Bad endings are an interesting example of convergent evolution in the history of the game narrative. It appears across various genres as an early example of player choice. In games such as Double Dragon or Dragon Quest for the NES, the player is provided with the end-game choice to join…
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Squint your eyes and Process of Elimination could be a Danganronpa spinoff. At least, in the way it works as a visual novel (and that is the bulk of the game). While both titles have very different art styles, the concepts are remarkably similar. And, like Danganronpa, this game is…
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Norn9: Var Commons is not a new visual novel by any means. It was originally a PSP title, and then localised into English for the first time for the PlayStation Vita version. Now it has landed on Switch to give players that missed it previously to catch up. They should…
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It’s a rare treat when a major publisher like Square Enix produces a visual novel like Paranormasight. I can imagine how it happened, though: A small team within the publisher had a cracking idea for a spooky story and, after seeing just how great the concept really was, Square Enix…
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Ebi-hime is one of the most inspiring VN authors. Specialising in two very niche genres – Yuri and “Grim” VNs, the creator behind the likes of Sweetest Monster, Blackberry Honey, and Strawberry Vinegar has been incredibly prolific for years now: the Steam creator’s page features 26 games alone, with four…
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It hasn’t taken that long for visual novels to go from one of the most niche genres of all to being something that has a genuine and growing audience behind it. Where once we might get one or two efforts to localise one in a year, now dozens of these…
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Wow did Lover Pretend have the potential to go places. Thankfully it doesn’t, ultimately, but there were more than a few moments on this game’s journey where I felt particularly uncomfortable about some of the flags that it was throwing up despite it being a narrative that is, by developer…
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Well, here we go. I guess this was always inevitable, but “VTubers” – Virtual YouTubers – are getting their own VNs now. I can’t say I can complain. After all, Dee Dee might not be a VTuber, but she’s our site’s mascot, and she’s got a VN on the way…
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Paradigm Paradox has a smart idea behind it: This is a magical girl story where most of the girls are, in fact, boys! The boys (and love interests) in this otome story magically turn into women when they are out there saving the world, before shifting back to male form…
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Fragment’s Note+ has some decent art, and a surprisingly good localisation for a project of relatively modest scale. I’m used to having to deal with translations that are barely better than a Google machine translation and this game is not that. Unfortunately, I’ve run out of good things to say…
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