What are some good VN or even dating sim titles to consider?

[DD The Pumpkin King]

I'm completely new to the genre so I don't know where to start.

If they're on Steam, that's good but not necessary.

I enjoy games I can relax into from time to time and a virtual novel type of game seems like it might do the trick.

As for Dating sims. Well I've watched anime in original Japanese languages and over the years I come across one from time to time that likes to make fun of dating sim and frankly it's got me curious just to play one so I know what hell they're actually making fun of ^_^

[Darkblade]

As far as VN's go, Katawa Shojo[www.katawa-shoujo.com] is free and good, fair warning though, it may result in feels.

There's also Fate/Stay Night, which I enjoyed, has a translation patch by Type Moon but I don't know if there's an English release.

Fair warning, they both contain sex scenes.

While not Visual Novels, Christine Love's 'Analogue: A Hate Story', and it's sequal 'Hate Plus' use log files to tell the story, she's also done some other things that I've enjoyed. Links are on the right sidebar.[loveconquersallgam.es]

[calipalico]

I'd probably recommend the site vndb.org (The Visual Novel Database) to get a huge listing (and even by popular ranking as well) of visual novels. Personal visual novels that I recommend (having played them myself) are: Clannad, Tomoyo After, Ever17, Fate/Stay Night, G-senjou no Maou, Katawa Shoujo, Narcissu (1&2), Rewrite, Steins;Gate, Tsukihime (if you enjoy the Type-Moon series and can stomach the lack of quality visuals in exchange for excellent plot), Muv-Luv, and then my favorite, Muv-Luv Alternative (the sequel which is ten times better than its predecessor, but you require the first to understand).

Honestly though, I enjoy visual novels much more than anime/manga for the simple fact you become more emotionally invested with the characters themselves (since you're usually seeing the story play out from the eyes of a protagonist; you get their thought-process and all that jazz). Anyways, have fun!

[Gentleman]

I'd actually say that Fading Hearts *is* a pretty good game to start getting familiar with the genre. While the storyline is branched enough, the choices you make are more obvious than in most VNs, which a new player should find welcome.

The other beginner-friendly VN you may want to try out is “Dysfunctional Systems: Learning to Manage Chaos”. It is very short with only two different endings (though different means to reach either), but it will give you a good impression of how VNs play like without bombarding you with too many choices.

Of other VNs avaliable on Steam, I can fully recommend Hanako's “Magical Diary”, if you don't mind playing "otome" game (i.e. a game with female protagonist). It is more complex, but also provides more enjoyable experience (Hanako’s writing it top-notch ) and bigger variety of choices. It is also probably my favorite VN overall.

And finally, there are no true Date Sim games on Steam that I am aware of, and I haven’t played them much overall. But outside Steam, I can recommend “Heartache 101 - Sour into Sweet” which is free to download and play – just Google it.

P.S.

Originally posted by Darkblade:

Katawa Shojo is free and good, fair warning though, it may result in feels.

I enjoyed KS a great deal, but I am not sure it is such a good choice for someone just starting to get familiar with a genre?

[Arras]

Good VNs... Ever17 and Steins;Gate are both fantastic. (both are also some of the only games to ever make me cry :'( ) 999 on the DS is also a great game and the sequel, Virtue's Last Reward, for the PSVita is good as well. Only play that after 999 though. The Phoenix Wright series (again DS, with a 3DS compilation of the first three games in the works) is also fantastic but that's more of a puzzle/thinking game. It does involve a lot of reading like other VNs though.
And if you don't have a DS there's always emulators. Phoenix Wright can be played using only buttons even though the game does not explicitly say so and 999 only requires some tapping for the exploration bits that can be done just as easily by clicking the mouse.

[S_Jake]

I'm no expert on VNs, but I did play Aselia the Eternal a while back and was thoroughly impressed by it. The game is more of a VN-JRPG hybrid rather than a pure VN (at least by my estimation), mind.

The English version is available on JAST and has had the eroge elements from the Japanese original removed (a good thing in my opinion, though this won't be the case for everyone). It's a little pricey for an indie title, but you get plenty of game for your money along with a lot of replay value.

[Separa]

Originally posted by Arras:

Good VNs... Ever17 and Steins;Gate are both fantastic. (both are also some of the only games to ever make me cry :'( ) 999 on the DS is also a great game and the sequel, Virtue's Last Reward, for the PSVita is good as well. Only play that after 999 though. The Phoenix Wright series (again DS, with a 3DS compilation of the first three games in the works) is also fantastic but that's more of a puzzle/thinking game. It does involve a lot of reading like other VNs though.
And if you don't have a DS there's always emulators. Phoenix Wright can be played using only buttons even though the game does not explicitly say so and 999 only requires some tapping for the exploration bits that can be done just as easily by clicking the mouse.

I played Virtue's Last Reward before playing 999 and I enjoyed it. It worked decently as a stand-alone story.

[Arras]

Originally posted by Temerity:

Originally posted by Arras:

Good VNs... Ever17 and Steins;Gate are both fantastic. (both are also some of the only games to ever make me cry :'( ) 999 on the DS is also a great game and the sequel, Virtue's Last Reward, for the PSVita is good as well. Only play that after 999 though. The Phoenix Wright series (again DS, with a 3DS compilation of the first three games in the works) is also fantastic but that's more of a puzzle/thinking game. It does involve a lot of reading like other VNs though.
And if you don't have a DS there's always emulators. Phoenix Wright can be played using only buttons even though the game does not explicitly say so and 999 only requires some tapping for the exploration bits that can be done just as easily by clicking the mouse.

I played Virtue's Last Reward before playing 999 and I enjoyed it. It worked decently as a stand-alone story.

It does, but if you have the option to play 999 before it, you should definitely do that as the two games are very closely related and VLR has quite a few references to 999. (also, fun fact: 999 has a nod to Ever17 showing that it's basically in the same universe and both games are written by the same guy IIRC)

[DD The Pumpkin King]

O_o; well this is a nice surprise, looks like I'll have all the games I need then lol

Thank you.

I don't really have anything against adult content, however it makes me frown a little because I worry it'll be used almost as a crutch and cheapen the overall play through but we'll see.

[RoyalHamster]

Originally posted by DD 47:

O_o; well this is a nice surprise, looks like I'll have all the games I need then lol

Thank you.

I don't really have anything against adult content, however it makes me frown a little because I worry it'll be used almost as a crutch and cheapen the overall play through but we'll see.

Eroge doesn't really use the H-scenes to cheapen the overall content. Well, there's of course some exceptions to that, like the ones that focus mainly on that side of things. But there are a lot of Eroge out there that focus highly on story and the H-scenes are there as sort of a bonus.

For Eroge I'd recommend games like School Days, Snow Sakura, Dracu Riot, Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai and Shuffle.

[Califfo]

On Steam I would recommend:
Loren Amazon Princess
Long Live The Queen
Dysfunctional System
Analogue: A Hate Story

first two have lifesim/strategy/RPG elements, while the last 2 are more plain visual novels. Search them, they're all on Steam! :)

[suksas]

Hanako has some quality games.
Magical Diary is quite good so long as you don't mind being a female protagonist.
I know of Loren Amazon Princess but have yet to get it.
Long live the queen seems to be the VN version of Dark Souls.
I played the first Bionic Heart once long ago and that was enjoyable.

[Chudah]

A few more suggestions I haven't seen mentioned, although they aren't on Steam....yet. Most are otome (female protagonist) and from US devs, but there are a few non-otome visual novels. Any of them I believe can be enjoyed by both genders:

Hanako Games (http://www.hanakogames.com/)
The Royal Trap
Fatal Hearts
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92941965&searchtext=date+warp

Cyanide Tea
Nachtigal - Short but free (http://nachtigal.cyanide-tea.net/?gallery)
Ristorante Amore - Also free - plays through Desura (http://risamo.cyanide-tea.net/)

Moacube (http://moacube.com/games/cinders/)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=218889435&searchtext=cinders
Looks to be greenlit in the next batch or two. Dev has promised Steam Keys to anyone who bought the game previous to being greenlit.

Sakevisual
Jisei Series (http://www.sakevisual.com/jisei/index.html)
RE: Alistair++ - free game (http://www.sakevisual.com/realistair/index.html)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=206398309&searchtext=backstage+pass
Will include at least one yuri route. Steam keys promised if game is greenlit. (http://www.sakevisual.com/backstagepass/)

And a couple of Japan VN's that have been Greenlit recently (not sure when they'll be launched, but hopefully in the coming months):

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=216264919&searchtext=world+end
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=93962591&searchtext=higurashi

Oh, and on the topic of handheld VN's, I'm pretty sure Hotel Dusk would qualify for the genre. Absolutely amazing story, great art style, and the protagonist Kyle Hyde is one of the best written detectives I've seen in a videogame. Definitely check that out if you have a DS/3DS. There was a sequel, Last Window: Secret of Cape West, but it was only released in Europe. Fortunately, it's region free, so it will work on US DS/3DS's if you import (I have a copy myself). Pretty sure you can still buy it on Amazon, though it may be a little pricey now. Too bad Cing went bankrupt. I'd love to have seen Kyle Hyde in more games. <sigh>

I also suggest Hakuoki on either the PSP or 3DS (a PS3 version releases in April, I believe). Even though it's also otome (female protagonist), the story is great. It's a fictional take on the final years of the Shinsengumi, before the Meiji Restoration, so there's a lot of historical stuff going on in the game: politics, intrigue, assasinations, and cool ass samurai stuff - most of which is historically accurate. A lot of guys who've played the game enjoyed it, so it might be something to check out.

[Street Halo]

KS was my first, played for all the good endings (and Emi's bad ending) back 2 back. Being free makes it an easy choice to test if it is a genre you'll end up liking.

Go with KS op, but I'll back up the original warning: Man tears may occur!

Originally posted by Kasumi Tani:

I'd actually say that Fading Hearts *is* a pretty good game to start getting familiar with the genre. While the storyline is branched enough, the choices you make are more obvious than in most VNs, which a new player should find welcome.

The other beginner-friendly VN you may want to try out is “Dysfunctional Systems: Learning to Manage Chaos”. It is very short with only two different endings (though different means to reach either), but it will give you a good impression of how VNs play like without bombarding you with too many choices.

Of other VNs avaliable on Steam, I can fully recommend Hanako's “Magical Diary”, if you don't mind playing "otome" game (i.e. a game with female protagonist). It is more complex, but also provides more enjoyable experience (Hanako’s writing it top-notch ) and bigger variety of choices. It is also probably my favorite VN overall.

And finally, there are no true Date Sim games on Steam that I am aware of, and I haven’t played them much overall. But outside Steam, I can recommend “Heartache 101 - Sour into Sweet” which is free to download and play – just Google it.

P.S.

Originally posted by Darkblade:

Katawa Shojo is free and good, fair warning though, it may result in feels.

I enjoyed KS a great deal, but I am not sure it is such a good choice for someone just starting to get familiar with a genre? :skyesad::questionmark:

[Arras]

Ah yes, Hotel Dusk is great. Play that.

[Dwarfy2k]

I'll add to the Fate/Stay Night is a good one