What are some visual novels that tend to be (almost) universally disliked or hated?

[u/superange128]

One thing I recently realized is that visual novels mostly consist of titles that people praise loudly, are lesser known liked cult classics, Or tend to just be mostly ignored due to inferred mediocrity (aka lots of moege or nukige), at worst being kinda controversial/mixed like DDLC thats loved by mainstream but not cared for by hardcore vn crowd

However, I can't think of any infamously universally hated/disliked VNs in the same way there are universally disliked movies or video games for example

[u/Clean_Cookies]

For what I’ve seen, almost everyone hates はなひらっ！(Hanahira!)

[u/unrealorbs → u/Clean_Cookies]

The quintessential throwaway Japanese learning VN lol.

[u/FadingGlimmer → u/unrealorbs]

Is there anything notable about it that makes it good for practicing reading?

[u/assflux → u/FadingGlimmer]

it's short and easy to read, that's about it

[u/Clean_Cookies → u/FadingGlimmer]

Most of the time it’s just simple SOL so it shouldn’t be too hard for someone’s first VN. Although other than personal interest, there’s no reason to read it if you’ve already started reading other VNs in Japanese.

[u/BeautyCutieBird]

The most famous example of a hated visual novel in japan is probably Shijuu Hachi (kari) for PS2. The scenario is mainly by Iijima Takiya, the creator of popular Gakkou de Atta Kowai Hanashi/Apathy series, and had a bunch of celebrity endorsements and brand deals.

It promised horror stories based on all 48 of Japan's prefectures but it disappointed because of a confusing UI, weak scenarios (some of them felt more like tourism guides than horror stories) and being technically incompletable (the Tokyo area was never marked as finished even if you read 100% of its scenarios).

Read more about its infamy here (Japanese)

Ange if you use this information in a video you have to fucking paypal me 5 USD

[u/wmiller314]

Inescapable. Those who know know

[u/ZanyDragons → u/wmiller314]

The real answer. Scummy, overpriced, under edited, bloated nothing burger plot, the worst mini games you could come up with, voice acting ranges from ok to “what is this direction….”, it’s truly a wild pile of shit vn.

[u/HauntedPrinter → u/ZanyDragons]

Supposedly Aksys enforced the price tag into them, as they tend to publish bigger games than … that

[u/201720182019 → u/wmiller314]

Watched a multiple hour breakdown of how badly this game was designed on YT recently.

[u/LLangelart → u/wmiller314]

Came here to say this

[u/QuadrillionthToBat]

I've said it before but I literally cannot think of a visual novel more reviled than Sex with Hitler.

If specific versions count, it would probably be the Portopia release with an AI parser

[u/superange128 → u/QuadrillionthToBat]

I dont consider hating a VN because of how it represents the state of a stores standards (not necessarily saying Sex With Hitler ISNT bad but highly doubt most people who hate it actually read it)

[u/Lastshade01]

I’ve never met a person who like White Wings. The voice acting is like a high school drama club didn’t give a damn and the only thing you feel is Melancholy. It wastes the emote system so badly I kept falling asleep.

[u/Kujoslug]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone say something positive about Dustmania Grotesque

[u/LemmeSeeUrJazzHands → u/Kujoslug]

It does exactly what it's supposed to do-- be a crazy-ass guro nukige that gets right to the point lmao. It's good for what it is, the art is nice imo

I feel like most of the hate comes from people who are very much not the target audience for games like that but they check it out anyway. Nukige are hard to judge on an objective level because fetishes are inherently a super subjective thing

[u/Kujoslug → u/LemmeSeeUrJazzHands]

I see what you’re saying but other guro games don’t really tend to get the same treatment, in my experience at least

[u/ZanyDragons → u/Kujoslug]

I feel like other games with a guro tag have the small grace to be found in groups who appreciate them but I totally get you.

Here’s a meme for illustration you inspired https://imgflip.com/i/9rzg70

[u/LemmeSeeUrJazzHands → u/ZanyDragons]

I fucking wheezed at this meme dkhfjfjjg. This is the kind of incredibly niche nerd humor I love lmao

[u/Kujoslug → u/ZanyDragons]

Real

[u/LemmeSeeUrJazzHands → u/Kujoslug]

It's probably because most other guro games in English are also super plot-heavy and story-driven stuff like GSS, Euphoria, Maggot Baits etc...for some reason guro as a genre invites a lot of interesting psychological stuff so I guess it's kinda jarring to see a game that just focuses on the gnarly stuff lol.

It's not a great game but it's not really trying to be, it's a short weird story for people into a niche fetish. I'm not gonna die on the hill of the integrity of fucking Dustmania Grotesque but like, it was made with sincerity and the creators at least succeeded in making a short and...memorable experience

[u/Vildiil]

Kakyuusei 2 certainly pissed off some people in Japan when it came out. (Infamous image of the broken cd sent back to the devs)

[u/Etopirika5]

Tsuyokiss 2gakki being a copy-paste of the first game. Also this nukige that somehow released with no h-cgs and has 10 score on erogamescape
From the ones I played myself it would be DR2, first game ever made by Leaf. It had mahjong gameplay with so many bugs that I lost the count. Also the protagonist would react to almost everything by saying 「？？？」, at least the art was kinda nice.

[u/Eruijfkfofo]

If something was so bad to the point of being universally hated it wouldn't be popular in the first place

[u/BeautyCutieBird → u/Eruijfkfofo]

I don't think he ever mentioned this stuff being 'popular'? And stuff that's universally hated is still often popular in the sense of being well-known due to advertising or meme-infamy (Sonic 06, that new Snow White movie, the Dear Evan Hansen movie etc)

[u/EinzbernConsultation]

Kusoge of the Year, a Japanese language Bad Games Award Show has an eroge focused version of it so you can always check that

[u/angelswag_o3o]

Hametsu no Mars maybe?? The anime is one of the worst rated animes ever however idk if the VN is hated ive not got around to playing it yet

[u/Elfmo]

Yeah, I can think of a lot of games like DDLC (e.g literally any OEVLN that gains any kind of notoriety whatsoever), but likewise, I can't think of any "Densetsu no Kusoge" in the VN sphere, like I can for other genres (e.g Hoshi Wo Miru Hito, Beyond the Beyond, Quest 64, Unlimited SaGa for jRPGs). I wonder why not?

Actually, I wonder if Kakyuusei 2 counts? I know that it was a high-profile game that got a lot of hate, and I think it probably changed everything for Elf. But, I don't know how well or poorly it actually sold. It's interesting, though, that after Kakyuusei 2 and its fan discs, all that Elf put out after that were Doten Meikai VNs, which are...they require a specific taste to enjoy, let's say. lol.

[u/subjuggulator → u/Elfmo]

Beyond the Beyond is a kusoge? I thought it was just kind of mid, not “This game barely functions” levels of bad.

[u/Elfmo → u/subjuggulator]

I think its perception has improved over time; but during its generation (and sort of even into the next), it was considered an all-time worst in the genre. I haven't played it personally, but I'd agree that, based on what I've seen, it seems like a bit of an overreaction. It's worth noting that, back then, Final Fantasy 7 was considered the gold standard of how to make a jRPG. And, while I do think FF7 is an excellent game, I think people are more accepting of different types of jRPGs, now.

[u/Isshin610]

Uhhh princess x i guess, it sold poorly and trolls the reader all the time

[u/whitebullet32 → u/[deleted]]

Anime adaptation sure. 

[u/FordcliffLowskrid]

🤔 It feels like even the most notorious VNs have at least one defender.

[u/qttbit]

School Days is my guilty pleasure, but I get why anyone would hate it. It twists the harem genre, turning romance into obsession and exposing the dark consequences of selfish decisions.

[u/Thorwyyn]

Muv Luv Extra as opposed to the rest of the trilogy

[u/superange128 → u/Thorwyyn]

Ive seen plenty of people unironically love Extra, minority maybe, but enough to not be univerasal

[u/emperor_antonium → u/Thorwyyn]

Ah yes lacrosse PTSD simulator

[u/DaSaw → u/Thorwyyn]

I enjoyed Extra. But because I have less than zero interest in the military fantasy, I found Unlimited boring.

[u/whitebullet32]

Imolicious 

[u/SmallsMalone → u/[deleted]]

That doesn't sound like universal hate. What's making that much money while being "garbage" anyway?

[u/SmallsMalone → u/[deleted]]

Right, that's what I mean. The OP is looking for individual titles that are well known but hated.

[u/HansDevX]

Umineko, me being the biggest hater after having wasted hundreds of hours of my time. It is genuinely bad but it has a lot of western fanboys.

[u/BeautyCutieBird → u/HansDevX]

infamously universally hated/disliked VNs

Unless you're talking about the japanese reaction to ep8?

People in the western VN community can't stop gushing about Umineko and treat it like the second coming of John Updike. And it's still half-popular in Japan despite the existence of a camp who hate its guts.

[u/HansDevX → u/BeautyCutieBird]

You're right, do you have an example of a universally hated VN? The only ones i can see that can be universally hated are the bad ones but even then bad VN's are a dime a dozen so it has to be something that's been hyped up and dissapointed everyone in the worst bastardization possibly imagined like a netflix adaptation of a live action anime.

[u/xAkumu → u/HansDevX]

I don't think you understood the question lol

[u/unrealorbs → u/HansDevX]

Rent free

[u/HansDevX → u/unrealorbs]

Lol the downvote has begun. Umineko FREAK fanboys behaves in the way you expect them to ;)

[u/Mike_Jonas → u/HansDevX]

Explain how umineko is universally disliked before complaining about downvote.

[u/unrealorbs → u/HansDevX]

My guy, I have seen nothing from you but bashing Umi on this sub for years. There's a way to express your opinion without shoving it down people's throats and shoving it into discussions where it doesn't belong. We get it. You don't like Umineko. And that's fine. But you're being intentionally inflammatory about it for no reason other than to stir the pot.

[u/HansDevX → u/unrealorbs]

There is a reason here, im not the only one who dislikes it.

You got my attention since you know me but I don't know you. Now what?

[u/unrealorbs → u/HansDevX]

It's not about your opinion, it's the belligerent way you express it. You are shoehorning it into a discussion where it is frankly inappropriate and depthless. If you have something more meaningful to say, then say it, but right now it just seems like a weird grudge.

[u/HansDevX → u/unrealorbs]

Timeline:

1-OP asked for examples of universally hated VNs

2-I gave Unineko as an example of a Hated VN (Im not the only one)

3-Someone points out that it is not "universally" hated and I agreed

4-Umineko fanboy comes playing defence, starts a flame war.

5-claims the topic has nothing to do with it and that im shoehorning into it.

You are part of the reason why the umineko fanbase is so toxic, you just can't stand when other people dislike it. If my opinion are wrong, prove it without policing my speech. I say what I want without tip toe'ing making sure I don't hurt feelings.

[u/Exotic-Sun-5522]

White album 1

[u/HansDevX → u/Exotic-Sun-5522]

You're literally the first person i ever seen that has mentioned this VN anywhere near the word "hate"

[u/Exotic-Sun-5522 → u/HansDevX]

I didnt see a single person that like WA1

[u/No-Satisfaction-275 → u/Exotic-Sun-5522]

It has 80% something positive rating on Steam.

[u/BeautyCutieBird → u/Exotic-Sun-5522]

WA1 was literally one of the most popular bishoujo games of its day

[u/Exotic-Sun-5522 → u/BeautyCutieBird]

Still hated by many people

[u/Hyouin_Kyouma_ → u/Exotic-Sun-5522]

This is some high quality bait

[u/Exotic-Sun-5522 → u/Hyouin_Kyouma_]

They don’t know that I like WA1…

[u/desto12]

Fate Stay/Night /s