While number scores often make for good shorthands in summarizing how one feels about a piece of media, they don’t always tell the full story. This is especially apparent with the score of a 7/10, which for us at NookGaming is the lowest score we still describe as “recommended” out the gate. And while some readers may be inclined to overlook a visual novel with this score in favor of stuff with a higher score, we wanted to talk about some of these titles which we feel are potentially worth more consideration than their scores may imply.
While in some cases, the 7/10 score might suggest that the work is good but not amazing, there are plenty of titles that received the score that have standout qualities, despite the drawbacks that hold them back from a higher score. Sometimes it’s an interesting story with some structural issues, sometimes it’s a part of a greater whole that’s difficult to assess by itself, and sometimes you have a few good to excellent routes that hard carry a visual novel past some less memorable ones. For those who perhaps can get past their flaws, those standout qualities can lead you to finding something of an uncut gem.
Like with our visual novel of the year lists, these are of course very much subjective, and based on titles which we have read/played.
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Destiny Star Girlfriend
Destiny Star Girlfriend includes one of the most unique romance dynamics I’ve experienced in a visual novel. It takes Yuuri, who is arrogant almost to the point of having a god complex, and Seiji, who used to have a crush on her before becoming disillusioned by discovering her real personality, and quite literally ties them together. After playing hundreds of visual novels, something so different is always welcome, and between frequent snipes at each other and plenty of other silly interactions, seeing them stuck together is constantly hilarious.
Taking this unusual start and having it develop into a rather sweet romantic relationship is a journey I enjoyed more than I expected. It’s hard to imagine a heroine who looks down on everyone and finds herself powered up by praise actually growing close to someone she describes as an “NPC” at the start. We even see both Seiji and Yuuri begin to become better people, which isn’t something I expected to find in such a short visual novel.
The fact that it’s short is perhaps related to why it doesn’t reach a higher score. It does an amazing job with the romantic and comedic moments, and while it could do more, it adds some depth to the characters as the story progresses. The problem is that the story is essentially just Yuuri and others fighting demons as a magical girl, and the few interesting ideas that get introduced never really have time to get explored. Destiny Star Girlfriend spends almost all of its short runtime on interactions between Seiji and Yuuri.
Still, it’s absolutely worth picking up. While its scope is limited and I would’ve loved to see this as a more extensive title, what it does well, it does very well. If you do like the idea and setting, while the heroines aren’t quite as much of an oddity as Yuuri, you can explore different routes that could have been in Destiny Star Girlfriend 2 and Destiny Star Girlfriend 3.
-Thomas
MAMIYA – A Shared Illusion of the World’s End
When I think about titles that are criminally underrated in the visual novel space, nothing comes close to embodying that for me as the MAMIYA series as a whole. While MAMIYA – DoomsDay Dreams delivered an incredible and satisfying conclusion to the game’s unique premise, the two chapters of MAMIYA – A Shared Illusion of the World’s End, FallDown and DownFall, felt a lot more average in comparison. Despite having a strong narrative overall, both chapters featured lackluster resolutions for their self-contained character arcs that made the utilization of sensitive topics feel shallow and unfulfilling.
Instead of solely being a flaw in its writing though, it’s more an issue of how it was split as an episodic title. As the first title in the series, much of your time reading MAMIYA – A Shared Illusion of the World’s End will be spent on establishing the mysteries surrounding each character’s respective situation. There are no satisfying endings to them; they are scenarios that introduce lingering questions that set up the succeeding chapters, and as a result they contain frustratingly vague conclusions to their self-contained story arcs. This itself is not problematic, but because the title ends without addressing any of these issues, you’re left with what feels like (literary) edging a story draft. If you want satisfaction, you have to wait for the next part, which is an entirely separate product you need to purchase.
Despite the regrettable format it’s delivered in, it’s very much still worth it to go through MAMIYA – A Shared Illusion of the World’s End. The premise of a shared hallucination resulting in multiple people’s deaths is interesting and is presented with a level of complexity that isn’t outright incomprehensible. It has multiple ongoing storylines, creating a lot of avenues for satisfying payoffs (although external from the first title). The sharply contrasting characters work well with one another and make for very entertaining slice-of-life sections. The antagonist, although identified early on, manages to stay mysterious in both their origins and motivations even as you unravel each character’s delusion of MAMIYA. And finally, even though Kenkou Land is technically an indie developer, the art and selected royalty-free music create such a unique atmosphere in the game that creates a unique viewing pleasure. For a game of this price, even if the immediate plotlines are average at best, the suspense that it sets up story-wise, and what it offers visually and experientially, is more than worth it. Even after years of going through a fair number of visual novel titles, I still can say that there’s nothing quite like it.
Sometimes, to get to the best part of a cake, you have to go through a thick and unsatisfying layer of frosting. That’s what MAMIYA – A Shared Illusion of the World’s End is, and if you’re even a bit interested in getting to the bottom of such a wonderfully unique premise, then I implore you to take a dive and see it for yourself. Just think of the separate tag for MAMIYA – DoomsDay Dreams as a considerate way of saving your money if you hated the first two chapters; it’s just more of what the first game was, but a lot better.
-John
Senren*Banka
Senren*Banka is my favorite Yuzusoft game by a wide margin, but it’s entirely due to one route: Murasame’s. To start, Murasame herself is such a great character. Enshrined as the power dwelling within an ancient divine sword, Murasame has lived as an intangible spirit for over 500 years. She’s refreshingly bold and earnest without falling into the overdone “teasing older woman” trope, and her playfulness draws a sharp contrast with her archaic speech and mannerisms, but beneath the bubbly exterior is a compelling struggle. Over her centuries of existence, Murasame has drifted further and further from humanity as she watched generations of those closest to her come and go. So when protagonist Masaomi draws the divine sword and forms a physical connection with her, it ignites a spark that this time, things could be different for her. But it’s not so simple for Murasame. Can she truly connect with someone so closely after all she’s experienced?
This premise is both a compelling obstacle for the would-be couple to overcome and develops their relationship in a surprisingly thoughtful way. Masaomi can’t save Murasame by swinging a sword around. The struggle is just as much emotional as physical. Murasame has to believe she deserves the same love as any other human first. As they grow closer, both leads show a great deal of empathy for the other. Masaomi doesn’t press Murasame, but rather seeks to understand her burden while taking thoughtful actions to show she is no less real or important than any of his other friends and family, despite her decidedly different nature. Murasame affirms the value of Masaomi and his life, even in moments of weakness or when things seem trivial.
It also helps that Murasame and Masaomi have great chemistry. In a sea of moege where inept protagonists bumble their way through awkward romance with girls who exist as objects to fulfill their wishes no matter how boorish or pathetic they are, it’s refreshing to see a couple whose dynamic never misses a beat. The banter is fun and paints a picture of two people who are comfortable enough around each other to let their guards down and have some fun, but also really care deep down. Not that there isn’t some degree of wish fulfillment; Senren*Banka is a moege after all, and it’s not like your average guy gets the opportunity to romance a cute sword spirit. But it’s the right amount of wish fulfillment, and Murasame and Masaomi are a couple you both love to root for and who have enough connection to build a convincing romance.
The rest of Senren*Banka is fine, if nothing to write home about, but Murasame’s route is moege at its best. For me, Senren*Banka is worth it for that alone.
-Wes
Root Double -Before Crime * After Days
Root Double -Before Crime * After Days is the embodiment of a visual novel I would describe as “not for everyone” due to the amount of caveats I tend to have to add in trying to recommend it. In some ways, it’s a sort of successor to the Infinity series (Never7, Ever17, Remember11), even having the same director…and unfortunately some of its problems with pacing and long-windedness. It’s structured in a way so as to effectively be three visual novels of significantly disparate genres with different expectations, tension, storytelling focus, and pacing that all combine into one story. It uses a rather esoteric and often frustrating system of handling choices for route deviation (such that you’re probably better off using a guide for this title), its non-linear structure makes it rather flashback-heavy, and its final act is noticeably backloaded with character backstory dumps that drag its concluding arc significantly more than necessary.
Still, it takes up far more real estate in my brain than it ever should have because of the aspects I feel it does very well. Its more suspenseful “After” chapters are ripe with tension as you try to navigate a life-or-death situation with an invisible yet palpable threat. It uses the “protagonist with amnesia” trope quite effectively by creating an unreliable narrator situation that builds intrigue on top of everything going on because you don’t even know the extent to which you can trust him, let alone the “who” and “what” around you. The more character-driven “Before” chapters are much different tonally and follow a largely different cast in much more day-to-day stuff in a rather sci-fi little city. Still, they make for a remarkably compelling arc about a group of friends in their own little found family just trying to get through life in their unusual city, and who end up getting in way over their heads in the events that lead up to the “After” chapters.
Because of how dissimilar its different parts can be, Root Double often defies the expectations it sets for players, for better or worse. Still, I felt it came together surprisingly well in several ways. The nonlinear structure and way it reveals information to the player makes it fulfilling to piece the eventual puzzle together. Its characters are noticeably flawed, and I found myself empathizing with them and their various conflicts. There are a lot of twists in this title, but many of them are in service of a greater point, with a surprising amount to say here about stuff like morality, differing perspectives, and some of the darker aspects of society. It all informs how the characters act in a way that I felt gives the audience plenty to consider and think about beyond just the story itself.
The field of sci-fi visual novels is crowded with some of the medium’s all-time most beloved works, such that many titles outside that pantheon slip through the cracks. If you’re willing to try something a bit unconventional and can put up with some pacing issues (and let’s be real, a lot of sci-fi visual novels have pacing issues), it’s one I adore and think is worth giving a shot.
-Rob
Farther than the Blue Sky
Farther than the Blue Sky, or Byakko as it is often called, takes the idea of school club activities to the extreme. The protagonist Otoya goes to a school meant to raise the next generation of rocket engineers, and most of the students are part of clubs building real full-scale rockets with the dream of launching them into space. Otoya has no interest in this himself, but gets roped into helping a failing club with no funding, which is due to disband.
The idea of building real rockets is a fun one to explore, and it takes the chance to explain a lot about how they work in what I found to be an interesting way. It mixes this with storylines around the club members and their personal reasons to want to launch a rocket and issues to overcome. Most of the heroines are really fun to spend time with and there’s plenty of comedy and some emotional moments with them.
The only major downside is that the structure and many of the events of Honaka, Nazuna, and Kaho’s routes are very similar, only significantly differing in what specific personal problem they have to tackle with Otoya’s help. This brings the overall experience down. Nazuna’s route was also somewhat of a disappointment, and her personality could be offputting at times. Luckily, it balances out with Arisa’s route and the final route bringing the experience up.
The better parts of Farther than the Blue Sky are absolutely better than the 7/10 score that I awarded it in the review. It’s just perhaps best experienced by playing routes over a longer time rather than immediately after each other, so the repetitiveness isn’t so apparent.
-Thomas
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If you are looking for more posts about visual novels, you may enjoy our look at Visual Novel Characters You Wish You Could Romance (But Can’t!).
Been playing games since my papa gave me an NES controller in the early 90’s. I play games of almost all genres, but especially focus role-playing, action, and puzzle-platform games. Also an enjoyer of many niche things ranging from speedrunning to obscure music from all over the world.
