Sepia Tears
Sepia Tears is one of those free visual novels that really make you feel grateful to the developers and unfortunately there’s no DLC available, otherwise it had deserved for sure 1€!!
Though, I read on the game’s page that it’s a very popular visual novel on Android although it’s indie so I hope it had the visibility and the support it deserved!
It’s the only game from Scarlet String featured on Steam so I really hope that they will make new games like this one and port them on Steam :)
The artwork and the general graphics, just to start with something, are awesome and feature many different styles. It’s clear that the developer put lots of work in designing manga-like characters, detailed backgrounds and cute little cutscenes (you can see some of them in the screenshots!!) :)
– Real player with 13.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Romance Visual Novel Games.
This VN is not the easiest one to read - it’s slow-paced, at times confusing and the writing not always hits the mark. The “people don’t talk like that” feeling some more critical reviews mention is very much real, especially in the first few chapters.
Still, later in the game the story really becomes intriguing - information you get let’s you piece things together and slowly uncover the logic behind the main intrigue. Also, as the stakes get higher, the writing starts feeling much more solid and focused. The plot itself is emotionally engaging, while art and music, even if simple, complements it rather well. The ending, although hidden behind a very nasty mechanic (go for the roof first, it’s not a spoiler, it’s a life-saver), is satisfying and to some extent caught me by surprise. My eyes got teary from it, what happens rarely enough to be a recommendation in itself if you’re looking for some feels.
– Real player with 11.0 hrs in game
After Meeting
It’s basically a matching game. I enjoyed going through it, but knowing what kind of game it was would have been helpful. You’re just trying to find which objects are similar or themed similarly.
– Real player with 0.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Romance Drama Games.
Dragon Audit
If you like light-hearted fantasy, you will likely enjoy this highly humorous tale (or tail?). An auditor is sent to a castle that’s rumored to be inhabited by a dragon … because that castle’s taxes were falling behind.
A few ~ mostly ~ easy puzzles are included in this roleplaying game. No combat.
Much fun to be had!
I bought it during early release, directly from the developer. Helped hunt bugs. He was kind enough to include “Tumblyweeds” in the credits.
So my “hours played” displays vastly fewer hours than I have actually spent playing this game.
– Real player with 41.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Romance Comedy Games.
I think it would be very easy to harshly judge this game based solely on the trailer and content on the store page. Despite that, it is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure gaming experience. Indeed the trailer doesn’t do the graphics and art style justice which actually looks much better in game (although admittedly still very obviously Unity powered). The puzzles are on the simpler end of the spectrum, although I personally prefer that over absurd moon logic puzzles typical of older adventure games. It is relatively short, and can easily be completed in one ~90 minute sitting. For the price asked I think that is very reasonable.
– Real player with 24.1 hrs in game
Know by heart
“Know by heart…” is a game about accepting loss. The plot, the music, the intuitive gameplay and atmospheric mini-games work together to weave an illusion of briefly returning to one’s childhood and inevitably growing up, the feeling of time slipping through our fingers.
Players will be immersed into the quiet life of a provincial Russian town, where traces and echoes of the Soviet era can still be seen and heard.
Misha, the protagonist, is stuck in his monotonous, dead-end job, until one day the routine is shattered as his school crush returns to town. For the first time in years Misha regains hope of escaping the ennui of his daily life. A brief but tumultuous episode of the town’s life is interwoven with the story of a gang of childhood friends coming back together. It’s up to them to journey down memory lanes and rekindle their friendship, but their memories of the past and the very bonds between them become threatened…
Features
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~5 hours of sentimental adventure
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The atmosphere of a post-Soviet provincial town at the turn of the century
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An emotional plot with non-linear elements and several endings
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Game mechanics representing thoughts and memories of the protagonist
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A collection of evocative mini-games
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Piano soundtrack composed in modern neoclassical style
The Warmth Between Us
Note: I edited the English translation of this visual novel, so I won’t comment on that aspect. However, all other aspects are fair game. XD
The Warmth Between Us is a kinetic visual novel developed by Connection and published by Connection and Kikai Digital. It narrates the story of Nine and Tina, two strangers who meet by chance in Taipei as Nine searches for inspiration to write his story. This story describes the ten days that they’re together, from the first time they meet to their last time. When Tina discovers that Nine is writing a story, her interest is piqued and she wants to read his story, which means spending time with Nine. Although Tina comes off as the cheerful, teasing type, there is more to her. Nine discovers this as he spends time with her and observes her. Although he doesn’t know her circumstances (he barely even knows her, seeing that they’re strangers), he wants to help. I’d go into more details but I don’t want to give away spoilers, so I’ll end my summary here.
– Real player with 14.5 hrs in game
I’m usually big on visual novels especially when they keep me on the edge of my seat, stuff like Danganronpa, Steins Gate, etc… This one however ended up being a bit different then what I usually play. A romantic story with moral lessons to learn! I love romance, and romance anime! My favorite series of all time is Oregairu for crying out loud. This seem like it’d be right up my alley. And it kind of was until I realized how seriously slow it is. The main character can be cringy at times with how overly serious he tends to be, some of the antics and dialogue too, but nothing out of this world. It does fall a bit too much into your typical self-insert character.
– Real player with 11.8 hrs in game
WitchSpring3 Re:Fine - The Story of Eirudy -
A 6-10 hours game where you play as a nameless witch raised by her grandmother living in a secluded forest, One day you find a cute boar and chase after it to mofu mofu it and the story begins…
Gameplay wise, everything is simplistic. No inventory management; no nonsense, just a game where you can fully engross into the story.
Grandmother’s letter makes me cry so badly. whyyy…
One of the games where I don’t turn off in-game music because it’s that good.
Try out the sequel 1,2,4 on app store probably if you haven’t!
– Real player with 518.1 hrs in game
Good
(I need WitchSpring4 on PC version !!!!!)
– Real player with 17.6 hrs in game
a new life.
Beautiful, compelling, heartbreaking, inspiring story. I could end the review there and just tell you to play the damn game honestly, because it’s worth it. I’ll try to give a more detailed overview though, without revealing a lot as it’s best to go in blind.
Your choices in this game matter, and as the story is realistic (it’s based on a true story) it makes the consequences of your decisions hit that much harder. I cried about 4 times on my journey to get all the endings and sobbed when I reached the “true end”. You may not cry that much (or at all) but it’s certainly a ride, and I think games that can bring those kinds of feelings out of people over and over are powerful.
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
“a new life.” is a short Visual Novel created by Angela He. As usual, Angela’s works not only present a modern setting with cozy atmosphere and remarkable art style, but also very realistic story and dialogues showing quite delicate and important topics.
Plot:
May and August are two female students encountering each other. While getting acquainted they start sharing their passions and fears discovering to have quite a lot in common… the advancement of the story is up to you. Choose carefully what to say!
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Melancholy Love
Developed by White Dew Games and published by Kikai Digital, Melancholy Love is a romance, Yuri Visual Novel that takes place in an all girl elite High School in Linghua.
Story:
Qianxun is the class monitor and student of the same class as Mianxue, who in contrary is isolated from the class because of her delinquent look. Qianxun is bound by her position as class monitor, and cant allow herself to stand out, but secretly has fallen in love with Mianxue.
To help vent her frustrations, Qianxun dresses down and sneaks out at night to skateboard through the local park. After accidentally meeting Mianxue in the park one night, Qianxun realizes that she wasn’t recognized and decides to create a second identity for herself so that she could form a fresh relationship with Mianxue.
– Real player with 118.1 hrs in game
I fell in love with this VN because of its character design that looks so pretty. I immediately added the Linghua yuri series to my wishlist when I first saw them on the store page. Unfortunately, at that time, they were not available in my preferred language. So I had to wait for the localization. A year after, I finally got an announcement that Melancholy Love got the English localization. In the next few months, it will be Symbiotic Love’s turn, the prequel of this visual novel, to get the localization. That’s a big win for me!
– Real player with 14.8 hrs in game
Journey of the Broken Circle
A simple but enjoyable story-driven platformer. I’m not really sure the trailer accurately portrays the context of the story but the game is fun; if the trailer or screenshots interest you, you’ll probably enjoy this game.
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
It really reminds me of Thomas was Alone both story and gameplay-wise with some minor differences. You’re controlling a circle instead of various rectangles through series of linear levels. The story is narrated through speech bubbles but sadly without any voiceover. If you liked Thomas was Alone, this will be right up your alley.
– Real player with 5.1 hrs in game
Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing
Got this game with a small rebate (about 4$ US) ,i loved the subject,with everything going on right now,i decide to give it a shot.I find in easy to relate to Stephen(one of the caracter),also the SNES feel is great,music is nice…remind me of sone NES and SNES music,that bring’s a lot of memories.It’s not a dating sim per say,it’s more like a story driven game.
This game definitly deserve more attention.If you love story driven games,this is a nice 4 bucks who make you forget your miserable empty life like mine…The only downside,it’s pretty short(just over 90 minutes) and there’s not much of a replay value
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Played this after the first Half Past Fate game and caught me off guard how short it is compared the first one. That aside, this spin-off features the same gorgeous art style, good writing, and down to earth and relatable characters. I recommend it if you’ve finished HPF and want to explore some other aspects of the world and get to know more characters.
Also, we never learned what our resident himbo’s occupation is :( ..
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game