Visual novels

From the Wikipedia article: "A visual novel (ビジュアルノベル bijuaru noberu) is an interactive fiction game, featuring mostly static graphics, most often using anime-style art or occasionally live-action stills (and sometimes video footage). As the name might suggest, they resemble mixed-media novels."

The games can be just a simple "choose your own adventure", or they can have more gameplay with it. Usually, when they do, it's an RPG mix. They usually contain nudity and sex scenes. It is a shame that the western audience is mostly fine with shooting an innocent person in the face but isn't OK with consensual sex in video games. But who cares about that when you can play these by yourself and no one has to know about it.

Visual novels can be found usually on PC, but there are console ports (these are usually strip from their erotic scenes) and even console exclusives. Not every visual novel has sex and nudity in them, and most of them take tens of hours to read/play.

Japan has a crap load of visual novels. Westerners have also made their own games. This is a list that doesn't make an effort to tell them apart. All recommended visual novels from all platforms are welcome. If there isn't an English translation to said game, it shall be noted.

All that being said, on to...