discussion Do You Like Sandbox Elements in Visual Novels?

[LongSlongSilver]

depends on the overall style of VN, some are good some are pointless

 

[HandholdDegen]

No, almost never. I prefer having to move my mouse around to click things as much as possible in my VNs, and for non-VN games a sandbox is usually just a time sink more than anything else.
A really good sandbox is amazing, but even a good sandbox gets exhausting quickly if what I am trying to get to is gated behind interacting with it.

 

[Parental]

High ceiling and low floor. A lot of my favorite games are sandbox, they actually have mechanics that take advantage of it. Some other games it just makes it a chore to play.

 

[Gorden]

I like it more than rpg

 

[User_84337]

I think most of the time the sandbox element is just a pointless tedious task that offers no more freedom than the choice of which current event u want to watch first - which is not worth ur time. Especially considering that the only reason u can have multiple events available at one time is exactly because the order has no effect on anything.

Sandbox can be great if its to offer u some actual freedom to create ur own story - which should be the point - but its hard create a game like that - so most of the time its just for the sake of stretching out gameplay time. Or atleast its seems like that from my point of view as a player.

 

[anon515]

Seen sandbox being used correctly so i know it can be good, provided that it adds content/context to the game world and characters, but if you won't add anything extra to find its just padding the playtime to forcibly make it feel longer

 

[lcarrow]

Yeah i don't mind a sandbox as it allows you follow the story of one particular character, needs to be done right though as a lot of games use sandboxes to justify egregious grinding.

Also sandboxes need to be be simplified to morning, afternoon, evening and night time periods and none of this hourly shit

 

[BAXON]

the most useless games - stupid sandbox with endless grind and repeating scenes

 

[69Questions]

Sandboxes are an easy way for me to lose interest in a game, if it becomes too tedious to find the next scene to move the story along, I'll end up dropping the game.

 

[User_3471]

Absolutely not! Hate them!

 

[wintercoat]

Depends on how sandboxy. I like being able to pursue who I want when I want, but I also like having a set story to follow. A full-on sandbox that allows you to follow which girls you prefer and ignore the ones you don't is good. A barebones sandbox that is just busywork getting in the way of a kinetic novel is trash.

 

[Lazarus90]

i dont mind sand box elements in games, just dont use it as an excuse to pad out your game. If the game is only gonna have 10 hours of content as a VN and 15-20 as a sand box, then im generally gonna prefer the VN approach.

 

[User_131536]

I'm not a fan of sand box or open world mechanics in adult games, I play adult games for the pleasure and entertainment I'm not looking for anything too complicated.

 

[xxxlugexxx]

I like the sandbox style, it makes you more involved with the story, even though people think it's just a waste of time.

 

[piripi]

i personally enjoy sandbox games

 

[Trickster]

I usually avoid them because they require too much time for grinding, but there’s an exception for games where the sandbox is well-managed and the game is good

 

[MrTrue]

If it is in the style of a VN with a sandbox element attached sure. Good examples are the NLT games, BaDiK, and my all-time favorite game Photo Hunt.
They all use a sandbox element where it never gets grindy and actually make sense out of a story perspective. (Also helps out a lot with branching paths if they don't have to be all tied into each other)
Now games that use sandbox as their main source of gameplay I can't stand at all.
Good example of it is A House in the Rift which has you roaming around for an unnecessary amount of time and creates very frustrating moments of gameplay.

 

[KPIG_TV]

If game made well, I will try to do everything that it require

 

[HarryMason]

I don't mind it as long as it adds something to the game and isn't just padding for more playtime or to drip feed content.

 

[Barryton42]

sandbox elements makes u more engaged