Gateway and Beginner Novels
Katawa Shoujo
Nakai Hisao—a normal high school student—one day collapses and is diagnosed with arrhythmia. Due to this, his parents have enrolled him in a school for impaired students.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Slice of Life
Steins;Gate
A group of friends have modified their microwave to send text messages to the past. An organization named SERN who has been doing their own research on time travel is now hunting them down.
Rating:
Genres: Suspense, Thriller, Sci-Fi
999
Nine people have been kidnapped by a mysterious person called Zero and are forced to participate in a survival game called the "Nonary Game".
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Phoenix Wright
Phoenix Wright is a rookie lawyer fresh out of law school, taking a position at Fey & Co. Law Offices run by Mia Fey, a defense attorney that helped to acquit Wright of murder several years prior.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Drama
Danganronpa
Highly gifted individuals from across the nation have been handpicked to attend Hope's Peak Academy—a school for "ultimate" students. But when they arrive they find themselves thrust into a killing game to ensure their own survival.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Drama
Fate/Stay Night
Emiya Shirou—a high school student who has learned rudimentary magic—finds himself engaged in the Holy Grail War, a ritual to produce the greatest holy artifact said to be capable of granting any wish.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Fantasy
Planetarian
Humanity is nearly extinct and a perpetual and lethal Rain falls on the Earth. "Junkers" plunder from the ruins of civilization. One such Junker sneaks into the most dangerous of all ruins—a "Sarcophagus City".
Rating:
Genres: Drama
VA-11 Hall-A
You are a bartender at VA-11 Hall-A, nicknamed "Valhalla", in a dystopia where nanomachines oppress the people, and the terrifying White Knights dictate humanity. What stories will you bear witness to?
Rating:
Genres: Sci-Fi
Narcissu
You fall terminally ill shortly after your twentieth birthday and are admitted to a hospital. There you meet Setsumi, another terminally ill patient. Both of you refusing to die at home or in a hospital, you decide to run away together.
Rating:
Genres: Drama
Little Busters!
Riki was a child when his parents died, leaving him hopeless and depressed. What saved him was a group of four kids calling themselves the Little Busters.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life
Top Picks from /r/visualnovels
The Devil on G-String
There are two new people in town: "Maou" and Usami Haru. You and your friends suddenly find yourselves thrust into their deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Drama
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Keiichi Maebara has just moved to the rural village of Hinamizawa. Keiichi quickly finds his quiet life coming to a halt as he's drawn into the deadly events surrounding Oyashiro-sama and the Watanagashi Festival.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Subarashiki Hibi
Vega and Altair, Orihime and Hikoboshi, two points of light that—with the crown of the Northern Cross—form the Trinity known as the "heavenly triangle". But where is the place that these points cross, where world and sky join together?
Rating:
Genres: Mystery
Chaos;Child
Miyashiro Takuru is tasked with finding the truth behind two isolated murders that may be linked to a gruesome serial killing just several years prior.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Dies irae
Ren Fujii is hospitalized for two months after a vicious fight with his former best friend. When he awakens, his past life is swept away as he finds himself engaged in an otherworldly battle with the Longinus Dreizehn Orden.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Drama, Mystery
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
After eleven family members arrive on Rokkenjima to discuss the inheritance of the family head after he passes, a typhoon traps them on the island and the people there begin turning up dead.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Drama
Saya no Uta
Fuminori Sakisaka has a traffic accident which kills his parents and leaves him heavily injured. When he has a brain surgery to save his life, his perception of the world changes.
Rating:
Genres: Horror, Romance
The House in Fata Morgana
You awaken in an unfamiliar mansion, greeted by a woman with jade eyes. There you will witness four tragedies, each set in a different time and place. You may choose whether you wish to end your story here ... or press on.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Root Double
An unknown incident at Rokumei City traps rescue squad captain Watase Kasasagi and high school student Natsuhiko Tenkawa in LABO—a research facility. The answer to this mystery lies in the memories of these two people.
Rating:
Genres: Suspense, Drama, Mystery
Muv-Luv Alternative
A direct continuation of the events from the original Muv-Luv. Takeru is now faced with direful odds that he must conquer through an overhwelming amount of courage and the support of his dearest friends.
Rating:
Genres: Sci-Fi, Drama, Action
Drama
ef - a fairy tale of the two.
Follow the story of Yuuko Amamiya and the relationships that unfold after his fateful meeting with two women during the night of Xmas Eve.
Rating:
Genres: Drama, Romance
Eden*
An ominous red star has appeared that will soon bring about Earth's extinction. The unified government proposes an evacuation project to take all of mankind into space through the use of genetically modified superhumans.
Rating:
Genres: Drama, Romance
The Fruit of Grisaia
Mihama Academy—on the surface, a closed school for students who find themselves at odds with the world around them; in reality, an orchard-cum-prison built to preserve fruit that has fallen too far from its tree.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Slice of Life, Drama
Clannad
While walking to school, Okazaki Tomoya meets a strange girl named Furukawa Nagisa, questioning if she likes the school at all. He finds himself helping her, and as time goes by, Tomoya finds his life heading towards a new direction.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Drama, Slice of Life
Planetarian
Humanity is nearly extinct and a perpetual and lethal Rain falls on the Earth. "Junkers" plunder from the ruins of civilization. One such Junker sneaks into the most dangerous of all ruins—a "Sarcophagus City".
Rating:
Genres: Drama
Narcissu
You fall terminally ill shortly after your twentieth birthday and are admitted to a hospital. There you meet Setsumi, another terminally ill patient. Both of you refusing to die at home or in a hospital, you decide to run away together.
Rating:
Genres: Drama
Swan Song
A huge earthquake occurs on Xmas Eve plunging the city into ruin. Those that survived struggle to find their own ways of coping with this catastrophe. Six of those survivors find themselves in a church—a shelter from the harsh winter.
Rating:
Genres: Drama
Rewrite
A boy named Tennouji Kotarou has the ability to rewrite his body to make himself faster or stronger. He joins his school club, where he explores various mysteries with his friends.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Action
Kara no Shoujo
Tokisaka Reiji—an ex-cop turned private eye—joins the investigation of a bizarre series of murders in Tokyo, 1956. Reiji soon finds this case bears a strong resemblance to the murder of his own fiancé just six years prior.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Drama
Symphonic Rain
Should his drawer ever become full of her letters, he promised he would return to her. The story follows the music student Chris living in the city of perpetual rain.
Rating:
Genres: Drama, Romance
Comedy
Majikoi
A group of close friends have known each other since they were young and have done loads of things together. But when they welcome two new members to their group, things begin to change quickly.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Osadai
A spaceship mishap decimates the Prime Minister of Japan. To avoid chaos, an alien picks a random person there to become the new president of Japan and brainwashes all of mankind to accept this person as their new leader.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Hatoful Boyfriend
Welcome to St. PigeoNation’s Institute, the most splendid and greatest academy of the pigeon, by the pigeon and for the pigeon.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road
Hiroshi—a run-of-the-mill student—became interested in his delinquent classmate Tsujidou-san after seeing her help a kitty in the rain. But everyone around her are also delinquents. Hiroshi's life just got a lot more troubled!
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Action, Romance
Sengoku Rance
In the far east nation of Nippon, a plethora of feudal lords are fighting for supremacy in the 4th Sengoku Era. After doing immeasurable damage on the Continent, the brute known as Rance traveled with his slave, Sill, to the island country.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Comedy
Monster Girl Quest!
In a world where monsters take the form of women who lust after a substance only men can give, one hero named Luca is called upon by the goddess Ilias who commands him to slay the demon lord controlling these monsters.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Fantasy, Comedy
Little Busters!
Riki was a child when his parents died, leaving him hopeless and depressed. What saved him was a group of four kids calling themselves the Little Busters.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life
Chrono Clock
Next in line to manage a large corporation is our protagonist, Rei Sawatari. He inherited an important item from his grandfather, a pocket watch. A mysterious power lurks within that pocket watch—the power to rewind time by five minutes.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Comedy
Evenicle
The creator of the world gave two commandments: do not kill another human, and one must adhere to monogamy. Knights are exempt, however, and a young man sets out on his journey to become a knight with as many wives as possible.
Rating:
Genres: Fantasy, Comedy
Dracu-Riot!
Mutsura Yuuto accompanies his friend on a holiday to an artificial island city where gambling and the sex industry are legal. His holiday comes to a halt though when he ends up getting kidnapped and turned into a vampire.
Rating:
Genres: Fantasy, Comedy
Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Fault Milestone One
While escaping from an assault on their homeland, Princess Selphine and her royal guard Ritona are suddenly teleported to an unknown forest with vegetation unlike their own and must find their way back to their homeland of Rughzenhaide.
Rating:
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery
Yu-No
After his father suddenly disappeared, Takuya Arima receives a peculiar package from him and a letter suggesting the existence of parallel worlds. He then realizes he was given a device that allows him to travel to multiple dimensions.
Rating:
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery
Muv-Luv Alternative
A direct continuation of the events from the original Muv-Luv. Takeru is now faced with direful odds that he must conquer through an overhwelming amount of courage and the support of his dearest friends.
Rating:
Genres: Sci-Fi, Drama, Action
Steins;Gate
A group of friends have modified their microwave to send text messages to the past. An organization named SERN who has been doing their own research on time travel is now hunting them down.
Rating:
Genres: Suspense, Thriller, Sci-Fi
Chaos;Child
Miyashiro Takuru is tasked with finding the truth behind two isolated murders that may be linked to a gruesome serial killing just several years prior.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Root Double
An unknown incident at Rokumei City traps rescue squad captain Watase Kasasagi and high school student Natsuhiko Tenkawa in LABO—a research facility. The answer to this mystery lies in the memories of these two people.
Rating:
Genres: Suspense, Drama, Mystery
Sekien no Inganock
Inganock—a city where everything has been distorted by an event that happened 10 years ago called "Revival". Over time, residents have begun to shift into beings that are part-human, part-animal.
Rating:
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery
VA-11 Hall-A
You are a bartender at VA-11 Hall-A, nicknamed "Valhalla", in a dystopia where nanomachines oppress the people, and the terrifying White Knights dictate humanity. What stories will you bear witness to?
Rating:
Genres: Sci-Fi
Muv-Luv
Split into two stories—explore Shirogane Takeru's high school life and friendships in Muv-Luv Extra, and how that life comes crashing down before his eyes in Muv-Luv Unlimited.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Comedy
999
Nine people have been kidnapped by a mysterious person called Zero and are forced to participate in a survival game called the "Nonary Game".
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Action
Tokyo Babel
The gates of Heaven are closed shut; Hell is consumed by flood. Countless parallel worlds wither away. The surviving angels and demons gather at the city they believe to be their final chance at salvation: "Tokyo Babel".
Rating:
Genres: Action
Rose Gun Days
In the middle of their recovery from defeat in World War II, Japan is intricately divided by America and China. Soon, Japanese become the minority and must gather together to challenge this new system.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Suspense
Coμ (Comyu)
Legends tell of a mysterious woman known only as "Girl A", who makes herself known to special individuals in a certain city and sings all throughout the night. One such night, Akihito meets four strangers as if guided by her beautiful voice...
Rating:
Genres: Action, Fantasy, Mystery
Dies irae
Ren Fujii is hospitalized for two months after a vicious fight with his former best friend. When he awakens, his past life is swept away as he finds himself engaged in an otherworldly battle with the Longinus Dreizehn Orden.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Drama, Mystery
Fate/Stay Night
Emiya Shirou—a high school student who has learned rudimentary magic—finds himself engaged in the Holy Grail War, a ritual to produce the greatest holy artifact said to be capable of granting any wish.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Fantasy
Tsukihime
The story begins in a recollection of a boy called Shiki in his childhood years. There he gains a power out of this world. What is the meaning of this power, and what can he do with it? This is his story of finding the missing pieces of the puzzle.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Fantasy
Rewrite
A boy named Tennouji Kotarou has the ability to rewrite his body to make himself faster or stronger. He joins his school club, where he explores various mysteries with his friends.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Action
Kamidori
In the workshop city of Yuidora, a young man named Wilfred pursues his dream of becoming an alchemist. He soon finds himself entangled with three girls who he hires as guards in exchange for helping them with their own goals.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Action
Monster Girl Quest!
In a world where monsters take the form of women who lust after a substance only men can give, one hero named Luca is called upon by the goddess Ilias who commands him to slay the demon lord controlling these monsters.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Fantasy, Comedy
Sengoku Rance
In the far east nation of Nippon, a plethora of feudal lords are fighting for supremacy in the 4th Sengoku Era. After doing immeasurable damage on the Continent, the brute known as Rance traveled with his slave, Sill, to the island country.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Comedy
Slice of Life
Princess Evangile
Burdened by the incredible debt his father left behind, Okonogi Masaya is now destitute and alone. However, through a strange collection of events, he finds himself living at the prestigious Vincennes Academy, an all-girls charm school.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Comedy
Hoshizora no Memoria
After moving back to his childhood town, Kogasaka You comes across an abandoned fenced-off observatory. There he encounters a mysterious girl wielding a scythe who introduces herself as "Mare".
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Drama
If My Heart Had Wings
Having lost his direction in life, Aoi returned to his hometown. There he meets a wheelchair-ridden girl Kotori while watching gliders overhead in awe. With his childhood friend Ageha in tow, they decide to revive the soaring club.
Rating:
Genres: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Fureraba
It’s spring once again and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. It’s the season of the beginning of a new life. The protagonist has lots of fun being with his guy friends, but he wishes for something more: a girlfriend!
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Comedy
Katawa Shoujo
Nakai Hisao—a normal high school student—one day collapses and is diagnosed with arrhythmia. Due to this, his parents have enrolled him in a school for impaired students.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Slice of Life
Clannad
While walking to school, Okazaki Tomoya meets a strange girl named Furukawa Nagisa, questioning if she likes the school at all. He finds himself helping her, and as time goes by, Tomoya finds his life heading towards a new direction.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Drama, Slice of Life
The Fruit of Grisaia
Mihama Academy—on the surface, a closed school for students who find themselves at odds with the world around them; in reality, an orchard-cum-prison built to preserve fruit that has fallen too far from its tree.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Slice of Life, Drama
Himawari
Himawari tells a tale of love, tragedy, and sacrifice played out on two stages—Earth and outer space. Explore Hinata Youichi’s struggle coping with his lost memories while another story is revealed to have taken place far beyond the clouds.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Sci-Fi
Little Busters!
Riki was a child when his parents died, leaving him hopeless and depressed. What saved him was a group of four kids calling themselves the Little Busters.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life
Sharin no Kuni
A society which imposes special "Duties" upon everyone who breaks the law. The individuals who oversee these criminals' rehabilitation are the "Special Elite"—a rank the protagonist, Kenichi Morita, hopes to attain.
Rating:
Genres: Drama, Romance
Otome
Code: Realize
Restricted to an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of London, Cardia lives day to day isolated from the world. Her body carries a deadly poison that rots or melts anything her skin touches, prompting the locals to call her a "monster".
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Drama
Heart no Kuni no Alice
Alice is realistic; especially about love. One day, she is taken to the world of heart, which is full of danger. An owner of a hat shop is a gangster, and every theme park worker carries a gun; almost all of the people there are dangerous.
Rating:
Genres: Romance
Nightshade
The Sengoku period has ended and peace has come to the world. Ueno Enju has been training relentlessly in the hopes of becoming a shinobi, but she soon finds herself dragged into a major incident on her first mission.
Rating:
Genres: Drama, Romance
Hakuoki
Chizuru Yukimura has set off for Kyoto to find her missing father, but accidentally gets herself wrapped up in the intrigues of the Shinsengumi, a group of warriors who defends the fading powers of the shogunate.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Romance
test
Black Wolves Saga
The protagonist, Fiona lived in a secluded tower due to her fragile health. There is turmoil in the country and a severe disease outbreak known as Zodiva or "Mad Wolf Disease" ravages the people.
Rating:
Genres: Drama, Romance
test
Nameless
Eri is an ordinary looking freshman at Crobi Academy. Left alone, Eri continues to obsess over her ball jointed dolls; a hobby she's unable to tell anyone about, even her friends.
Rating:
Genres: Drama
test
Cinderella Phenomenon
Four years after the end of the Great War and the loss of her mother, Crown Princess Lucette of Angielle is still struggling to come to terms with her new life and step-family.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Fantasy
test
Amnesia
On the morning of the 1st of August, the heroine found herself without her memories. A young spirit named "Orion" appears before the heroine offering his guidance, and through his guidance the heroine would write an entirely new love story.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Mystery, Drama
test
Mystic Messenger
After stumbling on an app called "Mystic Messenger" trying to kill some time, you find yourself chatting with someone nicknamed "Unknown." After chatting for some time, "Unknown" persquades you to meet up at a studio apartment...
Rating:
Genres: Mystery
test
Collar x Malice
The protagonist is a policewoman working in a city that has become unsafe after a series of violent crimes. One night on the job she is attacked, and when she comes to she finds a remotely controlled lethal collar around her neck.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery
test
Boy's Love / Girl's Love
Kindred Spirits on the Roof
Kokonotsuboshi Girls' Academy of Commerce, a school built on the site of an old castle, nicknamed "Shirojo." One day, the timid Toomi Yuna, who had been living a quiet life at this school, suddenly met two ghosts on the roof during lunch.
Rating:
Genres: Romance
test
DRAMAtical Murder
Two new games have taken the city by storm. The protagonist Aoba shows no interest in either of them and simply wants a quiet life, but a disaster that will erase those peaceful days has already started.
Rating:
Genres: Sci-Fi
test
Flowers
Saint Angraecum Academy's Amitié program is designed to help foster new friendships that will last a lifetime. This is why Suoh Shirahane, a painfully shy girl, enrolls with hopes of a new life.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Mystery, Drama
test
Lamento
Ribika—humans with cat like features—inhabit a world that has fallen on dark times. A mysterious void has made places, and even animals, untouchable causing the world to be ravaged by famine.
Rating:
Genres: Action
test
Sea Bed
Three different people all with their own troubles, and yet they all seek the same goal: to separate truth from illusion—to make sense of their own lives.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Drama, Romance
test
No, Thank You!!!
Our protagonist protects a man from an oncoming car, but gets hit and loses his memory in the process. The man he saved happens to be the owner of a jazz bar. Out of sympathy, the man decides to set him up with a job and a place to live.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Drama
test
Highway Blossoms
After an old gold rush miner's journal is discovered, a nationwide craze begins as would-be prospectors try to solve the cryptic clues it contains and discover the miner's hidden treasure.
Rating:
Genres: Romance
test
Togainu no Chi
After Japan's destruction in World War II, a crime syndicate called Vischio has taken control of Toshima—formerly Tokyo—where they are holding a war game known as "Igura".
Rating:
Genres: Action, Drama
test
A Kiss For The Petals
Follow a blossoming love story between a class representative and a class troublemaker at Saint Michael Girls' School who seem to always be at each others' throats.
Rating:
Genres: Romance
test
Aoishiro
The Seijou Girls’ Academy Kendo Club is traveling to Shoushinji for a Summer training camp. Near there is an island, Urashima, where legend has it a demon extermination took place long ago.
Rating:
Genres: Romance, Fantasy
test
Gameplay
Kamidori
In the workshop city of Yuidora, a young man named Wilfred pursues his dream of becoming an alchemist. He soon finds himself entangled with three girls who he hires as guards in exchange for helping them with their own goals.
Rating:
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Action
test
Utawarerumono
A man named Hakuoro wakes up in a tiny backwoods village near the mountains with heavy injuries, no memory, and a mask he cannot remove.
Rating:
Genres: Action
999
Nine people have been kidnapped by a mysterious person called Zero and are forced to participate in a survival game called the "Nonary Game".
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Danganronpa
Highly gifted individuals from across the nation have been handpicked to attend Hope's Peak Academy—a school for "ultimate" students. But when they arrive they find themselves thrust into a killing game to ensure their own survival.
Rating:
Genres: Mystery, Drama
Rose Gun Days
In the middle of their recovery from defeat in World War II, Japan is intricately divided by America and China. Soon, Japanese become the minority and must gather together to challenge this new system.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Suspense
Sengoku Rance
In the far east nation of Nippon, a plethora of feudal lords are fighting for supremacy in the 4th Sengoku Era. After doing immeasurable damage on the Continent, the brute known as Rance traveled with his slave, Sill, to the island country.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Comedy
Eiyuu*Senki
Britannia seeks to unite the world through peace while the European Union had adopted an aggressive policy and the nation of Vinland t hrives on pillage and plunder. The small nation of Zipang is stuck fast in a quagmire of civil unrest.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Comedy
Rance VI
Rance has ironically been thrown into a slave camp while his magic-using slave Sill is being treated as a VIP in the kingdom of Zeth. Now Rance has joined up with an underground resistance group to overthrow the Zeth government.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Comedy
Eien no Aselia
Yuuto has been taking care of his step-sister Kaori since the passing of both of their parents. Their life is hard, but they are happy together—until the day they are transported to the parallel world of Phantasmagoria.
Rating:
Genres: Action, Drama
VA-11 Hall-A
You are a bartender at VA-11 Hall-A, nicknamed "Valhalla", in a dystopia where nanomachines oppress the people, and the terrifying White Knights dictate humanity. What stories will you bear witness to?
Rating:
Genres: Sci-Fi
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