My Visual Novel Journal

HeroicSpirit

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2019
1,074
290
26
I finished both Highway Blossoms and Signs of the Sojourner- the former is great if you want a cute yuri romance, while the latter was a bit too difficult for me and I got a, well, not bad ending, but bittersweet one.

Now, time for hot springs!

After that, I might do A Mortician's Tale.
 

HeroicSpirit

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2019
1,074
290
26
I should note that if you are looking for visual novels to JO to, you will be sorely disappointed by my selection; the only one that might be considered slightly horny is Highway Blossoms, and even then, there’s only one sex scene that you can download as a patch and that shows up pretty late in it, so you’ll have to read about two girls being adorable together and searching for treasure where they is kiss and hold hands.

On the other hand, if you’re here for narrative experiences, then you’ll probably be pretty satisfied with these.

Again, sorry if this is a disappointment for you, but I did put this in the mainstream game thread, not the other adult games thread. However, if you feel liking giving me any reccomendations that are more in line with what I’ve so far presented, let me know.
 

HeroicSpirit

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2019
1,074
290
26
Finished one night, hot spring; last day of spring, and spring leaves now flowers. I’d advise these games to anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of trans issues in Japan. They are also very cute and each one is 30 minutes long, so they can be played through pretty quickly.

Also, updated the OP to reflect what I’ve played!
 

Viridian

Well-Known Member
Feb 12, 2020
50
26
36
PNW
it has honestly been a while since I bought some visual novels besides Seeds of chaos and well Bible black but good luck finding that one legal anywhere its old and to my knowledge hard copy only. if you are looking for Fap material I'd recommend those two.

But for more recent not fap games I'd say one that is quickly becoming a fav for me is Coffee talk basically the premise is in a Fictional Seattle you run a night time coffee shop that caters to the super natural and the various stories that happen there. Its very relax and chill and one of the few games set in Seattle that aren't like super dark.

there is also one I kinda remember fondly One night Stand despite the name nothing happens the entire short game is about the aftermath of a one night stand and its kinda just a slow pace game that deals with the awkward situation and if you both handle it well or not.
 

HeroicSpirit

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2019
1,074
290
26
I’ve seen the trailer for Coffee Talk. From what I know, it’s pretty similar to VA-11 Hall-A, which I’ve heard is good.

I should probably actually talk about some of these though, since people don’t really have any idea.

Butterfly Soup is a story about four teenage Asian-American girl’s named Diyah, Noelle, Akarsha, and Min who go on a journey of self-realization and become closer through the sport of baseball. It’s pretty wholesome and cute, although that isn’t to say there are moments where it gets rough, especially with Noelle’s and Min’s parents.

Secret Little Haven is about a teenage trans woman named Alex who realizes she’s a girl through her friends online on a forum for a magical girl anime. It isn’t a traditional visual novel however as the main interface you look at the world through is a late 90s desktop computer. One of the main things is that it has some pretty intense gaslighting sequences whenever your character talks with their father-it does not shy away from the reality of how terrible a father can be even when they don’t use any physical force.

Highway Blossoms is a yuri game about a young woman named Amber traveling to a concert in California after her grandfather died finding a girl at the side of the road and going on a life-changing road trip where they find treasure and grow closer to each other. As I’ve mentioned before, the two main character are very adorable and it has voice acting that is actually pretty good. It also even has an 18+ patch, for all of you who want something a bit more spicy. It is also made by the same people who created Heart in the Woods, so if you like that, you might enjoy this.

Signs of the Sojourner is a RPG where you play as a young woman whose mother recently passed away and has to take up her mantle as a trader. It is set over a period of 5 months, where each one takes you on a trip around the land searching for goods to bring back to town. I didn’t do to well at this (since I don’t have a lot of experience with deckbuilding games) and I think I got one of the worse endings. Still, I do think it’s interesting, and might be something to check out if you want something with more gameplay.

one night, hot spring is about a transgender woman named Haru going to a hot spring with her friends. Despite being only 30 minutes long, it’s able to have some pretty deep stuff in it. It’s sequels, last day of spring and spring leaves no flowers, are similar and further explore the topics presented in the initial game. The last one even reveals one of the characters who might have initially seemed “normal” is aromantic and asexual, and says how that is perfectly fine.

Anyway, I suppose I’ll check some of these out.
 
Last edited:

HeroicSpirit

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2019
1,074
290
26
I played Parsnips, a game where a silly bunny makes a cake for his friends. :)

Also, another point is that all these games are either free or came with the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, which isn’t available anymore so unfortunately if you don’t have it already you will have to buy some of these games. Still, I will see what I can do.
 
Last edited:

Viridian

Well-Known Member
Feb 12, 2020
50
26
36
PNW
So while not recent the first three are from back in college when I had a mac and VN's were like the only things I could play. so I spent a ton of time on the Renpy forums these are ones I did play and complete I will include the devs site rather than the steam page simply because that store covers windows, mac, and linux versions.

So Nicole is a otome VN that is about a college girl named nicole investigating mysterious kidnappings at her school. The game has a rather great story but the mechanics are a tad clunky and the of the endings there is one that is kinda underwhelming. (also mildly salty they originally had a F/F version but that got canceled) however it has great music and it is great fun.

Next Bionic heart 2 and Bionic Heart 1 you play Luke Black, a 36-year-old bio-informatic engineer. at a company specializing in nanotech one day a beautiful woman more or less forces herself in your life and now you know shit that can get you killed. Both games are great and have a lot of fun and rather intense moments and a superb soundtrack. The second game follows one of the endings to Bionic heart one, and it is an interesting concept to post environmental destruction earth.

So last one from this developer Spirited heart so pretty much this game has no real story to it, it is a VN where you live your live as either a human girl, elf girl, or demoness trying to exist in the fantasy world of Avalorn (this dev has a lot of games set in it) but while there is no story there are a lot of branching paths that can lead to their own unique stories since you are essentially playing a peasant in this world. The game ends when you hit 30, and while nothing ground breaking can be fun for killing time or relaxing.

So this one is fun while nothing super fancy it looks like a princess maker game and in a way this is. But part of the charm of this game is how it essentially pulls a Madoka Magica, this game you will Die ALOT. In Long live the Queen it takes place over the short period of time between your mothers death and you being made the queen from being a princess. This game getting even to an ending where you don't die is hard, like git good level hard. However this difficulty is part of its charm and the game does have fun with it.

Now for horror fans World of horror is a mix between visual novel, and metroidvania mystery solving to stop an elder god from entering the world. It is very reminiscent of Junji ito mixed with Elder sign. No single play through is the same and it is equally enjoyable and disturbing.

these last two are more recent as in the last 5 or so years. Side note I looked up how much a disk for Bible black costs my two games are worth a lot sheesh
 
Last edited:

HeroicSpirit

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2019
1,074
290
26
I played through A Mortician’s Tale. I didn’t get a whole lot out of it personally, since most of it is focused around the preparation of bodies. While there wasn’t really a main story, it did look at the way people react to death.
 

HeroicSpirit

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2019
1,074
290
26
I started playing Paradise Killer today. From what I’ve played so far, it’s a bizarre game where you play Lady Love Die, the so-called “Investigation Freak”, who gets freed from her 3 million day exile after the Council is murdered.

The main concert of the setting is that it cycles between sequences where two groups, the Syndicate (which you are a member of) and the Council (who were murdered) try to resurrect their gods by sacrificing large quantities of people to them. However, when this happens, it attracts demons.

One of the things that makes the game fun is that it lets you explore the island and find little snippets of extra lore. This is helped by the game’s vibrant vaporwave aesthetic, which enhances the surreal nature of the world.

Overall, a recommendation to anyone who is into something a lot less traditional and who likes being able to jump around collecting shit.