GXOALMD

Congrats, and good luck.

Objectively: The best chapter is Looking-Glass Insects. It pretty much perfectly encapsulates the work as a whole. Whenever I'm talking about nerd stuff with my friends and want to make a comparison to Subahibi an example from this chapter is inevitably front and center. The worst chapter is Which Dreamed It. It's like choosing to watch a recap episode as soon as you finish marathoning a show. Subjectively: The best chapter is Down The Rabbit Hole 2. I love horror, but it's almost impossible to find horror done well. This chapter was spot on. The worst chapter is Down The Rabbit Hole 1. I almost gave up on Subahibi because of this chapter. Without the context of the later chapters it's boring and it was difficult for me to find the motivation to get through it. Yes, it's pretty good with the context of the later chapters, but the fact that I almost missed out on my now favorite VN makes me hold a certain level of disdain for this chapter.

I have no idea how I didn't think to suggest that, but I absolutely second it; Subahibi is a must read. One thing to keep in mind though is that the first chapter kinda sucks until you get the context of the later chapters, but it's absolutely worth persevering through (especially given that it only takes ~5 hours to get every ending of that chapter).

If you want romance to be front and center with a solid story as the backdrop then World End Syndrome could be a good choice. https://vndb.org/v22181 If you're leaning the other way and want romance to be present but not the core reason you're reading then ISLAND could be a good choice. https://vndb.org/v18498

I tend to really like the last couple hours of each chapter of Higurashi, but it's really hard to get through the first bunch of each chapter. For me, it's pretty rare that I'll watch an anime adaptation of a visual novel that I haven't read, but I'm more than a little biased as I was introduced to VNs years ago meanwhile anime I've been into for less than 2 years. Also, kind of the opposite of what you asked for, but if you're ever looking for a "so bad it's good" horror vn then this one is worth checking out: https://vndb.org/v18709

I do plan to read Umineko when I finish Higurashi, but Higurashi is taking me a long time because I kind of can't stand the pacing and also there's no motivation to keep going until I can get chapters 7 and 8.

With such a broad scope for suggestions I could probably list any that I liked. If you haven't read it yet, it's hard to go wrong with Grisaia no Kajitsu. It was originally released as an 18+ title, but there is a censored version. https://vndb.org/v5154 If you'd be fine with some gameplay, zero escape is pretty good. https://vndb.org/v3112 If you're ever looking for a short, standalone vn to read between the longer ones, Juniper's Knot is a good (and free) choice. https://vndb.org/v9986

I second the corpse party recommendation. While it certainly does contain gore, it's horror is much more based around atmosphere and story. It's easily my top choice for scariest horror game (it's an adventure game/VN hybrid). I'm not sure how it compares to other horror VNs as that's not my preferred genre for the medium, but as an avid fan of horror games I can assure you it's the scariest game you'll find.

Oh, if that is the case then the options I can suggest are much more limited. Loca Love is definitely romance only so it might be a good choice. I haven't actually gotten to it yet myself, so I don't know how relevant the high school setting is (but the characters are high school students). https://vndb.org/v23067

It's a little bit more mystery than sci-fi, but World End Syndrome might be a good pick. https://vndb.org/v22181 Additionally, while I absolutely do not recommend it, on paper Sunrider Academy fits what you're looking for nearly perfectly. If you like resource management games, then you can probably get more out of it than I did, but if not then you should skip it as there is very little visual novel to it. https://vndb.org/v16221 To end on a higher note, Little Busters is a pretty good choice. Chances are many of Key's work will be in line with what you're looking for, but I'm pretty new to their VNs so this is the only one I can speak for. It also is a bit more mystery than sci-fi, but given the other aspects you're looking for it's probably the best choice of the one's I've listed. https://vndb.org/v5

It may be the first time I hear anyone says that. Care to elaborate ? I'm quite curious. For the VN, Danganronpa's script felt very padded (admittedly, this is an issue I have with a lot of VNs, but Danganronpa is a particularly bad offender). The main reason I take particular issue with Danganronpa's padding is that rather than having a bunch of scenes that don't matter, there are a bunch of lines that don't matter; this is most problematic during the trial segments when quite frequently multiple characters will say pretty much the same thing one right after the other (bonus points when they're all declaring that the past ~20 minutes haven't solved anything). The anime however suffers from the opposite problem where 13 episodes isn't really sufficient given how each chapter of the VN is basically a standalone story. The anime loses out on a lot of the character development and most of the build up to plot reveals as well as all of the minigames. At the end of the day, I don't feel that either medium does the story justice, but whenever I try to reread the VN I find myself getting bored quickly meanwhile whenever I watch an episode of the anime it usually gets me to smile and I often watch a few more episodes. As for the Danganronpa 3 anime, that falls into personal preference, I am completely biased towards it for multiple reasons. For starters, while it's not the first anime I ever watched, it's largely the reason I got into anime. For the future arc, the killing game is much more in line with what I'm normally into as far as diminishing cast stories (though I'm still upset that the blood is red). For the despair arc, though it had a slow start, I felt it did a good job binding all of the installments together (especially given how the first two VNs felt tangentially related at best). I could probably go into more details if I took some time to revisit them, but realistically this sums up my reasoning.

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I personally preferred Danganronpa the Animation over the original Danganronpa VN. Additionally, while it's not an adaptation, I preferred Danganronpa 3 over any of the VNs in the series.

(Spoilers) I assume that no one's suggested this on account of the fact that it's technically not a time loop, however as far as narrative structure is concerned it is effectively the same so I'm going to suggest it anyways: Zero Escape: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors . To a lesser extent, the sequels fit this as well. While I personally don't recommend the sequels, I know plenty of people do.

I read Eden* a little while back and while I enjoyed it I couldn't help but feel like I would have enjoyed it more on an ancient computer. While I unfortunately have not gotten the old tower from my youth running again, I will soon have a new 4:3 monitor compatible with my modern pc. I'm looking for any good vns in that aspect ratio that have some feature(s) that will remind me of the days I was but a small Shuckle learning to use a pc in the late 90s and early 2000s. (Recommendations don't necessarily have to be from that time period as long as they are reminiscent of it.) Examples of such features from Eden*: right clicking opened a generic dropdown menu rather than a menu screen, most (if not all) screen transitions were a short fade, the opening video is drastically more animated than the rest of the novel. Shorter vns are preferred. Translated vns are preferred. Huge bonus if the novel prominently features futuristic technology that real life technology has long since surpassed.

Confession: I'm not actually a Shuckle, I just pretend to be one on the internet.

Thanks for your help. I've reached out to them and will post an update if they get back to me.

https://vndb.org/v14758 (In case the link gets removed, the vndb id number is v14758) I've tried all the links on the official website and I get a 404 error from each of them. Is there anywhere else I can download this vn from?