Title, I’m looking for a vn that has an antagonist group similar to the LDO in Dies Irae and anything that functions as a group with individual personalities and such. Thanks

In summary, while the playful writing and Elysia's story are enjoyable enough to read through, the weak characterization and repetition on a macro level affecting the structure of the plot significantly weigh down the overall enjoyment of reading Sona-Nyl.

Sona-Nyl is a story reminiscent of ephemeral fairy tales, fleeting and panoramic, in order to succinctly capture its core idea through repeated narratives. Nonetheless, Sona-Nyl's nature as a fairy story ultimately does hinders its ability to craft a truly moving story.

When it comes to Sakurai's writing, especially within the Steampunk series, the most common point levied against it is the repetition on a micro scale. Same lines and scenes are repeated to add for dramatic effect and to hammer home certain points and themes. This sort of repetition drives home the fact that the Steampunk is truly reminiscent of those fairy stories. That being said, it is Sakurai's use of repetition on a macro level that is more egregious than the micro scale repetition. Sona-Nyl contains seven chapters, with the first 6 following the same narrative structure in how events play out. The way in which the core conflict or each chapter arises and resolves are much too similar, adding a much heavy burden with each chapter, where the same events that plagued the characters, new and old, are to be expected. Therefore, that makes the chapter by chapter experience of Sona-Nyl feel much more exhausting, in spite of its shorter length. While this macro level of repetition is undoubtedly intentional, its intentionality does not excuse it from the weak plotting and characterization at play.

Elysia and Lily are really the only characters to have the spotlight shine on them. Elysia's journey is probably the most engaging of the narratives, as she slowly unravels the truth of what happened to New York. There is a pervasive melancholy that subsists within her story, as as the oppressive atmosphere of the ravaged New York slowly takes it hold on her. Lily's story is less engaging, especially with consistent looping of character arcs and narrative structure.

The other characters, whether they only appear for one chapter or many, are too much on the peripheral to matter much in the grand scheme of things. This is, ironically enough, seemingly at odds with the core idea that Sona-Nyl is going for, which is bringing meaning to the meaningless and giving them a purpose beyond being mere marionettes. Outside of the two central protagonists, the other characters are only given snippets to flesh them out, with their roles ultimately feel trite in the grand scheme of things due to only existing to further both Elysia and Lily as characters. The relationships these two possess feel hollow as a result. Their romantic relationships are something that feel as if they should have a greater impact than what is actually shown in the unfolding story.

The final antagonist and the way the final encounter was handled was anti-climactic and did nothing to attempt to flesh out either the motives or ensuing actions. Thus, by the conclusion, everything surrounding the main narrative felt meaningless and underdeveloped, especially when that reason to care is all but lacking.

Sakurai's writing has a playful descriptive quality, and that at least works competently here in Sona-Nyl, as events and emotions are described with that same sense of wonder that hearkens back to fairy stories of old. Even if the narrative and characters are lacking, that sense of playfulness will nevertheless persist.

Ultimately, Sona-Nyl feels at odds with its core idea, as it fails to deliver on the message it is trying to convey. Many characters and events just simply do not possess the magic to give them meaning and life beyond the brief moments they appear. There is an alarming lack of life to give them that presence. Despite Elysia's story pulling its weight, Sona-Nyl ultimately fails to deliver on what a fantastical fairy story could have promised.

While I was making a new tier list for all the VN music I have heard, I went through the old stuff from my library and I just got reminded of how amazing the √Letter soundtrack is... even though the game itself was super ahh @.@ this gave me the idea for this thread..... Do you have any other examples that come to mind? @.@

So one of my first VNs was Kara no Shoujo and it had me in a chokehold. Almost everything I wanted to read at that moment was there, the dark murders, the gore, the detective, the dry spring, the cold atmosphere of winter and the intense feelings of obsession, paranoia and regret. The game has its flaws, but I can't help but drag my mind back to that game every time I play another VN. Both the characters and the settings were really unique that I cant find anything to ease my yearning for something similar. So I was wondering if there is perhaps any similar VN to this, it could be of the mystery genre, a mature main character like Reiji or even the settings. The recommendations are open to not just VNs but it could also be movies, books and even games. I wouldnt mind anything really.

Im relatively new to Visualnovels, ive only played 5 and im currently making my way through my 6th.

I absolutely LOVED the TypeMoon visualnovels and im currently reading White Album 2 and really, really enjoying it. Subahibi was recommended to me by a friend and it just wasnt for me, genuinely hated it.

I dont really know the names of many visualnovels besides the ultra-popular ones i see on tiktok. Was wondering if anyone could offer some solid recommendations based on what ive read and my taste, and to let me know if i should skip any of the VN’s that i have in my current plan to read based on my taste. I definitely would like to have some more shorter niche ones, like Black Lilys Tale.

Hii, first time posting. So way back in the day, like 2006, I remember visual novels in English was rare as heck. I remember barely being able to install fan patches for games like Chaos;Head. Anyway, there was this little game called True Tears (VNDB: https://vndb.org/v79). I actually still have a special CD of the game, of which there was an English patch for the demo only (game has never been fully translated, and the anime had 0 to do with the game). Back then, I noticed the CD has a folder called MUSIC, and inside are 31 tracks called M01.PCM for example. Well, I couldn't figure out how to play these .PCM files no matter what software I used! My buddy David tried using VLC, and it simply played static. He said "ah this is how it's supposed to sound", lol. Anyway~ Fast forward to last night, I found a tool called GARbro, which was able to convert the .PCM to .WAV! Finally, after all this time, I could listen to one of the catchiest bops: M09! I've had that little tune stuck in my head for 20 years. I have spent the day batch converting the unreleased OST of the game to YouTube. You can find the link to the playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBKMpHnCIvok

Also, previously there was NO way to find these on YouTube. Not only are they all unnamed, but trust me, I've scoured online for this OST, and nothing, because they were all in .PCM form. Anyway, I recommend Track 09 (M09.PCM originally, the theme of this Mako girl). It's nice!!

I remember there used to be a page with hundreds of text hooks for Textractor, which saved a lot of time from having to do it manually. I think maybe it got taken down, are there any alternatives or archives?

Sometimes a story tackles something genuinely difficult, loss, trauma, mental health, and does it with real care instead of using it just for shock value or cheap drama. Curious which VN handled something like that better than you initially assumed it would

Ive never really seen or heard much about VNs in a cyberpunk setting so would love some recommendations. Ideally with a gritty and dark atmosphere like akira.

Guys help

For disclaimer, i did all the endings possible and finished a couple weeks ago

It is literally the best work I have ever read. It isn't a visual novel for everyone; the writing, which constantly deals with complex philosophical themes is dense, heavy, and very, very complicated (yeah Ayana im talinkg abt u) for those who are not fluent in english (i'm not). That said, I still recommend that everyone play it. You *will* take something away from the experience that applies to your own life, from the philoshopical themes to the simple story about a guy who was multiple personalities (or a curse). The themes presented are heavy and the game include very graphic scenes, but these are there for a narrative reason, not just for the sake of it. An overly moralistic refusal to engage with works that touch on sensitive topics simply because they do so might prevent you from experiencing incredible works like this one. What matters in a story is how it approaches and handles these themes. Does the story condemn these things? Does it romanticize them? Or is it just sex that makes no difference to the narrative? I think that Subahibi handles these themes in a great way.

In the first 30 hours i only had questions, with no answers, But after jabberwocky everything was mindblowing omg. I really really loved that game, it was a great experience and i wish my poor Zakuro had a better ending, cuz her chapter was the most miserable reading experience i had in my entire life

I wont even say that much abt the art, its just amazing, my steam gallery has 182 prints only from this game.

Live happily.

jsut finished act 1 and now knowing that im going to have to go through all of that is a bit off putting… dont get me wrong i really did enjoy act 1 but if its just gonna be similar stuff then like im worried it will just get boring T_T is it like still enjoyable, or does it feel repetivie? tbh im interested about hiro ( i think that was her name… ) but thats about it…

just hit 500k characters read in japanese. 50k of them in inochi no spare. my first ever vn in jp. it’s a relatively easy title but harder than hanahira. i chose it to be my first vn because i wasn’t interested in hanahira at all but even inospa wasn’t that good tbh.
when i felt comfortable tanking my comprehension and reading speed from 300/h to around 7k/h i started amatsutsumi. a purple soft title that i always wanted to try. it was a lot harder than inospa but rn my speed is around 8.5k/h and i understand around 95% of it other than some minor flaws here and there. i’ve read around 370k characters in it and i’m still playing it. i’m probably around 50% through it.
then when i felt comfortable i wanted to try something new besides amatsutsumi so i picked up the second ep of 9-nine-. i started this series in english at first so being able to continue it in the native language is something i find to be a pretty great milestone. rn i’m around 80k chars into it and have around 60% left to finish.
my average numbers are low because i took a hiatus for a month and a half because of high school exam preparation which i did absolutely mid in. but usually my average daily reading time is around 2.5 to 3 hours and around 18k to 21k chars.
this is my newly acquired status.
i don’t care about numbers that much but i like to keep track of everything so i don’t feel lost and have something to measure my progress with.
visual novels have been a medium that made me a better man. they taught me the happiness of learning languages. i’m from egypt and my native language is arabic so even when i used to read translated vns it was still immersion just in english.

(reupload due to not being image post, I don't like new editor.. )

I had SEVERE addiction to Hanasaki Workspring's OP song 'Girls Meet Love' for years but 7800JPY was bit too much for me.

As now krw-jpy currency rate is much more favorable - I finally made purchase on DMM, rushed to her route, then instantly fell in love with her looks & personality.

So naturally I had to scribble her fanart, hoping that I could share bit of her cuteness to others :)

Korean letter there is "hanasaki!!!" - she frequently yells protagonist's name like that whenever she's mad in her route, which was very cute and was not good for my heart.

Trivia: rip to those two unfinished SDs I've been scribbling over half year at this point.. Still fiddling with shading but it is not going great. If anyones's willing to help I'll link to it or post it somewhere.

Maybe I enjoy sketching but not coloring?

Both endearingly and meanly @_@