Visual Novel Recommendations by Completion

[Updated: 8/1/2016]

I’ll admit right off the bat that I haven’t read as many visual novels as your avid visual novel fan. Like with reading eBooks, I find that reading a screen for long periods of time induces headaches, which could be as much because of my bad posture as my eyesight, but you can imagine it doesn’t help with my writing either. That being said, a few of my friends do read a lot of visual novels and are adamant that I read them as well, and after some research to see if they are up my alley, I eventually do. So here’s a countdown of the twelve visual novels that I’ve actually managed to finish after…

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After Multiple Attempts

(Umineko and Higurashi will eventually fall under this category)

Chaos;Head

One Sentence Description:
An otaku’s sci-fi wet dream of a despicable shut-in being dragged through a murder mystery plot, using terribly explained science fiction plot elements to justify delusion magic and cute girls having sword fights.

Rank: 7

Corpse Party

One Sentence Description:
A haunted house story, or in this case a haunted school, where young characters attempt to find friends using puzzles and discover dark secrets about themselves and those that previously went there.

Rank: 7

Katawa Shoujo

One Sentence Description:
A western created “which girl should I pick/bishoujo” story set at a specials school for people with physical disabilities or disfigurements redeemed mostly by its nostalgic atmosphere and calming music.

Rank: 7.5

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After Several Reminders

Planetarium

One Sentence Description:
A short but sweet visual novel about an explorer who finds a planetarium in a post apocalyptic world and makes friends with the robot caretaker as she tries to fix it for the sake show it to her guest.

Rank: 7.5

Sharin No Kuni

One Sentence Description:
An oddly colorful, Japanese military state dystopia where young people are punished far too intensely for things that could barely be considered crimes and a young overseer rebels against it when seeing its consequences.

Rank: 8

Dangan Ronpa

One Sentence Description:
An eclectic group of young men and women attempt to catch each other out for overly elaborate murders in an attempt to escape a locked facility while being terrorized by a robotic teddy bear.

Rank: 8

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After Less Than A Week

Saya no Uta

One Sentence Description:
A sci-fi horror story that uses visuals and atmospheric music to show a unique perspective of the modern world where the reality the main character sees becomes more important to him that the reality that is.

Rank: 8.5

The House in Fata Morgana

One Sentence Description:
A haunting lesson on the cost of superstitions with multiple interlinking tragic romance stories all set in the same haunted house where curses aren’t to be trifled with and immortality is a bitch.

Rank 10

Muv-Luv Alternative

One Sentence Description:
A very long build up (including the two visual novels you should read before reading this one) to several thrilling climaxes where giant robots fight hive-minded aliens and the characters appreciate the consequences of failure.

Rank: 9

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After Absolutely No Outside Encouragement

Steins;Gate

One Sentence Description:
A sci-fi story that uses time travel and the butterfly effect to explore several unique characters in a way that shows the costs, benefits and traps of every decision made to change their fates.

Rank: 9

Fate Stay/Night

One Sentence Description:
A battle royale where the characters and the setting of Mortal Combat are traded for legendary heroes of myth and a Japanese province, where the magicians who summon the heroes can be, if not are, just as badass.

Rank: 9.5

G-senjou no Maou

One Sentence Description:
A Machiavellian antagonist schemes of destroy the lives of those close to the main character, but, as he stands to benefit from each of these encounters, he is conflicted by the person he has become and the person he truly is.

Rank 9.5