Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Hi guys, so I am just about to finish the my third run on EnA (I'm doing the Orpha route right now, I think I got 3 more eternals to go in that last mission and then I'll be done), so I am starting to look for other VNs. However, the amount of VNs out there is simply so enormous that I don't know which ones to play at all. Here are some characteristics that I like (or dislike) about VNs so that maybe you could narrow the amount of VNs suitable for me a little down 1. I hate playing a VN where the protagonist is a complete moron. It already annoyed me at times in EnA, so often I was like "you goddamn moron, how can you not realize that half a dozen of these girls is in love with you?!" and especially as the reader has a lot of insight in Yuuto's thoughts it was just horrible. However, due to the amazing story I was able to ignore that most of the time. Anyways, I would prefer a VN where the protagonist is at least not a complete moron. 2. EnA was my first VN, before that I only watched anime and read manga (however, those were not a lot, I only read the mangas that progressed farther in the story than their Anime pendant, Kami nomi zo shiru sekai for example). What annoyed me most about my favorite anime was that often, the end is quite unsatisfying because there's no actual relationship between the protagonist and the main heroine. I remember that one anime, I think its name was something like "Yahari ore no seishun love comedy something" with this girl, chocolat. I hated that he rejected all of the girls even though it was plain obvious all of them were in love with him. So, I am looking for a VN where the protagonist doesn't act like a nun and actually engages in romance instead of having to literally be assaulted by the girls in order to realize their feelings. 3. I dislike protagonists that drown in self-pity (dunno whether this is a real saying in English, I just don't know how to put it in other words) everytime something did not go the way the wanted it to. Best example for that is Accel World, the protagonist ruined the entire anime imho and so I already stopped watching it after the 5th episode or so. 4. I want a VN with a really good story. Something that throws random shit at me that I would have never expected, but still manages to explain everything logically so that it fits into the story. 5. I don't really have a genre preference since I already watched quite a lot of animes. Medieval ones, mecha ones, Slice of life, fantasy, those are all fine for me. Although I'm not such a big fan of mecha stories, but even among those there were, as stated above, quite a few that I really liked. So, those are the 5 aspects that I care most about. Do you have VNs you can recommend on the basis of that? Preferably VNs that can be bought in a downloadable version or that do not have to be imported from America (I live in Germany). I heard the Name "Fate/stay night" quite a few times already, would you recommend it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysrumble Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Fate/Stay Night is pretty good. I would also suggest Rewrite and Little Busters. Here's their VNDB articles: Fate/Stay Night: http://vndb.org/v11 Little Busters: http://vndb.org/v5 Rewrite: http://vndb.org/v751 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 I cannot view these sites right now, but thanks for the really quick answer. I know this is probably a bit too much to ask since you already posted a link to each one of those games, but could you possibly give a quick review on each one of those so that I know what to expect? The only thing I know about those three is that (at least I think so) little busters is some sort of slice of life, and, well, thats about all I know of them. ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaguya Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Well, you could check out my 50 VNs list- There's the summary of all three of those there. Most VNs don't have gameplay like Eien no Aselia, though. Anyway, I'd suggest Grisaia no Kajitsu for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Oh, I don't mind if there is no gameplay in them. All I want is some amazing stories to enjoy during my vacation from 18th to 27th of this month, so I am going to need a ridiculous amount of VNs if I don't wanna get bored By the way, how many routes does the "standard" VN include, and how much do they usually influence the story? I'm asking this because after having played Aselia's route (which was truly absolutely amazing, when she recovered from the loss of her mind after coming back to Phantasmagoria when she picked up Desire and saved Yuuto, that was such an incredible scene, I already know I am going to play the Aselia route again one day simply for that one scene) the other two routes I already played were kinda disappointing since the only thing that really changed was one extra mission and a few different dialogues. How do most VNs handle this stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysrumble Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I guess I can give a quick summary. Fate/Stay Night is a supernatural action visual novel. It's about a conflict called the Holy Grail War which 7 Mage's summon heroic spirits (who are heroes from the past like King Arthur etc) to fight with them to kill the other mages. The story is actually pretty epic and I can credit it for it's fantastic lore and character development. It also has my favorite antagonist in a visual novel. It only has 3 routes which are pretty long and each route is kind of it's own thing. Little Busters is about a group of childhood friends who start a baseball team in order to live their youthful days.They recruit other members and just have fun shenanigans together. There is 6 routes I think with another final route to conclude the story. It's hard to give the plot away without saying spoilers but this is probably my favorite visual novel. Rewrite is a slice of life/action/romance. Made by the same people who did Little Busters and has a common route where you pick your choices and it's just fun and shenanigans until you got into one of the 5 heroines routes. After beating the heroines routes there is 2 other routes to wrap up the story. You may like the protagonist in this story because he's kind of a "clever idiot". He's not like a genius but he has a head on his shoulders and he's rather silly. These are my shitty 5am summaries. Sorry if they are a bit confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Don't forget Ayakashibito. Also, check out my lists when you are ready for untranslated VNs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 No, those were just fine, thanks a lot dude All three of those sound pretty nice, I just hope there's a vendor in Europe who sells them, I don't want to wait for a month for them to arrive :/ Or can you buy those somewhere in a downloadable version? What I'm also interested in, could you come up with any similiar stuff like Steins;Gate or Kami nomi where the protagonist is just a frickin genius? I remember really enjoying Steins;Gate, at the time I had already watched like ~70 different animes and Steins;Gate was by far my favorite one of those, and it would probably still be if I had to decide on one. Oh, one thing I should probably add is that I do not always need a great story concept. As mentioned above, the anime with this guy who has this stupid curse that forces him to do unbelievably embarrassing things in public had a pretty shitty story. I mean, come on, the concept of a curse that forces you to "put off your shirt and scream like a real japanese man" is just plain stupid, but the resulting scenes were so incredibly funny that I laughed my ass off for the entire duration of the anime. Are there any VNs out there similiar to that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I will - as per usual - recommend you Clannad. I think it has everything you are looking for. Best example for that is Accel World, the protagonist ruined the entire anime imho and so I already stopped watching it after the 5th episode or so. Exactly ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Out of everything, I would suggest Grisaia no kajitsu. I think it fits your criteria the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Well, regarding Clannad, I already watched the anime to the VN. I wouldn't consider it a bad story, but I kinda just couldn't sympathize with the main characters. Tomoya was an idiot in my opinion (especially in Clannad: after story, where he turns out to be exactly like his father whom he had always despiced) and Nagisa, I don't know, I just don't like her as a main heroine. I don't like this timid girl stereotype, I'm way more into tsundere, genki girls and the serious ones. I do know however, that the Clannad VN offers more routes than just the Nagisa route. Considering though that I would never, ever deliberately play the Nagisa route, I have to ask one thing - are the other routes as long and good as the Nagisa route, or are those more like "bonuses" for those who want to end up with a different girl (seriously, I hate Nagisa. Ruined the anime imo, Kyou was so much cuter and just all around better suited for him)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhiroo Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I thought Yuuto was a good protagonist, he had his priorities straight. As for my recommendations I'd say Muv Luv series, F/SN, Ayakashibito, Deardrops and Clannad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 I thought Yuuto was a good protagonist, he had his priorities straight. As for my recommendations I'd say Muv Luv series, F/SN, Ayakashibito, Deardrops and Clannad. This might be going a little off-topic but I just have to reply to that statement. I would consider him fine as a protagonist, but there was some stuff that really annoyed me about him... 1st his stubborness (I will save Kaori and return to my world"; even though Phantasmagoria is just objectively viewed a way better place to live with Kaori than Earth), then the fact that he is obviously a siscon (he even assaults poor Esperia and Orpha in the beginning because all that pathetic idiot could think about was kaori, kaori, and then once he's finished with that, Kaori once again), and for last, the fact his self-pity was so damn annoying. Hearing him think about how stained in blood his right hand is and that he can never be forgiven for that and that he feels so horrible everytime he kills a spirit (yeah, I mean, it's not like he's just fighting for his life, right? I bet those spirits would have much rather sat down with him and drunk some tea. What an evil man.) was the worst thing though, I mean, for the first few months, I'd be able to understand if someone who's never even seen war struggles with killing people. But after two years of fighting in a new world, one could at least expect the self-pity to stop, or am I the only one who thinks so? Those are the three main flaws of him as a protagonist in my opinion, but one could argue about that for quite a while. I just had so state my opinion on that topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoodlyNyan Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Regarding genius protagonist, I recommend you : Grisaia no Kajitsu : Basically this is a VN about "abnormal" students that attend Mihama Academy, The protag is a little genius and always have tricks up his sleeves. (http://vndb.org/v5154) Sharin no Kuni : Almost the same as Grisaia no Kajitsu except the students have some kind of punishment that the protag needs to be taken care of. (http://vndb.org/v57) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Thanks DoodlNyan, Sharin no kuni sounds very nice indeed. Jeez, I'm gonna have to read a lot if I want to finish all these VNs within 10 days. Can you guys think of any VNs that would fit into what I posted previously? Since noone has recommended anything similiar to those and I really enjoyed that anime. Oh, one thing I should probably add is that I do not always need a great story concept. As mentioned above, the anime with this guy who has this stupid curse that forces him to do unbelievably embarrassing things in public had a pretty shitty story. I mean, come on, the concept of a curse that forces you to "put off your shirt and scream like a real japanese man" is just plain stupid, but the resulting scenes were so incredibly funny that I laughed my ass off for the entire duration of the anime. Are there any VNs out there similiar to that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SieghartXx Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Clannad: Nagisa aside, the other routes are quite good, although the anime covers a bit of them (obviously setting the romance aside). Even so, I recommend you to play it, as the visual novel in itself is reaaaaally long, and the routes are pretty awesome (there are even a few characters that aren't introduced in the anime, by the way, although they're not heroines).Little Busters!: This one is awesome, the heroines and each route's story are really cool and the Refrain is just amazing. It's a long one too, and it's filled with comedy (although Riki tends to belittle himself from time to time).Grisaia no Kajitsu: The main character is a badass, although he's kinda oblivious to romance until you progress into a heroine's route. It's also lenghty, and the heroines are all lovely (although I didn't like Amane, but I assure you, that's just me).Hoshizora no Memoria: Yet another lenghty one. The main character isn't a badass, but he's not a wimp either, and there are seven heroines, although you have to unlock some of them by completing other heroines. I can't think of many more (just woke up xDD), but Kaguya's recommendation list has a lot of good choices! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 That sounds good indeed. So, on my list for the next few weeks is now: Fate/Stay night Grisaia no Kajitsu Sharin no Kuni Little Busters! Rewrite Clannad Hoshizora no Memoria Now, that does seem like a list of VNs that will keep me busy for quiet some time. Still, it would be nice if somebody could recommend more comedy-based VNs to me so that I got one in that category too Btw, Sieghart - which anime / manga / VN is the girl in your signature from? She seems so familiar but I just cannot remember where I saw her... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhiroo Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Kurugaya from LB! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagisa_Fawkes Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 That sounds good indeed. So, on my list for the next few weeks is now: Fate/Stay night Grisaia no Kajitsu Sharin no Kuni Little Busters! Rewrite Clannad Hoshizora no Memoria Now, that does seem like a list of VNs that will keep me busy for quiet some time. Still, it would be nice if somebody could recommend more comedy-based VNs to me so that I got one in that category too Btw, Sieghart - which anime / manga / VN is the girl in your signature from? She seems so familiar but I just cannot remember where I saw her... Good list, I'm playing the first right now. But just for advice, I don't want to nag you or anything, but if you want to comment about a fact of anime or VN, put it under a spoiler tag, like the Aselia's route you talked about. Well, have fun, you got a awesome list on your hands there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Kurugaya from LB! Well, in that case I must have been mistaken since I never watched that anime. I probably should however, seeing that the ratings it received are actually quite good. Anyways, as Im going to play the VN soon I would probably just spoil the entire game so that'll have to wait @Nagisa_Fawkes Oh damn, that's right. I was so enthused talking about the Aselia route that I completely forgot I was just writing a huge spoiler for those who haven't played the game yet. Gonna change that right away in case someone encounters this topic who's playing the game right now or plans to in the future. Thanks for the reminder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izayoi Sakuya Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Genius protagonist? Cof cof... G-Senjou no maou.... cof... Pretty much any Key VN matches your description, even though i agree that Tomoya is a little jerk ( he gets better ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izayoi Sakuya Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Well if you don't mind gameplay then I recommend a Kamidori Alchemy Meister since it pretty much meets all your criteria. The protagonist is not a moron and actively engaged in romance with the heroine you choose, there are no bad ends either so you don't have to worry about that too. I should mention though this VN has a lot of h-scenes, a little over 50 unlockable ones I believe. So be aware of that. It's also very long. The first play through will take you well over 50 hours. The second play through if you choose to do so has a lot of extra stories in it and will take you much longer than the first play through did. Check it out you might like it I love that VN. It reminds me of Sengoku Rance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Sounds very nice. Kamidori Alchemy Meister... I've read that name before, seems like this VN is pretty popular too. What's the gameplay like, would you say it's like, alright, or useful for a little distraction from the reading, or absolutely amazing? As I said before, as EnA was my first VN (and not even a true one as it contains gameplay) I know basically nothing about VNs (and those which contain gameplay elements). Oh, and I don't mind H-scenes at all. I can't imagine what they're like though since I've almost never encountered sex in any animes / mangas. Schooldays was the only one I remember that actually dealt with the topic, however I'm a little traumatized from this anime since it was so incredibly awful to watch... Never saw such a huge jackass protagonist in an anime, and that means a lot, I've probably watched well above 150 animes by now. My greatest moment of happiness while watching this anime was actually when Sekai stabs the god damn asshole. Poor Sekai shouldn't have had to die though @Izayoi Sakuya: In that case I'll check out more of Key's VNs, thanks for the advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowtsuku Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Just throwing Symphonic Rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Wow. Now you're making me worry what your concept of "common fetish" is. As I know the japanese people, some stuff might be pretty sick (tentacles...), well, there's no use in thinking about that now. I'll just have to see it with my own eyes (which I hopefully will not regret) Regarding the gameplay, that sounds quite intriguing. I'll go look up some gameplay videos on youtube as soon as I come home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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