Visual Novels are an interesting part of gaming culture that combines storytelling with diverging paths and investigation styled gameplay. The medium has been seeing increased popularity during the past few years thanks to series like Danganronpa and Steins;Gate gaining popularity among the anime community. If your looking for a game that will keep you busy for long periods of time and want a break from the action-packed Triple-A title's then visuals novels are a great choice. The games below have amazing fans and told intriguing stories that caught the gaming world off guard. We have listed the top ten visual novel games as ranked by Metacritic.
10 Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (82)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is the first game in the Danganronpa series. In the game, you play as protagonist Makoto who, along with 14 other students, is being forced to play in a game where the students must murder there classmates. If the murder survives, then the surviving members of the class will attend a trial to uncover the culprit.
If the culprit is found, they are killed; if they aren't found, they go free while the rest of the class dies. The game splits it's time between reading, mini-game, and investigation segments to earn it an 82 on Metacritic.
9 Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma (83)
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma follows nine characters that are being held in a bomb shelter. The shelter has three sections, with three characters being held captive in each section. To escape, six members of the cast must die to earn them six passwords. Things get a bit more complicated as the cast is forced to wear watches that inject them with a memory-erasing drug every 90 minutes.
Most of Zero Time Dilemmas gameplay is divided between solving puzzles and learning the narrative of the story. The games dark story earned it an 83 on Metacritic.
8 Death Mark (83)
Death Mark is about a mark that mysteriously appears on the wrist of the game's protagonist. Supposedly if this mark appears, you are sure to be killed. To make matters worse, the protagonist has lost their memory and must enter a mysterious mansion to hopefully save themself. Instead of just focusing on the story, the game will have you fighting your way through spirits.
Depending on how you decide to deal with the spirits at the end of the battle will affect the route of your story. This game's horror themes earned it an 83 on Metacritic.
7 Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (83)
Following the disastrous conclusion of the first game, Danganronpa 2 picks up on a deserted island paradise. Here 16 students, including the protagonist Hajima are suffering from memory loss. Before long, Monokuma soon appears to let the students know that they are part of a new killing game.
Danganronpa 2 builds on the gruesome killing scenes of the first game to invent an even more engrossing story. Even the gameplay and class trials from the first game are enhanced to create an unforgettable playthrough. The games improved mysterious earned the game an 83 on Metacritic.
6 Muv-Luv Alternative (83)
Muv-Luv Alternative begins when the protagonist Shirogane wakes up in his rooms before the events of Muv-Luv Unlimited. Shirogane soon finds himself in an alternative timeline where he can slightly affect the events that are happening around him by picking different routes. Much like the games above, Muv-Luv Alternative only has one ending, and the decisions that you make aren't as important as they seem at first.
The game prides itself on being a romantic tale with a robust cast of characters. The game finally made it's way out of Japan in 2018 and scored an 83 on Metacritic.
5 Clannad (83)
Clannad is a classic visual novel that has been released mutiple times and even has an anime based on the story. The game focuses on a group of students as they grow into adults, with the first half of the game actually taking place while they are still in school. In the game, you play as Tomoya, a delinquent boy who finds his life intertwined with five different heroines.
Depending on the choices you make, you can date one of the heroines to reach her ending. The game offers mutiple routes to give players a reason to play through Clannad mutiple times. Clannad earned an 83 on Metacritic for its deep character development.
4 Hakuoki Kyoto Winds (83)
Hakuoki Kyoto Winds takes place in the Bakumatsu period of Japan, where samurais are still commonplace. The game was released on PS Vita in 2017. You play as Chizuru, who can romance one of twelve different samurais of the period. There are 30 different endings to uncover, giving players tons of initiative to do mutiple playthrough of the game.
Kyoto Winds uses beautiful art and innovative character development to set a tone of love and struggle. The game has over 80 hours of gameplay, earning it an 83 on Metacritic.
3 Steins;Gate 0 (84)
Steins;Gate 0 takes place after the events of the first game and follows the story of several different characters from the series. The story has several branching paths and two main endings that you can reach depending on your decisions at the start of the game. Like in the original Steins;Gate there are instances of time travel, amnesia, and mystery that drive the plot along its branching paths.
Steins;Gate 0 helps expand upon the lore and concepts of the first game in the series while adding in fresh new ideas. This game's compelling story gained it an 84 on Metacritic.
2 Code Realize: Guardians of Rebirth (86)
Code Realize: Guardians of Rebirth is a game all about uncovering your past and falling in love. In the game, you play as the protagonist, Cardia, who poisons anything she touches. Before the start of the game, she was sealed away from the rest of the world and lived her life surrounded by loneliness. Before long, though, she is saved by a young man who takes her to a mansion filled with datable characters.
The story revolves around finding the lost memory of Cardia and helping the characters find love and a peaceful life. The romantic touches in Code Realizes story earned the game an 86 on Metacritic.
1 Steins;Gate (87)
Steins;Gate is the top visual novel of the decade and earned an 87 on Metacritic. Steins;Gate is the sequel to Chaos;Head and takes place a year after the game ends. The protagonist of the game Rintaro, is a scientist who is obsessed with the idea of time travel. He retains a special ability to tell when a timeline has been changed by the actions of himself or others.
The game takes a look at Rintaro and his friends as they learn more and more about time traveling and how to change events of the past.