What are the best visual novels that were released in 2018?

[Happiness+]

What do you think? 💭  🤔 

[Plk_Lesiak]

You mean released, or released in English? Those are two very different questions.

[The Striker]

Well i don't know japanese so....if this include Vns that the translation have been released this year, maybe i can make an top 5. 

[Happiness+]

Just now, Plk_Lesiak said:

You mean released, or released in English? Those are two very different questions.

Both. Because why should language be a barrier to good stories?

[adamstan]

6 hours ago, Happiness+ said:

Both. Because why should language be a barrier to good stories?

I think the question was "Do we count translations as releases or not?"

[Happiness+]

6 hours ago, adamstan said:

I think the question was "Do we count translations as releases or not?"

Yeah

[Dreamysyu]

Requiem for Innocence.

[Freestyle80]

Fureraba, Hapymaher and Sorcery Jokers i guess 

 

Too many moeges are being released(in English) though, need more charages and the like  

Edited December 28, 2018 by Freestyle80

[adamstan]

I'd rate Sanoba higher than Fureraba.

[Norleas]

Another year of weak Japanese releases (in my opinion), if you are not a Yuzusoft/Key fan that can digest anything that they toss at you, I can think of Haru to Yuki, Maoten and Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro0. Lowering the level slightly, Butterfly Seeker and Hataraku Otona no Ren'ai Jijou 2 can be interesting.

Edited December 28, 2018 by Norleas

[MaggieROBOT]

On the "games for girls" side of things, I think 2018 was a pretty solid year.

We got the localization of both Psychedelica games, and Sweet Pool recently. For Japanese releases, there were Cendrillon Palika as a Switch exclusive (as the Vita is dying in the West because Sony itself is trying to kill it, it's a good thing to expand the market), Piofiore no Banshou, a fandisk for Collar x Malice, and some great BL games from first-time developers, like Mahoutsukai to Tenshi to Akuma and Nie no Machi.

Edited December 28, 2018 by MaggieROBOT

[onorub]

Not counting translations, the only VNs released this year that i've read were Fatal Twelve and the last Grisaia Phantom Trigger volumes, so Fatal Twelve by default i guess.

If we're counting translations, then i'll go with 428 Shibuya Scramble.

Edited December 28, 2018 by onorub

[kokoro]

Both NekoNyan releases and Rance X for untranslated vns.

[Clephas]

Haru to Yuki

[VirginSmasher]

My pick is Chaos;Child as the TL was released for PC this year. For non-ports, I'd have to go with Fata Morgana's Fandisc for translated and none for unTLed since I didn't read anything that came out in JP this year.
 

[Dergonu]

Taimanin Asagi Zero and Kuroinu 2 for me.  

[Swim Swim]

9 hours ago, Dergonu said:

Taimanin Asagi Zero and Kuroinu 2 for me.  

Nice, too bad, those who cant read japanese has to wait forever, getting good games like those...

Honestly as a translated only reader, this year was extremely boring regarding VNs

[Okarin]

Nobody mentions Summer Pockets?

Also I don't think the year was that bad for EOPs. As always the focus is on moege, but we even got the (reportedly) awesome Chaos;Child that I have to play sometime. We also got the official launch of Steins;Gate Zero with some promises to bring some more sci-adv.

And it's not even the last word from sci-adv, not even in Japan where I guess they're eagerly awaiting for Robotics;Notes DaSH (I know I am, too).

[ChaosRaven]

For me it's certainly Fatal Twelve for translated VN's and Shin Koihime † Musou - Kakumei ~Son Go no Ketsumyaku~ for untranslated VN's (even if I'm not completely finished with the latter yet).

I'd also give a honorable mention to Kajuu 100% for its awesome animated... virtues. 

Just noticed that the PC version of Chaos;Child got a translation patch in the meantime - guess that will make it my next English VN to read.

Edit: I also wouldn't be surprised if Evenicle would be the best selling English title this year - seems to be pretty popular.

Edited December 29, 2018 by ChaosRaven

[Happiness+]

6 hours ago, Okarin said:

EOPs

What are EOPs?

[littleshogun]

EOP mean the English Only People, or to be more precise the people who were only read translated VNs (Mostly in English). As for me, I would say that it's my choice to be an EOP here lol.

Anyway as for the topic, let's just say that there's a lot of subjective matter here. For untranslated VN here I definitely will vote it to Rance X if we look at both of VNDB and Erogamescape average score (Both at 91), and as for translated VNs there's two because the scoring was different in both of VNDB and Erogamescape (Shibuya Scramble for VNDB with 8.49 average score and Island for Erogamescape with average score 83). As for the rerelease, I agree that Chaos Child here is the best one although I didn't count it as the release though because it's already been released back at 2017 for PS4. If you want to see the fandisc, I think Fata Morgana fandisc here is the best one for translated VNs. Although as far as best VN that I'd finish, it's Subahibi looking from the score that I gave back at VNDB.

Edited December 30, 2018 by littleshogun

[Okarin]

EOP = English Only Player. Not really by choice, beggars can't be choosers. Of course, these people lack an understanding of Japanese, I get dizzy looking at all those kanji put together.

Chaos;Child should count as a release, but with a caveat, it was unofficial. Spike Chunsoft should really pump their engines and bring us as much sci-adv as they can. It probably sells well too. And then there would be no need for patches.

[adamstan]

I looked into that Chaos;Child patch, and it looks like major PITA to install and use - if you want to be legal, you have to buy TWO versions of the game - Japanese PC version and English console version, then extract scripts from console patch, and finally apply PC patch installer

With official console translations, it's really surprising that there's no official English PC release.

Edited December 30, 2018 by adamstan

[Kenshin_sama]

1 hour ago, adamstan said:

I looked into that Chaos;Child patch, and it looks like major PITA to install and use - if you want to be legal, you have to buy TWO versions of the game - Japanese PC version and English console version, then extract scripts from console patch, and finally apply PC patch installer

With official console translations, it's really surprising that there's no official English PC release.

I saw that; it's a really dumb patch. I imagine anyone with the money to buy two games will probably just buy the console version and play it as is, and just about everyone else will probably either be driven to piracy to avoid buying it twice or just avoid playing it altogether.

But on the plus side, we did get a pre-patched version of the game, even though it requires pirating. It's a shame this has to be the only consumer-friendly option since I wouldn't mind buying it myself.

[ChaosRaven]

1 hour ago, adamstan said:

I looked into that Chaos;Child patch, and it looks like major PITA to install and use - if you want to be legal, you have to buy TWO versions of the game - Japanese PC version and English console version, then extract scripts from console patch, and finally apply PC patch installer

There are 'other sources' where you can get the whole package a lot easier.