quartett!
finished: 2024-06-20 / rating: 6/10
littlewitch's second visual novel takes on an upbeat, fast-paced, slice-of-life format riddled with classical music and cliche eroge tropes in "quartett," following phill junhers as he is coerced into joining an orchestra alongside a trio of unique girls. i have a soft spot for the violin, stories that take place in winter, and weird, eccentric heroines——so quartett sat with me nicely albeit its questionable writing.
visual novels often suffer when they're of shorter length; the gift in what makes them so different from physical novels is that they can be unbearably long. quartett, though, is very dialogue-heavy, and arguably overstimulating, in the same way muv-luv is with all the sound effects and constant zoom-ins. it's focused on the character interactions as opposed to their literal actions, and never really delves into the mind of a very optimistic, cute visual novel protagonist.
eroges often suffer from bland main characters; but, quartett makes do with its loveable airhead. the setting and character designs blend together perfectly through ooyari ashito's art——which is probably the greatest selling point of this visual novel. quartett is unique in that it is more like an interactive manga rather than your standard visual novel with sprites and a text box. it wasn't the most exciting thing ever to me, yet it is a quality that makes quartett a great visual novel to recommend to someone new to the video game genre.
it's not an emotional story, though it does touch on some serious topics. "touch" is probably the best word to use here, however——you aren't going to leave quartett with a new outlook on anything at all. it's an insignificant visual novel among the many but entertaining & heartwarming nonetheless. i won't lie in that i teared up during the "salut d'amour" scene; it's always been my favorite violin song, and i didn't expect to hear it in some visual novel i read on a whim.
there's no such thing in this world as a person who isn't allowed to be happy......
tenshi no inai 12-gatsu
finished: 2024-06-18 / rating: 5/10
earlier today, i saw a car crash, and it reminded me of the way "december when there is no angel" made me feel when i read it only two days after its english translation was released. i always tucked teninai into the back of my brain as one of those visual novels that would never be translated (among them is sayonara o oshiete, too, which also has a work-in-progress translation?!), so i was caught greatly by surprise when this release came around.
after three hours of struggling to find a way to download it, i put about ten hours of effort into this visual novel. it's relatively short, meaning i didn't have much time to get attached to any of these characters. the premise is prickly, porny, and depressing; touko kurihara is one of the worst visual novel heroines of all time. teninai is a product of its time and its evident in the way its central heroine is so spineless and subservient.
teninai is depressing from start to finish, and it never felt like there was any real climax (other than the very first scene, where the girl is climaxing?). i love any sad story that takes place in the winter, and i love misato mitsumi's art even more, so teninai won my heart in that aspect——but it faltered in every other.
it's just like a car crash. so horrible, but you can't look away. once i was four hours in, i dedicated myself to finishing the entire thing, even with its unremarkable characters and half-assed love triangle that some people refer to as the "white album 2 before white album 2." i wouldn't recommend someone put much time into this visual novel unless you're looking to pass said time; there's nothing special about it at all other than its visuals.
i will say that the protagonist's dialogue was hilarious, and that (for once) the imouto was the best character. i'll leave you with this:
kanon
finished: 2023-11-28 / rating: 8/10
key's first entry as a company after being established in 1998, kanon is the third time that the core key staff created a visual novel. one of my favorite parts about the key vn releases is how itaru hinoue's art improves in each one; kanon is so cute and charming, its story isn't life-changing but it definitely kept me hooked.
after air, i became determined to finish up all the key full-length vns (which still hasn't been fulfilled, as rewrite is nowhere to be seen among these reviews), so i continued into kanon, which i actually started in summer of 2020 and stalled all the way until 2023. i think jun maeda's slow-burn slice-of-life style of writing hadn't resonated with me back then——i was still on the high that little busters gave me with its upbeat, nonsensical humor, that suddenly transitioning into kanon's sleepy and dreamy winter world left me.....bored.
but once i picked it up again, i don't think i put it down. it took me about two weeks to complete all routes, and i genuinely enjoyed every single one of them. kanon isn't everyone's cup of tea——it's a corny high school romance and takes a few hours to become interesting....and some crowds may never find it interesting. key's supernatural (and sometimes unexplained) mysteries whittled between melodramatic love stories often leaves readers frustrated, rather than wistful. but honestly, it's my favorite kind of story and why i've followed this company's works in such a cult-like fashion.
the 1999 graphics are gorgeous and i'll forever be itaru hinoue's number one defender. every character is uniquely charming, although they fall victim to the lobotomy that every key heroine seems to have. as usual with key, the unexplained mystery behind the depressing arc of the story was real predictable; with kanon, though, it seemed more obvious than ever. the usage of dreams to foreshadow is overused and makes for a very.......mid.....story?
i wasn't moved by ayu tsukimiya's arc of the story as much as i was moved by mai kawasumi's. i was surprised in that many people actually dislike the latter's route and believe it makes no sense (or that sayuri is the better girl); i think my personal connection to mai's story and relationship with her mother was what made me really tearful when i read it back in 2023. i also just have a thing for ominous, weird, quiet girls....
kanon is one of those stories you really only read if you've checked out another key vn and want more depressing romance. unlike the later key entries, kanon's romance feels much more childish, given that the protagonist and central heroine are both super immature.....as stated before, it's not really everyone's favorite kind of story. it's lighthearted and a product of its time.
air
finished: 2023-11-08 / rating: 8/10
tbd
the house in fata morgana
finished: 2023-04-07 / rating: 10/10
tbd
sabbat of the witch
finished: 2022-10-22 / rating: 5/10
tbd
flowers -le volume sur hiver-
finished: 2022-06-22 / rating: 9/10
tbd
letters from a rainy day -oceans & lace-
finished: 2022-03-08 / rating: 2/10
tbd
clannad - side stories
finished: 2022-03-01 / rating: 6/10
tbd
sweet pool
finished: 2022-01-24 / rating: 9/10
tbd
planetarian -chiisana hoshi no yume-
finished: 2021-11-10 / rating: 8/10
tbd
muv-luv alternative
finished: 2021-09-29 / rating: 9/10
tbd
muv-luv
finished: 2021-04-30 / rating: 7/10
tbd
ef - a fairy tale of the two.
finished: 2021-03-10 / rating: 7/10
tbd
remember11 -the age of infinity-
finished: 2021-02-10 / rating: 9/10
tbd
yume miru kusuri
finished: 2021-01-01 / rating: 6/10
tbd
clannad
finished: 2020-11-01 / rating: 9/10
tbd
miniature garden
finished: 2020-09-05 / rating: 3/10
tbd
toheart2
finished: 2020-08-27 / rating: 6/10
tbd
flowers -le volume sur automne-
finished: 2020-08-08 / rating: 7/10
tbd
the song of saya
finished: 2020-06-29 / rating: 6/10
tbd
you and me and her - a love story
finished: 2020-06-05 / rating: 7/10
tbd
the devil on g-string
finished: 2020-05-30 / rating: 8/10
tbd
little busters!
finished: 2020-04-29 / rating: 11/10
tbd
cross†channel
finished: 2020-03-25 / rating: 5/10
tbd
wonderful everyday down the rabbit-hole
finished: 2019-12-27 / rating: 10/10
tbd
narcissu 1 & 2
finished: 2019-11-14 / rating: 7/10
narcissu (the first entry, specifically) will always be my favorite visual novel to recommend to first-time readers. a 2-hour, free-to-play vn with choices of english translation and whether or not you want to play voiced/voiceless gives the reader a lot of freedom that some visual novels don't. its length may be unattractive to the standard vn reader; short stories aren't known for being the greatest (see: ddlc). but narcissu blew it out of the water and remains one of my favorite visual novels of all time.
i first read narcissu six months post-bone marrow transplant, where i was hospitalized for 40 days and brimming with uncertainty about my health (as the transplant had failed). a very random lore drop of mine out of nowhere, but it made narcissu all-the-more real and meaningful to me. narcissu is the best representation of illness that i have ever read in a visual novel——or a story, period. there's a specific line early on in the story in which the protagonist states he never feels like he's experiencing what he's going through in the hospital——instead, he feels like he's just watching someone go through it. i felt that in my own experience, word-for-word.
narcissu's cast is small (just two characters) and is melodramatic from the very beginning. it's somber & its ending is predictable, yet it'll still hit you like a truck. it follows two terminally ill young adults residing in the seventh floor of their hospital, notorious for being the final location of many people's lives. unwilling to die in the hospital or at their home, they escape together in a journey across rural japan, and get to know each other more in the final few weeks of their lives.
the soundtrack is amazing, but that's a given with most visual novels. its art is minimal and is mostly apparent through backgrounds rather than sprites, which makes the handful of moments you actually see the characters a lot more memorable. narcissu is one of those visual novel masterpieces you would be sick (no pun intended?) to ignore——but i can't honestly say the same for the second entry.
if you loved narcissu and despised its short length, and wanted a little more out of the universe, narcissu side 2nd might be worth checking out. it's a short read, like the original, and super emotional——but it definitely didn't click with me like the first one did. i don't remember it much and that probably speaks to its quality. still, i've had friends read the sequel (as it is also free, as i've recommended the first entry so so so much to them....) and love it. i think it's worth checking out if you like narcissu 1st.
the one thing you should take away from this entire visual novel page, if anything at all, is reading narcissu. it's obviously not a favorite of all time but it is such a great introduction to the genre.
flowers -le volume sur ete-
finished: 2019-11-10 / rating: 9/10
tbd
season of the sakura
finished: 2019-11-01 / rating: 3/10
galactic guardian guynarock was my introduction to the world of PC98 visual novels. the obsession began and continued into my endless scrolling of pc98.org, which, to my surprise, is still active today! some of these older visual novels, including season of the sakura, are definitely worth checking out if you're into this retro, pixelated style built for the 80s PC.
regarding the story of season of the sakura....? it's horrible. probably one of the worst things i've ever read & not worth anyone's time. my mind is blown that someone wrote this. it serves pretty well as the video gaming community's definition of visual novels——low quality, anime porn, and all the characters are hopelessly in love with a terrible, bland protagonist. the only positive thing i got out of the experience in reading season of the sakura was laughing at how terrible it was (not to mention, really gorgeous PC98 art).
it was free and it was in english. that was all i really needed to make the effort to read it. by the effort of a collaboration between jastusa & the asenheim project, the english translation of season of the sakura can be read here, completely in your web browser. stream it to your friends & do a dramatic reading is my recommendation......
the characters are very cute & unique, though......which some visual novels fail to do!
flowers -le volume sur printemps-
finished: 2019-10-16 / rating: 8/10
my lighthearted yuri obsession continued into flowers -le volume sur printemps-, stoking the flames of my queerness and desperate wish to attend an all-girls school. a weird fantasy, maybe, but i noticed often with my taste in visual novels that huge groups of friends & their stories resonate with me. i mention little busters in practically every review, but that's such a good example of a visual novel i love with a theme i love——friendship.
flowers -le volume sur printemps-, and the entire flowers series (which i will refer to as flowers -les quatre saisons- when talking about all four entries) as a whole, was one of my first developments into slice-of-life friendship stories. i know this obsession began out of my own interest in having a huge friend group that got up to things like tea parties, solving mysteries, and having sleepovers; the flowers -les quatre saisons- atmosphere fulfills this phenomenally. like all innocent grey visual novels (or any piece of media with miki sugina's art, that is), you feel as if you're entering a different & more serene world. dialogue, music, art, and setting combined make for a unique experience that i can't attribute to much. maybe it gives the same impression as strawberry panic since it's "yuri in a catholic school".....yet it feels more refined?
etiquette, politeness, and gracefulness all play intricately into flowers -les quatre saisons-. in its first entry, taking place in spring, you meet suoh shirahane as she transfers to an all-girls catholic school in the middle of nowhere. she's self-conscious, shy, and perfect as a vn protagonist——because all she does is overthink. her goal is nothing more than to make friends, to finally feel a sense of belonging that she failed to obtain throughout grade school & middle school——but (what do you know!!) she might find something more than friendship within the walls of st. angraecum academy.
unlike the other innocent grey visual novels, flowers -les quatre saisons- is not violent whatsoever. it does follow suit in being a mystery visual novel——though, there's very little room for the reader to actually determine anything......in the end, you're reading the perspective of a character that is actually a...character.
many visual novels suffer from having protagonists that don't even seem like "characters," but suoh is the exact opposite of this. she's a bookworm, a cinephile, and extremely withdrawn to an extent beyond social anxiety. while she wasn't created to be relatable, suoh's desire to have friends & disappointment in certain interactions ending poorly are two things that rest very closely to my heart. when suoh undergoes the realization that she has a dependable group of friends, the journey of flowers -le volume sur printemps- is much more rewarding.
some may have a gripe with the ending of this visual novel. "cliffhanger" is too generous of a word to describe the conclusion of the first volume; it feels like the exposition to another story in that final scene.
that's exactly what it is, though. the spring volume leads directly into the summer volume, and prepares suoh for one of the best character developments in any visual novel series ever. flowers -le volume sur printemps- is beautiful, otherwordly, as much as it is nostalgic & fun.
it's a tame story, and not the most enthralling nor satisfying mystery i've ever experienced.......and that's fine, because i feel like the character interactions & atmosphere of the series carries the reader through seamlessly. i would definitely recommend kara no shoujo if you're looking for something that's more mystery-focused (i could never finish kns, i'm sure i will one day and provide my lengthy thoughts....) & dark. flowers -le volume sur printemps- was a continuation of my obsession with cute, comfortable GL to distract myself with. in spite of it lacking in drama, there's no denying that this series (& this entry specifically, with suoh's determination to make friends) plays a huge role in my life.
the entire series is available on steam or through jastusa (look at me shilling....); and it's noteworthy that it's an all-ages vn as well!
kindred spirits on the roof
finished: 2019-06-16 / rating: 8/10
this isn't one of liar-soft's most popular titles, nor is it probably among their best——but kindred spirits on the roof is my comfort visual novel and i must respect it as such. if you're looking for a distraction or a means to relax, heartwarming yuri in the form of kindred spirits on the roof is an acceptable route i encourage you to take....
i feel as if ksotr is best appreciated with the "full chorus" DLC (which is honestly how the game should have been released upfront) that provides voice-acting in all scenes and extra CGs absent in the base game. ksotr has a phenomenal cast of voice actors, including rino kawashima as the protagonist, yuna toomi.
kindred spirits on the roof follows the seriously sensible & pragmatic yuna as she meets two lesbian ghosts on the rooftop of her all-girls school. yuna is the only person who can see these ghosts——and the ghosts realize yuna can help them in passing on as ghosts, instead of being rooted to their respective locations throughout the school. also, the lesbian ghosts don't know how to have sex, so they enlist the alive human being to go ahead and play yuri cupid so that they can spy on the girls having sex & learn how to do it.
such a porny premise. kindred spirits on the roof, in spite of this, is one of the most tame (i would even say it's the "most tame" if it didn't have those softcore h-scenes) visual novels i've ever read——hence my designation toward it as a "comfort visual novel." also......this was definitely a more acceptable read when i was 14 years old and in high school. now that i'm a bit older & fictional characters don't age, ksotr is a little weird (though this is the price you pay in reading visual novels).
there's definitely some moments in ksotr that can raise eyebrows (namely a teacher/student relationship); but, all-in-all, it's lighthearted yuri. kindred spirits on the roof isn't free from the "b-b-b-but we're girls!" nonsense, and i would even argue that some of its beating-around-the-bush across certain subjects is annoying. but i can't deny how exciting and cute the story is——aki and youka were my favorite pair (and that one scene with youka performing will forever reside in my heart!!!)
ksotr meant a lot to me in a time of stress. it had me a little emotional at one point, but maybe that is proof of how loveable the cast is.......it's not the world's best visual novel, but very charming & sweet if you like GL stories.
katawa shoujo
finished: 2018-06-06 / rating: 8/10
one of my favorite retrospective videos that does katawa shoujo better justice than any of my words may is accessible here——and something i really recommend if you're interested in this visual novel. there aren't any spoilers & it provides a good background of how the visual novel was created & how much love was truly poured into it.
and that's exactly why katawa shoujo is such a standout visual novel, despite the fact that it is an OELVN in a niche dominated by japanese doujin authors & studios. the same reason i love little busters is the same reason why i love katawa shoujo: it's so obvious that the creators love what they made.
katawa shoujo is a romance visual novel created by a bunch of strangers from 4chan who banded together to make a story about dating disabled girls. that premise sounds alarming & immediately prompts questions of "how fetishy does it get?"
while a very surface-level theme to explore, katawa shoujo's heroines are not defined by their disability (and neither are their conflicts). the reason why katawa shoujo is so important to me, though, lies in one of its heroines, rin tezuka. katawa shoujo might not be my favorite vn of all time, but rin is no doubt my favorite vn character of all time.
i first read katawa shoujo as a 13 year old——and every year since then, i've reread rin's route at least once a year (this past year it was like 3 times though...which gives us a grand total of: 9 rereads!). every year, it feels like this character latches more onto my brain and describes my existentialism in words i could never find. she started as a character that i simply found quirky and strange, spawning my adoration of eccentric girls, and later developed into what i believe is an extension of myself in a visual novel that was released only 7 years after i was born.
i'm not the only person to think this about rin tezuka specifically. just look at this guy. it feels like every person who reads katawa shoujo finds one girl that they hold onto forever——i remember reading a joke along the lines of "katawa shoujo is the only monogamous romance visual novel; you find one girl and you feel like you can't betray her by reading anyone else's route."
there's truth in that. in my opinion, rin's route absolutely carries the visual novel. but some may argue that lilly's route was the best, or that hanako's was, or that emi changed their life (no one is saying any of this about shizune by the way); and "life-changing," in all of its weight, is a term i would use to describe this visual novel. the sheer amount of times i've returned to it, or felt emotional listening to its soundtrack, or recounted its origin story as a bunch of 4chan strangers banding together.....it's so unavoidably loveable!!
if my wordiness and ungodly praise of this story has not convinced you enough, katawa shoujo is completely free and can be downloaded here. a steam release of katawa shoujo now exists as of 2024, without the h-scenes, but honestly......i can't recommend you enough to read this visual novel with the h-scenes included. especially rin's.
this is the only visual novel i've ever been able to say this for: the porn actually helped the plot. and made it way better substantially. i don't proclaim this in a way that asks you to jerk your shit to katawa shoujo, but i vividly remember crying the very first time i read rin's h-scene in her route. it takes a special kind of story to actually improve when you throw sex in there (and i really would never say this for any other vn i've read).
i'd love to end this review on an instance unrelated to porn......so, i'll make an effort to continue singing katawa shoujo's praises. even if you hate the story, the soundtrack is beautiful & you'll walk away with good study music. katawa shoujo becomes much more powerful when you discover how it was created. every katawa shoujo heroine route is uniquely emotional and touches on mental health (& physical disability) in such a respectful, admirable way. it's a story that has stood the test of time. it's the west's only good contribution to the visual novel niche (this is a half joke). it's free. read katawa shoujo!
doki doki literature club!
finished: 2018-05-05 / rating: 5/10
team salvato (or literally just One Guy) took the visual novel world by storm and it was never the same again......doki doki literature club was one of my first visual novels ever and a visual novel that made me really love the genre. this isn't to say i like it, however.
the story is unremarkable but the foreshadowing is perfect. it's one of those visual novels that you think is really good before you read other ones——but i would categorize ddlc under my lower-rated visual novels. i feel as if there's a lot more great "beginner" vns to recommend over this one..
but the amount of content that the ddlc fanbase has pushed out alongside the existence of ddlc+ is enough to show just how impressive this story made by one person is. i really look up to visual novels that only have one or two people behind the whole creation of it.......in a way, it gives me the confidence that i could make one of my own one day
anyways, it's not as bad as a lot of dedicated vn readers like to drill into your brain that it is. i'd love nothing more than to hop on that bandwagon myself, but i find myself reeling back to jacksepticeye's playthrough of ddlc at least once a year. it was an entertaining visual novel that wasn't life-changing & really helped in making visual novels more popular in the west.
though, some might argue that was a bad thing...
everlasting summer
finished: 2018-05-01 / rating: 5/10
if katawa shoujo is 4chan's western grail among the visual novel genre, everlasting summer is russia's. it's one of the top results you'll receive if you search for "free english visual novels," and that was about all i needed to deluge myself in a soviet summer camp visual novel filled to the brim with 2ch references i don't understand at all.
in spite of that, everlasting summer has a better hook than some other visual novels, and an undeniable atmosphere that has been praised for its ability to immerse you in an 80's USSR time period. although i don't love its story today (despite my strange obsession with it in 2018, as a 13 year old), everlasting summer is iconic to me for the number "410." the bus route in the visual novel that transports semyon to the summer camp world is the reason why this website is titled "410"——and why i've been so affixed to this number ever since i was 13.
everlasting summer's cast is very eccentric and unforgettable. alisa dvachevskaya was my awakening to tsunderes; and, god, i will never like lena.
it's not a particularly good visual novel. it's one of those "if you're bored (and don't want to spend money on a visual novel), read it" sort of story. everlasting summer attempts to be emotional and mysterious but can't figure out the tone it's attempting to convey even fifteen hours into the story. like other visual novels, everlasting summer's strong point is its soundtrack, composed by depressingly-inactive band between august and december. there's never been a more unfitting (yet amazing) soundtrack for a (not amazing) visual novel.
that isn't to say i haven't entered crazy rabbit holes regarding this vn back when i was obsessed with it. the fanbase behind this visual novel is genuinely crazy——and probably beats the size/dedication of katawa shoujo's fanbase. there is immensely cool art everywhere you look and tons of spinoffs created with the same concept (and characters, sometimes; namely alisa) of a russian summer camp. i had to make quite an effort here to gather a few, but here's a good list:
- wintertale, which still technically counts as everlasting summer. a short visual novel created before everlasting summer's release to introduce the russian audience to the cast.
- frosty kiss, which is sorta like a fandisc. follows semyon & the other girls in the real world, after the events of the first visual novel——which was a genuinely enjoyable sequel if you liked the original vn.
- 9th of may, a short visual novel with ulyana & slavya celebrating russia's victory day.
- the pink strand, which i did read & completely forgot about until i made this list. cute art, weird story. i don't remember the translation being particularly good...
- also, the webcomic for "the pink strand" with, again, some everlasting summer characters...
- red and black, a fighting game featuring the characters from everlasting summer.
- ТКЖ: video comic, that i remember watching just for the art (as i obviously don't know russian...)
- lost girl's [diary], featuring the same designs but not the same characters...? a doujin work of maxim smolev (ES's artist)
i'm sure there's much more, but these are the eight i remember stumbling upon just as an english speaker back when i was 13-14. in my opinion, none of these are worth checking out; but this review accidentally turned into an archive of everlasting summer spinoff material that i thought i forgot about.