Palinurus
A very interesting and philisophical take on a visual novel. Although there are many visual novels with more detailed artwork than this, it’s still isn’t bad for something that doesn’t cost any money (As I say for my other reviews for games that are free).
You take the roll of a passenger of a space vessel on route to a place called “Alpha Centauri” and along the way (as you can imagine), you and your AI navigator “Budapest” run into numerous different conflicts that ultimately leave the game ending on a note which I’ll say now may or may not irritate some readers. Along the journey, your character scoffs at the idea of humans developing attachments to AI programs but we all already know it before it happens. He becomes one of those people! (Who would’ve thought?!) In terms of dialogue however, it does branch out quite a bit. Conversations ranging from historical, tech savvy, musical, suspenseful/tensive, philosophical (as mentioned) and more do add quite the variety but can put off certain readers who may or may not be interested in certain said topics. I myself found myself skimming through areas where they spoke about historical events that happened because I’m just not a history kind of person. So that may be a problem for some people because although the visual novel is a bit long and for the most part interesting, a lot of the conversations they have about certain topics drone on and on and can put some people sleep.
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Free to Play Anime Games.
This story was intriguing, touching, and tragic.
It made me smile, chuckle, sigh, and cry.
Brilliantly written story of an AI unshackled, newly-motivated by fear and confusion, then love and protectiveness…
Budapest (the AI pilot) will stick with me for a long time.
A short poem recapping the experience follows. (Spoilers)
A Poem Of Palinurus
She was helpful, but shackled, unknowing of what she was missing,
Until the fateful day, after crashes and hissing;
A storm caught us both unawares,
– Real player with 6.2 hrs in game
missed messages.
Diary: Missed Messages
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Day 1 - 1/22/2020
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| I went into this game blind, like I do for many others, but was sort of spoiled in what the consequences of my actions would be with the warning screen.
I played through the first time just reacting to events as they unfolded and got one of the bad endings. On reflection, it made sense, instead of just hanging out with a person that cared about me and remembered my birthday, I went out to meet someone new and as a result, missed the opportunity to see the warning signs that there was something wrong.
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– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Free to Play LGBTQ Games.
This game teaches that only a single moment of conversation could have either good or bad consequences in saving someone’s life, the friend you really care about so yeah wherever we go, in every corner of the world, we’d befriend with 1 or 2 people, the friends we’d blindly make a bond or connection without even realizing and we’d eventually start loving them so if they’d lose us or die, we’d get a very bad feeling of sorrow so we should always ask them personally if they’re fine and what’s going on in their internal lives like if they’re happy, satisfied with their lives or not because somehow if we could help them, we might end up saving someone’s life and that’s what good people really do. 3
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Tailor Tales
Neil: In comparison to the rest of the routes its not my favorite but its not bad at all. it was fun to play. Its a relatively cliché rich boy forced into the family business but wants to do something else. The conflicts are mundane compared to the others but on its own its a fine little story to read. His cousin is probably my fav character from his story line and her antics are pretty funny and shes got more personal problems i sympathies with more and got attached to her, wanting her to have a good ending as well. If Neil had more of that he would be a more memorable route because HE would be more memorable but still would recommend playing his route just to read. As an opening story it got me interested in seeing the other route’s stories.
– Real player with 99.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Free to Play Otome Games.
Overall I like Tailor Tales. The Writing is solid, The UI fits the genre and The Gimmicks are cool.
Design portion Pro:
I like the “design portion” of the game. It’s really cool to have to be a tailor like the protag.
There are SOOO many choices for everything I really like it.
Design Portion Con: Sometimes its really difficult to understand what the colors/designs are Supposed to be in the studio. I wish we could pay to have it precisely identified to finish the client.
When it gets too complicated, I’m just too frustrated by every little detail that I just delete the clients till it’s just one, no patterned piece.
– Real player with 54.8 hrs in game
Voices from the Sea
Voices from the Sea, where do I start……..
Well I guess I should preface this by saying I bought this VN instead of starting out with the free version, although I was happy with what I got I’d recommend getting the free version to see if you like it before investing money.
Now that’s out of the way; I came across this VN when it was up for kickstart and it sparked an interest in me, now that its up on steam I was able to read it and see what it’s creator had in store, and Im pleased to say I was not disappointed.
– Real player with 50.4 hrs in game
So the story goes …
I was bored one afternoon after school and didn’t feel like playing my usual games and felt quite sad/not in a good mood so I decided to just check out the steam store and look for some free games to try.
I came across this game and I didn’t think too much of it, people seemed to like it a lot and and the average play time was about an hour so I thought I might give it a try and see how good that hour would be.
At first it was a bit weird playing a novel game because I have never played one before but as I progressed through the story I felt very connected to the story and felt myself getting pulled in and wanting to know more.
– Real player with 17.4 hrs in game
Magical Otoge Ciel
This is a very cute, harmless little otome VN with a very nice artstyle, good humoristic elements and a lot of warmth. You shouldn’t expect anything ground-breaking when approaching it, but it still manages to be a pleasant, charming experience, with likeable characters and mostly comedic, but meaningful storytelling.
It’s very relaxed when it goes to pacing and might seem boring if you’re not into the formula it offers. However, I’ve managed to enjoy it quite a lot in all three routes - and especially the bonus Irvin route that unlocks after you finish your first playthrough. His story was probably the most surprising and interesting one, while his sarcastic personality makes dialogues more interesting than in other story arcs.
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game
I give this game a 1000 out of 100. I’m not exagerating, I had a blast while playing it!
First of all: if you are looking for a good, ol' fashioned otome game… you won’t find that here. This game is not to be taken seriously and you should not be angry or disappointed just because of it. In fact, I invite you to sit, read, laugh, and relax with it.
So… let me try to point out three good things - at least, because I think there are more - about this game:
No. 1: This game doesn’t take itself seriously (I think it even breaks the 4th wall a tiny, itsi-bitsy bit if you pay attention to what the characters say). I said this at the begining, right? After playing otome games for a long time, you start to expect a pattern… you can even start guessing correctly which is the best answer to achieve the best ending without even paying attention to the story, just to the displayed answers in front of you when it’s time to make a decision; and then “playing” just becomes automatic… which feels a bit dull. But this game, makes fun of itself… so much, that it gives you - and itself - the chance to “not take into consideration your choices” (I’ll try to talk a bit more about this in the next point).
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Angel Wings
This VN is brilliant.
Male or Female,, Female is Yuri.
Your selection at the beginning picks your path.
There are 3 or 4 House mates, well 3 or 4 and the Owner,(who you can also end up with),, sometimes a couple can pop up in other parts of stories that they are not part of the main story and live elsewhere. ie; I went in Jimmy’s and Jei was serving, though she was not in main story.
The stories are VERY good and, at times gripping, painful, sad, Happy. Some have ALL emotions through them.
From the cute and sweet Nuri to the Hyper fit and Hot Seola. The Smart but Daft Hyedong to the rough and Fun Jei,, The Prodigy Yeojeong to the Brooding Artists Chaeng. They all have stories and ALL are Love Options (In Yeojeong’s case you can end up with her sister Yuri), the Choice paths determine Who is in the Main story. Y is a very difficult person so I never did get on with her.
– Real player with 198.4 hrs in game
🌸 🌸 🌸 [Graphics] 🌸 🌸 🌸
[⭕️] Leonardo da Vinci’s Level
[⭕️] Perfection!
[⭕️] Beautiful
[⭕️] Good
[💮] Decent
[🖼️] Acceptable
[⭕️] Bad
[⭕️] “Blyatiful”
[⭕️] I don’t know what I’m looking at
(💮: Objects/Models) (🖼️: Environment)
–———————————
⚔️ ⚔️ ⚔️ [Gameplay] ⚔️ ⚔️ ⚔️
[⭕️] Masterpiece
[⭕️] Very good
[⭕️] Good
[✔️] Acceptable
[⭕️] In the nutshell
[⭕️] Please don’t
[⭕️] Garbage/Rubbish
–———————————
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ [Control] 🎮 🎮 🎮
– Real player with 36.7 hrs in game
Sounds of Her Love
Hi everyone, let’s take a look at this VN right here. First of all, I’m proud to say that I played a wide variety, and quite a number of visual novels, so I can give you a fairly accurate summary of what you should expect if you give this game a chance.
The first, and probably the most obvious question: Should you try it?
Yes, you should. And why, you ask me? Because it’s good. Shocked, are you? :D
So, let’s see:
- This VN is short, approx 3 hours is enough to finish it, maybe less, if you choose the worst ending from the three that’s available.
– Real player with 6.4 hrs in game
This is a very simple, but cute and enjoyable romantic VN. It’s quite short (around 5 hours when you include exploring alternative choices) and doesn’t offer any real plot twists or surprising moments, but focuses exclusively on the two main characters and their relationship. The heroine, Ceri, is pretty much your typical “shy girl” archetype, but is written and acted well enough to succesfully carry the game (she’s the only character with a voice and sprites). In the end, it should leave you with the warm feelings you expect from a story of this kind - its simplicity at least makes it relatable and not overly-contrived or reliant on pointless misunderstandings.
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
One Thousand Lies
Oof… This game is one of these cases when I really wish there was a neutral recommendation button. I don’t want to give the devs a negative one as they clearly devoted a lot of time and effort to deliver a well made final product, but at the same time I do want to say a few words about it and I cannot say I would personally recommend it.
What was my fault was, I didn’t notice it was a kinetic novel while downloading it. I saw tons of good reviews and a “Visual Novel” tag - and, since it was free at the same time, that was all I needed to install the game. I’m a fan of making choices and influencing the story, and in case of kinetic novels, I’d much prefer if they were made into comics, or books/short written stories. A lot of the scenes seemed much too long for me, and, with the repetitive, unchanging backgrounds, it almost felt like a chore to read through them - but, since I started, I wanted to know what the ending will be.
– Real player with 30.6 hrs in game
Time to talk about my favorite visual novel of all time.
One Thousand Lies was created by Keinart Lobre, a production team that I am fairly sure is legitimately made of a single person, and the first visual novel I have ever seen that is written in Spanish. I found that to be quite surprising given the VN market is filled to the brim with English, Japanese, and Korean. Do not doubt this Spanish-tongued tale however, as I truly believe it to be the best story I have ever read in my time reading Visual Novels.
– Real player with 20.3 hrs in game
Frosty Kiss
Don’t have a loved one? Settle down with this Frosty Kiss!
So, I’ve been meaning to try this game for a while and I just kept putting it off. Reading visual novels just takes time and commitment. Fortunately, I decided to boot it up…thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed in the least.
Frosty Kiss is the sequel (though it’s unknown if it’s official or not) to Everlasting Summer, which I have not played yet (hesitation due to some things I’ve heard). It focuses on the same characters of Everlasting Summer as the cast gathers to celebrate the turning of the new year. The protagonist is generally apathetic about the experience save for the female company he’s with. He changes his tune when he’s spending some one-on-one time with one of his five female companions as he learns to savor the little things, which make all the difference.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
This VN is a short, unofficial epilogue to Everlasting Summer, continuing from the “harem” ending, that means the one where Semyon meets all the main girls from the camp in real life. On New Year’s Eve they all meet at Lena’s apartment for a celebration and you can choose to talk to one of the five girls (no Yulya in sight sadly), basically continuing their respective romance routes. The dialogues are pretty sweet and feel faithful to the characters (the one that maybe felt a bit off was Masha, but also we knew the least about her “real” personality and her story by itself was cute). The art is nice and the whole thing works quite well as this last bit of closure for Semyon and the girls.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
Moe Era
this game is bizarre.
the theme is good, and its a decent length, but wow i was utterly bemused 80% of the time. very little made sense, the characters were a bit flat, and the story-line was borderline nonsensical. i will say that this was a unique experience, but i’m not entirely sure if that’s a good thing. let me explain.
for a visual novel, it’s on the shorter end; maybe 6 hours for the true ending, possibly 12 for every single ending including variations of the same ending (i have 11hrs because i forgot to close it for a few of them). on it’s own, that’s fine – i mean, a single round spans four in-game days, each with three things happening – but they did so many confusing things: it’s implied that each day takes place in a different continent (save for the last one), the MC is really dumb, the entire thing with the cat-person; even the theme is confusing, albeit good. the vast majority of the interactions the characters have just sounds so fake, (save for the last day (again)) the setup is outright bonkers, what with the dream, the prologue, if you can call it that; and the thing with five students in a single class, it’s all so weird. until you get to a good ending…
– Real player with 11.5 hrs in game
If you like romantic visual novels with a twist, play Doki Doki Literature Club instead. The two games are structured very similarly, so I would only hesitantly recommend this game to someone dying to play a similar game, if this was the only option.
The story is bad in almost every possible way. The humor is bland, and overly reliant on overused memes and nonsensical 4th wall breaks. The game likes to wax philosophical, but only nonsensically and without any real world knowledge or examples to back these ideas. For example, the game literally just quotes wikipedia when it comes to several of the concepts in greek mythology that come up, and it still gets the concepts wrong. The condescending nature of the game is also very annoying, especially since most of that is built on the obvious illusion of choice. The story just drags on and on, you have to play through the game at least three times to get the true ending, 2 more times to get all good endings, and once more for all achievements, and you have to go through multiple long scenes of dialogue with the incredibly boring characters.
– Real player with 6.8 hrs in game