The only VNs I've actually finished are Crimson Gray 1 and 2, which are essentially summed up with: "John is a highschooler with severe clinical depression. When he tries to jump off the highschool rooftop he learns he has a yandere stalker named Lizzie. And they lived happily ever after (in the good timeline)."
tl;dr here: it's an 8/10. Both VNs are pretty short but I enjoyed them for what they were as short little romance stories that offered some light commentary on mental health treatment.
The writing is... charming? I'm not very good at reviewing stuff like this because it's all so subjective, and the subjects tackled by Crimson Gray are pretty touchy at the best of times. I liked it. As someone whose family has a history of clinical depression, I resonated quite a bit with how the condition is depicted through John and I think Lizzie's depiction is even-handed enough. Depictions are not really clinically realistic (particularly with Lizzie, whose ailment is explicitly fictional) but what I would call them 'respectfully stylized' for the format. For example, you can't get the true ending in the first game unless you convince Lizzie to seek pharmaceutical treatment. She won't stay on the treatment no matter what you do, but it gives her a proper frame of reference for when she's dealing with stuff like intrusive thoughts, violent urges, etc. John himself struggles with his issues through the whole game and needs constant support, but is ultimately able to lead a normal, content life in the right circumstances.
Lizzie herself is a very traditional stalker, jealous, ax-murderer style yandere. She's fun, she's cute, she has super human strength and the crazy eyes (I may have a type). Though I will say that easily the weakest part of the first game's writing is how it tries to justify her condition and the resulting knock-on effects it has on the story. Lizzie is the way she is because of the particular, experimental treatment her mother was taking while pregnant with Lizzie. Lizzie being exposed to this treatment while in vitro are what's caused her hyper aggressiveness and her superhuman strength. They also didnt actually help her mother, who was abusive to Lizzie up until Lizzie manipilated her into ODing, and Lizzie harbors a lot of suspicions about the local pharma megacorp over it. This is also part of why she won't stay on treatment.
On its own this is fine. It's a bit handwavy but this is a yandere romance VN. It's not that serious. The trick is that, in the first game's true ending, this plot thread ultimately resolves in John getting blackbagged by corporate spec ops and Lizzie murder blendering her way through the compound to rescue him which is so anime in an otherwise pretty restrained plot. It also comes in the last 10 or 15min of the VN, getting obliquely telegraphed maybe once. It feels really out of nowhere and could have easily used an extra chapter of development. It doesn't tank the rest of the game but it's a sequence that feels jarring and out of place as implemented.
Overall I think Lizzie written well enough for the love interest of a short VN. Her biggest saving grace is that the story makes no bones about her behavior being destructive to herself and others; even when the plot is justifying certain aspects of her character it's not really excusing them, and the story is ultimately about her and John trying to build each other up where external systems have failed them.
The sequel handles Lizzie better than the first game, I think because there are sections where you actually get to view things from her perspective in the story and because it mostly drops the corporate espionage angle. It's John and Lizzie at college, still together, and moving on with their lives after the true ending of the first game. I only played through the 'true' route which is very rosy, and ends in Lizzie and John having a storybook wedding and living happily ever after. The 'true' route revolves mostly around John and Lizzie learning how to support each other longterm and dodging the worst pitfalls of their respective ailments. The sections in Lizzie's point of view are particularly neat since they give the reader a peek at how Lizzie filters input; how she interprets other people's behavior, how she sees her surroundings, stuff like that. Sometimes when offered choices as Lizzie, the VN will attempt to force the violent option, and it's up to the player to either let it happen or figure out how to dodge/defer it. It's a nice touch that I think helps contexualize Lizzie's issues.
I dunno. I'm sure it's entry-level tier as far as VNs go but I liked it.
The other two VNs I've played are VA-11 HALL-A and Katawa Shoujo. KS is on eternal backlog because I fell off it while playing years ago and its just got stuck to the back burner. I liked what I played, I've just never got around to finishing it. I like the style of VA-11 but I'm kind of a puritan and generally had issues connecting with most of the characters. I think the only one I had enjoyed seeing after the first few nights was Donovan and then just didn't click with anyone else (although I did feel bad for that guy that lost his daughter and started hiring Dorothy for mock birthday parties to fill the void). Music's great, art's great, the premise is interesting, but it wasn't for me.
