Visual Novel Recommendations

A good place to find torrents is hongfire.

Actually he has a point, don't start with Fate Stay Night, start with Tsukihime if you're going for that stuff.

edited 29th Jan '11 12:00:24 PM by Arha

I've recommended V Ns to a lot of people in real life,, and when I introduce them to the medium I always start with Tsukihime. It doesn't have fancy artwork, nor does it have lots of music, nor does it have voices. But those reasons are a part of why I recommend it. It's good to start with a Visual Novel.

Tsukihime isn't too long (it is a BAD idea to start out with Fate Stay Night, let me tell you) either. Everyone I've recommended it to has enjoyed it a lot.

So Tsukihime, though it's not my favourite VN, has my utmost recommendation.

What is your stance on pornographic content?

For the record, out of the previously mentioned, Tsukihime, FateStayNight, and Kanon have some porn in them, while Ever17, and Clannad are "clean".

Why? I started with Fate Stay Night, and it was good.

Also Ef A Fairy Tale Of The Two. If you are into massive amounts of Scenery Porn, great music, more Scenery Porn, some romance, some fuckin', more Scenery Porn, and some drama, check that out.

In the end, just look at the work pages of these ones we mentioned, and decide which themes interest you the most.

edited 29th Jan '11 12:06:36 PM by EternalSeptember

Note that the Type-moon porn scenes are more like a mishmash of badly conceived vegetable innuendoes than actual porn.

^ I think Ef isn't that good for a first timer. Maybe for a more experienced guy.

edited 29th Jan '11 12:06:32 PM by neobowman

Well, it's true that later everything else will appear to be ugly compared to it, but that's about it, it's not like it has some complicated plot, or difficult interactive choices.

edited 29th Jan '11 12:08:48 PM by EternalSeptember

We also have a list on Visual Novel.

^^ If we're want him to start with worst first, then he should do Higurashi then Umineko and work himself up.

It's not that FSN is bad, it's just really long, and I only managed to finish it as quickly as I could because I had a ton of free time.

What is your stance on pornographic content?

I can go either way with that.

Well, I didn't think about that, I also read most of it over the summer, in one long session.

So that doesn't really matter, huh? Anyways, if you pick one from the above mentioned, maybe you should tell us what it is, and we could also give specific advice, like whether or not you will need a walkthrough, which route you should start with, and stuff like that.

Oh, and another advice: Kira Kira. It's a bit like a Harem Comedy Anime, but with rock and roll themes, and some drama, but it's really nice.

edited 29th Jan '11 5:22:01 PM by EternalSeptember

Kira Kira seems like it might be good. I like lighthearted stuff (not exclusively, just saying that I like it).

Kira Kira is my favourite VN ever. Full stop.

I dunno if I really have a favorite. Sometimes I think it's Sharin No Kuni, and other times it's Clannad, or Utawarerumono or Ever17.

Clannad for me. I don't know if anything else after it can achieve what it did for me. FSN comes close though.

If you want to start with Kira Kira, and expect lighthearted stuff, you should start with Chie's route. The drama part comes in the other routes.

Picking the routes is easy here, always choose the option that is more favorable for the band and for your girl, and ignore the girls you didn't choose

After you went through all three routes, Kirari has an alternate, fourth route.

edited 30th Jan '11 4:01:04 AM by EternalSeptember

Ef is my favourite VN. Clannad and Ever17 come close.

Looking for a visual novel. Not too picky, but depressing things are bad. Must be free (by any reasonable means, legality-irrelevant). Can be a dating sim. English translation is strongly preferred. Branching paths is also very highly preferred. Any suggestions? (or wanted clarifications?)

An easy one to start with is Kanon. Alternatively, Shuffle!

If you're turned off by lower-quality artwork then go with Shuffle. I never got into Kanon because I can't stand anything that doesn't have great artwork (It's a miracle I got through Umineko). Shuffle's hilarious and it's seriousness generally doesn't last.

I do have strong opinions on artwork, but it is not strictly "I can't watch/read it if it is bad". It's hard to explain.

.

Just checked Google Images, and I can see your point. I'd have to actually play it to get more of an opinion though.

Oh, and any chance of a torrent link to one or both of those? I'd rather use a torrent somebody else trusts than one I would just randomly find.

Okay, new query.

While looking for Shuffle I found out that there was an updated rerelease. While everything I found said that there is no English translation of it, the most recent information I found on this subject was from a bit less than a year ago.
As far as translations go (for things I've paid attention to, such as anime) this sounds like a rather long time, so does anybody here know if there has been a translation released since?

AFAIK only the original Shuffle has been translated; Shuffle! On the Stage! hasn't been.

T_T. Unfortunately, neither have the sequels.