VNs to recommend to my brother?

[pika09]

Hey all. So recently I've managed to introduce my brother to the wonderful world of VNs and in fact he's already read quite a few (he even outpaced me in the vns I'm reading) He's planning to read G-Senjou no Maou next so I'm wondering what other vns I could recommend for him to read after that. Here are his criteria:

 

Preferred Genres: Mystery, Adventure, Suspense, Sci-fi (Other genres such as romance are ok for him, but it's not a priority)

VNs he's already read: Steins;Gate, Ever17, Never17, Remember11, 999, Ace Attorney Series, Dangan Ronpa, Katawa Shoujo

VNs he plans to read but aren't his priority right now: Fate Stay Night, Clannad (for that matter, anything by Key), Higurashi & Umineko

 

18+ VNs are okay. He prefers the VN to be of average length (around 10-30 hours?) . Gore is okay, as long as it's not graphic. He wants the art to be at least decent to look at (he thinks the girls in Key look like lolis, so he doesn't want to read anything by them yet). He also prefers the VN to have choices (hence why the When They Cry series are of low priority). English-translated, of course.

[Tenkuru]

If he likes G-Senjou no Maou, he'll probably like Sharin no Kuni too. Here is the synopsis:

In the near future.

 

In a not so distant place.

 

There exists a society where law is based upon deterrence and criminals are assigned "obligations" fitting for their crimes.

 

Within this society, a man named Morita Kenichi aspires to the position of Special High Class Individual, one who holds authority over said criminals.

 

For the purpose of fulfilling his ambition, Kenichi returns to the town he once called home. There he will encounter three girls bearing "obligations" and there he will encounter the past he left behind.

 

Won't you join him in this story about how people relate to their society?

 

In this story about how a society relates to its people.

 

In this story about the girl amid the sunflowers growing in the country spinning like a wheel.

 

Also, since he likes Mystery, Adventure and Suspense, I think he will enjoy Rewrite too. Don't be fooled into thinking that it's another one of KEY's romance focused VN, because it's not. The romance takes the backseat in Rewrite. Here is the synopsis:

Rewrite is set in the fictional city Kazamatsuri where treeplanting and afforestation have caused the city to become overgrown with trees and flowers in much the same way that other cities are filled by buildings. However, while most of the city appears to be rural, there are many traditional city elements as well. While set in a modern setting, the city also gives off a strange sense of nostalgia. The basis of the story is set in a high school setting. The first half of Rewrite primarily consists of the characters interacting in many everyday, enjoyable scenes. The latter half, however, is more serious, emotional, and carries a sense of mystery to the plot.

As indicated by the title, rewriting is the theme of the game's scenario. The tagline for the game is, "Could it possibly be rewritten, that fate of her's?".

 

 

 

And last but not least, I recommend Grisaia no Kajitsu. It's a VN about a school that only has students with psychological problems. The best thing about this VN are it's characters. I really like the main protagonist too as he's just a plain badass. Here is the synopsis:

Mihama Academy - on the surface, a closed learning environment established to nurture students who find themselves at odds with the world around them; in actuality, an orchard-cum-prison built to preserve fruit that has fallen too far from its tree.

 

Whatever the circumstances behind its establishment, Mihama Academy is at present home to five female students, all with their own reasons for "enrollment." For better or worse, each girl has established a routine obliging of her current situation; life moves at an idle, yet accommodating pace within the walls of Mihama.

 

Yet with the arrival of the institute's first male student, the nearly preposterously opaque Kazami Yuuji, the students at Mihama begin to fall out of step with their predetermined rhythms. Will Yuuji prove to be the element the girls around him needed to take hold of their lives once more, or will the weight of their pasts prove too steep a wall to overcome?

 

And in the first place, just who is Kazami Yuuji? While the true nature of the "job" he is wont to alight to at the most haphazard of moments remains shrouded in secrecy, one thing is for certain - his encroachment upon the quiet orchard known as Mihama Academy will prove itself momentous in one way or another. And of course, one cannot discount the possibility that perhaps Yuuji himself carries the weightiest past of any of the students...

[Nosebleed]

He really should try Saya no Uta if he likes darker stuff. Although there's only 2 choices in the whole game but the story is great.

[Funyarinpa]

His tastes are quite similar to mine

 

Well, if he has read 999 he owes it to himself to play Virtue's Last Reward. Don't forget that Danganronpa 2 remake is being localized for Vita which is coming out in September!

 

I have heard I/O is another good sci-fi VN.

 

If he can read untranslated, I think Root Double(google it) looks pretty awesome(though I do not know jacks**t about Japanese, so I do not have more of an opinion.)

[Monmon]

i will recommend Demonbane (http://vndb.org/v231) its a sci-fi+mystery(the game is loosely based in Cthulhu myths)  vn. It have pretty funny moments too. 

[pika09]

On 5/25/2014 at 1:33 PM, Tenkuru said:

 

If he likes G-Senjou no Maou, he'll probably like Sharin no Kuni too. Here is the synopsis:

Spoiler

In the near future.

 

In a not so distant place.

 

There exists a society where law is based upon deterrence and criminals are assigned "obligations" fitting for their crimes.

 

Within this society, a man named Morita Kenichi aspires to the position of Special High Class Individual, one who holds authority over said criminals.

 

For the purpose of fulfilling his ambition, Kenichi returns to the town he once called home. There he will encounter three girls bearing "obligations" and there he will encounter the past he left behind.

 

Won't you join him in this story about how people relate to their society?

 

In this story about how a society relates to its people.

 

In this story about the girl amid the sunflowers growing in the country spinning like a wheel.

 

 

Also, since he likes Mystery, Adventure and Suspense, I think he will enjoy Rewrite too. Don't be fooled into thinking that it's another one of KEY's romance focused VN, because it's not. The romance takes the backseat in Rewrite. Here is the synopsis:

Spoiler

Rewrite is set in the fictional city Kazamatsuri where treeplanting and afforestation have caused the city to become overgrown with trees and flowers in much the same way that other cities are filled by buildings. However, while most of the city appears to be rural, there are many traditional city elements as well. While set in a modern setting, the city also gives off a strange sense of nostalgia. The basis of the story is set in a high school setting. The first half of Rewrite primarily consists of the characters interacting in many everyday, enjoyable scenes. The latter half, however, is more serious, emotional, and carries a sense of mystery to the plot.

As indicated by the title, rewriting is the theme of the game's scenario. The tagline for the game is, "Could it possibly be rewritten, that fate of her's?".

 

 

 

And last but not least, I recommend Grisaia no Kajitsu. It's a VN about a school that only has students with psychological problems. The best thing about this VN are it's characters. I really like the main protagonist too as he's just a plain badass. Here is the synopsis:

Spoiler

Mihama Academy - on the surface, a closed learning environment established to nurture students who find themselves at odds with the world around them; in actuality, an orchard-cum-prison built to preserve fruit that has fallen too far from its tree.

 

Whatever the circumstances behind its establishment, Mihama Academy is at present home to five female students, all with their own reasons for "enrollment." For better or worse, each girl has established a routine obliging of her current situation; life moves at an idle, yet accommodating pace within the walls of Mihama.

 

Yet with the arrival of the institute's first male student, the nearly preposterously opaque Kazami Yuuji, the students at Mihama begin to fall out of step with their predetermined rhythms. Will Yuuji prove to be the element the girls around him needed to take hold of their lives once more, or will the weight of their pasts prove too steep a wall to overcome?

 

And in the first place, just who is Kazami Yuuji? While the true nature of the "job" he is wont to alight to at the most haphazard of moments remains shrouded in secrecy, one thing is for certain - his encroachment upon the quiet orchard known as Mihama Academy will prove itself momentous in one way or another. And of course, one cannot discount the possibility that perhaps Yuuji himself carries the weightiest past of any of the students...

 

 

 

Sharin no Kuni huh.... I'll take note of that.

 

As for Rewrite, is the art decent? He's holding off playing Clannad because of the loli art.

 

How long would you estimate playing Grisaia to take?

 

 

He's too lazy to ask... and he isn't really the type who makes accounts in forums, so...

[pika09]

He really should try Saya no Uta if he likes darker stuff. Although there's only 2 choices in the whole game but the story is great.

I've read up to the choice part in that game, and..... I think I'll skip recommending this game to him for now, haha. But I agree that the story's great.

[pika09]

His tastes are quite similar to mine

 

Well, if he has read 999 he owes it to himself to play Virtue's Last Reward. Don't forget that Danganronpa 2 remake is being localized for Vita which is coming out in September!

 

I have heard I/O is another good sci-fi VN.

 

If he can read untranslated, I think Root Double(google it) looks pretty awesome(though I do not know jacks**t about Japanese, so I do not have more of an opinion.)

 

Well, the problem with VLR & SDR2 is that we own neither 3DS nor PS Vita, hehe.

 

I recommended IO to him a while back. Thanks for making me remember!

[DimDito]

Mystery/Suspense huh... Saya no Uta, and Kara no Shoujo.

Both of which are rather graphic though but have gorgeous, gorgeous art. 

 

Other than that there are countless of other visual novels to recommend.

[Tenkuru]

Sharin no Kuni huh.... I'll take note of that.

 

As for Rewrite, is the art decent? He's holding off playing Clannad because of the loli art.

 

How long would you estimate playing Grisaia to take?

 

 

He's too lazy to ask... and he isn't really the type who makes accounts in forums, so...

The art in Rewrite is gorgeous, in my opinion. I didn't play Clannad and Kanon because I don't like the art too. I was really surprised to find out that they have the same artists actually. Here's a sample art:

 

As for the length of Grisaia no Kajitsu, it's estimated length is >50hours. One a side note, Rewrite is a loooong VN, one of the longest I've read actually,  so be prepared to spend a lot of time on it. But if you can get past that, you'll be in for a treat, especially the true routes.

[DimDito]

The art in Rewrite is gorgeous, in my opinion. I didn't play Clannad and Kanon because I don't like the art too. I was really surprised to find out that they have the same artists actually. Here's a sample art:

 

As for the length of Grisaia no Kajitsu, it's estimated length is >50hours. One a side note, Rewrite is a loooong VN, one of the longest I've read actually,  so be prepared to spend a lot of time on it. But if you can get past that, you'll be in for a treat, especially the true routes.

pika09, be warned that you're gonna have to go through a loooot of sh** to get to it. The quality of Rewrite's heroine routes are of the most arguable in any VN I've ever come across, unless you don't have an eye for criticism in which case you'd probably overlook it just as you'd overlook G-Senjou's dialogue or Azai's obnoxious personality.

Edited May 25, 2014 by DimDito

[Tenkuru]

pika09, be warned that you're gonna have to go through a loooot of sh** to get to it. The quality of Rewrite's common route is one of the most arguable of any VN I've ever come across, unless you don't have an eye for criticism in which case you'd probably overlook it just as you'd overlook G-Senjou's dialogue or Azai's obnoxious personality.

Mind if you open my eyes on why you think the common route is not that good? I personally find KEY's sense of humor to be hilarious and enjoyed it thoroughly. It's actually one of my favorite common routes, so can you tell me what makes it bad? I may have overlooked it because I was enjoying my self so much and I'm very curious to find out what other people think of it.

[DimDito]

Mind if you open my eyes on why you think the common route is not that good? I personally find KEY's sense of humor to be hilarious and enjoyed it thoroughly. It's actually one of my favorite common routes, so can you tell me what makes it bad? I may have overlooked it because I was enjoying my self so much and I'm very curious to find out what other people think of it.

Wow I messed up, sorry. The common route was good, the writing mainly falls apart in the heroine routes. The story loses cohesion and suffers from inconsistency and pacing issues, most probably due to the fact that they are written by 3 different people. It's near universal acclaim that Lucia's was the best, even though it also became flawed throughout the second half. The VN also has a hobby of shoving an environmental message to your face and resorting to the nonsensical every time something absurd happens or if the story is in need of a deus ex machina.

 

Rewrite had great humor and a cool MC, a premise with potential and good art (though not excellent, and it's also lackluster in CGs). I don't think such a dark and 'epic' plot fits with Key's lighthearted tone. It comes down to feeling like it's trying too hard to be mature, but ends up not because of its sub-par writing and cheesy storytelling. I found it hard to immerse myself, especially during most of 3 heroine routes where nothing interesting happens, it gets awfully boring. Characters become irrational and even the MC becomes contradictory of himself occasionally. However, I haven't played Moon and Terra, this is judging from the common/heroine routes alone.

 

It's fine, I understand why you'd like Rewrite, but I've seen dark and massive plots handled much better with a more fitting storytelling, more consistency, and quality in general. Rewrite's common route was actually pretty good, I loved the build-up, but the execution was disappointing. Even the map sections were a bait-and-switch. The game lacks the emotional weight I was looking for, on the contrary, I was annoyed by its horrible storytelling. But most people say Moon & Terra are worth getting through it all, so you have that going for you, but I just have too low tolerance to go any further.

 

Let's be careful not to derail the thread. 

[Tenkuru]

Wow I messed up, sorry. The common route was good, the writing mainly falls apart in the heroine routes. The story loses cohesion and suffers from inconsistency and pacing issues, most probably due to the fact that they are written by 3 different people. It's near universal acclaim that Lucia's was the best, even though it also became flawed throughout the second half. The VN also has a hobby of shoving an environmental message to your face and resorting to the nonsensical every time something absurd happens or if the story is in need of a deus ex machina.

 

Rewrite had great humor and a cool MC, a premise with potential and good art (though not excellent, and it's also lackluster in CGs). I don't think such a dark and 'epic' plot fits with Key's lighthearted tone. It comes down to feeling like it's trying too hard to be mature, but ends up not because of its sub-par writing and cheesy storytelling. I found it hard to immerse myself, especially during most of 3 heroine routes where nothing interesting happens, it gets awfully boring. Characters become irrational and even the MC becomes contradictory of himself occasionally. However, I haven't played Moon and Terra, this is judging from the common/heroine routes alone.

 

It's fine, I understand why you'd like Rewrite, but I've seen dark and massive plots handled much better with a more fitting storytelling, more consistency, and quality in general. Rewrite's common route was actually pretty good, I loved the build-up, but the execution was disappointing. Even the map sections were a bait-and-switch. The game lacks the emotional weight I was looking for, on the contrary, I was annoyed by its horrible storytelling. But most people say Moon & Terra are worth getting through it all, so you have that going for you, but I just have too low tolerance to go any further.

 

Let's be careful not to derail the thread. 

Oh, I see what you're getting at. I agree with all the points you brought up, which I personally overlooked.  Also, I hope that one day you'll pick it up again on a whim and play through Moon and Terra! 

And sorry, I was going a little off topic there. My bad!

[Berilium]

Boku No Pico

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muv-Luv seeing no one said it.

[Albedo]

Seconding Muv-Luv, just because it leads to Alternative, which your brother should play, even if it has some extremely graphic gore on this one scene and it's linear with very few choices. There's more choices in Muv Luv tho'.

[Darkshine]

You have to check out Fate/Stay Night! It's something that is really worth reading, granted it's no mystery but still if your looking for a really amazing story to look at then trust me it won't disappoint. 

[AkkisBlade]

I haven't read it myself but I think Cross Channel could be a good option for you.

[Zenophilious]

On 5/25/2014 at 1:33 PM, Tenkuru said:

And last but not least, I recommend Grisaia no Kajitsu. It's a VN about a school that only has students with psychological problems. The best thing about this VN are it's characters. I really like the main protagonist too as he's just a plain badass. Here is the synopsis:

Spoiler

Mihama Academy - on the surface, a closed learning environment established to nurture students who find themselves at odds with the world around them; in actuality, an orchard-cum-prison built to preserve fruit that has fallen too far from its tree.

 

Whatever the circumstances behind its establishment, Mihama Academy is at present home to five female students, all with their own reasons for "enrollment." For better or worse, each girl has established a routine obliging of her current situation; life moves at an idle, yet accommodating pace within the walls of Mihama.

 

Yet with the arrival of the institute's first male student, the nearly preposterously opaque Kazami Yuuji, the students at Mihama begin to fall out of step with their predetermined rhythms. Will Yuuji prove to be the element the girls around him needed to take hold of their lives once more, or will the weight of their pasts prove too steep a wall to overcome?

 

And in the first place, just who is Kazami Yuuji? While the true nature of the "job" he is wont to alight to at the most haphazard of moments remains shrouded in secrecy, one thing is for certain - his encroachment upon the quiet orchard known as Mihama Academy will prove itself momentous in one way or another. And of course, one cannot discount the possibility that perhaps Yuuji himself carries the weightiest past of any of the students...

 

On 5/25/2014 at 8:48 PM, Darkshine said:

You have to check out Fate/Stay Night! It's something that is really worth reading, granted it's no mystery but still if your looking for a really amazing story to look at then trust me it won't disappoint. 

 

Highly recommend all of these.  F/sn gets a little dark, at least in the last route, Heaven's Feel, but it's still quite good.  The writing can get a little meh, especially around the h-scenes (Nasu...stahp...please...), but it's still a great VN that will suck away your time.  So many bad ends...so many. 

 

Hoshimemo is a pretty sappy slice-of-life VN, but it's very good.  It knows how to deliver dem feels.  The supernatural elements in it are...a little silly, but it's incredibly romantic, and most of the characters (not you, Isuzu, never you) are very complicated and easy to like.  It's surprisingly deep for a slice-of-life VN that heavily focuses on comedy.

 

And Grisaia...Grisaia is one of the best VNs I've read.  Yumiko's and Michiru's routes are pretty subpar, but the others are really, really, really good.  It focuses on severe psychological problems.  Can't say that much more without giving stuff away, but it's easily the best of the three I'm recommending.

[Life]

Muv Luv and Kara no Shoujo. Muv Luv is insanely long though but they both fit the criteria I think.