Katawa Shoujo (new to VNs)

Hexd wrote

VA-11 Hall-A looks awesome. its a cyberpunk VN, I want to try it but cant afford it and cant find any linux torrents for it. looks real fun though ive read great things about it

'cyberpunk bartender action' got me hooked, will check it out.

alicemizuki wrote
Hexd wrote

VA-11 Hall-A looks awesome. its a cyberpunk VN, I want to try it but cant afford it and cant find any linux torrents for it. looks real fun though ive read great things about it

'cyberpunk bartender action' got me hooked, will check it out.

VA-11 Hall-A is a pretty good visual novel with great
A E S T H E T I C S.
Only complaints is that it feels a bit to short, and some people might be put off by not getting some plot threads resolved (it's a design choice). 

As for recommended visual novels. 
Yume Miru Kisuri: A Drug That Makes You Dream has a good amount of feels.
Demonbane has stupid crazy action and makes great use of lovecraftian lore.
Muv-Luv series is a solid drama visual novel. It's a huge investment, having three visual novels serving as the main series. Also a problem is that the first part of the trilogy I very generic (once again this is intentional).

I've yet to play any other than Katawa Shoujo but I do know of a few others. Saya no Uta is a macabre Lovecraftian tale written by the Butcher himself which I think would be perfect for this time of year. Fate/Stay Night is one of I've been thinking about getting into but I hear it's incredibly long.

Anyone here ever tried School Days? Like, the actual visual novel?

Here's a protip: Don't.

It's a decent visual novel, and it's pretty unique in how it's an FMV. Is it Makoto that made you dislike it?

Bushido Bob wrote

It's a decent visual novel, and it's pretty unique in how it's an FMV. Is it Makoto that made you dislike it?

Naw, moreso the characters and writing. I didn't notice it back then, but looking at it now... The entire thing is just one great-big melodrama. A textbook melodrama, at that: The characters have no real depth, or likable personality traits; the entire story takes place in a single, familiar locale; and every event is written not with the aim of telling an interesting story, but rather the express purpose of evoking strong emotion in the player. 

Also, it needs to be said: Charitably speaking, everyone in that VN at least grazed a branch on the Ugly Tree; but Kotonoha hit every branch and split her skull against a rock on the ground. She mighta been cute back then, but nowadays she looks like a a sickly alien with terminal cancer.

All in One wrote

I've yet to play any other than Katawa Shoujo but I do know of a few others. Saya no Uta is a macabre Lovecraftian tale written by the Butcher himself which I think would be perfect for this time of year. Fate/Stay Night is one of I've been thinking about getting into but I hear it's incredibly long.

I have around 40-50 hours of play in F/SN and I have only completed 3/5 routes. I'm waiting for the Spanish translation to complete (I'm watching you Otacon!), but I estimate for 20 hours more to complete it 100%.

Saya No Uta is on my TODO list. Is as good as they say?

Backlash wrote

Anyone here ever tried School Days? Like, the actual visual novel?

Here's a protip: Don't.

I did. Was fun to break it:

Image no longer available

Backlash wrote

Anyone here ever tried School Days? Like, the actual visual novel?

Here's a protip: Don't.

Does it have the same ending from the anime? I imagine that it's a pretty satisfying conclusion if you don't know about it beforehand.

All in One wrote
Backlash wrote

Anyone here ever tried School Days? Like, the actual visual novel?

Here's a protip: Don't.

Does it have the same ending from the anime? I imagine that it's a pretty satisfying conclusion if you don't know about it beforehand.

Nah, it's multiple endings. My first one was actually one of the best, likely because I had the power not to make Itou a gigantic asshole.

Sekai can't get over the fact that she lost Itou to Kotonoha, so she spends the last act of the game BAWWWWWing her eyes out in private.

Meanwhile, you and egghead Kotonoha spend Christmas eve alone at her dad's penthouse suite in the heart of the city. Things happen, the two of them fuck, and it's all followed up by a mushy-gushy romantic ending.

On the other hand, there are plenty of bittersweet endings, and a couple of bad endings that give the anime a run for its money: Like when Sekai pushes Kotonoha in front of a train, or when Sekai slits Kotonoha's throat in broad daylight; you get the point.

Probably the most interesting (and my least favorite) ending was the one where Sekai ends up moving to France, and you don't convince her to stay.

The game immediately cuts to about six months later, where you and Sekai have drifted apart, and you don't even bother reading the letter she sends you.

A bittersweet ending on paper, but then the game goes balls-out and reveals that Itou has drifted away from all his classmates at school and developed severe depression.

Now this would be acceptable, if we saw that he based a great deal of his life around Sekai. But in that very same scene, we see him getting ready for a date with two different girls! And they're heavily implied to not be his first.

So, in other words, the guy doesn't care about Sekai's feelings anymore, yet still gets depressed that she's gone.

It's like, what? That makes no sense, man.