"Higurashi When They Cry is a game described by 07th Expansion, the developers of the game, as a “sound novel.” Where a visual novel relies on the visual aspects, such as character design and background art, the sound novel relies on music and background noise to set the atmosphere and the tone of the story. The series dates back to 2002, when the first chapter, Onikakushi, was released in Japan, with an English release back in 2009 by MangaGamer themselves. Since then, another seven chapters have been created, with various spin offs and fan created chapters developed for various platforms such as PC, Playstation 3 and even the Playstation Vita. The series also has a PSP fighting game. In this remastered release on Steam, filled with updated sprites, achievements and updates, the story starts off with Onikakushi. Served as the introduction to the series, Onikakushi does have an interesting plot, it suffers from terrible pacing, juxtaposition that goes for way too long and music that is way too generic. With that said, sticking around does reward the player with an interesting middle and climax." - Attack On Gaming
KeenGamer: "We have the best visual novels to suggest to you, but we do recognize that many gamers don’t consider visual novels as games. Sluggishly leafing through dialogues, from time to time making choices. Additionally, many don’t like the anime style of the genre. Maybe we can change your mind."
Visual novels went from being a rare genre outside of Japan to one we see appearing on major consoles! This is great news, but it also means that there can be some ambiguity. Lots of games are having the “visual novel” label applied to them. Which is fine for beginners, but it does not really show how distinct and unique some games can be. There are different categories falling under the visual novel umbrella, after all. With games like Nekopara and 428: Shibuya Scramble finding their ways to consoles, now is a great time to go over the different kinds of visual novels, so you can be better informed before you start reading!
After Valve threatened publishers and developers of visual novels with mild adult content, MangaGamer has found a new home for its titles.
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I love GOG and I hope they make themselves a home for visual novels, especially ones with a little fan service.
It looks like Steam is going to regulate itself to death. On one hand they can't stop the influx of cheap crap games and unfinished games, on the other hand they crack down on legit games because of fan service. It's kind of sad to watch.
Agreed, Valve is becoming too complacent. I miss the time limited deals or buy indie games to unlock a major game, etc. I am still pissed that Steam Greenlight is gone. I hate they censored games due to fan service or nudity 😞
Come On Gabe and his team. What is the point of the media touting that majority of gamers are in their 30s or older and still treated like kids. What is wrong with adult content on games?
