Ruberick

I've allways been into literature, film, video games, pretty much any medium for story telling. VNs are just another one of these for me and my interest in any of them can wane for a while and suddenly return with a vengeance or vice versa. Maybe I'm easily influenced, but when I stumble across a work that is exemplary for why I grew to like that medium to begin with, it reignites a passion of sorts and I'll start to crack down on the respective backlog I have for that medium. For example, most recently that would have been return of the obra dinn for video games, while movies are currently on the backburner, except for maybe a marvel movie here or there. Otaku related material may often come with inferior story telling and I can understand growing out of them. It still allows for a different kind of experience than other media and sometimes that's exactly what you want/need.

Family Project, pretty old, may not hold up too well, but I remember it fondly for very distinct heroines and interesting power/character dynamics. Dangan Ronpa is pretty special in many respects, no H-scenes and the interactions with the "heroines" are pretty limited, but still fits your description I'd say. If you haven't played it just do yourself a favor and try it, I love these games. Dracu-Riot urban fantasy, hit or miss depending on your tastes in setting I'd say. Sweet Home all out nukige. Strong, independent, adult women who firmly take a hold of their sexual life are a rarity though, so I can't help wanting to mention this.

When I watched the trailers I knew I had to play this and put everything else on hold. I really liked the Sim Dating Games from quite a few years ago, they are basically what got me into VNs in the long run, and this is pretty much a super polished version of those with a very charming presentation. I basically treat these games as puzzle games with the goal of clearing them as efficiently as possible. Managed to set it up so I can reach every girls good ending within the last 10 days, a lot of savescumming was necessary for that though. I allways feel strangely accomplished when I can do that in these kinds of games. The choices are spread out much earlier though so I can't reach the neutral and bad endings without going waaay back, maybe at a later point. The girls are all cute in their own ways and the creative spin playing as the squire adds a lot of comedic value. The H-scenes basically added nothing to the game though, they are the only unvoiced parts and very short, a bit of a waste considering they even animated them. Had a lot of fun with this. 8/10

Thanks, guess I'll give it a shot then. While I'm allready in this thread might as well mention a few things to my recently played VNs, mostly ones that date back a bit, but that's just me catching up on my backlog. Shining Song Starnova was much better than expected. Played the other love in space games, which were kinda hit and miss for me. Shining Song Starnova mixes up tropes well enough to get a more unique experience that was overall very enjoyable. 8/10 Hatsukoi 1/1 was great at its best and frustrating at its worst depending on the route. 6/10 Sabbat of the witch was more of a negative experience for me. 4/10 Oniikiss was a guilty pleasure, I enjoyed it for what it's worth. Lighthearted, stupid, exactly what one needs sometimes, if it's in your strike zone. 8/10 Started reading Hoshizora no Memoria and Chrono Clock now. First impressions good on both. Especially Chrono Clock looks georgeous and the protagonist seems more interesting than most. (Or the setting makes him more interesting)

Just saying that these strong feelings (either positive or negative) exist towards any company, no matter what they produce. For VNs, other games, movies, etc. this especially rings true, since the goods they produce are allready meant to sweep you along emotionally to some extent. The gap you have to cross there to get an emotionally motivated reaction (of any kind) is even smaller. Not sure if I'm wording that understandably.^^

I'd make an argument that a VN dev closing for making subpar games could at least give a kind of "They had it coming" satisfaction. I don't feel that strongly about any VN dev, but if I extended that argument to regular video games I could see myself having that kind of satisfaction if, for example, a Call of Duty tanked hard enough to make one of their devs go belly up.

Hey, can you answer me something real quick? Is this "Flying Circus" a team sport or a solo sport? Haven't seen any specifics. I didn't like most team sports anime like Tsubasa, Eyeshied 21, Kurokos Basketball, etc. while I really liked solo sports like Hikaru no Go, Chihayafuru or Hajime no Ippo. Guess it helps for me if all that mushy "Now we all have to work together" "It's a team effort" stuff is off the table... This might actually make or break this VN for me.

Well, you are looking for something rather specific, there are still a lot of choices though, but they can feel kinda samey really quickly. Just saying you're gonna run into a lot of childhood friends overcoming their initial hesitation to deepen an otherwise satisfying relationship, (non-) blood-related little sisters overcoming that taboo, unapproachable rich girls with a secret talent/hobby, bonus points for unreasonable parents and super approachable good girls with twisted family situations and/or issues with classmates who vie for your attention, while being at a recently coed school or attending a niche club. I tend to read them in moderation instead of succession, every once in a while it feels sweet, but they can quickly get boring if stories feel too much alike with color swipes of the characters. It's also a bit difficult to draw a clear line between what would be happy happy or a sad happy ending, is it sad happy when characters take 4 years to see each other again and all you get treated to is another 10 lines of dialogue before the credits roll? But I digress. Anyway, have some that might suit you. Dracu riot https://vndb.org/v8213 Liked the setting, pretty much urban fantasy with vampires, what could go wrong. Koi choco https://vndb.org/v4028 Picked that one up because of the anime, pretty solid writing and enjoyable character interaction even besides the protagonist. It's also pretty much the baseline between drama/romance/plot these VNs usually have. Devil on G String https://vndb.org/v211 A bit more of a thrillride, the heroines clearly get uneven amounts of attention as intended with a clear true route. Still a satisfying read for me. Harukoi Otome https://vndb.org/v979 More on the dramatic side when the endings approach, wrapped up with happy endings if you choose well. Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai https://vndb.org/v8158 Great characters, funny, the bumps in the road are very minor, great pick-me-up when you want something lighthearted. Tried to post some examples from different sides of the spectrum that should still fall into your search criteria.

Sisterly Bliss was pretty short, so I'd say slightly above average for the duration. SonoHana games certainly qualify. Demon Master Chris (No vndb entry) strikes the same chords as sakura dungeon, dungeon crawler with monster girls to subdue, with a lighthearted sexy tone. Double Phase https://vndb.org/v1439 takes a serious nukige approach going borderline hardcore at times. Kindred Spirits On The Roof https://vndb.org/v8508 has a more romance focused emotional tone, a lot of different pairings though, so you should at least get something good for your tastes out of it. Menagerie https://vndb.org/v15137 and Mutiny https://vndb.org/v21120 don't have a ton of sex, but are very much about sex, kinda like its the bread and butter of their respective worlds, with openminded characters and relatively unique stories. Ona-Ken International https://vndb.org/v16434 is not about yuri all the way through, but the rest is female masturbation and very much a nukige. Yukkuri panic escalation https://vndb.org/v4905 has a SonoHana-like setting with a story that gets a bit rougher at times. (I guess that makes it the one that is most like seven days with a ghost, IMO) Can't really recommend anything alike rondo duo, that kind of production quality on something that densely sexual and niche in respect to yuri and futa stuff is pretty unique.

I can second fureraba, sanoba witch, tsujidou, dracu riot, daitoshokan and princess evangile. For something that is more out there I had a lot of fun with kurukuru fanatic https://vndb.org/v1063 but that is more of a in bad taste parody of VNs and certainly not for everyone. Also Danganronpa was a nice ride, with more gameplay elements it's also nice when you don't want to only read all the way through.

Hi, had an on again off again relationship with VNs for quite a few years, but recently the stranglehold has gotten stronger again. I have been frequenting recommendations and walkthroughs for a while from the shadows but thought sometimes I cant help but wanting to join in some of the discussions. Reading pretty much any genre with some hundred VNs allready read. Hoping to have a good time with you discussing those, new ones coming out and hidden gems I have not yet read.

I second ladykiller in a bind. That one was fun, also a passion project by the creator, which really shows. The sono hanabira games allways have a flirty, easy-going romance kinda vibe, yuri and going for a lot of sex as well though. The sakura games go for the same appeal with more tame and fewer sex scenes. Also liked kindred spirits on the roof https://vndb.org/v8508 great character chemistry and lots of different pairings in one game so it doesnt get boring. Dont know if it is my preferences or if yuri games just take that approach towards romance more frequently, I guess both partys being female often gets a different kind of dynamique going than the simple minded approach of a male protagonist towards a female heroine to be conquered. If you are in for the long haul I can recommend daitoshokan no hitsujikai. https://vndb.org/v8158 That one also has some great chemistry towards all of the female leads and very likable characters in general IMO.

I think it is hard to make convincing arguments for either side of the debate. Even among the professional translations you will find no consensus that has been reached, some taking the 3rd person approach, some leaving it out. Personally I am fine with either, I've seen enough anime and read enough visual novels to know of typical conversational quirks to get the gist of it either way. If you feel that strongly about either one, you're going to be disappointed at some point either way.