#not saying all vns need to be doing cool as fuck shit with their mediums and stuff. like aceattorneys are GREAT games despite

[perilegs]

i had a long break from playing vns and now that i've come back in the recent years, i've noticed thar the quality and what people do with the medium is incredible! lkyt lets you save your favorite voice lines and play them back at any time and showing previous dialog lets you jump back to any previous bit you can see. uuultrac is visually stunning and being a kinetic novel it really shows how having text, pictures, and sound can enhance a story. not a single thing in it is out of place and you could write entire essays about the use of colors or different art styles in it. no one else is doing it like milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk. it takes less than 20 minutes to play it. there are so many visual novels out there and i'll never run out of things to be impressed by the way things are now

[tezerenotameiki]

Hi, uh. I saw your post about the denpa-style C-ta horror game and. 1. your mind?? yes please, and 2. do you have any denpa classics recommendations because I've only played a few and love the aesthetic..

ANONNNN YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I SMILED WHEN I SAW THIS ASK ,, 1) IM MAKING THIS A THING AND 2) ALWAYS. RAMBLINGS BELOW

ok. im working off the assumption ur like me and primarily play english vns but have relative familiarity with the, uh, quirks of the genre. just in case: denpa games are pretty difficult to recommend in general because of how intense, graphic, gorey, etc. they tend to be. i cant really get into content warnings with each one bc they would be literal paragraphs LOL but i'm going to try and provide a range of options (both classics + things that i personally believe fit the aesthetic). if you need more details on any game, just hmu!!

subahibi: i'll start off with easily the most horrifying game i've ever played (extremely affectionate). it's difficult to even talk about the plot of this game, other than that it's a fascinating spiral down a literal/metaphorical rabbit hole as you unravel the psyches of the most fucked up cast in the world. a read so brutal i have to take breaks from it to recover from it. i adore it so.

sayonara o oshiete: if you want a classic, this is one of the Defining games in the genre. it definitely shows its age, but holy shit is the atmosphere incredible. it's also... another really graphic game. there's an english patch that isn't particularly good, apparently, and got hated on so much it was deleted... but it's not hard to find (lol) and i've definitely read worse translations

shizuku: so this was a fun surprise! in researching this list i discovered someone who machine translated the OG visual novel and denpa game, shizuku, and uploaded it to youtube. it's janky, but a cool find, so i'lll be watching it later. shizuku's just got a neat aesthetic in general and it's good if you want to know about the classics - there's a lot written up about it.

totono: unfortunately, by its inclusion on its list, i'm spoiling that its not a normal dating sim… but it's a nitroplus game, that's a given! a protagonist convinced that he'll never amount to anything begins to connect with the two love interests in the game. from there… the game truly bends the narrative and uses its medium in stunning ways. it's as thought-provoking as it is horrifying. a must-read imo

higurashi: i'm assuming if you're at all familiar with vns you've played or at least heard of higurashi. if not. go play it. shakes your shoulders.

soundless -a modern salem in remote area-: this was actually my introduction to denpa games, so i have a huge soft spot for it! it's insane how much they tailored it to my tastes. a young girl caught in a religious cult is viciously tormented by the other members for her visions — until another member arrives saying that she can see the same things too.

chaos;child: more sci-fi than most denpa games usually are, but with all the focus on delusion, gore, the spiral of mental illness, etc etc i just have to put it on this list. watch this cocky newspaper club president try to investigate senselessly brutal murders across the city and become embroiled in a case beyond human understanding! fun!

^^ (as a sidenote, its prequel, chaos;head NOAH, is supposed to have a improved translation patch by committee of zero coming out soon! just based on the aesthetic, i think c;h is a little bit of a better fit, but i haven't played it yet)

milk inside / outside a bag of milk: two separate games, but mostly listing for the second one, which has a stunning art style that completely replicates that feeling of being disconnected from reality. short but stays with you.

hopefully there are a few on this list that seem of interest to you! i can always dive into my itch.io for more niche games i may have forgotten about lol