Forum › Yuri Visual Novel Recommendation Thread
Okay, let’s start out with a couple of diverse recommendations.
Kindred Spirits on the Roof ~ Full Chorus ~
Synopsis: The setting is 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.
Enoki Sachi, who died in an accident before the war, and Nagatani Megumi, who died of illness 30 years ago. The two "kindred spirits" died with unrequited feelings in their hearts, met, and fell in love. They ardently wish to experience their "first time" together before their eternal rest... But they don't know how.
The two who are bound to the site of the school enlist Yuna to help them create more "yuri" couples at the school so that they can glean some sexual insight from observing them, and to assist the girls struggling with their hidden feelings.
Duration? Long (ca. 20-28 hours). Highly dependent on reading speed and whether you let the voice acting play out.
Gameplay? Kinetic.
The gameplay of Yurirei is basically kinetic. Although you pick events from the ‘calendar’ in the order you choose, the overall plot only progresses if you do a certain amount and choices have no true effect on the outcomes. So generally speaking you are just selecting events and following these different yuri couples that Yuna plays cupid for. To my surprise sometimes events get unlocked so far back in the year that I got somewhat confused about the context. I think this chaotic style of following the plot is hit and miss, although the couples never miss.
It has an abundance of CGs, which are beautifully drawn in a very unique artstyle. The sprites are very basic (static, no animations, small selection of outfits), but decent. Very much a representation of the VN conventions at the time (original release date: 2012).
Yuri? The central focus.
Everything in this story revolves around girls loving girls. The couples are diverse and face different types of challenges to their love. Except for one couple, all of the girls start out single and inexperienced, needing the help of Yuna and the spirits to get together. But it doesn’t stop at a confession scene for them, the relationships are fully fleshed out and elaborated on. Even though the synopsis makes it seem like Yuna is a neutral cupid of lesbian love, she also gets her very own yuri ending.
There is a student/teacher couple. If that is not to your taste, you can just skip through their events I suppose.
YouAki is the best pair objectively in my opinion.
Version? Buy the Full Chorus version/DLC. It is plain superior to the standard game in every way. Full voice acting, more CGs, drama CDs and more extra content.
Sexual content? Yes.
Every couple gets at least one sex scene. It’s all very tame, nothing to write home about, but all consensual (to a mind-boggling degree in one case) and cute.
Recommended? Absolutely. This VN is a classic that everyone should experience. Statistically speaking there must be at least one couple you care for and chances are you will love them all. This was one of my first Yuri VNs and it showed me the power of the medium. It gives more than enough content for the price. It’s available on Steam and MangaGamer and a few other places.
Synergia
Synopsis: Cila, a veteran cop with a sour outlook and anger issues expects nothing more from life besides the smell of ozone, blinding neon lights and the ever-present manhole steam. At least, until a shady friend replaces her broken-down housedroid as a favor. Advanced, more efficient and remarkably perceptive, unit M.A.R.A. begins to penetrate Cila's toughened exterior and possibly even heal her new owner's old wounds – if Cila can decipher the recurring nightmare the process brings. Soon Cila and Mara forge a unique if sometimes uneasy bond.
Unbeknownst to Cila, just as her life begins to find its new normal, the technological giant Velta Labs gets wind of Mara's existence and takes a mysterious interest in the android. A war unlike any before it is brewing on the horizon, its players are silently being selected and one android's fate may spell the difference between peace, war, the blossoming of a new religion, or a technological singularity beyond comprehension.
Duration? Short - Medium (ca. 8-10 hours)
Gameplay? Synergia is a choice based game with alternate endings and a late-game route split. The choices have long term effects that don’t become immediately obvious. The changes are unrelated to the romance, they only affect the plot.
The game has an extremely uniqe Cyberpunk/anime style and plenty of CGs to go around. The character designs are very unique and the presentation style takes some time getting used to. The character sprites are standard, but the portraits sometimes are a considerably odd representation and creep me out. Thankfully there are options to change colors of text boxes and make a lot of adjustments so your eyes won’t bleed after the 10 hour experience.
Yuri? The story revolves around the developing relationship between Cila and Mara, but nothing is quite as it seems. The game is more concerned with its world-building and plot than the romance most of the time, but their relationship is still very cute. Unlike in most Yuri VNs, Cila and Mara face more complications than just being same-sex lovers. There is a lot of focus on how relationships between humans and androids can truly work out and Cila is considered more of a deviant for being able to fall in love with a machine than being into women (but yes, Cila is a lesbian).
Version? There is only one versions of Synergia, so no need to compare.
Sexual content? None. The game has some minor nudity (nipples etc.), but that’s it.
Recommended? Synergia is a very high-concept story that goes rather deep into cyberpunk themes and transhumanism. It is a more intellectual experience than a straight-forward romance tale you might be used to in the genre. If those themes do not resonate with you at all then this VN is a rather hard sell in my opinion. I can definitely see how some of the topics in this story would make people uncomfortable, but I still recommend challenging those preconceptions! The story is not too long, but very detailed and even without the yuri aspect would still stand strong on its plot alone. If you found any of the mentioned themes even remotely interesting I would urge you to check it out on Steam, PS4 and a bunch of other platforms.
Starlight Vega
Synopsis: After moving into her grandfather’s old house, Aria and her best friend Melody accidentally unleash the flirtatious demon, Lyria, who spent the past fifty years in a stone. They are faced with the truth that magic is real and that there is a parallel world full of demons that has been separated from the human realm centuries ago.
Unfortunately Lyria was bound to Aria via a soul stone the moment she was freed, which causes her to feel intense pain if she makes too much physical distance from her. So she has no choice but to stick with the human girls and together they have to find a way to separate their soul bond and send Lyria back home to her own world where Queen Scherza awaits with even greater troubles.
Duration? Medium (9-12 hours)
Gameplay? Choice based route system. There are three routes and one harem ending, all based around specific choices. To be honest, the choice tree is actually quite complex and getting the harem ending is only possible after beating all three routes (and even then it is hard to get). The game has plenty of bad endings and some surprising flexibility in entering certain routes.
The game has a mediocre amount of CGs, but they are all very nice in my opinion. The artstyle’s quality is subjective I would say, because I actually quite enjoyed it, but it also has a definitive ‘indie’ feel to it. The sprites are basic, but serviceable.
Yuri? Plenty and good. The VN tackles same-sex relationships like they are normal for demons, so there is no conflict on that side (Aria being human is more of a challenge to be honest). With Melody there is more of a history as they are childhood friends and their love is more conventionally based on human society.
All three heroines are unique and have their own routes, so there is a lot to explore with them. The story justifies its harem ending pretty quickly by having some triangle dynamics in other routes too that make clear Aria is a bit indecisive and capable of loving several girls at once. That is not to say she isn’t loyal and exclusive once she actually enters a route. You can play the game entirely with a laser focus on each heroine.
Version? There is only one version of Starlight Vega, so no need to compare.
Sexual content? Minor nudity. Nothing explicit is shown, but there is some foreplay and erotic writing (The Scherza scene is almost a full-blown sex scene though).
Recommended? This one is near and dear to my heart. I can’t explain it well, but for such a clearly indie game with lots of limitations it’s actually incredibly charming and well executed. It was so good that I was left wanting for more, but what we got was great. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who likes yuri and fantasy. It's available on Steam and Itch.io.
last edited at Feb 3, 2022 1:52PM
This time let us look at one high production value VN, one moeblob VN and one fetish VN.
Perfect Gold
Synopsis: Audrey Clary, heiress and LeFay Academy's brightest alchemy student, is about to have her first and worst detention experience of all time. It's bad enough that she has to stay in detention during Sunflower Day—it's even worse that she's stuck in detention with the one and only Marion LaRue, the self-proclaimed “Chaotic Fireball Legend” of LeFay Academy.
Marion LaRue is not having a fun day at all. What was meant to be a harmless little fire turned into an explosion that has her stuck in detention, missing out on one of the rare opportunities for her to enjoy life outside the academy. And of course she just had to be stuck with Audrey Clary, of all the high class LeFay students she could be in detention with.
Determined to not miss out on the long-awaited festival, Audrey and Marion begrudgingly work together to escape detention and find their way to the festival. As they explore the city and celebrate the Sunflower Festival together, an old friendship is rekindled, and new feelings begin to bloom.
Duration? Short (ca. 5 hours)
Gameplay? A choice based visual novel with a railroaded plot. Your choices merely affect the ending and otherwise deviate the scenes slightly where they are made. The plot shifts between the present events and the past often and does so on top of switching perspectives between Marion and Audrey. The game has beautiful semi-animated CGs, lots of polish in its sprites, HUD and transitions. It is fully voice acted and generally exudes production quality.
Yuri? Absolutely. The central focus lies on Marion and Audrey’s complicated relationship that used to be so very different just a year ago. The two have romantic chemistry and sexual tension for days and despite their current bad blood, this always shines through. All you want is for them to get back together and stop being useless lesbians, but alas, that is the point. Despite their awkward first love, when they start flirting it makes everything feel tingly all over.
Audrey is such a top, have you SEEN her pants, holy shit, she is just the most posh lesbian with a heart of gold gaaah, the icy-cold way she said “That is something we will never agree on” when Marion said boys aren’t so bad ohohoh
Ahem. Their interactions are cute, but their potential relationship is challenged by their society and standing in many ways and it does get addressed without hesitation that same-sex love is not an easy path to take, on top of their inherent issues with their school life and future prospects. The world building in this game is very strong as well, but never overshadows the central themes and romance one bit.
Version? There is only one version of Perfect Gold, so no need to compare.
Sexual content? None.
Recommended? Yes by all means, if you have any interest in Yuri, read it! The story-telling device of consistent time-jumps may be hampering the experience a bit to some, but this is the gold standard (pun fully intended) of Yuri Visual Novels from outside Japan. It is available on Steam.
Lilycle Rainbow Stage!!!
Synopsis:
Yuno loves Tamaki’s smile, and wants her to witness her dreams coming true.... though having not seen much of Tamaki lately, Yuno’s been feeling somewhat down. She depends on Saeka a lot, and since the latter always comforts her in times of need, Yuno can feels as though she can talk about her problems without a care in the world.
Tamaki wishes with all her might that she could keep watching over Yuno, who’s always been number one in her heart... but the circumstances around her are changing, little by little. It's not only one girl she has to keep watch over now, after all. Saeka has always been dependable and supportive, and Tamaki's has begun to feel confused...
“Sigh... Looks like she always needs someone by her side too...”
Saeka still has a crush on Yuno, but has been enraptured by Tamaki's aura, and finds that she can’t leave her alone. Recently, she's been mulling over whether or not she wants to try and change the way she is...
As they chat, grow closer, become jealous, get embarrassed, and laugh...
The crisscrossing emotions of these three girls allow this warm yet slightly bitter story to unfold…
That… is the MangaGamer synopsis. Now let me give you my synopsis instead:
A bunch of girls really do love each other that way, because they are special to each other and only they can make each other feel that way, because it really is love and she is so cute, really cute, she is the only one who makes her feel that way about being cute, so it definitely is love that she feels only for that special girl and nobody else.
Duration? Long (18-25 hours). Highly depends on whether you let the voice lines finish.
Gameplay? Lilycle can perhaps most aptly be compared to Kindred Spirits on the Roof from my previous recommendation post. The player selects events from a calendar and progresses the individual couples’ relationships by doing so. There are common events that are about the friendship groups of girls from the North and South high schools either respectively or intermingled. Sometimes events in past months will be unlocked after playing a later one, but it is rare.
The game features a handful of events with choices. As far as I can tell only the choices in May actually matter to unlocking any content, but with the nature of this game it is completely possible to just replay an event and pick the other option and still unlock everything. The game permanently records selected choices, unlocks and whether you read an event, so it is only accumulative, not subtractive in any way.
All couples have one straightforward “route” with the exception of the central main trio, who can have any combination of relationships with each other depending on what choices you made to unlock routes (again, it is accumulative so you can experience all three routes simultaneously, even though they are mutually exclusive in-universe).
The game is fully voice acted and features a strong and memorable moe-up-the-butt artstyle and the presentation is equally colorful and cutesy. The sprites aren’t anything to write home about (outside of the blinking feature). There are quite a few CGs and also some occasional cut-in arts that really give the game some life. The calendar is also really appealing and easy to navigate. But I must say… those big dead fish eyes are unnerving and never quite seem to align with where they are supposed to look.
Yuri? My slightly tongue-in cheek synopsis says it all. The girls are gay, they are gay for each other and everything revolves around the teeth-rottingly sweet love they share.
WARNING: There is an incest couple in this story. You can ignore all their romantic events if that is not to your taste.
Version? There is only one version, but the VN is based on a drama CD series that laid a lot of groundwork for the established couples, so it may be worth checking those out if you can find a translation.
Sexual content? None. Insane amounts of handholding, though.
Recommended? If you like moe art, lots of couples and more sweet tender love than you can handle, this is for you. Available on Steam and MangaGamer.
Lucy Got Problems
Synopsis: Lucy, a greenhorn succubus spy, arrives in the elven forest... and soon realizes she has no idea why. What was her mission, actually?! The only thing that's clear – her superior, Priestess Tiamat, will be really mad if she'll get back empty-handed! Lucy has to figure something out real quick, or she'll never know how her mistresses' panties look like. And she'll probably be fed to the sinister astral squids...
Find your way around and get along with the forest dwellers using Lucy's well-developed personality and exceptional internal qualities.
Do the impossible, touch the untouchable and have fun, of course!
Duration? Short (5-7 hous). Highly dependent on how close you want to get to 100% lines read.
Gameplay? Lucy Got Problems is a choice based Visual Novel and I have never meant this more literally. The game has a fairly short plot overall, but the variety of choices and outcomes is immense. There is a “Read Text” percentage in the menus and I confess that I could not make it past 98% despite trying absolutely every combination I could think of. This was after seeing every ending, event and content in the game mind you. That’s how much variation in dialogue or descriptions can exist even between events you did play. The branching trees and conditions are frankly absurd in some cases. Getting certain endings requires discipline or trial and error.
Outside of the choices, there is a predestined narrative trajectory that can only be avoided by bad ends, but that is just how the plot is set up. Though you technically end up in “the same place”, it is with a very different outlook and journey. You can affect the lives of the forest dwellers a lot, even if Lucy’s own fate is rather binary.
At its core this story is a light-hearted romp as the synopsis probably already conveyed. The game mostly doesn’t take itself too seriously and has fun with its absurd scenarios. There are plenty of CGs and some very… stylized art (read: fetish fuel).
Yuri? I have no qualms with calling this what it is: A fetish game. It is reminiscent of so many ero-trap this-or-that stories. While Lucy is very overtly a lesbian succubus (her entire goal in life is to see her mistress Tiamat’s panties (the demon priestess with an all-female harem by the way)) and the forest is filled to the brim with gay elf girls and witches, there is still plenty of non-yuri sexual content as well that involves the environment. The typical slime play, sentient vine rape and the, blegh sigh… p0n0s fish swarms. How much of that someone can handle varies, so that’s why this game is in the “Majorly Yuri Content” category.
Don’t get me wrong though, there are several straightforward lesbian sex scenes and they are decent for what they are. But for some reason it feels like they are hidden behind more complicated choice trees than everything else… That being said, when the game deigns to actually invest itself in the plot and characters the emotions can actually get really genuine.
Do it for Tiamat. Do it for her. She is worth it.
Version? There is only one version of Lucy Got Problems, so there is no need to compare. The uncensored sexual content is hidden behind free 18+ DLC on Steam though.
Sexual content? Yes, get the 18+ patch if necessary. There is no point in playing this without it. I already elaborated on the type of content to expect in the Yuri section. The Steam version has an honest-to-god achievement for turning the censorship on and off.
Recommended? If you want something funny, yet somehow intriguing and don’t mind obscenely fetishized content, then this could be to your liking. I enjoyed it more for the humor than the porn, that’s for sure. Except Tiamat. Do it for her. Be loyal, you incompetent succubus!
The game is available on Steam, MangaGamer and JAST USA.
