The visual novels genre manages to get the best of both worlds: it tells an incredibly engaging story that you choose by your decisions and actions and shows great-looking 2D/2.5D artworks to accompany words and sentences, helping you to imagine things better. It’s one of the most popular genres among those gamers who like a good story. Some stories truly stand out among other good visual novels, and we wanted to point out some of them.
Here’s our list of visual novels that can help you see the versatility and uniqueness of the genre. You can also use it to see what other story you can dive into next if you’re currently going through the visual novel obsession.
A quick list of best visual novel games for your convenience if you’d rather jump straight to a particular title:
Let’s take a look at some of the best visual novels you can try out to see for yourself what makes this genre so great.
Steins;Gate
Developer: Mages Inc. | Release Date: 2009
Steins;Gate story is very difficult to put down, be warned! (Image source: Steam)
Steins;Gate is one of the most critically acclaimed and popular visual novels of all time, thanks to its intricate and believable time-traveling story explained in detail, a great balance between comedy and drama, memorable characters that are not as simple as they may appear at first and great emotional impact it leaves.
Key features:
What starts as a story of friends inventing a time machine reaches incredible levels of emotional depth, providing players with convoluted and dramatic plot lines, a great blend of real-life scientific observations with fictional ones and many difficult decisions to make.
Hilarious and tragic things can coexist in one scene, making Steins;Gate a truly interesting, one of the best visual novels to read. It’s one of the most excellent and realistic time-travel stories and, perhaps, the best visual novel you can start with if you want to explore this genre.
Ace Attorney Series
Developer: Capcom | Release Date: 2001-2024
Ace Attorney provides you with a great opportunity to be a detective (Image source: Steam)
Even if you’re not familiar with visual novel style, there is a big chance you have seen the OBJECTION! memes. They originated in the Ace Attorney series – a game about Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney who has to solve mysteries in a courtroom, understand the intricately tangled stories, follow well-written and complicated crime stories and make a final verdict. There are several games made in series, each game contains several cases for you to solve. Altogether, it’s one of the most popular visual novels that manages to be kind-hearted, hilarious and exciting.
Key features:
Ace Attorney series writers wanted to create a game that resembles a court process and makes it fun, like an RPG battle: see pieces of evidence, hear out the witnesses’ testimonials, try to see what statements contradict each other and object! That combined makes a very good visual novel to read and have fun with.
There are lots of twists and turns, interesting characters that are not as simple as they may seem at first, amazing humorous scenes – each story is incredibly engaging and interesting to follow, making the series one of the best visual novel games of all time.
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
Developer: Sukeban Games | Release Date: 2016
The mix will define where the dialogue goes. (Image source: Steam)
In this good visual novel that is also a job simulator, you have to step into the shoes of a bartender named Jill, who can mix great drinks for visitors of a cyberpunk bar to hear out their stories. The catch is that you exist in a cyberpunk world and your visitors are robots, cyborgs, hackers and mercs.
Key features:
The unique aspect of VA-11 Hall-A is that you can’t really ask your visitors anything – the flow of the story is determined by your mixing drinks. Some mixes can lead to a touching story, while others tell you something dramatic, completely different.
Players enjoy VA-11 Hall-A’s characters and deep, touching conversations you can usually have at a bar, while the dystopian, dark and rainy cyberpunk setting makes it particularly cozy and rich in detail in terms of worldbuilding. What is a visual novel without a great worldbuilding, right?
Full Metal Daemon Muramasa
Developer: Nitroplus | Release Date: 2009
Full Metal Daemon Muramasa is an interesting blend of samural tales and mecha action. (Image source: Steam)
Ever wondered what it’s like to be a hero and choose between justice and vengeance? Then Full Metal Daemon Muramasa is going to be up your alley. This popular visual novel allows you to experience the samurai/mecha setting and is all about moral dilemmas, decisions and even combat sequences – you’re a samurai after all!
Key features:
Complex philosophical questions about moralism you have to answer by yourself – who knows what you will discover about your perception of this deep topic? The story is told in an incredibly dramatic way and will be both impressive and engaging if you enjoy this type of visual novel.
Great artwork is another important aspect, creating a gorgeous image of the story in your head thanks to its stunning visual features, combining 2D and 3D imagery.
The House in Fata Morgana
Developer: Novectacle | Release Date: 2012
The gothic, ethereal vibe is on point in The House in Fata Morgana. (Image source: Steam)
A cursed mansion, tragic characters, beautiful and ethereal gothic tale – that’s The House in Fata Morgana to you, one of the best visual novels of all time. A unique take on visual novels with great literary stories, dramatic characters’ plotlines and gorgeous visuals – this visual novel is perfect if you’re looking for something serious and dark.
Key Features:
The story is non-linear and spans several centuries with huge time gaps in between (how about traveling into the year 1099?), making The House in Fata Morgana a particularly epic and interesting story to observe and immerse yourself in.
An outstanding soundtrack full of beautiful compositions with female vocals that accompany the story in a certain elegant way will definitely make you emotional. It’s so great and unique that it truly stands out as a particular feature of this good visual novel.
Danganronpa series
Developer: Spike Chunsoft |Release Date: 2010
Monokuma is a great example of a loveable mascot of the series who is also a bloody villain. (Image source: Steam)
Similar to the Ace Attorney series we mentioned above in our list of visual novels, Danganronpa is a gripping series full of murder mystery and courtroom drama with lots of cynical humor. It starts like a popular SAW franchise: students get trapped in a strange, scary game by the sadistic bear called Monokuma. Players must investigate various crimes, uncover the real truth and participate in class trials, being judges.
Key Features:
Similar to Phoenix Wright games, you need to feel what being a detective feels like: find contradictions and introduce evidence in courtroom battles, using mechanics like Truth Bullets and Rebuttal Showdowns to uncover the real mystery behind the cases.
The series features a unique, vivid art style mixed with dark themes, creating a striking dissonance that only works perfectly well with the overall deadly tension and creepy mystery. Its mix of dark humor, psychological drama and totally unexpected and strange plot twists make it a fun experience and a very unusual take on the visual novel medium.
Chaos;Child
Developer: Mages Inc. | Release Date: 2017
Chaos;Child tells an incredibly dark and fascinating story. (Image source: Steam)
Chaos;Child is a story about a group of high school students who are investigating cruel and unusual murders that somehow are connected to an earthquake disaster that took place in Japan. The game's constantly changing viewpoint creates an unsettling, immersive story that many visual novel fans will enjoy. While it may not be one of the most popular visual novels, it still stands out as a unique and remarkable one.
Key features:
The story blends real-world elements, such as newspapers, internet forums posts, creating an eerie feeling that it’s something real. In addition, real-world science terminology is used and implemented into the plot, along with supernatural horror that is unexpected and creepy, making it one of the best visual novels with creepy elements.
Chaos;Child has a truly unique mechanic: you can influence the protagonist's perception by choosing between positive, negative or neutral delusions, which lead to different events and alternate routes, affecting the story and leading it into a completely new direction.
Titanic-like ship in the first installment called 999, is a very unique setting for a puzzle game. (Image source: Steam)
Games that could definitely be expected in our list of visual novels, the Zero Escape series takes inspiration from classic escape room scenarios and traps the game’s characters in dangerous situations, where they have to go through trials and tribulations, learn about themselves and the people surrounding them and unveil mysteries. A tricky and convoluted plot line references quantum mechanics, human studies, fate and destiny and psychological horror, creating a blend of a truly unique and dark story.
Key features:
The game has a tree-like flowchart system that lets you see your choices and find new story paths and endings without replaying the entire game.
Some rooms cannot be escaped if you don’t know a particular piece of information you can only get by beating alternative timelines, resulting in a very interesting approach in storytelling and some of the best visual novels’ storytelling techniques.
Umineko When They Cry
Developer: 07th Expansion | Release Date: 2016
Umineko’s presentation is simple, but the complex story makes it up. (Image source: Steam)
Umineko is a classic murder mystery that happens on an isolated island where members of a wealthy family are killed by someone. There is, however, a twist: supernatural elements are introduced, and horror and philosophy accompany a classic detective story, creating a thought-provoking experience that players and visual novel fans won’t forget any time soon after beating it – a great experience a good visual novel usually provides!
Key features:
Umineko has several storylines for you to explore and read.There are also real photographs and live-action sequences, increasing the immersion and making Umineko truly different from other visual novels.
The choices you’re going to make change the fates of different main and side characters, making it a visual novel that requires your full dedication. If you want to reach the final ending and protect all characters, you have to be very careful with your decisions.
428: Shibuya Scramble
Developer: Spike Chunsoft | Release Date: 2018
This visual novel uses real-life images, which is incredibly immersive (Image source: Steam)
A single day in a Shibuya district – how will it go? It’s totally up to you. Crimes, humor and suspense – a traditional collection for a procedural/detective story by a popular visual novel creator Spike Chunsoft, and this game is no exception, providing interwoven storylines with unexpected turns.
Key features:
The game consists of live-action photos and videos, and, according to devs, more than 100000 pictures were taken. Now that’s a dedication! Unlike traditional visual novels, this game uses real photographs and live-action sequences, providing an incredibly immersive experience, quite literally.
Player choices significantly impact the fates of different characters, and timelines must be carefully manipulated to ensure all protagonists survive and reach the true ending – the branching narrative of Shibuya Scramble leaves a lasting impression.
How Can I Create Popular Visual Novels?
If you’re a huge fan of this truly unusual blend of mediums and dream about creating one of the best visual novel games of all time with your very own story that a lot of visual novels fans will adore, you definitely will have to consider the following things:
Establish a story and art style: It’s very important to write a captivating story that players won’t easily forget or solve rather quickly. A lot of visual novel developers have big teams of writers and artists coming up with gorgeous visuals and unexpected twists, unique and memorable characters, beautiful 2D and 3D backgrounds and animations, along with complex storylines that are interconnected and interwoven and so on. A simple story, sadly, may be lost in the big number of visual novels that get released very quickly – you have to ensure it stands out and becomes a truly remarkable experience.
Think of a killer feature: To truly stand out, you have to make sure there’s something special about the visual novel you’re creating. Perhaps, a truly catching narrative, combining heart, humor and complex time-travel explanation? Or visual sprites so eye-catching you can’t help but want to play it to see what the artists come up with next? One of the biggest visual novels on Steam we haven’t mentioned – Doki Doki! Literature Club – takes a very unique approach to romance visual novels and surprises players with unexpected twists not only in plot but the game as a whole – again and again and again – but no spoilers though!
If overall complexity feels overwhelming, consult game outsourcing studio for assistance: Studios like that can help you with producing not only additional art for backgrounds, 2D sprites, UX, sound design – but also assist you with full-scale game creation. They can work with either existing ideas or come up with new stuff tailor-made exactly for your ideas and ambitions.
RocketBrush Studio has been working since 2016, providing services for leading industry names such as Supercell, Paradox Interactive, Applovin and many others. You can read our testimonials.
Some artwork we created for Jewels of the Wild West. What story lies there? Are they brothers? Unlucky partners in crime?
We provide all kinds of services for different genres and styles, from stylized 3D sci-fi adventures to pixelated rogue-lites set in necromantic fantasy world. Take a look at our portfolio.
We can also assist with creating a truly striking visual novel that a lot of players will fondly remember even after fully completing it. Be sure to reach out to discuss your dreams in detail!
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our list of visual novels. Most of these stories will haunt you even after you finish them – and that’s perhaps the greatest thing a visual novel can make – leave an impression that won’t go away for days.
It’s a great, underrated genre that remains niche due to its great focus on storytelling rather than gameplay – and who knows what awaits it in future? There are many other fantastic titles we haven’t mentioned, so be sure to explore the market for more fantastic, unforgettable stories.
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