Welcome to the Summer 2015 Watch Out for Fireballs! Visual Novel poll! We're excited to vary up the kinds of games that you can help us decide to play. Last year you chose Suikoden II for the Summer JRPG, and this year we thought we'd do a little summer reading.

Visual Novels are a popular genre in Japan, and we've only gotten a handful of them over here in the United States. They combine comic-like storytelling with gameplay elements and branching paths to create something akin to an adventure game. The four options available to you represent the best visual novels on the DS, so this one is going to be pretty tough.

You can find the poll at the very bottom of this page. I want to take some time to get you acquainted (or reacquainted) with the options before you vote. Thanks so much for backing us on Patreon. I hope you're as excited for this as we are.

THE DEADLINE IS FRIDAY, JUNE 19th at MIDNIGHT EASTERN TIME.


THE OPTIONS

999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

Trailer / Gameplay / Amazon
Chunsoft, 2010

Nine people awaken in the belly of a sinking ship, to hear a cryptic message from a masked figure: You have all been rigged with bombs, and you will die unless you play the "Nonary Game". What follows is an intense, twisty story interspersed with Escape the Room-type puzzles. I can only share the basic premise here, because it quickly gets out of hand. This is the most "mature" of the options (but not erotic!).

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Trailer / Gameplay / Amazon
Capcom, 2011

What happens when you wake up dead, with no memory of who you were in life? This is what happens to Sissel, and Ghost Trick sees him trying to solve his own murder while protecting the endangered living around him. He does this by possessing objects in the world and setting up Rube Goldberg machines to accomplish his goals, with a little spectral time travel thrown in for good measure. With kooky rotoscoped visuals, this is the most quirky of the selections.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Trailer / Gameplay / Amazon
Cing, 2007

Kyle Hyde is a former New York City Detective turned salesman, checking in at the mythical Hotel Dusk. He's searching for his old partner, but instead he finds a new mystery, along with a hotel full of people with problems to solve. It's a noire story told in a visual style reminiscient of A-Ha's "Take On Me" video. This one is the most adventure game-like of the options.

Phoenix-Wright-Ace-Attorney.jpg

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Trailer / Gameplay / Amazon
Capcom, 2005

You play as Phoenix Wright, a rookie defense attorney who has teamed up with a spirit medium to solve murders and save the innocent from prosecution. Over the course of five chapters, you investigate crime scenes, interrogate witnesses, and tear apart contradictions during cross-examination in court. This is the option that has spawned the biggest following and longest series of sequels.


THE POLL

Are you nice and acquainted with the options? Good. Now it's time to choose. Use the poll below to make your choice. Remember, the deadline is midnight on Friday, June 19th (Eastern Time).

Thanks for voting, and thanks for continuing to back us on Patreon. We continue to be humbled and bolstered by your loyal support.