Personal Hidden GEM VN

[NoteSi]

As topic suggest.

[Dreamysyu]

https://vndb.org/v22310

[adamstan]

Amber Quartz - https://vndb.org/v1198

For me it was really a hidden gem - it exceeded my expectations. It's a very good VN, but in 2009 there were so many great VNs released, that it got overshadowed by other more popular titles.

[FinalChaos]

One Thousand Lies - https://vndb.org/v19014

[Plk_Lesiak]

I second One Thousand Lies.

Other than that... There are a few super-obscure, short VNs I really like, but to just stay with just one I'll say Lucky Me, Lucky You, a lesser-known, early ebi-hime VN.

[Zakamutt]

Shinsetsu Mahou Shoujo - real good free SRPG hybrid with a very fleshed out story that goes much further that you might expect. Unfortunately engine is jank.

True Remembrance - cool stuff on memories and how they make us

Symphonic Rain - admittedly not entirely unpopular, but definitely lower popularity. The fan translation is recommended if you read translated, and I don't say this lightly. A story with a lot of cool insert songs relating to the narrative, fleshed-out character studies, and delicious drama. Torta best girl

Soundless - good EVN denpage? YEP

Blankspace - well written dialogue, unusual characters and plot for the medium, puzzle gameplay actually not too bad (except when replaying for new endings...)

[alpacaman]

Three Fourths Home isn't even on vndb, probably because it has constant (minimalistic) gameplay where you basically just push one button down the whole time.

[Larxe1]

Kimi no Nagori wa Shizuka ni Yurete

I don't even remember how i came across this. But this is probably one of the best single heroine vn's i have played. The insane family and their drama along with best girl Mayuri kept me interested.

I think i was playing flyable heart and got pissed on how short her route was and found out there was a separate vn just for her expanding it by like a lot.

[adamstan]

9 minutes ago, Larxe1 said:

Kimi no Nagori wa Shizuka ni Yurete

I don't even remember how i came across this. But this is probably one of the best single heroine vn's i have played. The insane family and their drama along with best girl Mayuri kept me interested.

I think i was playing flyable heart and got pissed on how short her route was and found out there was a separate vn just for her expanding it by like a lot.

Both this, and Flyable Heart (and few other unison shift VNs I think) are on sale on DLSite now, so I bought those recently. What order would best? Should I read Flyable Heart or this one first?

Edited December 21, 2020 by adamstan

[Larxe1]

15 minutes ago, adamstan said:

Both this, and Flyable Heart (and few other unison shift VNs I think) are on sale on DLSite now, so I bought those recently. What order would best? Should I read Flyable Heart or this one first?

They're kinda different experiences. I don't remember flyable heart much since after i read one heroine(don't remember) and mayuri's route, i played Kimi no Nagori instantly since I didn't really care much about the other heroines aside from Mayuri.

Flyable heart is your well-made average romcom but with rather magic aspects similar to how clannad uses magic.

Kimi no Nagori is more grounded without any of that magic nonsense and more on how Mayuri's insane family each with their own personal issues you encounter. I just like VN's like this where you weather through hard times with the girl you love, since Kimi no Nagori keeps throwing you in hard and depressing situations but you and Mayuri are together to deal with it.

I really am not sure on what for you to read first since if you read Kimi no Nagori, her entire route in flyable heart is playable anyway so you dont miss anything. In a sense it is kinda standalone.  But I reallly really like Kimi no Nagori a lot better but it kinda relies on whether you like Mayuri in the first place

Edited December 21, 2020 by Larxe1

[Funnerific]

Haruka Kanata (my kewl review)

Ojou-sama Kumikyoku (my less kewl review)

 

Also seconding Zaka's Mahou Shoujo rec.

Edited December 21, 2020 by Funnerific

[Templarseeker]

Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai

Yume Miru Kusuri

Caucasus ~Nanatsuki no Nie~

Edited December 22, 2020 by Templarseeker

[bakauchuujin]

Not really a hidden gem VN but rather a hidden gem waifu Anastasia Imperator Erland from Love Love ♥ Princess the VN itself is pretty nice but not good enough that I would call it a hidden gem, but Anastasia Imperator Erland is just really fantastic and outshines the other girls in the VN by a lot. 

[raccooncitizen]

Arishi Hi no Uta

[littleshogun]

On 12/21/2020 at 11:57 PM, adamstan said:

Both this, and Flyable Heart (and few other unison shift VNs I think) are on sale on DLSite now, so I bought those recently. What order would best? Should I read Flyable Heart or this one first?

I remember that Flyable Heart have (MTL) translation patch and that the menu has very long (5 seconds) loading, although the most annoying one would be the need to mount the DVD if you apply the patch, which is no good for someone who like to pinch the HDD space (Like me) because it mean I must allocate the additional HDD space at about three GB for the ISO file. I didn't play Kiminago yet and it also got the translation patch as well, although looking from the Flyable Heart which obviously share same engine as Kiminago I would expect same problem to occur. 

For Flyable Heart, there's three set of routes that sort of serve as question-answer relation like back at Higurashi, and those three pairs are Mayuri-Sakurako, Amane-Kururi, and Yui-Suzuno. While there's still some plot element that I didn't find it quite satisfying (Mostly at Kukuri's route), overall Flyable Heart here manage to complete the main story. For Kiminago, I believe that it's for Mayuri's fans who didn't find her development in regard of family issue at Flyable Heart satisfying, although to me it make sense that they wrote Mayuri route in Flyable Heart like what it does there to a degree because Mayuri's family issue here is almost unrelated to the main story. Whether you'll play Kiminago or not I would say that it depend on whether you like Mayuri at the main game or not, and if you want to see more of her after reading her route then sure you can play Kiminago. So yeah I recommend you to read Flyable Heart first, and whether you'll continuing to Kiminago or not later it's up to you. Either way have fun.

Back to the topic, and as for hidden gem I would say that it's quite hard to say here. That said I can still give some VNs that I wish can be more popular such as Kichikuou Rance, Hatsukoi Sankaime, Kami no Rhapsody, Seabed, and Galaxy Angel trilogy. Oh and Flyable Heart here is also count.

Edited December 26, 2020 by littleshogun

[adamstan]

Thanks. When I get to it, I will be reading it in Japanese, so patch related problems shouldn't bother me