Any Yuri (any type of media) you feel is underrated and deserves more attention and love?
Ooh great question!! Honestly all yuri could use more attention and love; I thought that I was a major yuri fan before starting this tourney, but I'd never heard of a few of the popular submissions like Butterfly Soup before, not to mention a lot of the other submissions! I have a few games that I'd like to highlight though which are not quite yuri enough to be in the tourney (in my mind) but are still something that I think a lot of yuri fans will like.
Analogue: A Hate Story and Hate Plus
These two games were made by the writer of Ladykiller in a Bind which was submitted to the tourney. Christine Love writes a lot of games with queer themes and these two are no exception! While this game used to be more popular (I think?) it's 13 years old now, so I think it deserves more love!!
In this story, you are an investigator trying to discover what happened to the derelict spaceship Mugungwha. Talking to two different AI girls built into the ship, you discover the tragedy of what happened on the ship.
Not quiiiite yuri because you can play as either a man or a woman, but the story is very different depending on your gender because of the way the two AI girls respond to you. The girl pictured, Mute, has traditional beliefs based on the Korean Joseon Dynasty and is too homophobic to have a romantic ending with a girl player in the first game, but is starting to warm up to you in the second. Hyun-ae, the other AI girl, falls in love with you whether you're a boy or a girl, but has interesting dialogue regarding overcoming internalized homophobia if you are a girl. Additionally, there are sapphic stories discovered within the ship's log, explaining part of the history of what happened to the ship. Both games are amazing visual novels with interesting interfaces; I've heard people complain about the amount of reading you have to do, but that's part of what a VN is to me fdhjkfd so that was part of what I liked so much about it.
A magical girl action RPG. Rei Hatada goes on a quest to save her sister Mirai from the depths of purgatory, making friends and plunging into despair along the way. This game is often maligned for having boring combat, but I found it really relaxing and fun to play; not overly difficult but with enough challenge to keep it enjoyable. The music, art, and story are where it really shines though, and it feels almost like a visual novel to me.
The whole game is focused on girl/girl relationships: mainly sisterly or platonic, but some with romantic subtext. Kokoro, one of Rei's friends, had a boyfriend in the past, but flirts with Rei throughout the game, talking about how she is just her type. Warning that Rei is a teenager, while Kokoro is in her early twenties, but their relationship is portrayed on equal footing and I greatly enjoyed it.
Each and every girl in the game gets time to shine, and mysteries about their pasts unfold as you go through the game. Crystar is similar to the Nier/Drakengard series' (and in fact was inspired by them) in that you need to play through the game a few times to see alternate endings. Each playthrough is different and more mysteries are explained as you go.
I also really love the message that Crystar has: that tears and emotion matter, and your tears are not a sign of weakness, but that you have gone through sorrow that makes you stronger. Plus, if you really like complicated sister relationships, Crystar has you covered. I'll never forget the Rei and Mirai relationship, as well as another sister relationship that I'll keep secret for spoilers. It's such a lovely game that I hope more people will play it!!
Crystar's spiritual sequel Crymachina is explicitly yuri, but I haven't finished it yet so I won't comment much on it, except to say that I really enjoy it so far, and it's focused on androids, virtual worlds, and transhumanism. It's super good so far and also has a hybrid RPG/VN feel, and also deserves more attention!
