discussion What makes a good Visual Novel?

[JACKOAT]

I attempted to get feedback on this topic in a different forum and was called a "troll" - apparently when I replied to a response with a critique of something I didn't think made for a good VN I was completely off base and therefore a "troll". I'll give it a shot here with you wonderfully open-minded folks.

So, what makes for a good Visual Novel? I'll add my two cents once we get the ball rolling...who wants to start?

 

[darkmkfv]

For me I feet that a good story is always a good start, when the plot becomes too weird or confusing (23 Sisters) it can become less appealing.
PS: I know that 23 sisters is his first game and the story of Tomboy Supremacy is soooo good mainly Cozmo, when it became Mexican... lets say nationalist i could not stop laughing

 

[John123111]

An important thing is the pacing and writing. Some games have to much talking and it makes you want to click to the good bit. Also the amount of words there are in the text box. Should be max 3 sentences.

 

[LewdistMaker]

The characters... I'm willing to play/read a VN consisting of stick figures and no sound if the characters are well written.

 

[titan543]

Decent story, maybe some character depth, and just some decent visuals that are at least at standard higher than something like Koikatsu should be good enough to be considered 'good' tbh.

 

[Gravespawn]

I would say storytelling, replay ability, and sense this is a visual medium the images . Having all 3 is great but at least having 2 would put you above most people.

 

[gostek]

Taboo, lust, love, passion, slow burn, choices, long sex scenes and lot of dirt talk when sex happen

 

[sten04]

A solid idea of what the game is supposed to be, is it a MC fucks all the chicks? Little to no story is needed. If it is more then that, I need a solid story and good characters. Games like Rouge Like Evolution don't need story or much writing really, still a good game. If a game tries to have a story like The Null Hypothesis then there needs to be good writing.

So to me, as long as the game creator knows what they want to make and sticks to that, the game will work. Although the graphics need to at least be decent!

 

[1michiko]

novel plots is what I prefer. add good game mechanics or progression. thats what I enjoy.

 

[refed]

good story not just a bunch of empty text.

 

[AlienPls3]

When it is overporned it loses it's only uniqueness. Everyone can do porn, but can you make it realistic enough to be immersive. So basically where porn is in the minority or at least well done.

 

[VYGGTTI]

Definitely a good Story

 

[thiagodias]

Having good visuals in an 18+ work is always one of the most important things. Then comes a good rhythm, no one likes walls of text for a few renders. And then comes the story itself and its characters, which must be captivating and make consumers always wait for the next update.

 

[User_102756]

I just need decent visuals and a good story

 

[User_63839]

A good VN needs a good story, with well thought out characters. Visuals usually take a back seat, even bad VNs can have good visuals.

 

[AsuraEU]

Coherent story according to the context, no one-dimensional characters, no basic models, a good enough UI with adjustable elements, kinks properly worked on instead of just being thrown around, multiple releases a year (if not short game) and finally the game isn't abandoned. That's about it.

 

[Peter S]

It needs pregnancies, what else ? ^^

 

[Nosian]

The story needs to be engaging enough and it should avoid massive blocks of text. Having animations and reactions help break up the dialogue makes it much easier to read than just paragraphs of unbroken text.

 

[mime]

The best have an interesting story without being too dense.

Some are too dense and people will just SKIIIIIIIIIP everything.

Renders should be good enough to not distract from the gameplay.

And if you want to get away with not having choice for the player, you need to have a darn good story and/or renders.

 

[Hunter4Ever]

Not so much dialog. Some games just insert so many dialogs to make the game time longer.