Clephas

Clephas' VN of the Month is officially: Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de Runner up: 12 Tsuki no Eve Special mention (chuuni): Bradyon Veda

Cotton Soft does tend to produce interesting games... I couldn't get into Reconquista, but I know a lot of people that did. Sekai de Ichiban Dame na Koi is supposedly awesome, but I never tried it because of the protag (all the descriptions told me he would press all the wrong buttons for me). I hear a lot of mixed opinions on Iinchou (it is apparently one of those games that tends to split people between those who love it and those who hate it). Dear My Friend is outside my personal range (I generally don't play moege, nakige, charage older than 2006), and I haven't heard anything about it, so I won't make a comment. Sore wa Maichiru I have had a lot of people recommend to me, but like I said, I don't touch games of that type older than 2006. Ditto for Blue sky... If you feel you know a great sci-fi, fantasy, or chuuni game that belongs on one of those lists, go ahead and post your suggestions there. Adding Sekai, Maichiru, Reconquista, Iinchou and Blue Sky to the first post as 'reader recommendations'. Edit: Incidentally, my reason for not touching ancient moege... is quite simply because if I started playing them, my backlog would grow to unmanageable proportions. The oldest semi-moege I'm considering playing is this: http://vndb.org/v232, simply because I liked the anime way back in the ancient days seven years ago, lol

Ah... Sorry, I keep running across people with three hundred to a thousand votes who are bots... In any case, yeah, Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de is the first place candidate so far. I just wanted to play something to wash my mouth out, and I had this downloaded. Too bad Aisare Roommate looks to be a straight moege... even if the character designs are kind of unusual. I'll replay Harumade Kururu or Sakura, Sakimashita to give my brain a good washing out after this. I have the leftover bad taste from playing a Minori game (it is like an allergy), plus the disappointment of the Soleil game, and now a straight moege that doesn't look to have any depth whatsoever. Incidentally, if you want an evil-looking woman who actually probably is as bad as she looks, try Lovesick Puppies. The one I'm talking about isn't a heroine, but she is a kairakushugisha and a kijinhenjin. She also seems to spend all her time screwing with people's heads, teasing them, and forming a base of money and power for the future. God, I wish she was a heroine. Edit: Incidentally, just finished Yui's route... and I get what you are saying. God, Reon's writers really have no idea of how to write a good story. They went for the eccentric thing, but they didn't manage to create a satisfying climax to either of the heroines I've finished so far. I can't really see this game getting any better, so I'm dropping it before I feel like doing something I'll regret later.

Ya, I used him at first. He has decent taste... most of the time.

*waves his magic wand, making everyone forget about the non-existent Tsukihime anime*

School Days is only good if you don't mind the fact that the protag is a lump of dog crap in human form.

Since that one was a downer, I decided to try Aisare Roommate, since it is a non-nukige I missed when I was looking through the list for this month. So far, there are three votes on it, one from our friend Aggressor and two from rather obvious vote trolls (votes on all last months games by the fifth, over three hundred votes in less than six months, etc).

I live in Texas, max temperature experienced this past summer, 119 Fahrenheit. Global warming exists.

Details. Do you want translated or untranslated? Did you already check the tons of recommendation threads on the forums? Do you have a preferred genre? In other words, if you just ask for an eroge VN, there are thousands out there. And there are at least a few hundred good ones.

... well, that was short. This game is unbelievably short, and like all the other Soleil games, it starts in the middle of the action and moves too fast. When I say 'too fast' I mean that you don't have time to get to like the characters. Some of the action is cool... but without the background to make you care about the characters, the endings lack the 'flavor' of better games. tbh, this game's immediate predecessor was much better, despite its flaws. Not to mention that they reused some of the most important concepts in a really obvious manner. For those who don't know what the Soleil games are like, they are basically fantasy/end of the world stories based on weird twists of the Norse myths (like, the names are there, as well as some of the concepts, but everything else is different). I honestly can't recommend this game, due to its short length and an unbelievable lack of depth (I say unbelievable because even the other Soleil games had more content and development). I had hopes they had begun to learn from the mistakes of the past with this game's immediate predecessor, but it looks like, if anything, their bad habits have gotten worse, lol.

All-ages just means non-H.

These are games that don't really, seriously belong to a single genre (other than most of them are story-focused, with a few moege mixed in). tbh, a few I threw into the fantasy/sci-fi lists (like Sakura Iro Quartett and Ryuusei Kiseki) really belonged here, but I was basically throwing whatever sci-fi/fantasy I could find into those threads. I've deliberately eliminated all chuuni games from this list, so those who have something against that genre can use this as a 'safe' list for decent games to play. I'd suggest checking Accany's old blog (if it is still up) if you want older recommendations, as his list of games to play is pretty decent, barring a few crappers like Tsuyokiss. I only hit a few games I couldn't stand on his list, like KGNE (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien), and most of what he recommends is fairly awesome. I think I've played all but one or two of the games on his list.

First, I should say this: I hate Minori. I won't bore you with the details of the how and why, but the only game of theirs I am unreservedly impressed with is Eden*. That said, 12 no Tsuki no Eve is a pretty good game (if i cut out my negative bias, which takes some effort). There are a few jarring moments, and some things they should have blurred in the story ruined the effect later on (this is an honest complaint rather than an impression born of bias, lol). However, overall I think Minori fans and those who don't possess my bias would enjoy this game, given that they like surrealist fantasy story-focused VNs (got that's a mouthful, but that is how I describe ef, Himawari no Kyoukai, and a few other games by other companies that hold similar qualities). First, this is both a romance and a time-travel story. The game is structured so that you automatically proceed through the two sub-heroines to the true heroine in that order. The two sub-heroines are the protagonist's childhood friends, Mizuka and Anzu. I'm pretty sure most people who like the older style of Japanese love-comedy/drama that has sort of gone out of style in recent years will like their character dynamic and how it forms the basis of the first two arcs of the story. The story for each of the first two arcs is suitably dramatic, the character interactions are hilarious, and all three heroines have comprehensible issues and psychological problems that I'm sure fans of this kind of thing will eat up nicely. Perhaps the biggest jarring issue happens in the middle of the third and final arc, when a certain 'revelation' is made (not the obvious one) to the protagonist. Unfortunately, it is a 'revelation' that is made to the reader fairly early on in the game, which reduces the impact significantly and jars you out of whatever empathy you might have had for him for the next few scenes. That is the biggest downer for the game, for me; though for most people I'm sure it will be a minor or irrelevant point (especially if you aren't used to picking up every scrap of info that comes your way in the course of playing a VN). What is the final word on this game, from my point of view? The ending made me cry, was decent, and brought a good close to the overall story, so I can't say I'm unsatisfied. The fact that I am not unsatisfied (though I'm not content either) says more for the story than I would like, being a contrary Minori hater. For Minori-lovers, this will be crack; for your average vn lover, this will be a good game, and for Minori haters this will be a game you might reluctantly acknowledge as being worth playing. Now, onto my final game of the month candidate: http://vndb.org/v13717 Honestly, having played several of the other games in this series, I don't have huge hopes for this one. However, if nothing else, their games are moderately enjoyable in my experience (also, it is obvious they based the protag's physical appearance off of Sora from DDC, so I'm curious as to whether his personality is similar too).

Yah. The otome game market here has only begun to get developed over here, so it is no surprise that a company would decide to jump on the bandwagon... Non-ero VNs are going to have trouble over here for a while, though I tend to not care one way or the other about ero-content... This is mostly because the original VN-lovers in the West were all nukige addicts who spread their love around to everyone they could... more serious VNs only really became a force to be reckoned with post-Tsukihime (in Japan and here), though there were occasional anomalies like YU-NO previous to that. Even now, a lot of VN fans here play as much for ero as they do for story (or moe). Edit: Incidentally, it was Kanon that seriously gave a boost to the moe genre, whereas Tsukihime caused a revolution in thinking about serious fantasy and VNs. There were a few classic games before those two, but the explosion really began after these two came out.

This is part of my 'Love of' series of VN list threads. This thread covers all the genres I read (I don't read horror most of the time, nor do I read nukige or VNs centered around the entertainment industry, like idol games) that aren't necessarily fantasy, sci-fi, or chuuni. For this one, I won't be presenting a translated list, as Kaguya already provided that with his 50 translated VNs thread. The lists in the other threads were to help those looking for those genres but unsure where to find them inside that list or others. Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no (a classic kamige, one that most of you would probably like) Noble Works Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas (one of my favorite trap protags) Aete Mushisuru, Kimi to no Mirai (this is sort of fantasy as well, but I didn't include it in that list) Chuning Lover Hotel. (post-apocalyptic utsuge) Ichiban Janakya Dame Desu Ka (comedy) Kimi to Boku to Eden no Ringo Konna Ko ga Itara, Boku wa Mou...!! Koiiro Soramoyou Mashiro Iro Symphony Midori no Umi (horror/utsuge for those who like it) Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou (also its sequel, Otome Riron) Prism◇Recollection! (it has some sci-fi elements, but it is so near-future in some ways that I decided to ignore it) Sakura Tale -the tale of cherry blossom septet- (is good, has a fandisc) Shiawase Kazoku-bu Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi (this is Key-style fantasy, which means it is weird and never really explained but good) Unmei Yohou o Oshirase Shimasu (this is drama/romance) Walkure Romanze (and its FD) W.L.O. Sekai Ren'ai Kikou (this game is just generally rofl) Acchi Muite Koi Dolphin Divers Duelist X Engage Flag Heshiori Otoko (pure comedy, no depth, but funny) Grisaia series (duh) Lovesick Puppies (This game was pretty hilarious, overall) Namima no Kuni no Faust (this could be considered anti or pro capitalist propaganda, depending on how you look at it. It shows the best and worst sides of the system) Strawberry Nauts (one of the few pure straight raburabu ichaicha moege that I thought was actually worth playing) Tenshin Ranman (probably should have included this in fantasy, but I forgot about it) Tsujidou-san series (generally a weird series, even for Minato-soft... but it IS funny) Sekai Seifuku Kanojo (one of those games that is hard to classify, despite stealing elements from several of my favorite genres...) Koisuru Otome to Shugo no Tate - The Code Name is "Shield 9" (the classic trap protag bodyguard, lol) 8/13/2014 edit Love Revenge Oni Uta Semiramis no Tenbin (really dark, will probably disturb most people) Golden Marriage (another ojousama-ge by Ensemble) Ojou-sama wa Gokigen Naname End Sleep (horror) Hikoukigumo no Mukougawa (one of the best releases of 2014) Baka Moe Heart (pure comedy) Tsuisou no Augment Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai (seishun romance. not to my tastes, but people who like this kind of thing will eat it up) Primal X Hearts Love Revenge Reader Recommendations: Sore wa Maichiru Sakura no Youni Iinchou wa Shounin Sezu! Blue-sky-Blues Sekai de Ichiban Dame na Koi Reconquista Edit: lol, I've noticed this before, but it is actually very hard to find decent vns that don't include some kind of fantasy or sci-fi element... even some of these have them. I guess it is because dreamers, which comprise a good portion of the best writers, tend to head for fantasy or sci-fi or at least use them in their writing... Edit2: I had to sift through the games I had played on my vndb list, remembering which ones were decent and which ones were crap... vs which ones I liked and which I didn't. It is almost a certainty that someone's favorite game won't be on here (I have a ton of pre-2010 vns in my backlog that I haven't played). If you have a suggestion - untranslated for this list - I'll consider it. These are ultimately the ones I ran into that I thought fulfilled at least two of these conditions: 1. Has a good story 2. stimulates the intellect 3. stimulates the emotions 4. is hilarious 5. Has good characters A game that fulfills all five is ideal, and those I generally call kamige, as they bring together all the elements of a good VN. Those games aren't necessarily my favorites, though some of them do have a place in my favorites. However, even setting aside my personal tastes, they are games that can be considered 'great'.

PC because everything is more flexible on a PC. Consoles, portables, and even phones... are less so.

lol... that's just my opinion on moege. I recognize they fulfill certain needs... I just like to have moege with spice rather than plain vanilla ones. A good protagonist, an interesting setting, an unusual situation, etc... something that isn't an average guy surrounded by pretty girls who love him for no reason that makes sense (this is pretty much the standard for all straight moege).

I wouldn't go that far... though moe does turn people's brains off when it is presented in excess. That's the primary reason why I have trouble with straight moege... they do their best to turn off your brains and reduce you to a baby-talking creep. I get enough of that when I talk to my cat.

Loppez, if you want to troll, pick another site. There is no place for trolls here. Except for Muv-luv Alternative, none of the translated ones has serious action. For the untranslated ones, Harumade Kururu; Sakura, Sakimashita; Komorebi no Nostalgica; Natsukumo Yururu; Ryuusei☆Kiseki -Shooting Probe-; Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete; and Reminiscence are free of chuuni. Harumade Kururu, Ushinwareta Mirai wo Motomete, Natsukumo Yururu, and Reminiscence are free of excessive moe. Really, Komorebi no Nostalgica and Sakura, Sakimashita are also free of excessive moe, but you might consider them borderline. Edit: When I say 'free of excessive moe', I mean moe for the sake of moe. In that sense, Ryuusei Kiseki is completely out, as it is basically a moege, as is Sakura Iro Quartet. You can't really play, watch, or read anything otaku without some moe in it, lol.

There are other translated sci-fi VNs as I recall... but their stories were pretty weak. Also, they haven't aged well (most were from eight or nine years ago). I also forgot to add YU-NO because I haven't played it, lol

Both games are interesting... I liked the little sister's path the best on Reminiscence... Shuumatsuron was just all-around fun.

There is also the possibility that they used a path/ending that wasn't actually in the game, though.

Akatsuki no Goei ~ Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron defaults to Reika's bad end the first time through. I'm not certain, but that might be the ending that potentially leads to Remiscence (made by Tigre, same world, Kaito returns as a side-character along with Nozomi)

The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson, and the Foreigner series by CJ Cherryh are two of my favorite series. I take books with me everywhere I go when I'm outside the house or at social events.

This is a description of Raziel's bad ending in Tokyo Babel.