A love for older VNs

[InvertMouse]

I have always had an affinity for old things. When I see those old VN promo vids that look like they were created in PowerPoint, it excites me. Many years ago, I visited Japan and searched around for a copy of ONE ~Kagayaku Kisetsu e~ on Windows 95. The list goes on.

I am sure there is a hipster mentality to it. Also, I guess old things can be rare, and people like rare things. When the box is yellow from old age, that is a good sign to me. They are relics, and owning them is like a sign of respect.

I want to see if anyone else has a thing for old games? Are there any old hidden gems you know of (older than Kanon let's say)? Any blogs or channels that cover older VNs? Just getting some of them to run is a challenge, but there is charm in that, too.

Opinions, stories, happy to read about all of them. Thank you !

[Yuuko]

Some games from 2000-2004 can be pretty interesting for me like:
Mist ~second edition~
Himawari (not the english one)
Reminiscence Blue
Kokoro Navi
Virgin Snow
and well I played Snow but that one is trash.

+ some other stuff I don't remember, but 2000 is pretty much the limit for me.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Kiriririri

[MaggieROBOT]

Ooooh, I love old things too, and new things looking all retro.

I love playing RPGs, and I find it so charming when they look like the original Final Fantasy or original Dragon Quest! That eventually made me go deeper in the abyss looking for RPG Maker games, since some of those indie producers do an awesome job recreating that old magic!

Fukai ni Nemuru Oujo no Abaddon is an example. The entire game, from graphics to soundtrack, looks like something made for Famicon, but it was released in 2014! It really is awesome if you like horror stuff!

[Funyarinpa]

I love the PC-98 aesthetic. It is rather far from realistic, but it's much more vibrant and expressive than the current bog-standard "everything is shiny!" art style that pervades much of the medium. YU-NO is one of my favorite VNs (although sadly I do not own a copy) thanks to, in no small part, its art style.

 

[fun2novel]

Jesus

Jesus II

Kuon no Kizuna

Shizuku

Kizuato

To Heart

[Clephas]

Some older VNs are just awesome...  but most suck.  If you replace the music, Tsukihime is awesome.  It is good even if you don't, but it reminds me of why I got into VNs, since Tsukihime was my first (within nine months I was playing in Japanese, lol).

[InvertMouse]

Thanks for the replies! Yeah, most of them probably suck in retrospect. I will admit that . Something about that style just appeals to me so much. I think when I see it, it brings me back to a time when all I had to worry about was homework, so it puts me in a safe place.

[Clephas]

Some of the best VNs out there were made between 2004-2009, though... and both 2011 and 2014 produced a good number of excellent VNs.  The problem with older VNs is that the visual styles and game interfaces have aged horribly in the interim, lol.

[Tamaki Sakura]

16 hours ago, InvertMouse said:

Are there any old hidden gems you know of (older than Kanon let's say)?

Atlach-Nacha

Divi-Dead

Eve: Burst Error

YU-NO

 

[Toranth]

10 hours ago, Kiriririri said:

Some games from 2000-2004 can be pretty interesting for me like:

...

Kokoro Navi
and well I played Snow but that one is trash.

 

Aw, come on!  Snow is the best fanfic mashup of Kanon and Air ever made.  It also spawned a surprisingly decent nukige centered on Meiko.

I also liked Kokoro Navi.  Giniro was excellent, and so was Memories Off (1999).

 

4 minutes ago, Clephas said:

Some of the best VNs out there were made between 2004-2009, though... and both 2011 and 2014 produced a good number of excellent VNs.  The problem with older VNs is that the visual styles and game interfaces have aged horribly in the interim, lol.

No kidding.  The 2000-2001 years had some amazing stuff:  Tsukihime and Kagetsu Tooya, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Suika, Giniro, Triangle Hearts 3, Jisatsu no Tame no 101 no Houhou, Canvas...

But 2004-2009?  That's the Golden Years; making that comparison isn't exactly fair.  Fate Stay/Night, Clannad, Higurashi and Umineko, Dies Irae, Symphonic Rain, Planetarian, Muv-Luv Alternative, Aselia, Rui wa Tomo wo Yobu, Chocolat and Parfait, Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no, Majiprui and Akiiro Renka and Ashita no Kimi to Au Tame ni, DraKoi, Princess Witches... and that's just what I see on my shelves from here.

[InvertMouse]

6 hours ago, Toranth said:

Aw, come on!  Snow is the best fanfic mashup of Kanon and Air ever made.  It also spawned a surprisingly decent nukige centered on Meiko.

I also liked Kokoro Navi.  Giniro was excellent, and so was Memories Off (1999).

 

No kidding.  The 2000-2001 years had some amazing stuff:  Tsukihime and Kagetsu Tooya, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Suika, Giniro, Triangle Hearts 3, Jisatsu no Tame no 101 no Houhou, Canvas...

But 2004-2009?  That's the Golden Years; making that comparison isn't exactly fair.  Fate Stay/Night, Clannad, Higurashi and Umineko, Dies Irae, Symphonic Rain, Planetarian, Muv-Luv Alternative, Aselia, Rui wa Tomo wo Yobu, Chocolat and Parfait, Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no, Majiprui and Akiiro Renka and Ashita no Kimi to Au Tame ni, DraKoi, Princess Witches... and that's just what I see on my shelves from here.

I will be happy to see that shelf .

[kivandopulus]

I'm keeping a whole blog here on fuwa to dig for old VN gems. So far the quantity of VNs with interesting/fun plot in late 80s - early 90s surpassed my boldest expectations.

[Zalor]

On 5/18/2017 at 8:25 AM, Kiriririri said:

well I played Snow but that one is trash.

Oh my god, Snow was one of the biggest disappointments ever for me, regarding VNs at least. I love snowy atmospheres, I love Kanon, I loved the Opening, I really thought I was going to like this one. But yeah, the writing was absolutely piss-poor. Coming from somebody who genuinely tried liking it, it really is a trash title. 

[littleshogun]

Kichikuou Rance and YU-NO maybe if we talk about pre 2000 VN translated that were acknowledge by modern user even now considering that the graphic is quite outdated. Other than that, maybe Never7 which is some sort of Ever17 prequel although the tone was the exact opposite though (More importantly, Never7 was only slice of life story for the most part).

[InvertMouse]

14 hours ago, kivandopulus said:

I'm keeping a whole blog here on fuwa to dig for old VN gems. So far the quantity of VNs with interesting/fun plot in late 80s - early 90s surpassed my boldest expectations.

Yeah, I noticed the post. Really need to give them a read sometime .