So I've never gone down the rabbit hole of visual novels, and I'm sure they are mostly terrible, but is there any visual novel you guys could recommend? I already bought Nier and Prey, and I could use something less draining after 108 hours Persona 5. Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

I've never played it (only watched the anime of it) but Stein's;Gate is a very good story, that from what I've heard is good as a visual novel. It also has really cool art and I believe is 40% off.

Danganronpa 1 and 2 are both outstanding games, and on sale right now.

The games ooze style, the characters are well-written, fun, and twisted, and the soundtracks are among the best in all of gaming, in my opinion.

Neither game is overly lenghty, and the Class Trials, and the social aspects switch things up often enough gameplay-wise to break up some of the monotony of simply having to press X to advance the story. And so, I think they are great entry-level VNs - they got me hooked in the genre, personally. I'd heartily recommend the first two games in the series.

Not on steam but Phoenix Wright. Pretty sure it's on ios too.

Though I haven't played it myself, Clannad has been frequently recommended to me.

I read the original English fan translation, so I don't know the quality of the Steam version's, but I think Umineko When They Cry is a decent first visual novel. It's an eight part mostly-episodic mystery/fantasy series portrayed by static images, music, and cartoon sound effects. It has no choices, interactivity, backtracking, or bad endings; just read it from the beginning to the end. Its "gameplay" instead comes from you, the player, trying to piece together the mysteries yourself.

So if you like playing the detective in mystery novels, have enough patience for the very slow start, and don't mind getting meta, I'd highly recommend it. Word of warning, though: the Steam version is only the first four episodes. No word on when they're releasing the second half.

They have already been recommended by other people, but just to reiterate:

• The Zero Escape series
• Danganronpa 1 and 2
• VA-11 HALL-A
• Katawa Shoujo
• Black Closet

Out of those games, Zero Escape and Danganronpa are fan-flippin'-tastic. Those are my top two recommendations by far.

Visual novels I should have played, but haven't, so I can't really recommend them anyways, but you should probably look at these anyways:

• Steins;Gate
• Clannad

As a side note, some of the visual novels on Steam have connections with more...let's just say they have a more adult persuasion. Those don't really blend in pretty well with the more traditional/less "Look at this girl in a bikini" based games, but I wanted to mention it as an FYI. I (and others) would probably advise people from playing these games, especially as their first visual novel.

I will also say the Zero Escape series as well as Katawa Shoujo. Played the first 2 Zero Escape games and they are FANTASTIC, haven't played the third, though, because I've heard a lot of... less than good things about it. Katawa Shoujo on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag. One of the "routes" in the game is incredible and probably the most emotionally effected I've been from a game (if you even want to call VNs that), 2 of the other routes are really, really good, and the other 2 are... well, pretty fucking bad, in my honest opinion. But that said, there are a lot of people who love and defend at least one of those two, so there's that. Being that it's free, too, I heartily recommend it regardless of my feelings of it being uneven, as long as you're ok with adult content.

Steins; Gate

I'll link to my review to avoid repeating myself, but in short it is a masterpiece. Sits along Persona 4 The Golden as one of my favourite games, and if you have even the slightest interest in time travel stories, you should absolutely check it out (and even if you don't, it has some fantastic character explorations that are enjoyable regardless).

Zero Escape Series

The first game, 999, is fantastic. Not sure the Steam version is the version I would recommend (the game loses a lot on anything other than DS/3DS), but still a worthwhile choice if you don't have a DS.

The second game, Virtue's Last Reward, is also very good in parts, with one HUGE caveat - the ending is terrible IMO. My review goes into more detail - worth playing, but don't expect it to wrap things up anywhere nearly as neatly as 999 did. If you do, you'll be sorely disappointed.

IIRC, those two are only on Steam as a double release - Zero Escape: The Nonary Games

The third game, Zero Time Dilemma, is a massive step down from those two (again, I reviewed this oneMORE EXPLICIT SPOILERS THAN A TYPICAL REVIEW). The puzzles are excellent (perhaps some of the best in the series), but the presentation/characters/story etc. are a massive step down, and overall I'd say it's worth avoiding this entry.

Danganronpa Series

I've heard a lot of good things about this series over the last few years, but I ended up bouncing off it after one or two hours - the writing/localisation just wasn't gelling with me at all. Not sure if that's due to playing straight after Steins;Gate so having "VN/narrative fatigue", but may be worth checking out the first 30 minutes or so on YouTube before committing to a purchase.

Quality of the writing in the Steam version is excellent (assuming they are all up to the standards of episode 1, which is the only one I've finished), but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a first VN - it's an exceptionally long time commitment (episode 1 alone took me 20 hours, and AFAIK the others are of similar length), and IMO it works better narratively if you're familiar with the tropes it plays with. (I also had a hard time with the game's art style, but that's not a major issue)

That said, the way it completely blows away your expectations at the end of episode 1 (i.e. at the "tea party") is phenomenal. Definitely one I intend to return to soon.