Oh, how fun! I think we are generally aligned here, I certainly don't see anything outrageous

Here's my list, with some thoughts on your recommendations as well. This is mostly in order of preference within the tiers.
Tier 1 -- My absolute favourites
- Corporate Culture
- Penny for Your Thoughts (Best female protagonist ever, bar none.)
- Hillside
- Nothing is Forever
- A Summer's End (best lesbian VN of all time)
Tier 2 -- Not perfect, but far better than most everything else
- Oathbreaker (I'm a sucker for well-written fantasy and few do it better than Rinmaru. Her sci-fi space opera
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is one of my favourite VNs ever.)
- Deviancy (Don't really care for the incest but the 100% natural, organic, locally sourced British Banter™ is unmatched.)
- Rebirth (I'd say there is plenty of eroticism and playful romance with Sharon. I'm also quite invested in the mysteries, particularly
that of the cave and
Calisto.)
- Price of Power (Don't care about the PG-13 Disney Channel romance at all, I just want the story. Give me more
Legacy!)
- Reluctant Archon (This is a new discovery for me thanks to this thread. The entire premise is ridiculous, yet it manages to be both consistent and sensible. I also love its funny take on Greek and pagan mythology.)
Tier 3 -- Good, well-written, interesting games
- Three Rules of Life (The story isn't all that special but, Naomi is just... spellbinding. So there's that

I also like how everyone, including the men are broken and flawed in their own ways.)
- Leap of Faith (Yes, MC is definitely rule-violating, but the LIs are very human. One in particular hits me close to home. I'm also a big fan of the humour of it - that
bunny slippers scene was hilarious.)
- Being a DIK (I enjoy it for what it is: a porn comedy full of wacky hijinks. Yes, it has a heart underneath, and it
is well-written, but it's not the point of the game.)
- Chasing Sunsets (I thought the story is surprisingly convincing, particularly because they are not actually siblings. It's starting to get a bit too porny, but I remain hopeful.)
- The DeLuca Family (MC's relationships with the LIs are way too porny, but I feel drawn to the family history, especially what
happened to Luna and how that affected everyone else. The text adventures are also surprisingly fun.)
- Blackberry Honey (Decent story, and surprisingly grounded for this sort of VN.)
- Defending Lydia Collier (The story is good, but I find the gameplay extremely annoying - that laptop, ugh! - so I'll probably wait until there is a cheat mod or something)
Others:
- Halfway House: Decent enough story, I suppose, but I find all three LIs to be boring clichés. Not to mention, there is a high likelihood the game will end up abandoned. Developer's Patreon updates do not inspire confidence.
- Now and Then: This is on my list, and I will definitely give it a shot.