7 then it is beyond your average beginner, and if it is below 4, you are dealing with elementary to middle school level Japanese (or worse, young people talk, lol).  I'd have to reinstall a few games to give you an idea of the range, but I don't have any extra space on my computer's hard drive at the moment, so that'll have to be put to the side.  Basically, at 4 you might be able to muddle through if you are able to get the gist of anime while watching it (though it would be borderline) and at 8 you would probably need to have translator experience or at least be used to reading complex kanji combos and sentence structure.  Your average translator for a moege probably would barely be able to understand the gist of an eighth level sentence, whereas he could probably read at a decent pace for a 6-7, if not at super-speed (this is assuming said translator has no experience with this level of difficulty). 

[TotalDereMan]

Alright... Let's see...

 

What's the "best" linguistic level 1 visual novel?

[Clephas]

There is no such thing... theoretically, if one were to make a VN for the sake of teaching small children their hiragana, you might make a level 1 VN... haha.  You generally won't see any VN with a difficulty below 3... and as an example, look up the company name 'Norn', lol.

[TotalDereMan]

and as an example, look up the company name 'Norn', lol.

I found a description for one of their games..."Yuma is a smart uni student, whose grandfather is a magician. One day, he gets cornered by gangs, and he calls up the devils by using his grandfather's ring. The devil appeared is Lieselotte. She gets rid of the gangs quickly, and says to him, "Give me your life in return." If he proves that he is a real summoner in ten days, he will be saved. Lieselotte treats him roughly, but she needs his semen to refill her magic power."... What kind of product does this company make?!

 

Well, regardless, I need something easy but enjoyable. Cuteness is always a good thing, as well.

 

Got any good 4s?

[Clephas]

http://vndb.org/v1552  This one is decent, is mostly everyday terms, and tends to range from a 4-5.  Sorry to say, but VNs with great stories generally stick around 5-8.

[TheEngineer]

Request:

Genre: Survival, Action, Mystery

Linguistic level :

- Vocabulary, proper grammar.:6

- Slang, Dialects, old way of writing, artistic way of writing: 4.

Stimulus preferred:

- Make me think about choices. (If possible - have right or wrong choices, where i can logically deduce the best one.) Even better- adventure like game where you HAVE to get the right choice/action to advance.  

- Story could be either emotional or make me think, but i want there to be at least ONE happy ending.

What is your list of no-nos:

- Kinetic novels or VNs where you just choose which heroine you want (Maybe a game with just a single heroine would be best.). 

- Very long VNs 

- Non-voiced VNs (Preferably even MC has voice, but not necessary)

[Clephas]

Survival, action, mystery... my best recommendation to you would probably be Kurenai no Tsuki.  It is a decent supernatural mystery with some action and a logical progression of events (though the logic of it is generally hidden from the protag).   http://vndb.org/v2031

 

Another possible recommendation for you would be the Secret Game/Killer Queen series, though that one is no so much a mystery as a battle royale/survival sort of thing.  http://vndb.org/v5435 I'd suggest playing the latest version of this one first, as it leads right into Killer Queen/Secret Game chronologically... though some prefer to play Killer Queen/Secret Game original first. 

[suikashoujo]

Genre: Utsuge, Nakige, Psychological horror

 

Linguistic level : Anything up to 7 at the most

 

Stimulus preferred: -an emotional game, where you end up actually caring for the characters

-Nice art

-Any length is fine, although I would prefer if it was medium-long

 

What is your list of no-nos: Anything made up of pure fantasy elements (For example, a setting not even remotely like the real world), and hardcore sci-fi that's too out there to be believable

[Clephas]

http://vndb.org/v551  This is my standing recommendation to anyone who likes utsuge.  The protagonist's struggles and how he deals with his fate are what make this the best utsuge ever.

 

For a second utsuge: http://vndb.org/v11193  This game is heavy on the fantasy elements, but it is based around Japanese-influenced Buddhist mythology rather than something in another world.  It is also one of the top 5 best games of 2013, in my opinion. 

 

http://vndb.org/v2537  Ask Kaguya for the links to the download for this.  It is very good, but it is also a doujin, so hard to find.

 

Understand, I don't really play horror VNs, though if you really want one, the Secret Game/Killer Queen series in the post above applies for both (most of Secret Game: Revise is utsuge material, and there is definite psychological horror to the whole thing). 

 

As for nakige...(incidentally, nakige and utsuge are mutually exclusive genres, as an utsuge fundamentally rejects good endings and a nakige always has good endings)

 

http://vndb.org/v604

http://vndb.org/v100

http://vndb.org/v10957

[suikashoujo]

Thanks! These all look really good, so I'll check them out when I get home.

[Clephas]

Always glad to help.

[Aggressor]

Finished Draculius. Well, it was a great game overall, but Belche was technically neither a loli nor the most mature one (Zeno made up for the latter though).

And dropped Aekanaru Sekai - Ripple was far from what I expected of an AI heroine, and storytelling itself was very slow-paced and boring.

I'll post again when I finish something else from the list.

[Clephas]

Decent AI heroines are hard to find...

[garejei]

Time to revive this I guess.

 

I'm basically wondering if there are any decent space operas. Or just anything good that takes place in space/on spaceships/colonies or at least features those elements. 

 

Linguistic level: Doesn't matter.

Stimulus: Honestly anything's fine.

No-nos: When the protag is generally a horrible person. I will, however, stomach this if it serves a purpose.

Other: 1) I'm kind of a sucker for colorful, eye-catching character/heroine designs, in particular the visual style of this VN seemed pretty cool. 2) You've already recommended Evolimit to me, so I'm aware of that.

 

Thanks. And if you can't think of anything, just briefly share your thoughts on Daiteikoku, since vndb tells me you've already read that one.

[Clephas]

I've yet to run across a space opera, in the classical style.  At least part of this is probably because of the genre's complexity, and the other part is because the genre itself is almost dead, regardless of whether you talk about anime or games.  The closest I have gotten are a few hard sci-fi VNs...

 

http://vndb.org/v10447  Probably anyone who plays this will be reminded of Muv-luv Alternative, but this game has its own unique aspects.  It isn't a space opera, but it is pretty interesting.

 

http://vndb.org/v2934  http://vndb.org/v10642  These are both based in a future where a meteor shower forced humanity underground, where they live in arcologies,  Both games have pretty interesting stories, that I think most sci-fi fans would enjoy.