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The level of story telling in VNs is what draws me in. You don't find many video games that just revolve around everyday school life (Persona 3/4 are the only 2 I can think of) or have as many plot twists. The writers of VNs don't actually have to do nearly as much as a writer for a video game. There is no including random plot points because of the way the game plays. All they have to do is write. So, in my experience, the story telling in VNs is often tighter and more detailed than a video game story.

I love anime and VNs are most similar to anime + in VNs you don't have to worry about bad endings and protagonist not ending up with the girl you want him to end up (Alot of great anime were ruined for me because of thouse two thing). Also VNs usually have longer stories than anime and I love long stories because you can batter get into the story and you can also get to know characters batter in longer stories. As for non VN games thouse days I only play the ones that have choices that determinate outcome of the game like mass effect, dragon age and jade empire.

I love visual novels because you can read a story while listening to the characters' voices and hear music AND see images of what is happening. They're like movies and books combined. Visual novels are the best form of storytelling in my opinion.

I rather take the "book" point of view. For me, a visual novel is a book that uses strong immersion tools like graphics and music. The music is especially important: associating the right scene with the right track enhances its impact a lot, but graphics are important too, because they really take you into the story in a much easier way than in a regular book, which is why you can afford to put lots of fluff text or SoL scenes without boring your reader. The 'choice' aspect also makes VNs unique, because from a single situation you can see what kind of different stories can happen, alternatives, etc. It feels like you're actually exploiting the synopsis to its fullest. That's why in VNs that only offers alternative endings rather than really different routes, choices feel unnecessary to me.

Well for one the art is fantastic, but honestly I think the biggest thing visual novels have that other games do not, is that a visual novel can tell a story without the need for bloodshed. You can tell an emotional, impactfull story, have agency over certain parts of that story, and your character isn't some sociopath fighting his way through hundreds upon thousands of doodz. Jon Tron was recently on the Co-Optional podcast and described The Last of Us (a game I haven't played, but had a friend who was really hyped for it ultimately drop it due to this) as "A video game pretending to be deep that's just another excuse to blow peoples heads off". The less agency a player has, the better a story you can tell to the player. The more agency a player has, the more chance there is of the player creating their own story through game play mechanics and emergent game play. Both are valid forms of entertainment and both do unique and cool things for the player.

I would say what makes VNs unique for me is the story telling, a visual novel really does feel like a novel. If I had to place it, I would say it is similar to those make your own adventure books where you flip to pages when you make decisions. That is what I absolutely love about VNs, the format in which they are able to tell the story and to be able to conceptualize it really is a work of art. From shorter VNs to longer VNs, I would say that is what hooks me. Also I do agree that people who don't know VNs just think of them as eroge or worse yet nukiges. I have yet to convert any of my friends otherwise, but maybe one day they will see it.

Aiyoku no Eustia is an amazing low-fantasy high political VN if you are fluent in jap. And Dies Irae is supposed to be ungodly good.

Dies Irae, Kajiri Kamui, Vermillion - bind of blood, Zero- Devil of Maxwell, Jingai Makyou, Devils Devel Concept, Comyu, Yurikago yori Tenshi Made, Ayakashibito, Bullet Butlers, Evolimit, Tokyo Babel, Shinigami no Testament, Ikusa Megami Zero and Verita... Also, if you don't like G-Senjou no Maou's story structure, don't play Eustia. Good high fantasy series (the elves and all that) are rare. Most of that type are plain moege with no decent fighting, are lame, or are nukige/rapegames...

Seinarukana is pretty good, although it's not translated yet.

Nanapri is a straight up fantasy title, if you can stand the time looping and lame protagonist... Good soundtrack at least though. Eien no Aselia and Narukana are also pretty good if you can withstand the dozens of hours of gameplay. I recently also started to play the Amairo Islenauts trial. It's a sort of school romance/comedy with many elements of fantasy like elves & magic (from what I can tell so far). It's very lighthearted, but it's quite nice.

YANDERE I love you, so I want to kill you Rated 18+ NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART This is a kill or be killed brutal and deadly love story. Can you stay alive all the way to the ending? The girls are all violently possessive and go head over heels after sex. Every single one of them is sick!! The girls that you, the protagonist, can be with are: Miyauchi Saki, Kikushita Yuumi, and Saitou Maika. Ending Guide Yandere is a gruesome, bloody, and fun game to play. Route Walkthrough Miyauchi Saki Saki's End Saki's Worst End Kikushita Yuumi Yuumi's End Yuumi's Worst End Saitou Maika Maika's End Maika's Worst End OTHERS Bad End 01 Bad End 02 Subaru's End BONUS Source: This walkthrough was prepared and submitted by Skeith With help from Xehanort and Eurobeatz Edited the guide posted by computerlove from VNdb.org.

How could I forget to mention Rewrite! I nearly stopped playing in disgust once I realized the entire visual novel was based on a false premise (man-made global warming is threatening to destroy the world). A pity, because rewrite's common route was pretty good.