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Worst routes you've ever read in a VN and why


starlessn1ght

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My top three from the worst to the least bad:

 

1. Ageha's route from Konosora:

 

The heroine almost never appeared (always running and making short appearances). Other characters appeared too much with no relation to the focus of the route (if it really had any focus). Pointless conversations and too much of the glider (seriously, i hate when the plot takes too much from the routes if it's a character-driven story. The plot was already explored in the common route, WHY does it have to steal so much time from the heroines' routes?!). Almost no "real" romance and mostly ichaicha. This route had basically everything I hate in a route.

 

2. Chisato's route from Koichoco:

 

Okay, there was ichaicha, but I didn't have problem with it, since there was some good romance too. The two main problems were the high amount of pointless conversation unrelated to the route focus and too much of the plot. The heroine's problem was known by the protagonist since the beginning (and I consider this a bad thing because there's no "revelation" part that I like) and it ended in the middle of the route, with just a little epilogue in the end about it. All the rest was plot-related. Oh, and I can't forget about the forced and unnatural drama.

 

3. Kotori's route from Konosora:

 

Basically, the same thing of Ageha's route, but the heroine had more appearances and those flaws were not so intense as they were in Ageha's.

 

 

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Kurugaya's route in Little Busters

 

Being one of my favorite VNs, it's hard to say this, but I absolutely abhor Kurugaya's route.

The character itself isn't too bad, I'm not fond of her trope but I could excuse it if her story was interesting... but it wasn't.

Her route was some timeloop BS which was as compelling as paint drying on a wall. And the ending is the least satisfactory thing ever.

There was nothing in Kurugaya's route that made me go "man these two really look good together" or "wow that's a really tragic thing that happened", I was just watching the events unfold and wondering "what's the point of all this?"

It was even worse than Mio's route about seagulls and poetry.

 

Haru's route in G-senjou

 

I disliked Haru, and her route failed to make me like her any better, and when you don't like a character, you usually find their route to be disappointing.

I swear if it was anyone else I'd probably have liked the true route a bit more (though I still thought that last plot twist was pretty silly) but I despised Haru and so reading the true route of G-senjou was actually what made me want to drop it.

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I think my 4th worst route would be Terra Route from Rewrite, also because it was a true route and it still managed to be the worst route of Rewrite. (All the others were a lot better).

WHAT? Really? I can see why you didn't like the Terra Route, it was pretty bittersweet, but to claim it was better than Shizuru's route? Really?

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WHAT? Really? I can see why you didn't like the Terra Route, it was pretty bittersweet, but to claim it was better than Shizuru's route? Really?

 

I didn't dislike Terra Route because it was bittersweet, it's because it didn't add much to Rewrite. They could've explored the characters a lot more, but instead they just chose a big route to "end" the plot and to give us a little more information about Guardian. It was just too superficial for me.

 

It wasn't better than Shizuru's route. I think you mean "claim it was worse than Shizuru's route", right? Shziuru's route was A LOT better than Terra. It was my second favorite route from Rewrite. (Lucia's is my all-time favorite route). Shizuru's route had good romance, good drama, and it didn't lack focus. It had nothing wrong.

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Personal Worst Routes (In no particular order)

 

-Takekawa Benio (Cou) - Nothing is more aggravating than a idealist that pushes their beliefs on others and Benio is the personification of the pushy idealist. So of course the route that focused on her was nearly unbearable for me.

 

- Sagisawa Misaki (DaCapo)- Uhhhhh guys, are we going to acknowledge the fact that the protagonist fucked a cat???? No? Alright.

 

- Shiraki Aeka (Yume Miru Kusuri) - I know that Japanese teachers give less of a shit when it comes to their students than even American teachers, but Jesus what does someone have to do to get into trouble? Shoot a student in the middle of class?

 

-Miyazawa Yukine (Clannad) - Thanks for wasting my time Key.

 

- Every route aside from Amamiya Yuuko's (Ef)- Miyako and Kei were pretty unlikeable characters, Chihiro annoyed me cause memory loss does not work like that, and Mizuki..... God I'm just sooo sick of the "Terminal Illness cliche".

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Yumiko´s route in Grisaia no Kajitsu - First of all she was my least favourite character from the very start so having her in the focus made it already hard to read. Another problem was the artwork. Grisaia is usually full of beautiful CGs but they totally screwed up some in her route (for example out of the place comic style, Yuuji with a body like a huge bodybuilder in the h-scenes...) Also her route may have a similar story as Makina´s but did a far worse job in delivering it (no further informations about Yuuji´s mindset, boring ending, even more boring bad ending).

And her completely dubious dere side. Geez, that was actually the most annoying thing about her...

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First off, Marimo's route in Muv Luv. Barely any development, barely anything to do with the fact that she is your teacher. She makes like 3 appearances and then molests you at the end out of being a sex maniac. Ugh...enough said, just play the route yourself and you'll know what I mean.It was so bad I don't even know why they put it into the common route.

 

Second for me would be Ageha's route in Kono Oozora Ni and that was just as horrific. By the end of it I was asleep and only read it for the tits (which were awesome btw) and gags. I was hoping for a harem with the sister but i heard that is in the next which i have yet to play yet. Even the sister was much more interesting than the entire Ageha route itself

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First off, Marimo's route in Muv Luv. Barely any development, barely anything to do with the fact that she is your teacher. She makes like 3 appearances and then molests you at the end out of being a sex maniac. Ugh...enough said, just play the route yourself and you'll know what I mean.It was so bad I don't even know why they put it into the common route.

 

Well, Marimo's route is pretty obviously a joke. With that massive BAD END animation at the end and all.

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WHAT? Really? I can see why you didn't like the Terra Route, it was pretty bittersweet, but to claim it was better than Shizuru's route? Really?

Terra route was real bad, yo.

The protagonist bait and switch, the lack of focus on any of the characters you've grown attached to, and the lack of any real romance involving its main heroine all make for a pretty underwhelming end. They should have made it Kotarou and the girls all coming together to save the world instead of the asinine bullshit it went with. The worst part was how the protagonist was basically a completely different person, one you have never met before. It felt like nothing in rest of the game mattered even a little.

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Terra route was real bad, yo.

The protagonist bait and switch, the lack of focus on any of the characters you've grown attached to, and the lack of any real romance involving its main heroine all make for a pretty underwhelming end. They should have made it Kotarou and the girls all coming together to save the world instead of the asinine bullshit it went with. The worst part was how the protagonist was basically a completely different person, one you have never met before. It felt like nothing in rest of the game mattered even a little.

 

Technically it didn't, since

the events that led up to those other routes never happened in Terra

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The Mare route in HoshiMemo:

Too short and wasted potential

Oh I gotta agree on this, Mare's route in HoshiMemo... I was like... what... that's it? I don't even... What a wasted route, can't even call it a route, its like the devs were so desperate that Mare needs a H-scene so they just slap that in. I hope the fandisk will be satisfying.

 

Well, Marimo's route is pretty obviously a joke. With that massive BAD END animation at the end and all.

Mind spoiling me how bad her route goes down? I can't stomach playing muv-luv other than finishing Sumika's and Meiya's route just for the setup of unlimited and alternative.

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Haven't read that many but...

 

The Mare route in HoshiMemo:

Too short and wasted potential

I feel so bittersweet about Mare's route, on one hand I was rejoicing because, you know, it's Mare! But on the other hand it was so short and the fact that it randomly branches off Yume's route and doesn't have any particular goal made it so lackluster. And when you consider you have to complete all the routes to get it, it really doesn't feel like a reward.

I still love Mare so I didn't absolutely hate the route, but man was it such a waste.

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Chihaya's route in Rewrite might be the worst story I've ever read, period.

The writing is schizophrenic, poorly paced, tonally all over the place and the romance is unsatisfying and dull. Combine that with a reading time of 8 hours, which only feels four times it's length. Then this route also contradicts the established Rewrite canon, has no real use for Chihaya herself and is guilty of overly masturbating to Sakuya, the biggest Mary Sue in the history of Mary Sues.

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I also forgot to mention Kotori's route in the Rewrite. One of the reasons is maybe her VA but I got used to it in the end, but still something about her route just doesn't click with me and I just can't enjoy it one bit and just have to force myself to finish her route.

 

Makina's route in Grisaia. Yes, you read that correctly. Once you play the entire series you'll realize why it is a bad route. For starters, Makina is just a side character in her own route, among other things. As for more details, I would be happy to share.

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Chihaya route (Rewrite): People has reason to call it "Sakuya route", since Chihaya completely played as a support char in her own route.

Ena route (Kujiragami no Tearstilla): A completely pointless route with zero value to the main plot. They tried to throw a bit drama in at the end, but then let Deus Ex Machina did all the work.

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Oh I forgot one, Suzuha's route in Steins;Gate

 

Let me tell you I love Steins;Gate and I love Suzuha, but her route was the worst one in the entire game. It's the shortest, features the least amount of content and to be honest it didn't even feel like a real "Suzuha route", it was just sort of a "here's this random event with Suzuha in it" and then it ends on a really vague note.

 

Since it was the first route I went for in Steins;Gate, it really left a bad aftertaste in my mouth and I really think Suzuha's character deserved much better.

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Oh I forgot one, Suzuha's route in Steins;Gate

 

Let me tell you I love Steins;Gate and I love Suzuha, but her route was the worst one in the entire game. It's the shortest, features the least amount of content and to be honest it didn't even feel like a real "Suzuha route", it was just sort of a "here's this random event with Suzuha in it" and then it ends on a really vague note.

 

Since it was the first route I went for in Steins;Gate, it really left a bad aftertaste in my mouth and I really think Suzuha's character deserved much better.

 

Hm... I don't think Steins;Gate routes should be measured like normal routes. All of them were short (Suzuha was the shortest, but still...) and they were kind of different. They wouldn't have a value outside of the VN as a whole. 

 

Chihaya route (Rewrite): People has reason to call it "Sakuya route", since Chihaya completely played as a support char in her own route.

 

 

This is bad, but at least it had focus in Sakuya, instead of having almost no focus and wasting time with useless stuff (*cough*Ageha's route from Konosora*cough*)

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Oh I forgot one, Suzuha's route in Steins;Gate

 

Let me tell you I love Steins;Gate and I love Suzuha, but her route was the worst one in the entire game. It's the shortest, features the least amount of content and to be honest it didn't even feel like a real "Suzuha route", it was just sort of a "here's this random event with Suzuha in it" and then it ends on a really vague note.

 

Since it was the first route I went for in Steins;Gate, it really left a bad aftertaste in my mouth and I really think Suzuha's character deserved much better.

Calling it route is a bit much, Steins;Gate dosn't really have routes, but endings. Story wise there really isn't any other way it could have ended, Suzuha had to travel back to complete her mission, her determination is major part of what makes Suzu, Suzu and changing that would have been a betrayel of her character. If Okabe did something like sabotage her time machine, she would not have forgiven him, which wouldn't work in a ending in which they are suppose to be "together".

 

Also, I think the plathora of spin-offs should compensate for any precieved lack of a "Suzuha" ending.

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