Recommending Story-first games

[jufot]

If you search for VN without sexual content and not japanese anime style ask me.

I'm a fan of well-written, immersive stories. I don't need sexual content at all. So please, if you know VNs that fit the criteria in the OP, do share them here

 

[Dragon59]

I'm a fan of well-written, immersive stories. I don't need sexual content at all. So please, if you know VNs that fit the criteria in the OP, do share them here

I'm prepared to present my projects here and therefore creating AVNs with sexual content. I eventually want to be able to make VNs without the need to shoe-horn sexual content when the story does not support it.

 

[kotte]

I can also recommend

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, which is a game with an adaptive soundtrack that shifts based on your choices that define MC's character.

Apart from wanting to read engaging stories, I am really interested in game mechanics. I like to think about the stuff that sets these games apart from novels. What can you do when your story has code in it?
And this was something I have never encountered before, except of course when your choices lead you on different paths with different soundtracks. Really interesting!

A friend of mine developed (and sold) a library that could algorithmically generate background music, and his clients were mostly indie game developers. But even he focused on one soundtrack per scene/level/character.

To have the possibility to slightly alter the mood of the music so that when you come to a place you have been before, but after you have made some important choice, you can hear that something is off - that would be awesome!

 

[desmosome]

Apart from wanting to read engaging stories, I am really interested in game mechanics. I like to think about the stuff that sets these games apart from novels. What can you do when your story has code in it?
And this was something I have never encountered before, except of course when your choices lead you on different paths with different soundtracks. Really interesting!

A friend of mine developed (and sold) a library that could algorithmically generate background music, and his clients were mostly inde game developers. But even he focused on one soundtrack per scene/level/character.

To have the possibility to slightly alter the mood of the music so that when you come to a place you have been before, but after you have made some important choice, you can hear that something is off - that would be awesome!

Damn, that story sounds like Butterfly Effect. I always thought that concept would be real fun in an AVN. Too bad there's no porn though.

 

[bacienvu88]

Another newcomer with great potential
The Neverwhere Tales

It's urban fantasy story about an ordinary guy with his ordinary office job who suddenly finds himself in the midst of a conflict between a secret order and supernatural forces. Moreover, his relatives turned out to be full of surprises. So far two chapters were released, I liked what I saw, highly recommend.

Thanks for the recommendation. It looks to be very interesting.

 

[Deleted member 4643628]

I'm a fan of well-written, immersive stories. I don't need sexual content at all. So please, if you know VNs that fit the criteria in the OP, do share them here

Event- D (SciFi)

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Games from this developer (interesting art style, one series is more fantasy the other more spooky)

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The Letter (Horror)

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The Heiress of Sorcery (Fantasy)

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I have a lot of other games with good stories but they are not really Visual Novels tho.

 

[jufot]

Another newcomer with great potential
The Neverwhere Tales

Thanks for the recommendation! It's pretty good. My biggest complaint is that whether Kaija is in love with MC is up to the player, despite their pre-existing relationship. It feels like a cheap attempt to avoid offending some of the audience. Instead, she should have been in love and the player should have the option to break her heart. MC would certainly be justified.

I also have minor complaints, like how MC can hit on anything that moves without any real guilt and how flirting with the boss is an option, but overall it's pretty solid, despite the cliche story. I really like that there is neither harem, nor incest, and instead we get to enjoy a genuinely good sibling relationship:



How rare is that?

PS: Kaija best girl, obviously.

 

[Vasin]

Thanks for the recommendation! It's pretty good.

PS: Kaija best girl, obviously.

Ha, I just pointed some of these things in the thread. It is good. I did find models to be somewhat weird looking, except, ironically for the sister, which is a real shame. And the elven plot so far is really dumb, but it looks pretty promising so far.

Another game that I played recently that I quite liked is Projekt: Passion. It's from the dev of After the Inferno, and, unlike that game, it is cringe-free. Although it is a harem, it's technically avoidable and generally speaking it's a very funny sci-fi comedy. Actually reminded me a lot of Swordbearer, except in space. I know it was mentioned here before, but maybe someone missed it. Probably one of the funniest games I played here.

 

[Hildegardt]

I also have minor complaints, like how MC can hit on anything that moves without any real guilt and how flirting with the boss is an option

There's no cheating in the planned tags, but isn't it already cheating, when the PC fools around with Elea and she has to reject him, because he told her that he has a girlfriend?
I don't understand why so many games go for a two-faced PC with no moral compass. If you're into playing the bad guy, wouldn't you want the game to acknowledge your bad guy choices? And if you're into romance, wouldn't you want your choices to emphasize your faithfulness?
Schroedinger's cheater is even less immersive than cringy one-sided open relationships imo.

I also like the game so far, though. It reminds me of a straight to DVD movie I saw once. It was about modern day templars, too, but the only scene I remember vividly is one of the knights cutting a Porsche in half with his knightly sword.

 

[jufot]

There's no cheating in the planned tags, but isn't it already cheating, when the PC fools around with Elea and she has to reject him, because he told her that he has a girlfriend?

Indeed. Arguably, all his flirting is cheating, not just with Elea. I also don't like how there is no way for MC to break up with Kaija. (I wouldn't, she's great, but still) Your choices only control how she feels, so you can end up telling her you love her and she's like "yeah, sorry dude, you were just an assignment". It feels... misplaced. It would have been much more impactful if both of their feelings were real regardless of your choices, which would then force you to decide whether you want to stay with someone who has deceived you so thoroughly. That's the kind of juicy dilemma I'd love to see.

I don't understand why so many games go for a two-faced PC with no moral compass.

I think it's partly because it's a lot easier to write a blank slate MC, and partly to maximize the potential audience. After all, if your MC has an actual character, no matter what that is, there will be someone shitting on it on the game thread.

By the way, the game has a most excellent Star Trek joke. It's worth a shot for that alone

Kaija "Assistant: Change ambience to Scottish Highlands. Afternoon."
"Changing ambience to Scottish Highlands in the afternoon."
MC "What the... That's nice. And the Assistant?"
Kaija "The AI for the whole castle. It connects everything here. With limited access rights here, of course."
MC "Why is it called Assistant and not... Computer?"
Kaija "Because some fucking nerds wouldn't stop asking it for Earl Grey."

 

[desmosome]

Schroedinger's cheater is even less immersive than cringy one-sided open relationships imo.

They want you to "play the field" and then pick one of them somewhere down the road. This mentality is something that I have trouble understanding, but I guess I'm out of touch with modern dating strategies. But I can dig it if they at least write with this game design in mind.

At least BaDIK had the pretense of a young adult "finding himself" or something like that. This game, you are literally blatantly hitting on a coworker and your boss while you have a girlfriend. You can't just ignore this character trait entirely.

 

[bacienvu88]

There's no cheating in the planned tags, but isn't it already cheating, when the PC fools around with Elea and she has to reject him, because he told her that he has a girlfriend?

There should be a cheating tag since the MC can outright cheat on Kaija. (with Annisa(?) who you meet at the pub if you go alone there). But this is only after the revelations and by that point the relationship with Kaija is by then not very well defined.

Thanks for the recommendation! It's pretty good. My biggest complaint is that whether Kaija is in love with MC is up to the player, despite their pre-existing relationship. It feels like a cheap attempt to avoid offending some of the audience. Instead, she should have been in love and the player should have the option to break her heart. MC would certainly be justified.

I also have minor complaints, like how MC can hit on anything that moves without any real guilt and how flirting with the boss is an option, but overall it's pretty solid, despite the cliche story. I really like that there is neither harem, nor incest, and instead we get to enjoy a genuinely good sibling relationship:

View attachment 2376263

How rare is that?

PS: Kaija best girl, obviously.

While those things are concerning, I'm *much* more concerned how he just accept everything those liars have said and not question anything.

 

[Jaike]

Haven't seen this mentioned yet, I'm going to recommend Salome's Kiss. It may make it to the OP. Don't read the spoilers in the thread if you don't want the story spoiled.

It's a yuri kinetic novel. The writing is inspired by 19th century novels, so it may be kinda on the fancy side for some readers. The quality of the art is up there with A Summer's End and Ladykiller.

Special recommendations for jufot and desmosome. Jufot can appreciate a story that doesn't revolve around the MC or around her getting laid. Desmosome may be able to tolerate the lovey-dovey romantic stuff because it eventually gets to certain unwholesome themes he's written about before, and it may remind him ever so slightly of Acting Lessons.

The

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ebi-hime, who's been mentioned here before, is super prolific. Another work by her was uploaded to this site just today.

I'm a fan of well-written, immersive stories. I don't need sexual content at all. So please, if you know VNs that fit the criteria in the OP, do share them here

Then you should really try Salome's Kiss. It has literal hours of sexless yuri before the first naughty part.

 

[desmosome]

Haven't seen this mentioned yet, I'm going to recommend Salome's Kiss. It may make it to the OP. Don't read the spoilers in the thread if you don't want the story spoiled.

It's a yuri kinetic novel. The writing is inspired by 19th century novels, so it may be kinda on the fancy side for some readers. The quality of the art is up there with A Summer's End and Ladykiller.

Special recommendations for jufot and desmosome. Jufot can appreciate a story that doesn't revolve around the MC or around her getting laid. Desmosome may be able to tolerate the lovey-dovey romantic stuff because it eventually gets to certain unwholesome themes he's written about before, and it may remind him ever so slightly of Acting Lessons.

The

You must be registered to see the links

ebi-hime, who's been mentioned here before, is super prolific. Another work by her was uploaded to this site just today.


Then you should really try Salome's Kiss. It has literal hours of sexless yuri before the first naughty part.

Not quite my jam, but thanks for thinking of me.

I don't think I've ever read her (his? their?) VNs because they all seem to be otome games at a glance. And yuri otome games are probably even lower on my priority list. Still, ebi-hime is a name that's been around forever, so I'm sure it will be a good read if I ever do give it a chance.

 

[jufot]

It's a yuri kinetic novel. The writing is inspired by 19th century novels, so it may be kinda on the fancy side for some readers. The quality of the art is up there with A Summer's End and Ladykiller.

Thanks Jaike. Ebi-hime, yuri, and kinetic novels - I'm a fan of all three! We already have an ebi-hime game in the OP, and this reminded me to add The End of an Actress as well, so we might end up with a third

I don't think I've ever read her (his? their?) VNs because they all seem to be otome games at a glance.

You should give it a shot. They are not all yuri, and most of them are not happy stories. The End of an Actress is a good example.

 

[realjitter]

I do remember reading it (most of it at least) when it came out on F95, but i never recommended it because, for me personally, there was too much exposition dumping. Walls of text after walls of text about all kinds of stuff, especially at the beginning. I usually don't mind that much reading, but i prefer when it focuses on the characters and not the time period. I liked Blackberry Honey way better in that regard. I mean, you can't really criticize it for being text heavy, but i still didn't like it so much. It felt more like reading a book from what i remember.

 

[Jaike]

Not quite my jam, but thanks for thinking of me.

I don't think I've ever read her (his? their?) VNs because they all seem to be otome games at a glance. And yuri otome games are probably even lower on my priority list. Still, ebi-hime is a name that's been around forever, so I'm sure it will be a good read if I ever do give it a chance.

You should give it a shot. They are not all yuri, and most of them are not happy stories. The End of an Actress is a good example.

Her VNs with female protagonists seem to be otome, because they are like 75% otome until the denouement. And the denouement usually pulls the rug out from under the otome part and then it becomes a rather different genre.

Thanks Jaike. Ebi-hime, yuri, and kinetic novels - I'm a fan of all three! We already have an ebi-hime game in the OP, and this reminded me to add The End of an Actress as well, so we might end up with a third

Who knows? I'm sure you'll be totally vibing with Genevieve here.

Spoiler: whiff of Henry VIII vibes

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I do remember reading it (most of it at least) when it came out on F95, but i never recommended it because, for me personally, there was too much exposition dumping. Walls of text after walls of text about all kinds of stuff, especially at the beginning. I usually don't mind that much reading, but i prefer when it focuses on the characters and not the time period. I liked Blackberry Honey way better in that regard. I mean, you can't really criticize it for being text heavy, but i still didn't like it so much. It felt more like reading a book from what i remember.

That's sorta true, but it's part of the style of the 19th century. Chekhov wasn't really influential in the west until the twenties.

I'll also say that the plot isn't really the best I've seen or my thing, but it's embedded super well in the historical context. Much better than the last historical movies I've seen, so here you have an indie VN dev outgunning Hollywood.

 

[jufot]

there was too much exposition dumping. Walls of text after walls of text about all kinds of stuff, especially at the beginning.

Agreed. I'm reading it now and it's way too verbose, even accounting for the setting.



You and me both, Letitia, you and me both

 

[Tulrek]

Another newcomer with great potential
The Neverwhere Tales

It's urban fantasy story about an ordinary guy with his ordinary office job who suddenly finds himself in the midst of a conflict between a secret order and supernatural forces. Moreover, his relatives turned out to be full of surprises. So far two chapters were released, I liked what I saw, highly recommend.

I totally agree with you.
"More that meet the eye" is defenetly what this VN is about !

Great work.

 

[Dragon59]

I totally agree with you.
"More that meet the eye" is defenetly what this VN is about !

Great work.

More than meets the eye?
I wondered how a developer would use this asset.

Spoiler: More than meets the eye

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