Aye, Anthophobia is without a doubt one of the best this genre has to offer. Atmosphere is A+ and, while there's no denying the CG art is hit and miss, including some later encounters being ALL kinds of WTF I try to forget, there's a lot to love. Personally, one of my favourite elements was the simplicity of the storytelling with locating recordings of lost survivors.
But yeah, while I know Parasite in City started this genre, AP took it to the next level. If you're seeking the best animated of the bunch I kinda sorta recommend
Syahata's Bad Day. It's not for everyone, and the enemy encounters are straight up uninspired compared to those in AP, but again the animations are what sell the game. Story is sadly forgettable, though.
Then there's
NurTale Nesche. GREAT animations and art design. Gameplay is 'fine' but its inventory system has its issues while the enemy encounters are even less inspired than those in SBD.
Prietess Lust is also known for its great animations but it's very tame in terms of how enemies treat the protagonist. You'd swear nearly every encounter is purely consensual.
Wolf's Dungeon on the other hand... probably the less said about that one the better. Unforgiving and too extreme. x_x
Alps and the Dangerous Forest is another solid game in similar vein to those mentioned above, though its animations are perhaps some of the worst for this genre. What it does get right is the atmosphere, and I appreciate the levels of emotion you won't find with the earlier recommendations. Alps as a character has great, GREAT awareness of her surroundings just from her facial expressions alone, helping with the immersion. Plus its CG art is on par with Syahata's and those in
NoR.
Normally I would recommend
Cyan Brain but it has TERRIBLE gameplay and suffers the same stiff animations as Alps. Perhaps worse. There's no denying it has some of the best environmental storytelling, though. Its enemy designs are certainly more interesting than those in Syahata or NurTale, but again the repetitive gameplay makes it a slog to finish.
Sadly, the same goes for
ThornSin. It's not all bad but there are simply better games to play.
Princess Reconquista, though? Superb animations. Superb gameplay. Don't care much for the setting personally but it succeeds at what many of the other titles fail with. Sinisistar 1 and 2 remain my favs, though. They're just great overall, nevermind their superior storytelling that makes Uu such a great dev. I want to know more about the 'verse they're set in, unlike so many other games I've listed. Sometimes I worry though if it really has the level of depth I'm searching for.
