The Visual Novels Discussion/Recommendation Thread

[guigui]

Thanks for the infos steven.
Maybe what you should tell Sugina Miki is that you are willing to translate his games in English, how about that ?

[Steven]

lol I don't think so. These games are written in very specific styles that are literally impossible to translate while maintaining the same nuance that is there in Japanese, and that's before you get into things like that one time in Flowers where Ichigo is like "lol you said 何回 and 難解 in the same sentence" or whatever it was, and figuring out what to do for stuff like that is always awkward. You can definitely translate these games, and they did, but a lot of it will be lost simply because there are no non-Japanese equivalents to many things.

Despite what one might expect, the Flowers scripts are way, WAY harder than the Kara no Shoujo scripts. Kara no Shoujo is actually very straightforward and quite easy as long as you know some pretty basic police/crime/etc. vocabulary and remember that the protagonist's 己 is supposed to be read as おれ and not おのれ (and then once you're done with all of them you have to revert to having your brain default to thinking of 己 as おのれ again instead of おれ), but Flowers can be mentally exhausting because like every other sentence has some obscure or unusual kanji that nobody uses. I've heard that even Japanese people sometimes have difficulty reading the Flowers scripts. It's not the hardest I've played, though. That would be Akai Ito.

[cj iwakura]

428 might be getting a sequel(threequel?), finally, though the details make me sad:

https://www.gematsu.com/2025/04/jiro-is ... nture-game

In a message, Ishii said that 428: Shibuya Scramble was created as a successor to the live-action adventure game Machi: Unmei no Kousaten, with the goal of surpassing it. He expected that a game would eventually come along to surpass 428: Shibuya Scramble as well. But over 20 years later, no such title has emerged. At one point, Ishii approached various game companies about a follow-up project, but those discussions fell apart, as many were more concerned with marketing and business than the core of the project. For a time, he even distanced himself from such projects. Ultimately, Ishii and his team decided to develop the new title independently.

Did 428 really do that poorly? That's a crying shame if so, the localization was phenomenal, and it's an all-timer for me.

[Steven]

Well, today is the 20th anniversary of the release of Cartagra, so I finally ordered the remake from Amazon, as Sugina-sensei implied the other day that they weren't going to make any more copies of it and I don't want it to become unobtainable. It will be here on Wednesday, which is great because I don't have work then. Impressions when I am done, I guess, but I'm expecting the typical Innocent Grey gorefest where everyone gets brutally tortured to death.

[SuperDeadite]

Currently replaying the Galaxy Angel series for the first time in almost 20 years. For those not aware, it's basically Sakura Wars in space. And while Broccoli was obviously inspired by Red, I find the GA games to be superior. The pacing and character development are just better.

So far I have completed Ranpha's and Vanilla's arcs (all three games), and while I adore Ranpha, I must say Vanilla's route was fucking beautiful.

I had planned to move on to GAII series, but now I've decided to keep playing the original series as I really want to see the other characters now. It really helps that Tact's character develops in line with the heroine at a very natural pace.

It's worth noting that the PC versions have been fan translated, if you like Sakura Wars, these are a must play.

[Steven]

I always forget Galaxy Angel exists... I take it there is no point in playing the PS2 versions if they're the same but with lol interlaced video. PS2 versions might be cheaper though. How's the gameplay? Sakura Taisen's strategy gameplay is generally super easy, and I think it has to be that way because otherwise you'd risk softlocking the player if they made a bunch of bad choices prior to battle and pissed everyone off and made them weak. Despite the low difficulty, the battles are very well-designed, especially Sakura Taisen 2, which effortlessly shames every Fire Emblem I have played... admittedly not a high bar, but whatever. 3's battles were... awkward at times due to the new battle system. I specifically remember getting every unit stuck in in a line in narrow streets.

I never finished Cartagra remake. More precisely, I barely played it at all, and that was entirely because I didn't want to have to go through the hassle of transferring save files between my normal PC and Steam Deck every time I switched computers. I now realize that that's a completely unnecessary thing to do when I can plug my mouse and keyboard into the Steam Deck... I occasionally amaze myself with my own obliviousness. Switch version got delayed to next month. Still wonder how that is going to turn out.

Speaking of Cartagra/Innocent Grey, I got the giclées that I ordered from the Flowers art gallery in April a few weeks ago. It took ~8 months for them to arrive. Still can't believe how beautiful these things are in person. Only put one up so far and haven't entirely decided what to do with the rest, and I'm somewhat worried about earthquakes. Two of these are now the rarest and second rarest video game things that I own because they only made 10 and 17 of them, respectively, although I doubt that that includes the ones that were on display in the gallery.

[SuperDeadite]

I always forget Galaxy Angel exists... I take it there is no point in playing the PS2 versions if they're the same but with lol interlaced video. PS2 versions might be cheaper though. How's the gameplay? Sakura Taisen's strategy gameplay is generally super easy, and I think it has to be that way because otherwise you'd risk softlocking the player if they made a bunch of bad choices prior to battle and pissed everyone off and made them weak. Despite the low difficulty, the battles are very well-designed, especially Sakura Taisen 2, which effortlessly shames every Fire Emblem I have played... admittedly not a high bar, but whatever. 3's battles were... awkward at times due to the new battle system. I specifically remember getting every unit stuck in in a line in narrow streets.

Version wise, it's a toss up. PC versions are the originals. They have better graphics and run in 640x480. The PS2 ports run in 480i, but as a CRT user, they look better to me than running the PC versions on my 1080p monitor.

The PS2 port of the first game also added 6 mini-games, they are fun additions, but don't really add anything to the experience.

I believe the Xbox port has it all, 480p, PC graphics, and mini-games. However it sold terribly, so Broccoli never bothered porting the sequals.

Both the PS2 and PC games sell for peanuts. The PC games were released twice (CD and DVD) versions. They are usually for sale on Suruguya.

Now the Galaxy Angel II series was made exclusively for PS2, so no choice on those.

GA battles are fun, all units move and fight in real time (everything pauses when you issue orders). I'd say they are typically very easy to clear, but it can be a bit tricky to complete occasional optional goals such as protecting neutral units. If too many die, you can still clear a battle but the girls will be pissed at you.

Most strategy involves prioritizing targets and using map terrain to keep your battleship safe. Also, each girl's super works differently, and using them effectively takes some thinking. Also, just like Sakura Taisen, girls are more effective if they are happier with the main heroine getting the most boost. Going from Ranpha to Vanilla made me rethink my approaches, as Ranpha is the fastest, while Vanilla is really slow and only has a healing super. Most battles have a 15 minute time limit, so you can't just tank and bait like in ST.

What I really like about GA, is that the 3 games are one big story. The first game is the closest to ST, meaning Tact starts from zero, each girl has her own chapter, and you get to choose from your top 3. However, Moonlit Lovers and Eternal Lovers just ask who was the heroine in the previous game, and the story continues that way. So there is a lot more development between Tact and each girl. Ranpha's Tact and Vanilla's Tact are not the same character. And the other girls arw fully aware of your main relationship and scenes will change based in this. For me it's best to pick one girl and play through all 3 games back to back, then start over again to get the best experience.

[lastemperorjubei]

I'm not a fan of "pure" visual novels but I like adventure games with interactivity. I like most games by Kazutaka Kodaka. Last year I enjoyed The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy and Shuten Kyodan (actually liked it more than the 100 Line). My all time favs are:

Policenauts
Sakura Wars 1
Sakura Wars 2
Yu-No
Great Ace Attorney 1+2
13 Sentinels
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code
Danganronpa 1-3
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
Shuten Kyodan
Ai the Somnium Files 1
Ai the Somnium Files 2
Famicom Detective Club 1+2
Emio
Ace Attorney 1-3
Snatcher

Edit: Currently playing PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo and it's promising.

[Steven]

I would 100% agree with categorizing at least Danganronpa, 13 Sentinels, and Sakura Taisen as adventure games and not visual novels. Almost every Sakura Taisen is great, though. Definitely play Sakura Taisen 3. It's generally considered to be the best one by most of the Japanese fans. I am in the minority as I don't like it as much as 2, but it's better than 4, which is also pretty good and surprisingly good despite its super amazingly rushed and short development time and ultra short length (~7 hours). Sakura Taisen V... let's forget that one exists. I actually rather like Shin Sakura Taisen, or at the very least consider it far better than V

Since you seem to like crime/detective/mystery stuff, you should absolutely check out Cartagra and Kara no Shoujo, but only if you feel like playing a visual novel and can handle moderate amounts of very explicit gore and extremely disturbing, depressing stories. You might find yourself becoming desensitized to the violence and despair after a while, though, and each Kara no Shoujo is increasingly less violent/disturbing/depressing than the previous one(s). No point in playing the 4:3 SD versions anymore; the 16:9 HD versions are just better, unless you prefer Sugina Miki's old art style for Cartagra instead of his new art style in the remake. It is very clear that his style changed a lot between then and now (I would say improved a lot, although it was already quite good!) but I don't know how people feel about the remake's character portraits looking a lot more like Flowers and the last Kara no Shoujo than the original version of Cartagra. I'm sure at least someone probably hates the change, but that's how it is.

Version wise, it's a toss up. PC versions are the originals. They have better graphics and run in 640x480. The PS2 ports run in 480i, but as a CRT user, they look better to me than running the PC versions on my 1080p monitor.

The PS2 port of the first game also added 6 mini-games, they are fun additions, but don't really add anything to the experience.

I believe the Xbox port has it all, 480p, PC graphics, and mini-games. However it sold terribly, so Broccoli never bothered porting the sequals.

Both the PS2 and PC games sell for peanuts. The PC games were released twice (CD and DVD) versions. They are usually for sale on Suruguya.

Now the Galaxy Angel II series was made exclusively for PS2, so no choice on those.

GA battles are fun, all units move and fight in real time (everything pauses when you issue orders). I'd say they are typically very easy to clear, but it can be a bit tricky to complete occasional optional goals such as protecting neutral units. If too many die, you can still clear a battle but the girls will be pissed at you.

Most strategy involves prioritizing targets and using map terrain to keep your battleship safe. Also, each girl's super works differently, and using them effectively takes some thinking. Also, just like Sakura Taisen, girls are more effective if they are happier with the main heroine getting the most boost. Going from Ranpha to Vanilla made me rethink my approaches, as Ranpha is the fastest, while Vanilla is really slow and only has a healing super. Most battles have a 15 minute time limit, so you can't just tank and bait like in ST.

What I really like about GA, is that the 3 games are one big story. The first game is the closest to ST, meaning Tact starts from zero, each girl has her own chapter, and you get to choose from your top 3. However, Moonlit Lovers and Eternal Lovers just ask who was the heroine in the previous game, and the story continues that way. So there is a lot more development between Tact and each girl. Ranpha's Tact and Vanilla's Tact are not the same character. And the other girls arw fully aware of your main relationship and scenes will change based in this. For me it's best to pick one girl and play through all 3 games back to back, then start over again to get the best experience.

Damn, seems I'd have to go to PS2 eventually if I played them all. PS2 looks... not terrible but also not especially great when deinterlaced and upscaled on a non-CRT display, and I have yet to find modern furniture that is strong enough to not become squashed by the weight of my CRT, so it sits on the floor and it is too awkward to use like that. I'd probably do PC for what's available there, though. Probably not going to do it for a while, but I'll keep it in mind.

Semi-real-time sounds cool though. Definitely will have to try at least the first game eventually. I wonder if it runs on Steam Deck...

[lastemperorjubei]

I would 100% agree with categorizing at least Danganronpa, 13 Sentinels, and Sakura Taisen as adventure games and not visual novels. Almost every Sakura Taisen is great, though. Definitely play Sakura Taisen 3. It's generally considered to be the best one by most of the Japanese fans. I am in the minority as I don't like it as much as 2, but it's better than 4, which is also pretty good and surprisingly good despite its super amazingly rushed and short development time and ultra short length (~7 hours). Sakura Taisen V... let's forget that one exists. I actually rather like Shin Sakura Taisen, or at the very least consider it far better than V

Since you seem to like crime/detective/mystery stuff, you should absolutely check out Cartagra and Kara no Shoujo, but only if you feel like playing a visual novel and can handle moderate amounts of very explicit gore and extremely disturbing, depressing stories. You might find yourself becoming desensitized to the violence and despair after a while, though, and each Kara no Shoujo is increasingly less violent/disturbing/depressing than the previous one(s). No point in playing the 4:3 SD versions anymore; the 16:9 HD versions are just better, unless you prefer Sugina Miki's old art style for Cartagra instead of his new art style in the remake. It is very clear that his style changed a lot between then and now (I would say improved a lot, although it was already quite good!) but I don't know how people feel about the remake's character portraits looking a lot more like Flowers and the last Kara no Shoujo than the original version of Cartagra. I'm sure at least someone probably hates the change, but that's how it is.

Thanks for the recommendations (will look into them). I will play Sakura Taisen 3 once it's translated to English. Sakura Taisen 1 and 2 and Policenauts were still impressive regarding the production values when the English translations were released, can't imagine experiencing them in the 90s on my Saturn. Japanese Saturn owners or Japanese speaking Saturn owners had such a good selection.

[Steven]

Dreamcast versions of Sakura Taisen 1 and 2 are even better than the Saturn versions. The Dreamcast version of 1 was done by M2, so you automatically know it's very good. It has a higher resolution, which makes kanji much easier to read and significantly improves visual quality, especially during the cutscenes, which look infinitely better now, and a crazy fast text skip that you unlock when you beat the game, so replaying for other endings is super quick. 2 is also higher resolution and added a text skip that is much slower than 1's text skip, and arguably most importantly an unlockable hard difficulty setting, which I have not played yet. You also get the advantage of being able to carry your save file all the way from 1 to 4, which is cool. No idea how they handled the change from Saturn 2 to 3, which is not on Saturn. I don't remember if 3 and 4 are officially compatible with VGA (I think they are not), but 1 and 2 are definitely not. It doesn't really matter because all four of them can be forced to run that way using the VGA box switch trick and they look excellent that way.

There is also the remake of 1, Atsuki Chishio Ni, which is only on PS2. It's... weird, and usually not in a good way. A lot of stuff was simplified or outright removed and the newly-added Kohran chapter is both infamously super terribly written and creates continuity problems with both the rest of Atsuki Chishio Ni itself and Sakura Taisen 2. There are other changes to the story that also create continuity problems with 2. The only real reason to play it is to have the proto-Valkyria Chronicles (same devs, BTW) battle system from 3 and 4 in a weird version of 1, which is admittedly kind of cool in itself. The rest of it is not bad if you're willing to overlook the continuity problems, and I still had some fun with it, but I remember it getting a somewhat mixed reception, and outside of the battle system it is definitely a downgrade in most ways. If someone wants to play it, they should definitely only do it after they play the original version of 1.

I might replay Sakura Taisen 1-4 and maybe Atsuki Chishio Ni this year because they're very good games and the 30th anniversary, so why not. Not replaying V or especially its shitty prequel thing though, fuck those games.

For Cartagra and Kara no Shoujo, it is highly recommended that you play Cartagra first. I have never played the original version of the game, but I've heard it's either okay at best or not very good at all, but that you kind of need to play it to fully understand what happens in the second Kara no Shoujo. Apparently the remake does fix some stuff to some extent. I don't know the details about any of that stuff because I didn't finish the remake yet, and it's too early to say if the remake managed to turn Cartagra into an actual good game, but the protagonist is infamous for being the only Innocent Grey protagonist who is useless. Kara no Shoujo's protagonist, however, is like the rest of Innocent Grey's protagonists: extremely capable and extremely intelligent.

[SuperDeadite]

Dreamcast versions of Sakura Taisen 1 and 2 are even better than the Saturn versions. The Dreamcast version of 1 was done by M2, so you automatically know it's very good. It has a higher resolution, which makes kanji much easier to read and significantly improves visual quality, especially during the cutscenes, which look infinitely better now, and a crazy fast text skip that you unlock when you beat the game, so replaying for other endings is super quick. 2 is also higher resolution and added a text skip that is much slower than 1's text skip, and arguably most importantly an unlockable hard difficulty setting, which I have not played yet. You also get the advantage of being able to carry your save file all the way from 1 to 4, which is cool. No idea how they handled the change from Saturn 2 to 3, which is not on Saturn. I don't remember if 3 and 4 are officially compatible with VGA (I think they are not), but 1 and 2 are definitely not. It doesn't really matter because all four of them can be forced to run that way using the VGA box switch trick and they look excellent that way.

There is also the remake of 1, Atsuki Chishio Ni, which is only on PS2. It's... weird, and usually not in a good way. A lot of stuff was simplified or outright removed and the newly-added Kohran chapter is both infamously super terribly written and creates continuity problems with both the rest of Atsuki Chishio Ni itself and Sakura Taisen 2. There are other changes to the story that also create continuity problems with 2. The only real reason to play it is to have the proto-Valkyria Chronicles (same devs, BTW) battle system from 3 and 4 in a weird version of 1, which is admittedly kind of cool in itself. The rest of it is not bad if you're willing to overlook the continuity problems, and I still had some fun with it, but I remember it getting a somewhat mixed reception, and outside of the battle system it is definitely a downgrade in most ways. If someone wants to play it, they should definitely only do it after they play the original version of 1.

I might replay Sakura Taisen 1-4 and maybe Atsuki Chishio Ni this year because they're very good games and the 30th anniversary, so why not. Not replaying V or especially its shitty prequel thing though, fuck those games.

For Cartagra and Kara no Shoujo, it is highly recommended that you play Cartagra first. I have never played the original version of the game, but I've heard it's either okay at best or not very good at all, but that you kind of need to play it to fully understand what happens in the second Kara no Shoujo. Apparently the remake does fix some stuff to some extent. I don't know the details about any of that stuff because I didn't finish the remake yet, and it's too early to say if the remake managed to turn Cartagra into an actual good game, but the protagonist is infamous for being the only Innocent Grey protagonist who is useless. Kara no Shoujo's protagonist, however, is like the rest of Innocent Grey's protagonists: extremely capable and extremely intelligent.

It's worth noting that ST1 and 2 on DC do not officially support VGA and will refuse to boot normally, but can be "tricked" into VGA mode if you have an original Sega VGA box or clone with a switch. Generally speaking ST2 is the fan favorite in Japan, whereas westerners tend to prefer 3 from what I've seen. Overall, I prefer 3 as I found 2's "plot twists" too be rather stupid lol. Whenever I replay it, I always go with Orihime though XD. I actually don't hate V. It's not great, but not terrible either, and it did get a proper English release, ps2 version even has JP voices with English text, so it's an easy way for new players to try out this "genre."

Not sure how much research you did, but just to clarify, there are 6 games in the Galaxy Angel series:

Galaxy Angel
Galaxy Angel: Moonlit Lovers
Galaxy Angel: Eternal Lovers

Galaxy Angel II: 絶対領域の扉
Galaxy Angel II: 無限回廊の鍵
Galaxy Angel II: 永劫回帰の刻

The original trilogy is the story of the Moon Angels, which most people will be familiar with. Galaxy Angel II is basically a soft reboot. It is a completely new cast, the Rune Angels. All characters from the original trilogy do make cameos and are connected to the Moon Angels though, so it's best to play them in order.

Regarding Steam Deck, I have no idea but I can tell you the PC games all run in Directx8 and officially support nothing after WindowsXP. Good chance they will work on modern systems, but you will most likely need a crack, as most JP PC games from that era used awful copy protection schemes like the infamous starforce or securom, which modern Windows will auto flag as a trojan and won't even let you install these days.

If you like ST, this series is a must play though. ST has some great highs, but awful lows and I fucking hate Iris. XD Brocolli didn't quite have the budget of Sega, but GA is a very consistent, well written adventure that moves at the just the right pace and gets better and better. The cast doesn't have any annoying characters (Vanilla is only 13 in the first game, but her story arc was beautifully done and one of my favorites). Of the og trilogy, Moonlit Lovers is my personal favorite, but it makes no sense if you haven't played the original. Eternal Lovers is also really good and the proper ending the cast deserved. I seriously can't recommend this series enough.

In other news, I realized the other day, that my personal favorite Giga game: 閃鋼のクラリアス "The Armor of Glittering Clarias" actually got a no-H console release as "Yggdra Kingdom" on Switch/PS4 a few months ago. I'm actually surprised it took this long, as the PC original had very little H in it, especially compared to all other Giga Team Baldrhead games. I absolutely loved this one, and it's probably the closed game to "Sakura Taisen in London" that will ever exist.

[Steven]

It's worth noting that ST1 and 2 on DC do not officially support VGA and will refuse to boot normally, but can be "tricked" into VGA mode if you have an original Sega VGA box or clone with a switch.

Yeah 1 and 2 definitely don't, but I checked 3 and 4 and they do indeed have official VGA support even though it isn't listed on the boxes. It's been a while since I played Dreamcast and I forgot how awesome its video quality is, dithering aside. God damn the Dreamcast is badass.

Overall, I prefer 3 as I found 2's "plot twists" too be rather stupid lol. Whenever I replay it, I always go with Orihime though XD.

Yeah, 2 really amped up the ドラマ to such high levels that it becomes a bit silly, even for Sakura Taisen. Part of the reason that I didn't like 3 as much as 2 is the cast change. By the time you get to 4, not only does the cast of 3 have only one game of screen time and character development compared to the original cast's two games (plus Reni and Orihime's one game I guess, but they got pretty heavy focus from what little I remember), but it's like you're forced to cheat on whichever girl you ended up with at the end of 2 because no matter who that girl is she isn't an option in 3. They clearly addressed that in 4, but it still makes you kind of feel shitty.

I find Sakura Taisen 2 to be an interesting game because, aside from being legitimately excellent, it's one of the most massively improved sequels in a very short release time span I have ever seen. The huge difference in production values between 1 and 2, especially given there was only a 1.5 year gap between release dates, is completely insane, and the final product immediately reflects that in every way as soon as you get past the developer logos at the beginning of the game. Just comparing the difference in quality of the OP movies is a giant holy shit moment... at least on Dreamcast. I've never played the Saturn version of 2, but even by modern standards 2's OP still looks beautiful and has an insane number of animation frames.

I actually don't hate V. It's not great, but not terrible either

That is why I dislike it so much. It's not actually a bad game, but damn is it ultra disappointing compared to its predecessors in every possible way. I think the general consensus among non-Japanese people that played V first is that they like it. People that played them in release order (me) generally have a lower or much lower opinion of V. In that context, V feels very hollow and soulless, like a cheap imitation. In a vacuum, V is fine, or even good. It just doesn't come anywhere close to the quality of any of the previous games, even 4.

Not sure how much research you did, but just to clarify, there are 6 games in the Galaxy Angel series

Yeah, I did a little bit of research. Not too much though. I'll get there eventually, but not right now. Probably going to try PC versions for what is available and if they don't work I'll give up and go PS2 instead. I fucking hate DRM so much. I know I'm always complaining about Denuvo and whatever but god damn does that crap seriously piss me off.

ST has some great highs, but awful lows and I fucking hate Iris. XD

OMFG Iris is like the worst fictional thing to ever exist. I have no idea how to express how bad this garbage character is; I do not think there are sufficiently powerful words. Child characters are usually completely shit anyway, but Iris exists in an entire shit dimension all by herself. Then they turned around in 3 and made Coquelicot, who is up there with Nog from DS9 as one of the best child characters in anything ever.

[KAI]

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This is why ciconia phase 2 never

[Steven]

Ciconia is on my Steam wishlist, at least. It's been there since October 2019, but it's there.

[Steven]

Switch Cartagra get



I wonder how this turned out. Not really planning on playing it because I have the PC version, I mostly just bought it to support Innocent Grey, which I just now realized hasn't made a completely new game for over 25% of its existence. I'll give it a shot in the extremely unlikely event that someone wants a PC/Switch comparison.

I recently restarted and have been playing the PC version on occasion for a few weeks. I'll finish it eventually...

[SuperDeadite]

Ok, finished up the first Galaxy Angel trilogy 100% last weekend. All 6 girls finished, I just couldn't stop playing it. There was actually more variety in each route than I was expecting. Overal a fantastic experience, and I'd rate the series higher than Sakura Taisen. Absolute must play.

Now I'm a few chapters into Galaxy Angel II, and loving it. Even though you play as a new character, you still get to choose which girl the og hero ended up with and this changes events appropriately, as the og cast shows up fairly regularly. The production values of this series also just get better and better with each game.

All I want to do is skip work and keep playing lol.

[SuperDeadite]

Beep is doing a modern Windows port of 狂った果実 (X68000 version). What's really surprising is that it will feature a full English translation! I will be buying this just to support crazy projects such as this.

Metal Orange EX is also getting the same treatment.

https://channel.beep-shop.com/products/detail/83769