I've seen a lot of Otome VNs here? Are there no male gamers?

[SnowTrain]

Just wondering - on the WIP and Ideas section there seems to be a lot of Otomes xD.

Are there any non-Otome VNs that perhaps have male characters here? I'm under the impression that male oriented VNs usually contain some nudity or explicit material. What are people's thoughts on having a VN that has a nameable male protagonist that DOES NOT have any nudity or explicit scenes in it - but with dateable female characters?

Will this sort of idea or WIP be welcomed on these forums? Does this forum have any male gamers?

[MaiMai]

Yes, there are males on this forum. Three of our mods are guys. The reason why we have so many female users and otome-centric games in general is that the RenPy engine got more notice after games such as azuretwilight's Fantasia series and Sakevisual's RE: Alistair gained popularity and thus inspired more people to attempt making otomes and found that this forum had the strongest community in discussing and making VNs.

What are people's thoughts on having a VN that has a nameable male protagonist that DOES NOT have any nudity or explicit scenes in it - but with dateable female characters?

Those games are called Persona 3 and Persona 4. So basically, it works as long as you have good characters, good story, etc.

Addon: The only reason I can think of not having explicit material in a VN (male or female protagonist) is because you have a specific audience in mind, that being the one that doesn't like/doesn't care whether there's nudity or not. Either way, such scenes shouldn't determine the quality of the game unless you're just making a straight up porn.

[SnowTrain]

Yes... I found out too. That this is the most active and quite well respected forums for VN discussions. Its just there are a lot of Otomoes in the Idea and WIP section that got me wondering. Persona 3 and Persona 4 aren't really VNs but it will be awesome if something akin to that can be found in a VN style xD.

[LVUER]

Just wondering - on the WIP and Ideas section there seems to be a lot of Otomes xD.

Are there any non-Otome VNs that perhaps have male characters here? I'm under the impression that male oriented VNs usually contain some nudity or explicit material. What are people's thoughts on having a VN that has a nameable male protagonist that DOES NOT have any nudity or explicit scenes in it - but with dateable female characters?

Will this sort of idea or WIP be welcomed on these forums? Does this forum have any male gamers?

Clannad is the only most famous commercial (pure) VN that I can think right now. Little Buster also WAS like that, but later they release the adult version. I think there's still no adult version of Clannad.

[sake-bento]

There are plenty of male gamers here, some of whom make or play otome games as well. And there are plenty of dating games here with a male protagonist and female datable options. There are also a lot of VNs that don't focus on romance at all. Tons of sci-fi, mystery, horror, and some really cool experimental art. I'm probably best known for writing the otome game, RE: Alistair++, but I've also written three mystery games with a male protagonist, so it's not like everything is awash with otome.

To answer your question, I think any "type" of game would be welcome as long as you do your best to make it a good one.

[gekiganwing]

Last year there was a thread called Where are the BxGs? Among its fifteen pages, there should be a mention of how most projects in the early days of Lemma Soft were either "boy pursues girl" or didn't focus on relationships.

I still enjoy BxG, though I usually consider it a guilty pleasure. Incidentally, two of the reasons why I ended up in this fandom are 1) liking the Playstation games Thousand Arms and Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, and 2) hearing about Sakura Wars and Tokimeki Memorial and wanting any sort of translation. (In 2010, there was an official translation of one of the former games, as well as a fan translation of one of the latter games.)

I went to the Visual Novel Database, searched for the tag No Sexual Content, and then used the filter Original Language: English. Here's the results in alphabetical order. I think they're reasonably diverse.

Persona 3 and Persona 4 aren't really VNs but it will be awesome if something akin to that can be found in a VN style xD.

There was a fan project called Holy Grail War: Social Link Edition (based on Fate/Stay Night), but it seems to be offline.

That said, draw your inspiration from whatever you like. It shouldn't matter whether it's Bioware games as far back as Baldur's Gate 2, or Fire Emblem Awakening (which Gamertell lauded for its relationship elements), or gamebooks that include romance themes, or anything else. Create what you want to write.

[SundownKid]

While GxB is popular here for various reasons, that doesn't necessarily mean that BxG or similar games are unpopular in the market as a whole. Nor does it mean that most commercial visual novels are GxB, simply that there are a lot of amateur ones in development. I doubt that guys will stop being a big market for anime and video games anytime soon.

I didn't get into it because of sexual content, simply because I liked playing VN-style video games and RPGs. It's by no means required to sell a visual novel, even a romance one.

[jack_norton]

Can't talk for the freeware scene, but from my personal/business experience in the last 5 years, I honestly think that non-erotic BxG visual novels actually are unpopular. Or people don't buy them
RPGs or sims are another thing. You can't include Persona 3-4 as a visual novel IMHO.

[AxemRed]

Did you make any BxG VNs then? The only one I can recall is Bionic Heart...

[jack_norton]

Yes also the sequel. Two of my worst selling games ever

[fleet]

If you're willing to tolerate a VN with 3d Art, Arnie and the Hitchhiker is BxG game. The PG13 release does not contain nudity or show any sexual activity. Here's the LSF link.
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 11&t=15382

[Destiny]

For reasons that I don't exactly know OR understand, BxG is only popular when combined with fighting, it seems.

Persona 4, Sakura Wars, all those combine the male hero fighting for a girls heart, combined with fighting to save the world.
While GxB seems to be happy with "only" the flirting, the BxG seems to need actual excitement. So they either put the porn into it...or the fighting simulation xD
I also noticed that the latter are often somewhat weird in how to fight and with what.

I mean, Persona has something between monsters and gods, that excist in parallel worlds and can get controlled by cards/killing yourself/whatever.
And Sakura Wars... Well, gigantic mechas skating through a town that is pretty much just the cover for a even more gigantic base, with its center being a sky scraper with big lips that blink when the mechas come out...
They seem to have a fascinating kind of fighting mechanics and humour xD

But yeah, the only games where a boy chases after his love and it is mainly only romantic without fighting simulations or anything...is in BxB ô_o
Maybe men are just not interested.

Sadly, most people live the stereorypes and are only interested in what they are supposed to be interested. So most guys probably don't even play VNs to begin with, as the stereotype wants them to like more action-based games, be it shooters, survival or simliar. Leaving the VN area with a big amount of women that are "main audience".

[AxemRed]

I feel the need to point out that neither Persona nor Sakura Wars are visual novels.

>But yeah, the only games where a boy chases after his love and it is mainly only romantic without fighting simulations or anything...is in BxB ô_o
I have no idea where you got that idea from, but I can assure you VNs like Clannad didn't stop existing.

[trooper6]

I'm a male gamer and I've found lots of VNs play. Some with female protagonists, some not. Some with romance, some not.

What have a played with a male protagonist?
All of Christine Love's three big works can have a male protagonist (Digital, Don't Take It Personally Babe, Analogue and Hate+)
Face Time
Cave Cave Deus Videt
The Elevator
Ristorante Amore

And there have been games I haven't even played yet like Katawa Shoujo--which seems to be particularly famous and important as an English VN.

So...yeah. There seem to be quite a few male protagonist games out there. But again, I also can enjoy a female protagonist as well.

[Destiny]

I feel the need to point out that neither Persona nor Sakura Wars are visual novels.

>But yeah, the only games where a boy chases after his love and it is mainly only romantic without fighting simulations or anything...is in BxB ô_o
I have no idea where you got that idea from, but I can assure you VNs like Clannad didn't stop existing.

Point 1:
Sakura Wars has sections that could be called VN
Also, the topic is Otome games, which are often Vns, but not necessarily. I was trying to stay general.

And Clannad is fine, I like the game.
But how many more are there? Like, really just romantic VNs that are BxG, aiming at (also) a male audience?
I really don't know/find that many without going into side streaks like Persona did.
But then again, I myself am female and maybe search at the wrong places