Now Presenting the Nominations for the 2014 Best Ofs!

Getting this list together wasn’t easy and I think it’s only fair to bring everyone up to speed.

As I mentioned before, the bulk of the nominations focused on a core group of visual novels released in 2014: leaving several out in the cold. So I involved my privileges as all-mighty Editor-in-Chief to add to this list so that it wouldn’t be too concentrated on a select group. This doesn’t mean that my nominations will win: far from it. In fact, long-time readers will most likely be able to tell what games I added. It just means that several groups that deserved recognition will at least get that before I pick the winners.

So how will that process go? There will not be a Twitter showing for this year considering the lateness and the fact that NaNoRenO is in full swing. Sometime in the coming weekend I’ll just put a Winners post up here and I will continue updating the review backlog while we watch the NaNoRenO projects take shape. With all of that said; here are your nominees for the 2014 VNs Now Best Ofs! Congratulations to everyone who was nominated!

And side note: games with partial voice acting were not considered. I appreciate the nominations towards that, but we are only focusing on fully voice acted games.

English Visual Novel of the Year

• Icebound by Fastermind Games
• Autumn’s Journey by Apple Cider Games
• Taarradhin by Cyanide Tea
• Aloners by Sonnet009
• Basiliska by Carrogath and Clua
• Romance Detective by NomNomNami
• Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf by Winter Wolves

EVN Studio/Development Circle of the Year

• Love in Space
• Winter Wolves Games
• Fastermind Games
• Visokyo Anime Production
• Detective
• Cyanide Tea
• Apple Cider Games

Rookie of the Year

• Sonnet009 (Aloners)
• NomNomNami (Romance Detective)
• llplldll (Memento Dears)
• Detective (Gods of Nowhere)
• Azuneko Studio (Black Diary)
• MikomiKisomi (Magical Boys)

Best Character

• Cecily (Basiliska)
• Auralee (Autumn’s Journey)
• Dougal (Icebound)
• Romance Cop (Romance Detective)
• The Girl (Petrichor)
• Trash (Aloners)
• Neqtia (Taarradhin)

Best Director

• Sam Yang (Sunrider)
• Jonathan Xikis (Icebound)
• Celso Riva (Seasons of the Wolf)
• Milan Kazarka (Invisible Apartment)
• Kaleidofish (Saving Zoey)
• Marcus Lam (Unhack)

Best Writer

• Boniae (Forget-Me-Not)
• Carrogath (Basiliska)
• Uncle Mugen (Hammer)
• Lorelei (Taarradhin)
• Donmai (The One In Love)
• Clea (Petrichor)

Best Artist/Art Team

• Clua (Basiliska)
• The Apple Cider Team (Autumn’s Journey)
• The Petrichor Team (Petrichor)
• Detective (Gods of Nowhere)
• The Icebound Team (Icebound)
• The Saving Zoey Team (Saving Zoey)
• Auro-Cyanide (Taarradhin)

Best Original Song

• Seasons of the Wolf (Boossara)
• Halloween Otome Theme Song (Tyler Thompson)
• Pizz’Amore Theme Song (Christopher Escalante)
• Sora no Senritsu-The Melody of the Cosmos (Iced Blade)
• It’s Not Easy To Say Goodbye (Tomas Krze)
• My Name in Lights (Matthew Myers)

Best Original Soundtrack

• Matthew Myers (Roommates)
• Julian Langdon (Icebound)
• Carmen Chow (Princess of Ruin)
• Tomas Krze (Invisible Apartment)
• Matt Hamm (Unhack)
• Philipp A. (Saving Zoey)
• Jenny Gibbons (Quantum Conscience)

Best Editor

• R-bit (Saving Zoey)
• Clea (Petrichor)
• Tina Ryu (Princess of Ruin)
• The TOA Team (Seasons of the Wolf)
• Reika Aoyama (EVOVLEd)
• Shadow (The Reject Demon: Toko)

Best Programmer

• John Doran (Saving Zoey)
• Marcus Lam (Unhack)
• Vaendryl (Sunrider)
• The Icebound Team (Icebound)
• The Soul Gambler Team (Soul Gambler)
• Sonya X (Skights)
• The TOA Team (Seasons of the Wolf)

Best Male VA

• Jon Bullock (Victorian Olives)
• Ethan Nakashima (Pizz’Amore)
• Youngee Brummett (EVOLVEd)

Best Female VA

• Tina Kim (Victorian Olives)
• Xanthe Huynh (Unhack)
• Helene Daviau (Pizz’Amore)
• Annie Quin (EVOLVEd)

Best Romance EVN

• LongStory Episode 1 by Bloom Digital
• Rhyme or Reason by Ludeshka
• Roommates by Winter Wolves
• Halloween Otome by Synokoria
• Princess of Ruin by Unbroken Hours
• Memento Dears by Otome Palace
• Skights Episodes 1-4 by Sonya X

Best Hybrid EVN

• Visual Novel Tycoon by
• Unhack by InvertMouse
• Soul Gambler by M.Gaia Studio
• Sunrider: The Mask of Arcadius by Love in Space
• Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf by Winter Wolves

Best Comedy EVN

• Pizz’Amore by Seraphim Entertainment
• Romance Detective by NomNomNomi
• Magical Boys by MikomiKisomi
• The Mishka Effect by Kaleidofish and Co.
• The Residuals by Sasuga Studios
• Grinning Heart: The Voyage by
• Fortune Island: The Interview

Best Drama EVN

• Hammer by Studio Mugenjohncel
• The One in Love by Donmai
• Invisible Apartment by Vysoko Anime Production
• Forget-Me-Not by Little Lake Studios
• Petrichor by Orfeyus Studios
• To Kill A Black Swan by Marcel Weyers
• Saving Zoey by Kaleidofish & Co.

Best Fangame EVN

• Being Beauteous by Träumendes Mädchen
• Lloyd Irving Dating Sim Lubrian and Silence-
• The Cask of Amontilllado by Charles Sutton
• Regeria Hope Episode 1 by Golden Game Barn
• In Miko We Trust by
• Quiz RPG: Tenshi Christmas 2014 by Route/0
• Ragnarok: Believe by Eruku

Most Improved Writer

• Marcel Weyers (To Kill A Black Swan)
• Cera Hendry (Ex Astris Episode 2)
• Ludeshka (Rhyme or Reason)
• Sonya X (Skights)
• VenusEclipse (Princess of Ruin)

Most Improved Artist

• Nuge (Quiz RPG: Tenshi Christmas 2014)
• Auro-Cyanide (Taaradhin)
• VenusEclipse (Princess of Ruin)
• Cera Hendry (Ex Astris Episode 2)
• Chronica (Grinning Heart: The Voyage)
• Deji (Autumn’s Journey)