I've been meaning to get into the Visual Novel scene for quite some time, but haven't really done it yet for reasons unknown to the world. What is this MLA you speak of? All a Google found me was this one? (Which could be it.) I've probably asked this before, but any other VN suggestions? I've only played a few small Ren'Py ones made by English-speakers (including Katawa Shoujo, which was pretty great, in my humble opinion) so far...also I probably have asked this before, I forget. :S (Also, I have Windows now, so these things will work! Yay!)
MLA is one of best VNs in existence, but together with MLE and MLU its VERY long (up to 100 hours of reading), and quality differs a lot between games. MLE (Muv-Luv Extra, which is bundled together with Muv-Luv Unlimited in a single game "Muv-Luv") starts as generic romcom in school setting, and then it gradually becomes more and more epic.
Although if you didn't play any jap romcoms before, MLE shouldn't be too painful for you, and you probably would even enjoy it.
Recently released in English Grisaia should be good choice as well, I've rated it 9/10 myself.
Otherwise, just look at
top games on VNDB and choose any that has tags/descriptions you find interesting.