Visual novels are niche, and they often get overlooked. Even among fans of the medium, plenty of great titles come out that don’t get the attention they deserve. Maybe they had the poor luck to come out at the wrong time, are a less popular type of story, or just don’t have the right circumstances to get noticed.
There are plenty of reasons why a visual novel may not have been picked up by fans, so we wanted to shine a light on a few that we’d classify as ‘overlooked’ but worth considering.
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Chuusotsu! 1st Graduation: Time After Time
Chuusotsu! 1st Graduation: Time After Time follows three ‘Chuusotsu’ girls, people who have failed exams and have no education beyond middle school. In a world where society revolves around nanomachines that are used to boost abilities as the norm and falling out of education or employment risks their loss, Chuusotsu are looked down on and are barely able to function in society.
This indie title consists of an odd mix of comedic moments and optimistic characters, which contrast well with a backdrop that is somewhat dystopian when you think further on it. The setting is particularly unconventional for the somewhat cheerful tone, and the clashes of personalities and sheer airheadedness of the characters just add to the hilarity. Plus, it has a chuunibyou character who believes her own delusions about having secret knowledge of the world, which is always fun.
Happiness! Sakura Celebration
Happiness! Sakura Celebration is a story of magic with a mystery to unveil. An event occurs every ten years where mana erupts, causing cherry blossoms to bloom everywhere, but it’s soon revealed that an unknown plan called ‘Project Happiness’ is tied to it, with talk of cover-ups and hints of a secret in the background.
The adventure of discovering what’s hidden away is enjoyable, with a route order used to build upon secrets revealed in prior routes, leading to an exciting climax. The heroines are lovable too, and there are plenty of jokes and entertaining moments to keep things light. Plus, it’s one of the few (relatively) wholesome localized visual novels with something akin to magical girls, which is a welcome rarity.
All The Words She Wrote
All The Words She Wrote tells of a romance between Mayo, an overly enthusiastic fan of the light novel Elf Forest, and Hijiri, its reclusive and surly author. Events transpire that lead Mayo to be sent to work as Hijiri’s live-in housekeeper, not something that Hijiri is a fan of at first. Mayo is far more enthusiastic about living with her favorite author until she actually meets her.
Watching Mayo and Hijiri explore their relationship, slowly getting closer despite many bumps along the way, feels satisfying. It’s very much a case of opposites attracting with how different they are. Hijiri is a great character too, being delightfully sarcastic and not at all a fan of dealing with people. This is an OELVN and unvoiced, which does make it a little different from the others on the list, but it’s absolutely worth a shot, even if it’s perhaps not as well known as some of ebi-hime’s other titles.
Otoboku: Maidens Are Falling For Me
Otoboku: Maidens Are Falling For Me revolves around Mizuho Miyanokouji, a young man who is compelled to crossdress and attend an upper-class all-girls’ school due to his grandfather’s will. Unfortunately for him, he gets far more popularity in his new school than is ideal for someone trying to hide the fact that he’s actually a man. He has to navigate school politics, relationships with his peers, and dramatic moments.
While the crossdressing is key, more important are the relationships with other characters and their individual stories. Each heroine has their own distinct relationship with Mizuho and problems that we learn more of as things progress. Some routes do have quite a bit of drama and depressing topics appear, but this is balanced well with more lighthearted slice-of-life moments where the group chats together or silly events occur. It is also worth mentioning that it is quite an old title, and this does show in several ways, including the charming early 2000s art style. It was relatively well-known back in the day, but many newer fans have no idea it exists.
Putrika 1st.cut:The Reason She Must Perish
Putrika 1st.cut:The Reason She Must Perish opens with someone being burned to death, immediately letting you know this isn’t a happy story. From then on, it primarily follows Lazriel, a young woman with no memory who is surprisingly untroubled by the fact.
While lighter moments do break up the tension, Putrika 1st.cut is a gripping, if short, tale of forbidden love with plenty of religious themes and talk of the supernatural in a historical setting. It does particularly well at increasing the tension as things progress and exploring the darker side of human nature. The art style is a little unusual though.
Musicus
Musicus tells the story of Kei, an adult part-time student who falls into the world of rock, joining an indie band. It’s a rather grounded take on the idea, where they have difficulties such as covering the price of venues, dragging their instruments around, and conflicts between band members. While the tone is much more serious here, fans of Bocchi the Rock might find it explores the world of indie music in a similar way.
It’s a surprisingly thoughtful story with incredibly interesting characters who each get a significant amount of development. While it follows the typical structure of heroine routes, romance is certainly not the focus here. Instead, the focus is on music and what gives it meaning, with no two routes feeling alike. This is perhaps the most popular one on the list and gets a lot of mentions among more hardcore fans, but not so much outside of the dedicated visual novel communities.
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If you are looking for more overlooked titles, you might want to check out our post on Some of the Best Overlooked Anime Games. We have also covered a wide variety of visual novels both original to English and localized from Japanese, which you can check out here.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
