Apr 11
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千早赤阪スイセンの丘｜一面に広がる冬の水仙（2026年1月22日）
I finished over 100 visual novels, here’s a long post with some recommendations
Last month I hit 100 Finished VN’s over on the VNDB and I thought I’d shoot out some recommendations while the Steam Summer Sale is going on (even though some of these aren’t going to be on Steam)
I already have finished up some stragglers and caught some shorter titles so it’s up to 104 Finished, but all the better. I have been reading some VN’s since 2015, but it really became a hobby and a genre I was invested in during Covid lockdown in 2020. I had trouble getting into some of the popular titles, but a couple of games that were lesser known at that time really blew me away that year and I started digging more into the medium. I still have a lot to try out and other classics I’m still interested in trying, but here’s a top 10 I’m confident in recommending to most people, at least the kinda people that would follow this blog. A few of these recommendations are actually multi-part series, but hopefully accessible all around.
Planetarian ($10 on Steam and Switch, ~$5 on sale)
This is a very late entry onto this list but I think it’s an easy recommendation. This is a very short 2-4 hour visual novel that got a well received 2 hour movie adaptation in 2016, but it was strong enough that even while knowing the plot everything still hit hard. It is a story set 30 years after an apocalyptic event destroys most of the world, as a human junk-trader comes across a planetarium with a somehow-still-functional robot named Hoshino still performing her daily duties after 30 years without customers or coworkers. It can come across as a bit saccharine, but it is a quick, well made, and effective tearjerker.
Narcissu 1st & 2nd (Free on Steam)
Narcissu’s first two parts are pretty compelling stories to do with suicidal ideation within the scope of the terminally ill. Which is to say they’re also real tear jerkers, and pretty open about some harsh self-reflective emotions. They both have stellar endings, and can be quite immersive despite the very limited artwork (if the screencap looks weird, the game’s art exists within a narrow strip on the screen, with a sentence or two reading out the story underneath it). Maybe the least accessible on this list, but a $0 price tag makes it easier in some sense to get into.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni / When The Seagulls Cry (~$50 on Steam, $30 on sale)
Umineko you’ve probably already heard of, and here’s me recommending it. Umineko comes in two parts, on Steam referred to as the Questions Arc and the Answers Arc. Despite the split, the overall story follows the events of a certain day on Rokkenjima Island in 1986 as a family meets to discuss their inheritance and their family’s mysteries. Unbeknownst to them they are soon haunted, over and over again, by the revenant of the Golden Witch said to live in the woods of their family’s island.
I’m in the minority of preferring the Questions Arc, where well written and deeply human characters find themselves in deeply inhumane and nonsensical scenarios. The Answers Arc back seats some of that to start delving into an esoteric explosion of clues and backstories, and was still very entertaining even if I was more invested in the episodic stories than the overarching mystery. This may also be seen as inaccessible, $30-50 for a slightly older title and over 140 hours long on average playthroughs, but it is deeply absorbing.
Witch on the Holy Night a.k.a. Mahoyo ($40 on PS4 and Switch)
Mahoyo is me and Nasu’s marriage counselor, it really made me see the good in him. It follows a young witch co-habitating with her magic colleague and the puppy-like boy that unwittingly steps into their world at risk to his own life, just as unexplained apparent murders are witnessed in their town.
This could possibly be a higher level recommendation, though it was apparently intended to have sequels and you can somewhat feel that in the isolated feeling of its main conflict. Despite this, the game is definitely worth experiencing for its classy charm and extremely well made action sequences that at times make you forget you’re not watching a full anime film. It’s also a showcase of Nasu’s strengths in writing character interactions and comedy, and he finally lets Show take over and stops Telling you piles of mage society worldbuilding quite so often. It is also has some of the highest quality production value I’ve ever seen, second maybe to...
Marco and the Galaxy Dragon ($20 on Steam/Switch, less than $10 on sale)
Marco and the Galaxy Dragon is an explosive opera of art, energy, color, and of course music. It follows the orphaned Marco and her dragon compatriot Arco as they hunt for treasure across the cosmos, finding their way to Earth on the hunt for Marco’s mother.
If Umineko’s 140 hours seems steep, Marco has you covered with a quick 6 hour rundown of a rebellious orphan fighting back against her space alien menace to find her own sense of place and identity in the universe, along with ALL the friends she made along the way. If Mahoyo feels like an anime film sometimes, Marco actually just has fully animated FMV cutscenes that are fun as hell and have their own unique artstyle to the VN itself. Thousands of pieces of artwork and a 52-track OST fill the game’s short runtime with no cut corners and and overflow of passion from the devs. Honestly even if you don’t want to read it go buy it, it’s cheap and they earned it.
White Album 2 (You’ll have to be creative to find this one)
This is the only recommendation that’s currently only available in an adults only 18+ Rating for the English translation. That being said, it’s one of the few erotic VN’s that felt justified in its pornographic scenes. The story is split into two releases: Opening Chapter and Closing Chapter.
Opening is a short and powerfully delivered love triangle narrative following Haruki, Setsuna, and Touma as their hastily formed 3-man light music band falls into itself with feelings. It’s charming but gut wrenching and sweeps you into its drama very effectively before kicking you on your ass in the end.
Closing Chapter is a long and drawn out disassembling of their lives as they fail to heal from the wounds of the relationships seen in Opening. It, to great effect, takes the readers own experience with how fun and passionate the Opening Chapter was, and shows how trying to cling to halcyon days can make us so dispassionate about our present lives. Painful stuff! Good music, too.
The Princess, The Stray Cat, and Matters of the Heart 1 & 2
a.k.a. Noratoto ($40 on Steam for both, ~$15 for both on sale)
This is a very personal recommendation, and maybe one more easy to make on this blog where many of my followers might be receptive to sincere but slapstick ecchi comedy as art. Every route is highly different however and to me, some are pretty average for galge, while others stand out as amazing. The comedy writing as well feels like it was written by someone with actual comic writing experience, and not just regurgitating the usual ecchi manga jokes.
The general premise of Noratoto is the protagonist Nora, being transformed into a cat by Patricia the princess of the Netherworld, and he must reverse this curse via a kiss before it becomes permanent. A benign fairy tale premise, but one that somehow gives way to underlying stories about existence and finding purpose in families and where that leaves those without families or with abusive or divided families (it is from the same developers as Marco and the Galaxy Dragon, and the themes of finding identity without family match up very closely). Uniquely it is a visual novel written somewhat in 3rd person, narrated by a motherly voice as if the VN was being read to you as a bedtime story.
Like I said, it is dependent on route and some come across as your usual ecchi gal-game schtick, but some stick out, and if every route was as high quality as Nobuchina’s in the 2nd game, it would probably be my favorite visual novel.
The Original Ace Attorney Trilogy ($30 on most platforms, $10 on sale)
You’ve almost certainly heard of Ace Attorney already and have most likely played it. This is me telling any Ace Attorney fans reading that the original trilogy still reigns supreme (regardless of Turnabout Big Top). This is also me telling anyone who has held out on trying Ace Attorney to try it, and to start with the original trilogy.
Obviously this trilogy follows the Meme Man Himself, Phoenix Wright, as he defends the innocent and brings the guilty to justice acting as both lawyer and his own main investigator. While each case presents a unique mystery, the original trilogy has an underlying arc that reaches from beginning to end with a massive conspiracy that Phoenix has to breach to bring justice to the perpetrators and resolve the memory and regrets of his beloved mentor.
These games have some speedbumps as you may be banging your head against the wall trying to find the right evidence, but the experience that breaks through does so with gusto, succeeding on what it sets out to be: games that make you feel like you’ve brought justice to the world.
Utawarerumono Trilogy ($40/60 each on Steam, trilogy bundle $62 on sale)
Utawarerumono was my first proper visual novel, and it set the standards pretty high. I’ve posted about it several times in the last few years, and it remains one of my favorites. It is a labor of love on the part of the developers (the same developers as White Album 2), who developed the latter two games over the course of several years and have made this the spearhead of their company for the time being. Which makes sense, since it is about war.
The first game follows a masked man who is given the name Hakuoro waking up in a rural village with amnesia, confused about the strange population of beast-men living there. Despite not understanding his situation, his ingenuity brings the village prosperity. When the local lords try to put the village under their thumb, Hakuoro and the villagers are able to turn the tides against them. Their village grows into a kingdom as Hakuoro seeks the mysteries of himself and the world around him.
The latter two games pick up some twenty years after the conclusion of the first, and follow a man who is given the name Haku, waking up in the woods with amnesia confused about the... you get it. He is met by Kuon, a young girl on her way traveling to the capital of their nation of Yamato. Haku graciously accepts her help getting out of the cold woods, and decides to join her to the capital. As events play out, Haku finds himself under the direct command of the nation’s leader the Mikado, and carries out missions on his behalf as the nation continues to drag itself into war and conflict and Haku also seeks the truth of his identity.
These games are expansive in scope while still putting a large focus on the day-to-day lives of its characters. Around 100 hours across all three games it is impressive how much story it manages to fit in, but the pacing does bounce around between sweeping conflict and sleepy conversations. It is also in part, a strategy RPG game with the battles in the war being controlled by the player. These are decently made, especially well in the third game, but don’t ask too much of the player and the story remains the main focus and biggest portion of the runtime.
The House In Fata Morgana a.k.a. Fatamoru
($40 complete version on PS4/Switch, ~$40 main game + expansion on Steam)
I’ve gushed about this enough on this tumblr, I’ll keep it brief.
You are a formless soul who is led by the hand of a mysterious maid through the doors of a mansion on an unknown plane of existence. Through each door lies a story of the house in a different era, all following people bound together in ways that leave them cruelly and violently undone by the end of their stories. The connection between these stories, the mystery of the house and the supposed witch that resides within, and the mystery of You the wandering soul all slowly unravel in a bloody show of catharsis and soul. The game is dripping with traumatic poetic text, grating beautiful music, and all of its atmosphere geared toward being oppressive yet enticing. One of the best things I’ve read.
Honorable mentions:
Va-11 Hall-A and Endless Mondays get shout outs as some of the best Original English Language VN’s I’ve read, with cool artstyles and a mature cast they manage to be fun and relatable. Va-11 Hall-A delivers a great arc for its protagonist and Endless Mondays has great dialogue on the threat of automation of creative industries.
Grisaia Trilogy and Hatsumira are both absolutely raucous trilogies that are a lot of fun. Not wholly recommendable to all, Grisaia has some strong moments and a hilarious unique cast but is a mess overall (but we love Michiru). Hatsumira is a bit more consistent, a more stable and fantasy-oriented Grisaia.
A.I. The Somnium Files duology are detective games with highly divisive endings, but great comedy and characters that make them very easy to get through and enjoy the whole way to the end. It’s just a toss-up whether you’ll like that ending.
Sakura Wars games are finally being translated, and they are a great showing for anyone who wants to try some classic dating sim stuff but with some pizazz thrown in with the setting and mecha combat.
The Tears to Tiara duology by the same developers of Utawarerumono and White Album is also one to keep an eye out for. The first game's definitive version isn't available in English and the second game is stuck on the PS3 and no longer available digitally, but if they ever come out on Steam they are worth your time.
Nanairo Reincarnation and Kinkoi: Golden Loveriche are also two solid ecchi comedy galge. Both have surprisingly deep and genuinely heartbreaking underlying mysteries and conclusions.
I still have a lot I wanna read, Planetarian is the only Key novel I’ve read. On the docket are Labyrinth of Galleria, Little Busters, the 9 -nine- series, and Kara no Shoujo and White Album 1 releasing on Steam this year. Some classics I didn’t mention are Fate/Stay Night, Muv Luv, Steins Gate. Muv Luv I read Extra and enjoyed it, but never pulled the trigger on reading the rest, I may at some point on a whim. Steins;Gate I played through half of on PS3 and now my PS3 is in the closet, the VN is really good and has a unique atmosphere to the anime, buuuuuuut knowing the plot has made it hard to want to restart on PC or another console. Steins;Gate is good, if anyone is reading this far and hasn’t seen the anime or read the VN, do it.
"even if I closed my eyes, the real world didn’t disappear, even if I covered my ears, the sound of the rain would not stop"
Mayfly and Daffodil
© 2021, James Blatter
Sekai Games announced several new console titles at E3 2019, including a Switch port of Regista’s Root Double: Before Crime After Days, a PlayStation 4 revival of Mr. Tired Media’s Undead Darlings: No Cure for Love, and updated release windows for previously announced projects such as World End Economica and Narcissu for consoles.
Get the details below.
Project LUX
Developer: forgevision, Sekai Games, Mighty Rabbit Studios
Platform: PlayStation VR
Release Date: June 2019
The crime… is murder.
The story takes place in a court trial, set in a futuristic world where most humans have cyberbrains. The defendant on trial is an agent who coordinates with artists to create the data for cyberbrains to interact with people’s emotions. The victim is a girl artist named Lux. The jury has to investigate what really happened by reliving the memory data of the defendant.
The multi-end virtual reality adventure will finally be available worldwide on PlayStation Network in late June 2019.
Root Double: Before Crime After Days
Developer: Regista
Platform: Switch
Release Date: Winter 2019
The year is 2030. Business is as usual in the isolated research city of Rokumei—that is, until several explosions suddenly go off in the nuclear research facility known as “LABO.” The city sends in “Sirius,” an elite rescue squad, to deal with the situation. But the situation only gets worse when LABO’s nuclear reactor melts down, sending the facility into lockdown—with members of Sirius and survivors still trapped inside.
With lethal radiation leaking everywhere and not enough anti-radiation medication to last until lockdown lifts, the survivors make discoveries that are more and more grim. In their struggle for survival, in a deathtrap full of fire and radiation, they learn that doubt is their greatest enemy, and trust their greatest asset.
The incredible adventure game from Japanese studio Regista is finally coming to Switch in cooperation with Sekai Games, and will be available on the Nintendo eShop in winter of 2019.
Fault: Milestone One
Developer: Alice in Dissonance, Sekai Games
Platform: Switch, PlayStation 4, PS Vita
Release Date: Summer 2019 (Switch) / Fall 2019 (PlayStation 4, PS Vita)
Who were the attackers and what was their goal?
Where did Selphine and Ritona end up?
Will the two make it home safely?
And more importantly, what has happened to their homeland?
Follow Selphine, the bubbly, happy-go-lucky Princess and her sharp-witted but slightly misanthropic Royal Guardian Ritona, on their journey of a lifetime back to their homeland of Rughzenhaide.
The long-awaited console version of the Fault series comes to Switch this summer! Featuring brand new music and artwork, this version of fault is the most beautiful and crisp adventure yet, and is sure to be one of the best visual novels available on consoles so far. The PlayStation 4 and PS Vita versions will be available this fall!
Tokyo Chronos
Developer: MyDearest
Platform: PlayStation VR
Release Date: August 2019
An empty, deserted Shibuya where time has frozen over. A suspenseful mystery woven by eight childhood friends trapped inside.
Lost memories; A strange message: “I am dead. Who killed me?”
Who is “I”? Why did we lose our memory? Who is the killer?
Fragments shattered like a broken mirror.
Where does the truth lie?
To kill, or not to kill ─ YOU decide.
Featuring the all-star staff of Haruki Kashiwakura (Expelled from Paradise), Kou Segawa (Kimi ni Korosareta to Shitemo), Kazuma Miki (Sword Art Online), MyDearest delivers one of the most engaging and unique adventures ever in VR! Tokyo Chronos will be available worldwide in August 2019.
Heart of the Woods
Developer: Studio Elan, Sekai Games
Platform: Switch
Release Date: Q1 2020
Maddie Raines has had enough. After years of serving as manager, editor, and general business-handler for her best friend Tara’s popular paranormal vlog channel, she’s finally ready to move forward with her own life. But when she agrees to take one last trip with Tara to the mysterious village of Eysenfeld, she’s suddenly swept up in a dangerous supernatural crisis that will change the course of both of their lives forever.
Heart of the Woods is coming exclusively to the Switch eShop, bringing Studio Elan’s emotional smash hit to the console for the very first time.
World End Economica
Developer: Spicy Tails, Sekai Games
Platform: Switch, PlayStation 4, PS Vita
Release Date: Winter 2019
Set in the far future on the moon, 16 years after humans have begun to colonize it. A young boy named Haru has been chasing his wildest dream. His dream is to stand where no man has stood before, and in order to do so, he needs capital, a ludicrous amount of capital. What better place to get that amount of capital by using the stock market? There are two key rules that govern the stock market.
The first rule: Never take a loss.
The second rule: Never forget the first.
Only those who follow these rules are able to obtain enormous wealth…
The full collected package of Hasekura Isuna’s riveting adventure novel will come to Switch, PlayStation 4, and PS Vita in winter of 2019.
Narcissu: Lumiere Eternelle Edition
Developer: Sekai Games
Platform: Switch, PlayStation 4
Release Date: Winter 2019
“Life is like a waiting room, except people don’t leave in the order they enter.”
So when it is time to leave, where will it be? And will you be able to smile in the end?
Narcissu is a thought-provoking visual novel series about terminal illness, living, dying, and the relationship between those leaving and those left behind. There are no miracles, no heroes, no villains in this story. Just life and the characters finding their own ways of facing death in an indifferent, relentless, ever-impartial reality.
Featuring music from two video game legends: Chris Huelsbeck of Turrican fame, and Hiroki Kikuta of Secret of Mana fame, this console edition collects all stories from the official Narcissu series into one game.
Undead Darlings: No Cure for Love
Developer: Mr. Tired Media
Platform: PlayStation 4
Release Date: Q4 2019
Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~ is a happy-go-lucky dungeon-crawling visual novel RPG about a group of zombie girls and Reginald “Reggie” P. Happenstahnce.
Reggie’s father was involved in the creation of the zombie virus and gave his son the only known cure along with this command: “Take this cure to where it can be mass produced.”
Since they don’t know how to use the cure in its current state, the zombie girls and Reggie travel together throughout a funpocalypse wasteland where they explore dungeons, fight weird monsters, and learn more about one another along the way.