So my original note ended up being so long it went over the YT character limit, so I made a Google Doc I’ll likely just update every now and then. So what I’ll do is cover the basic points, and put a lot of the more in-depth stuff in the Doc. Link: docs.google.com/document/d/1juu2tfPJeSJynfah-IzJddQbzQYRe2Yu43abfwGiOKg/edit?usp=sharing But here’s a summary of a lot of the basic notes: -Novel Recommendation Notes 1. 13 Sentinels *Available on Switch and Playstation 2. Umineko *Available on PC/Steam -So, a common point of contention with Umineko is the visuals. Basically, the version available on Steam has art from a Pachinko version of the game, and most people (myself included) don’t really like them. What a lot of people do is install one or two mods that change the sprites to one that released on console, OR change the sprites to the original release of Umineko. I dunno if I can post links to them, but the mods are either the 07th Mod, or Umineko Project. They also include a few QoL changes that are kinda nice. Umineko Project is what I used for the video, but dealer’s choice here. 3. Ace Attorney *Available on all major platforms! 4. 999 *Available on PC/Steam and Nintendo DS -So the version on Steam is similar to Ace Attorney in that it’s actually multiple novels in one package; 999, and it’s sequel, Virtue’s Last Reward. The reason I didn’t mention this is I have yet to play the sequel (or any of the sequels really), but you will get both games if you buy 999 on Steam. 5. Slay the Princess *Available on all major platforms! 6. VA-11 Ha11-A *Available on all major platforms! 7. Steins;Gate *Available on all major platforms….kind of…. -So this was a section I originally included in the script, but cut when a NEW version of the novel was announced. But basically, with Steins;Gate you have two options; Steins;Gate, and Steins;Gate Elite. -Essentially, SG Elite is a rerelease of the VN that changes the art style to match the anime, adds some QoL updates and changes the story a bit. I used it a few times for B-roll, so you can see for yourself how different it is. As far as the novel itself, Elite is…fine, but I always advocate the original because of two reasons: 1. Art, I think the OG Steins;Gate has a really distinct art style that gives the novel a lot of charm, and, 2. Elite cuts some content. Now, the cuts aren’t the end of the world, but personally, if you’re going to the trouble of reading Steins;Gate at all, just bite the bullet and get the full story. Elite is in this weird sort of middle ground that kind of works as a jumping off point from the novel, but I don’t think it’s totally necessary since you might as well just skip the middleman and get the original story in it’s entirety. -Now generally speaking, the OG Steins;Gate is usually cheaper, but it’s available only on PC. Elite on the other hand is more accessible because it’s on PC and consoles, but its also more expensive in most cases. At the end of the day, its up to you. While I recommend the OG novel, I understand that it does show it’s age in the interface at times. By far the most annoying thing about the original is that you practically need a guide for the true ending, and Elite really streamlines this in a nice way. But if for any reason you can only buy Elite, go ahead. As long as you can read the story at all, that’s all that matters. 8. Mahoyo *Available on PC/Steam, Switch and Playstation 9. The House in Fata Morgana *Available on PC/Steam, Switch*, and Playstation* -Strangely the console versions have new content that the PC edition does not, BUT there’s a workaround. There’s a mod for the Steam version that adds the new content, and it's called “Fata Remaid of Dreams”. If you own a copy on Steam, it allows you to install the new additions. Link: www.fataremaid.com B-Roll In The Video -The Type-Moon Novel 1. Fate/Stay Night Gotchu covered homies, ruclips.net/video/U9n0KlvO2Yo/видео.html But quick recommendation, it’s amazing. Fate is my favorite VN and I recommend it to anyone who’s interested in the original Stay Night. No other Fate story comes close. 2. Fate/Hollow Ataraxia -FSN’s sequel, and also worth reading if you loved FSN. It’s the only spin-off that comes close to the original 3. Tsukihime Original (PC)l, and Tsukihime Remake (Playstation and Switch) >I go over this more in the doc, but basically, you have two options with Tsukihime: 1. Read the original, then the Remake. Yes, the original is old, and it has issues, but it IS the complete story, and reading the original does, in my opinion, make you appreciate the Remake even more. The OG holds up very well as a story, and the Far Sides in particular are immaculate. 2. Read the Remake, and enter the Red Garden waiting room. Like I said earlier, the Remake is exceptional, and it might be one of the best things Nasu’s written in ages (I’ll see how I feel once I finish my reread of Fate). But you will be left wanting more, and if you’re adamant about not touching the original, just get cozy and accept you might be waiting for a bit. -The Science Adventure Novels- *All Available on PC/Steam, Switch, and Playstation 1. Chaos;Head -This is the first SciAdv game, and I can’t say much about this one other than of the SciAdv ones I tried, this one seemed the most promising. It has some dark undertones fairly early, and I appreciate that a little more. 2. Robotics;Notes -For me personally this one seemed the most forgettable, and even though I read a few hours so far, it didn’t grab me quite yet. I also am not usually a fan of 3D models over sprites, but I’m willing to continue in the future. 3. Anonymous;Code -This is the latest SciAdv game, and where it stood out to me was in the production value. While it does have 3-D models like Robotics;Notes, the art style stands out a lot more to me, and the pacing seemed very strong to boot. Definitely curious about this one, but we’ll see. -The Ones I Finished That Almost Made The Cut- 1. Jack Jean *Switch only >A story about a girl who joins an all-boy’s academy. HIGHLY recommended even if you aren’t into Otome games, the music and art style are incredible. 2. AI: The Somnium Files *Available on all PC/Steam and all consoles >This novel is actually written by the same author as 999 and features art done by the same artist as Fire Emblem Awakening, and it’s about a murder case in the future. While it has some weird aspects (the humor for me was hit or miss), this one was very close to making it to the video because it’s generally a very solid novel all around. It only got cut because of 999 and I didn’t want to double up on authors. 3. Danganronpa *Available on PC/Steam and all consoles >Danganronpa is a series where the brightest and best kids are trapped in a school and forced to kill each other. It was close to making the cut, but I ended up going against it only because it does, in my opinion, rely a little too much on shock value over good storytelling. Still, worth checking out for sure. 4. DDLC *Available on all platforms >Let’s be real, this one is really famous at this point, and it was very close to making it the list only because it’s free, and very short. But while DDLC is very good, I do think it strikes me as a novel made by a VN fan, for VN fans, and you can feel a lot of that in the novel. Worth checking out if you have an afternoon to kill and haven’t read it already. 5. Fault Milestone One *Available on Steam and Switch >It’s the rare fantasy VN about a princess who gets whisked to another side of the world. This one is extremely good, the music is sublime and it has very solid worldbuilding and character writing. The only reason it didn’t get mentioned was because the series is technically incomplete, and there’s no telling when the next installment will release. Still, very much worth checking out. 6. Needy Streamer Overload- *Available on all major platforms >Kind of a weird one that functions less like a VN, and more like a tamagotchi pet. I think the story is a bit hit or mess, hence why it never made the cut, but it’s a cool concept I think is worth checking out. -Did Not Finish But Plan To Someday 1. Bustafellows *Available on PC/Steam and Switch >An Otome novel about a murder investigation. I only got a few hours in, but the characters did seem interesting so far. 2. Higurashi When They Cry *Available on PC/Steam >It’s a simple SoL story about a small town…nah I can’t even mess with you here, it’s from the Umineko author. I only read a few hours for B-roll, and the only reason I haven’t read more is because I think I’m not ready for another 100 hour long VN in this moment. Still, I intend to finish this one someday. 3. You and Me and Her (aka Totono) *Available on PC/Steam >My only understanding of this VN is that it’s DDLC but on steroids. That alone has me intrigued. 4. Even If Tempest *Available on PC/Steam >This is an Otome novel about a girl who escapes an abusive situation. Really interesting so far, this is next on my immediate list so far. Recs Not Featured At All Because I Thought I Recorded B-roll But Forgot 1. Gnosia *Available on all major platforms >A social deduction sci-fi story. It’s a little repetitive, but the art is cool and I liked where the story goes. Highly recommend for sure. Ones I Wanna Read Someday 2. Stella of the End >I recently bought this because the premise seemed cool, and I actually have yet to read a Key visual novel, but I’m curious about this one for sure. 3. Muv-luv >See Higurashi, I heard it’s long and I just don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of commitment right now
Great video! I don't consider myself an expert of VNs, but I've read some of them and it is always a nice time. Sadly, most people are unaware of the potential of this medium, and tend to ignore VNs entirely (which is a shame, because some of the messages from the novels I've read have made an impact on my life and I believe more people should experience that), so this video is a nice introduction for new people. Btw, the thing at the end about how the Nasuverse is much simpler and cleaner than most people think is so true and more people deserve to know that.
I put it in as a joke, but I might actually make it a video someday specifically to put the whole "Nasuverse complicated" idea to rest. (....also it gives me an excuse to talk about Tsukihime maybe lol)
I'm a "VN normie", only really into AA, Zero Escape, and Danganronpa. I tried to play Master Detective Archive Rain Code, but after chapter 1 I felt like it didn't click and I dropped it. Haven't played a VN since. I've wanted to get back into the medium for a while, so thanks for the recommendations!
I played 999 back when it came out on the DS, and besides its sequel VLR, I never got into VNs. Thanks for the vid! Definitely willing to dive back into the medium.
Visual novels are so good I need to see more people talking about it. Great video and recomendations. If you want to play another visual novel I highly recommend Raging Loop
great video, my 2 recs are pretty normal ones but thats for a reason in subahibi and white album 2. For me white album 2 is THE romance story of the vn medium and if you have any interest in that you owe yourself to give it a go though its like 70 hours. While subahibi is probably the most idk "profound" i guess vn i read with a drawback of it showcasing a lot of horrible shit way worse than what you see in fata morgana for instance. Dont really want to spoil them white album 2 is my no 1 vn personally though i would say malazan is my favourite story in general.
Subahibi is maybe one of the most overrated piles of pseudo deep drivel that exists. Like I'll credit that the first half is engaging, and some of the dark moments are harrowing, but the second half is just nonsense that flatlines it all, and it's even better that it's all built on a misreading of the personal notes of the philosopher it jerks off for 80 hours. I want good uncomfortable extreme horror in VNs, but so far song of saya is the only decent one I've found.
The first VN I read was Doki Doki Literature Club, having already known what I was in for. Definitely an interesting spin on the medium and a story that can only be told in the form of a VN. My first BIG VN was Witch on the Holy Night, thanks to Type Moon finally deciding that the US might actually like an official release. Was thoroughly impressed by the character writing and I still think it's the most visually impressive entry in the entire medium. Recently finished Tsukihime - A Piece of Blue Glass Moon and am eagerly awaiting the sequel. Currently reading Fate/Stay Night Remastered and am loving being able to finally experience the true Saber Route; definitely appreciate seeing all of the context and extra material the anime adaptations left out. Haven't read Steins;Gate yet, but I've seen the anime adaptations of not only it, but all of the first installments of each branch of the Science Adventures series. Having come this far down the VN rabbit hole, I've naturally wishlisted every single one of them. Although it is for understandable reasons, I'm aghast that 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is merely an honorable mention. It may be more of a point-and-click adventure game with an RTS battle system, but it's also the best sci-fi story I've experienced in recent memory. Got it just because it had a pretty art style and had giant mechs in it; holy crap I was not expecting the story to be that much of a rollercoaster. If anyone has ever gotten to chapter 10 of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, 13 Sentinels has a plot twist of that caliber every half-hour or so and I was losing my mind trying to piece together what was really going on in the story; honestly, due to the non-linear nature of the story, the theory-crafting is half the fun of the entire experience. Awesome vid. Keep it up.
Could not agree more about 13 Sentinels. I found it frustrating to write about too because there was so much I wanted to get into, but it's really worth seeing for yourself. But I hope my praise for it shines through because it's exceptional. It's something that feels like a Tetsuya Nomura fever dream, but it's actually incredibly well done and such a ridiculously clever story through and through. I wouldn't mind doing a full spoiler discussion in the future for sure.
@@ViviVariety Not sure about the Tetsuya Nomura fever dream comparison; 13 Sentinels makes far more sense by the end than Kingdom Hearts, but I guess we'll see what Nomura cooks up in the new story arc. Also, do it.
I was thinking more along the lines of a story that gets really intricate and complicated and lost in the sauce...but 13 Sentinels actually makes sense and sticks the landing unlike the average KH entry lol. But your comparison of Xenoblade 2 plot twists was definitely more apt and a more elegant way of explaining it than I could have. Regardless, it's amazing. I think it's Vanillaware's best entry so far. I can't make any promises of course, but luckily by the time I do get around to doing something on 13 Sentinels, it should feel relatively fresh. You're totally right in that the experience of theory crafting is really key to the experience, and it'll be interesting to read through and piece some things I forgot together, while also knowing the broad strokes and knowing where the story goes.
My biggest issue with VNs is that i'm just bound to my computer for reading them.. I want to take it with me, like a real book. Or at least like an E-Book. I predominantly read on my tablet, which never really leaves my reach. I read on the couch, in bed, on the toilet, while making or eating food in the kitchen - everywhere. There are some available on android or the web, sure, but mostly they live on the pc, no? A more secondary issue is that i read faster than any voice acting. So either it feels like i'm artificially slowing myself down, or like i'm wasting the voice acting work put into the VN. Also having to click "next" on every single line is annoying. Give me a whole page?
I get what you mean, I feel the same. I don't like reading VNs on computer if I can help it. Luckily, the Switch has quite a bit available, with most of my recommendations being available on Switch, and that's my preferred platform for the portability. Also, a lot of VNs let you customize the read settings or do things like speed up text (I always up the speed, I'm also a fast reader) , or have the voice acting be "un-synched" so it'll end as soon as the text finished if that makes sense. Also, auto read settings are quite common, its what I used to record all the B-roll for the video :) (.... In addition, you can sometimes find no commentary playthroughs on RUclips, and I DEFINITELY didn't do that and double the speed for Umineko on my tablet after reading the VN on PC for a while...but remember to support the official releases before or after trying that :))
Serial murder case is an adventure game, not a visual novel. The term sound novel came much later, and then visual novels came much later. Most of the JP VNs we talk about in the west fall into one if these categories, but we call them all visual novels.
True, but to be honest I kind of wanted to streamline a lot of stuff. For example, I thought about including all the details about the different kinds of visual novels like kinetic novels, sound novels, etc, but I didn't wanna get too lost in the weeds for the average reader.
Some VNs that were not mentioned yet, that I liked: Class of 09 (Steam) It´s essentially a cynic take on Highschool, filled with black humor. It is so wrong and yet so funny. Song of Saya (Steam) Written by Gen Urubuchi, famous for Fate/Zero, Psycho-Pass and Madoka Magika. It is that guys take on Horror. It is short and well paced, It´s about a guy left with visions after an accident. Now he only sees the world in disturbing meatshapes, but he finds one normal looking girl. Clannad (Steam) Emotional Highschool Romance, though one Route goes into Adulthood, enough to make a grown man cry. Katawa Shoujo (steam or the website free) Emotional Dating Sim, about Girls with Disabilities and surprisingly Mature in its writing. Especially considering it was written by guys from 4Chan.
Lol all of these are on my backlog, but I've generally heard mostly positive things about them. I think I had a friend who was really disturbed by Song of Saya, but he still recommended it so I'll take that as a net positive.
@ViviVariety I fully recommend all of them. I just think, that you need to be in the right state of mind. For example Song of Saya is one of my favorite pieces of horror, i would give it a 9/10, but it gets really disturbing and includes heavy topics.
Honestly? I agree with you about your overall point about the potential of the medium of visual novels, I think they can do so much that no other genre can, but I disagree when it comes to the quality of the current visual novel scene. I've played most of the "fake" visual novels like Ace attorney, Danganronpa, zero escape, etc. when it comes to pure visual novels I've played muramasa, higurashi, umineko, and fata Morgana. These I would consider good at best and horrendous at worse, but the common denominator is that none of them approach the contemporary novel. Umineko specifically is especially derivative, getting almost all of its commentary from mystery novels that released in the 80s and presenting its argument as if nobody has made it before, which is completely untrue. But the actual quality of visual novels is bogged down by traditions of the genre, which are a bloated script and H scenes. Recommending a visual novel is always a tall order because every single one of them has a sex scene or, more likely, a rape scene. Which is due to the origins the genre has in porn, but as westerners we are much more bothered by that compared to a Japanese person. Which is why even though I've enjoyed my fair share of visual novels, I honestly don't think they're worth recommending to people who have no interest in the medium, because I feel their stories are ultimately too amateurish to compare to older genres like books or movies, and the tradeoff of some of the worst scenes is too high. No visual novel is worthy of becoming a "modern classic" on its own. I hope the medium gets there one day, as its really in its infancy. But ultimately this video paints a picture of an idealist view of what vns might become, instead of what they are.
I've also played 13 sentinels, slay the princess, steins gate and steins gate 0. Also an important point I forgot to mention is I find there should be a meaningful distinction between pure visual novels and games like the zero escape series. Gameplay makes the game's story structured like a video game, while pure choice has you approach it more like a novel, and I feel like the medium of visual novels is more closely accurately attributed to the more pure types.
I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying, I also agree that the VN scene, like any scene really, is a slave to the conventions of the genre, with H-scenes in particular being a pretty big annoyance I find. A pretty big frustration I have is how the medium can feel stagnant, which is evident in how, at least to my knowledge, VNs seem to be on the downward trend in Japan. I do think that when VN takes advantage of the medium, it's as good or better compared the average book in the genre, and heavy emphasis on "average" . Fata Morgana for example is about on par with the average gothic story based on the ones I read, and then you have things like the Tsukihime Remake that's an exceptional horror novel that avoids a lot of VN tropes that the original itself somewhat popularized. I also left out a pretty big distinction in how there's actually many different kinds of VNs, like traditional VNs, kinetic novels that have no choices, sound novels, etc, but I kind of wanted to keep it simple for most people. In any case, I do share a lot of your frustration with the medium, so maybe we're just on opposite ends of how we see it. I think there's a version of this video that especially leans into a more critical discussion of the medium, because oh boy do I have a lot to say sometimes lol.
@@ViviVariety I agree with you about fata and that I'm probably being a little unfair when comparing a thousand year old medium to a 40 year old one in terms of best of the best. I also REALLY agree with your point about stagnation. It really does suck that visual novels in Japan seem to be content where they are, and visual novels in the west seem to be mainly interested in proving they're not a lame and weird game like those Japanese visual novels, so either gameplay is inserted to give them "legitimacy" or they're just outright parody games. I ultimately have faith enough good games will come along to change that though. we'll just have to see
Your point about western devs trying to prove VNs aren't "weird little Japanese games" is something I very much agree with as well. I love a good subversion of parody at times, but it does get tiring when a western dev releases something that's yet another twist on the medium, or gameplay that's very obviously just padding. I know we keep bringing up Fata Morgana, and while I obviously love it a lot, I'll be the first to admit that it still has issues and is by no means the final apex of the medium. But it's always my go-to example of just, you know...making a good story lol. If devs can just focus on making a good, well written story before doing anything else, I think that can do a lot to turn the perception of the medium around over time. But like you said, we'll have to wait and see.
@@ViviVariety the first in the trilogy is kinda mid, but is necessary in my opinion for context for the second and third in the series which are much better
imo best to just start with nasu works like fsn and tsukihime since those are very dense stories written in part for the sake of including erotic scenes, they're like half plotge and half eroge so it gives good exposure to both styles. sadly the widely available english tl is pretty garbage but that also helps new readers become aware of the importance of accurate translation and that learning to read japanese for a more accurate reading experience is always an option.
Lol the only reason I didn't just do that was because I might do a similar video that just talks about Nasu's works only (including KnK just because why not). Which translation has issues? I heard Fate's was decent (and I haven't noticed too much up to UBW besides a few lines) , and I know Mahoyo has one pretty eh one (consoles) and a decent one (PC), but I haven't heard anything in either way from Tsukihime.
@ mostly just mirror moon. their tl’s are notorious for their inaccuracy and creative liberties and have even admitted to this in the past. this is especially true for the sex scenes which are written pretty well in japanese but are completely botched because they wanted to make a joke out of nasu’s prose and such was the reason why it got so made fun of in the overseas community, and why people started to think nasu was “forced to add h scenes”. not to mention kagetsu tohya’s tl is a hodgepodge of different translator’s efforts with the common route reading pretty poorly and only a few side stories translated into well written english. one of the translators from the tsui no sora and upcoming sakuuta tl might start his own tsukihime tl, but the time between then and it’s completion is more than a few years in all likelihood.
Ah I see, I thought you meant the official ones. But yeah that I definitely know about, which is frustrating considering Mirror Moon is basically all we had back then. I did remember seeing that there was at least a new FSN translation in the works, but I dunno if that changed due to the official release or anything.
Most, not all, VNs can provide comfort for the public and disturb the elites. Coffee Talk and Spirit Hunter NG are my outside recommendations. Former is very similar to VA-11 Hall-A. Latter is more like extra supernatural Ace Attorney (exploration and penalty system with actual consequences) While I enjoy soundtracks and world of VA-11 Hall-A I feel that it does not fulfill my personal preferences. I'd recommend watching "Cuatro Lunas (2014)". It's a summary of my complaints more on South American perceptions. Not a complete one though. Also, YIIK collab warning since it is intrusive. Again, for me it's a personal thing towards the game. Not the developers. It's a similar situation with Sense - 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story. Yet clearly VA-11 Hall-A is better at bringing up good cyberpunk subtext with social commentary.
Coffee Talk and Spirit Hunter are VNs I feel pop up a lot, so I feel like I should check them out as well sooner or later. Just...I gotta stop adding to the backlog at times lol.
some that i'd recommend would have to be the chaos games (part of SciAdv like steins;gate): chaos;head and chaos;child. chaos;head on its own is a very good story but chaos;child is a masterpierce and imo beats steins;gate and lots of others i've read.
I recommend the other novels in the notes I made, but the only reason I didn't talk about them more was because I've only finished Steins;Gate, but out of the other ones I played, Chaos;Head was the one that really grabbed my interest. Anonymous;Code looked promising as well. One of these days I plan to check them all out, especially because I've seen a lot of people mention what you said about the other entries.
Sadly, I didn't like Mahoyo all that much. One of the reasons for that is that it wastes a lot of time on some pointless bullshit. Like, the whole "Sizuki got scammed" plotline or pointless Tobimaru backstory or that passenger pigeons monologue... At times it feels like KnK with all that long pretentious "it's so goddamn deep" talk about boring city-nature conflict. And Touko, who was literally an embodiment of that in KnK, is here too. Too much slice-of-life. I really enjoyed that in Fate, since great characters are able to make it entertaining. But here, let's just say, I was disappointed by Aoko-Sizuki dynamic. Not that it's bad, but it is exactly the relationship of Rin and Shirou from UBW. The "her duty is to kill him but something interrupts their fight and then, she's no longer willing to do that" plot point is repeated with remarkable precision. Like, it was done already, and it was done better. I can't think of a single scene in Mahoyo that hits as hard as, for example, Shirou trying to get Rin home after Archer's betrayal so she can finally cry it out, despite his own poor condition. And yeah, Aoko is the same Rin, but greedy xd. I don't know what I'm missing, I suppose I just "didn't get it".
It's okay, sometimes a story just isn't for you. I think Mahoyo is very much a question of how much you liked the characters, and if none of them resonate with you, yeah it's gonna feel kind of underwhelming. I like the entire cast and general antics, so it worked for me, but one person's preference is another one's dislike. I also think that Mahoyo doesn't quite hit a lot of the other Nasu highs, which I think makes sense if you consider that Mahoyo was one of Nasu's first works that he apparently wrote, but never published until later, and it's the basis for a lot of his later writing. It feels like the prototype that he'd later refine into genuine masterpieces.
Im really happy To see you come back. And provide more visual novel RUclips videos. We need more of those By the way do you use Discord? There's a mall private Discord Channel of other fellow visual novel RUclipsrs if you're interested in joining
So my original note ended up being so long it went over the YT character limit, so I made a Google Doc I’ll likely just update every now and then. So what I’ll do is cover the basic points, and put a lot of the more in-depth stuff in the Doc.
Link: docs.google.com/document/d/1juu2tfPJeSJynfah-IzJddQbzQYRe2Yu43abfwGiOKg/edit?usp=sharing
But here’s a summary of a lot of the basic notes:
-Novel Recommendation Notes
1. 13 Sentinels
*Available on Switch and Playstation
2. Umineko
*Available on PC/Steam
-So, a common point of contention with Umineko is the visuals. Basically, the version available on Steam has art from a Pachinko version of the game, and most people (myself included) don’t really like them. What a lot of people do is install one or two mods that change the sprites to one that released on console, OR change the sprites to the original release of Umineko. I dunno if I can post links to them, but the mods are either the 07th Mod, or Umineko Project. They also include a few QoL changes that are kinda nice. Umineko Project is what I used for the video, but dealer’s choice here.
3. Ace Attorney
*Available on all major platforms!
4. 999
*Available on PC/Steam and Nintendo DS
-So the version on Steam is similar to Ace Attorney in that it’s actually multiple novels in one package; 999, and it’s sequel, Virtue’s Last Reward. The reason I didn’t mention this is I have yet to play the sequel (or any of the sequels really), but you will get both games if you buy 999 on Steam.
5. Slay the Princess
*Available on all major platforms!
6. VA-11 Ha11-A
*Available on all major platforms!
7. Steins;Gate
*Available on all major platforms….kind of….
-So this was a section I originally included in the script, but cut when a NEW version of the novel was announced. But basically, with Steins;Gate you have two options; Steins;Gate, and Steins;Gate Elite.
-Essentially, SG Elite is a rerelease of the VN that changes the art style to match the anime, adds some QoL updates and changes the story a bit. I used it a few times for B-roll, so you can see for yourself how different it is. As far as the novel itself, Elite is…fine, but I always advocate the original because of two reasons:
1. Art, I think the OG Steins;Gate has a really distinct art style that gives the novel a lot of charm, and,
2. Elite cuts some content. Now, the cuts aren’t the end of the world, but personally, if you’re going to the trouble of reading Steins;Gate at all, just bite the bullet and get the full story. Elite is in this weird sort of middle ground that kind of works as a jumping off point from the novel, but I don’t think it’s totally necessary since you might as well just skip the middleman and get the original story in it’s entirety.
-Now generally speaking, the OG Steins;Gate is usually cheaper, but it’s available only on PC. Elite on the other hand is more accessible because it’s on PC and consoles, but its also more expensive in most cases. At the end of the day, its up to you. While I recommend the OG novel, I understand that it does show it’s age in the interface at times. By far the most annoying thing about the original is that you practically need a guide for the true ending, and Elite really streamlines this in a nice way. But if for any reason you can only buy Elite, go ahead. As long as you can read the story at all, that’s all that matters.
8. Mahoyo
*Available on PC/Steam, Switch and Playstation
9. The House in Fata Morgana
*Available on PC/Steam, Switch*, and Playstation*
-Strangely the console versions have new content that the PC edition does not, BUT there’s a workaround. There’s a mod for the Steam version that adds the new content, and it's called “Fata Remaid of Dreams”. If you own a copy on Steam, it allows you to install the new additions.
Link: www.fataremaid.com
B-Roll In The Video
-The Type-Moon Novel
1. Fate/Stay Night
Gotchu covered homies, ruclips.net/video/U9n0KlvO2Yo/видео.html
But quick recommendation, it’s amazing. Fate is my favorite VN and I recommend it to anyone who’s interested in the original Stay Night. No other Fate story comes close.
2. Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
-FSN’s sequel, and also worth reading if you loved FSN. It’s the only spin-off that comes close to the original
3. Tsukihime Original (PC)l, and Tsukihime Remake (Playstation and Switch)
>I go over this more in the doc, but basically, you have two options with Tsukihime:
1. Read the original, then the Remake.
Yes, the original is old, and it has issues, but it IS the complete story, and reading the original does, in my opinion, make you appreciate the Remake even more. The OG holds up very well as a story, and the Far Sides in particular are immaculate.
2. Read the Remake, and enter the Red Garden waiting room.
Like I said earlier, the Remake is exceptional, and it might be one of the best things Nasu’s written in ages (I’ll see how I feel once I finish my reread of Fate). But you will be left wanting more, and if you’re adamant about not touching the original, just get cozy and accept you might be waiting for a bit.
-The Science Adventure Novels-
*All Available on PC/Steam, Switch, and Playstation
1. Chaos;Head
-This is the first SciAdv game, and I can’t say much about this one other than of the SciAdv ones I tried, this one seemed the most promising. It has some dark undertones fairly early, and I appreciate that a little more.
2. Robotics;Notes
-For me personally this one seemed the most forgettable, and even though I read a few hours so far, it didn’t grab me quite yet. I also am not usually a fan of 3D models over sprites, but I’m willing to continue in the future.
3. Anonymous;Code
-This is the latest SciAdv game, and where it stood out to me was in the production value. While it does have 3-D models like Robotics;Notes, the art style stands out a lot more to me, and the pacing seemed very strong to boot. Definitely curious about this one, but we’ll see.
-The Ones I Finished That Almost Made The Cut-
1. Jack Jean
*Switch only
>A story about a girl who joins an all-boy’s academy. HIGHLY recommended even if you aren’t into Otome games, the music and art style are incredible.
2. AI: The Somnium Files
*Available on all PC/Steam and all consoles
>This novel is actually written by the same author as 999 and features art done by the same artist as Fire Emblem Awakening, and it’s about a murder case in the future. While it has some weird aspects (the humor for me was hit or miss), this one was very close to making it to the video because it’s generally a very solid novel all around. It only got cut because of 999 and I didn’t want to double up on authors.
3. Danganronpa
*Available on PC/Steam and all consoles
>Danganronpa is a series where the brightest and best kids are trapped in a school and forced to kill each other. It was close to making the cut, but I ended up going against it only because it does, in my opinion, rely a little too much on shock value over good storytelling. Still, worth checking out for sure.
4. DDLC
*Available on all platforms
>Let’s be real, this one is really famous at this point, and it was very close to making it the list only because it’s free, and very short. But while DDLC is very good, I do think it strikes me as a novel made by a VN fan, for VN fans, and you can feel a lot of that in the novel. Worth checking out if you have an afternoon to kill and haven’t read it already.
5. Fault Milestone One
*Available on Steam and Switch
>It’s the rare fantasy VN about a princess who gets whisked to another side of the world. This one is extremely good, the music is sublime and it has very solid worldbuilding and character writing. The only reason it didn’t get mentioned was because the series is technically incomplete, and there’s no telling when the next installment will release. Still, very much worth checking out.
6. Needy Streamer Overload-
*Available on all major platforms
>Kind of a weird one that functions less like a VN, and more like a tamagotchi pet. I think the story is a bit hit or mess, hence why it never made the cut, but it’s a cool concept I think is worth checking out.
-Did Not Finish But Plan To Someday
1. Bustafellows
*Available on PC/Steam and Switch
>An Otome novel about a murder investigation. I only got a few hours in, but the characters did seem interesting so far.
2. Higurashi When They Cry
*Available on PC/Steam
>It’s a simple SoL story about a small town…nah I can’t even mess with you here, it’s from the Umineko author. I only read a few hours for B-roll, and the only reason I haven’t read more is because I think I’m not ready for another 100 hour long VN in this moment. Still, I intend to finish this one someday.
3. You and Me and Her (aka Totono)
*Available on PC/Steam
>My only understanding of this VN is that it’s DDLC but on steroids. That alone has me intrigued.
4. Even If Tempest
*Available on PC/Steam
>This is an Otome novel about a girl who escapes an abusive situation. Really interesting so far, this is next on my immediate list so far.
Recs Not Featured At All Because I Thought I Recorded B-roll But Forgot
1. Gnosia
*Available on all major platforms
>A social deduction sci-fi story. It’s a little repetitive, but the art is cool and I liked where the story goes. Highly recommend for sure.
Ones I Wanna Read Someday
2. Stella of the End
>I recently bought this because the premise seemed cool, and I actually have yet to read a Key visual novel, but I’m curious about this one for sure.
3. Muv-luv
>See Higurashi, I heard it’s long and I just don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of commitment right now
Wonderful video! Absolutely agree with everything you said about House in Fata Morgana, and 13 Sentinels and Steins;Gate are such peak sci-fi!
Great video! I don't consider myself an expert of VNs, but I've read some of them and it is always a nice time. Sadly, most people are unaware of the potential of this medium, and tend to ignore VNs entirely (which is a shame, because some of the messages from the novels I've read have made an impact on my life and I believe more people should experience that), so this video is a nice introduction for new people.
Btw, the thing at the end about how the Nasuverse is much simpler and cleaner than most people think is so true and more people deserve to know that.
I put it in as a joke, but I might actually make it a video someday specifically to put the whole "Nasuverse complicated" idea to rest.
(....also it gives me an excuse to talk about Tsukihime maybe lol)
The house in Fatamorgana is way beyond just a visual novel or a book it somehow feels like it's own thing
Always looking for more vn content on youtube. Always feel like theres so much more that can be done, i cant wait to watch this!
One thing is true: You will never find one heck of a story like Umineko again in your life.
babies first peak
I'm a "VN normie", only really into AA, Zero Escape, and Danganronpa. I tried to play Master Detective Archive Rain Code, but after chapter 1 I felt like it didn't click and I dropped it. Haven't played a VN since.
I've wanted to get back into the medium for a while, so thanks for the recommendations!
The house in fata morgana is easily the best thing on that list.
The sequel is great too
I played 999 back when it came out on the DS, and besides its sequel VLR, I never got into VNs. Thanks for the vid! Definitely willing to dive back into the medium.
Visual novels are so good I need to see more people talking about it. Great video and recomendations. If you want to play another visual novel I highly recommend Raging Loop
That's on my list lol but I really need to stop buying VNs and adding more to the backlog xD
@ same thing happens to me lol. Btw did you see the new Elden Ring trailer?
Nightreign right? I have, I love rouge likes and a Souls rogue like sounds amazing!
@@ViviVariety yeah same it seems like a souls game with infinite replayability. Super excited
great video, my 2 recs are pretty normal ones but thats for a reason in subahibi and white album 2. For me white album 2 is THE romance story of the vn medium and if you have any interest in that you owe yourself to give it a go though its like 70 hours. While subahibi is probably the most idk "profound" i guess vn i read with a drawback of it showcasing a lot of horrible shit way worse than what you see in fata morgana for instance. Dont really want to spoil them
white album 2 is my no 1 vn personally though i would say malazan is my favourite story in general.
I always hear a lot about White Album 2, it's another novel I wanna read someday because I could definitely use a good romance every now and then.
Subahibi is maybe one of the most overrated piles of pseudo deep drivel that exists. Like I'll credit that the first half is engaging, and some of the dark moments are harrowing, but the second half is just nonsense that flatlines it all, and it's even better that it's all built on a misreading of the personal notes of the philosopher it jerks off for 80 hours.
I want good uncomfortable extreme horror in VNs, but so far song of saya is the only decent one I've found.
The first VN I read was Doki Doki Literature Club, having already known what I was in for. Definitely an interesting spin on the medium and a story that can only be told in the form of a VN.
My first BIG VN was Witch on the Holy Night, thanks to Type Moon finally deciding that the US might actually like an official release. Was thoroughly impressed by the character writing and I still think it's the most visually impressive entry in the entire medium.
Recently finished Tsukihime - A Piece of Blue Glass Moon and am eagerly awaiting the sequel. Currently reading Fate/Stay Night Remastered and am loving being able to finally experience the true Saber Route; definitely appreciate seeing all of the context and extra material the anime adaptations left out.
Haven't read Steins;Gate yet, but I've seen the anime adaptations of not only it, but all of the first installments of each branch of the Science Adventures series. Having come this far down the VN rabbit hole, I've naturally wishlisted every single one of them.
Although it is for understandable reasons, I'm aghast that 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is merely an honorable mention. It may be more of a point-and-click adventure game with an RTS battle system, but it's also the best sci-fi story I've experienced in recent memory. Got it just because it had a pretty art style and had giant mechs in it; holy crap I was not expecting the story to be that much of a rollercoaster. If anyone has ever gotten to chapter 10 of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, 13 Sentinels has a plot twist of that caliber every half-hour or so and I was losing my mind trying to piece together what was really going on in the story; honestly, due to the non-linear nature of the story, the theory-crafting is half the fun of the entire experience.
Awesome vid. Keep it up.
Could not agree more about 13 Sentinels. I found it frustrating to write about too because there was so much I wanted to get into, but it's really worth seeing for yourself. But I hope my praise for it shines through because it's exceptional. It's something that feels like a Tetsuya Nomura fever dream, but it's actually incredibly well done and such a ridiculously clever story through and through. I wouldn't mind doing a full spoiler discussion in the future for sure.
@@ViviVariety Not sure about the Tetsuya Nomura fever dream comparison; 13 Sentinels makes far more sense by the end than Kingdom Hearts, but I guess we'll see what Nomura cooks up in the new story arc.
Also, do it.
I was thinking more along the lines of a story that gets really intricate and complicated and lost in the sauce...but 13 Sentinels actually makes sense and sticks the landing unlike the average KH entry lol. But your comparison of Xenoblade 2 plot twists was definitely more apt and a more elegant way of explaining it than I could have. Regardless, it's amazing. I think it's Vanillaware's best entry so far.
I can't make any promises of course, but luckily by the time I do get around to doing something on 13 Sentinels, it should feel relatively fresh. You're totally right in that the experience of theory crafting is really key to the experience, and it'll be interesting to read through and piece some things I forgot together, while also knowing the broad strokes and knowing where the story goes.
My biggest issue with VNs is that i'm just bound to my computer for reading them..
I want to take it with me, like a real book. Or at least like an E-Book. I predominantly read on my tablet, which never really leaves my reach. I read on the couch, in bed, on the toilet, while making or eating food in the kitchen - everywhere. There are some available on android or the web, sure, but mostly they live on the pc, no?
A more secondary issue is that i read faster than any voice acting. So either it feels like i'm artificially slowing myself down, or like i'm wasting the voice acting work put into the VN. Also having to click "next" on every single line is annoying. Give me a whole page?
I get what you mean, I feel the same. I don't like reading VNs on computer if I can help it. Luckily, the Switch has quite a bit available, with most of my recommendations being available on Switch, and that's my preferred platform for the portability.
Also, a lot of VNs let you customize the read settings or do things like speed up text (I always up the speed, I'm also a fast reader) , or have the voice acting be "un-synched" so it'll end as soon as the text finished if that makes sense. Also, auto read settings are quite common, its what I used to record all the B-roll for the video :)
(.... In addition, you can sometimes find no commentary playthroughs on RUclips, and I DEFINITELY didn't do that and double the speed for Umineko on my tablet after reading the VN on PC for a while...but remember to support the official releases before or after trying that :))
If you know where to find it, some vns like umineko and higurashi are available on android
Serial murder case is an adventure game, not a visual novel. The term sound novel came much later, and then visual novels came much later. Most of the JP VNs we talk about in the west fall into one if these categories, but we call them all visual novels.
True, but to be honest I kind of wanted to streamline a lot of stuff. For example, I thought about including all the details about the different kinds of visual novels like kinetic novels, sound novels, etc, but I didn't wanna get too lost in the weeds for the average reader.
Based department clocking in
Some VNs that were not mentioned yet, that I liked:
Class of 09 (Steam)
It´s essentially a cynic take on Highschool, filled with black humor. It is so wrong and yet so funny.
Song of Saya (Steam)
Written by Gen Urubuchi, famous for Fate/Zero, Psycho-Pass and Madoka Magika. It is that guys take on Horror. It is short and well paced, It´s about a guy left with visions after an accident. Now he only sees the world in disturbing meatshapes, but he finds one normal looking girl.
Clannad (Steam)
Emotional Highschool Romance, though one Route goes into Adulthood, enough to make a grown man cry.
Katawa Shoujo (steam or the website free)
Emotional Dating Sim, about Girls with Disabilities and surprisingly Mature in its writing. Especially considering it was written by guys from 4Chan.
Lol all of these are on my backlog, but I've generally heard mostly positive things about them. I think I had a friend who was really disturbed by Song of Saya, but he still recommended it so I'll take that as a net positive.
@ViviVariety I fully recommend all of them. I just think, that you need to be in the right state of mind. For example Song of Saya is one of my favorite pieces of horror, i would give it a 9/10, but it gets really disturbing and includes heavy topics.
Honestly? I agree with you about your overall point about the potential of the medium of visual novels, I think they can do so much that no other genre can, but I disagree when it comes to the quality of the current visual novel scene. I've played most of the "fake" visual novels like Ace attorney, Danganronpa, zero escape, etc. when it comes to pure visual novels I've played muramasa, higurashi, umineko, and fata Morgana. These I would consider good at best and horrendous at worse, but the common denominator is that none of them approach the contemporary novel. Umineko specifically is especially derivative, getting almost all of its commentary from mystery novels that released in the 80s and presenting its argument as if nobody has made it before, which is completely untrue. But the actual quality of visual novels is bogged down by traditions of the genre, which are a bloated script and H scenes. Recommending a visual novel is always a tall order because every single one of them has a sex scene or, more likely, a rape scene. Which is due to the origins the genre has in porn, but as westerners we are much more bothered by that compared to a Japanese person. Which is why even though I've enjoyed my fair share of visual novels, I honestly don't think they're worth recommending to people who have no interest in the medium, because I feel their stories are ultimately too amateurish to compare to older genres like books or movies, and the tradeoff of some of the worst scenes is too high. No visual novel is worthy of becoming a "modern classic" on its own. I hope the medium gets there one day, as its really in its infancy. But ultimately this video paints a picture of an idealist view of what vns might become, instead of what they are.
I've also played 13 sentinels, slay the princess, steins gate and steins gate 0. Also an important point I forgot to mention is I find there should be a meaningful distinction between pure visual novels and games like the zero escape series. Gameplay makes the game's story structured like a video game, while pure choice has you approach it more like a novel, and I feel like the medium of visual novels is more closely accurately attributed to the more pure types.
I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying, I also agree that the VN scene, like any scene really, is a slave to the conventions of the genre, with H-scenes in particular being a pretty big annoyance I find. A pretty big frustration I have is how the medium can feel stagnant, which is evident in how, at least to my knowledge, VNs seem to be on the downward trend in Japan. I do think that when VN takes advantage of the medium, it's as good or better compared the average book in the genre, and heavy emphasis on "average" . Fata Morgana for example is about on par with the average gothic story based on the ones I read, and then you have things like the Tsukihime Remake that's an exceptional horror novel that avoids a lot of VN tropes that the original itself somewhat popularized.
I also left out a pretty big distinction in how there's actually many different kinds of VNs, like traditional VNs, kinetic novels that have no choices, sound novels, etc, but I kind of wanted to keep it simple for most people.
In any case, I do share a lot of your frustration with the medium, so maybe we're just on opposite ends of how we see it. I think there's a version of this video that especially leans into a more critical discussion of the medium, because oh boy do I have a lot to say sometimes lol.
@@ViviVariety I agree with you about fata and that I'm probably being a little unfair when comparing a thousand year old medium to a 40 year old one in terms of best of the best. I also REALLY agree with your point about stagnation. It really does suck that visual novels in Japan seem to be content where they are, and visual novels in the west seem to be mainly interested in proving they're not a lame and weird game like those Japanese visual novels, so either gameplay is inserted to give them "legitimacy" or they're just outright parody games. I ultimately have faith enough good games will come along to change that though. we'll just have to see
Your point about western devs trying to prove VNs aren't "weird little Japanese games" is something I very much agree with as well. I love a good subversion of parody at times, but it does get tiring when a western dev releases something that's yet another twist on the medium, or gameplay that's very obviously just padding.
I know we keep bringing up Fata Morgana, and while I obviously love it a lot, I'll be the first to admit that it still has issues and is by no means the final apex of the medium. But it's always my go-to example of just, you know...making a good story lol. If devs can just focus on making a good, well written story before doing anything else, I think that can do a lot to turn the perception of the medium around over time. But like you said, we'll have to wait and see.
Utawarerumono series is also peak
That's another one I hear a lot about, someday I'll check it out...hopefully lol
@@ViviVariety the first in the trilogy is kinda mid, but is necessary in my opinion for context for the second and third in the series which are much better
imo best to just start with nasu works like fsn and tsukihime since those are very dense stories written in part for the sake of including erotic scenes, they're like half plotge and half eroge so it gives good exposure to both styles. sadly the widely available english tl is pretty garbage but that also helps new readers become aware of the importance of accurate translation and that learning to read japanese for a more accurate reading experience is always an option.
Lol the only reason I didn't just do that was because I might do a similar video that just talks about Nasu's works only (including KnK just because why not).
Which translation has issues? I heard Fate's was decent (and I haven't noticed too much up to UBW besides a few lines) , and I know Mahoyo has one pretty eh one (consoles) and a decent one (PC), but I haven't heard anything in either way from Tsukihime.
@ mostly just mirror moon. their tl’s are notorious for their inaccuracy and creative liberties and have even admitted to this in the past. this is especially true for the sex scenes which are written pretty well in japanese but are completely botched because they wanted to make a joke out of nasu’s prose and such was the reason why it got so made fun of in the overseas community, and why people started to think nasu was “forced to add h scenes”. not to mention kagetsu tohya’s tl is a hodgepodge of different translator’s efforts with the common route reading pretty poorly and only a few side stories translated into well written english. one of the translators from the tsui no sora and upcoming sakuuta tl might start his own tsukihime tl, but the time between then and it’s completion is more than a few years in all likelihood.
Ah I see, I thought you meant the official ones. But yeah that I definitely know about, which is frustrating considering Mirror Moon is basically all we had back then. I did remember seeing that there was at least a new FSN translation in the works, but I dunno if that changed due to the official release or anything.
Most, not all, VNs can provide comfort for the public and disturb the elites. Coffee Talk and Spirit Hunter NG are my outside recommendations. Former is very similar to VA-11 Hall-A. Latter is more like extra supernatural Ace Attorney (exploration and penalty system with actual consequences)
While I enjoy soundtracks and world of VA-11 Hall-A I feel that it does not fulfill my personal preferences. I'd recommend watching "Cuatro Lunas (2014)". It's a summary of my complaints more on South American perceptions. Not a complete one though. Also, YIIK collab warning since it is intrusive. Again, for me it's a personal thing towards the game. Not the developers. It's a similar situation with Sense - 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story. Yet clearly VA-11 Hall-A is better at bringing up good cyberpunk subtext with social commentary.
Coffee Talk and Spirit Hunter are VNs I feel pop up a lot, so I feel like I should check them out as well sooner or later.
Just...I gotta stop adding to the backlog at times lol.
some that i'd recommend would have to be the chaos games (part of SciAdv like steins;gate): chaos;head and chaos;child. chaos;head on its own is a very good story but chaos;child is a masterpierce and imo beats steins;gate and lots of others i've read.
I recommend the other novels in the notes I made, but the only reason I didn't talk about them more was because I've only finished Steins;Gate, but out of the other ones I played, Chaos;Head was the one that really grabbed my interest. Anonymous;Code looked promising as well. One of these days I plan to check them all out, especially because I've seen a lot of people mention what you said about the other entries.
not enough love for VN's on youtube
Sadly, I didn't like Mahoyo all that much. One of the reasons for that is that it wastes a lot of time on some pointless bullshit. Like, the whole "Sizuki got scammed" plotline or pointless Tobimaru backstory or that passenger pigeons monologue... At times it feels like KnK with all that long pretentious "it's so goddamn deep" talk about boring city-nature conflict. And Touko, who was literally an embodiment of that in KnK, is here too. Too much slice-of-life. I really enjoyed that in Fate, since great characters are able to make it entertaining. But here, let's just say, I was disappointed by Aoko-Sizuki dynamic. Not that it's bad, but it is exactly the relationship of Rin and Shirou from UBW. The "her duty is to kill him but something interrupts their fight and then, she's no longer willing to do that" plot point is repeated with remarkable precision. Like, it was done already, and it was done better. I can't think of a single scene in Mahoyo that hits as hard as, for example, Shirou trying to get Rin home after Archer's betrayal so she can finally cry it out, despite his own poor condition. And yeah, Aoko is the same Rin, but greedy xd. I don't know what I'm missing, I suppose I just "didn't get it".
It's okay, sometimes a story just isn't for you. I think Mahoyo is very much a question of how much you liked the characters, and if none of them resonate with you, yeah it's gonna feel kind of underwhelming. I like the entire cast and general antics, so it worked for me, but one person's preference is another one's dislike.
I also think that Mahoyo doesn't quite hit a lot of the other Nasu highs, which I think makes sense if you consider that Mahoyo was one of Nasu's first works that he apparently wrote, but never published until later, and it's the basis for a lot of his later writing. It feels like the prototype that he'd later refine into genuine masterpieces.
Im really happy To see you come back. And provide more visual novel RUclips videos. We need more of those
By the way do you use Discord? There's a mall private Discord Channel of other fellow visual novel RUclipsrs if you're interested in joining
I appreciate it! I don't have a Discord (trying to use less social media in general), but I plan to make one someday, so I'd be happy to join then!