Clephas

Here is a list of romance vns with good story. They are all Japanese-only though. http://vndb.org/v10958 http://vndb.org/v7794 http://vndb.org/v604 http://vndb.org/v551 http://vndb.org/v6747 http://vndb.org/v100 I can suggest these without hesitation. Only real warning about any of them is Konata yori Kanata Made, as it is an utsuge.

Japanese isn't suited to literal translation into English, and as a result when it is attempted by machine, the results tend to be fairly awful. If you want to produce something that retains a decent amount of meaning from the original game, you need a live human translator to work things.

It's on my list of 'back-up' VNs. However, until I hit another dry period it is unlikely I will get to it. I watched the anime years ago, and it was a decent one, as these things go. Generally speaking, I tend to avoid VNs that have direct sequels on instinct, simply because one of my pet peeves is stories that don't end (If I'd known Grisaia was going to have a sequel, much less two of them, I might have even gone so far as to not play it at all, for instance).

Most VNs with gameplay have a bad habit of letting the story fall by the wayside. Aselia and Ikusa Megami Zero are exceptions to the rule (as both have excellent stories). The strategy ones in particular suffer from this flaw, with the long periods of time spent in resource management and troop movement breaking up the pacing of the story excessively.

Yurikago yori Tenshi Made, Devils Devel Concept, Evolimit, Tokyo Babel, and Konata yori Kanata Made immediately come to mind. Yurikago yori Tenshi Made has a really interesting setting, a protag with a hilarious tendency for his id to speak without consulting with his ego, and masochistic 'angels'. Devils Devel Concept has a truly fascinating setting, where demons and demon hunters have been killing each other for centuries... but the twist is the demon hunters aren't doing it to protect humanity (most of them look down on humans or are generally disgusted with them) but rather simply because the very sight of the demons makes them want to kill them. Shigure Sora (the protag) is one of my favorite protags. He is an extremely violent young man who manages to pretend at being a normal human only because he has nothing better to do. He has an obsession with the concept of 'contracts' as defined as a purpose for living. He also has a unique outlook on life, good and evil, and the nature of the subjective perspective. Evolimit is my favorite Propeller game, simply because it shows off what is best about the company's favored style in its action vns. It balances the hilarity of the everyday scenes with extreme action in the combat scenes and a poignantly emotional story (that branches wildly depending on which heroine's path you choose). I have literally never cried as hard for a game as I have for this one. Also, it has Kokoro, my favorite 'imaginary friend'. Tokyo Babel is the first of Propeller's non-ero action VNs, and it is based in a world where god has suddenly gone insane and began obliterating parallel worlds one by one, after having drowned Hell and exiled the angels from heaven. The protagonist and the small (relatively speaking) community of angels, demons, and salvaged humans are living in the renovated Purgatory, which was turned into a ground of pilgrimage to beg god for forgiveness and mercy. The three heroines are Raziel (the angel who supposedly wrote the Sefer Raziel, which supposedly contains all the knowledge of heaven and earth), Lilith (Adam's first wife - you know, the one that clocked him then ran off before he could enslave her?), and Sorami, a human girl who begins the game running away from a psychotic angel who likes to play games by torturing people to death after trapping them inside her own little world. I'm not going to spoil Konata yori Kanata Made simply because certain vital discoveries in the beginning of the game are required to be fresh and new in order to make you get into the story. Let me just say this... you will spend most of the game crying like a baby, if you have a heart. Edit: The common element between Devils Devel Concept and Yurikago Yori Tenshi Made is a general sense that the characters do not share normal moral values. Sora can only understand them logically and places no special value on them in particular (though he doesn't show contempt for those who honestly follow them, nor does he deny people's viewpoints merely because they are different from his). Tenshi's protag has a tendency to value them in regular life and throw them out the window whenever he feels like it. In both games, the heroines tend to hide rather violent natures behind their everyday masks (Akane from DDC, for instance considers everyone besides her two favorite people to be less than insects and Ume from Tenshi has an obsession with 'breakable' people that makes her seem somewhat psychotic at times). Edit2: Also, Hapymaher for having the best (and most effectively used) soundtrack I've come across since Evolimit (Evolimit having my favorite one) and being one of my top five of all time (pretty good considering how many hundreds of games I've played over the years).

Overrated anime: One Piece, Pokemon, Bleach, Naruto (basically any series that went on forever without getting to the point). Underrated anime: Legend of the Legendary Heroes- This anime is seriously good, hitting most of a fantasy lover's sweet spots and creating a really well-designed fantasy setting. The only unfortunate thing about this series is that the second season hasn't come out yet. Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari- Tenchi Muyo-linked OVA series with a rather simple-minded protagonist and some really cool mech battles. Mnemosyne- A weird OVA series whose main character is an immortal woman who works as a private detective and problem-solver. It follows her across about a century or so from the point she meets a certain young man, until his death, and then beyond into the circumstances behind the immortals. Hunter X Hunter (original series)- The original series has a lot of advantages over the newer one. In particular, the setting's brutality level and the general atmosphere of the story was completely different. Scenes that ended on a pretty light note in the new series have a much darker context in the old one, such as the boat scene in the first episode of the new one (and the third or fourth of the old one) Noir- This series is a classic, but it is rapidly being forgotten due to the simple fact that they literally 'don't make them like this anymore'. An amnesiac super-assassin for a protagonist, a pseudo-mystic crime organization, and a lot of fun murders. Legend of the Galactic Heroes- While this series has a huge and devoted cult following, it is a huge hurdle for newbie anime fans because it doesn't have any moe elements whatsoever and because of the serious tone and complexity of the plot. Classic space opera.

Evolimit http://vndb.org/v3111 Rui wa Tomo wo Yobu http://vndb.org/v776 Yurikago yori Tenshi made http://vndb.org/v7071 Harumade Kururu (this game starts out like a nukige then suddenly becomes a serious sci-fi game with deep storytelling) http://vndb.org/v9198 Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no http://vndb.org/v604 Devils Devel Concept (only if you don't mind the fact that the protagonist - the heroines as well- is a bit psychotic and a bit of a Nietzschian philosopher) http://vndb.org/v1308 Izuna Zanshinken http://vndb.org/v7070 Strawberry Feels http://vndb.org/v7838 Tokyo Babel http://vndb.org/v9205 Dies Irae (if you don't mind a game that hits every single chuuni cliche and somehow manages to bind it into an awesome story without seeming trite) http://vndb.org/v548 Komorebi no Nostalgica http://vndb.org/v10958 Draculius http://vndb.org/v453 Hapymaher http://vndb.org/v10957 Akatsuki no Goei series http://vndb.org/v629 http://vndb.org/v1307 http://vndb.org/v3271 Konata yori Kanata made (best utsuge ever) http://vndb.org/v551 Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas http://vndb.org/v7794 Sousei Kitan Aerial http://vndb.org/v10447 Tsuisou no Augment http://vndb.org/v9890 Tiny Dungeon series http://vndb.org/v3767 (the three other games linked to this one are really just one story) Tenshi no Hane wo Fumanaide http://vndb.org/v6411 Sinclient http://vndb.org/v10605 Vermillion - Bind of Blood http://vndb.org/v5843 Abyss - Homicide Club http://vndb.org/v2537 Gurenka http://vndb.org/v9847 Chuning Lover http://vndb.org/v10026 Hotel. (warning: this is an utsuge) http://vndb.org/v7069 Hello, Goodbye http://vndb.org/v5316 Sakura Iro Quartet http://vndb.org/v6393 Para-sol http://vndb.org/v3032 Kamikaze Explorer http://vndb.org/v4942 Re:birth colony - lost azurite http://vndb.org/v10642 Fake Azure Arcology http://vndb.org/v2934 Shinigami no Testament http://vndb.org/v7650 Tsuki no Yorisou, Otome no Sahou (get the sequel too, for the after stories) http://vndb.org/v10680 Trouble@Vampire http://vndb.org/v2369 These aren't in any particular order as to quality... I suggest you start with the ones by Akatsuki Works and Propeller, simply because they are safest for quality.

「ウソっていうのは、相手を欺いて、陥れるための方便のコトを言うんだ」 A lie is an instrument meant to trap and deceive another. 「相手が不快に思わないんなら、それはウソとして成立してない」 If that other person doesn't find it unpleasant, then it isn't a lie. ~Shigure Sora, Devils Devel Concept

Meishoku no Reiki's protagonist is just evil.

――毒から快楽を作り出すのは人間だけだ―― "Humans are the only ones that make pleasure from poison." ~ Minami Mutsuki from Devils Devel Concept

I figured I'd put up a list of games with 'amoral protagonists' who aren't necessarily villainous by nature. An amoral protagonist can also be called a pragmatist, someone who acts solely for what he thinks is best, for the motives that drives him and doesn't consider the moral context of his actions to be relevant in considering whether to take such an action. Shigure Sora- Devils Devel Concept http://vndb.org/v1308 Asagiri Kaito- Akatsuki no Goei series http://vndb.org/v629 http://vndb.org/v1307 http://vndb.org/v3271 Phantom of Inferno http://vndb.org/v45 Sinclient http://vndb.org/v10605 Abyss- Homicide Club (though it doesn't show that much on the first route) http://vndb.org/v2537 Yurikago yori Tenshi Made http://vndb.org/v7071 Izuna Zanshinken (in the context of his own way of living, he is moral, but in the sense of traditional morality, he definitely isn't) http://vndb.org/v7070 Re: Birth Colony -lost azurite- http://vndb.org/v10642 Gekkou no Carnevale http://vndb.org/v102 Toubu Kaito- Hello, Goodbye http://vndb.org/v5316 Para-sol http://vndb.org/v3032 Wanko to Kurasou http://vndb.org/v812 Vermillion- Bind of Blood http://vndb.org/v5843 Namima no Kuni no Faust http://vndb.org/v9996 Noel http://vndb.org/v1000 Paradise Lost http://vndb.org/v1951 Incidentally, I'm not counting nukige or rapegames. In first case, the moral question is never really considered and in the second, it strays over the line into the 'villainous protagonist' area of things.

For friendship... Kokoro from Evolimit. You don't get a more supportive friend than her, lol

Hinaori Kagome from Comyu or Donoko from Uruwashi no. Kagome is easily my favorite heroine of all time and I honestly think I could love that amoral woman without reservation. Donoko is the first heroine I ever wanted to 'save' in a game. I'd love to shower her with love, if she was able to return it. Unfortunately, in both cases I think the girls wouldn't want anything to do with me, lol.

Tbh, most VNs wouldn't make good anime... the best you get would get out of most of them is a Shuffle or DC clone, or maybe something like Toradora. I can name a number of VNs that have the possibility of escaping that fate, but I can guarantee you that they would be ruined anyway. If there is one thing that can be learned from what Studio Deen did to Tsukihime and FSN when it turned them into anime it is that sometimes it really isn't worth it. Tsukihime's anime dumbed down the Chaos fight (which was by far the best one in the VN) and made it a sideline rather than a defining moment (not to mention inserting random scenes from the other paths and making the plot needlessly confusing). FSN's anime combined random elements from the three paths and tacked on the Fate ending. Phantom's anime departed so far from the original concept that it transformed into a Noir clone with pseudo-mysticism randomly inserted mid-series and lost the gritty realism of the game in exchange for a more surreal progression of events (not to mention changing the Ein ending to deliver a pathetically random moral lesson).

http://www.zerochan.net/647016 This is Kokoro from Evolimit.

Geh, Aoiro Rinne... I hate the protagonist in that game. He irritates me on so many levels. At least Heliotrope's protagonist had some sort of redeeming value, but Aoiro Rinne's stays a hetare right to the end.

Eroge is a wide-ranging description for video games with an ero-element, and it can include ero-rpgs and the like as well as your average ero-VN. Dating sims are just that... the object of the game is not to get to know the characters or tell the story but to 'conquer' a female or male character in the romantic sense through strategic relationship building (often through minigames and the like). Galge is basically what they used to call moege or charage, where the story of the VN tends to take a backseat to relationship and character development, as well as cuteness and other such surface elements (always geared toward a male audience). An otome game is a general name for games geared toward a female audience with a female protagonist (it is fairly rare for an otome game to have cross-gender appeal, mostly because they have even more problems with ancient plot tropes than moege in mos cases). A yaoi game is a game where male/male romantic relationships are the norm, just as a yurige is one where a female/female relationship is the norm. An otoge is a game like Rockstar where matching the beat of the music is the basis for scoring. I could go on, but Japanese game terminology is so varied it isn't even funny.

Sorry, I'm a bit of a pessimist. I considered it as a possible project about two years ago and then decided it was impossible, if only because there was no possibility of finding enough translators capable of working with that text in the community to make it viable. For a similar reason, I also rejected Dies Irae and Devils Devel Concept (the latter because the protagonist's philosophical ravings would require a lot of very specific wording that I couldn't see most translators managing in English). I also considered Jingai Makyou but rejected it for a different reason... it's an acquired taste (story is a bit too weird for most people).

The main reasons why I say that Kokoro from Evolimit needed a route are:

That's kind of hard... most of the best quotes I can think of compose at least three lines, usually a statement, followed by a question, followed by an answer. Most of the best VN philosophy is the writer speaking through the characters, using the conversation to make the argument.

平常心 Level-headedness, presence of mind. It is also frequently used as a mantra to tell oneself to calm down when one is nervous (like before a job interview). Heijoushin wo tamotte! could be translated as 'please be calm!' for instance. Remember to post context when you ask for a translation, lol. A lot of these things have different meanings depending on context.

Dies Irae simply because that would be so cool, and Evolimit because it would be hilarious as well as awesome.

lol, I almost said something cruel unintentionally to that... but even if you learned enough Japanese to play the average VN, Muramasa - in fact most Nitroplus games - is probably going to be beyond your abilities. Jingai Makyou, Muramasa, Dies Irae, Vermillion Bind of Blood, and Kajiri Kamui are the top five hardest games to read I've played since I began to devour VNs in Japanese (note that three of those are from Light and two from Nitro+). This is not only because they are long but because they frequently use huge sentences, archaic phrasing, and/or complex wording that requires a very specific grasp of the grammar to decipher. In addition, Muramasa is made harder by the fact that - like all the truly great Nitroplus games - it is part utsuge. If you aren't ready for a constant stream of horrible occurrences with no relief or even signs of relief in sight, then you probably shouldn't play the game. The five greats of Nitroplus are: Demonbane - the first one -, Muramasa, Jingai Makyou, Phantom, and Saya no Uta, and all but Demonbane are near-utsuge or at least have ambivalent endings for the most part. If you want some Nitroplus action, I'd suggest playing Phantom, though I should warn you that the localized version is a DVD, non-ero game that has a horribly designed playing system that requires you to use codes to get back to key points of the game rather than a system of saves. The upside is that the game is fully-voiced in Japanese (save for the protagonist) including the narration of the story, and it is much better than the anime from a story standpoint (for one thing, what the main characters do during the story is entirely within human limits, rather than them being supermen without a weakness to kryptonite, and the endings aren't horrible).

lol, what's 4chan? But seriously, taking a bunch of permatrolls seriously is a waste of time and energy. Even if you are jaded you should make an effort to be a decent human being. I don't join major social networks, as a personal policy. My primary reasons are my belief that the human brain degenerates when it is exposed to large groups of people as opposed to conversations with a smaller group and my distaste for people who can't bring themselves to look at reality. Not only that, obsessing over other people's opinion of you - in the form of kudos, thumbs ups, etc. - has a lot of bad effects on an individual's mental health. Cynicism and constructive criticism are one thing, but being poisonous without making a legitimate point is a habit far too many people are into on the net.

This game is huge. I can't see it getting a translation any time soon, regardless of who does it. It took me three days of marathon playing to finish it, and I can finish most games in a single day of free time. Not only that, but the archaic Japanese utilized at many points would make it impossible for the average fantranslator.