Vokoca

If they translated just the grand route first, it'd be even faster.

Yeah, Kara no Shoujo is really hard without a walkthrough, since the investigations can actually prevent you from getting some clues if you click on things in the wrong order, thus forcing you into a bad end later on. Not to mention the true end, that is nearly impossible without a walkthrough. Sharin no Kuni was also really good toukas bad end was very sad as well Couldn't agree more! Makina's and Amane's bad ends were my favourite.

Yeah, it's what you think it is. There are some hints, so I had a hunch as well - which was probably why I managed to spoil myself in the first place, I don't even remember how I managed that now. I'm just hoping that's not supposed to be the huge plot-twist in Meikyuu, or even worse, in Rakuen.

I was wondering, did I spoil myself super hard when I read somewhere that the Professor I really hope that's not the cliffhanger ending in Meikyuu, since I accidentally came across this in a Kajitsu thread. :/

Sounds awesome. Creepy and gruesome is often just a plus for me - this definitely raised my interest in the VN, might have to check it out!

I was talking about route structures with my friend, when I thought of an interesting question. What visual novel had your favourite bad ends? I know there are some people who purposefully avoid bad ends, though I think it's a shame to disregard them just because of their nature. So I was wondering if I was the only crazy person, or if there are more? When I think of bad ends, the first VNs that pop into my head are Fate/stay night and Corpse Party just for the number of bad endings alone, but I am not going to choose either of these. That's because their bad ends usually just lead into a single scene describing the main character's demise - and in the worst case, they do it in an extremely lazy way. Instead, I would like to mention Kara no Shoujo. I've played that VN without a walkthrough, and thanks to its vicious and unfair flag system, I've encountered about every single bad end possible, without even trying. I am glad I did, though - because these were amazing! They were like whole different story branches, with meaningful and well written content. They weren't just the "Oops, you failed. Now, load already!" scenes, they were actually fun to read - at least to me. Do you have any VN like that?

The cliffhanger in the grand route scares me so much that I think I might just as well fight through it with my horrible japanese instead. Though it's definitely nice to hear it's getting translated. Kajitsu's translation quality was awesome, it's probably one of my favourite fan translations.

I'd be more than happy to contribute with music. Feel free to check out my SoundCloud - you can use anything that doesn't have either "remix" or "cover" in the title; I'm not exactly sure how copyright works when it comes to these, but just to be safe-- It's nothing special, but maybe you'll like something from the calmer tracks. Let me know if anything interests you~!

The only VN with a harem ending I've read was Sharin no Kuni, but it has h-scenes in it. As others said, harem and h-scenes kind of go hand in hand.

That's a surprise, I was expecting a half-assed port with less voice acting than the original, a la Fate/stay Night.

Started Hoshizora in the end. Still just in the beginning of the common route, but I'm really liking it so far.Sisters are finally portrayed like the demonic creatures they are (I sincerely hope she doesn't have a route D: ), the main plot seems interesting, the side characters are kind of nice so far, if a bit annoying at times - but what impressed me the most so far is the beautiful OST. The effects and such are quite impressive as well, though I'm playing KimiNozo on the side - and age is even more ridiculous with their effects. Also, I remember someone saying there was no skip function in Hoshizora? I could've sworn I've seen an option for "Skip all read text automatically" in the options - or does that not work?

I agree with everything you've said. The "Goddamn, don't touch me or else you'll get numb!" scene is probably my favourite moment from the whole VN. Though I also enjoy slice-of-life stuff, even the sort of anime that could be considered absolutely plot-less, like K-On, Yuru Yuri, Nichijou and such. The characters and humour is what makes it to me, so much that the anime/VN can become one of my favourites - so, on the other hand, I guess there are people who can't stand this kind of thing?

I feel like this really depens on the kind of genre the visual novel is. I generally don't mind fluff, as it usually helps build the characters and make you care for them, as is the case with KEY VNs - but if somehow these scenes fail to do even that, then they really don't have any place there. It probably worked in the KEY novels since they keep all the fluff for the common route, and when things truly get moving, they get moving - and there aren't any unnecessary scenes anymore. But then again, I can understand how people can find the common routes incredibly boring and dull - I found them quite nice, considering their purpose. But if there is a VN that starts with the serious plot right way, then fluff has no place in it, in my opinion. Once things "get real", so to speak, I want to quickly get to the next twists and developments, not wade through useless scenes. In short, I don't mind VN fluff when it's in the beginning of the story. It definitely isn't exciting to read, but I suppose I've sort of came to expect it, or got used to it? Not sure, I never really minded it in the first place. To give a different example from KEY works, Ever17 does the same thing, and it works well. Hell, even Ryukishi utilizes this in Higurashi, where the first half of each arc could be considered fluff - I just see it as a nice way of getting attached to the characters. Couldn't agree more.

Hm, for heroines, I'm tempted to pick Shiina from Disorder6 just because she's effectively several characters in one thanks to her split personality - it made for some hilarious and scary moments. For main characters, I'll probably also have to go with Yuuji from Grisaia, what a refreshing protagonist for that sort of VN. And if I had to pick an antagonist as well, I'd probably go with Bernkastel from Umineko, because she's just awesome. Adńd the has one of the most badass themes ever. Though picking favourite characters is hard for me, I probably have much more (and they change from time to time).

Just finished Cross Channel. There were some very nice ideas, and the overall bizarre feel was enjoyable in the end, but the ridiculously long and numerous h-scenes (even if some of them had their place) and the somewhat rushed plot (unexplained/forgotten details) kept it from being great for me. Still a very solid 7/10 in my opinion. I'm wondering what I should read next? Either Hoshizora, or coming back to the other routes in KonoSora? And still slowly reading KgNE on the side. The relationship with the heroine is going so well (even to the point of a h-scene appearing) that the fact that some of the other heroines (?) in the OP haven't even appeared yet is highly worrying. I really don't understand the pacing or structure so far at all. It's looking to be frighteningly long.

Yeah, read both. You might want to check out Kara no Shoujo if you haven't already; if you like the genre.

Oh, that's what I meant -- there wasn't much plot to speak of, and the only other route I made myself play was Ayane's, which, at least to me, didn't even make much sense. But the humour? I enjoyed that a lot. These over the top effects made it especially funny for me.

You'd be missing out a ton, these two are actually the best routes in the entire VN in my opinion. On another note, was I the only one who actually enjoyed Muv Luv Extra? The two main routes, I mean - especially Sumika's; can't say I cared much for any other characters, as they weren't too likeable for me. But I found the common route genuinely entertaining and funny... but maybe my sense of humour is just pathetically broad?

PC, because of text-hookers alone. That, and since tablet/PC hybrids are a thing, you can enjoy PC VNs on a tablet as well. I have a Yoga 13, and reading in bed on this thing is actually quite comfortable.

I actually buy VNs on consoles... well, I guess that speaks for itself. :/ Though I'd say a much bigger part of it is just PC not doing well in Japan. There still are quite a lot of PC VNs, compared to the number of PC ports for Japanese games.

Haha, I actually liked him, I could relate quite well - but not to such extremes, of course. Though considering C;H was one of my first VNs, the 'fresh' feeling probably made it all seem a bit better than it actually was.

While I do agree that shorter, to the point VNs tend to be more enjoyable, when I pay for a VN, I want it to last long. I generally have a very good tolerance for filler scenes in VNs, but it all really depends on how it is written - and perhaps, mainly, on how much I like the characters. But I suppose it all depends on what kind of a visual novel it is. To give some concrete examples, I've thoroughly enjoyed the common route in Grisaia. I loved how long it was, because the characters were likeable, the writing was witty, and every scene had some sort of a little motive contained within it. This probably worked because I expected nothing much would happen in the common route, and that all the serious stuff was waiting for me in the plot branches themselves; which is exactly what I got. But on the other hand, I found some of ML:As mission segments quite boring, because I just wanted to get to the important bits. It might be because I don't enjoy the setting so much or something--or maybe it just really is a specific thing that only works in certain genres. I definitely wouldn't be able to imagine fillers in something like Saya no Uta, that sounds more horrifying than the whole premise of the VN.

I have one more to add: After playing about half of Cross+Channel, I've realised I don't like enforced route order, at least not in the way C+C does it, as it forces me to select choices I assume the VN wants me to select, instead of choosing the choices I want to pick myself. I didn't mind ReWrite's approach, where there were quite some routes available from the start and the rest was locked off for obvious reasons, as it still left some freedom, instead of giving you choices that basically screamed "We want you to pick this now!" I guess Fate had this "problem" as well, but at least they made up for it with a high number of ridiculous bad ends, and actually gave you a reason for collecting all of them.

I've read both, and I really liked Chaos;Head, though for completely different reasons than why I liked Steins;Gate. They aren't really all that similar. C;H focuses much more on psychological horror and mystery, until it takes a (rather disappointing) turn for something I wouldn't be afraid calling fantasy, even though they do attempt to explain it all away with science. While I definitely didn't like the second half of the game as much as I liked the first, there are some really cool (if really far-fetched) concepts that definitely made it enjoyable for me. The art is nice, and so is the soundtrack - and oh god that atmosphere in the first half of the VN, amazing. But yeah, read it only if you don't mind crazy things. Steins;Gate definitely held back much more in this regard. But not to go off-topic, I've made it into the fourth arc in Cross+Channel, and I've actually started to really like the VN. Sure, there still are those annoying h-scenes, and it is plain as day what they are there for, but at least they kind of feel into the whole story (considering the characters) - though that's not really an excuse for them being so long and numerous. Other than that, read a bit of Amane's route in Meikyuu. Laughed a lot at what I could understand, but then I rather stopped because it wasn't that much.

Oh, let me add some to the technical list: Backlogs without voice replay No 'Skip read text' option