What Should I Read Next (Poll)(Pure Love Stories)

[aliciarune]

I'm writing my own yuri visual novels (Reska) and an upcoming one, and both have to deal with romance and drama. However, I've been having some writer's block and dealing with issues on certain things with conversations, so I thought maybe reading some pure love stories would be good. Also, I'm in the mood for a good romance with drama and not much fanservice at the moment. I've listed my top three, but if you've got any other suggestions, please let me know. 

[Narcosis]

Awful, awful choices. For starters - I probably wouldn't ever want to date someone like Nagisa in real life. Key's vns are a particularly bad choice, as they suffer from insurmountable characterization plot convenience with people randomly bumping into each other and deus ex machina supernatural occurrences (destiny? ) that force people together. Cliche.

If you really want to learn about writing romance, you'd have to drop vns to start with and take some good prose instead. You might learn a thing or two from Jane Austeen (holy shit, how surprising).

The closest thing that can make you learn something in terms of romance in vns might be The Sweetest Monster... in a very twisted, albeit good way. I can't even really recall of anything, that I could consider good romance, when it comes to english or english-translated visual novels, as silly it may sound. Maybe I'm just that old and crooked. VNs are mostly porn and everything either starts with porn or ends up on it. Otomege are even worse.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Narcosis

[Okarin]

If pure romance truly belongs in VNs, I guess it hides somewhere in the valley of otome and yuri VNs.

The other piece of advise I can give is, pursue your fantasies. It will be more fun that way. Create the kind of characters, love interests, and relationships that you would like to have ideally. That's how Twilight was born, I guess you can do better than that.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Okarin

[Xykros]

I've read Hoshizora no Memoria before and I thought that it was pretty good. Now I'm reading it again and it kinda feels a bit lackluster. It's still a good read though, but I wouldn't go ahead and say that it's the best read for your needs. 

[aliciarune]

10 hours ago, Narcosis said:

Awful, awful choices. For starters - I probably wouldn't ever want to date someone like Nagisa in real life. Key's vns are a particularly bad choice, as they suffer from insurmountable characterization plot convenience with people randomly bumping into each other and deus ex machina supernatural occurrences (destiny? ) that force people together. Cliche.

If you really want to learn about writing romance, you'd have to drop vns to start with and take some good prose instead. You might learn a thing or two from Jane Austeen (holy shit, how surprising).

The closest thing that can make you learn something in terms of romance in vns might be The Sweetest Monster... in a very twisted, albeit good way. I can't even really recall of anything, that I could consider good romance, when it comes to english or english-translated visual novels, as silly it may sound. Maybe I'm just that old and crooked. VNs are mostly porn and everything either starts with porn or ends up on it. Otomege are even worse.

Well, I am surprised to see you say this, given how people say good Clannad is. But then again, I can see what you mean honestly. That's why I tend to want a more honest opinion, than someone just praising it entirely. I will say I've read a lot too, so you're right it likely better to read romance from novels. I guess I want to read some visual novels to, to get a feel with how they do it. Maybe I'll try Sweetest Monster though, thanks. 

 

9 hours ago, Okarin said:

If pure romance truly belongs in VNs, I guess it hides somewhere in the valley of otome and yuri VNs.

The other piece of advise I can give is, pursue your fantasies. It will be more fun that way. Create the kind of characters, love interests, and relationships that you would like to have ideally. That's how Twilight was born, I guess you can do better than that.

Thank you. I'll likely read good romance novels or fantasy novels with romance. I'll still read visual novels though. But that's why I do Yuri, because it sometimes feels more pure in terms of love. 

[solidbatman]

Key VNs have garbage romance because every damn route is romance. There is little consistency in quality and even if the romance is good, you are forced to get through 500 bad routes to get to them

[aliciarune]

3 hours ago, Xykros said:

I've read Hoshizora no Memoria before and I thought that it was pretty good. Now I'm reading it again and it kinda feels a bit lackluster. It's still a good read though, but I wouldn't go ahead and say that it's the best read for your needs. 

Thanks for letting me know. I've actually tried both, just a little bit. I admit, reading through Hoshizora no Memoria was okay, but the main character's little sister was a bit much for me. Still, it seems to be the kind of vn that may be a good/decent read not only to learn the structure of visual novels better, but also to help cheer one up. 

 

40 minutes ago, solidbatman said:

Key VNs have garbage romance because every damn route is romance. There is little consistency in quality and even if the romance is good, you are forced to get through 500 bad routes to get to them

I'm not the type to go through every route, but I can see how this can be true. I see that Key Visual Novels are a bit too long 

[Xykros]

2 minutes ago, aliciarune said:

Thanks for letting me know. I've actually tried both, just a little bit. I admit, reading through Hoshizora no Memoria was okay, but the main character's little sister was a bit much for me. Still, it seems to be the kind of vn that may be a good/decent read not only to learn the structure of visual novels better, but also to help cheer one up. 

Exactly. Some gags that involve Chinami (the little sister) can be funny and hilarious and sometimes just feel over the top.

[aliciarune]

2 minutes ago, Xykros said:

Exactly. Some gags that involve Chinami (the little sister) can be funny and hilarious and sometimes just feel over the top.

She kind of reminds of Excel from Excel Saga actually. Both can be a bit too over the top. But a positive I can give is what you said, she can make one laugh from time to time

[solidbatman]

2 hours ago, aliciarune said:

Thanks for letting me know. I've actually tried both, just a little bit. I admit, reading through Hoshizora no Memoria was okay, but the main character's little sister was a bit much for me. Still, it seems to be the kind of vn that may be a good/decent read not only to learn the structure of visual novels better, but also to help cheer one up. 

 

I'm not the type to go through every route, but I can see how this can be true. I see that Key Visual Novels are a bit too long 

I will say that Clannad is a pretty good VN. I enjoyed it but it is an incredibly long slog. Little Busters! and me have a very troubled history, however, and I cannot recommend it.  

[Narcosis]

2 hours ago, aliciarune said:

Well, I am surprised to see you say this, given how people say good Clannad is. But then again, I can see what you mean honestly. That's why I tend to want a more honest opinion, than someone just praising it entirely. I will say I've read a lot too, so you're right it likely better to read romance from novels. I guess I want to read some visual novels to, to get a feel with how they do it. Maybe I'll try Sweetest Monster though, thanks.

I have nothing against Clannad or Hoshimemo, but as far as stories go, Key vns work a lot better as anime adaptations (they are actually very good, especially whole Clannad), while Hoshimemo is just an awful eroge with little to no redeeming qualities and superfluous plot. I simply wouldn't recommend any modern player to plow through the entirety of Clannad to get to those few memorable scenes, especially considering it's length (it's damn long and gets damn stale at times), not to mention the game aged rather badly.

Actually, I remembered. I'd recommend trying Ori, Ochi, Onoe; it might not be the best written or most graphically impressive evn out there, but it definitely sports some really interesting adult romantic developments. That aside, if you haven't played Cannonball yet, I'd highly recommend that game, since the game's main protagonist duo - Filho and Foxy - are something I consider one of the best vn pairings ever, complete with both charming and honest relationship development you rarely see in eroge. Expect a very long read intermixed with gameplay fragments, tho. If you don't care about the game parts, I honestly recommend the official walkthrough.

[Silvz]

I cannot think of one book/story that doesn't force a series of coincidences in order to move its plot, be it for romance, drama, thriller, etc. That's the point, I guess. So it's not like Clannad suffers from this problem alone, and he will probably find the same issues in other works. And well, in Key there are indeed supernatural forces that lead the characters to be together, so there is that.

[Okarin]

Man, there's more people who know about O3 (Ori, Ochi, Onoe)? I never finished it, but it was one of my first VNs, yes, I actually started with some EVNs.

It was interesting because, although loosely set in Japan (but fictional city, of course), it was Western through and through, and thus untouched by typical Japanese clichés.

I'd say it was more interesting by the themes (there's some obsession, and mental disorders applied to relationships) than by the romance itself.

[Sparteh]

I can't really suggest anything since I prefer fantasy-romance over pure one so I will only drop my opinion here. Key works does the trick if one wants some emotional moments, but they aren't always related to romance. Another problem is that the majority of them are long and contains a lot of SoL which is not really related with the main storyline. I read LB pretty recently so I remember it quite well. Heroine routes were readable with true route being the best in terms of story, but focused more on friendship rather than romance. 

As for Hoshimemo, prepare for one of the most annoying heroines ever. If only someone game me a dollar each time I heard onii-chan while playing it... However, IF you want romance, I would recommend this one from those 3 choices. 

If you ever want to switch to fantasy-romance, go for something like Steins;Gate first.

[aliciarune]

23 hours ago, Narcosis said:

I have nothing against Clannad or Hoshimemo, but as far as stories go, Key vns work a lot better as anime adaptations (they are actually very good, especially whole Clannad), while Hoshimemo is just an awful eroge with little to no redeeming qualities and superfluous plot. I simply wouldn't recommend any modern player to plow through the entirety of Clannad to get to those few memorable scenes, especially considering it's length (it's damn long and gets damn stale at times), not to mention the game aged rather badly.

Actually, I remembered. I'd recommend trying Ori, Ochi, Onoe; it might not be the best written or most graphically impressive evn out there, but it definitely sports some really interesting adult romantic developments. That aside, if you haven't played Cannonball yet, I'd highly recommend that game, since the game's main protagonist duo - Filho and Foxy - are something I consider one of the best vn pairings ever, complete with both charming and honest relationship development you rarely see in eroge. Expect a very long read intermixed with gameplay fragments, tho. If you don't care about the game parts, I honestly recommend the official walkthrough.

Kk, if I can, I'll give it a try. I admit it would be nice to see visual novels show more of adults relationships. That would help a lot, but sadly most I've got are either high school or not focused on romance 

 

10 hours ago, Okarin said:

Man, there's more people who know about O3 (Ori, Ochi, Onoe)? I never finished it, but it was one of my first VNs, yes, I actually started with some EVNs.

It was interesting because, although loosely set in Japan (but fictional city, of course), it was Western through and through, and thus untouched by typical Japanese clichés.

I'd say it was more interesting by the themes (there's some obsession, and mental disorders applied to relationships) than by the romance itself.

That sounds interesting. If I can, I'll give it a shot. I also read EVN's, so I'm sure I'll find something if I don't do these or finish one of them.

 

1 hour ago, Sparteh said:

I can't really suggest anything since I prefer fantasy-romance over pure one so I will only drop my opinion here. Key works does the trick if one wants some emotional moments, but they aren't always related to romance. Another problem is that the majority of them are long and contains a lot of SoL which is not really related with the main storyline. I read LB pretty recently so I remember it quite well. Heroine routes were readable with true route being the best in terms of story, but focused more on friendship rather than romance. 

As for Hoshimemo, prepare for one of the most annoying heroines ever. If only someone game me a dollar each time I heard onii-chan while playing it... However, IF you want romance, I would recommend this one from those 3 choices. 

If you ever want to switch to fantasy-romance, go for something like Steins;Gate first.

I prefer fantasy too or stories outside of high school. I have still yet to read the Mu Luv Trilogy and Stein's Gate, so I need to get to those. I wanna read Higurashi and it's partner series, but I'm not a fan of the nvl mode. 

As for Hoshimemo, I started it and thought it was okay. At first, I even thought the little sister was kind of funny. But sadly, the more I read of her, the more annoying she became. I do find it interesting about people's opinions on it though. Just read a review from someone who found the characters believable and story good. I try though to read many reviews to get an idea. I do know Clannad will likely have a lot of filler and that's okay. I'm not someone who will do every route, just the girls I like. I doubt I'll get to the Nagisa. She's not horrible, just a bit boring. 

The visual novels I have read are Princess Evangeline and Wagamama High Spec. I found reading both to be okay. Kind of relaxing. I'm not into Fanservice, but something about the slice of life elements in these stories I liked. As someone who is depressed, they did a decent job of getting me out of it a bit. I really didn't think I'd like Wagamama High Spec, but it's better than I thought. 

 

[Ranzo]

Hmm, well I'd say you should read both Kyou's and Tomoyo's routes in Clannad because they are the best and the romance is well paced.

As far as romance themed vns go I'd suggest maybe you look into Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate? I think as far as romance goes its alright.

Surprisingly, one of my favorite romances was in Sekien no Inganock I found it to be incredibly bittersweet. I'd also suggest Highway Blossoms and Katahane because they are both good yuri vns

Also I'd suggest you read some yuri manga's and take some inspiration from there. Here are a list of my favorites

Just please don't set in a high school. We have enough of that as it is.