World Literature

Ever been immersed in a grand story, where your very choices you make during the story will decide your ending?

If reading a great story with great visuals is your idea of a great time, visual novels is up your alley. Visual novels, in its simplest form, is a story that revolves around reading and getting to know the story’s characters. Many of these games can range up to 50+ hours, rivaling even the longest of JRPGs.

For many, the Ace Attorney series may be the most popular, mainstream visual novel they know. The names Phoenix Wright, Mia and Maya Fay, and Miles Edgeworth will resonate with many gamers.

Yet, as awesome as the Ace Attorney series and its spin-offs are, the world of visual novels is vast. Without further ado, here are nine non-Ace Attorney visual novels out there.

If action visual novels is your thing, you can’t go wrong with Fate Night / Stay. Taking place in a do-or-die tournament called The Fifth Holy Grail War, the game gets into a person’s ideals, motivations, and “conquering oneself”.

The game has three separate story arcs that each have a different tone. The game’s story made it an instant classic, as it quickly became one of the most popular visual novels when it was released in 2004.

A classic title by 07th Expansion, this murder mystery may be already well known to anime fans. The anime is hailed as a masterpiece by many. The visual novel is solid as well. The suspense, horror, and mystery the game provides will have you guessing until the end.

Known as the poster child of sad, crying visual novels, Clannad is a classic. The characters, pacing, and art are all high-quality.

But the best part of Clannad is actually its core theme. There’s a big reason why the visual novel has a huge following and its theme is the biggest one. Let’s just say that the game’s theme is so powerful, it will make you think about your own life values and treating people better after finishing.

A story built on time traveling is usually a recipe for disaster. Time travel stories often times have more plot holes than cheese.

Yet, Steins;Gate pulls it off incredible well. When Rintarou Okabe, a college student who fancies himself as a scientist, creates a time-traveling machine in his room, his life suddenly changes.

But instead of sending a person back in time, it sends a short email instead. From here, he has to find out what’s the meaning behind this and how this could affect everything.

Unlike many other visual novels, Planetarian is a kinetic novel, meaning there are no choices to be made. You’re simply along for the ride.

The story follows a person trying to make a living in a post-apocalyptic world, when he meets a robot. From there, it’s safe to say you’ll instantly fall for these characters, as they are some of the strongest characters in a visual novel game.

The game is also quite short, clocking in about four hours. Yet, the relatively short time length fits the game’s narration and flow perfectly.

A foreign comes to a fantasized Japan with the sole intention of doing the horizontal boogie with the fair ladies in the country. Yet, while on his girl-hunting mission, he is forced in saving the nation from evil as well.