Recommending Story-first games

[Tlaero]

The "darkening" of the menu is kind of a little detail, just a nod to those who see it. Actually, you're the first person to mention it, so you might be the first to see it. It's not there until you've seen Martina play back the video. Until then, the menu stays normal. More of an Easter Egg than anything.

Oh, wow. I missed that, but it's so cool and creative!

You might already be planning to do this, or, depending on the plot, it might not work.

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Tlaero

 

[Finuee]

Oh, wow. I missed that, but it's so cool and creative!

There's a couple of things that we assume most of the people won't see. But it was too cool not to do it

You might already be planning to do this, or, depending on the plot, it might not work.

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Tlaero

That's a neat idea, and the kind of secondary detail that we love. We'll have to see if we're able to code that in a way that works and is not distracting, though.

 

[jufot]

Mr. Georgie already has two games listed in the OP: Reunion and No Expectation. It seems I forgot to mention his latest game, Against Yourself, which just had its second chapter released on

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.

His games are simple, heart-warming stories on overcoming adversity, finding love, and learning a few lessons along the way. Against Yourself is no different. It's about Dan, a young man who lost his girlfriend Melody in a plane crash six months ago. He is a suicidal alcoholic, and is tormented by nightmares of Melody and by a relentlessly cynical inner voice. One day, just as he's about to jump in front of a train, a kind stranger offers him another way.

If you liked the earlier games, you should give this a try.

 

[Finuee]

Mr. Georgie already has two games listed in the OP: Reunion and No Expectation. It seems I forgot to mention his latest game, Against Yourself, which just had its second chapter released on

You must be registered to see the links

.

His games are simple, heart-warming stories on overcoming adversity, finding love, and learning a few lessons along the way. Against Yourself is no different. It's about Dan, a young man who lost his girlfriend Melody in a plane crash six months ago. He is a suicidal alcoholic, and is tormented by nightmares of Melody and by a relentlessly cynical inner voice. One day, just as he's about to jump in front of a train, a kind stranger offers him another way.

If you liked the earlier games, you should give this a try.

Thanks for the recommendation, sounds really interesting!

 

[Jaike]

The "darkening" of the menu is kind of a little detail, just a nod to those who see it. Actually, you're the first person to mention it, so you might be the first to see it. It's not there until you've seen Martina play back the video. Until then, the menu stays normal. More of an Easter Egg than anything.

Okay, right it may be too small to tweak it then, tho Tlaero's idea of the effect slowly "getting worse" was kinda cool.

You're not the first to mention the dialogue font feeling a bit too basic, so maybe we should look into that for the next release. It would need to stay pretty normal and easy on the eye, not something fancy, obviously. But there are indeed other options we can look into. Thanks for mentioning that!

Yeah, I totally agree it shouldn't be too different. Don't wanna push a couple of fonts too much, but this was the sort of thing I meant:

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I liked the little white rim you put on the textbox fonts too by the way, usually that's only done on the names or if there's no textbox, but it works very well with the slightly transparent textbox.

I was really really anxious about how the soundscape would work. I never play VNs with audio, ever. So I had zero references for how to do it. And Kuvira is the same, so we couldn't help each other out, here. I'm glad it worked!

Wait, you play Eternum without sound? Imo it's actually a pretty good example for sound effects, but overall the effects are way more spaced out than in your VN so far.

 

[kotte]

Mr. Georgie already has two games listed in the OP: Reunion and No Expectation. It seems I forgot to mention his latest game, Against Yourself, which just had its second chapter released on

You must be registered to see the links

.
...
If you liked the earlier games, you should give this a try.

It is darker than Mr Georgie's previous work, but still with a lot of heart.
Also worth mentioning is that, while the current version here on F95 is Ch 1, Chapter two is just being released on Patreon.
Mr G has been working on it for a year, with quite regular updates to patrons.

 

[Finuee]

Okay, right it may be too small to tweak it then, tho Tlaero's idea of the effect slowly "getting worse" was kinda cool.


Yeah, I totally agree it shouldn't be too different. Don't wanna push a couple of fonts too much, but this was the sort of thing I meant:

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I don't quite like the "roundness" of the end caps of Quicksand, and Semplicita feels a bit too era-specific. Nobel or Outfit could work, but I think I want to look into serifs as well, try out a few. Thanks for the recommendations!

I liked the little white rim you put on the textbox fonts too by the way, usually that's only done on the names or if there's no textbox, but it works very well with the slightly transparent textbox.

I wanted to make sure the text would be readable for those players who turned the dialogue box opacity down to zero. And the light background of the box makes the outline not too obvious when the opacity is at its default. I'm glad to see it worked for you, as that was the idea!

Wait, you play Eternum without sound? Imo it's actually a pretty good example for sound effects, but overall the effects are way more spaced out than in your VN so far.

All VNs, no exception.

 

[kotte]

Wait, you play Eternum without sound? Imo it's actually a pretty good example for sound effects, but overall the effects are way more spaced out than in your VN so far.

For me, good music and sound effects can really add something to a good AVN. It's one of the things that make an AVN different from online comics, or even a book. There are a couple of great examples of that in the OP list.

However... I really hate it when there are lewd sounds mixed on the music or sound effect channels. It's so easy to put them on their own channel (at least with Ren'py). And I often play in environments where other people might hear.

 

[Jaike]

I tried Alpha Omega a while back, it's on the list, and tho I don't care about fighting sports and didn't like more than half of the foreground music, I found it a very good VN experience. Easily the best, most fleshed out, most relatable, and most interestingly flawed black male MC I've seen in an adult VN so far. I didn't expect the fighting plotline'd be so immersive. Only tried 2 loyal runs with good LIs, but if Ezy can keep going at this level it'll be 1 of the most replayable VNs. Obviously there are a lot of heart pulls in any playthrough, but Ezy managed to keep them serious enough that they have an impact. I also didn't expect I'd grow to like Joe so fast, bit of an asshole friend.

Spoiler: It was an eye popping read

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Now I did feel like the champion vs. rebel rating changes a lot between chapter 1 and the later chapters. In chapter 1 the rebel options are more weird and naughty, in later chapters a lot of the "rebel" are like total psycho level.

Anyway, good rec, James jufot.

For me, good music and sound effects can really add something to a good AVN. It's one of the things that make an AVN different from online comics, or even a book. There are a couple of great examples of that in the OP list.

However... I really hate it when there are lewd sounds mixed on the music or sound effect channels. It's so easy to put them on their own channel (at least with Ren'py). And I often play in environments where other people might hear.

Yes, I dislike porn sounds too... stuff like in

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is fine for me tho.

 

[Finuee]

However... I really hate it when there are lewd sounds mixed on the music or sound effect channels. It's so easy to put them on their own channel (at least with Ren'py). And I often play in environments where other people might hear.

Yes, I dislike porn sounds too... stuff like in

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is fine for me tho.

I also dislike sex sounds in general in games. Though fortunately, playing with sound off, I usually do not experience them.

 

[Pgsurprise]

I also dislike sex sounds in general in games. Though fortunately, playing with sound off, I usually do not experience them.

Usually? Which games do you hear with the sound off?

It seems that more people in this thread don't like the lewd sounds compared to the general game threads. I wonder if there's a correlation between story first and porn first readers.

 

[Quetzzz]

It seems that more people in this thread don't like the lewd sounds compared to the general game threads. I wonder if there's a correlation between story first and porn first readers.

Could be, but it could also be a correlation with effort from the dev's side.
There are only a few games I remember that tweaked the animation to be entirely in sync with the lewd audio. Whenever that happens, it elevates the scene. Characters opening their mouths when gasping, the sound of bodies slapping against each other also being shown at the right moment... But most devs just slap on a few repetitive moans and groans, or worse, a barely matching lewd ambient track, and call it quits.

 

[kotte]

Yes, I dislike porn sounds too... stuff like in

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is fine for me tho.

Some nice soul there...
Can't help but give you my own favourite lewd song:

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(translated lyrics

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)

 

[Pgsurprise]

Could be, but it could also be a correlation with effort from the dev's side.
There are only a few games I remember that tweaked the animation to be entirely in sync with the lewd audio. Whenever that happens, it elevates the scene. Characters opening their mouths when gasping, the sound of bodies slapping against each other also being shown at the right moment... But most devs just slap on a few repetitive moans and groans, or worse, a barely matching lewd ambient track, and call it quits.

I can see that being a problem. The one time I remember hearing lewd sounds they just sounded fake, like computer generated, and immediately turned it off. I guess since the characters are computer generated, that'd be real, though .

 

[Quetzzz]

I can see that being a problem. The one time I remember hearing lewd sounds they just sounded fake, like computer generated, and immediately turned it off. I guess since the characters are computer generated, that'd be real, though .

Right, and disbelief can only be suspended so much. If multiple senses tell you that the experience is fake, then immersion poofs.

 

[Finuee]

Usually? Which games do you hear with the sound off?

I mean that I always play them with the sound off, but maybe have played sometimes without turning it off. I couldn't say when, though. And it's not that there are games I play with music, it's just a couple of times I tried with the sound on, but didn't like it.

 

[Pgsurprise]

I mean that I always play them with the sound off, but maybe have played sometimes without turning it off. I couldn't say when, though. And it's not that there are games I play with music, it's just a couple of times I tried with the sound on, but didn't like it.

I knew what you meant, it just sounded funny. I forgot to add the lol. My bad.

 

[Finuee]

I knew what you meant, it just sounded funny. I forgot to add the lol. My bad.

I'm also sometimes very literal when reading. My bad as well.

 

[Jaike]

Again, took out some 10 minutes so here's jufot's current list in the OP with almost all abandoned games removed:

C: completed​

"A": "abandoned"​

last updated September 2025

• Acting Lessons - C
• A Father's Sins
• Along The Edge
• Alpha Omega
• A Long Journey
• Ashes of War
• A Summer's End - C
• The Bite: Revenant
• Best Friends
• Blackberry Honey - C
• Broken Promises
• Callisto - C
• Camp Klondike - C
• Cardinal Cross - C
• Dreamy Planet - C
• Elsaverse games (Omnibus first, followed by Nightmares, Transitions, Chasing Beth, Past, Present, and Future, and Gemini) - CCCCCC
• The End of an Actress - C
• The Entrepreneur - C
• Fragile Feelings - C
• Halfway House
• Hillside
• Intertwined
• Isabella - Chasing Shadows
• Jezebel
• Leaving DNA
• Life Changes for Keeley - C
• The Missing Part
• Mythos: Book One - C
• No Expectation - C
• Oathbreaker - C
• Oathbreaker 2 - C
• Occultus: Daughter of Darkness - C
• One Day at a Time
• One Night Stand - C
• Price of Power - C
• Rebirth - C
• The Rest of Our Lives - C
• Reunion - C
• Rivers of Astrum
• Salome's Kiss - C
• Seers Isle - C
• Sigh of the Abyss - C
• Shards of the Past - C
• Short Sad Stories - C
• Sorcerer - C
• Sort of Justice
• Strangers on Paper
• Summer's Gone - "A" - marked abandoned but I'm pretty sure that isn't final
• Terminus Reach: Sentinel - C
• The Warrior's Heart - part 1 is C
• Toro 7 - C
• Zero End

And here's kotte's list.

Happy holidays.

Spoiler: and as a bonus, here's the old edited list redone

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[Finuee]

Again, took out some 10 minutes so here's jufot's current list in the OP with almost all abandoned games removed:

C: completed​

"A": "abandoned"​

And here's kotte's list.

Happy holidays.

Spoiler: and as a bonus, here's the old edited list redone

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Wow, thanks for this, it's really helpful!