Your Ideal Visual Novel

Off-Topic
#22

What do you look for in a visual novel?
I look for a grounded story with realistic characters. I’m not into the whole this characters the saviour of the world or what ever plots, because it does get into the whole this character is flawless etc… I prefer slice of life type stuff, because I can resonate with the characters and feel as though they are friends I know personally. That’s one of the reasons why I adore Tomoyo After, because I felt like I knew these characters personally, and were with them in their struggles, and all the high points and low points of their life. . This is a major plot point for Tomoyo After so do not click if you have not finished the game at all but I cried when I finished the game. Just seeing the overall message of the game be conveyed in a “It’s a Wonderful Life”, or “Life is beautiful” and relating the struggles of what these characters have gone through to us the viewers about how we can move on from something happening in our own lives, really resonated within me, given I lost a close friend a few years ago. I feel plots like this are why I’m soo much more enjoying VNs now, because they’re so unique in presenting their story. So, that’s what I look for in VNs! Good, realistic characters, just doing their everyday lives.

What’s the one thing you feel that visual novels need to have but most often don’t?
I guess, check points. I don’t know if it’s prevalent in later Key VNs, but in Steins Gate there are autosaves for each chapter, which I found immensely helpful in discerning which paths I haven’t taken, or what choices I haven’t taken. It really helps going through the VN, something which I found was a bit of a hassle with Clannad, given the amount of routes you are presented and choices, too!

What advice would you give to someone off starting their first visual novel or trying to make the best visual novel?
For those starting out with their first visual novel, I would highly recommend to take it slow! I found when I played Steins Gate the format was, literally, reading, with minimal choices. I was always tempted to increase the text speed and try and zip through everything. Do not do this! You’ll miss out on so much, and thankfully I rectified this! I find this format to be unique in that it is, literally, a novel that is visual, so of course the format is quite limited to just reading text and making minimal choices.

I don’t know if this is good advice, but I found playing the game blind works well for me, before getting a walkthrough. I like the idea of being engaged in this world and getting a bad ending, rather than going off a guide and just hitting check points. However, I contend there are some wacky choices which lock you out of good endings, so I guess, to each your own.

A good advice for those making a visual novel, try and make the characters people you can resonate with. They really do form the core part of what makes a VN engaging, as you are consistently engaging with them throughout the novel. I found world building to not necessarily be that important, unless you’re doing a show don’t tell type of scenario. Also, I like meaningful plots, not hamfisted dramatic stuff for the sake of it.

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#23
  • What do you look for in a visual novel?

The single facet that ties all the elements of a visual novel is the characters, so they are of course subject to the greatest amount of scrutiny. Characters are the element of the story closest to yourself. Emotionally impacting events on characters you care about will also emotionally impact you, and they are the lens through which you learn more about the setting. An arduous setting doesn’t really mean anything by itself, as it’s the way the characters experience adversity in that setting that will emotionally sway a reader. Even plot developments that are weakly written can come across strongly if they are impacting characters you’re invested in, and conversely well thought out plots can have their effect watered down if the audience isn’t attached to the characters the plot is affecting. Even the soundtrack often serves to amplify your connection to the impact of the events on these characters during critical moments. While it’s often said good music can mask bad writing, I think this requires at least a basic connection to the characters to really work.

This is much of the reason I enjoy Key works, as the conflict in them is often deeply interpersonal in nature and they generally spend a significant amount of time hooking the reader onto the characters before there’s even really any hints of a plot in sight.

I guess to put it simply, I can easily imagine stories that are great despite a minimal focus on well thought out plotting, great music, or what have you. I can’t really think of how a story might have such an impact without good characters.

  • What’s the one thing you feel that visual novels need to have but most often don’t?

In short, awareness of the medium that the story is in. It’s often that scenes in visual novels are written much like books despite having visual aids that should eliminate the need for such writing, and it clogs the focus that the text should have. VNs should have a greater emphasis on the “Visual” part of the medium, as currently many of them take advantage of music, but not the BGs or sprites. Changes in facial expression don’t need text description if they’re shown directly to the viewer, and the same applies to the physical features of backgrounds and whatever else. This is by far the most underexplored aspect of the medium, and is the main way in which it can be driven forward. Clearing up the needless clutter by allowing visual information to do the talking would allow for much better focus on things that must be communicated through the text, like impacts on the viewpoint characters thoughts and state of mind.

This is especially frustrating when something is described through the text that absolutely does not match up with the BG/sprite being visually presented to the reader. What are the visuals for if they don’t matter? Show, don’t tell and all that.

  • What advice would you give to someone off starting their first visual novel or trying to make the best visual novel?

I find it a little difficult to come up with an answer I found satisfactory for this question, simply because there are many avenues to making a great story. I can’t even really begin to imagine what “the best visual novel” might look like, as it might be something completely outside the realm of my current preferences and what I’d expect of a VN. Even my personal preference for characters above all else could perhaps be subverted by a story well executed enough, so really the main things here are just the basics of avoiding obviously-bad writing and character design that have been discussed already.

I’d mostly just say try to identify a strong point of your writing and craft the story around that. Maintain focus in thematic narrative, and build the characters and setting in a way that amplifies this focus point.