Anyone here have experience in this matter? What worked for you?
I was thinking of something that has its strength in story. I don’t think she’ll care much for the sex scenes (actually I suppose it doesn’t have to have sex), but she does enjoy romance novels (just not the cheesy harlequin types). I basically want her to see why I play these games.
Kira Kira all ages or Crescendo or Kana Imouto. Kira Kira is not specifically a romance VN, but I’d still recommend it, because it’s amazing. 8)
That’s a very good question, opticalsky. Are you planning to buy your girl a title as a gift, are you going to buy one for your own collection and lend it to her, or are you going to let her try out a freely-available title before committing to anything? Are you sticking exclusively with official releases, or are you including fan translations in the mix? Would you prefer a complete standalone title, or do you think a well-put-together demo would do the trick? I’ll try and cover all of these bases, if I can:
If you’re looking for a good romance story, I can easily second Guest’s recommendation of Crescendo. To this day, it remains #1 in my Visual Novel Top 10. Objectively speaking, there are better titles out there (my number #2, Phantom of Inferno, easily outdoes it in terms of immersion and narrative depth), but Crescendo has plenty working in its favor. For starters, it doesn’t overstay its welcome; each route is just the right length and can be completed in about 3-4 hours. The shoujo-style artwork is very nice, and the soundtrack is specifically arranged to elicit a feeling of faux-nostalgia. The five different routes cover very different narrative genres, including rosy high-school romance, drama, suspense, and even supernatural themes, so it’s quite likely that your girlfriend will like at least one of the routes even if she doesn’t care for the others.
Kana ~Little Sister~ is an easy recommendation as well - provided one goes into it without any biases (a friend of mine refuses to touch the title because of his own misguided preconceptions about what the story is supposed to be about). Kana is a realistic, heart-rending drama that is quite capable of bringing you to tears. Crescendo contains an extended nod to Kana in one of its routes, so I highly recommend picking up both and having your girl read Kana first. The story has been plagiarized ad nauseum by many, many subpar VN writers, and a good chunk of people strongly believe that the original is every bit as shallow and superficial as its imitators (those of us that have read it know better).
If you’re sticking to freely available titles or trial versions, Katawa Shoujo was released to the public yesterday. I finished the demo version a few years back, and, having retraced my steps just yesterday in the full version, I can confidently say that it’s shaping up to be something special despite not having completed the title just yet. I’ll check back with you in a week or so to offer my thoughts on the story once I’ve completely finished it.
Narcissu is another title that doesn’t need much introduction. If your girlfriend isn’t too keen on anime-style paper-doll characters, this may be more accessible to her. Narcissu -Side 2nd- contains both the original story and its sequel (or should I say prequel?). The series has since gone commercial - Narcissu 3rd has been released on the Japanese PSP, bundled with retouched versions of the first two stories. The story is entirely linear, with no decision points at all; I’ll let you decide if this is something you’d like her to try or not.
The first chapter of Suika ~Wet Summer Days~ can be played as a self-contained standalone, and a very good one at that. Truth be told, the anime version of this title is what finally convinced me that hentai wasn’t just animated rape (a friend of mine from college hired me to pick up a bunch of hentai titles for him, which I watched before delivering them to him; I was thoroughly disgusted for many years to follow as a result. The first episode of the Suika anime is what made me give 18+ material another chance). The slow pacing is deliberate and those with a craving for action might get fed up, but those who love an immersive romance with a tinge of fantasy will find plenty to enjoy. The demo includes a tastefully-done sex scene, so this might be a good introduction to adult content as well.
Kira Kira and Deardrops both have exceptional demos. Easily the best that MangaGamer has to offer at the moment. I’d have already bought Deardrops if not for the fact that the game has yet to be released in English. The demos are on the long side, covering the first chapter of each game in its entirety, plus a little of the second chapter as a tease; I’d recommend Deardrops over Kira Kira since the art is more distinct and the characters are more realistic and likeable.
On the other side of the pond, we have Fate / Stay Night. A modern-day fantasy with superb characters and a very thoughtful analysis of what our dreams for the future really mean. Fate has been adapted into anime, feature film, and manga, but none of these incarnations do the original justice, if you ask me. After I’d completely finished the original story, I actually broke down in tears while discussing one of the endings with a close friend of mine. It’s a little on the pricey side to import, but worth every penny (it took me two weeks, full-time / 14-hours-a-day, to complete). There’s good reason why this sits at #3 on my Top 10.
I have plenty of other titles I can recommend, but this should be more than enough to get you started. I wish you luck, and, if you need a little more help getting your girl interested, you know where to find us.
Unless she’s bi and/or only interested because she wants to see what you’re up to, why not get her a game aimed at a female audience?
Sure, Yo-Jin-Bo is a bit silly at times (okay almost all the time) but it’s full of pretty boys and generally popular.
I would not recommend KiraKira as a first game. It’s a good story, but the NVL style is awkward to read, and the protagonist can be an ass in a way that’s very offputting to a female reader. Consider it for a second game if she likes the first and is interested in seeing variety. (Also, despite the fact that I liked it and keep trying to promote it, my audience refuses to buy it. It is not hitting the female appeal.)
Definitely second Crescendo. I also reccomend these if you want something romance focused:
Yume Miru Kusuri
Da Capo 2
Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo
Would also reccomend Tsukihime as long as you take the option to remove the ero scenes.
Of course if you want to go the non-ero route for intros, the Growlanser games are a good start. There’s also Sakura Wars 5 and the upcoming Hakuoki if either of you have a PSP.
Even though it’s aimed at a female demographic, I can’t really recommend Yo-Jin-Bo. When I was playing it, I got the distinct impression that it was a gender-swapped moege along the lines of To Heart or Da Capo, with the tsundere / kuudere / genki-girl / yandere stereotypes simply being replaced by their cooler male counterparts. Sure, there’s an ongoing narrative with life-or-death stakes, but the structure is very formulaic and the story is shallow and kinda boring despite the fanservice. The decision tree is practically identical on every route, so there really isn’t much incentive to get every ending - the journey is the same almost every time.
I could recommend Animamundi as a good female-oriented visual novel because of its strong narrative and atmosphere. On the other hand, I won’t endorse a game that’s been censored to Hell and back (literally). That said, I can’t really advise buying Animamundi, or, to a lesser extent, Family Project.
I agree with papillon’s reservations about Kira Kira. Like I said earlier, Deardrops is easily the better of the two - great characters; sympathetic, charismatic lead; nice art; good music. Sure, Kanade looks like a palette-swapped Yui (K-On!), but her character is anything but. Even the characters that I’m not that fond of, I still like to a certain degree.
I wouldn’t recommend Yume Miru Kusuri unless you’re certain that your girl is comfortable with sexual content. My biggest complaint about the title was that the sex was fairly gratuitous. The narrative is quite strong, but the sex in some cases is decidedly unnecessary. Kana was written by the same author as Yume Miru; I won’t say that one is better than the other, but I have no problem underscoring that Kana is the more accessible of the two by a large margin.
As mentioned before, moege titles could potentially backfire on you by alienating those you were trying to win over, so I wouldn’t recommend any of the Da Capo or To Heart titles, or (as much as it pains me to say this) even Shuffle or Edelweiss. A title with a strong story and likeable characters will fare far better with your girl than one with only the latter.
Cogwheel Country, Sunflower Girl (Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo) is a great introduction to visual novels, but you’ll probably have a hard time finding it. PaletWeb has three copies of the game in stock (used, here and here for $89.99 and new, here, for $104.99 - you must register for an account to bypass the age gate). Like Fate, I think it’s worth the investment - I own both the original and its fandisc, Children of Eternity (Yukyu no Shonenshojo), as well as its follow-up, The Devil on G-String.
Tsukihime and Fate are from the same author, but good luck finding a copy of the former. I think the characters and narrative themes are much stronger in Fate; the higher production values and easier accessibility make it pretty one-sided as to which I’d recommend over the other. Still, Tsukihime is supposedly being remade and re-released, so, if the translation patch is modified to support this version, I’d recommend it as well.
I haven’t played Growlanser or Sakura Wars, so I’ll have to reserve my judgement on those two even though I own the former (my copy is still sealed). On principle, though, I think these are more RPG/VN hybrids rather than pure visual novels - if we’re throwing hybrids into the mix, I may as well mention any title in the Fire Emblem series and Aselia the Eternal (I haven’t played either of them yet, so I can’t endorse them just yet, but I’ve heard great things about them).
I almost forgot to mention the visual novels that already have mainstream releases. The Ace Attorney series, Time Hollow, Jake Hunter: Detective Story, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Trace Memory, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, and Snatcher are all worth checking out. All of these are console titles and thus have no sexual content in them, so if you have a Nintendo DS or Sega CD, there’s no need to restrict yourself to PC releases. The story mode of the BlazBlue series is also presented in visual novel format, so there’s a possibility that she’s already played a few VNs and simply not realize it.
I hope this has been helpful.
Buy and get the translation patch (assuming it is in working order?) for Symphonic Rain. Girls tend to like it and it’s a remarkable story in any case.
Damnit, first people complain about him cross-dressing and now because he’s a sexist (maybe I’ve played too many nukige, but he definitely didn’t seem like that to me)?
Fine, I’ll just go worship Kira Kira in a corner on my own. 
I just have to point out that, despite some not so interesting female characters and a plot without any huge twist, it left such a strong impression on me that I burst out crying when I was playing GoGoNippon (GoGoNippon reuses some of Kira Kira’s BGM)…
I still like the game overall, I just think it’s not the best first impression. 
Amusingly enough, while I did play KiraKira through to all the endings, I have never gotten a single ending for Yo-Jin-Bo (Or Animamundi). It never caught my interest as much as I hoped it would. On the other hand, people visiting my site keep buying it, so I’m just assuming my tastes are sufficiently different from ‘normal’ girls to leave me off-balance there. It’s certainly not one of the Greats, but it may be easier to get across why people play these things if you show her something that caters to girls.
… And from what I’ve heard it’s certainly better than Starry Sky. (Which I haven’t played at all, and is very pretty, but pretty isn’t enough!)
Obviously in general when I get questions like this I’d push my own work as options as well, as I’ve certainly gotten many newbies into the field, but I think you’re wanting something Japanese.
So I will second (third? fourth? fifth?) the recommendation of Crescendo, it’s excellent.
Other than that, here are some recommendations that no one else seems to have made:
Kara no Shoujo. Definitely has its strength in story. Possible downside is if she can’t take violence or doesn’t like detective stories, this is definitely not the game you want.
Demonbane. Story is very strong, to the point that there’s barely any … pizza, and it isn’t all that great. If your GF likes Lovecraft, by all means go for this one.
Ever 17. Good luck finding a copy 
but if you can, it’s got a great storyline, and it’s non-h.
Persona 3 and Persona 4. These are hybrid SMT RPG + visual novel. The VN parts are fairly light compared to, well, just about anything in the Jast / GC lineup … but they’re still very much there. I do not really recommend Sakura Taisen 5. I didn’t really like it; the characters and the writing were too weak.
Hotel Dusk. Not an h-game at all, but it’s a very solid visual novel. Sure, there are some puzzle elements, but they’re all really easy. Edit: Seems someone else already did recommend this … Seconded
Princess Waltz. Very strong story, not a lot of h.
And finally, Shuffle. It’s not the greatest game in the world, and especially the ‘plot’ is silly. But I did like the characters quite a bit. It’s something to consider, but not necessarily all that good of a choice (there are better) unless you know she’s into this sort of anime.
One more quick note: I have a friend who doesn’t like H at all, and I convinced him to play both Demonbane and Crescendo; he liked them both.
I don’t suppose you know where we could pick up a copy? I’m not trying to be a smartass here - Symphonic Rain is one of the titles on my VN wishlist. Himeya Shop doesn’t exist anymore, and neither J-List nor PaletWeb carry the game, so my interest is definitely piqued if you know where to find a new copy.
Uh, Guest, I think you’re projecting a bit - all we said was that Kira Kira isn’t the best introduction for someone new to the visual novel genre. Nobody said a word about cross-dressing or sexism, so there’s no reason for your reaction to be so overdramatic…
To the best of my knowledge, Starry Sky is another gender-swapped moege. An anime version has been released, but I have yet to see it. The title has already been licensed for English release, too, so, if you think this is something you’d like to show your girl, you might want to wait a bit first.
I’ve only played the demo of Kara no Shojo, but I do see potential in it if your girlfriend likes suspense. I can’t say I was fond of the setting all that much, but the writing was definitely good.
Like Growlanser, I’ve bought Demonbane, but I have yet to play it. The anime adaptation wasn’t very good, but I’ve heard great things about the original. I’ll approach this with cautious optimism, and I suggest you do the same.
Ever 17, I would readily recommend if not for the horrible editing (bordering on inadvertent spoilers) and the fact that the game is impossible to find (Amazon used to carry it for a $200 markup, and even that has sold out). The endings are quite memorable, and the true ending, to quote Egoraptor, “is gonna blow your fuckin’ mind!”. It’d be nice to see the game re-released in English, but I doubt that will happen.
The Persona games I hear are quite good, though they’re more traditional RPGs than anything else (I hear the Social Link system uses many visual novel elements). I picked up Persona 3 Portable on a whim for my brother, and he absolutely loved it, as do many RPG fans I know, so I think it’s worth checking out.
I’m not so sure about recommending Princess Waltz - the Deus Sex Machina factor in it is too high for my tastes. Like Yo-Jin-Bo, the branching is incredibly formulaic (even more so since all of the decisions in the game take place in the same scene). I will admit that the battle system is quite fun - much more so than I first expected - but, again, I don’t think this is the best recommendation for a newcomer. A friend of mine commented that this would have made a better shonen anime than a visual novel, and I’m inclined to agree.
Like I said before, I would like to be able to recommend Shuffle, but I think suggesting a moege will backfire on you.
One more recommendation: if you’d like something with higher production values, I’d suggest Fahrenheit or Heavy Rain. Neither title is perfect (both have major flaws that some cannot get past), but they’re both one-of-a-kind and showcase what a visual novel with a high budget could look like. Heavy Rain is the more polished of the two - just play it with the original French voices since the English dubbing is pretty hit-or-miss.
Oh, that was half-way kidding, obviously. I do find the lack of unfettered love towards Kira Kira among the VN community slightly vexing, but nothing I would cry for. Well, not all the time at least…
As for the sexism and cross-dressing, yes, you’re right, no-one mentioned them on this thread. But the cross-dressing was mentioned on the mangagamer board a few days ago as a reason not to buy the game and I searched the board to find out what papillion thought was wrong with the protagonist and her comments back then led me to believe she thought the protagonist was somewhat sexist.
Anyway, I do not mean to derail the thread further with how I feel this world is rotten and corrupted, because not everyone likes what I do. 
Not sexist exactly, it’s a complicated and weird thing that even with a thread to itself would be slightly hard to explain.
Back to thread purposes, if we’re branching out into Western games, there is always Dragon Age. While I would NOT recommend it if she’s not into RPGs, especially as DA1 requires hours of boring grind before you get to the juicy story parts, it is afaik the first Bioware RPG that had a really strong reaction from the female fanbase in terms of the romance writing. Alistair makes a lot of girls crazy.
… I should update my avatar to be Fenris from the sequel, though. He’s a total bishie.
I am one of the people who takes issue with the major flaws. The flaws are so major, in fact, that I have to regard the games as ultimately not worth it. I did like them, but I can’t really recommend them. They don’t even well-represent the genre of visual novels because 90% of the branching simply causes the story to continue along the route it would have taken anyway. (Also, Heavy Rain really bothered me because I know enough about the law to know that it just doesn’t work that way in the States.)
Not that many visual novels don’t do the exact same thing, but they don’t have to, and most of them have a character route to get to an ending that branches. 95-plus percent linearity is unusual.
They did score a pretty big hit with Alistair. I remember GI ran a letter in the letters column about him … and got so much fan mail that their reaction was basically “We were going to make fun of him some more, but considering how many letters he got from women crazy about him, obviously Bioware knows something we don’t”. However, DA is a terrible choice I think given what the topic creator is looking for. Even setting aside the fact I didn’t really care for the first one
The thing with Dragon Age is it is a classic Bioware RPG through and through. The relationship stuff is like < 5% of the game. The focus of the game is on being an RPG, first, and also second and probably third as well. You play Dragon Age to stick swords in darkspawns’ faces and blow stuff up.
While I did recommend some things that were getting away from a classic visual novel in the h-game sense, the ones I listed hew much more closely to visual novels. Hotel Dusk is basically a visual novel with some light detective work thrown in, and it rocks. Persona 3 and 4 yes, they have a large RPG component (VERY large; they are MegaTen games) but they also have an equally large visual novel component.
It’s pretty easy to point to Persona 3 and say “so if you replaced the whole RPG and dungeons thing, with stuff like the visual novel parts of the game – that’s why I like these games” since the social stuff is, like, half of what you’re doing anyway. It’s a lot harder to point to Dragon Age and do the same, because it’s like 3 hours of a 50 hour game.
Personally, I would go something like Persona 3 (or Eien no Aselier - but I haven’t played it yet so I can’t recommend it) and then move to Ever 17, and from there to something like Crescendo, or Demonbane, or Kara no Shoujo, depending on the GF’s tastes.
You should figure out what she likes first though…
I haven’t played Quartett!, but that might be wonderfully eye-catching…
Utawarerumono, if you know nothing about it; has a nice fantasy family element, although it has those battle sections… You could use a trainer though to skip them.
I wonder if Katahane would be a good one? That seemed a bit slow, but pretty interesting.
Recettear, isn’t a visual novel; but it could be a stepping stone. If she likes the simulation section of running your own shop, buying the goods, meeting people. Also it has a female heroine 
But, it has those action sections that can be long and painstaking…
Galaxy Angel might be a fun one, but probably targeting a younger kid.
Planetarian is not a bad choice, it’s really short; no H, but the ending… You need to be there for her if you choose that one xD
Symphonic Rain, yeah that’s probably not a bad choice… I couldn’t get much past the beginning though.
You could ask around about Aoishiro as well, to see if that’d be a good choice.
Pure Pure attracts quite a few visitors, but it’s not fully translated yet…
Period might be interesting although not all routes aren’t translated yet.
Suck my Dick or Die! yeah, I wonder if you’d survive her reaction… :evil:
Oh and personally I think liking anime comes before liking visual novels.
I guess if you don’t mind showing her one with sex scenes, Cresendo is a good choice.
If you don’t then the titles are far more limited. As mentioned before, Kira Kira isn’t the best. There is Hourglass of Summer, but its not designed for Windows OS. There is also a non-ero patch for Tsukihime, but you will have to import that from an after market. Fortunately, its not as expensive as it once was if you just want the main title. There are a few others out there, like Higurashi, but I don’t think those are what you want.
…And the verdict is in. Katawa Shoujo is definitely worth it. I’ve lost count of the number of people who had never played a visual novel before but were glad they gave the medium a chance because of KS. It’s a freeware title, too, so it’s no loss for you if by some chance your girl doesn’t like it (however unlikely that may be).
Hourglass of Summer is a fairly decent non-platform-specific title. It’s in Video-DVD format, so you can play it on anything that can play DVDs (X-Box/360, PS2/PS3, PC, etc.). The art is very nice and the story is quite good, though the pacing can be a little slow at times. You can grab a copy from Amazon for less than $12 as of this writing.
In addition to Katawa Shoujo being free, meaning there’s no risk of monetary loss, the H-scenes in there don’t seem to have that porn-feel on them that’s present in a fair deal of VNs with adult content and should be watchable by both sexes. (porn feel meaning stuff like girls being showered with semen or spouting stock Japanese H-phrases like “it’s so big” or “it’s hitting my cervix”) And if you think they’re still too risky, you can turn them off through an option in the main menu.