Decline Visual Novel Recomendation Thread

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Rance should tackle American Civil War next.

General Roberta E. Lee gon get raped.

 

[Whisky]

Ever17 - There's really no way to describe how good it gets without spoiling it. You need to invest quite a bit of time into it to get the final ending, but when you do it will spin your head around. Premise is a group of people who get trapped in an underwater amusement park which has three layers, the top of which is completely flooded with water. They only have a few days before the pressure of the facility gives out. There is way more to it than what initially meets the eye.

999 - DS game made by the creator of Ever17. It is about 9 people who are kidnapped and brought on a ship and made to play a game. They have 9 hours to escape the ship, which is sinking and must team up with other players who each have a wristband with a different number to get past numbered doors (They combine their numbers to create digital roots that match the door). Like Ever17, the final part of the game is basically a stream of constant mindfucks, one of which completely blew my mind.

Virtue's Last Reward - 3DS/Vita sequel to 999. It just came out a few days ago, but so far it looks like an improvement. There appear to be a lot more paths than 999 and they all seem to have unique puzzles, unlike 999 in which you'll have to repeat certain rooms for different endings. It is given a flowchart which allows you to skip to certain points in the game at will. This time the story is about a group of people in a mysterious building being made to play a game based on the prisoner's dilemma.

Tsukihime - I liked this one when I was younger, but I don't know how well it holds up. It had decent characters and some pretty good mystery if I recall. However, it does have sex scenes which have amazingly terrible descriptions (Nothing hotter than making seafood similes when having sex, right?") and they get in the way of the story. Plus the art is pretty bland. The basic premise is that you play as a young man who after an accident is given the ability to see the "life-lines" of everything and everyone in the world and he is able to sever them.

 

[groke]

YU-NO and Kara no Shoujo are the two VNs I've played that have come the closest to being a true adventure game (as, in an ideal world, all VNs would be). 999 is close behind, the sequel sounds significantly better. You have no idea how much it irritates me that the japs waste these great games on a low-interactivity format.

I would consider Ever17 as the best adventure game evar if it would just let me navigate LeMU on my own and solve some goddamn puzzles instead of *click**click**click**choice* bullshit.

 

[felipepepe]

K', fuck KiraKira, I'm trying Ever17 now.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Just wanted to share this one with you.

 

[ghostdog]

Ok. I'm playing Kara no Shoujo and it's pretty good for a VN, but frankly I was expecting something better after all the comments here.

My major disappointment is that the 50's setting is basically shat upon. The game could easily take place in modern times without changing anything. Also it's plagued by the usual VN crap, with the main character being surrounded by schoolgirls, and completely unnecessary sex scenes where the female master surgeon/s&m mistress demands a pearl necklace and the busty school nurse wants to nurse your cock into her pussy.

 

[felipepepe]

I think they actually managed to use the 50's setting well... it's used to explain the subway lines, prostitution, the whole post-war drama, and even some more important plot stuff are tied to the era. And yeah, the sex scenes are stupid, especially that retarded pussy close-up during the murder scene... you're reading some macabre text about the killer-PUSSY PUSSY PUSSY PUSSY- /facepalm

 

[Mrowak]

Ok. I'm playing Kara no Shoujo and it's pretty good for a VN, but frankly I was expecting something better after all the comments here.

My major disappointment is that the 50's setting is basically shat upon. The game could easily take place in modern times without changing anything. Also it's plagued by the usual VN crap, with the main character being surrounded by schoolgirls, and completely unnecessary sex scenes where the female master surgeon/s&m mistress demands a pearl necklace and the busty school nurse wants to nurse your cock into her pussy.

I disagree about 50s setting being ignored. I think they tackled it quite well. But concede about sex scenes - they are out of place, but not as much as in your average VN. Funny thing, I somehow managed to steer clear of 90% of them on my first "successful" playthrough, by simply not trying to get them.

VNs are fun when you are into "weird". Unfortunately they suffer from the same maledies that plague most of jPop-culture. For one they start with a fun premise that is butchered to a smaller or greater degree as you pley by pandering - it's something that murdered many otherwise promising manga/anime/movies. To me Kara no Shoujo somehow manages to pull through... it doesn't mean it couldn't have been better without nonsense.

 

[felipepepe]

Fix'ed.

 

[Whisky]

K', fuck KiraKira, I'm trying Ever17 now.

Fair warning, it starts out slow and requires a few play-throughs to get the true ending. It is really worth it though.

Also the English translation, despite being an honest-to-god official translation for a PC VN, is not good. It's not game destroying though, it's kind of like FF7: most of the time the dialogue is fine, but then you get some god-awful lines like, "This guy are sick."

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Just wanted to share this one with you.

 

[Cool name]

@ Mrowak: If I may add something I do believe you are making a slight and maybe understandable mistake. The same maladies, pandering, and general nonsense you find in japanese pop culture or, closer to truth, japanese otaku pop culture are the bane of all forms of pop culture. How noticeable or grating it is in this particular case comes from the fact it is alien to a western consumer's context, but it hardly can be considered a proper faul regardless of our dislike for it by virtue of us being the outsiders to it. And please forgive me if I have misunderstood your post.

@ Jasede: I have been looking around but the only other visual novel fitting the profile given and either released in the west or translated by fans I have managed to find so far has been Animamundi. Please forgive my inability to find more, I will keep looking around.

 

[Aurelius]

Also the English translation, despite being an honest-to-god official translation for a PC VN, is not good. It's not game destroying though, it's kind of like FF7: most of the time the dialogue is fine, but then you get some god-awful lines like, "This guy are sick."

There's also the fact that

Spoiler

the translation spoils a major plot point when it outright tells you that part of the story takes place in 2034:

The trick in the japanese version is that he reads 02/07/19, the date from 15 years ago, as July 19, 2002 (YYMMDD, Japanese notation) when it's actually July 2, 2019 (DDMMYY, European notation). The translation throws that out of the window and outright tells you the "correct" date.

Apart from that, I think Ever17 is a really good visual novel, though it has some pacing issues, as well as being a guessing game with some of the choices.

999 I can also recommend, but you'll need to suspend your disbelief quite a bit. It's a good entry point for the genre though, as it retains some gameplay.

I've also played Ef: A fairy Tale of the Two, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but it's really heavy on the romance and drama. As previously noted it has some top notch visuals and music, so if you're into the genre I'd say it's worth a try. Has quite a bit of fucking.

Fate/Stay Night is also among the visual novels frequently recommended, although personally I'd say it's a bad starting point. It has horrible pacing (insert obligatory cooking joke), the writing is pretty bad at times (possibly resulting from the translation) and it has meager CGs and music (though the Realta Nua patch adds some, as well as voice acting). If you can get into it, though, it definitely is worth the read, since the setting is quite interesting. Oh, and it has Nasu's trademark seafood sex scenes.

While not a Visual Novel per se, I'd also recommend Ghost Trick, since it features VN-like storytelling with quite a bit of gameplay (it doesn't have any branching paths, though).

 

[Whisky]

Ouch, forgot about that one particular spoiler example. Yeah, that one is the worst. At least the hacker line was just a throwaway line.

While not a Visual Novel per se, I'd also recommend Ghost Trick, since it features VN-like storytelling with quite a bit of gameplay (it doesn't have any branching paths, though).

I don't consider Ghost Trick a visual novel. I do consider it one hell of a game though. It is the only game that I will admit to actually crying at near the end:

Spoiler

I'm a cat person.

 

[Jasede]

I was wondering when we'd bring up Ghost Trick. I've purposefully avoided playing it and am saving it for a rainy winter day. I think the day is coming soon; I plan on playing it 10th-15th November.

And then I will go see Wicked.

 

[groke]

I don't consider Ghost Trick a visual novel. I do consider it one hell of a game though. It is the only game that I will admit to actually crying at near the end:

Spoiler

I'm a cat person.

Ghost Trick was amazing, like a narrative-driven The Incredible Machine (and with a similar amount of feline mistreatment).

 

[Cool name]

Ghost Trick is indeed a wonderful game telling a very well crafted tale. Not enough praise can be thrown at it. Everyone who loves games should play it.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Boob Wars

In the 22nd century, the body of women is clearly divided in 2 types. They are really big or really small and there’s no in-between.
They try to determine their superiority over another and it divided the world in two…

144 Responses to “Boob Wars”

Winterfeline says:
November 3, 2012 at 10:14 am
Appears to me that it can be downloaded and opened normally, it installs alright, but requires a registration code. So going to have to buy it, or get a crack elsewhere. While I believe in supporting the translation of these games, some examples like “Sandwiched between my Wife and her Sister” make me very wary, especially with games with no demo available.
Anyhow, going to hope that a crack will appear later. I don’t want to make the same kind of mistake as with “Family Project” (worst money spent)
Reply

 

[Haba]

What kind of a homo doesn't like Family Project. It has one of the most awesome Japanese voice actors in it. I'd buy it just for his voice.

Oh wait, what did I just...

Anyway, MangaGamer has been pretty forthcoming on their projects. They basically need to sell few thousand copies to turn profit with those simple fucknovels they push out. Anything more complex requires more sold copies (a lot of them, since often just the scripts are several times the size). It's a sad state of affairs. Seems quite unlikely we'll ever see Kara no Shoujo 2 in English, for example.

 

[Malpercio]

Oh god wat.

Anyway, check Ever17, it has the best plot twist ever, it will blow you away. 999 is a less animu and less briliant (but it still awesome, with great twists) Ever17 for DS, you may want to check it out.



It may looks kawaii animu as fuck to many of you, but actually the plot utilizes a great deal of sci-fi themes and such.

There still others, like Sharnoth, but i'm not sure the Codex can endure them.

 

[ghostdog]

Dammit, Kara No Shoujo is depressing. Everyone gets chopped to pieces and I keep on falling on bad endings

Yeah, this one is more of a game than other VNs but the gameplay is rather flawed since from what I can see uncovering some of the important clues requires you to do things in a certain sequence.


So... felipepepe , Mrowak , groke , Agassi , Haba , Gragt , (and everyone else who's played this game) I need your help.

Spoiler

I now got the ending where right after Toko1 got hit by a truck and Toko2 got chopped to pieces, I found enough evidence pointing to that novelist. But suddenly I get abducted by the goddamn nurse and I die of starvation, while I'm tied-up on the floor... I never got any solid clues about the nurse.

I can't seem to find what can get me past that point. There is a walkthrough in the net, but it doesn't separate the important from non-important choices and with this crap I'll have to retrace everything from the start.

 

[felipepepe]

o_O I never got that.

To more experienced players, are there many possible killer outcomes? After countless deaths at the infirmary I managed to uncover the killer and get lot's of endings based on that, I never got any of those things ghostdog is talking about...

 

[Haba]

There are a few places where you'll need to backtrack quite a bit... It's not the final bad ending, is it? After "wait for the patrol car" or whatnot...?

Probably the easiest and fastest way would be to fast-forward a new save where you're clear on the important choices.

Or then you need to remind me on where exactly that was (days, previous choices). I got my own saves, but they don't follow the walkthrough format either.

o_O I never got that.

To more experienced players, are there many possible killer outcomes? After countless deaths at the infirmary I managed to uncover the killer and get lot's of endings based on that, I never got any of those things ghostdog is talking about...

Heh heh... Then you've barely scraped the surface my son. Plenty of nice events still waiting.

There is only one true ending, the rest are bad endings. Though I think many of the bad endings are better. You know, where certain stuff doesn't happen after all...

 

[felipepepe]

Heh heh... Then you've barely scraped the surface my son. Plenty of nice events still waiting.

I just started the game again, with the knowledge I had from before, and ended up with the same ending:

Spoiler

Orihime dies, I derp around and my sister is kidnapped & trapped on the ice egg, then I wait for the police, everyone is saved and I go insane.

It's sad, I wanted to see more of the game, understand the painting and all that, but I guess I'm too much of a LARPer, I tend to do things "my way" and have a hard time going for other approachs...

 

[ghostdog]

There are a few places where you'll need to backtrack quite a bit... It's not the final bad ending, is it? After "wait for the patrol car" or whatnot...?

Probably the easiest and fastest way would be to fast-forward a new save where you're clear on the important choices.

Or then you need to remind me on where exactly that was (days, previous choices). I got my own saves, but they don't follow the walkthrough format either.

Spoiler

The ending occurs in April the 13th. In the previous day I had found the magazine sample, the novelist's photo and some photos of Koto1 in Koto2's room. Afterwards I deducted that the killer in both the easter egg case and in the dismembered limbs case is the novelist.

Also the thing is I'm not sure witch exactly are the important choices (apart from discovering or not certain clues). Do you have a list or something ?