Clephas

The money factor isn't a non-issue, but also isn't the driving issue. The biggest reason seems to be that it is a tradition for moege and moege-hybrids (as well as nukige) not to have the protag voiced. Games with voiced protags tend to have better stories (though there are exceptions) as well as generally more interesting character interactions. Sometimes, VN companies release protag voice-patches later on, such as in the case of Ruitomo and Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou. In other cases, such as with Propeller's games, the protags are voiced from the beginning. Voices for Phantom only came into play beginning with the DVD version, incidentally.

Welcome to Fuwa.

Welcome to Fuwa.

Welcome to Fuwa.

*sets the moe on fire as usual* Welcome to Fuwa.

Personally, I never did grow fond of space elves...

It's a bad habit born of the belief that it is easier to get behind the eyes of a voiceless male protag. tbh, I think this is the absolute worst idea anyone has ever had, since the protag being the only one not voiced frequently makes for a less interesting story...

You'd love Kei in Dies Irae then... she wants to kill the protag through most of the game, even in her own path. Welcome to Fuwa.

Welcome to Fuwa

Geh, lost the fantasy vn list I put together... guess I'll have to go through the trouble of skimming the ones I've played again...

Welcome to Fuwa.

Mmm... I gave most of the Baldr games a 7 or a 6 out of ten, and the ones listed here all have 8 or better. The Baldr series has average to decent story, but the games tend to rely too much on the frenetic battles to draw the reader in. I've yet to run across a game in that series that I would consider to be truly great...

I sort of lost interest in all localization companies once my Japanese reading capabilities passed the critical point... since then, I have only played one VN in English, Demonbane. I still order games that I liked in Japanese or that I want to support, but it is pretty rare for something I feel is worth buying to get localized commercially...

Inganock and the rest of the Steampunk series by Liar-soft are pure fantasy, despite the gears and other steampunk themes.

This is a list of VNs that are either science fiction or science fantasy. Science fantasy is a genre of science-fiction that utilizes disproved scientific theories, over the top uses of science that aren't quite realistic even in theory, and other similar themes. Perhaps the most obvious example of science fantasy in western culture is Star Wars. Translated Muv-luv Alternative Ever17 Remember11 Never7 Chaos;Head (I don't recommend any of Nitro+ 'Science' series personally, but I'm aware that many do like it) Steins;Gate Untranslated Evolimit (kamige) Sousei Kitan Aerial Eden* Harumade Kururu Komorebi no Nostalgica (kamige) SINCLIENT Electro Arms - Realize Digital Dimension Zero Infinity Fake Azure Arcology Natsukumo Yururu Re:Birth Colony -lost azurite- Sanzen Sekai Yuugi Ryuusei☆Kiseki -Shooting Probe- Sakura Iro Quartet Strawberry Feels Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete Reminiscence (http://vndb.org/v7773) Soshite Ashita no Sekai yori (this game made me cry until snot ran out of my nose) Bradyon Veda 8/13/2014 edit Girls in Black (Whirlpool charage) Reminiscence Re:Collect Harvest OverRay Look forward to the next edition, on Fantasy VNs! Edit: Added Soshite (forgot to vote on it, so it wasn't there when I was scanning my list, lol) and Bradyon Veda.

I've yet to run across a space opera, in the classical style. At least part of this is probably because of the genre's complexity, and the other part is because the genre itself is almost dead, regardless of whether you talk about anime or games. The closest I have gotten are a few hard sci-fi VNs... http://vndb.org/v10447 Probably anyone who plays this will be reminded of Muv-luv Alternative, but this game has its own unique aspects. It isn't a space opera, but it is pretty interesting. http://vndb.org/v2934 http://vndb.org/v10642 These are both based in a future where a meteor shower forced humanity underground, where they live in arcologies, Both games have pretty interesting stories, that I think most sci-fi fans would enjoy.

'I wonder if his love for carrots is so much greater than that of the rest of the world?'

http://vndb.org/v12096 Just finished this, the last of the games from December worth playing. It has been a while since I ran across an action/drama otome-ge that doesn't have a 'damsel in distress' type protagonist, and it was a refreshing change from all the weak-willed female protags I run across in otome-ge in general. The game's story is also pretty good, and overall, I think this would appeal to people who have a preference for female protags and action stories. The game of the month, probably to no one's surprise, is Sengoku Koihime, the latest Baseson game. If you want to know my thoughts on it, please check the previous posts, lol. December had very few releases, but those games that were released were generally high-quality, frequently to my surprise. There weren't any kamige releases, but there was only one mediocre release in the batch of games I played, so this is a month VN-gamers should mark as a pile of treasure, for the most part.

*frees the loli from enslavement, gives her some candy and a gun, and then he tells her where to aim on a lolicon's body*

Welcome to Fuwa.

Of course. I played it when it first came out for the SNES and was one of its first Western fans. I also spent better than a year following the 'you can save Schala' rumor by replaying the game like ten times. That, and the vampire-Crono rumor. I literally tried every combination of event order and actions, in my attempt to find it. I finally gave up after my twenty-fifth playthrough.

I generally get hit by that sensation after playing a truly great game from beginning to end. The sheer joy of that experience is reflected by the emptiness after having finished it. At that point, I generally just play something mindless, like a moege, to tide me over until I am human again.

Welcome to Fuwa.

A lot of its impact comes from the music... and again, I'm aware that the Alice in Wonderland influences, as well as the protagonist, might be something of a downer for some people. The protag isn't a hetare, but he isn't exactly clear-headed. He ALWAYS has lucid dreams, and as a result he is incapable of having a good night's sleep. The reasons behind that heavily influence the story and his personality, and some people might find him whiny anyway, for reasons related to that. The game's story revolves heavily around dreams and their relation to reality, and there are a lot of points in the game where you have no idea if what the characters are experiencing is real, a dream, or something in between. Like I said, what tipped this game into the slot of VN of the year was the music and music direction, which was sublime. Good music direction is almost unheard of in the video game industry these days, so games with good music direction always stand out.

Though this year did have a few kamige ('kami' being god and 'ge' being 'game'), including Hapymaher, Komorebi no Nostalgica, and Natsu no Owari no Nirvana, I carefully considered over the past few weeks, as I finished the last of December's interesting releases, which I would pick. I also briefly considered Madou Koukaku as a candidate, but concluded that it did not match any of the other three in story quality, though it has excellent gameplay. That all three candidates came out in the first quarter of the year might say something terrible about the VN industry in general, but the fact is that most years, we are lucky to get just one or two games worthy of entering into the annals of legend (otherwise known as my favorites list, lol). Having three worthy of consideration, all coming out around the same time, is not a negative thing. Komorebi no Nostalgica, which I introduced to several people who were interested in science fiction but wanted something that more seriously approaches the concept of an AI, in a number of ways, is an excellent game overall, with a truly great cast of characters. This game had few noticeable flaws, and I'm still engaged with the characters emotionally, even nine months later. As such, there was never any doubt it would be a candidate. Hapymaher is the new game that made me cry the most this year. That might seem like a dubious recommendation, coming from me, but it is rare for me to actually break down and cry just in the course of a game, rather than only at the climax. I cried through about one third of this game, and it easily has the best soundtrack I've seen in a non-Propeller game in three years. More importantly, it uses all those soundtracks effectively to enhance its somewhat whacked-out story and makes it feel alive using the old-fashioned methodology that used to make jrpg stories so beloved. The story itself is fairly weird, something of a mindfuck for people not used to this kind of thing. However, this doesn't detract in any way from the reader's enjoyment. If the game has a flaw, it is that some people won't be able to bring themselves to like the protag and others will find the Alice in Wonderland themes (there is definite influence) irritating. I didn't, despite hating that book, but I know some people can't even stand references to it. Natsu no Owari no Nirvana was one of two great utsuge produced this year. It has a somewhat odd story, where the protagonist (the son of Enma, the Japanese-Buddhist Judge of the Dead) has to cleanse and judge the souls of three sinners. The story overall is fairly sad, and the true ending will have even the most stoic feeling at least a little down. This is contrasted with the protagonist's rather hilarious antics (he is something of a layabout) and the goddess Kannon's rather... interesting treatment of him. In the end, however, it came down to the first two, Komorebi and Hapymaher. Nirvana sometimes hits too light a note for an utsuge, and while it is an immensely enjoyable VN, both Hapymaher and Komorebi are on a different level entirely. At that point, I had a choice between a game that had made me think, as well as laugh and cry (Komorebi), and a game that had engaged my emotions on a number of levels (Hapymaher), leaving me to make a rather hard choice. It could have gone either way. I'd decided on one or the other a half dozen times in the last two weeks, and I almost posted the result for that momentary decision any number of times. However, in the end, I decided that Hapymaher was the only possible choice. It is a game that meets the highest standards on every level, but more than anything else, its music takes it to levels Komorebi couldn't achieve with the story and characters alone. So, officially, Clephas' VN of the Year for 2013 is Hapymaher, by Purple Software.