General Visual Novel Topic

Off-Topic
#565

I feel like voice acting and the music is what makes vns different from the rest. It even makes me a bit angry when a vn has no title menu song. As for voice acting, it is highly preferred but I would still consider reading it if it doesn’t have it. I find myself waiting for the voices unless it is a really exciting part that I must know what happens next… It doesn’t really slow me down because I am not afraid to cut them off when I want to…

For me, I like when they use the full potential of vns, have good music good sound voice acting, choices, and maybe even a mini game or two. Doing all those things that can’t be done in books add an extra layer of fun for me. But at the same time none of those are required just enhancements…

Well my rule is if it isn’t causing you to have more fun and enjoyment turn them off. But I think for most people voices adds a extra layer of enjoyment and fun.

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#566

Count me in on very much pro voice acting. How can I describe it? VNs without it feel two dimensional but add good VA and it becomes three dimensional*

*Not to be confused with the 2D vs 3D waifu argument :wink:

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#567

Hm, I seriously must be the odd one out here. Of course, I didn’t vote in my own poll! :worry:

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#568

It’s difficult for me to vote in this so let me explain.

I usually read VNs for the story and for being able to see what is going on, and the voice acting is a nice piece of it all and it does offer a lot of context. VNs are significantly better for it. :happy:

However, I don’t get anywhere near as much value out of Japanese voice acting as many other people who enjoy them can and do. I didn’t have much exposure to the language and don’t know the language so the ability to enjoy nuances is greatly diminished - I can’t tell an average performance apart from a good performance. It’s fantastic for the people that can do that and I’m very happy for them.

Once I know the general voices of the characters though, it really depends. If it doesn’t feel like it will help to listen to then muting the voices might happen. That was only one time, but I really liked the pace I was reading at and didn’t want to change that just to accommodate voices that I was relatively neutral towards. My mind was essentially adding their voices to the text anyway as a natural adaptation and this may or may not be what other readers do but I don’t think I would be alone in that practice.

Perhaps I just get mentally involved into what is happening or perhaps it’s the process of overthinking, but I personally could see muting voices more often. There are a lot of VNs that I want to read that have good anime dubs, and waiting for subbed voices may not make sense.

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#569

I definitely need it. To me the dialogues feels so weak without them the more of the times (I can’t imagine Kyousuke without Midorikawa Hikaru’s voice). To me the voice transmites the feeling of the characters a lot better than the text itself.

Also the voiced lines are much more easier to understand when reading japanese.

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#570

Well, I barely understand more than the occasional word or very very simple sentence in Japanese VA but - even so - for me it is very much the little nuances of expression and tonality that make the big difference. After all despite the language differences I can pick up whether the character is e.g irritated or surprised - which isn’t always so easy from text alone.

Take for example the simple phrase “You went there!”. Now you can change the ! for a ? but the emotion could still be either irritation or surprise or even rage or sadness and it is the tone of voice that seals the emotional context.

The impact of VA for some VNs does vary for me all the same, e.g. far less for the Grisaia series than for Steins;Gate. I could imagine the former without VA but not the latter.

#571

I actually agree with @KaiMiang here. I personally don’t like voice acting in visual novels. I understand the impact in immersion it can have, but for me music and sound effects accomplish that much better and voice acting distracts me from those. I also prefer to imagine how the characters sound, and have my own fun with that. :ahaha: Finally, it saves a lot of time and money for the developers, but obviously I’m not asking them to cater to my needs instead of the majority’s. It’s just a matter of taste, really. I know there are really good VAs out there but for me the text speaks for itself, so to say.

Also, there’s the problem that I always skip to the next line before the voice finishes it. :uguu:

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#572

Funny that you should use the Sayuri emote because Sayuri’s voice actor (Tomoko Kawakami) was, in my opinion, god tier at her job. She also voiced Misuzu and the illusory girl. Her voice alone tells you so much about her respective characters, to the point where you can take a decent guess at the character’s history simply by listening to a few lines of their dialogue.

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#573

There are times when voice acting is extremely useful, and there are still times when the voice acting is clearly good or better than that. Still, I can see muting voices more often as the VN progresses if my mind is doing some of the work and I like how the reading is progressing. I just let the experience decide how to proceed is all.

Zosonte also brought up the point about music and sound effects and those are more important to me as well (usually).

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#574

I’m going to have to disagree with this as for me, one of the most interesting aspects of voicing is when characters read the text differently than how it is written. The ambiguity of Japanese text can be a real pain, but it also allows for double meanings to be commonplace. Seeing a character say something differently than how you would expect the text to be read is always interesting, especially when it plays an important role in the plot. Even if it isn’t important, it’s still fun to see quirks of characters that really only get conveyed by observing the difference between the written and spoken language, as it’s a really nice and subtle way to create a more dynamic character.

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#575

I prefer to have voice acting, but it’s certainly not a requirement. Umineko for instance I greatly enjoyed first without voices and then with voices, and even though its VA is some of the best I’ve ever seen the story is still just as good without it.

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#576

Voice acting isn’t super important to me. I have a fast reading speed and often prefer to get through visual novels as fast as I can, so it’s a matter of whether the visual novel is worth my time or not. Sometimes I’m impatient and will just click ahead before the voice has finished speaking.

As for whether it adds to the experience, I think it certainly does, but it’s not necessary to enjoy a good story which is the main reason I’m reading a visual novel.

In Subarashiki Hibi/Wonderful Everyday, I found it really jarring that a lot of male characters didn’t have voices while even unnamed or minor female characters did, it stuck out like a sore thumb.

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#577

Well, opinion aside, you realize that’s intentional right? It’s based on the perspective of the narrator, so it’s used to add to the VN experience beyond just text.

#578

Yes, but I’d still find it confusing if a group of male and female characters were together and talking at the same time. Maybe it was because I read too quickly, and yes, I do realise the intention behind a specific male character.

#579

Chaos; Child is released here in the UK tomorrow, but at £45 ( = €45 and US$45 ) for the PS4 version not sure it’ll have many takers! I’d like to try it but the price is too high for me.

Chaos;Child delivers a disturbing and engaging story that not only stands on it’s own, but helps to expand the worlds of other parts of the Science Adventure Series. It’s just a shame that it takes so long to experience that story, and that the choices you make to find every piece of info and characterization are weirdly designed. Chaos;Child isn’t as good as Steins;Gate at the end of the day, but a more memorable cast of characters and a more distinctive art style would help future entries stand alongside Steins;Gate instead than behind it.

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2017/10/10/chaoschild-review/

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#580

I wanted to let everyone know about a visual novel that I haven’t found any posts about just yet. It’s been gaining in popularity among streamers and gamers who don’t usually read VNs, even getting articles on Polygon and Kotaku (which I am not linking because they are much more lenient with spoilers). I recommend for anyone who is interested in reading it to avoid spoilers if you can. I will use spoiler tags for those who don’t feel like reading, but who might be wondering about the attention it’s receiving.

There are warnings you might encounter when you download or research this game, these are serious.
This game is not recommended for children or those who are easily disturbed.

Doki Doki Literature Club is a free visual novel by Team Salvato, a new US game studio started by Dan Salvato, who some may know in the Super Smash Bros Melee community. It follows a school aged protagonist joining a literature club with four members: Sayori, Natsuki, Yuri, and Monika. A full playthrough generally takes between 4-5 hours.

For those who have read visual novels before, it is not a generic school life dating sim. It starts this way,
but eventually reaches a twist and the genre shifts to horror The visual novel does a really nice job of playing off of expectations and then breaking them.

It is not a perfect VN, and I wouldn’t expect that from a brand new studio releasing a free visual novel. But with its design and how it’s been received I’m really excited to see what comes next from Team Salvato.

#581

I’ve downloaded it, but I haven’t started it yet. I’ve heard that it is unabashedly predictable, which is kinda making me procrastinate about starting it. I always find that these viral VNs don’t exactly hold up to 2000’s idea of decent. Still, it’s free, so I can’t turn my nose up at it.

#582

I definitely understand where you’re coming from, I was hesitant at first, because I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t really want to put the time in. I obviously wouldn’t go in expecting a key VN, but for a ‘viral VN’ I was honestly surprised at how faithful it stayed to VNs in general (unlike Pigeon/Dad dating sims or otherwise).

Some random points to help w/ context:

  • It is predictable and cheesy at parts and it does make use of cliches (some intentional, some not)
  • It is very polished for an ‘Indie’ visual novel (nice art, cg, sprites)
  • It’s actually a ‘side project’, another VN (probably not free) will be coming out in 2018
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#583

From what I understand Doki Doki Literature Club leans too heavily on a gimmick rather than actually being a quality product. In terms of VNs I’d recommend I’d have to point to all of 07thExpansion’s work, I watched the Higurashi anime and then went on to read Umineko and Higanbana, all of which are excellent. They’re all very well written and have strong lessons they’re trying to teach, I could t imagine my life without exposure to them.

Ryukishi’s works are top-tier, but I’ve also read Hatoful Boyfriend, which has a surprising level of heart in it, and the solo routes of Everlasting Summer, a Russian-developed novel that I really should get around to finishing someday. Both of these are really good entry points for non-VN fans and I recommend checking both of them out to see if they’re your thing.

Actually there’s one more game with Visual Novel components that I would be remiss to not mention, and thats Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius. It’s what got me interested in the medium to begin with and is a strange hybrid of a VN with a tactics RPG. Very strange stuff, highly recommend if you want more space waifus in your life.

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#584

Finished Higanbana 1 just a while ago. Ryukishi07 continues to give me whiplash from feeling bad for a character at one moment, to despising them. One day I’ll get the hang of his writing and be better able to predict twists like that. As always, while I’m not super fond of the art the facial expressions are still very, uh… expressive.

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