Jast USA's 1995 Bishoujo hit VN
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Teenage me had just started really exploring the Internet and sexuality, and I enjoyed looking for games on "abandonware" sites, as older games often had smaller file sizes, and I was a bit limited on how much I could reasonably download on a dial-up connection. However when I was looking for games, I was looking for games. When I was looking for porn, I was looking for porn. I never thought to combine the two, so imagine my surprise when I discovered a porn-game.
True Love was my first introduction into gaming for sexual stimulation. Before that the closest I experienced was Leisure Suit Larry, but that was hardly porn. It was more about sleazy adult comedy. The attraction to LsL wasn't the sexy imagery, but more the thought of playing something "forbidden".
From True Love I ended up discovering other classic VNs like "Season of Sakura", "GLORIA", "Three Sisters Story", "Runaway City", and "Nocturnal Illusion". I often found myself showing up for the porn, but staying for what would turn out to be compelling stories.
For me the best games are where the porn isn't necessarily the point. With a lot of hentai VNs they release an "all ages" version, which is proof that there is a story here that stands on it's own even without the sex. If the sex happens mostly naturally and organically and in a way that allows me to suspend my disbelief, I think that's the mark of a great ero game.
When it comes to pornographic games, they should be great games first, and porn second... in that order. Plenty will disagree, wanting to dive directly into the sexy action and seeing good storylines or fun gameplay as simply getting in the way. After all, who watches porn for the plot? I say if you want porn for porn's sake, well there's plenty out there to choose from. A few mouse clicks and your up to your eyeballs in porn if that's what you want. I think we play games for different reasons. What do we want from games? A compelling story? A fascinating world to explore? Memorable characters? Fun and challenging gameplay? Yes on all counts, and when developers just skip all that and get right to the fucking, it completely misses the point of why we play games.
I'm getting off track here. Yeah, True Love. It set me on a path to degeneracy and sculpted my tastes well into adult-hood.