2026 Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival by Studio Élan

Tails by the Foxfire’s Complete Rundown of Studio Élan’s 2026 Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival

Visual novels were among my earliest gaming loves, dating right back to my fixation with tracking down the English fan translation of Ever17: the Out of Infinity as an 11-year old on my family pc. Since then, I’ve built up quite a collection of favourites, including Amnesia: Memories by Idea Factory, Dandelion: Wishes Brought to You published by Cheritz, fault – milestone by ALICE IN DISSONANCE, The Letter by YangYang Mobile, The House in Fata Morgana published by MangaGamer, STEINS;GATE published by Spike Chunsoft, 1997 Reloaded by Studio Gaigo, and Highway Blossoms by Studio Élan, who I want to thank for so kindly inviting me to be part of this year’s Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival coverage. Believe me when I say, 25-year old me (10 years ago, for those counting!) who stumbled across Highway Blossoms for the very first time and adored it so much I obsessively trophy-hunted until I got 100% can’t believe her luck to be part of this event!

By the way, dear reader, that list of titles up there isn’t even counting the amazing roster of visual novels I’ve picked out to celebrate this year’s festival. Exciting, right? Let’s jump right into my rundown, with a big thank you as well to the devs who generously donated game keys or who took the time to reach out and let me know about their upcoming releases. I’ll be unveiling a new recommendation I’ve played each day from now until September 9th, so be sure to bookmark this page and remember to shop Studio Élan’s 2026 Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival on Steam to get your hands on even more beautiful visual novels celebrating love!

Day 1. Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea: Amaranthine Moon by Crystal Game Works

1. Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea: Amaranthine Moon by Crystal Game Works

First up is Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea: Amaranthine Moon by Crystal Game Works, who very generously provided a game key for the purposes of this review.

Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea: Amaranthine Moon is a Victorian vampire otome visual novel where you play as Lucie: a young woman attending school while seeking a business partner who can procure high-quality emeralds. She was on the verge of reaching an agreement… and then the next day, her prospective business partner was brutally murdered in the very next room. Murders like this have been happening all over town to high-ranking individuals in the gem business, so there are some really thrilling stakes here, if you’ll pardon the pun. Those emeralds aren’t just a matter of business, you see: Lucie is a vampire, and small, high-quality emeralds have been identified as a cure for vampirism if you take them daily like pills. Lucie has been using this treatment to keep her vampirism at bay, but it’s ultimately up to the player if she continues to do so, meaning (yes, you guessed it!) you can play through Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea: Amaranthine Moon as a human or as a vampire! Speaking of Lucie, I found her to be a fantastic protagonist with enough bite (ok, you can boo me now) to feel relatable and give her an engagingly complex chemistry with the rest of the cast.

With a premise like that, you’d be forgiven for thinking Crimson Waves Upon the Emerald Sea: Amaranthine Moon is scary, but I actually found it to be more atmospheric than scary, and I’m a big jittery wimp when it comes to horror. It’s a story that feels absolutely perfect for autumn with its rich colour palette and music that sets the mood without feeling jump scare-y or particularly intrusive, much in the same vein (hee hee) as Cabernet by Party For Introverts & Akupara Games, which I covered during my event collaboration with DevCats. In short, Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea is a visually gorgeous game too, with a textured look that feels hand painted and gives the impression that you’re navigating a gothic fairytale. It falls neatly in the middle of my internal venn diagram that loves Dracula by Bram Stoker, obsessed over Vampire Knight as a teen, and is a sucker (…I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist!) for a deadly romance.

Try it, I insist: if you’re a dark romantic like me, you’re sure to be obsessed within the first hour or so.