What is your ren'ai gaming background?

[MinorMajor]

Fair enough, here's my background, though a bit late:

1] dang near every game listed at Ren'ai Archives... scratch that, every game listed there, from ToL to O3 and all points before, between, and beyond
2] all the insani.org entries
3] some of the keynote h-games made before voiced charas and vocal OPs... no school like the old school, I guess
4] the PSP port of TokiMemo (no, can't read a lick of Japanese, but thanks to efforts from Dave van Cleef, Team TokiMemo, Chris Tobita, amongst others, I've gotten three of the game's fourteen possible endings!)
5] GBA version of SisPri RePure (still a bit hard to guess through with all thirteen fansubbed episodes on hand!  Either that or the fan-translated version of Love Hina Advance, but the latter is more like those "entire season's worth of content condensed into 30 minutes" deals....)
6] Thousand Arms (see entry in said post)
7] [pending] Brooktown High: Senior Year
8] [pending] ??  Given that this is the Shira Oka forums, it's probably something besides Summer Days....

[Onisake]

I haven't played many non-H dating games. that list is fairly short:

Thousand Arms (kinda Ren'ai, it was fun dating the girls in town =D)
Harvest Moon
Princess Maker 2 and 4 (this one is also a stretch, i thought it was neat since you played the girl instead of the boy, it would be nice to see a Prince Maker, but I'm not really expecting anything like that to ever come out)

as far as H-games though:
True Love
Seasons of Sakura
Three Sister Story
May Club
Nocturnal Illusion
Brave Soul
Critical Point
Snow Drop
Tokimeki Checkin
Exchange 1 and 2
Can Can Bunny
Dragon Knight 3
Amy's Fantasies
Crescendo
Desire
Divi Dead
Fate/Stay Night
Tsukihime
I'm gonna serve you (can't remember which one)
To Heart 1 and 2
---
there are more on that list, but the other's are basically straight porn, no story, so not worth mentioning.

my favorites are True Love, Seasons of Sakura, and of course FSN and Tsukihime. i really liked the princess maker series as well.

I'm really excited about Shira Oka, it sounds like a lot of fun and from the sounds of it mixes in a lot of different things from various games i really enjoyed and some new elements i haven't seen before.

[Lintor]

True Love
Azure Dreams
Do You Like Horney Bunnies
Tsukihime
and all the dating sims on newgrounds before this year.

I think there might be more, but I'm not sure still on what actually counts as ren'ai

[Onisake]

I think there might be more, but I'm not sure still on what actually counts as ren'ai

It really depends on what you classify as ren'ai, i personally classify them to be any game where the decisions you make throughout the game directly effect who you are involved with, romantically, at the end of the game, or during the course of the game.

Some people i know think they are more 'romantic simulations' or 'dating simulations' only and don't include certain 'visual novels' (such as dividead or FSN) in the genre.

[Musume]

I feel out of place now... I've been playing them since Dokyuusei, I can't remember how many I played ever since. I also buy the localization of games here in the US including all from JAST, Peach Princess, Himeya, etc...  I also play the new ones from Japan, I buy the good ones that I liked  .

[scsa20]

I've been playing all sorts of visual novels/h-games/etc.

One that I'm really enjoying right now is Ever17, but I've also enjoyed Little My Maid and a few others that I just can't think of (been awhile since I've played those), I'll look them up later and post the titles when I'm not too lazy :p

[zalas]

I think I originally played Season of Sakura and True Love, and when I first seriously started playing Japanese Galge, I started with Baldr Force and Tenshi no Inai Juuni Gatsu, which technically aren't really ren'ai in my books.  Baldr Force is more sci-fi and tenina is too dark, even though both feature romantic elements.

I tend to play less heavily ren'ai games, since a lot of them feel cliche to me, unless they are really well written.  As for the good ones, I've played through AIR and a few scenarios in ToHeart2.  Of those two, I only consider ToHeart2 true ren'ai.  AIR seems to have romantic themes, but its main focus isn't on romance between two people, but more the love that bonds a family together.  Maybe one of these days I'll dust off my Dreamcast and load up Comic Party...

[keitoghostie]

Oh, gosh...

Only Harvest Moon, actually. And that just has a ren'ai subplot to it.

You guys actually introduced me to the term "ren'ai".

[cowsgomoomoo]

I've played insani.org's games and their translation of Wind. I've also played Steambot Chronicles (great game if you overlook the singing) on PS2 and the Harvest Moon series.
That's all my ren'ai experience

[BioRaptor]

Better late[er] than never, right?

I bought Hourglass of Summer on a whim from Suncoast, because it sounded really good.

Hadn't heard of 'ren'ai' specifically until the Romance 101 panel at aCen this year.  Played through Amusement Park, which had a cute story, but wasn't as...interactive as Hourglass was.
Just started Ever17, which I'm enjoying.

I think I play these games for the same two main reasons I play many story-based games- for entertainment, and to live in a world that is not my own for short amounts of time.

Plus, I like the idea that the geek actually DOES have a chance with the girls.

--BioRaptor

P.S., wouldn't it suck to have a ren'ai game where every ending has you getting dumped?  Probably more realistic, but heck, I can achieve that on my own...

[Unka Josh]

Well, there are some games of that general type where your possible endings are bad, bad, bad, worse!

"Your soul is trapped in a doll for an eternity!  Good work!"

[BioRaptor]

"Your soul is trapped in a doll for an eternity!  Good work!"

Holy crap.

[Nyako]

I play ren'ai game only for their fantastic CGs most of the time..this is not a complete list.

Tokimeki Memorial (SNEC)
Princess Maker 2 & 3 (PC, SNEC)
Angelique Series (PC, SNEC)
Haruka Hachiyou Shou (PS)
Classmates 2 (PC),
Kakyusei 3 (PC)
Kuoi Hitomi no Noa (gust, PS)
Atelier Marie, Atelier Elly (PS)
ゆうきゅうげんそうきょく 2nd & ENSEMBLE (PS)
Sena (Japanese Doujin Game)

[Omega]

ゆうきゅうげんそうきょく 2nd & ENSEMBLE (PS)

LOVE.

[Essee]

Well, there are some games of that general type where your possible endings are bad, bad, bad, worse!

"Your soul is trapped in a doll for an eternity!  Good work!"

Every time I come back to this thread to see new replies, I see this post and crack up. What game IS that? I MUST have it.

As for my ren'ai background, well... before finding out about Shira Oka and seeing the links on these forums, I had mostly only played... let's see... Well, if we're talking about ren'ai as in games with romance/dating as a centre, I had mostly only played some stuff on Newgrounds and the translated version of Princess Maker 2. But if we're talking visual novels and other games that are similar, then I'd played various games... some also on Newgrounds (hey, when you don't know any of the sites to check out...), but I also had found the translations of Red Shift and Narcissu, and bought and adored the two currently-translated Phoenix Wright games. I've also been into point-and-click adventure games and RPGs for forever, and those do share quite a few traits with ren'ai at times.

After checking out the links posted here, I downloaded... to date... 51 freeware games, 21 of which I have completed fully. HEY THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE ACCESS TO INTERNET AT YOUR COMMUNITY COLLEGE THAT IS AS FAST AS 862 KB/SEC OKAY. I think out of these thus far, my "favourite" game is the one that has been dubbed in the English translation "OMGWTFOTL". I will never be able to look at a choice between two or more options in ANY kind of game and not think of adding "Genuflect". Never again. I'm not sure whether this is a great thing or an awesome thing awful thing. Although I must say, thankfully that is not a typial ren'ai game, by any means. It IS hilarious in the worst way, though.