Seeking Completed games with good graphics, but BAD writing

[CurvyLinesEverywhere]

I've been trying to learn how to write. As a test project, I thought maybe I'd mod a game that has bad writing into a game with... well, my writing. Will it be an improvement? Only one way to find out!

Suggest games that you wish had better writing here. (No promises.)

Edit: After viewing other threads talking about bad writing, I realized there is a stigma about calling any game "bad" in public. So, if you'd prefer, you can just DM me your suggestions. I'll be sure and call the mod "fan art" when I release it, not "a much needed rewrite" lol.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

https://f95zone.to/threads/queen-of-spade-final-sinccubus.121504/
You know it's gonna be good when the title itself has a typo. Dev has apparently come out with other games too.

https://f95zone.to/threads/hiroki-ntr-part-3-final-zulyus.88932/

https://f95zone.to/threads/my-little-angel-v1-06-feodosiy.620/
Love the artstyle, but I remember the English being pretty rough.

I could name some more, but nothing completed, I don't think.

 

[CurvyLinesEverywhere]

https://f95zone.to/threads/queen-of-spade-final-sinccubus.121504/
You know it's gonna be good when the title itself has a typo. Dev has apparently come out with other games too.

https://f95zone.to/threads/hiroki-ntr-part-3-final-zulyus.88932/

https://f95zone.to/threads/my-little-angel-v1-06-feodosiy.620/
Love the artstyle, but I remember the English being pretty rough.

I could name some more, but nothing completed, I don't think.

Oof.

I don't know if "bad translation" should count, guys. If it had a good story in Japanese, and they just couldn't afford to hire a professional translator, that doesn't seem fair. In fact, as a westerner, I'm probably least qualified to judge those stories. What if understanding the story hinges on some cultural element I'm not aware of?

Likewise, I'm not looking for stories that were fine but just needed a proofreader, stories that started great but then randomly stopped updating, or stories where the author was clearly joking/drunk/memeing/making a bad game on purpose. I'm also not looking for "I like/dislike these fetishes, please fix." (Though I might accept "dev picked the wrong

You must be registered to see the links

" if you can provide a compelling argument.)

I'm looking for the games where the developer clearly spoke English well enough, they just didn't know how to craft a compelling narrative and characters and tell the story well. Where the characters could have easily fixed things if they hadn't been afflicted with Plot Stupidity. Where an ability introduced in the first act could have saved the day in the third act, except the developer forgot that they had it. Where there's a big mysterious plot introduced up front as if it were a puzzle to be solved, but then the ending is underwhelming, confusing, vague, or just plain disappointing. Where the Best Friend turns out to be the Big Bad even though it means undermining everything we ever knew about the character for no apparent reason, benefit or gain, other than surprising the audience.

I'm looking for the games that could have been great, if only the developer had wroted words more goodly a bunch.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

Being limited to completed games makes this much harder. Almost all completed games come from Japanese devs. Nearly all western games end up abandoned, on-hold or forever-in-development, and the ones that actually get completed tend to be higher-quality. Case in point, I think Manila Shaw is a great example of what you're looking for, except it's not completed despite being in development for almost 5 years now. Fashion Business is another one with a unique premise that's let down by the writing, especially in sex scenes. I guess Chloe is a precursor/inspiration to Manila that has slightly better writing (still not good very good though), and is actually completed.

But come to think of it, if you want a """completed""" game with excellent graphics but somewhat underwhelming writing, that didn't go through a translator and didn't seem like the dev wasn't fluent, try this. Been years since I played it, but I found it... rushed, for a corruption game.

 

[CurvyLinesEverywhere]

Being limited to completed games makes this much harder. Almost all completed games come from Japanese devs. Nearly all western games end up abandoned, on-hold or forever-in-development, and the ones that actually get completed tend to be higher-quality. Case in point, I think Manila Shaw is a great example of what you're looking for, except it's not completed despite being in development for almost 5 years now. Fashion Business is another one with a unique premise that's let down by the writing, especially in sex scenes. I guess Chloe is a precursor/inspiration to Manila that has slightly better writing (still not good very good though), and is actually completed.

But come to think of it, if you want a """completed""" game with excellent graphics but somewhat underwhelming writing, that didn't go through a translator and didn't seem like the dev wasn't fluent, try this. Been years since I played it, but I found it... rushed, for a corruption game.

Ah. Fair enough, then. In that case, let's lift the "must be completed" restriction, since apparently not finishing is somehow a survival strategy in this industry.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

Oh right, here's a textbook example of what you wanted.

 

[sliveart777]

Oof.

I don't know if "bad translation" should count, guys. If it had a good story in Japanese, and they just couldn't afford to hire a professional translator, that doesn't seem fair. In fact, as a westerner, I'm probably least qualified to judge those stories. What if understanding the story hinges on some cultural element I'm not aware of?

Likewise, I'm not looking for stories that were fine but just needed a proofreader, stories that started great but then randomly stopped updating, or stories where the author was clearly joking/drunk/memeing/making a bad game on purpose. I'm also not looking for "I like/dislike these fetishes, please fix." (Though I might accept "dev picked the wrong

You must be registered to see the links

" if you can provide a compelling argument.)

I'm looking for the games where the developer clearly spoke English well enough, they just didn't know how to craft a compelling narrative and characters and tell the story well. Where the characters could have easily fixed things if they hadn't been afflicted with Plot Stupidity. Where an ability introduced in the first act could have saved the day in the third act, except the developer forgot that they had it. Where there's a big mysterious plot introduced up front as if it were a puzzle to be solved, but then the ending is underwhelming, confusing, vague, or just plain disappointing. Where the Best Friend turns out to be the Big Bad even though it means undermining everything we ever knew about the character for no apparent reason, benefit or gain, other than surprising the audience.

I'm looking for the games that could have been great, if only the developer had wroted words more goodly a bunch.

Take 99% of all games on this site. Probably closer to 99.99%. No one here is getting published or winning any awards for their work, I can tell you that much.

The bar for writing quality is incredibly low.

 

[CurvyLinesEverywhere]

Take 99% of all games on this site. Probably closer to 99.99%. No one here is getting published or winning any awards for their work, I can tell you that much.

The bar for writing quality is incredibly low.

That's a shame, given how important writing is to the medium of VNs in general.

And that's not an opinion, it's market research.

You must be registered to see the links

Hell, scroll to the bottom of this page for a list of people seeking games with good writing! Do you have any idea how rare it is to find 5 of the exact same thread in the "Similar threads" section? Moderately! That's how rare. But still.

Make more words gooder.