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I'm a big fan of dark themed games, and feel like there aren't enough lists around on Fuwanovel with "dark VN" recommendations, so I figured I'd make one myself. Know that this is just my opinion, and since I haven't played all the dark VNs out there, there is a good chance I missed some good ones. Some of the choices on the list are very well known, while others might be completely new to you. I hope this mix of different titles makes this list helpful for both people who are completely new to dark VNs, and those who have already played many. 1. Chrono Box Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Hard This is a denpa mystery game with superb writing and plot. If there is any dark themed game I'd recommend you play right now, it's this one. Since the element of surprise is a huge factor in enjoying this game, I don't want to get much into the story. For this particular game, I urge you not to look up any CGs or any summaries before reading. Just start reading, and let the VN do its magic. My favorite part of this game was honestly just the insane twists and turns it throws at you throughout the story, and the fantastic ending that just wraps the game up perfectly. As far as dark themed games goes, this is truly one of the best ones out there. If you are interested in knowing "how dark" the game gets, I'll put some info on that below. No real spoilers, but for those who wants to read it blind, don't open this. (I do personally recommend you read it blind, but I figure some people might be a little interested in the type of content in the VN before reading.) 2. Maggot Baits Status: Translation in progress Japanese difficulty: Hard Maggot Baits feels like a bizarre mix of a dark chuunige and a guro nukige. But hell, it works. With a pretty solid story, good writing and enjoyable action scenes, Maggot Baits definitely deserves a spot high up on this list. But, it certainly is not a game for everyone. Despair is a keyword in this game. There aren't really any good guys in the story. It takes place in a city abandoned by laws and government, where crime and chaos rules. Torture and guro is so common in this game, I think it's pretty much impossible to enjoy the game if you are completely turned off by those things. Even though the story is good, like I said, it's impossible to escape from the guro element, which is present in like, 90% of the H-scenes, (and many of the action scenes,) so this one is probably a bit too extreme for some. But yeah, if dark stuff is your cup of tea, this is pretty much made for you. (And a TL is in the works, so English only fans of dark games, rejoice!) 3. Shiniyuku Kimi, Yakata ni Mebuku Zouo Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Easy/ Intermediate (The writing is quite simple, but certain narration uses very big words.) Similar to Maggot Baits, Nikuniku is a game that is difficult to enjoy if you hate guro. The game's story is really good, and the music and writing combines well to create a very immersive atmosphere. But, at the end of the day, guro scenes are so common in this game, you can't read it without going through tons of them. (And skipping them will mean you lose out on some pretty important exhanges between characters, that becomes important to the game's true end.) Nikuniku is a horror/ mystery, which clearly draws some inspiration from vampire lore and stories. It's an interesting read with a satisfying true ending. A very solid dark themed game. 4. Nemurenu Hitsuji to Kodoku na Ookami -A Tale of Love, and Cutthroat- Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Hard With the same writer as Maggot Baits, "Yourou" is a brilliantly written story about the dark underbelly of Tokyo. The main character is a mysterious serial killer/ hitman, who works for the biggest yakuza boss in Tokyo. He is ailed by a strange case of insomnia, that can only be cured by taking a life. After killing someone, he can finally get a good night sleep. One day, his life changes drastically, when he meets the cute, and crazy young girl, Azami. Azami and the main character, who is only known by aliases, or "me", form a strange relationship, and the two soon grow completely reliant on one another. The existence of a strange "rumour" quickly turns their lives upside down, as several different big players in the yakuza and other shady organizations around Tokyo clash in a sea of blood and death. This game is all about despair and darkness, just like Maggot Baits. But, unlike Maggot Baits, this is set completely in the real world, which makes some of the gruesome things that goes down in this story even more impactful. The game is primarily story driven, with a range of dark H-scenes thrown in the mix to really underline the darkness of the game's story. It's rather short, and the battle scenes are brillliantly written. Truly deserving of a high rank on this list. 5. Tokage no Shippo Kiri Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Easy/ Intermediate (Pretty simple writing, a few big words here and there due to the nature of the story.) Tokage no shippo Kiri is a tragic love story story about a pair of teenagers who are standing on the edge of insanity, forced to face their own mortality. It's a very "psychological" story, which really gets in your head. It's difficult to sum up what this is about in just a few sentences, so I'll link my review of the game instead, where I talk more in detail about the game's story etc. (Without spoiling it, of course.) 6. Euphoria Status: Translated A pretty obvious pick. Euphoria is a pretty solid dark game. It has an interesting story, and a nice variation of dark H-scenes, without getting too extreme like some of the games above. This is a pretty good gateway into the world of dark VNs, and since it's TLed, it's a good starting point. 7. Natsu no Kusari Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Intermediate In terms of realistic dark games, this is your go to pick. Though, this might also be one of the things that drives some people away from the game. This is a very realistic rape story, that can truly mess with your head, so it's going to be a complete hit or miss, depending on your stance on the themes in the VN. I have heard some people praise this as one of the best VNs they have ever read, and others say they hated it. It's not a very long game, so in the end, you should give it a try for yourself to see if you'll enjoy it or not. 8. Mugen Renkan ~Chijoku ni Mamireshi Fushiki no Rinbu~ Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Easy If you are looking for a VN with a nice mix between an emotional story and twisted H-scenes, look no further than Mugen Renkan. 9. XX of the dead Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Easy XX of the Dead is one of the coolest, most unique, and bizzare VNs I have ever played. Your choices have a huge impact on the story, as you essentially choose who lives and dies in a very large cast of characters with each choice you make. After a zombie virus breaks out, the main character and a group of other survivors are trapped in a school, where they have to fight to survive. But, these are no ordinary zombies. Instead of craving human flesh, they seek pleasure. They mutate in unique ways, growing tentacles and such, which they use to... well, rape humans to death, lol. As silly as this sounds, the story is actually really cool, and the suspense is kept up through most of the game, as the characters try their best to hang on in this messed up world of... tentacle zombies. It has a nice variation of endings, depending on what choices you make through the story. Overall, a super weird, but really entertaining, dark VN. 10. Beat Blades Haruka & Beat Valkyrie Ixseal Beat Blades Haruka, Status: Translated Beat Valkyrie Ixseal, status: Untranslated, Difficulty: Intermediate While the writing is fairly simple, the need to understand the game's gameplay interface does bump it up from easy to intermediate. Beat Blades Haruka: Although this game's, story isn't that impressive, in terms of dark games currently TLed it is definitely among the better. It has a huge roster of different dark H-scenes. Honestly, that's about it for this one. I felt like mentioning it because it's honestly a pretty good nukige, but if you're looking for a good story and interesting characters, look elswhere. (I will admit, a few of the bad endings are actually pretty cool, but they are way too short for my taste.) It also has gameplay, which is a hit or miss depending on your stance on gameplay in VNs. I tend to dlislike gameplay in VNs, but I will admit, I did like it in this one. (During my first playthrough, at least.) Beat Valkyrie Ixseal: Ixseal is similar to Beat Blades Haruka, just... better. Its story is much more interesting, the protagonist is a massive step up from the useless protagonist in BBH, and the gameplay has been refined. I have written a review of the game, so if you're interested in some details about the game, check that out here. Honourable mentions: Sukui no Serenade Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Intermediate Bug System's first game, and another interesting, dark themed VN by them. Although the story isn't as solid as Nikuniku's, it does have some interesting horror/ mystery elements. This is definitely closer to the nukige tag than Nikuniku, and it's also shorter, but still a game worth picking up if you like VNs with horror/ mystery elements. (With lots of dark H mixed in.) Kami sama no game Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Intermediate This VN is pretty similar to Euphoria. It's about a group of people trapped in a mysterious underground facility, where they have to complete obscene challenges to surivive. Well, kind of. This game has a pretty different set of rules, setting it aside from Euphoria in structure. (Ohh, those stupid rules made my head spin, lol.) I'm not even going to try to explain the rules now, as it would just be confusing, but just know that it's a similar death game to Euphoria, but with some interesting twists because of the difference in the structure of the game. In terms of dark scenes, it's quite the solid pick. Ryakudatsusha no Inen Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Easy/ Intermediate Although this game has some pretty big flaws, it is a pretty solid dark nukige. The biggest problem is though, at times it doesn't feel like it's meant to be a nukige at all. It was like the writers couldn't decide on whether it should be a pure nukige, or just a dark, story-driven game. The result was... this. It has some seriously good dark H-scenes, giving off strong nukige vibes, but then it also has hints of a good revenge story, that wants you to get invested in some of the characters. (Even though the nukige elements tell you the opposite.) If this game actually commited to just one of its two "genres", it would have been on the list, instead of this section. Another issue is that this is meant to be the prequel to a story-driven game, so that is another reason why it's a bit hard to brush it off as just a nukige. Still, if you can look past that chaotic mix of genres, it's a pretty solid read with some cool characters. Kutsujoku Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Easy One of the most recent games on this list. Well, didn't make it on the list, but in the thread, at least. It's a story about a guy who suddenly obtains the power to control people's bodies with his mind. He then uses this ability to rape hot girls. That's it, lol. Despite essentially just being hentai.jpg, the solid art and nice H-scenes made me put it in this section, simply because it's a pretty high quality rape nukige. It also has more meat to it than most similar games, so if you're going to go with something like this, I'd recommend checking this game out. Majo to Tsurugi to Sen no Tsuki Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Intermediate A solid nukige, with a cool story and pretty good writing. It's about a group of magical girls, who fight against evil beings spawned by black magic, evilised, threatening to destroy the world. The action scenes in the game are nothing super special, but can be pretty enjoyable at times, especially towards the end. The biggest strength of this game is the genuinely interesting origin of the evilised, and the story of the main character and her inner conflicts. She is an artificial being, created by the soul of another human, and she is meant to just be turned off again once the evilised are defeated. But, since she has a soul of her own, she grows more and more reluctant to the idea of just disappearing once the fight is over. The art is also pretty nice, and the game offers a big variety of dark H-scenes. You can also choose to avoid most of the dark scenes for the story by playing just the true ending first, then going back for the bad ends after, if you want. Rettou Kan ~Yuuryoushu no Mii mo Kokoro mo Kowasu Rettoushu~ Status: Untranslated Difficulty: Easy (With the exception of a decent amount of slang, and some annoying katakana words.) In terms of pure "darkness" in the form of H, this game is your #1 pick. While many of the previous games have had good stories, this is just a pure nukige, without any light at the end of the tunnel. The only focus of this story is the main character and his group of thugs, as they rape and torture an angel and a demon. That's it, the end. It has some of the better dark scenes I have read in a VN like this, so if you're just out for some straight up guro porn, look no further. (While we're at it, I'll also mention Dustmania Grotesque, which also qualifies for this particular role, but isn't as good as Rettou Kan. That being said, Dustmania is TLed, so for the English only crowd, you can check out that for a pure guro nukige.)

If you guys put Sakura games on a top 50 best VNs list, I am commiting sudoku.

Are you sick of immersing yourself into a good story when a wayward, stiff penis drags you out of the plot and into an entirely different dimension? Do you think H-scenes are deplorable and exemplification of how far humanity has strayed from God's original vision for mankind? Does it upset you when your virtual chaste relationship with a VN character is progressing well when you suddenly open the door on her while she is changing, without any player input? Fear not, then, my friend, for you are not alone. Gaze upon the forthcoming list without need to fear even a single ounce of sin weighing upon your eyes. 1: Gaokao.Love.100.Days "Getting a girl-friend before the National College Entrance Exam... I know it's crazy, but from today on, we will face everything together." Have you ever wanted to experience the stress of being a Chinese high school student facing the most important exam of his life? Have you ever wanted to disappoint not only your parents in real life, but also your virtual Chinese parents when they both find out you are diddling anime girls in your spare time instead of studying? Want to experience the meta sensation of being yelled at by your parents as you are yelled at by your parents? Boy do I have the VN for you. Feel the intense passion of a non-sexual relationship with your chosen girl, feel the platonic bonds between you and your male friends also struggling with their life-school balance, and feel the hole burning in your pocket as you struggle to make an income while buying gifts to purchase your chosen girl's affection. Who needs a good personality? 2: Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- If there was a robot that could laugh, cry and smile... Does it have a soul? In the world of Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For-, genetic ingineering has made robot anime girl slaves possible. All the better, they possess no emotions or feelings whatsoever. However, the protagonist stumbles upon an abandoned android servant; one that appears to have emotions, dreams, and feels pain just as humans do. How will you treat Lucy? Banish her back to the dumpsite as just another robot? Treat her as an equal human? Close the game and look up fanmade H-scenes of her on Google like a degenerate? Somewhere in between? No matter what you choose, PG-13 tears await you. 3: Crystalline Crystalline is a comedy-centric, fantasy adventure visual novel with an intricate romance system. It's pretty much universally accepted that Western OELVNs are superior and better written than their original Japanese counterparts, and Crystalline is no exception to that. Rather than the traditional godless trope of having a "harem" of many girls to choose from following "routes" in Asian VNs, Crystalline emphasizes Western morals and values by only offering a single female "route". Unsurprisingly, that single route is far more developed and intricate than routes present in "harem" games. Go on meaningful dates as you travel around a fantasy world, interacting with a host of interesting and humorous characters as you attempt to find your way back to the world you came from. I look forward to hearing everyone's opinions! Thanks so much for reading!

"Shameful disupuree!!," shouted the angry Samurais while waving their swords in a very exaggerated manner. "Korose, korose!," shouted one of the Samurai zealots. "D-demo, what did he do wrong senpai ;W;?," said one of the initiates. "He did the worst kind of sin: he included chink and anglo VN's in the list, he didn't even add an untranslated game into the list!," responded the kouhai's senpai. "B-But, why does he have to die, can't he just repent his sins by reading a Masada work?" While the Samurais were shouting, Zander came out of the building, escorted by the one and only Emperor of all the Nihonjins: Hirohito. In a fit of rage, Hirohito pushed Zander and placed his head in the wood log, pushing it against it with his waraji, and then chanted: "This person has commited the biggest sin: putting non-japanese titles approved by le watashi in his list, and to add insult to the matter, he added an English VN, the filthiest form of VN's (should we even call them that?) May this punishment serve as an example to all normie newfags who dwell in this forum / glorious nippon. Then, just as he finished saying that, he raised his Katana and chopped Zander's head off, dropping a tear right as he did so. "Today, we've lost a great warrior, he had so much potential..." said Hirohito, holding back his salty tears. Later, Hirohito signed a peace treaty with the United States and killed himself (never forgetti.) Anyways, Zander, to sum everything up, Jigaishitekudasai. Love, Barry B.

Like the good sheeple i am, i'm gonna follow the trend and publish my own top 10, but this time, it's a top 10 about the only VNs i've read, as you can count...i've read 10 Visual Novels(or maybe more, i dunno, didn't remember), so here are the VNs that i've read in my life, in no particular order(of course everything is bellow steins;gate), also be careful, my tastes are quite brand, and they range from nukige to Steins;Gate, so, let's now start this top 10 that has at least 3 VNs related to steins;gate (didn't i say how much i like steins;gate?) 1-Steins;Gate : How to start with that...who ever here didn't read it? if you didn't, go read it, it's my favourite visual novel of all time, and there's a reason for it : i am it's best girl, and trust me, i had to fight a lot in order to be the star of the show. The story focus on a pretty unimportant, self proclaimed mad scientist, with a slender figure, dark trimmed hair...marvelous face...sexy killing eyes...ehhh...Wait:! it's not like i'm attracted to okabe Rintarou! The story focus on Okabe Rintarou, and his lame persona : Hououin Kyouma, as they battle through a world filled with...it's actually just our normal world, as they get helped by me, they happen to stumble over a very tedious subject : time travel. Personal opinion : as far as time travel can get, this is the most believable set piece of fiction involving time travel, it's amazing how everything feels planned, written, how every piece of the puzzle fits in, how the plot, starting slowly, rapidly delves into a high stakes plot and, while the ending doesn't reinvent the wheel, the entire story is still enjoyable up until nowadays. I recommend both experiences, steins;gate and Steins;Gate 0, as they are both amazing experience. 2-Chaos;HeAD : Chaos;HeAD is prolly harder to get for everyone, for a good reason : the plot is cryptic and is kinda slow in its delivery, but once the plot kicks in, we're in for a threat, there's also another point that has to be adressed...the protagonist. Chaos;HeAD is the story of Nichijou Takumi, a hikikomori, a shut-in otaku, and basically the creepiest human individual ever made, as he discovers, during one of the events called new generation murders, that he has delusions, trapped between reality and his delusional fiction, Takumi must pierce the truth, and finally stand up out of his room. Now, the thing is, Chaos;HeAD deals head in on Hikikomori, and doesn't glorify that style of life, on the contrary, it constantly shames Nichijou Takumi, who's as pathethic a human being is, a lot of people just can't stand it...because let's be honest, a lot of us are otakus, and prolly faced during their high school life a lot of bullying, Takumi is a "good" reflection of the visual novel fandom, and if you can get past it, the plot is really interesting, it's obviously chuuni. 3-Majikoi : Maji de watashi ni koishinasai: Majikoi is a funny slice of life visual novel, that is set in..i forgot the town, just remember it had the Kawakami temple and i remember the casting : boys and girls that happens to live in a extraordinary world, where the president of the united states of america is afraid of a female martial artist, where all the shounen tropes are just made fun off, and where the characters are as funny as it can get, the story follows Naoe Yamato, a standard protagonist with a rapist face (oh...right, forgot the VN does involve rape, nevermind it's coherent then), and a HUMONGOUS casting, by that, i mean there is a gazilion of characters, and they are all interesting in their own way, from sadistic female sensei to pervy photographer boy who's a closet homosexual to obviously, Momo-senpai, best girl of the original game. It's fun, chill, stressless, you don't put your brain, and if you can forgive the rape scene (just...just skip it and forget it ever happened), you're in a noice treat. 4-Little Busters!: Little Busters...mh, a tough one...it's a slice of life VN with a rollercoaster of emotions...and quality, it's equally good and bad, with 3 memorable routes, 3 forgettable routes and the worst ending ever for a key VN, it follows the story of Naoe Riki, a slender boi with narcolepsy and the ability to attract the best girl in the world, Kurugaya Yuiko, the original game had 6 routes, the steam edition has 9 routes, it's frankly chill, it has a lot of tender and heartwarming moments, prepare to cry at some scenes...while not as memorable ast Clannad, it's super fun. 5-Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc : I'm gonna rating the whole danganronpa series...Danganronpa is one of those murder mystery stories that is mixed with battle royale elements, basically, a lot of students are trapped in a high school setting and they are forced to commit a crime, and each crime triggers a crime investigation, kinda like CSI for those who're old timers like me, the protagonist is forced into the boots of the detective and has to pierce through all the lies and crimes, in order to bring justice and...save his friends but the culprit from execution. Now, i have a big love-hate relationship with the franchise, i love the concept, the setting and a lot of characters (Kirigiri Kyouko is my second fav female char of all time), it also has the goofiest and shittiest meta plot ever. But the joy of seeing your favourite character die like a piece of shit is unrivaled by anything. 6-999: It's an anti-satanist game and the best beatles reference ever made...seriously tho, 999 is great, it's an escape-room mystery VN, with cool and interesting characters. Not gonna say anything about it, it's super fun and i won't ruin any surprise on it. 7-Shikkoku no Sharnoth: What a beautiful tomorrow Shikkoku no sharnoth is one of my favourite VN, it has such a nice setting (steampunk great brittain) and the protagonist is my favourite. The story follows the adventures of a dark horror novel writer and college student Mary Clarissa Christie (It's Agatha Christie) and her friends, Charlotte Brönté and Angelica Derleth, as they live in a steampunk version of london, where characters such as Howard Philips, Winston Churchill, and even Sherlock Holmes are people just like our protag, but as Charlie, Mary's closest friend gets in a mysterious coma, it's up to Christie to battle against mysterious creatures, unwillingly helping a mysterious character named M. It's just as cool as it can get, even tho the english version kinda butchered the poetry of the work, it's still a good VN to read. 8-Comyu : Black dragon in a gentle world I remember the red...and so what? these 2 sentences represent Comyu...it's as pompous and almighty as a mild chuuni VN can get, the story follows the adventures of...forgot the name of the protag but he is kind of an asshole(which is a good thing here btw) and a bunch of other characters, as they are forced by an invisible bond to work together in order to control a magical creature, in a world filled with other people willing to assassinate people for gaining power, the story is not unforgettable, but it's good, it's still a decent read. 9-CLANNAD: Clannad...a very hard subject, it has the best ending ever but it got ruined by the very awkward true ending choice, Clannad after story is still the best visual novel i've ever read that isn't steins;gate, and Tomoyo is still one of my favourite best girl. The story follows the adventure of a delinquant who will experience what it is to feel true love, and also responsibilities, and also frankly it's too great! i can't even describe it. Well, here it is, my top...oh wait, i forgot a number 10 right? As Mayu-Mayu from Comyu likes to say : I LIED. Disclaimer :it's not a meme list, the title is a meme, obviously, not the list in itself.

Here it is the most wanted info of 2017 2018 by the most wanted loli (that would be illegal) person on Fuwomofuyayyynovel. I'd like to write a reaaally nice speech here but since most of you are impatient fucks living things so shikatanai (it can't be helped) *drumm roll* The koropokkuru (those green faggots) made me do this Many koropokkuru were harmed while doing this.

You only need to put down a pledge of $27,496 and you'll get it.

Finished Sweetest Monster and hoo hoo I was not expecting that. It caught me quite off guard. Overall I liked it and I feel that it accomplished it's goal, which was to make me feel real uncomfortable. Now to move on to something more cheery and play some Swan Song

yo hold up boy, listen up this thread must come to a temporary halt, now let me tell you what you just did. You just quoted a hundred line post. A frickin' hundred! And you didn't even reply to any of the information in it! What were you thinking! Apologize to the database god for making him store all these unnecessary bytes! Now!

so I just finished refrain and... wow fucking wow that was one hell of a ride, I did not expect the story to go down like this in the slightest here are a few plotpoints that I would like you guys to answer to me, these are things that I have yet to discover, keep in mind that I finished refrain but I did not do anything else so if the answer is later please don't tell me the translation was kind of... hard to follow at times but that may be just because english isn't my first, I didn't see any horrible translation errors but I had to go back at times and reread several lines to get what they were saying

This list won't feature the VNs in order of "how good they are". Rating them would be way too much of a clusterfuck to me. The VNs are not in their respective order. Meaning number 1 is not the best, and so on. 1_CHAOS; HEAD 2_Cross Channel 3_G-Senjou no Maou 4_Fate/Stay Night 5_Forest This Visual Novel is the easiest visual novel translated to get a bad ending without using a walkthrough- which just adds to the fun of it. It makes a massive amount of references to common literature, which makes it even better. 6_Katahane It may seem like an ordinary moege- the atmosphere is light, the story is full of cuteness, which you can note by the character design and soundtrack. It gets really good in the middle, and you'll be dying to know what happens in the end. A game with multiple perspectives, it's definitely one of the most enjoyable Visual Novels I've ever read. 7 Majikoi 8_Little Busters! 9_Tsukihime "You shouldn't tell lies that you can't even fool yourself with" 10_Swan Song A post apocalyptic Visual Novel. 11_Symphonic Rain It may seem like your ordinary moege. Trust me, it's not. 12_Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo (and sequel) 13_Sekien no Inganock Steampunk. An atmosphere full of mysteries and references that will make your head blow up. 14_Steins; Gate A visual novel that deals extensively with time travel and it's consequences. 15_Utawarerumono 16_Fault: Milestone (1 & 2) 17_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni 18_Kara no Shoujo 19_Umineko no Naku Koro ni 20_Planetarian 21_Ever 17 Another top 10. 22_Remember11 It lacks in the ending, but otherwise the story of this VN has enough to easily become one of my all-time favorites. 23_Zanmataisei Demonbane 24_Rewrite "Could it possibly be rewritten, this fate of hers?" Another one that enters the top 10. 25_Narcissu 26_Grisaia no Kajitsu 27_Saya no Uta Only if you enjoy dark and messed up settings. 28_Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni 29_Eien no Aselia 30_Rose Guns Days (1 & 2) There are small sections of gameplay on this one, but you can skip them by pressing the space bar, so this still qualifies. 31_Sengoku Rance I feel obliged to comment on this VN before suggesting it to anyone. It's an Alicesoft title, which speaks a lot for itself... If you don't know how it's going to be like, well.. Kind of tough to describe. Lots of sex, including comedy rape. Alicesoft tends to make the whole story a comedy until right near the end, where things actually do get serious. It's worth checking out, if you don't mind Rance's personality. 32_Phenomeno Want a short VN that can captivate you for their whole duration? Here is it. Visual novel adapted from the youth horror novel written by Hajime Ninomae and illustrated by yoshitoshi ABe. 33_Ef- A Fairy Tale of the Two 34_Dysfunctional Systems Another one great for those who want short Visual Novels. 35_Daibanchou Another Alicesoft title. While Rouga is not near Rance's level when it comes to pissing off people, alicesoft's style is something which often doesn't please people. 36_Yume Miru Kusuri The endings pack quite a punch. 37_Kikokugai- The Cyber Slayer 38_Eden 39_Hoshizora no Memoria 40_Katawa Shoujo Yep, it's somewhat overrated. Still, the fact that it is substantially easier for those who are starting to play visual novels to read should not be discarded, and overall, the story was good. 41_World End Economica 42_YU-NO 43_Shikkoku no Sharnoth Yep, there is a minigame on this one. If you download a save data you can skip the minigame, though. So it still qualifies. Another VN that enters my top 10. 44_Muv Luv Alternative The first Muv Luv didn't have enough to enter this list. You should still read it, though~ MLA is definitely awesome. 45_Dangan Ronpa 46_Comyu - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku 47_Hanachirasu 48_Ayakashibito 49_I/O 50_Deardrops

2018, A Year of Possibility in Visual Novels [source] ~ Leaving Behind the Old Year ~ Let's face it. 2017 was not an impressive year for Japanese visual novels. Sure, the OELVN scene had a breakout hit in the form of Doki Doki Literature Club. Sure, the VN localization industry amazed everyone with prominent official releases of super-popular titles like Muv-Luv Alternative, Little Busters, and the never-before-translated Subarashiki Hibi, Dies irae, and Chaos;Child, to name a few. But the heart of the visual novel industry remains in Japan. And this year has been fairly mediocre for it. I mean, if you take a look at the numbers on Erogamescape (also known as EGS, it's Japan's equivalent of VNDB), you'll find that Hikari no Umi no Apeiria [vndb], and Nora to Oujo to Noraneko Heart 2 [vndb] were the only VNs with a median around the mid-80's or higher and more than a hundred votes [EGS source data]. For reference, 2016 had 6 titles at that level: Island, Chaos;Child, Akeiro Kaikitan, Utawarerumono 3, Tokyo Necro, and Baldr Heart. Of course, that data point doesn't tell the full story. EGS is geared toward eroge players; in terms of pure adventure games (also known as ADV, the common way Japanese players refer to visual novels) New Danganronpa V3 [vndb] was very well-received. (V3 is also the only 2017 VN among VNDB's top 100.) The very recently released Kiniro Loveriche's [vndb] reception has been extremely positive, and though it hasn't had time to accumulate votes yet, I'm optimistic it will stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Apeiria. It's not like there aren't an assortment of noteworthy VNs that merely fall short of the top tier statistically, such as Ouka Sabaki [vndb] and ChronoBox [vndb]. Fans of particular studios like SMEE [vndb], Purple software [vndb], and Moonstone [vndb] were also able to get their fix this year. The VN industry is far from dead; if anything, it's evolving to fill various niches. But that's a whole other topic. The bottom line is I'm ready to move on from 2017. And once you see what's in store for us in 2018, I'm sure you will be, too. ~ Ringing in the New Year, Along with Potential Kamige ~ Every year has promising titles. Unfortunately, they often don't live up to their promise. Still, some titles are so promising--the studios behind them so reputable, the staff working on them so consistent, so little room for error--that it's hard not to get excited. There are, in my opinion, 5 such confirmed titles for 2018. ~ Summer Pockets (Key) - June 29, Delay Likely ~ Let's start with this one, because it's the one I'm personally most hyped for. To state the obvious, Summer Pocket is a major ADV from Key. No matter who the staff behind it is, you'd be foolish to underestimate it. Key's complete major titles are Kanon, Air, Clannad, Little Busters, and Rewrite. (I skipped Angel Beats because it's not complete.) Every one of these VNs is resoundingly famous. But let's pretend we don't know that Key, with its reputation for ambitious works that are patiently crafted rather than quickly pumped out, is behind Summer Pockets. Instead, let's take a look at the staff. The heart of Summer Pockets is Niijima Yuu. He's the mastermind behind Hatsuyuki Sakura, a massive hit from 2012. His prose is hilarious, fresh, and really endears you to the characters. With his tendency toward fanservice and lewd humor, and the way it's always hard to discern the supernatural from the metaphorical in his narratives, he has a lot in common with Maeda Jun. ...Hopefully you already knew this because you've read Hatsusaku. Nobody should miss out on that one, whether they're a romance fan, an action fan, a mystery fan, or a FEELS fan. Anyway, the problem with Niijima Yuu is that he can't be allowed too much creative control. If he is, you end up with the likes of his later works Majo Koi Nikki and Koi x Shin Ai Kanojo, where he made creative decisions that alienated many players. When he was with Saga Planets, they reined him in well. When he was with Amuse Craft, they obviously didn't. But he announced a period of self-reflection in response to Koikake's criticisms. And he adopted a very humble attitude in the first Summer Pockets interview from back in December 2016. Furthermore, Key is a company incredibly concerned about its brand identity, and on top of that, Summer Pocket is constrained by Maeda's outline. So I'm confident that Niijima's strengths will truly shine through, like they haven't since Hatsusaku. And my optimism has been boosted further by all the Summer Pockets info released this past week. Not only are the character designs and backgrounds beautiful, but the excerpts of scenes with each heroine are charming and demonstrate that yes, this is Niijima at his finest. On a final note, it's very possible that Summer Pockets will be delayed--hopefully not past 2018--because Niijima's recent tweet indicated that he's not at all confident he'll be done with the scenario in time for a June 29 release. ~ Kimi to Mezameru Ikutsuka no Houhou (Navel) - April 27 ~ I won't say a lot about this one. I'm not a Navel expert; I've watched the Shuffle anime, and read Oretsuba and Tsuriotsu, but that's it. One reason I'm so optimistic about Kimimeza is rooted in the way Navel handles their creative works. A cynical way to look at it is that they squeeze all their works dry with at least one or two fandiscs, often way more than that. A better way to look at it is that they rarely put out a title that doesn't deserve fandiscs. Navel has finally moved on from Tsuriotsu, and I believe they haven't done so casually. The real question, to me, is how much of a creative role Jackson will play. A fair amount of what made Tsuriotsu so special to me came from Jackson (yes, I'm aware of what interviews and such say, and I believe it's deceptive). We know Jackson does miscellaneous work for Navel, but will he involve himself in this new VN? Or will Navel just let Kazuki Fumi do what he wants within a particular framework, and hope for a decent reception? Even if Kazumi Fumi doesn't receive any support from Jackson, Kimimeza could still wildly succeed. He's a talented writer who wrote Gun Knight Girl and Akeiro Kaikitan, among others, and the constraints of Navel's brand identity could help refine the finished product into one that's broadly appreciated. The premise of Kimimeza feels really interesting, not overly generic but not silly or half-assed either--it's the premise of Chobits where a guy finds an abandoned android, except the girl isn't an android, she's disguised as an android but actually a victim of human organ trafficking, plus there are apparently assassins. Although the story seems like it'll be exciting, the fact that there are only 3 main heroines makes me wonder if Kimimeza will be smaller-scale than Tsuriotsu. Still, there are plenty of reasons to pay attention. ~ Rance 10 (Alice Soft) - February 23 ~ Rance needs no introduction, and doesn't lack proponents. The Rance games are always above average in quality, and they always sell well. In case you hadn't heard about Rance 10 in particular, it will be the final one in the series. As the concluding chapter, the big question is whether fans will consider this a fitting end that wraps everything up the way they hope it will. My gut is telling me that it will be. What's also awesome about Rance 10 is that once it's out and the series is over, people like me who aren't into the series will no longer have to feel jealous that they can't join in on the hype. ~ Minikui Mojika no Ko (Nitroplus) - Summer ~ The literary core of the current Nitroplus, and the brain behind many ambitious and unique titles, Shimokura Vio, is making a new eroge. I haven't researched this much, and not a lot has been announced either (maybe more has been mentioned in interviews that I'm just not aware of). The tagline is "I (僕) know your ugliness (醜さ)" and the title is a play on "The Ugly Duckling". "Mojika" is probably a reference to 文字禍 (lit. "letter calamity"), Nakajima Atsushi's 1942 short story about a fatal curse upon an Assyrian king, which originated from a spirit (霊) of written language (文字). I'm not someone who reads classic Japanese literature, so I don't know more than that. In any case, my impression is that it will be another deconstructive work by Shimokura. ~ Sakura no Toki (Makura) - TBA ~ Is it stupid of me to assume that the sequel to Sakura no Uta, of all VNs, will actually come out within a mere year, rather than suffer delay after delay? Probably, but it's being steadily developed and Sca-ji initially aimed to release it in 2017, so the whole of 2018 should be enough time, unless... well, unless history repeats itself. Again, this will be the sequel to Sakura no Uta, the best VN in the last half a decade. And it'll be done by the same writer, and probably mostly the same audiovisual staff (too lazy to check). Although it's possible that it won't be as ambitious as Sakura no Uta, it will naturally feature Sca-ji's writing and have some excellent parts, and probably be rated highly too. I don't have much to say about Rance 10, Minikui Mojika no Ko, and Sakura no Toki, because their staff situations aren't as complicated as Summer Pockets and Kimimeza, as far as I can tell. ~ Other Notable Titles~ Many other VNs will be both announced and released in 2018, so this is far from a representative portion, but here a few other titles that caught my eye. Sorry if I missed your favorites, hypothetical reader. Kieta Sekai to Tsuki no Shoujo on January 26: A collaboration between La'cryma and Hiyoko Soft. I love Kamiya (writer of fortissimo), but although he's involved with the scenario, it doesn't seem like he's personally writing it. The developers announced they'd be deliberately concealing the staff who work on this. I'm also a little afraid it may repeat the mistakes of Lass with an overly dark scenario. But it's worth paying attention to. Butterfly Seeker on March 30: Another Silky's Plus VN, this one is from Unabara Nozomu, writer of Fairytale Requiem and Shinsou Noise. (The writer of Apeiria doesn't have any announced VNs in the works, if you were wondering.) Riddle Joker on March 30: The new Yuzusoft VN. Many moege fans swear by Yuzusoft, and although their VNs usually aren't rated very high, they sell very well. Toishi Hiroki (an apparently decent writer) will also be taking part in this one. ~ Other Predictions for 2018 ~ My wild prediction is that 2018 will be the year that people accept that the eroge industry won't be pumping out kamige like Fate/stay night or Muv-Luv Alternative reliably any more, and won't be standing at the cutting edge of moe again anytime soon, but still has unique worth as a medium and will continue to steadily produce awesome works that rival any popular anime or manga. The big investors and talented writers are mostly gone, but in exchange, studios are getting smarter and playing to the medium's strengths. Maybe we'll also see people categorize less in terms of eroge versus console ADV, and more in terms of (doujin) eroge versus commercial ADV.

I felt like giving a you all a preview of the first quarter of 2018, after reading this blog post: I generally choose to refrain from posts like this that cover the future of an entire year, but I feel that I have a good grasp on what is coming out over the next three months that is worth paying attention to, based on my own experiences. Grisaia Phantom Trigger Vol. 4 This is something to look forward to for anyone who has liked this series so far... more assassin action based in the same universe as Kajitsu and the others. Yorite Konoha wa Kurenai ni Let's get something straight... I don't have an absolute faith in Lump of Sugar as a company. If anything, their work over the last five years has proven to me that this is one of the least predictable moege companies out there. For every great VN they make, they make at least two games (usually three) that are pure crap or mediocre. The reason I keep going back to this company is for experiences like Hello,Goodbye, Tayutama (the original, not the sequel), and Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de. This game looks like it is based in the far future of the same universe as Tayutama, where coexistence between humans and the spiritual beings have stabilized somewhat (based on the content from the Getchu page). As such, I'm willing to give this the benefit of th doubt, despite the somewhat sour experience I got from Tayutama 2. Sora no Baroque So far, Light has yet to produce a bad game. I have no reason to think this game, another work from Light's more prolific second team, will be an exception. For chuunige fans, this is the game to pay attention to for the first part of the year. Chuuni Hime no Teikoku With a scenario team that was involved with both the original Love Kami (the later games had a different set of writers) and Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no, this is definitely a VN that will be worth looking at, despite being the first work of a new company. Of course, it could end up being delayed for the seventh time... it wouldn't surprise me at this point. Shin Koihime Musou Kakumei Son Go no Ketsumyaku (note: The title used on vndb is incorrectly romanized) Originally planned for a release this upcoming summer, this game has been moved forward to February. Like the release of Gi's rewritten route this past summer, we can look forward to a nicely reworked version of the original Go route from Shin Koihime Musou, which was already an excellently-written work. Hataraku Otona no Ren'ai Jijou 2 This is worth noting because this series (of which this is the third game, despite the numbering) is one of the few non-nukige VNs out there that is set outside a school, and the previous games were enjoyable experiences. Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteiru Mitsu no Kiraboshi (note: again, what is with the shitty romanizations on new entries on vndb of late?) This is the third game in the Otoboku series, a third game made over seven years after the second, which was a kamige. Caramel Box has been a lot less prolific in the last few years than it was, so I was gleeful to find a new release by them coming up so soon. Unjou no Fairy Tail A new VN based in the same universe as Hoshi no Tsukurikata, meaning that we can look forward to yet more antics in a dystopian steampunk setting. Kieta Sekai to Tsuki to Shoujo This is the game for fans of Japanese horror mysteries to pay attention to this quarter. A dark-looking game about a young man who has returned to his hometown, only to find the people around him disappear one by one. Butterfly Seeker A new game by Silky's Plus. I am unsure if I want to hold out hopes for this game, as the writer is mostly an unknown, though he has worked for Liar-soft in the past.

They didn't fuck up the sequel, that's all i cared for, they didn't ruin Steins;Gate, which is a feat in itself. Steins;Gate 0 is excellent, make no mistake, but it works mostly because it's the second part of steins;gate, it works a bit less as a stand alone, but when put together with Steins;Gate, it works a whole lot. Also it has a lot of heartbreaking scenes, and the most heartbreaking scene in the entire saga(When it gets animated, i just hope they do the scene justice, cause it's just amazing)

The problem is...sci-ADV are kinda different between each other in term of tone, atmosphere and obviously themes, Steins;Gate/0 are different from Head/Child; Just put one of these for sake of novelty, put Chaos;CHILD.

Oh, Crystalline! I haven't bought it yet, I think I will wait for the final release, but what you wrote sounds exactly like what I was hoping for from that title. For now, I have tons of things to read with "higher priority", but anything by PixelFade will be always on my radar. ^^ Ace Academy would also be a good addition to this kind of list, it's quite endearing. Anyways, thank you very much for making this list, all-ages stuff doesn't get quite as much love as it deserves in the VN world. :3

あのねぇ、俺様は誰だと分かってるのか？ 二百人のアイドルを育ったＰちゃんだよ。あんたみたいな〇ンポ野郎なんて死んじゃえばいい。 ちなみに俺様の年収は5000兆円だ。どれだけか分かってる？5倍あんたの母ちゃんの体積だ。 青空霧

Nanairo Reincarnation, then Akeiro Kaikitan after that. Honestly, I suggest you take a break, though. Running through all the best games of those types so fast will leave you nothing to play in the long run...

I, admittedly, have always claimed not to like music all that much, up until the point where I realised what I really liked seemed to be OSTs. That out of the way, Girls' Last Tour OST was one I absolutely adored. Starting with the first scene in the first episode:

Danganronpa series could be a good change of pace if you're sick of SoL titles. Analogue is also cool if you're willing to try something very atypical with sci-fi and investigation elements.

Don't forget to make sure it has enough internal storage to hold all of FGO's bloated assets. My old phone would start slowing down every week or so and I had to clear FGO's cache because I was running out of storage, and for whatever brilliant reason you can't install FGO or put its several GB of assets on an SD card. Pen-chan best girl, she's useful pretty much always, and that's not even counting her anti-greek-mythical-male buff (which admittedly is a bit niche)

I DEMAND ALICE AFTERSTORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

I'll die faster

As usual, I'll pledge a couple hours before the end

I used all the quartz i got from the New Year Event and i didn't manage to get Hokusai. Over 500 quartz spent on trying to get abigail and her. 5* Extra class servants hate my guts it seems. Never again. Atleast i did manage to protect a smile, the only useful servant i got from the New Year banner.

I'll die while playing these

A translation is considered a "derivative work" under most copyright law, which requires permission from the owner of the original work's copyright to reproduce. However, under most copyright systems, creating a translation FOR YOUR OWN USE is legal (assuming you own a legal copy of the original work). In the case of a fan translation patch, the original creation of the translation is usually legal. Distributing it becomes a copyright violation. As Ningen said, this does not change based on whether or not you own a legal copy of the original work. It gets more confusing in that the illegal translation is, itself, a copyrighted work - the original owners cannot just take it and distribute it themselves without violating the copyright of the pirates that violated their copyright. So, just because there is a fan translation out there, it doesn't mean the original owners can just grab it and start selling their game (with the fan translation) in DLSite or other stores. If they did, they could be sued by the fan translators. Of course, doing so would require the original translators to identify themselves in order to sue, which would in turn be a confession to the original copyright violation... any company that did so would probably get away with it. As a reminder to everyone: Copyright law is similar in many countries, because of the many international treaties about IP, but they are NOT identical. For example, the US concept of "Fair Use" is severely restricted or even absent entirely in some places. Always check with a professional lawyer in your own nation if it matters, rather than taking the advice of random people on the internet.

The patch contains modfied chunks of a game you already own. Provided you legally own the full game. Unless the patch contains some additional unlicensed material, such as VA patches ripped from console. It's at the very least a debatable argument that should be tested in a court.

Oh Seabed! I was actually deciding on whether to get it or not. I heard good things about it as well. So I'm playing Swan Song now and so far it's really good I like it's quiet and somber atmosphere. I just wish I had better songs to fit it. The fire is crackling

It starts out with a slave girl in a world full of monsters. She fell into that world as a black-haired, black-eyed Japanese girl, but her experiences there turned her hair white... And when she meets the King, she steals his immortality by accident, which causes her to go through hell before setting out on a journey across the centuries.

In the past, I'd find that Houkago no Pleiades was quite ear worm to me. So I decided to post the full version here, and my condolence for the song composer who had died back at 2015.

Agreed with them needing to start getting Erina and Souma together already, though honestly I'm still in love with the show. It's not so much the food porn as all the passion in the characters and the interplay of the characters that does it for me. That said, I haven't watched season three yet... but it's next on my docket.

Yeah that's enough

Oh you know I just love putting out fires with gasoline. (That song actually fits really well with that VN now that I think about it

I mentioned this to someone before here (I don't think it was you, since I feel like it was before you started reading LB, but maybe...?), Little Busters is really all about Refrain. It's the big payoff at the end of a very long VN, which definitely has its share of ups and downs, and which can lag a little at times. So, I'm glad you enjoyed the best part of the story!

The scene in question pretty much counts as a horror scene.

Now that christmas is over I'm finally gonna read chaos;child since I have been waiting for this game for a long time since it came out on PS4!!! Can't wait to see what's going to happen this time in Shibuya!

Zaka, don't announce the trap of the list, takes away the fun of people in horror when they find out for themselves.

SeaBed wasn't really discussed, at least, not the game itself. I'm reading it right now, and it looks pretty awesome so far.

One of us. One of us. One of us.

This is the list, as it currently stands, of VNs being considered and those previously considered but disqualified for VN of the Year 2017. While this year hasn't been good for producing kamige, it has succeeded in producing a number of memorable ones. Being Considered Ojou-sama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu Oni ga Kuru. ~Ane ga Hinshi de Pinchi Desu~ Haruru Minamo ni Suisei Ginka Additions from 12/30/2017 Bakumatsu Jinchuu Houkoku Resshiden Miburo Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary Aoi Tori Kanojo wa Imouto de Tenshi de Eliminated/disqualified candidates/Runners-up Silverio Trinity (Disqualified for being a direct sequel incapable of standing on its own) Shin Koihime Musou -Kakumei- (ditto to above... with the addendum that it is also a remake) Hataraku Otona no Ren'ai Jijou (realistically, this VN just hits my sweet spot and really isn't VN of the Year material) Fuyu Uso (similar to Trinity and Koihime) Hikari no Umi no Apeiria (funny, interesting, but ultimately falls short) Additions from 12/30/2017 Kin'iro Loveriche (fun, good feels, but not quite there) Kizuna Kirameku Koi Iroha (great first job by a new company, but it isn't a finalist) Junjou Karen Freaks (funny fantasy with mimikko, but not quite there) Bokura no Sekai no Shukufuku o (great nakige, great story, but not a finalist)

Same for the same reason.

You're very welcome, thanks so much for reading Lesiak! Ace Academy is an awesome game as well, the fact that it had a fully platonic route, and even an ending for the "token male best friend" character, impressed me very much. PixelFade's products will always be on my radar, too. I should have noted that Crystalline is being released episodically, but even with just 3 / 5 chapters released I feel I've gotten my money's worth in laughs already. Also, the animations and general art are of exceptional quality for a western VN, in my humble opinion. Thank you very much for the translation. Jigaishitekudasai to you too, Mr. Benson, for making a mockery of my hard work here.

TL/N: jigaishitekudasai means krill urself