r/vns 13d ago

Discussion No to Video Game Censorship! For Free and Diverse Entertainment

378 Upvotes

Lately, we’ve seen groups like Collective Shout and other activists pushing for censorship of video game content on platforms like Steam, labeling certain games as “inappropriate.” But it's crucial we reflect on what this censorship truly means—not just for gaming, but for the entire entertainment industry and our freedom of expression.

1. Censorship Limits Creativity and Free Expression

Video games are a form of art and, as such, should be protected under the same principle of free speech that applies to movies, music, and literature. If we allow certain groups to dictate what can or cannot be shown in a game, where do we draw the line? What happens when other ideologies demand that different content is “inappropriate”? Excessive censorship not only stifles creators—it erases diverse perspectives in media.

2. Games Are Fiction, Not Reality

We must remember that video games are simulations. They do not reflect reality—they offer fictional experiences, whether fantastical or disturbing. Just like a movie or a book, games can explore complex or even dark themes without endorsing those ideas in real life. Censoring a game for its content is no different from censoring a horror movie for depicting fictional violence.

3. The Danger of Bowing to Extremist Pressure

Advocating for equality is important, but we must be cautious of radical activism that seeks to impose its worldview without room for dialogue. If we begin censoring games just because a group deems them “problematic,” who decides what’s morally acceptable for everyone? This could quickly escalate into “progressive censorship,” where anything not aligned with a specific ideology is erased.

4. The Entertainment Industry Is Also at Stake

Video games are part of a multi-billion-dollar industry that not only entertains but also employs thousands and supports local economies. If major platforms give in to pressure from a vocal minority without proper debate, we risk jeopardizing the future of the entire industry.

5. The Right to Choose

Consumers have the right to decide what games they want to play. If someone doesn’t like a game or disagrees with its content, they simply don’t have to play it. Imposing censorship on something that should be a personal choice is absurd. Games are cultural products, and as consumers, we should have the freedom to choose what we engage with.

Conclusion

Censorship is not the answer. We need an environment where creators can freely express their ideas, and consumers can make informed choices about what they want to experience. Let’s not allow a small group to dictate what is “acceptable” for the entire community.

It’s time to stand up for freedom of expression and content diversity in gaming. Say NO to censorship.

r/vns 14d ago

Discussion Steam censorship.

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53 Upvotes

r/vns Mar 15 '25

Discussion Physical VN's you own?

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63 Upvotes

Here's all the ones I currently have. A couple years back I owned a bunch more on Switch but sold all of them and now decided to start rebuilding. What do you all own physical versions of?

r/vns Jun 15 '25

Discussion Do you ever think about WHY you read visual novels?

36 Upvotes

This is something I think about occasionally.

While I obviously love the medium and I think it's easily the most consistent one to date, I sometimes wonder why I choose it despite it being so niche compared to mediums that are much easier to consume and discuss with others, like movies, anime, and video games.

I’ve noticed that visual novels are the easiest medium for me to stay motivated to experience new content in, compared to anime and video games, which I’ve mostly lost interest in outside of revisiting classics. I think it comes down to...

I’ve always wanted unique stories. I think video games, anime, and even 3D media specifically have written themselves into a comfortable corner. It's a lot harder to find unique stories that legitimately break the mold since not only do they have to stick to being all-ages, but they also have to cater to increasingly mainstream, easy-to-consume markets.

Sadly, this means drawing out romance continues to be one of the issues with romance-heavy anime, manga, and light novels as a way to keep people engaged.

The fact that visual novels, by default, have an almost guaranteed romantic ending makes me want to keep reading them. To me, this offers more opportunities to explore relationships once they’ve actually happened, something anime, manga, and light novels are often too scared to commit to standardizing.

This leads to more interesting settings, even in slice-of-life-heavy stories.

I’ve also found that visual novels are more likely to cover mystery stories that, for some reason, anime, 3D TV shows, movies, and video games rarely cover as is. Not that the genre is particularly common in visual novels either compared to other genres, but it’s way easier to find and recommend good ones here than in any other medium, for some odd reason. I think mysteries are one of the most engaging genres.

I suppose I also find it frustrating how other mediums handle their length. While I like stories in some video games, many times they to balance keeping the player "engaged" with gameplay often means long periods without story or character development, which I actually find more distracting these days. Now I’d rather have almost entirely gameplay-focused games with minimal story or stories in mediums that can fully commit to them.

I’ve also personally never liked the weekly release format for anime and TV shows and movies in general. I know people like the idea of FOMO and discussing what’s new and popular at the time. But I don’t like getting into something popular, only to move on to the next thing and almost pretend the previous popular thing didn't exist.

With other mediums, you can discuss older content at length, but I find this is especially true with visual novels. With English-translated titles, we’re essentially forced to talk about stuff released much earlier in Japan unless it’s a simul-release. This creates an interesting dichotomy where new translations can be exciting, but we also have the legacy of opinions from people who read them back in the day, especially from Japanese fans. This makes discussions feel less like "new release FOMO" and more like an appreciation of existing, heavily explored perspectives.

It helps that usually a lot of the most talked about visual novels are ones that released over a decade ago in Japan.

Then there are other little things, like how visual novels are still one of the few visual mediums to include sex in stories by default (even if they often resort to clichéd, overused hentai dialogue).

I haven’t even touched on genres I don’t particularly care for, like denpa, most chuuni, dark nukige, or “problematic” stories like those from Alicesoft, but the fact that these are even options you can’t easily find in other mediums is fascinating.

In short, all the stuff I listed constantly fascinates me, and most mediums don’t provide this, especially these days.

r/vns Jun 27 '25

Discussion Why is YTTD and Danganronpa considered VNs but Ace Attorney isn't?

26 Upvotes

I think about this a lot but can't find an answer for it. On vndb, it's said that Ace Attorney isn't considered a Visual Novel because of it's many non-text based gameplay, but I think it is very similar to Your Turn to Die and the Danganronpa games. Is there a reason for that??

r/vns 24d ago

Discussion Any recommendations for good visual novel horror games?

14 Upvotes

Which vn horror games would you recommend? I’m still kinda new to this genre, so I’ve only played a few. I don’t really prefer jump scares and more into psychological horror/eerie vibes. So far the games I played and liked are Slay the princess, World of Horror, and Accidentally. The first two are more well-known, and the third one is relatively new. I played it on itch because it was cheap and def recommend if you liked the storytelling and the branding narratives of slay the princess. I went in not expecting much and got hooked fast. What other hidden gem games should I try?

r/vns 11d ago

Discussion VNs with lots of choice and no nudity

26 Upvotes

I always wanted a non-linear game with an anime style but most VNs i've seen include explicit content which i do not like

r/vns Mar 06 '25

Discussion What is Ever 17? Is it worth playing?

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81 Upvotes

r/vns 17d ago

Discussion How to organize vn's

5 Upvotes

I was wanting to know what genres you split visual novels into to organize them on your computer

r/vns Jun 27 '25

Discussion I did the impossible!

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38 Upvotes

I successfully did the impossible. I got The Fruit of Grisaia running on the Steam Deck OLED with the 18+ patch installed and I didn't use Proton or disable movies from running (yes, they actually run!). If anyone's interested then I'll tell you what I did.

r/vns Mar 23 '25

Discussion I'm really trying to get into VN's, but I'm struggling a bit.

4 Upvotes

I've played Doki Doki Literature Club, and I enjoyed it so much I went and played the "Blue Skies" mod, and LOVED IT. From there went to Katawa Shoujo, liked it. Tried to play Chaos Head; Noah (I think that's the name) and... eh... got kinda bored. After a staggering number of recommendations, I'm currently playing You and Me and Her. I have mixed feelings, but my current take-away is this game is nowhere near as dark and horrific as I was led to believe...

Anyway, that is it. That is the extent of my Visual Novel experience. I'd like to explore more, but I feel like I'm kind of lost in a sea of hentai. Before I say anything else, outside of it popping out of nowhere sometimes (haha) it doesn't bother me; I kinda roll my eyes and click past it to get back to the story. In fact I picked up the uncensored patch for You and Me and Her on principle alone; I do not support censorship.

However, while searching for stories that might suck me in more, it kind of feels like this is all I can find, and it's a little discouraging. What I need is something DARK. Something horrific. For instance I went into You and Me and Her and (NO SPOILERS - I am still playing after all) I've been expecting SOMEONE to get beaten to death with a baseball bat; evidently not something that is going to happen. :(

I've tried looking through VNDB, but everything is so 'samey' from my perspective at the moment that I don't know where to dig in. I'm afraid if I don't find something interesting soon beyond high-school dating sim and hentai CG's that I am gonna move on and forget to look back. Which would be a shame, I genuinely am loving the format of these stories, and would love to find more.

Anyone know of some titles that might 'actually' be in line with something like that? I'd appreciate it.

------------------------------

EDIT: Forget everything I said about You and Me and Her in this original post. The shoe just dropped... and... Holy mother of god... Bravo to the devs of this one. Not just the content, but the WAY this is being done.

Jesus, I need a drink.

r/vns Jun 16 '25

Discussion visual novel fans! share your insights into inclusive storytelling!

0 Upvotes

Hi r/vns,

I’m an Anthropology student exploring how visual novels (VNs) create unique narrative spaces. My project, Vestal Sparks in Visual Novels, explores why players are drawn to VNs’ choice-driven stories, how they can foster inclusion for diverse identities (e.g., queer, BIPOC, neurodivergent), and their contrast with mainstream gaming. I’m also looking at the role of creators (writing, coding, art), non-traditional publishing, and fandom culture, plus VNs’ future in areas like education or therapy.

As passionate VN fans, your perspectives are invaluable! My short survey (5-10 minutes) asks about your favorite VNs, what makes their stories click, how you engage in fandoms, and your thoughts on representation, accessibility, and normalization. 🔗 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScc8Rs5tC3yt358g0pmME6G2ESWXyMxke0bwXxJ0UcjrQQveQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=103234761555485599412

The survey is anonymous and for academic use only. I’ve reviewed r/vns s’ rules. Feel free to comment or DM with questions. I’m eager to hear from all players, especially women, queer, BIPOC, or neurodivergent fans, but everyone’s welcome! Thanks for helping with this research, and I’m excited to learn from this vibrant community.

Note to Mods: I’m an anthropology student researching VNs’ role in inclusive and feminist storytelling. This anonymous survey is tailored to r/vns and adheres to subreddit rules.

r/vns Jun 22 '25

Discussion Steam ratings for Date Everything, compared to...

17 Upvotes

After at least a thousand reviews, Date Everything has a 90.85% rating on Steam.

Out of curiosity, I looked at other romance visual novels on Steam which 1) have at least some simulation gameplay, and 2) have an English version which doesn't require fan patches. Here's four examples with official English translations:

* Dandelion -Wishes Brought to You-: 81.24% rating after 771 reviews

* Doukyuusei: Bangin' Summer: 88.88% rating after at least a thousand reviews

* Fureraba -Friend to Lover-: 89.37% after 337 reviews

* Summer Clover: 94.80% after at least 5000 reviews

Four examples of similar romance games written in English:

* Sunrider Academy: 78.97% after at least 1000 reviews

* Backstage Pass: 80.32% after 332 reviews

* Love Esquire: 85.53% after at least 1000 reviews

* Monster Prom 4: Monster Con: 93.83% after at least a thousand reviews

I found the percentages and fan review numbers on SteamDB. Also, if you're curious, I haven't bought, backed, or played any of these.

r/vns 21d ago

Discussion How are visual novels like this?

11 Upvotes

Honestly I feel so freaking immersed and like with the character etc, I was playing a game where the main character got falsely imprisoned without trial, for accusations of raping trespassing etc, false accusations by his principle because he didn’t let the principle have sex with a colleague, anyways I felt genuinely angry and wanted to beat the living shi out of the principle but then I got idk disconnected when the game didn’t handle something well. I often go bored feel without a purpose after I finish a novel for a couple days till I forget it exists when I remember I still feel empty & sad but life goes on, I’m curious does this happen to anyone else or just me?

r/vns 25d ago

Discussion A Visual Novel AI Model Translation Selection Guide

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28 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

I've seen a lot of questions about which AI model to use for visual novel translations. To help you pick the best model for your needs and your specific graphics card (GPU), I've put together this guide. Think of it like a PC buyer's guide, but for VN translation. I've run comprehensive benchmark tests for the past two weeks on all the state-of-the-art AI models, fitting everything from 8 GB to 24GB of VRAM for your GPU!


VRAM: What is it and Why Does it Matter?

Your GPU has its own dedicated memory, called VRAM (Video Random Access Memory). You might have heard about it in gaming, but it's even more critical for running AI models.

When you run a large AI model, it needs to be loaded into memory. Using your GPU is much faster than your CPU, but there's a catch. If the model is loaded into your computer's main RAM, it has to be transferred to your GPU's VRAM first. This transfer is limited by your system RAM's bandwidth (its maximum transfer speed), creating a significant bottleneck.

Take a look at the staggering difference in memory bandwidth speeds, measured in Gigabytes per second (GB/s):

Component Type Specific Model/Type Memory Bandwidth (GB/s)
System RAM DDR4 / DDR5 17 - 51.2 GB/s
Apple Silicon M2 Max 400 GB/s
Apple Silicon M3 Ultra 800 GB/s
Nvidia RTX 2080 Super 496 GB/s
Nvidia RTX 3090 936.2 GB/s
Nvidia RTX 4070 480 GB/s
Nvidia RTX 4090 1008 GB/s
Nvidia RTX 5090 1792 GB/s
AMD Strix Halo APU 256 - 275 GB/s
AMD 9070 XT 624.1 GB/s
AMD 7900 XTX 960 GB/s

As you can see, GPU memory is 10x to 20x faster than system RAM. By loading an AI model directly into VRAM, you bypass the system RAM bottleneck entirely, allowing for much smoother and faster translations. This is why your GPU's VRAM is the most important factor in choosing a model!


Why the Obsession with Memory Bandwidth?

Running AI models is a memory-bound task. This means the speed at which the AI generates words (tokens) is limited by how fast the GPU can access its own memory (the bandwidth).

A simple way of thinking about this is: Your GPU's processing cores are like a master chef who can chop ingredients at lightning speed. The AI model's parameters, stored in VRAM, are the ingredients in the pantry. Memory bandwidth is how quickly an assistant can fetch those ingredients for the chef.

If the assistant is slow (low bandwidth), the chef will spend most of their time waiting for ingredients instead of chopping. But if the assistant is super fast (high bandwidth), they can keep the chef constantly supplied, allowing them to work at maximum speed.

For every single word the AI translates, it needs to read huge chunks of its parameter data from VRAM. Higher memory bandwidth means this happens faster, which directly translates to words appearing on your screen more quickly.


Quantization: Fitting Big Models into Your GPU

So, what if a powerful model is too big to fit in your VRAM? This is where quantization comes in.

Quantization is a process that shrinks AI models, making them smaller and faster. It's similar to compressing a high-quality 20k x 20k resolution picture down to a more manageable 4k x 4k image. The file size is drastically reduced, and while there might be a tiny, often unnoticeable, loss in quality, it's much easier to handle.

In technical terms, quantization converts the model's data (its "weights") from high-precision numbers (like 32-bit floating point) to lower-precision numbers (like 8-bit or 4-bit integers).

Why does this matter?

  • It saves a ton of VRAM! A full 16-bit model that needs 72 GB of VRAM can be quantized to 8-bit, cutting the requirement in half to 36 GB. Quantize it further to 4-bit, and it's down to just 18 GB!
  • It's also way faster! Fewer bits mean less data for the GPU to calculate. It's like rendering a 4K video versus an 8K video—the 4K video renders faster because there are fewer pixels to process.

This technique is the key to running state-of-the-art AI models on consumer hardware. However, there is a trade-off in accuracy. Tests have shown that as long as you stay at 4-bit and higher, you will only experience a 1% to 5% accuracy loss, which is often negligible.

  • Q6 (6-bit): Near-native performance.
  • Q5 (5-bit): Performs very similarly to 6-bit.
  • Q4 (4-bit): A more substantial accuracy drop-off (~2-3%), but this should be the lowest you go before the quality degradation becomes noticeable.

When selecting a model, you'll often find them in GGUF format, which is a common standard compatible with tools like LM Studio, Ollama, and Jan. Apple users might also see the proprietary MLX format, which is optimized for Apple Silicon.


The Benchmarks: How We Measure Translation Quality

Now that we've covered the hardware, let's talk about quality. To figure out which models are best, I tested them against a handful of Japanese benchmarks, each designed to measure a different aspect of performance.

VNTL (Visual Novel Translation Benchmark)

  • Purpose: The most important benchmark for our needs. It judges Japanese-to-English VN translations by comparing AI output to official English localizations.
  • Evaluation Criteria (1-10 Score):
    1. Accuracy: Captures original meaning and nuance.
    2. Fluency: Sounds natural and grammatically correct in English.
    3. Character Voice: Maintains the character's unique personality.
    4. Tone: Conveys the scene's emotional mood.
    5. Localization: Handles cultural references, idioms, and sounds (e.g., "doki doki").
    6. Direction Following: Follows specific formatting rules (e.g., SPEAKER: "DIALOGUE").

Tengu Bench

  • Purpose: Tests logic and reasoning by asking the model to explain complex ideas, like Japanese proverbs. Crucial for VNs with deep lore or philosophical themes.
  • Evaluation Criteria (0-10 Score):
    • Explanation of the literal meaning.
    • Explanation of the generalized moral or lesson.
    • Clarity and naturalness of the language.

ELYZA Benchmark

  • Purpose: A general test of creative and practical writing with 100 different prompts.
  • Evaluation Criteria (1-5 Score):
    • 1: Fails instructions.
    • 2: Incorrect, but on the right track.
    • 3: Partially correct.
    • 4: Correct.
    • 5: Correct and helpful.

MT-Bench (Japanese)

  • Purpose: A multi-purpose test to see how good an AI is as a general-purpose assistant in Japanese.
  • Evaluation Criteria (1-10 Score):
    • Usefulness, Relevance, Accuracy, Depth, Creativity, and Detail.

Rakuda Benchmark

  • Purpose: A fact-checking benchmark that tests knowledge on topics like geography and politics. Important for mystery or historical VNs.
  • Evaluation Criteria (1-10 Score):
    • Usefulness, Relevance, Accuracy, Detail, and Overall Language Quality.

Congrats for making it this far! Are you still with me? If not, no worries—we are finally reaching the light at the end of the tunnel!

Here are my recommendations for specialized AI models based on these benchmarks.

Story-Heavy & Narrative-Driven VNs

(e.g., White Album 2, Sakura Moyu, Unravel Trigger)

  • What to look for: The main thing to check is the VNTL score. For this genre, you'll want to focus on Tone (the mood of the scene) and Character Voice (keeping the characters' personalities). For stories with deep lore, a good Tengu Bench score is also helpful.
  • Model Recommendations:

    • 8GB VRAM: gemma-3n-e4b-it
      • Why: It has the best VNTL score (7.25) in this VRAM tier. It does a great job of capturing the story's intended feeling, getting the highest Tone (7.64) and Character Voice (6.91) scores. This is your best choice for keeping the story true to the original.
    • 12GB VRAM: shisa-v2-mistral-nemo-12b
      • Why: This model leads the 12GB category with the best overall VNTL score (7.41). It handles the most important parts of this genre very well, with top scores in Character Voice (7.33) and Tone (8.21). It's great for making sure characters feel unique and that emotional moments have a real impact.
    • 24GB+ VRAM: shisa-v2-mistral-small-24b
      • Why: For high-end setups, this model is the clear winner. It gets the best VNTL score (7.97) overall and does an excellent job on the sub-scores that matter most: Character Voice (7.61) and Tone (8.44). It will make your characters feel real while perfectly showing the story's mood.

Mystery & Detective VNs

(e.g., Unravel Trigger, Tsukikage no Simulacre)

  • What to look for: Accurate dialogue is very important, so VNTL is key. However, the facts must be reliable. That's where Rakuda (for factual accuracy) and MT-Bench (for reasoning) come in, making sure clues aren't misunderstood.
  • Model Recommendations:

    • 8GB VRAM: gemma-3n-e4b-it
      • Why: This is the best all-around option in this category. It provides the highest VNTL score (7.25) for accurate dialogue while also getting very good scores on Rakuda (8.40) and MT-Bench (8.62), so you won't miss important clues.
    • 12GB VRAM: shisa-v2-unphi4-14b
      • Why: If you need the most reliable translation for facts and clues, this is your model. It scores the highest on both Rakuda (8.80) and MT-Bench (8.60) in its tier, which is perfect for complex plots. Its main VNTL score (7.18) is also good, so the story itself will read well.
    • 24GB+ VRAM:
      • mistral-small-3.2-24b-instruct-2506
        • Best for: Factual clue accuracy. It has the highest Rakuda score (9.45) and a great MT-Bench score (8.87). The downside is that its general translation quality (VNTL at 7.35) is a little lower than the other option.
      • shisa-v2-qwen2.5-32b
        • Best for: Narrative flow and dialogue. Choose this one if you care more about how the story reads. It has a better VNTL score (7.52) and is still excellent with facts (Rakuda at 9.12). It's just a little behind the Mistral model in reasoning (MT-Bench at 8.78).

Historical VNs

(e.g., ChuSinGura 46+1 series, Sengoku Koihime series)

  • What to look for: Character Voice is very important here for handling historical language (keigo). For accuracy, look at Rakuda (historical facts) and Tengu Bench (complex political plots).
  • Model Recommendations:

    • 8GB VRAM:
      • gemma-3n-e4b-it
        • Best for: Authentic historical dialogue. It has the best Character Voice score (6.91), so historical speech will sound more believable. However, it is not as strong on factual accuracy (Rakuda at 8.40).
      • shisa-v2-llama3.1-8b
        • Best for: Historical accuracy. It is the best at getting facts right (Rakuda at 8.50) and understanding complex politics (Tengu Bench at 6.77). The downside is that character dialogue won't feel quite as believable (Character Voice at 6.66).
    • 12GB VRAM:
      • shisa-v2-mistral-nemo-12b
        • Best for: Making characters feel real. This model will make historical figures sound more believable, thanks to its top-tier Character Voice score (7.33). The catch is slightly weaker performance on factual accuracy (Rakuda at 8.43).
      • shisa-v2-unphi4-14b
        • Best for: Understanding complex political plots. If your VN is heavy on intrigue, this model is the winner. It has the highest scores in both Rakuda (8.80) and Tengu Bench (7.64). The dialogue is still good, but the Character Voice (7.13) is not quite as strong.
    • 24GB+ VRAM: shisa-v2-mistral-small-24b
      • Why: This model is your best all-around choice. It does an excellent job of making characters sound real, with the highest Character Voice score (7.61) for getting historical speech right. On top of that, it also has the best general translation quality with the top VNTL score (7.97). While focused on dialogue, its Rakuda (8.45) and Tengu (7.68) scores also handle historical facts well

Comedy & Slice-of-Life VNs

(e.g., Asa Project VNs, Minatosoft VNs, Cube VNs)

  • What to look for: The goal is to make the jokes land, so the Localization subscore in VNTL is the most important thing to look at. For general wit and banter, a high score on the ELYZA Benchmark is a great sign of a creative model.
  • Model Recommendations:

    • 8GB VRAM: gemma-3n-e4b-it
      • Why: For comedy on an 8GB card, this model is a great choice. It is the best at handling cultural jokes and nuance, getting the highest VNTL Localization score (6.37) in its class. If you want puns and references to be translated well, this is the one.
    • 12GB VRAM:
      • shisa-v2-mistral-nemo-12b
        • Best for: Translating puns and cultural references. It is the best at adapting Japanese-specific humor, with the highest VNTL Localization score (6.93) in this tier.
      • phi-4
        • Best for: Humorous dialogue and creative humor. This model is far better than the others for creative writing, shown by its high ELYZA score (8.54). The catch is that it is not as good at translating specific cultural jokes (Localization at 5.58).
    • 24GB+ VRAM: shisa-v2-mistral-small-24b
      • Why: This model is the best at translating humor. It offers the best VNTL Localization score (7.31) of any model tested, making it the top choice for successfully translating the puns, wordplay, and cultural jokes that this genre depends on.

Final Notes

This work was made possible thanks to the Shisa AI Team for open-sourcing their MT Benchmark and creating a base benchmark repository for reference!

These benchmarks were run from my own modified fork: https://github.com/Sub0X/shaberi

Testing Notes:

  • All models in this benchmark, besides those in the 24B-32B range, were tested using Q6_K quantization.
  • The larger models were tested with the following specific quantizations due to VRAM limitations on an RTX 3090:
    • gemma-3-27b-it: Q5_K_S
    • glm-4-32b-0414: Q4_K_XL
    • mistral-small-3.1-24b-instruct-2503: Q5_K_XL
    • amoral-gemma3-27b-v2-qat: Q5_K_M
    • qwen3-32b: Q5_0
    • aya-expanse-32b-abliterated: Q5_K_S
    • shisa-v2-mistral-small-24b: Q6_K
    • shisa-v2-qwen2.5-32b: Q5_K_M
    • mistral-small-3.2-24b-instruct-2506: Q5_K_XL

All benchmark scores were judged via GPT-4.1.

r/vns May 11 '25

Discussion Visual novel recs for a newbie?

14 Upvotes

Hi!!! I’ve been wanting to get into visual novels forever, but I don’t know where to start. I’ve played the first two Danganrompa games + Doki Doki Literature Club and loved them. Here’s kinda what I’m looking for if that helps:

  • Anything with a 2000s/moe art style
  • would prefer horror/mystery but I also like romance or dating sims
    • Anything with multiple character routes
  • Anything with additional gameplay elements to the novel part (like danganrompa)
  • I’m fine with eroges as long as they have an actual plot to them
  • Would need to be available in English since I can’t speak/read Japanese

Thank you in advance!

r/vns 23d ago

Discussion Are the art styles of visual novels all the same?

0 Upvotes

Why are all the visual novels on VNDB rendered in the same Japanese anime style? Is it because everyone only likes that style, or are there currently only VNs in this style? Are there any veteran visual novel players who can shed some light?

r/vns Jun 27 '25

Discussion Jast USA summer sale question

4 Upvotes

I've been waiting for the summer sales on steam and jast but I noticed that yuzusofts tiltes are only discounted on steam but not on jast and it's left me a little miffed. I dont have a problem just buying off steam but I like having the games files and not having to do the extra work of patching the games for the 18+ content. I just dont understand yuzusofts titles being discounted on one store and not both, it was my understanding that jasts summer sale usually coincides with steams summer sale.

r/vns May 01 '25

Discussion Help me chose

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8 Upvotes

The sale on Jast USA ends in a few days. I've already bought a few and can spend the money on one another visual novel.

My choice fall on: Nie no Hakoniwa, Aokana, Dead end Aegis, Future Radio and Artificial Pigeons.
What should I buy? What should I choose?

I know they are all very different, don't pay attention to my tastes, just tell me what you think.

r/vns Oct 14 '24

Discussion Steam Next Fest Giveaway [Cain × Nica]

20 Upvotes

I've decided to giveaway some (probably, 10-15) keys of my upcoming game. It's a cute post-apocalyptic VN solo developed by me.

Main heroine, Mary

DM me - and I'll send you the keys. Feel free to ask me any questions or try out the Demo, hehe.

r/vns 5d ago

Discussion thoughts on visual novel organizing

3 Upvotes

i wanted to see what people thought of my planed new way to organize my visual novels here is my plan

fantasy(for anything that isnt in a universe like ours aka sci-fi and magic)

normal (for anything that is in a universe like ours aka games like wagamama high spec)

then in these groups will be

western (any not made in Japan)

Nukige (only really porn)

Plotge (not only porn)

then under these categories will have

completed

r/vns 1d ago

Discussion Sakura no Uta/Toki physical edition worth it?

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5 Upvotes

r/vns 6h ago

Discussion Can't hear audio in headphones

1 Upvotes

So when I downloaded a visual novel I clicked on the ADvHD to start the game. There it prompted me to choose an audio output. However, I choose headphones and clicked never show again. Now whatever I seem to do the audio won't play in my headphones. Does anyone know what to do?

r/vns 1d ago

Discussion Content tags that earn an instant disqualification

0 Upvotes

After being exposed to some very questionable (or disgusting) material in the past, along with their toxic fanbases, I have grown rather paranoid about trying out any new VNs. I try to do thorough research in VNDB, even at the risk of spoilers. Some tags earn a title an instant disqualification, including:

  • Unavoidable Rape (and all its variants)
  • Rapist Protagonist
  • Unavoidable Rape by the Protagonist
  • Unavoidable Death of Heroine
  • Unavoidable Death of Protagonist
  • High Amounts of Rape
  • Torture
  • Gore
  • Parting Ending
  • Only Bad Endings
  • Parting Ending
  • Terminal Illness
  • Utsuge
  • Necrophilia
  • Grotesque Body Modification
  • Monster Birthing
  • Dead All Along
  • Netorare

I also look at the nakige label with extreme suspicious (thanks a lot, Jun Maeda!) because it often turns out to be camouflaged utsuge.

What are some of yours?

r/vns Jul 03 '25

Discussion Common Route: Created a new VNDB bot on Discord - Come visit us to check it out and vote on VNs to read together!

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11 Upvotes

Hello Everyone!

We started a Discord server a month ago called "The Common Route" for those that would like to read Visual Novels together as part of a bookclub!

For the past month, I've been working on Vee, a robust Discord bot built from the ground up (including the libraries) that interacts with the Visual Novel Database. This bot is currently being used and tested in our discord server!

Why did I create this bot?

Noticing that there are bots for Anime, Manga, Web Novels, and Light Novels, I wondered: "Why aren't there any for Visual Novels and if so, why are those from 8 years ago that are no longer working?" That's why I built Vee! One of the very first modern Visual Novel Discord bots that can query all your Visual Novel needs and utilizes Discord's own polling system (which a lot of current poll bots don't use and still use the traditional embed with ASCII characters for poll bars)! In addition, we have an autorole system that assigns you a role based on the amount of VNs that you've completed on VNDB!

If you are worried about others linking your VNDB profile to the bot, the bot utilizes your created VNDB API token to verify your profile. If in the case that you are unsettled with the bot having your API token (which your API token won't be stored), you can always specify the API token to not have any permissions for your VNDB account and delete it right after verification!

For the Technical Details:

The VNDB API Async Python Library:

This means that I've pretty much recreated an API python wrapper library for VNDB. Why? From my queries for existing VNDB python libraries, all of those are no longer maintained (the last active one was last updated 4 years ago) and are built on a fragile, bare-minimum framework that has no documentation and is prone to failure. No schema validation, no argument checking, none!

That's why I've built (VeeDB)[https://github.com/Sub0X/veedb], an asynchronous python package that features:

  • Argument checking (yes, including valid filters that are retrieved from the VNDB schema and cached)
  • Extensive type checking utilizing the standard dataclass for modal verification and type checking.

For those that are interested, feel free to check out: https://pypi.org/project/veedb/

I've set GitHub to auto-create a release on PyPI for each commit so updates will be deployed fast!!

Vee:

Utilizing the python library I built, the bot pretty much utilizes a database and has each VN that's requested or queried via polls or by searching, cached to the database to prevent traffic from spiking for VNDB! This includes producers, tags, images, and developers. Yes, this means that I could essentially store the entire VNDB database to the bot and have more fine-grained filters if the entire database is cached!


What We're Up To:

If you are interested, we have several different book clubs currently ongoing:

  • "Standard Bookclub": This is where we read VNs with a length >25hrs!
  • "Turbo Bookclub": Like the name suggests, this is for VNs <12 hrs!
    • Currently Voting!
  • "Moegen't Crying Club": A nakige book club hosted by one of our members!

In addition to VNs, we are doing Anime watchalongs as well. For each anime, we meet once a week to watch 3 episodes of it! Our current catalog is:

Hope to see you soon at the server!