The 15 Best Anime Visual Novel Games You Should Be Playing

The Danganronpa series has multiple games that we're sure you'll love; each one just as twisted as the next. A classic series, this game follows the stories of Hope's Peak Academy's top student. Selected students will be considered fortunate, but not until they realize what exactly they've been placed in. In the first game, Makoto Naegi finds himself in such a position where a remote-controlled bear named Monokuma tells him and several other students that they will be trapped in school forever. The only way to graduate? To attack another student and succeed in getting away from it. 

The freaky visual novel that's been scaring everyone with its adorable high school girls and the twisted plotline is a must-have for your gaming list. Monika, the leader of the adorable Literature Club, is so excited to have you join. She hopes that you'll enjoy the everyday life of each club member and the thrill of writing. However, things don't seem to be as they appear; could it be that Monika's wish is something extremely dangerous? How much of your regular dating game is this really? A horrific storyline shrouded in adorable pastels and smiling anime girls, this game is downright terrifying and certainly not for those easily freaked out. 

If you could change the past, would you? A team of students has found a way to change the course of history using mail and a microwave; yes, you read that right. Conducting their own experiments to see just how far this can go, they realize that their web of changing events may, in fact, be creating a web from which they cannot escape. Using a phone to give you communication from characters and the option to make choices, your decisions will change the outcome of the game, making it exceptionally thrilling. 

If you've been a fan of either video games or anime long enough, there's no way you haven't heard of the famous attorney, Pheonix Write. While this game has had its fair share of memes made out of it, it's actually a very good game and with good reason. The gameplay is fairly straight forward; as a defense attorney, your job is to do everything in your power to prove your client's innocence. The thrill of this game comes from figuring out what are truths and what are lies. A thrilling adventure-style visual novel game series, it's a classic you simply must play. 

When her friends try to say goodbye to her, Mayu Suzumoto finds herself at Kisaragi Academy during the dark hours of the night in order to perform the charm “Sachiko Ever After." Ayumi found this beautiful ritual on the internet as a means of ensuring that their friendship would last forever. However, things don't go as planned when a seeming earthquake transports them to a new, and terrifying place. Now at Heavenly Host Elementary, they find themselves confronted with the ghosts of children who were slain. Will they be able to find a way out with their lives?

Could you imagine what it would be like to have Saw be made into a visual novel game? That's essentially what the Zero Escape series is. Nine people have been captured and are forced to play the Nonary Game. The diabolical mastermind behind all of their misery is an unknown man by the name of Zero. With no idea why they've been specifically chosen, each character must try to escape in order to survive these life and death games.