Edit - Nevermind. Just started with Ever17 and liked the genre ever since. My top three changes based on my mood.
I got my first taste of bishoujo and H-games indirectly through CG sets archived in porno galleries back in the 90’s. Though at the time I had no idea what they were from or why the images seemed so random and repetitious and instead focused on them for obvious reasons… :lol: Some time later I happened upon a pirated copy of 3 Sister’s Story online making it my first true introduction into the genre. I played it through and liked it but still wasn’t sold yet.
So long story short I got a magazine in the mail one day advertising some H-games. After seeing so many in print and reading their descriptions I thought to myself why not buy a few and see what it was I was missing? So I did and have been hooked since. And, yes, I ended up buying a legal copy of 3 Sister’s Story. 
My current top 3 in no order are:
Figures of Happiness - A pretty deep love triangle with a twist.
Yume Miru Kusuri - I don’t think I have to explain the merits of this game.
Snow Sakura - Easygoing slice-of-life game with likable characters.
Kinda started when I discovered Rapelay…which lead me to hear about h-games (such as Virgin Roster) but the first VN I actually tried was Kana: Little Sister. From there, I was hooked and I continued to other DO works and other VNs.
Top 3 would be
Sharin no Kuni
Sekien no Inganock
Kana: Little Sister (bc it was my first)
I saw magazine about Knight of Xentar (sp), same game as Dragon Knight. I didn’t get it yet. Until I saw Paradise Heights on computer section at J&R Music World. I bought it and played it.
Top 3
Snow Drops
I forgot other games.
I was introduced from downloading a dating sim, True Love from one of those abandonware sites, I later was introduced to more plot/story focused sort of games with Nocturnal Illusions and later Divi-dead from the same way. Being underage I couldn’t legally buy them anyway, not that that would stop a kid in search of porn though.
Later on I found the Renai Games Mailing list and started following that and that’s how I started to learn more about them and ended up at Haeleth’s Kanon translation project. With the 57% patch release was when I bought my first vn, with the Kanon All Ages CD release.
Top 3 of what few I’ve managed to finish now would probably be:
1: Ever 17
2: Chaos;Head
3: Tsukihime
Although it’s not really a real firm order or anything. Although I bought Cross Channel and Sharin no Kuni, I’ve still yet to unwrap them, I really should play those two at least
Back in 2003 I happened upon a copy of Critical Point that looked interesting. Played the hell out of that game, though I haven’t touched it since probably 2005.
My top 3 are
Yume Miru Kusuri
Critical Point
lots of #3’s, really, so I’ll just name one, Crescendo.
I own most of the G-C and Jast games, and some of the other older titles I was able to get my hands on. I still haven’t played any fan translations. I have a 6 game backlog right now, plus about 4 games that are only half finished, and lately I only play VN’s during the colder seasons so I’m about to dive back in.
Let’s see here. The first game I played was probably over 10 years ago. I think it was called True Love(?) and it was pretty old school. You had to like build up stats for certain girls and stuff. I try to play it now and then because it is a classic… at least for me haha.
None below are in any particular order.
Top 3 (JAST)
Kana
YMK
Princess Waltz
Top 3 overall
Fate Stay Night
Koihime Musou
Sharin No Kuni (?, still playing it but it is awesome so far…)
this is really an interesting topic~~
my first one’s during junior high time: Tsuki: Possession
pretty wild for the first one, since then started hunting down G-collection like the horny bunnies, gonna serve you and come see me 2nite…
since ever 17, my hunting change to any with good story like soul link, snow sakura, t3, utawarerumono, clannad, da capo��s, edelweiss’s, f/sn, g-senjou, kira2’s, koihime, muvluv, princess waltz, song of saya and lastly yume-miru kusuri… (i wonder why it becomes list of my favorites?)
anyway, best 3 goes to:
- Fate/Stay Night (of course)
- Ever 17: The Out of Infinity (long n epic story line)
- Koihime Musou (nice main story, epic side story with all chara)
Back in 2004, I chanced upon the first episode of Phantom: The Animation. Though I wasn’t particularly impressed with the OVA itself, my curiosity was piqued when I learned that it was based off of a video game. I decided to pick up the game and give it a shot, and was impressed by the quality of the writing despite the iffy translation.
Thanks to Phantom of Inferno’s strong first impression, I quickly became interested in the visual novel medium and began looking into the fan translations of No Name Losers and insani, playing through all of their demos to give myself a taste for the genre. I wasn’t familiar with any of the English visual novel publishers at the time, so when I came across Virgin Roster, I blindly decided to give it a shot instead of reading up on its premise. The result… let’s just say Virgin Roster is one of my least-liked titles of all time and leave it at that.
I eventually learned about Hirameki International, Peach Princess, G-Collections, JAST, and Himeya Soft. Suspecting that Virgin Roster might have been an anomaly, I decided to play through DOR, Water Closet, Kana ~Little Sister~, and Crescendo over the span of maybe a month (one at a time, not concurrently). Though DOR was underwhelming and Water Closet flat-out disgusted me, Kana drew me in so much that I decided to complete every ending in that very first sitting (total play time: 24 consecutive hours). It wasn’t until I’d finished Crescendo a week or two later that I confirmed my status as an ardent visual novel fan.
Since then, I’ve built a pretty decent collection of visual novels. It’s not nearly as impressive as Lexar’s, but it’s still pretty big. Note that most of my import games (Ys I-II Complete, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, Ys Origin, etc) are not pictured:
Because of the size of my collection, I’ll make two Top 3’s: one for my domestic titles, and one for my imports.
English Releases
- Crescendo
- Aside from being one of the titles that first got me into the medium, the characters felt like real people to me and not just characters in a story. Yuka’s and Ayame’s stories nearly tore my heart to shreds, and it was the second VN to bring me to tears (the first, naturally, was Kana).
- Phantom of Inferno
- A dark but realistic story about crime and redemption, it was my introduction to visual novels. I’ve since replayed the game for the sake of writing a thorough guide (I felt the one posted at GameFAQs was largely incomplete), and the story was every bit as good as I’d remembered it. Emblem of the Sacred Flame (Jouka no Monshou) and Song of Saya (Saya no Uta) helped cement Gen Urobuchi as one of my favorite VN authors.
- Private Nurse
- Private Nurse charmed me with its calming atmosphere, touching story, and beautiful music. Though I don’t really buy the mysticism surrounding Maria, I thought Ayano’s story was especially heartwarming. The stargazing scenes had a particularly strong impact on me.
Honorable mentions include Kana ~Little Sister~, Yume Miru Kusuri, and Figures of Happiness. I have a feeling that Kira Kira, ef, and Suika will rearrange this list considerably once I’ve played through them; the demos have been very impressive thus far (I’m partially biased since I wrote a good chunk of the English ef demo for NNL).
Fan-Translations
- Fate / Stay Night
- Gen Urobuchi has clearly influenced Kinoko Nasu’s writing style; the over-the-top fight scenes feel like they were shounen anime takes on Phantom of Inferno or Kikokugai ~The Cyber Slayer~. Great characters (Shinji excepted for obvious reasons), a deep story that had me break down in tears many, many times (Heavens Feel especially), and a powerful message in each route about one’s own ideals easily make Fate the best fan-translated title I have ever played.
-
Cogwheel Country, Sunflower Girls
(Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo)
- An impressive allegory about the flaws in the Japanese legal system and the abuse of authority. Superb characters, an excellent protagonist, great music; the only thing missing is a truly satisfying ending (the climax was pretty underwhelming, if you ask me).
- Cross Channel
- An atypical-yet-familiar story told in an atypical-yet-familiar setting, with plenty of heartwarming and squick moments throughout. All of the main characters have serious psychological disorders (not unlike Neon Genesis Evangelion), and, when these issues play off each other, the result can be either amazing or horrifying. The time-loop narrative device helps explore all of these possibilities without having to excuse disastrous endings as a “what-if” scenario. Equal parts likable and disturbing, but almost always fascinating.
Note that I’m not including titles that I own and have yet to play or titles I’ve finished but don’t own. Otherwise, Wanko to Kurasou, Planetarian, Tsukihime, Song of Saya, and The Devil on G-String could easily bump Cross Channel off the list.
HimeyaShop, you will be missed.
Wait what, how did you get this? I want it but it’s rarer than Shoin! Unfortunately doujin games have a habit of disappearing forever since they’re sold in such small quantities in the first place and if the circle doesn’t rerelease them for DL sales or something similar they can be nearly impossible to get.
The English translation in this case was released as a standalone instead of a patch. You can find it on the TLWiki project page. For best results, read the novel right after watching the Equilibrium film since it’s the same continuity.
As for importing a legitimate copy, there unfortunately isn’t much I can tell you. I have a long list of fan-translated visual novels that I’d like to buy (Aoishiro, for starters), but HimeyaShop has folded and neither PaletWeb nor J-List has the ones I’m looking for in stock. Without a trustworthy contact in Japan or a reliable middleman service, we’re shit-outta-luck.
I’ll pass; I’d rather not play it at all than play an illegal copy - and I don’t want to read it in English anyway wwwwwwwww
Aoishiro is of course available from soft.dlsite, although who knows how well it works with the TL patch. I haven’t really enjoyed what I’ve played of it so far but it does seem better than EGS reviews suggest. As for a reliable middleman service, there’s plenty to go with. Give dankedanke a shot.
First-time poster here. I did some net surfing to read some reviews on ‘bishoujo’ games for quite a while before actually purchasing one. After a while, they structurally reminded me of choose-your-own-adventure books which I used to read when I was little. Insofar as I am concerned, I consider most visual novels closely related to choose-your-own-adventure books more than to anything else, functionally and structurally speaking. Since I am not much into action or shoot-out games, visual novels suit my preference much better.
Two titles that I have played the most consist of:
- Kana Little Sister: I have played this over and over more than any other visual novel so far. Took me a while to get all six possible endings. The ‘Yumi Ending’ (#3) was the last one to achieve, while the ‘Recollections’ (#5) was the first one. After a couple of attempts, I have noticed that taking note on decisions made accelerates story access quite a bit, although being methodical takes away some of the visual novel’s emotional impacts.
I particularly liked the philosophical undertone of this story, which is pretty much about life and death. Although I was not enthusiastic about having Taka getting involved with Yumi (and much of Yumi is built into the storyline and there is not a whole lot one can do about it!), I think this helps to turn him into a ‘human’ as opposed to a ‘heroic’ character. Giving more novel-time to Yuta might have been more interesting.
Right now, I am working on my ‘fan fiction’ based on Kana Little Sister. Still at doodling stage with a bunch of scribbles and notes. Mine involves a different Taka. What if he were to take the role of ‘big brother’ a bit too far? So much so that Kana is, although still loves him, but afraid of him at the same time, in spite of his gentle attitude towards her? 
- Crescendo: This was the first visual novel that I have purchased. (Previously, I have downloaded and played some old titles from the early to mid '90s, but this has been such a long time ago that I no longer remember them that much.)
Kaho … I felt pretty much going through ‘typical high-school sweetheart genre’. Because of the triangular relationship between her, Tomoyori, and Ryo, I felt Ryo would be better off as a good friend rather than as her boyfriend (even though I achieved both of her endings). I kind of felt sorry for her when pursuing other storylines as Ryo would then be ditching the club publication activities.
Kyoko … also pretty much in the realm of ‘typical high-school sweetheart genre’, although I felt sympathetic towards Kyoko as she has to live on her own yet this arrangement is preferable to living with any one of her parents who do not exactly miss her. I found her straightforward and tender manners pretty attractive.
Yuka … at first, I felt uneasy whenever Ryo accidentally witnesses her participating in ‘extracurricular activities’, then felt somewhat frightened seeing her getting abused by others as well as by her own. On one hand, I felt sorry for her, but on the other hand, I was not enthusiastic about Ryo getting too much involved with her. (A misery attracts another misery, so to speak.) As a matter of fact, my very first ending was Yuka’s non-romantic ending. Felt sad, but looks like Ryo is still the best person for Yuka to talk to after all these years as he is the only one who treats her as a normal girl.
Kaori … perhaps this one is the ‘best’ storyline overall. The most exciting part involves sabotaging her arranged meeting. In particular, the willing help from the rest of the female cast made it so memorable. (Kyoko should be nominated for Emmy Award: Improvisation at its finest!) The wackiest part involves the graduation day in which, if not for Ryo graduating, would have flipped the school upside down with Ryo-Kaori student-teacher sex scandal. The tender part involves Ryo’s regular visits to Kaori’s office as well as in other scenes when they get to talk.
Ayame … I shed the most amount of tears with her storyline. On one hand, she is painfully too kind to Ryo, in spite of what he has done to her a while back. (Ayame should have pressed charges against Ryo and see to it that he graduates from juvenile hall instead of high school! ) To make things even sadder, until towards the end of the storyline, she keeps her feelings tightly shut, especially the fear of having to let go of Ryo. It could have been interesting if another ending were created: A third Ayame ending in which Ryo joins his biological mother and leaves Ayame.
Color me impressed; it’s not often that I come across someone with such a strong anti-piracy stance. Glad to know I’m in good company (though I’m not nearly as adamant as you are; I’ll bite the bullet if a title is out-of-print and cannot be obtained by any other means).
Thanks for the tip – I had no idea that Aoishiro was re-released on DLsite. To be honest, though, I’m a bit apprehensive about getting a digital copy given the possible incompatibility and the lack of a pressed disc (I’ve already demonstrated that I have a collector’s mentality). Well, at least now I have a last resort that doesn’t involve piracy (thankfully, DLsite titles don’t have DRM; I refuse to buy titles I can’t play on my strictly-offline laptop).
Hahaha- well, it’s not really that strong, it’s just that up until a few years ago I’ve not had an Internet connection strong enough to do anything else (apart from a Uni connection which it wouldn’t be a great idea to pirate stuff on, so I just used it to grab trials and the like). Now that I do, well, I can use it on DL sales titles, downloading trials and OP movies etc. I have a lot of eroge I haven’t finished and if I’m not willing to pay for something I probably don’t want it all that much anyway so chances are I’d either never play it or play a bit and then not touch it again. This works for me.
Some DLsite titles do have DRM. ‘Soft Denchi’ is a reasonably popular form of protection - but the games that use DRM are clearly labelled as such. For example, the description of Aoishiro states that it requires a serial number to play. This isn’t exactly DRM as this sort of thing predates DRM by quite a bit, but still, something to watch out for.
I have a Otaku friend he told me abouth this kind of game and he send me a game he liked a lot using msn (It took a while) I liked the game and After that i began to check a little more. Some of my favorites animes had visual novels. The idea of choose what girl i wanted to get in some of my favorites series was all i needed. I loved Visual novel from the begining. At the begining, of course i didn’t know about piracy and legit ways. I only knew where too look for them for free in english. But after a few games i checked for the producer, like Mangagamer and discover that i in reality should pay for them. I also discover that Visual novels are a new market with some problems in sales, so i thoght that if i don’t begin to buy from there the company may not survive the i would only get those game tralated by fans. Before that day i wasn’t interested in credit cards, but after that i wanted one and as soon i got one i began to buy them, i have even bought some of the games i first, played in the ilegal way.
Top 3
Fate (Unlimited blade work is my favorite rute)
Da capo
Da capo 2
I also like Koihime no musou and We love master. But i have to put Da capo in my top three because Nemu. I don’t feel like exclude Da capo of my top three so easily. I’m a big fan of Da capo games (but Inocent finale and kotori love exp. I liked kotori a little but i’m not interested in games about her only)