Recommendations?

[Static]

Hi everyone. I really liked this game, I liked the horror aspects, the writing, and even the personalities of the characters. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a game or visual novel like this (Doesn't have to be free) On steam. (Doesn't have to have any nudity), just good writing and as many of the aspects of this game that make it interesting as possible.

Ohh and... it'd be a plus if it had the possibilities of some happier endings at least?

I've browsed people asking the same question on places like reddit and browsed recommended games on steam, but I wanted to see if I could get a little more targeted of a recommendation from the good people of steam! :D

Thanks!

[Whiskii]

I'd highly recommend a series called Danganronpa. Without giving much away it's a story about a group of students trapped in a shool, and the only way they can escape is if they kill another classmate and get away with it in a trial. It has the same shock-factor and darkness as Doki, as all the students become close friends. Lots of betrayal. There are gameplay elements too such as searching for clues, finding the culprit and walking around the school getting friendlier the the great characters.

Something a little different from that is Hyperdimension Neptunia, which is what I'm playing now. This is pretty much a vn mixed in as a JRPG with a great plot, gameplay and is much fluffier. No horror, but just epic and fun if you're into turn-based classic RPG's.

[kwil]

I hear a lot of people compare the horror parts of DDLC to Higurashi. It looks like a good read. There's also a patch that you should install to improve artwork and other things like that.

[Kisai]

Undertale :P if played a certain way.

The thing with Visual novels is that they are nearly all in the same basket, so you have to look for a specific subset of visual novels, and pretty much none of them get western releases. Most visual novels can be summed up as "vanilla story, some cheesecake, maybe some body-horror/gore if it involves a murder" , only games released to the PS1/PS2/PS3 are not full cheesecake visual novels.

Higurashi no naku kori ni (When they cry, there's also an anime) is probably the most content-wise like DDLC though it's a "sound novel" which means it has a heavy reading componet to it.

Ever17 has only ever been fan-translated to my knowledge. It's more sixth-sense style thriller than horror.

The Ace Attorney series (Phoenix Wright) games are actually a lot closer to Japanese visual novels adventure games that aren't cheesecake.

Steins;Gate is probably one of the better, popular VN's because of it's concept. The anime is pretty much identical to the VN, just less expositionary.

There is a list of most visual novels that have at least some exposure in the West here:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VisualNovel?from=Main.VisualNovels

You can also consult the VNDB https://vndb.org/g1 , but I just want to warn you in advance that while there may be 21000 VN's, many VN's include content that is offensive to western sensabilities, so if you go into it looking for a "horror" game you will see things you can't unsee.

[Heduardo]

I recommend the Higurashi When They Cry as well, like in DDLC the beginning is slow, but when the horror/mystery part gets in, it gets very good.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/310360/Higurashi_When_They_Cry_Hou__Ch1_Onikakushi/

[Kisai]

Originally posted by kwhero:

I hear a lot of people compare the horror parts of DDLC to Higurashi. It looks like a good read. There's also a patch that you should install to improve artwork and other things like that.

Just buy it on Steam, you don't need to patch anything. The patches out there for it use the PS3 art/sound against the Unity 5 version of the game you buy on steam. You can also just use the original balloon-animal art (eg the artwork it originally had) with a switch inside the game.

[Mami The Beer Baron]

Originally posted by Kisai:

Undertale :P if played a certain way.

The thing with Visual novels is that they are nearly all in the same basket, so you have to look for a specific subset of visual novels, and pretty much none of them get western releases. Most visual novels can be summed up as "vanilla story, some cheesecake, maybe some body-horror/gore if it involves a murder" , only games released to the PS1/PS2/PS3 are not full cheesecake visual novels.

Higurashi no naku kori ni (When they cry, there's also an anime) is probably the most content-wise like DDLC though it's a "sound novel" which means it has a heavy reading componet to it.

Ever17 has only ever been fan-translated to my knowledge. It's more sixth-sense style thriller than horror.

The Ace Attorney series (Phoenix Wright) games are actually a lot closer to Japanese visual novels adventure games that aren't cheesecake.

Steins;Gate is probably one of the better, popular VN's because of it's concept. The anime is pretty much identical to the VN, just less expositionary.

There is a list of most visual novels that have at least some exposure in the West here:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VisualNovel?from=Main.VisualNovels

You can also consult the VNDB https://vndb.org/g1 , but I just want to warn you in advance that while there may be 21000 VN's, many VN's include content that is offensive to western sensabilities, so if you go into it looking for a "horror" game you will see things you can't unsee.

when will the overhyped trash that is undertale die already?
the art style is good, but everything else seems like cliche'd garbage.

Originally posted by kwhero:

I hear a lot of people compare the horror parts of DDLC to Higurashi. It looks like a good read. There's also a patch that you should install to improve artwork and other things like that.

seems more corpse party without the pornagraphic stuff to me.

[kwil]

Originally posted by Krieg the Psycho:

seems more corpse party without the pornagraphic stuff to me.

Since I've never played Higurashi or Corpse Party, I wouldn't know. Just trying to actually answer the OP's question. :P

[Static]

I appreciate all of the suggestions everyone!

[Bees?!]

Give "Everlasting Summer" a try. Doesn't break the 4th wall like DDLC, but it does go pretty far off the rails.

[Static]

Originally posted by Bees?!:

Give "Everlasting Summer" a try. Doesn't break the 4th wall like DDLC, but it does go pretty far off the rails.

Well thanks! I'm going to download that now. I'm so suprised I never gave VNs a chance before now. I'm also about to buy a paid VN called Deus Machina Demonblade soon so I'll see how I like that too.

[Static]

Originally posted by Heduardo:

I recommend the Higurashi When They Cry as well, like in DDLC the beginning is slow, but when the horror/mystery part gets in, it gets very good.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/310360/Higurashi_When_They_Cry_Hou__Ch1_Onikakushi/

Thanks this seems like it'll be a fun read plus I can always just buy the other chapters if I enjoy the first one. :)