I'd love to buy more visual novels here, but alas... With the Steam sale going on, now is as good a time as any to pick some up. What would you recommend?

P.S. While I'm not necessarily opposed to trying kinetic visual novels, I'd prefer ones that offer some kind of choice.

Edit: I meant visual novels. Too late to change the title. :\

I enjoy Danganronpa. It has exploration and investigation sections on top of just regular dialogue, and trials where you get to use a little bit of logic.

I consider there to be a scale that goes from visual novel to point-and-click adventure games. For reference, I think Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright are fairly similar in a macro sense, but while Phoenix Wright is just over the middle towards the adventure game side, Danganronpa is just past the middle on the visual novel side.

Steins;Gate
...

I was going to make the same correction. xD Anyway I'd second Steins;Gate, just beware it starts off very slow. Despite that, it's very important as to why it takes the approach that it does.

You also can't go wrong with the Danganronpa games and the rest of the Zero Escape series is coming to Steam at some point soon. If you want something more off the beaten path then there's Root Double (which I still need to finish.)

I'd recommend 999 once the remake releases on Steam.
The third game in the series is already on PC but you'd be missing out on quite a bit.

Actually, from what I have read, the Danganronpa games have some content that could be considered transphobic. Just thought I would warn you.

If you like mystery, Danganronpa and Steins;Gate are both excellent as other suggested. Umineko When They Cry is also a cult classic, but a bit weird at the same time. I enjoyed both of them quite a lot.

If you are going for touching stories. The games from Key (Clannad and etc) are famous for that, though I personally have not tried any of them.

Thanks for all the suggestions thus far. I picked up Clannad, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Root Double: Before Crime/After Days, Steins;Gate, Umineko: When They Cry and Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma. I have more money to burn, so keep the suggestions coming. As far as subject matter goes, I'm open for anything.

Sorry, but I think that type of visual novel is against Steam's terms of service.

Actually, now that you mention it, maybe I'm not open for absolutely anything. My understanding is that some of the great visual novels have erotic scenes in them, which I can handle, but I'm definitely not after full-on hentai. At the same time, I'd prefer not to play games that are heavily censored, especially if the lost content affects the story. It can be difficult for newcomers to navigate the genre.

You did say you wanted graphic novels....

Have fun with Stein's Gate, it's really good. If you got it from steam instead of jast use this to fix some formatting issues.

I can recommend Hatoful Boyfriend, I know it sounds like some joke meme game but it's actually really good. The expansion holiday Star is also excellent but you hve to play the main game first to get it.

Love at First Sight is a kinetic novel and a bit short, but it's really sweet and heartwarming.

Telltale's VNs might be worth a look, although they tend to be loaded with Quicktime Events and I know those can send people into fits of rage.

I haven't played much in the way of purely VN games, although things like Long Live The Queen cross over into it - https://www.gog.com/game/long_live_the_queen - and I'd recommend that one. I did have fun with Major/Minor though, and contrary to the usual expectations of its genre, there's nothing erotic (and definitely nothing hentai) in it: http://store.steampowered.com/app/475490/

Gender Bender DNA Twister Extreme.

So you know, you can have the MANOS of visual novels. The BAD RATS, if you will.

Basically, it is DeviantArt fetishes, the visual novel.

Cho Dengeki Stryker
Gahkthun Of The Golden Lightning
Girlish Grimoire: Littlewitch Romanesque
The House In Fata Morgana
Kindred Spirits On The Roof
Muv-Luv
Nurse Love Addiction
OZMAFIA!!
Sound Of Drop: Fall Into Poison
Tokyo Babel