Your Fave Visual Novel/Dating Sim?

[Noveless88]

There are many AnimeAI role-playing games now. I don’t know if you have any resistance to AI works.
I'm playing Pumpsoul (iOS only)

 

[TJ_Frozen_Shades]

Might be too "western" for some people here (except OP, apparently, since OP seems to be recommending titles I've heard in the western-indie circle like Arcade Spirits), but I feel like every single person who's interested in making VNs should 100% achievement-hunt "Scarlet Hollow". Same applies to people who want to play VNs and want an insane level of branching and choices.

It's the only VN I've played (out of only a handful, sure) where I feel like it manages to balance the amount of "small choices that simply add nuance and roleplaying to slowly build up your character's personality", with "big choices that are all too common in VNs" where you get whole scenes out of them. Despite that, it never feels like I'm "railroaded" into doing something I don't want to do in a playthrough, or unknowingly entered a "worse" branch of event outcomes for the most part, which are somehow pretty common feelings when I play other games that have "narrative branching" as a selling point.

The small choices add up to shape how the other characters view you behind the scenes, and there's a lot of care in how one exact scene can play out three different ways depending on whether or not your cousin hates you, finds you tolerable, or cares about you.

For a more general wide appeal though, their newer (and mostly more complete) game is "Slay the Princess", which is also fantastic if you go through it blind. A bit abstract and poetic, sure, but it is a better entry into playing their games out of the 2. (Not like they have any other titles for now, anyway)