About
Some recommendations if you're looking for visual novels to read
Reading right now:
Not quite sure yet
Must Reads:
Clannad 80-100 hours
House in Fata Morgana 25-30 hours
Umineko: When they Cry ~120 hours
Grisaia no Kajitsu ~50 hours
Really Solid:
G Senjou no Maou ~30 hours
Danganronpa (all of them) each ~30 hours)
Higurashi: When They Cry ~100 hours
Planetarian ~7 hours
Worth Reading:
Doki Doki Literature Club ~10 hours
Sharin no Kuni: Himawari no Shoujo ~30 hours
Saya no Uta ~6 hours
Assorted Thoughts
10/29/2021: I finished Higurashi today. Amazing VN altogether. The friendships between the main characters (and even the side characters!) were very well written. The twists were great, and the horror aspect is fantastic. Some of the writing is a little heavy-handed at times, though; I feel like some of the slice-of-life bits could have been done a little better (looking at you, angel mort.) While the characters are simultaneously some of the best written I've ever come across, they tend to also be irritating as all hell with their respective 'catchphrases' (I have a specific character from the Minagoroshi arc and beyond in mind.) Altogether, Higurashi is worth a read if you enjoy the horror / mystery genre; not so much if you're expecting incredibly well-written slice of life. Also, do yourself a favor and get the 07th mod so you can have full HD backgrounds, voice acting, etc.Though DDLC and Planetarian are a bit low on the list, they are still fantastic reads and require very little commitment. I tend to connect less with short visual novels, but these are still worth reading thoughClannad is a huge commitment but the payoff is immense. After-story is one of the most heart-wrenching pieces of fiction I have ever read.House in Fata Morgana is a surprisingly small commitment for such a beautiful story through and through. I would recommend it even to those who aren't that much into visual novels.I have mixed feelings about Grisaia. It's a little suspect at certain points (even after disabling H-scenes) and is in no way perfect but I cannot deny the effect it had on me. The protagonist is the unarguably legendary. Every route is unique and just as great as the last (special exception to Amane's scenario --- that backstory is still vivid in my mind 3-4 years after reading it and far surpasses anything else in the novel).