Sunday, January 15, 2023
There
is something special about the Yuri genre, it captures a feeling of
wistful longing and the power held by our desire for human connection.
Visual Novels are an especially good medium for capturing these
emotions due to their inherent leaning towards more internal focused
narratives through the extensive time we spend in the characters’
heads. This list differs from my Top 10 LGBTQ+ list in that it is
focused around the games which encapsulate the feelings which are the
strength of the Yuri genre. So let us find our destined love and
begin to count down.
Top 10
10. A Kiss for the Petals Series (NSFW) -
VNDB Play
Time – 4 hours each
If
there is one series which has attempted to cash in on Yuri genre to
the largest extent it is A Kiss for the Petals. These
games focus entirely on a different single pairing each game and
follow their journey to becoming a couple. Since they are a mass
produced product there is a predictable formula to how events will
transpire with variations based on the personalities of the lovers.
This does leave the games feeling stale if they are played back to
back and there is no doubt the developer drained all the life they
could out this limited version of the Yuri setup. However, it does
manage to capture the special emotions of the genre with surprising
regularity and it is difficult to pass this off as an accident. Each
story has just enough of this genre understanding that the games
collectively manage to make it onto this list, just make sure to
pick out the pairings you like for the shortest and sweetest
experience possible.
9. Nurse Love Addiction
Of
all the games on the list this is the one which almost did not make
it. It does contain the feelings required for an excellent Yuri tone
and narrative but it sits alongside a darker element that has no
interest in these emotions. While they form a strong whole, this is a
list designed to showcase the best of the genre’s content.
Ultimately, what sealed Nurse Love Addiction’s place was its
impressive ability to cultivate the feelings of longing and internal
focus in different yet believable way for the protagonist’s
relationship with each heroine. Many Yuri visual novels fail to keep
this up consistently and the resulting uneven presentation can make
their protagonists’ come across as existing just as a vessel for
the player and not their own entity. Having a bond to invest in is
key to the genre and Nurse Love Addiction manages to achieve this
will all its couples which is no small feat given the other thematic
plates the story is spinning.
8. Heart of the Woods
Our
first OELVN and one with an interesting twist as one of the heroines
is already dead. Before the romantic element has even begun to take
root there is a wistful and transient feeling established and the
game utilises this as a strong foundation to build the main
relationship. By playing off this sense of tension between desire and
the reality of death, Heart of the Woods can invoke a sense of longing
in the pair as they form their bond. This differs from the usual issues
many other games choose for their heroines such as the standard uncertainties
about if their feelings are social correct or just a passing phase.
In playing off a different angle to its peers Heart of the Woods
captures the same feelings in a fresh and distinctive way and forms
its own identity within the genre.
7. Heaven Will Be Mine
In
my review of Heaven Will Be Mine I did not make
any mention of the Yuri romantic element between the lead characters.
This is because the game takes the same approach and does not draw
attention to their relationship exclusively in this light. Instead it
chooses to merge it into a greater feeling of longing for others and
a place to belong through its uniquely vivid metaphors and emotive
confrontations. It is this way of framing the emotions of Yuri in order to produce a
powerful overall effect which earns Heaven Will Be Mine a place on
this list. While it may not have the purest representation of these
feelings, it certainly has one of the most immediately identifiable
use of them and there are few games that can match the impact it
achieves.
6. The Expression Amrilato
Language
is The Expression Amrilato’s choice of material to sculpt the
emotions of Yuri with its couple. The manner in which it uses a
language barrier to both communicate intimacy and at the same time a
distance that breeds longing is the game’s most impressive feat.
Having the language problem be slowly overcome both by the
protagonist and the player at the same rate, as the game teaches both
the basics of an alien tongue, builds a strong resonance between them
and strengthens the impact of each step in the protagonist’s
romance. Being able to connect the player so directly to the
feelings of the couple is key in most Yuri games, but few are as
successful as The Expression Amrilato with only their core narrative
and gameplay element. The commitment to this single point of
connection between the couple is a testament to how a focused game
can produce stronger feelings of Yuri.
5. Aoishiro
VNDB Play
Time – 35 hours
Shifting
gears completely, the next game on the list to a title creating a
complimenting tension to the romantic kind through life and death
situations. Aoishiro surrounds its Yuri core with a fantasy narrative
containing various mysteries and uncertainties which it uses to put
the player into the right frame of mind to be receptive to each
couple’s feelings. In placing the romantic interests within an
unknown threat the game allows doubt about their intentions to form
in the player's mind and this contrasts nicely with the longing of the
characters for each other despite the dangers. Aoishiro
understands the power of extremes to highlight the emotions and
threats involved in a narrative and how it can bring player and
protagonist together over shared uncertainty and desire. The couples
always remain at the centre of the games narrative space even as
events spiral out of control and their longing is made all the more
memorable because of it.
4. Kindred Spirits On The Roof
Most
Yuri games focus around either one couple or the possible
relationships of one protagonist. This is done to try and keep the
focus on a small cast and prevent the story from becoming bloated and
meandering. Kindred Spirits On The Roof achieves what these games can
only dream of, a cohesive narrative with a large selection of
different couples, each fleshed out and separate from one other. The
secret to its success lies in its episodic style structure with each
romantic pairing having their own section to resolve their issues, and
a protagonist who is a constant over the course of the game to act as
glue for the whole experience. It is amazing how each couple manages
to invoke the same sense of longing and desire which define Yuri
within such diverse relationships while keeping the feelings constantly
fresh for the player. Building bonds and showcasing them in vivid
stories is the reason Kindred Sprits On The Roof makes it so high on
this list.
3. Flowers Quadrilogy -
Mystery
is one of the strongest bedfellows for Yuri, both start unassuming
and build into something greater and both create an investment in
knowing the outcome of a story. The four Flowers games focus their
romantic relationships around different couples each game and have
the overarching secret of the school act as a bridge between them, and
a method of highlighting the emotions present in these bonds. By
mixing the longing of the characters for each other with the longing
to know the truth, the narrative invests the player in both and draws
a line between the exploration of a person’s feelings and the
discovery of the unknown. Linking these two allows Flowers to imply
the ideas of one while talking about the other and provide a rich
written landscape for the player to ponder as they watch the
struggles of the couples.
2. Katahane
VNDB Play
Time – 20 hours
Katahane
is a game of two halves and it in how they interact to form the
longing and loss that define its Yuri. Through the combined knowledge
of these parts the player ends up knowing more about the characters
involved in the romance and this makes them root for the relationship to
be a success in the face of what has happened before. It plays with
the certain past and uncertain future to form a catharsis for its
romantic conclusion and sense of tragedy for what has happened long
ago, and uses them to create longing in the player, placing them in a
similar mindset as the characters. The amazing amount of power this
resonance between player and character earns Katahane a place on this
list and there are few other visual novels that can match the empathy
it manages with its Yuri.
1. Sea Bed -
The
number one spot goes to a visual novel which knows that the best Yuri
is a slow burn which provides space for the player to contemplate on
the longing. Like some of the previous games on this list, Sea Bed
utilises a mystery as a means of narrative progression, but it also
merges this with three separate protagonists each with their own
stake in what is happening as well as their own feelings to sort out.
This is prevented from becoming unmanageable by having
the space the narrative occurs in being small, so protagonists are
regularly present on screen even if they are not the point of view
character at that moment. Everything about Sea Bed circles around a
feeling of intimacy which is at once tense and desirable, it
something the characters long for and are at the same time afraid of it
hurting them. It is a balancing act the protagonists never quite
achieve and this allows them to express their weakness and humanity
within the romantic context to perfectly capture the feelings of Yuri
while having a greater story for the player to engage them.
