Visual novel readers, what kinds of choices do you want to make in your games?

I'm biased because my company makes RPGs in the style of the old Baldur's Gate and Fallouts. I believe that choice and consequence is the most compelling part of an interactive story. In my opinion, the key elements of an excellent interactive fiction are being limited in choosing certain choices based on previous decisions (stat allocations, equipment, previous choices, etc), and being made aware that previous decisions have altered the choices which are available.

When I run through a story, I am looking to explore the story space, or I will have some predetermined outcomes that I want to achieve. In the first place, I'm just looking to see what the authors' wrote for certain occurances ("What would happen if I allied with the evil queen while the former captain of her royal guard is part of my entourage?"), and in the latter I am specifically tailoring my choices to bring about a specific ending state (which is to generally make everybody but the villains as happy as possible).

I'm usually not a big fan of kinetic VNs, it feels like reading a book with extra steps most of the time. A good VN for me has to have branching paths and choices that matter in the story, not too many mind you or the game may stretch out for too long, but enough to justify at least another playthrough, especially if they have more interactive gameplay elements like Rance, VenusBlood or Utawarerumono games.

I honestly don't care.

As far as I see it, every VN is one story, regardless of what choices you may have. Even if there are different branches and even if they are all front-loaded so the important ones come up early in the game. Echo, for instance, only has the very start of the story - basically just the introduction to the characters, setting, and very light opening scenario - until you reach a branch that will drastically change the story that gets told. But there's no cannon to adhere to; all of the branches are equally valid, even if some are shorter or less satisfying. So I consider them all to be one big story made up of smaller stories combined.

The thing I don't like is having too many unnecessary choices, especially when the "wrong answer" can instantly tank your game. Ironically I just played a game that lampoons this by removing the save ability and making every incorrect choice an instant game over: WORST DATING SIM (don't play this unless you're a masochist). And yeah, I see this on the 'dating sim' games the most.

One thing I do appreciate is a sense of non-linearity in the gameplay; something added which makes the game feel much more open. Yu-No is pretty good at this, since you're almost literally traveling through time trying to piece everything together. Though that one is somewhat annoying since you'll find yourself skipping a lot of repeating text. Alternatively, give me some sort of sense of freedom like in the Danganronpa games where you are free to roam around the world for a bit between story beats.

And needless to say, if I'm going to be reading a novel, the pacing and structure better be on point, because it's much easier to lose my attention when it doesn't require me to think. There's a handful of otherwise highly rated ones I've played but dropped before finishing because it felt like I'd read dozens of pages of text where I didn't learn anything new and nothing happened.

I dont generally play VNs, what are some good ones you would recommend?