Recommending Story-first games

[TheimmortalP]

What happened to this forum?

Up until today I've been able to ask for recommendations for stuff that I'd ask for from polite people who were glad to help.

I made a topic today looking for something short and lighthearted with cute, kind people and I get the nonsensical people recommending nonsensical games that set off so many red flags like "totally optional sleep sex." which they admit "is a big part of the appeal."

I'm not here to kink shame, but this feels like sexual harassment.

 

[boobsrcool]

What happened to this forum?

Up until today I've been able to ask for recommendations for stuff that I'd ask for from polite people who were glad to help.

I made a topic today looking for something short and lighthearted with cute, kind people and I get the nonsensical people recommending nonsensical games that set off so many red flags like "totally optional sleep sex." which they admit "is a big part of the appeal."

I'm not here to kink shame, but this feels like sexual harassment.

No idea what you're trying to convey at the end there but Inn Another World might count

 

[thanks for the demos]

What happened to this forum?

Up until today I've been able to ask for recommendations for stuff that I'd ask for from polite people who were glad to help.

I made a topic today looking for something short and lighthearted with cute, kind people and I get the nonsensical people recommending nonsensical games that set off so many red flags like "totally optional sleep sex." which they admit "is a big part of the appeal."

I'm not here to kink shame, but this feels like sexual harassment.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience asking for recommendations. If your baseline is this threat, it honestly sounds a little like selection bias. This threat is a unicorn - an oasis of kindness, respect and good taste

The general forum is huge, frequented by all sorts of people and thus more closely represents the internet at large.
There is a reason some folks here refer to it semi-jokingly as 'the hellsite'.


But to try and answer your question:
I've mentioned it in this threat before, but I'd say

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fits the bill exactly. It's short, highly replayable, pun~y, witty and outright adorable meditation on what it means to be human (even though the protagonist isn't). Mostly text-based Interactive Fiction though and has no sexual content.

If Sakura [XYZ] titles are alright with you, those are usually short, cute, somewhat funny, lighthearted fluff. Positive and cute enough to lighten your mood on a bad day, but otherwise forgettable.

Teaching Feeling has some heavy themes initially, but the game is essentially about kindness, healing and headpats.

Henchman Story is a superhero parody, lighthearted and charmingly awkward. All of the best routes are about kindness in unexpected places and/or redemption. (Though again, no sexual content)

 

[TheimmortalP]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience asking for recommendations. If your baseline is this threat, it honestly sounds a little like selection bias. This threat is a unicorn - an oasis of kindness, respect and good taste

Why did you wink? This is easily the kindest place on this site, and I knew that people here would be able to empathize with me on this dillemma. Which you just did, so thank you!

The general forum is huge, frequented by all sorts of people and thus more closely represents the internet at large.
There is a reason some folks here refer to it semi-jokingly as 'the hellsite'.

I used to think "What's so bad about this website, you just gotta avoid certain parts of it, and you're fine." Well first of all The recommendation section until now has been a good spot for me, and now it's turned into hell. (Really hope that it's just a rare bad experience like you've said.)

Second of all, this site tags any games with guys that aren't the MC having sex with any girl that you don't have sex with as NTR, and it ruins a lot of well written games, plus the people that don't care about writing at all downvote shit to oblivion for really arbitrary reasons. God it sucks!

On a much much MUCH happier note...

 

[TheimmortalP]

Ah, now I understand. When you said Elspeth was capable without upstaging MC, I read that as you thinking Malena does upstage Rockford, which confused me. As in, she's a better conversationalist, is more assertive, and has a much stronger personality than Rockford and I count those as being "better" than him, but I didn't see those as problems, hence my question

Hi there Jufot, sorry for tagging an unrelated post of yours, but I want to make sure that you see this post:

As I said in my entertainment journal:

Dreaming with Elsa (Possibly The Best NSFW, Jufot To The Rescue!)

I asked on F95 for something cute, short and lighthearted, and was met with sexually harassing trolls who recommended really gross stuff. I go on the story first topic, figuring that I'll find some empathy for this, and like when Being a Dik really pissed me off, Jufot comes to the rescue with her list. Been wanting to check out the Elsaverse for a long time, and dear god did this deliver pretty much exactly what I wanted! This literally might be best the best visual novel I've ever read! I especially appreciate the old school point system with multiple ways to accomplish things. It has both hoping that the rest of the omnibus has the point system, and makes me hope that I can get recommendations for stuff like this!

I checked out first two super short visual novels in the omnibus as well!

 

[jufot]

I checked out first two super short visual novels in the omnibus as well!

I'm glad you started playing the Elsaverse games! They are quite special - Tlaero and Mortze do amazing work.

By the way, you might want to skip Saving Chloe for now. Doing so will leave a gap in the overall story, but given the sensitivities you mentioned, its rather dark story might not be a good fit.

 

[thanks for the demos]

Why did you wink? This is easily the kindest place on this site, and I knew that people here would be able to empathize with me on this dillemma. Which you just did, so thank you!

Oh, I absolutely meant what I said. The wink was mostly for mentioning good taste and then proceeding to recommend the Sakura series (which does fit the criteria you listed, but would usually not be mentioned in a story-first threat)

 

[TheimmortalP]

I'm glad you started playing the Elsaverse games! They are quite special - Tlaero and Mortze do amazing work.

By the way, you might want to skip Saving Chloe for now. Doing so will leave a gap in the overall story, but given the sensitivities you mentioned, its rather dark story might not be a good fit.

Thanks for the heads up, it's just as well, I'm gonna take a break between each main game, and I likely won't need a break from very dark VNs when I continue.

And yeah, it really is something special!

 

[Tlaero]

I especially appreciate the old school point system with multiple ways to accomplish things. It has both hoping that the rest of the omnibus has the point system

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! In each game, I tried different gameplay mechanics. Some where good. Some were ... less so. There were some that I thought were brilliant only to get raw hatred from the players over them.

That said, many of the games in the Omnibus have a score, but not all of them show it.

Tlaero

 

[TheimmortalP]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! In each game, I tried different gameplay mechanics. Some where good. Some were ... less so. There were some that I thought were brilliant only to get raw hatred from the players over them.

That said, many of the games in the Omnibus have a score, but not all of them show it.

Tlaero

The all don't have it? aww. That said, it's all good, the pacing and the atmosphere and the dialogue is what steals the show.

Like I said to Jufot though, It'll be a bit before I play more the Elsaverse, I like to stop playing VNs on high notes, and come back when I really really miss it so I can really really appreciate the moments.

 

[Tlaero]

The all don't have it? aww. That said, it's all good, the pacing and the atmosphere and the dialogue is what steals the show.

Like I said to Jufot though, It'll be a bit before I play more the Elsaverse, I like to stop playing VNs on high notes, and come back when I really really miss it so I can really really appreciate the moments.

Take your time. It's not going anywhere.

I don't know if it's clear, but in the Omnibus start screen, the main games are vertically down the left side from top to bottom. The rows going from left to right are the order that things were released. So the three short stories to the right of Elsa were released before the second game, etc. You don't have to read the short stories (okay, one of them is a novella) to understand the games, but they add flavor.

The second game (Redemption for Jessika) has a score, though there's an achievement for playing without it.
The third game (Finding Miranda) also has a score.
The fourth one (Saving Chloe) doesn't have a score at all. Most of the choices make branches instead.
The fifth one (Darkness Falls) is different and doesn't really have a running score.

Tlaero

 

[jufot]

Mythos chapter 4 is out on

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!

 

[jufot]

I just noticed that

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of Reunion fame has a new game: Hearts Under the Red Sky

This game was mentioned only once and seemingly slipped through the cracks. Chapter 2 is out on Patreon, and I'd like to recommend it here.

Hearts Under the Red Sky is a supernatural urban fantasy that starts out very tropey, but quickly finds its footing. The plot is good and has me hooked, even though the story telling is occasionally clumsy and the dev's English isn't perfect (the game's primary language is Spanish, you can choose it in settings).

I don't want to spoil the experience, so let me just list a few reasons why I think Red Sky is worth your attention:

- Many characters, including most LIs, have harrowing pasts and the game does not shy away from difficult content. Trauma is very real, but is never used for titillation, merely depiction.
- MC is far from being the only man with a sex life, and the world does not revolve around him.
- Relatedly, this is not a harem game and you can't just fuck around if you're in a relationship. LIs are real people with feelings, and MC is aware of that. Cheating, depending on how and who you do it with, can have serious consequences.
- Choices are very important, and not just for relationships.

 

[boobsrcool]

This game was mentioned only once and seemingly slipped through the cracks. Chapter 2 is out on Patreon, and I'd like to recommend it here.

Hearts Under the Red Sky is a supernatural urban fantasy that starts out very tropey, but quickly finds its footing. The plot is good and has me hooked, even though the story telling is occasionally clumsy and the dev's English isn't perfect (the game's primary language is Spanish, you can choose it in settings).

I don't want to spoil the experience, so let me just list a few reasons why I think Red Sky is worth your attention:

- Many characters, including most LIs, have harrowing pasts and the game does not shy away from difficult conversations. Trauma is very real, but is never used for titillation, merely depiction.
- MC is far from being the only man with a sex life, and the world does not revolve around him.
- Relatedly, this is not a harem game and you can't just fuck around if you're in a relationship. LIs are real people with feelings, and MC is aware of that. Cheating, depending on how and who you do it with, can have serious consequences.
- Choices are very important, and not just for relationships.

Public release in six days

 

[Bombmaster]

Spoiler: interesting

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[bacienvu88]

This game was mentioned only once and seemingly slipped through the cracks. Chapter 2 is out on Patreon, and I'd like to recommend it here.

Hearts Under the Red Sky is a supernatural urban fantasy that starts out very tropey, but quickly finds its footing. The plot is good and has me hooked, even though the story telling is occasionally clumsy and the dev's English isn't perfect (the game's primary language is Spanish, you can choose it in settings).

I don't want to spoil the experience, so let me just list a few reasons why I think Red Sky is worth your attention:

- Many characters, including most LIs, have harrowing pasts and the game does not shy away from difficult content. Trauma is very real, but is never used for titillation, merely depiction.
- MC is far from being the only man with a sex life, and the world does not revolve around him.
- Relatedly, this is not a harem game and you can't just fuck around if you're in a relationship. LIs are real people with feelings, and MC is aware of that. Cheating, depending on how and who you do it with, can have serious consequences.
- Choices are very important, and not just for relationships.

Thanks for the reminder. I had almost forgotten about that one.

Speaking of modern fantasy games I'd like to mention Fractured realms. Not a recommendation yet, because it is very early and it hasn't been *that* good, but is good enough to keep an eye on. It is also a harem game and so far it seem it is going to be similar to The Seven Realms or Detective Necro where it is all more or less expected by everyone that MC collects a harem. Still don't know about the central conflict and not much about the fantasy parts.

 

[boobsrcool]

To be more precise, anime is not a genre, it's a medium. Or, even more specifically, a stylistic variation of a medium.

Speaking of anime styled games, I tried Out of Touch, despite initial apprehension, and, well after finding out that MC's absentee father is

Spoiler

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I just couldn't. It was like taking Anime intravenously

Recently gave this one a shot and ended up finishing the available content quickly for the incredible amount is available. The memes are a lot less frequent after the first episode. Some of the best worldbuilding and characters. Thanks to bacienvu88 for recommending another game from the same engine itt otherwise wouldn't have tried it

 

[TheimmortalP]

No idea what you're trying to convey at the end there but Inn Another World might count

Can you tell me about this please?

Oh, I absolutely meant what I said. The wink was mostly for mentioning good taste and then proceeding to recommend the Sakura series (which does fit the criteria you listed, but would usually not be mentioned in a story-first threat)

Can you recommend anything else like these titles? You're on the right track, but I've tried some Sakura games, and with the exception to Swim Club, they're very poorly paced with their bloated scripts.

 

[jufot]

Short Sad Stories has chapter 4 out

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(soon on F95) and chapter 5 out on

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!

 

[thanks for the demos]

Can you recommend anything else like these titles? You're on the right track, but I've tried some Sakura games, and with the exception to Swim Club, they're very poorly paced with their bloated scripts.

Sure, here's some more cute lighthearted fluff:

My Catgirl Maid Thinks She Runs the Place (the 2d original is complete, the DAZ 3d remake isn't)
Triangle (poly romance)
Sunny Shine Funland

EDIT: re: Pent Panda - Teen Zombie in Your Cabin and Teen Alien in Your Closet should also fit the bill, in case you haven't checked them out yet.