Omg, this thread is mentioning so many VN disappointments I'd forgotten lmao. I used to be really into VNs before I got into IF properly and I feel like all of this is a big part of why I eventually fell off and don't care for them much anymore.
Lunaris Games and their shitshow (especially Errant Kingdom

)... did not even realise they were still around as a studio, I thought they took the kickstarter money for their newest still unreleased game and dipped lmao, especially after all the criticism about how they handled Errant Kingdom (I am still salty af about that

). It's a shame because the studio had potential I think, When The Night Comes was a pretty fun little VN, tho I'm probably biased because I was using tumblr a lot when WTNC and Lunaris as a studio formed, I remember following the devs literally from the first steps of the game creation lol, I mean hell I remember following the dev on their personal tumblr even before the game was ever created because they were a pretty prominent person in The Arcana fandom. It felt bizarre seeing them try to become this super serious game studio and put on an air of professionalism (idk how else to put it lol) when I knew damn well they were spending their early days answering smut asks about WTNC

But I shoulda known things were sus even back then considering that one of the WTNC ROs is literally the dev's OC from The Arcana and they seemed weirdly obsessed with shipping him with one of The Arcana ROs (and later on, obsessed with shipping him with his ex in WTNC lmao, who in retrospect was probably a stand in for The Arcana RO

). There was also some drama where the person who created the werewolf RO (sorry, don't remember the name, but I think it started with A?) left the studio or sth but allowed them to keep using the character, however he was clearly written in a way that felt off after his creator left and people were unhappy with that.
I feel like The Arcana used to be quite popular back then and a lot of VN inspired by that spawned lol. Twin Coves, as someone else mentioned, was also a blast from the past lmfao. I had not heard that name in a long time, did not realise that was still kicking. That was also a cool concept and I remember following it... but even back then it seemed ambitious to me, like there was sooo many ROs lol. I also remember 2 other VNs that spawned around the same time but I can't remember their names, they did die pretty quickly though and at least the devs announced it rather than just ghosting or leaving the game in development hell for years.
One of them was this fantasy setting, and the only thing I remember was that the MC was an oracle and also some sort of diplomat I think? And the only other thing I remember is that there was some RO named Seneca I think lol? Shame that one died, the setting seemed quite interesting and the art for it was gorgeous. But I do remember that the dev ended up announcing that they won't be continuing development and making a post where they outlined what the overall plot was supposed to be, which I thought was really cool of them. But yeah that game also had wayyyy to many ROs and shot themselves in the foot with that choice prob. And the other one I remember was this game with a setting similar to A Tale Of Crowns if I'm not mistaken, and the only thing I remember was that there was a lot of drama with the dev lmao and that 2 of the ROs were this married couple that were an emperor and empress and you could have a poly romance with them or romance them separately? Of course, that one also died pretty quickly lmao, much like many IFs these days, the author spent months basking in the attention on tumblr and answering questions about their precious OCs before dipping
These were all really big on the tumblr VN community, especially bc of The Arcana, and were all conceptualised around the same time. The only ones that actually got finished are WTNC but the studio is a mess and lowkey scammers.... and the other one is Andromeda Six, which was also created around the same time. I'm actually not sure if it's finished because that game is aggressively mid and bland to me and I didn't like where the story was heading so I gave up around chapter 4-5. So I don't really follow it, but I've seen people hyped about new chapter drops in various IF discords, so I know it was still being updated. I'm asuming atp its either completed and near the end? Either way, still kinda counts ig lol.
This thread unlocked a bunch of repressed memories within me that feel like a fever dream