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Post by bonesnapdeez on Oct 4, 2022 18:31:23 GMT -5
Are you playing that game....... or reading it? This is a thread dedicated to all things visual novel. Putting this thread in "off-topic" for now. Jannies: feel free to move it at your discretion. As a general rule, anything and everything on VNDB is eligible for discussion here, which includes but is not limited to...... Classic Japanese adventure games (ie: Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken, Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom, J.B. Harold series, Famicom Detective Club series, Ace Attorney series) Dating sims (ie: Doukyuusei, Tokimeki Memorial, True Love '95, Welcome to Pia Carrot!!, Bloody Bride) VN/RPG hybrids (ie: Dragon Knight series, Lightning Warrior Raidy series, Sakura Taisen series, Utawarerumono series, Aselia the Eternal) Route-based VNs (ie: Kanon, Steins;Gate, Muv-Luv, Ever17, Majikoi!) Kinetic (choiceless) VNs (ie: Higurashi, Umineko, fault, planetarian, Harmonia) .......... and various other oddballs. What's everybody reading??
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Post by toei on Oct 4, 2022 20:06:58 GMT -5
I do play Japanese adventure games sometimes. They're not visual novels, but I guess it doesn't matter if people want to classify them as such. It's been a while since I've played one. Actually, I think it was Portopia. I liked it - thought it was neat little story - but I had to use a FAQ because it was quite obtuse. I'm a Dragon Quest fan, so it was nice to see Yuji Horii's work in a different genre. My favorites were Snatcher (Sega CD) and Famicom Detective Club 2 (SNES). I've enjoyed others.
As for real VNs, with no puzzles, no examining things, etc., I think I've read two? One of them was random eroge trash and I don't remember what it was called, and one of them was horror game that was translated maybe a year ago or so about a rock band on tour called Mirrors. It was pretty interesting at times, I wasn't a big fan of the conclusion though.
I did play the first Raidy game, but that was a straight first-person dungeon crawler with h scenes, as far as I remember.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Oct 4, 2022 20:18:27 GMT -5
Yeah this thread is meant to be pretty inclusive in regards to what is considered a VN, in the same way that VNDB, Fuwanovel, and r/visualnovels are. Old Japanese adventure games have essentially been retconned as visual novels, for better or worse, and talk of "hybrid" games is welcome here is as well.
Portopia is a lot of fun, and I'm always a sucker for detective protagonists. Not a perfect game by any means, but as a genre first (more or less) it's pretty amazing.
There's a small handful of Western games released in the 80s (some before Portopia) that are incidentally "visual novels" as well; this was before the point-and-click genre really took off. The earliest Roberta Williams games and the Infocom "Infocomics" being notable examples.
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Post by Ex on Oct 4, 2022 21:01:01 GMT -5
Jannies: feel free to move it at your discretion. I moved it to modern gaming. I think that's the most applicable place. I've beaten (read?) a few VNs in the past few years. And I own quite a few I've not played yet. I do enjoy this genre, but most of it does feel like a digital manga more than a proper game. And that's fine, especially if you just want something passive and chill to "play". Here's every VN (or VN-adjacent) game I've finished since 2013. That's as far back as my records go, as that's when I started using HLTB: Ace Attorney Ace Attorney 2 Ace Attorney 3 Adventure of a Lifetime Again: Interactive Crime Novel Aquanaut's Holiday: Hidden Memories Chase: Cold Case Investigations - Distant Memories Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple Crimson Shroud Destination: Treasure Island Devil's Attorney Echo: Secrets of the Lost Cavern Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl who Stands Behind Fighting Fantasy: The Forest of Doom Hotel Dusk: Room 215 Island of the Lizard King Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past Last Window: The Secret of Cape West Law of the West Lightning Warrior Raidy Lone Wolf - Book I: Flight From The Dark Lone Wolf - Book II: Fire On The Water Marine Raider Nanashi no Game (The Nameless Game) Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken Professor Layton and the Curious Village Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box Professor Layton and the Unwound Future Quiz & Dragons: Capcom Quiz Game Return to Mysterious Island Sakura Halloween Sakura Santa Sakura Swim Club Seirei Gari Shadow and Ash Sorcery! 1 Sorcery! 2 Sorcery! 3 Sorcery! 4 Spellcaster Tormentum - Dark Sorrow Trauma Center: New Blood Trauma Center: Under the Knife Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 Trauma Team Unsolved Crimes Whispering Willows Zero Escape: Virtue's Last RewardSome of those were on Android. I can provide detailed thoughts on any of those games, if anyone is interested in my opinion. I have beaten many other VNs or text-heavy adventure games before these as well. I'd have to do some deep digging in the ol' noggin to remember 'em all. bonesnapdeezWhat are your TOP 10 VNs that you've personally read? And what was special about each entry?
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Post by Xeogred on Oct 4, 2022 21:16:06 GMT -5
I recently learned what nukige meant.
The only type I've been "playing" for years...
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Oct 4, 2022 21:33:03 GMT -5
I recently learned what nukige meant. Kek. ExI'm still something of a VN neophyte myself (I recently made a "want to play" list which contains 140 games); any "Top 10" list I construct would be a mess and probably be inapplicable in five years time. I will say, these are mandatory: Muv-Luv trilogyThe terminology is a bit confusing here as this is actually two games (Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative) -- but the first is split into two very discrete arcs. It all begins as a standard (but humorous) high school romance tale and then morphs into an epic battle against invading extraterrestrials. It's a massive saga replete with time travel, space travel, love, death, mecha, and many lolz. A great classic anime art style and beautiful OST. It's not for everyone -- I'd really only recommend this to seasoned weebs, those who are already invested in obscure games, anime, and weird ass Japanese media. Note that the games have received various "edits" over the years as they were originally 18+. I'd recommend the Steam versions, though it's hard to explain why without dropping spoilers. Steins;GateNow this one is just flat-out awesome from start to finish and I'd literally recommend it anyone who likes a good story. Like, I want my kids to play it when they're old enough. It's a tale about a bunch of goofball buddies that inadvertently stumble upon an unconventional form of time travel, and then screw everything up thanks to the butterfly effect. It's dramatic, it's funny, it's scary, and anyone who doesn't cry at the end has problems. Gorgeous aesthetics and basically flawless overall -- besides the route system which can be hard to grasp without a walkthrough (do one blind playthrough first though). I really can't say enough good things about this one. Oh, and playing Chaos;Head first can be a smart idea, but it's not required.
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Post by Ex on Oct 4, 2022 21:56:09 GMT -5
over the years as they were originally 18+ That's why I didn't buy the PQube versions for Vita or whatever. I hate censorship, won't abide it. I've got PC copies of these games that were translated before the Steam versions even came out. That way they are as originally intended. It does seem like everybody who reads the Muv-Luv VNs ends up absolutely loving them. My barrier to entry is the high school kids start. Man I get tired of high school kids in Japanese games (and anime). There are some other Muv-Luv games btw: Muv-Luv: photonflowersMuv-Luv: photonmelodies So I did watch the Steins;Gate anime, and a have a decent understanding of the plot as a result. That lead me to buying Steins;Gate and Steins;Gate 0 for Vita. I've not "played" them yet though. I don't know if you know this, but the Steins;Gate series falls into the larger Science Adventure franchise: gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/franchise/1372-science-adventureI've got a few other games from that franchise, but not gone through them yet. Honestly I think the very best games I've played that are VN-adjacent remain these two masterpieces: They do have a lot of interactive puzzles, but 90% of the time you are reading, reading, reading. And it's damn good reading. Also easily the best adventure games I've played, period full stop. But these aren't good games for people who require fantasy or science fiction to enjoy a story, this stuff is all grounded in plausible reality. A bunch of the CiNG staff that worked on these games were ex-Riverhillsoft btw.
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Post by Sarge on Oct 4, 2022 23:11:29 GMT -5
Hotel Dusk is indeed great. Still need to roll around to The Last Window.
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Post by Ex on Oct 5, 2022 1:13:47 GMT -5
Still need to roll around to The Last Window. It'd make for a proper winter game, as Last Window's story starts on December 18th, 1980. I know historically you've been strong on adventure games, but I don't recall you playing any recently. Last Window would be a great genre revisit. I'll put it like this, I like Last Window so much that I've got framed art from the game on my dork cave wall. It's one of only three video game related artworks in that room. I think that says everything about its quality.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Oct 5, 2022 7:24:32 GMT -5
Ex I could write a whole diatribe about censorship but it's well beyond the scope of this thread, to say the least. In any event, yeah I've played some of the localized Muv-Luv spin-offs (minus The Day After). They're okay, though they have a tendency to feel silly and fan fiction-y in parts. And yes I'm well acquainted with Science Adventure. The three big existing arcs are: Chaos;Head -- humans who can manifest "delusions" into reality Steins;Gate -- time travel and the butterfly effect Robotics;Notes -- augmented reality I've actually played everything within Science Adventure that's been translated (officially or otherwise). Most of the games are very good, with Steins;Gate being the best. Steins;Gate 0 is an interesting case as it's a (minor spoilers) "interquel" -- it details events that happened "behind the scenes" in the original. I'll be playing some Cing games when I can carve out a chunk of time, beginning with Trace Memory.
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