Ghost Trick Ghost Trick Ghost Trick
technically a puzzle game at the same time but that’s an ace attorney pic so you’re probably cool with it
Ghost Trick gang rejoice! The new sounds track arrangements are so good
I played the new demo a few days ago, movement was a little clunkier than I remember it being with the stylus, and the text sharing a screen with the gameplay was a little distracting, but these are super minor gripes that I probably would not have noticed if I hadn’t already played the game, and the high definition graphics more than made up for it.
VA-11 Hall-A! One of my favourite VN if my instance url didn’t give it away. It’s not too long, listen to the start telling you to get cozy and then mix drinks and change lives.
I don’t know that it really qualifies as a VN (because there’s some RTS - and I guess Adventure - aspects to it), but 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Can’t express how much I love Aegis Rim! Id definitely consider it a VN but with an actual game in there aswell.
Cannot recommend enough!
If you haven’t played the non-mainline Ace Attorney games they’re well worth a look. Ace attorney investigations 1&2, The Great Ace Attorney 1&2)
I also enjoyed the Steins;Gate series, but I like the goofy sci-fi stuff they do.
Playing ace attorney rn, I love it!
Hatoful Boyfriend is one of my favorites, but be sure to play all the routes to get to the second half of the story!
Puzzle/mystery VNs that are my favourite: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 doors; Virtue’s Last Reward; AI Somnium files.
It was pretty “mid” for most but I have a soft spot for Time Hollow on the DS. It’s a pretty penny now to play it legitimately but there are ways around this.
If you’re okay with a very long linear story with no gameplay: Higurashi (I recommend using the 07th mod that adds voice acting and animated sprites)
danganronpa, ddlc :)
Doki Doki Literature Club is a must-play in the genre. Don’t do any research about it, go in completely uninformed. https://ddlc.moe/
One of my favourites was 7 Years From Now, which has a brilliantly written interweaving time travel storyline and surprising ending: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.HirayaSpace.SevenYears
I also really enjoyed One Thousand Lies, because it has a thought-provoking coming-of-age story and completion unlocks a very clear explanation and analysis of the story which contains some cool things you might have missed along the way: https://keinart.itch.io/one-thousand-lies
Seconding DDLC, it was surprisingly good! But yeah, stay away from all kinds of info about it or you might get a ton of spoilers.
Doki was my gateway vn! I love it!
Thank you for your reccs!
Probably my favorite VNs come from Love Conquers All Games (Christina Love’s stuff). The best is probably the Hate series: “Analogue: A Hate Story” and its direct sequel “Hate+”, but all her stuff is good. You play a space investigator trying to figure out what happened to a derelict generation colony ship by reading log files and conversing with the still-active onboard AI. It’s way better than it sounds.
Another top favorite is “World End Economica”. Designed by Isuna Hasekura, better known for “Spice and Wolf”, it is a rare example of finance fiction in the VN space (which takes place on the Moon and features Hasekura’s wonderful blend of fantasy, finance, and romance).
I second the Steins;Gate series. Taken together, S;G and S;G0 probably tell one of the best stories ever told… though it requires a great deal of time and thought to figure out what’s really going on behind the scenes. All of Mages stuff is kind of like that, though I think Steins;Gate is the only one where it’s actually worth the effort.
Finally, if you’re just looking for some happy goofy adorkable romance, Pixelfaxe’s VNs are all good. You may as well start with their first VN, “Ace Academy”, which features a bunch of college aged kids at a giant robot fighting academy, but there’s also their fantasy isekai “Crystalline”, their reverse isekai “Ethereal Enigma”, and their upcoming space adventure “Astral Ascension”. The art is beautiful, the girls are gorgeous, and the voice acting is the early work of some people who ended up kind of famous (Amalee, Sydsnap, and others). Really fun stuff.
STEINS;GATE and Higurashi are both great. It really depends on the genre you want though.
https://vndb.org/v is a good resource
Loved the anime of steins gate. Think I’ve got the elite version of the VN but thinking maybe i should of got the OG. The frozen anime frames look a tad weird to me
I’m personally only interested in the story and the influence of choice… other gaming elements like rpg, I’m not much of a fan. But if it’s a damn good story… I can make an exception for it! Thx for the reply <3
Steins; Gate 1 and 0 Daganronpa series Clannad Ace Attorney Great Ace Attorney
Taimanin Asagi
Va-11 Hall-A
Stein’s Gate - weird time travel scifi adventure
Hatoful Boyfriend - comedy romantic bird dating simulator that turns into scifi horror
A Little Lily Princess - cutesy yuri game based on classic novel A Little Princess
Katawa Shoujo - touching dating sim about disabled students, has adult scenes and nudity