Famicom Detective Club brought the Japanese visual novel classics The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind to Western audiences through the recent Nintendo Switch remakes, which released to positive reception. While the games themselves are from the '80s, for some gamers, they have piqued interest in the visual novels genre.
Visual novels have long been popular in Japan, but have only gained traction in the West over the past decade. Typically, these are video games that rely on narrative-driven simulations based on player choices. As such, they are often dialogue and text heavy. The Nintendo Switch has its fair share of visual novels, so there's no shortage of games to check out after playing Famicom Detective Club.
The Ace Attorney Series
Capcom's Ace Attorney games are among the most popular and best-known visual novels ever made. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a compilation of the Phoenix Wright games that will scratch that visual novel itch, especially for those who like the mystery aspect of the Famicom Detective Club games. The Ace Attorney trilogy is a fine mix of courtroom drama and mystery, with pinches of comedy thrown in for good measure. It even has an anime adaptation.
There's also The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles releasing July 27, which features different characters and in a different time period. Chronicles combines the two Great Ace Attorney games The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve. Anyone who has enjoyed the Phoenix Wright games should look forward to these titles coming to the West for the first time. The games take on an international landscape and even features Sherlock Holmes -- or, at least a version of him.
VA-11 Hall-A
A game that puts players in the shoes of a bartender serving clientele in a dystopian cyberpunk setting, VA-11 Hall-A is a great example of a visual novel that delivers a brilliant story without the player character ever leaving the game's namesake decrepit bar. The widely varied cast shares their stories with protagonist Jill, a 27-year-old bartender slaving away at VA-11 Hall-A to get by and pay the bills.
Much of the game's world is fleshed out through the words of VA-11 Hall-A's clientele. Player's don't get to see much of the outside themselves, so the worldbuilding really takes place in the player's minds. Much like most visual novels, the game provides a refreshing way to absorb a story, especially with the Switch's portability and touchscreen controls.
Florence
From the indie studio Mountains, Florence is a short story that follows the life and times of protagonist Florence Yeoh, who is stuck in a rut due to her monotonous life of work, sleep and social media. However, that changes when she comes across a cellist named Krish and a romance blossoms. Florence's minimalist art direction really captures the feel of a graphic novel more than a cartoon, and the accompanying music is delicately pleasing as well.
Florence makes brilliant use of the Switch's intuitive controls to give the players an idea or representation of the emotions and thoughts going through the character's mind as they perform tasks -- even the mundane ones. The game is short, however, this is not a bad thing. The game sets out to tell a story, and it accomplishes this task masterfully.
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
Doki Doki Literature Club's high school anime girl setting might make it look like a typical Japanese visual novel, but this is anything but. The game is known across the internet for earning its M rating by being way darker and more disturbing than its art style suggests. An enhanced version of the psychological horror game called Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! releases on Switch on June 30, and it's one fans of the genre and the original game should check out.
After being convinced to join the literature club by their childhood friend, the protagonist meets the club's pretty members. But while it starts out with this dating sim-like premise in which the player crafts club activity poems with keywords to earn the favor or ire of the various other members, things take a turn for the disturbing that players will have to experience for themselves.
Across the Grooves
A stylish visual novel, Across the Grooves plays more like an interactive graphic novel. As Alice, players start out living through her mundane existence in cheery Bordeaux, but are dropped into an exciting mystery after she receives a strange package from her ex: vinyl record that sends her back in time to relive key moments from her past. Once she snaps back to reality, though, much of her life as she knew it has changed -- and it's up to players to get it back on track.
Across the Grooves game is oozing with charm with its bespoke hand-drawn visuals and complex use of music, with lyrics that tie directly into the story as it unfolds. This game is an exemplary piece that tackles cause and effect reminiscent of many time travel tales, but on an intimate scale that plays close to the heart. It, like the other games on this list, certainly benefits from the Nintendo Switch's portability and touchscreen controls, which make the hybrid console the perfect place to enjoy this genre.