Visual Novels for beginners learning Japanese

[ラース]

I am new to visual novels. I read (or should I say "played"?), well I enjoyed:

- Steins;Gate
- Steins;Gate - Linear Bounded Phenogram
- Steins;Gate 0

All endings, all on Steam (Linux). I still have ELITE and My Darling's Embrace to play, but I like to try something new.

I started playing CHAOS;HEAD NOAH, but I do not like it so far. (Citing wikipedia: I "...found Takumi very unlikable, to the point of being unsure whether the player is meant to sympathize with him"). Also Takumi is not talking much and there is no voice acting for his (simple minded) thoughts, so it does not help learning Japanese.

What I am looking for is a Visual Novel which is as good as Steins;Gate (or better) with full Japanese voice acting and English (or German) subtitles. Preferably available on Steam, because I neither have a video console nor a Windows PC.

Any recommendations?

[Dreamysyu]

1 hour ago, ラース said:

What I am looking for is a Visual Novel which is as good as Steins;Gate (or better)

That's very subjective, you know. Steins Gate seems to be top 1 on VNDB rating right now, but, having only watched the anime, I often wonder why people rate it so high.

Are you looking for some genres in particular? There are tons of high-quality VNs out there.

Recommendations for sci-fi:

I definitely recommend the Muv Luv series, but it's better not to get into it as a total beginner.

Baldr Sky seems to be pretty good, though I personally couldn't read it due to some anxiety problems.

Ever17 would be a good choice, but it's not on Steam. Root Double might work as a replacement, though I haven't read it, so I'm not sure about its quality.

There's also YuNo remake.

[HataVNI]

Well, welcome to the forums! There have been multiple overviews and difficulty tierlist for reading Japanese visual novels throughout the years. If you don't mind them being outdate due to most if not all of these games having been localized or fan translated, you may want to consult those.

https://jpdb.io/visual-novel-difficulty-list
https://fuwanovel.net/2012/10/translation-difficulty-tiers-by-moogy/
https://japaneselevelup.com/difficulty-level-guide-everything-japanese/#VisualNovel1
https://anacreondjt.gitlab.io/docs/easiest_to_hardest_japanese_novels/
https://mikuwashi.com/2019/12/23/recommended-visual-novel-titles-intermediate-level/
https://djtguide.neocities.org/reading list
https://learnjapanese.moe/resources/

[Dreamysyu]

30 minutes ago, HataVNI said:

Well, welcome to the forums! There have been multiple overviews and difficulty tierlist for reading Japanese visual novels throughout the years. If you don't mind them being outdate due to most if not all of these games having been localized or fan translated, you may want to consult those.

I believe the OP was asking for translated VNs with Japanese voice acting.

[HataVNI]

1 minute ago, Dreamysyu said:

I believe the OP was asking for translated VNs with Japanese voice acting.

Uhh... https://vndb.org/v?q=&ch=&f=032gen3gja8ESx2&s=26w

VNDB can find a lot

[ラース]

21 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

That's very subjective, you know. Steins Gate seems to be top 1 on VNDB rating right now, but, having only watched the anime, I often wonder why people rate it so high.

I first watched the anime and then got curious what the original would feel like. This was my first contact with a VN. I like the characters and I enjoyed the story.

Edited July 25, 2023 by ラース
cannot handle this forum editor

[ラース]

21 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

Are you looking for some genres in particular? There are tons of high-quality VNs out there.

I liked Alice in Borderland (the TV series), Erased - Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Anime and live action film) and The Promised Neverland (Anime). So maybe it is Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Thrillers.

[ラース]

7 hours ago, HataVNI said:

Uhh... https://vndb.org/v?q=&ch=&f=032gen3gja8ESx2&s=26w

VNDB can find a lot

Yes, it is just too much. That is why I was asking. After reading your answers I was able to narrow it down:

https://vndb.org/v?q=&ch=&f=052gen3gja124olin4owin8ESx20280NU80X1A&s=26w

And 3 of Dreamysyu suggestions are on the list!

•  Muv Luv
• Baldr Sky
• Root Double

[ChaosRaven]

21 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

Ever17 would be a good choice, but it's not on Steam. Root Double might work as a replacement, though I haven't read it, so I'm not sure about its quality.

I'd back those suggestions. Root Double in particular might have a bit of an odd choice system and a slow start, but it really pays off.

I also consider the 9-nine series one of the closest VN's to Stein's Gate even if it might not appear that way at first.

I'm not sure if I should recommend Chaos;Child since I was very disappointed by its ending, but it has a strong first half at least and good production values.

[Nemesis]

I'd actually suggest to avoid reading English translation if you are serious about learning Japanese. It will only set you back and confuse you as most English translation don't even match with the Japanese text.

I'd suggest these if you are willing to put in the effort as they are voiced:

Kara no Shoujo

Aiyoku no Eustia

 

Otherwise, go search for VN's by difficulty and go read Hanahira, Debutopia, or something.

[Dreamysyu]

12 hours ago, ラース said:

So maybe it is Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Thrillers.

Soma fantasy recommendations:

Action-focused:

Anything by Type-Moon is a must-play, but, unfortunately, nothing is on Steam.

Rewrite

Tokyo Babel is pretty interesting in what it does, but it's not for everybody.

Drama-focused:

The House in Fata Morgana is absolutely amazing

Katahane, whenever the official version is finally released

Fault series, though it's incomplete, unfortunately

[ラース]

22 hours ago, Nemesis said:

I'd actually suggest to avoid reading English translation if you are serious about learning Japanese. It will only set you back and confuse you as most English translation don't even match with the Japanese text.

Yes, you are right. I hope some day I will reach this point. But for now my Japanese is not good enough. After playing hours of Steins;Gate I started to recognize words and figures of speech and this aroused my interested in learning Japanese. But I am doing it just for fun in my leisure time.

[kokonokyuu]

Some had already given some great suggestions. So, I'll just fanboy.
Most sprite/fairys games are more on the easier side. Though, some sports stuff, and action scenes to read on Aokana get pretty hard to read at times.

Edit: I just realised you were asking for translated VNs. Honestly, like Nemesis from above had said, it's better you don't read translated VNs compared to untranslated ones when learning. I suggest finding works that are easier to read and plow through that. If it gets really hard, I suggest you just pull up some Textractor, and Yomichan for words you can't understand yet.

Edited November 6, 2023 by kokonokyuu
Lack of reading ccomprehension