I don’t know if I can come up with a game where none of the available heroines love the character from the start. At the very least, there’s probably going to be a childhood friend or non-blood related sister thrown into the mix. English only is kind of an issue as well, but I think I can name something.
On the JAST side of things:-
Tokimeki Check-In! (available as a hard copy or DL, rather cheap, like $15 or so, it’s an older one, but it’s definitely one of my favorites.) Basically you’re the manager in training of your family’s resort, and the game chronicles one particular weekend. (ie 3 days) The stories for each individual character are rather well done, although as with any game some routes are stronger than others, there’s 2-3 scenes per girl and there are a ton of endings. You really can’t go wrong with this for $15.
Yume Miru Kusuri- This is a rather strong game on the english side of things. 3 different girls, 3 completely different stories, and the main character (at the start) is basically going through life without getting close to ANYONE. Therefore, none of these girls really know he exists, and to be quite honest, he doesn’t know them either. Well, there’s some backstory between 1 girl and the protagonist, but it’s no-where near a romantic interlude. It’s got bits and pieces of basically EVERY genre out there, but it all comes together very well.
From the Mangagamer side of things:
Edelweiss comes to mind first. (Probably because I’m playing through Groover’s Green-Green series, & Edelweiss is basically Green-Green V2.0)
Basically, an all female alchemical school is deciding to make the move to being co-ed, and somehow the protagonist and his group of (hilariously stupid and undersexed) friends are part of the first co-ed classes there. There’s mild fanservice throughout the first half of the game, and not many decisions points through the game, so it’s rather easy to lock onto a particular heroine and follow the route. If you like ecchi humor and punkish music, along with some drama/tragedy thrown into the mix for good measure, this is definitely one to look into. HOWEVER…as of right now, the translation is ABSOLUTELY GOD AWFUL. The good news is that it’s being patched. The bad news is that it is NOT AVAILABLE yet. I’d label this one as a sit and wait for the patch, or if you absolutely need some Edelweiss in your system, pick up the Eden Fantasia fandisc, also available from them. The fan disk came out recently (ie, after they hired proofers and native english speakers to translate.)
Kira-Kira is the second game that comes to mind from them. Made by the same company (Overdrive) as Edelweiss, this game involves a supposedly one shot high school punk band making a splash on the indie scene and touring around Japan playing live shows. I believe there are only 4 decisions in the entirety of the game, so it’s waaaaaay more VN than ADV, but once again, this is another game where no girl is just “in love” with the main character. If you like the manga/anime Beck- Mongolian Chop Squad, you will love Kira-Kira. If you like comedy, punk music, or have any interest in indie music, you will appreciate it. The heroines all have specific stories to themselves in the later chapters, and they are all solid. I believe This is really the only game I can think of where the people I know are split between the heroines they prefer, usually with games we can agree on which route was strongest, with Kira-Kira, not so much.
Ok, there’s 4. I think I wrote more than I meant to, but I didn’t just want to list titles and go HERE! BUY THESE! NAO.
Officially translated:
- Kazoku Keikaku - all apart from Matsuri
Unofficially translated:
- ONE (Nanase, Misaki) EDIT: I suppose Akane too, but she seemed a little too ‘easy’ so I didn’t count her. Pretty much ditto for Shiori below, though, so I suppose she should be included.
- Kanon (Mai, Shiori)
- Sharin no Kuni (Touko)
well, there’s a couple to start with, I suppose
As much as I hate recommending it, Hitomi - My Stepsister comes to mind if your only interest is in not having characters in love with you yet. Hell, in most of the routes it could be easily argued that there isn’t any actual love even at the end, only lust. Now that I really think on it, I’d say that the pretty much the entirety of the game is someone satisfying their lust. (I say “someone” because two of the characters are much more lustful than the protagonist.)
I think OP wants to actually ‘win’ the heroines (i.e. he wants games where you get to slowly nurture them from indifference/dislike into love) which would imply that (now, I’m saying this without having played the game at all, but I’ve heard lots about it) Gmai Hitomi is not quite suitable.
I suppose one of the migrations from dating sims to visual novels was the change in focus from the protagonist liking heroines and getting them to like him to the heroines liking the protagonist and the protagonist coming to like the heroines. Occasionally it’s nice to see some of the former again, but I guess I can sort of understand why you don’t get much of that - because it takes longer and most modern VNs have other stories that take priority over the romancing. Modern dating sims (like Sugar + Spice) are closer to the old paradigm than the new one, but no modern dating sims have been translated into English, either officially or unofficially, and none are planned. This is not that odd because dating sims are extremely rare and unusual nowadays in general - although it’d be pretty cool to see Tokimemo 4 or Love Plus or something translated (not really sure any of them appeal to me all that much but what the hell)
I can totally understand wanting to play the sort of thing the OP is interested in, in any case. I love eroges where one or more of the winnable heroines actually hates the protagonist at the start. Unfortunately I know of very few in English (that aren’t kichiku games). Kiri from Cross Channel possibly sort of fits though.
Thx alot for all the suggestions
although have already played some of them
Yume Miru Kusuri was my first eroge and i haved never since played one i’d liked like it.
kira kira an nice game especially one of the best soundtracks. even though i would like it to have more choices.
and Hitomi - My Stepsister… i tried this game and i hated it -.- because it deffinetly is all about lust as in every single scene is about lust.
maybe its gets better later but still i doubt it.
Cross channel also one of the best. i also liked kiri best;)
well then im gonna look after these.
Galaxy Angel is another one in which none of the girls knew you beforehand, though judging from your avatar maybe you already played it.
Utawarerumono and Tears to Tiara also fit (and are both SRPG, if you somehow care).
Well, the main character knew a previous life of the main heroin, but I don’t think it matters in this case.
They are single route, however.
Princess Waltz is another one in which the protagonist didn’t knew the heroines (but one), including the main one.
Ever17 would also fit except for one, but it isn’t known at the start.
I don’t recall anyone being in love with you at the beginning of “Heart de Roommate” and this is one of my all time favorite B-Games as it actually has a fun anime-esque story with appropriate adventures and the like along the way; very light hearted.
While “Sagara Family” is something of a sex romp (though one of the better one’s I’ve played, were not every scene is about having sex with one dimensional characters) you don’t really have anyone in love with you at the beginning (though there is an early sex scene, it doesn’t really influence which girl you end up with) and for the most part have to win them over. In this type of game (sex romp-ish types) it is one of the first I recommend.
I didn’t see anyone mention “Snow Sakura” either, which does have one girl like you from the start but I don’t believe interferes with the story and has some wonderful characters to interact with throughout.
I will also second “Kira-Kira” and “Yume Miru Kusuri” (though I never got through the line with the ‘good girl’ character [I don’t think that’s spoilerish enough to deserve a flag])
You are right to doubt it. There is only one loving scene in the whole game, and it was torture for me to get to it.
hehe good asumption yes have of course played galaxy angel and is a great fan of the franchise
have played Utawarerumono i like the actual game and for some reason even though i usually dont like stories as it i enjoyed it alot
ever17 absolutely worthy of its fame
princess waltz also great even though i really only liked Liliana as the one to end with and hated chris -.- HATE TO CHRIS AS AN LOVE INTEREST!!!
heart the roomate very funny not so deep in story but funny indeed
tried sagara family got some of the girls routes but it is mostly a sex romp as you said. i dont like sex romps that much.
snow sakura is also a brilliant game (but it has 2 that already loves you saki and misaki)
Darn.
I was going to mention Princess Waltz but that’s covered. I like the dragon lady’s attitude to relationships - very refreshing. Principled, too.
Among those I have played, I would suggest Little My Maid and Critical Point. None of the heroines knew the protag before game begins.
Other than that, Virgin Roster. But it is a sex romp (rape romp) so you may not like it.