Favourite visual novel?

i've fallen down a rabbit hole researching about visual novels for an animation i'm working on, and i've found a few niche and old visual novels from the 80s that got me curious about if you guys have any underrated ones you love! :o

that's a hard one...i fear i cant pick; i really love b-project ryusei*fantasia which is idol based (very nostalgic to me) but it's quite modern,,

but i get u!!! the moment u get lost on the visual novel databse website it's over lolol

it's a tough contest between Subahibi(Wonderful Everyday) and Totono(You and Me and Her) but I think Subahibi wins it for me

Totono was the visual novel that really got me into them, though I'd highly recommend Soundless: A Modern Salem In Remote Area, it's insanely underrated.

Not exactly 'underrated' but an essential nonetheless Higurashi: When They Cry (and ofc, it's sequel Umineko, but I feel that one more-than gets it's flowers in the VN sphere these days).

I feel/know Higu is much more well known for the 2006 anime adaptation (at least, it was big in the '00s, that hype has long since died down). But while the anime is technically accurate to the jist of the narrative source material (at least in the first two seasons) it just completely misses the tone and sacrifices too much for the format. Significant cuts to both character development and world-building are made to fit these massive chapters into neat 3-4 (or less) 30m episode arcs, and the end result is that the visual novel is simply leagues better in my opinion. I say that as someone who started with the anime (as the VN was still many years away from being translated and available in English when I watched it) and nonetheless loved it despite it's faults. However, when I actually sat down to read the VN a decade later, I was almost immediately and completely blown away just how much better the VN handles things, but especially the characters. I ultimately ended up wishing that the VN could've been my first experience. (There is also a manga, and it is better than the anime -- but it too suffers a large chunk of the same issues as the anime, so I still wouldn't choose it over the VN)

Sure, it has the issue of being quite long... I think most of the chapters are actually pretty well paced in spite of this, but it is something to point out, and Ryukishi (the author) tends to repeat himself and retread things a bit, but it's still one of/if not the best pieces of psychological horror media out there. I think that needs to be emphasized, in contrast to what the anime has become known for: there is actually very, very little violence/gore in the VN -- and practically no jump scares or cheap tricks (in contrast to other "horror" VNs, *cough* DDLC *cough*) the horror is slow, smart/methodical, brooding and entirely within the building and claustrophobic paranoia you experience from being placed in the character's POV. A basket that the anime simply never got the screentime to put it's eggs into, focusing instead on 'lolz' horror: loads of violence, and practically tropifying the 'psycho yandere' before anything else.

If you're a fan of things like Twin Peaks, Silent Hill 1-3, Pathologic, Midnight Mass, Alan Wake II, Shiki, etc. this VN will be very up your alley -- but I feel it'll also work for fans of things like Death Note, House of Leaves, Serial Experiments Lain, Monster, True Detective, Dark, and, perhaps Disco Elysium. Give it a shot. 

I've said enough as is on this post, but if you have the chance to go into this one as blind as possible than I strongly encourage you to do so. It's available in it's entirety on Steam through MangaGamer, and goes on sale for dirt cheap quite often. I would also recommend installing the 07th-mod: a community-led project that ports over the content from the Japan-only console version, including sprites that don't suck (including for characters who go completely spriteless otherwise), CGs (which are missing in the other versions), fully illustrated backgrounds, and full voice acting w/ lip movement.

If that's too much, or you're new to VNs and don't have the attention span to read something that long, my second (and arguably better) alternative is to watch one of the blind LPs on YouTube, there are a couple of these really great ones that I'd recommend by Rose Matter, MoonNova, and Michael_SK. The benefit to watching these is having someone else alongside you on your first run to bounce theories off of in your head (since Higu is just as, if not more of a mystery than a horror), and also turn the whole experience into more of an audiobook experience, so it's more digestible for those with shorter attention spans. Something about those videos also goes great with a bowl of ramen (but perhaps that's maybe just me).

Also a warning obviously, the VN deals with heavy content that gets heavier as it goes -- thankfully, none of it is what I'd consider too over-the-top or unsavory/for "shock value". The writer was a social worker for several years and that aspect bleeds into the story in several aspects, but primarily in the realism of the characters and the humane way the author choses to paint/treat them.

i haven't played too many visual novels but Z.A.T.O. // I Love the World And Everything In It is my favorite at the time. it's extremely short but it has a nice story with an interesting philosophy! 

i havent played much VNs but i really like AIR, its not unknown or underrated by any means but i really like it and its story. i finished it on my pc with some patches (english translation, voiced and all ages patch) quite recently and i love it

i really like type-moon visual novels! fate/stay night is my favorite one 

Witch's Heart is totally underrated imo. It's a rpg maker game that takes place in a witch's mansion with people gets stuck in it (similar to Danganronpa and Your Turn to Die). It has very cute pixel art and enjoyable characters to me :3 so i highly recommend it!!

weeellll, its most definitely ace attorney rn!! (specifically the phoenix wright trilogy) i just finished pwaa yesterday and im not over it at all..

my favorite might change sooner or later though, cause im reading the house in fata morgana right now (ive heard insanely good things about it) & im gonna get higu chapters for my birthday soon ^w^

Rubs my visual novel hands together evilly xD.

Our Life Beginnings and Always is my go-to but Royal Alchemist is where my heart is, those are in terms of underrated ones. Royal Alchemist has like nooooo one talking about it. Our Life has fans (as small as the community is as far as I know), but who's ever heard of Royal Alchemist? I have the sequel but haven't played it. Both are romance VNs, but Royal Alchemist is also a stat raiser. I'm guessing its based loosely on the old(er) Long Live The Queen but not nearly as bullshitty lol. 

amaranto

spirit hunter ng brooo that shit so fire 

Higurashi really affected me on a deep level thus far, so right now it would be Higurashi. I loved how it took its time to get you acclimated with the characters before hitting you with the hard hitting stuff, and the mysteries that lingered in the background that slowly built up overtime. By the time you reach the end, it leaves this permanent mark on you and makes you wish you could play it again for the first time LOL

if you're looking specifically at 80s vns, one i'm eternally fascinated with is sayonara o oshiete ~te comment dire adieu~, a denpa game. it feels to me like visually halfway between shizuku and sweet pool but more philosophical. the music is standout too.

see ive never played it but i heard that manakashi is amazing!!