Recommending Story-first games
- Thread starter jufot
- Start date
- Sep 13, 2020
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I finally got around to playing through Elvensang after having it on my list for a long time and goddamn is it amazing! The lore, story, and characters are all outstanding and the author's technical writing ability is probably the best I've seen in any AVN I've played. Even the art, which is definitely it's weakest aspect, is still quite good and has improved consistently with each release.
I know the game is nothing new here in this thread, but I still wanted to drop another endorsement in hopes it may encourage anyone else who is still sleeping on this game.
I know the game is nothing new here in this thread, but I still wanted to drop another endorsement in hopes it may encourage anyone else who is still sleeping on this game.
- Jun 8, 2021
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I also recently started playing Elvensang after the repeated recommendations in this thread and I can only second the praise about writing and characters.
Lesson learned though, to always read the dev notes haha. Then I would've known sooner that Sunny's romance is mandatory.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t always have to have a choice and I certainly don’t question the dev’s decision. Sunny is not a bad character, I like her. It’s just as a love interest she hasn’t piqued my interest at all unfortunately. Too much self-inserting from my side? Anyway I’m unsure whether I want to continue playing.
A potential “realistic” mother/son incestuous relationship looks very interesting to me, but how will it feel next to Sunny’s vanilla romance story?
In other news, a Toro 7 update seems to be imminent, so that is something to look forward to.
Lesson learned though, to always read the dev notes haha. Then I would've known sooner that Sunny's romance is mandatory.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t always have to have a choice and I certainly don’t question the dev’s decision. Sunny is not a bad character, I like her. It’s just as a love interest she hasn’t piqued my interest at all unfortunately. Too much self-inserting from my side? Anyway I’m unsure whether I want to continue playing.
A potential “realistic” mother/son incestuous relationship looks very interesting to me, but how will it feel next to Sunny’s vanilla romance story?
In other news, a Toro 7 update seems to be imminent, so that is something to look forward to.
- May 15, 2021
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It's already out for patrons and should be public today/tomorrow depending on where you areIn other news, a Toro 7 update seems to be imminent, so that is something to look forward to.
- Nov 24, 2018
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Yep! I'm about to request they update the thread, but you can get it from here right now.It's already out for patrons and should be public today/tomorrow depending on where you are
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Tlaero
- May 15, 2021
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I just found out that Oracle & Bone, the developers of A Summer's End (one of my favourite VNs ever) have announced a new game:
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. Very little is known beyond what's on that page, but I'm glad to see this one is also set in 1980s Hong Kong. I'm really looking forward to it.
- Aug 24, 2020
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Is there a hero here who's a willing test subject to try the story-first qualities of the General Grievous Dating Sim? No sexual content, so surely it can't be too porny.
Ok, now for something serious, what do you think about The Book of Bondmaids? It has a dark story with a lot of drama. The MC appears to drive a lot of the plot but isn't an overpowered hulk. The graphical styles and the music are also very nice, but I can't say the same about the porn sound effects. I haven't seen a lot of it yet, only a few missions and one series of side quests. The quality of the narration seems really high except a little Runglish here and there. The dialogues also
So I think the VN despite its stronger points is eventually going to fall in the trap of grimdarkitis. Has anybody else tried it? Would you recommend it?
Ok, now for something serious, what do you think about The Book of Bondmaids? It has a dark story with a lot of drama. The MC appears to drive a lot of the plot but isn't an overpowered hulk. The graphical styles and the music are also very nice, but I can't say the same about the porn sound effects. I haven't seen a lot of it yet, only a few missions and one series of side quests. The quality of the narration seems really high except a little Runglish here and there. The dialogues also
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. But a couple of things caught my eye and I have second thoughts now. A lot of the plot and drama happens in the prologue, narrated in a summary form. That doesn't have to be anything bad but I think it creates plot holes that are the basis for my two main criticisms.You don't have permission to view the spoiler content.
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- Feb 18, 2021
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I really like this game but it has problems like those you mentioned. It tries to convince us the undead are similar to the humans who ruled previously,but as you said it doesn't make sense. I'd much rather have this nihilistic mc who just wanted to watch the world burn,and eventually have an option to redeem him through our actions,once he discovered nihilism is not the way to go and that it is in fact worse right now.Some side quests are poorly done in my opinion,it's way too easy to die in some of them,some would be very interesting if they were longer,some are too long,the game has some plot holes.Is there a hero here who's a willing test subject to try the story-first qualities of the General Grievous Dating Sim? No sexual content, so surely it can't be too porny.
Ok, now for something serious, what do you think about The Book of Bondmaids? It has a dark story with a lot of drama. The MC appears to drive a lot of the plot but isn't an overpowered hulk. The graphical styles and the music are also very nice, but I can't say the same about the porn sound effects. I haven't seen a lot of it yet, only a few missions and one series of side quests. The quality of the narration seems really high except a little Runglish here and there. The dialogues alsoYou must be registered to see the linksYou must be registered to see the linksYou must be registered to see the linksYou must be registered to see the links. But a couple of things caught my eye and I have second thoughts now. A lot of the plot and drama happens in the prologue, narrated in a summary form. That doesn't have to be anything bad but I think it creates plot holes that are the basis for my two main criticisms.
So I think the VN despite its stronger points is eventually going to fall in the trap of grimdarkitis. Has anybody else tried it? Would you recommend it?You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.
I overall really like the atmosphere,the world building (there is another game called Conussia Three Kingdoms,or something like that which is a prequel) the mc is great if we ignore his motives for betrayal,really like the motive of his title,"the hero" being used as both an insult and praise. The characters are great and mc has very little influence over them for the most part,the women are not his playthings and have their own agenda.
I would have to agree that the "canon" way would be the mercenary one,the evil one is quite good too. I personally like to play characters like that and I was very pleased with it,but the good path is a little forced to me,I feel like being pure after the things he's done and in the world he's living in goes against the setting and the vibe of the game. Like in game of thrones,the honorable characters are the first to die in this world. But in my opinion the mc is an anti hero or guilt ridden vigilante at best and villain at worst,it's really hard for me to see him as a hero.
I can't recall if there was rape or not,I know there was an orgy held in honor of some foreign diplomat and everyone had to participate whether they wanted to or not so maybe that's why the tag is there? I'm sorry but i don't remember. But the sexual content is def not vanilla,which was a big plus for me,so it's possible there is some actual rape in there and i forgot.
Hope this helps.
- May 15, 2021
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I've only played the "good" path and fast forwarded through the rest, but I think rape was on one of the other paths.
It has some good ideas, and you can see they've put a lot of effort in (the atmosphere, artwork, some of the writing etc), but poor execution is ultimately its downfall. There are many inconsistencies like you noticed, and pacing is all over the place.
If you're bored, it's worth playing through once with whatever choices feel right to you, but I wouldn't bother otherwise.
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- Jan 4, 2019
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- Aug 22, 2018
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It's basically a game about a band starting up.
It's not based around religion, the question comes up because one of the characters finds someone she's close to has died from a drug overdose.
- Feb 11, 2018
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OK, otherwise I would have suggested On Distant Shores, where the MC has some internal monologue in that direction.
I don't know how well it fits the critera for this thread, but I really like it.
- Feb 11, 2018
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Universal Renpy Mod. It's a non-intrusive mod that doesn't alter game files, so you won't break saves or anything. It shows you the conditions and effect of choices unless the code is insanely unique and complicated like The Bite: Revanant. It will also show you places where paths diverge and what causes it to go that way.
- Oct 31, 2017
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Hi jufot,
Have you checked Maids and Maidens? I did not think that it was suggested before. It is story focus with choice matters, that matches the criterias you mentioned in the OP. A bit overview of the game in case it does not meet your preferences that you have not posted in the OP (because there are a other games that meets the criteria but were not included for reasons that only you know and have the final say about):
Ren'Py VN Honey Select with mods visuals, basically a 'harem' game (but you have the choice to pursue most of the LIs or not), set in a fictional modern day state and country that bear a resemblance to the United State, the MC is a rising top executive at a Tech company on the onset of a life-career promotion. Earlier part of the game is a little bit slow and the MC seems to be the typical perv-next-door guy. Humor is not one the story main strength but it does have some dry-humor.
I guess the rest is for you to find out if you are interested in the first place, that is. Cheers.
Have you checked Maids and Maidens? I did not think that it was suggested before. It is story focus with choice matters, that matches the criterias you mentioned in the OP. A bit overview of the game in case it does not meet your preferences that you have not posted in the OP (because there are a other games that meets the criteria but were not included for reasons that only you know and have the final say about):
Ren'Py VN Honey Select with mods visuals, basically a 'harem' game (but you have the choice to pursue most of the LIs or not), set in a fictional modern day state and country that bear a resemblance to the United State, the MC is a rising top executive at a Tech company on the onset of a life-career promotion. Earlier part of the game is a little bit slow and the MC seems to be the typical perv-next-door guy
. Humor is not one the story main strength but it does have some dry-humor.I guess the rest is for you to find out if you are interested in the first place, that is. Cheers.
| Criterias | Notes |
|---|---|
| Well-designed, internally consistent, coherent story with a beginning and an end - i.e. no games where the devs make shit up as they go along. | Very well written story (as far as I am concern with regards to erotic/adult literature) but it is far from complete yet. I have no way to estimate how much is left, but based on the number of LIs, NPCs, arcs and what I would love to learn about them, I would say less than 50%. A huge disclaimer is that if you cannot accept that the NPCs are somehow linked or intertwined together, that they all should not be attached to each other, for the story to be as realistic as it should be, then this game is not for you. You can view that as the dev make things up as he goes, but for me I think he 'works' backward from the ending. |
| Characters that are actual human beings, with lives, personalities and interests outside the MC. | All the NPCs have interesting stories of their own, the only downside is that there are so many NPCs that most did not get their fair share amount of screen time yet. |
| Sex scenes should serve the plot, not vice versa. If there is no story-relevant reason for a scene, it shouldn't be there. | Most sex scenes can be avoided (or easily skipped ahead) especially for the Side Characters (whom you can avoid altogether) but the scenes have purpose (be it good or corruption). The sex scenes are not the best, just okay. |
| No Engrish. Non-native speakers are fine (I am one), but the dev should at least use Grammarly or LanguageTool. | Very good command of formal English for the most part, except for dialogues of certain NPCs who aren't English native speaker, which make a lot sense to me. |
| No cheap tropes (e.g every female character lusts after the MC's magical dick). | Ironically because it is a 'harem' game, the MC does have higher than normal 'charms' over the ladies but not because of his swordplay. It is hinted at in the latest version (v0.8) which is based upon scientific facts and theories, but mix with myth and fiction . |
- May 15, 2021
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Wow, thanks for the detailed write-up! I think you're the first person to use a table on this thread
Harem is generally not my thing, but I'll take a look.Tried A Fathers Sins today. Couldnt put it down very good. Seems to fit the criteria though mc is the center of the story
- Nov 20, 2018
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I want to restate a recommendation for Accidental Mind. I feel like the worldbuilding of it warrants at least a passing check.
Basically it is to superhero deconstructive fiction like The Boys or Invincible what Elvensang is to Dark Fantasy like the Witcher. (well, maybe not quite on that level of execution, but in spirit) There is a mildly aggravating sandbox element but there's a built in hint system that makes it manageable. I would definitely rate the writing quality of it quite high.
Basically it is to superhero deconstructive fiction like The Boys or Invincible what Elvensang is to Dark Fantasy like the Witcher. (well, maybe not quite on that level of execution, but in spirit) There is a mildly aggravating sandbox element but there's a built in hint system that makes it manageable. I would definitely rate the writing quality of it quite high.