Different genres

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GratuitousMoonspeak
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Different genres

#1 Post by GratuitousMoonspeak »

Not sure if this goes here or in writing, but...

How does everyone feel about noir? Detective stories? Murder mysteries? There are a few mystery games I've encountered, but most of them seem to be focused on romance and not mystery, but of course this isn't always the case. I know romance isn't the only thing that gets written about in VNs, but it certainly seems that way sometimes. Are there any genres anyone wants to see more of? Personally I wouldn't mind a (good) fantasy story.

Also, if anyone has any recommendations, I'd be glad to hear them.
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Re: Different genres

#2 Post by Anarchy »

Go read When They Cry. Now.

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Re: Different genres

#3 Post by HigurashiKira »

Anarchy wrote:Go read When They Cry. Now.
That, anything by Nitro+ (Those could all fall under noir if not for the fact that they arent detective stories) Kara no Shoujo is also a good one.

I actually like those genres, and it makes me a bit sad how romance tends to derail them, despite the 20 Commandments of Van Dine saying they shouldn't do that. And I'd love to see more fantasy-horror (Like the kinds Lovecraft wrote) since I adore that genre
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Re: Different genres

#4 Post by Gambit74 »

Incidentally, those three you've mentioned are some of my favorite genres. Aside from those, I wish there were more psychological thrillers/horrors. Not just in visual novels, but in animes and video games as well.

When They Cry (Higurashi specifically) is really well done, but I must admit that although I do like Umineko, I didn't enjoy it as much as Higurashi though.
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Re: Different genres

#5 Post by sciencewarrior »

I must admit I can't get enough romance, but one genre I'd like to see is the Dan Brown/Tom Clancy action-oriented thriller. There's potential for all kinds of interesting puzzle elements and the occasional timed challenge.
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Re: Different genres

#6 Post by saguaro »

I'd like to see more detective story/mystery games. The medium is really perfect for it.

Rex Stout agreed with Dine, he once said something like, "Murders are the only important mysteries" (a la Archie Goodwin). Maybe that's true for a novel that's hundreds of pages, but for a short VN or a longer VN with different mysteries for each chapter I think it would be a nice change of pace to get away from murder and focus on other crimes, or even non-criminal mysteries like unraveling someone's mysterious past.

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Re: Different genres

#7 Post by Auro-Cyanide »

VNs have a strong connection with Renai (which is where the name Ren'Py comes from, Renai+Python) so it's why there is so much romance around. Plus, a lot of people are drawn to romance. I like to see it even if it is only hinted at and is by far a sub plot. I like my warm fuzzies and sexy moments.

Anyway, I like all types of genres so it's good to see a wide range (my primary one is sci-fi and mystery). For Mystery and detective work a good one is Hotel Dusk. Awesome stylisation too.

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Re: Different genres

#8 Post by Van Knox »

saguaro wrote:I'd like to see more detective story/mystery games. The medium is really perfect for it.

Rex Stout agreed with Dine, he once said something like, "Murders are the only important mysteries" (a la Archie Goodwin). Maybe that's true for a novel that's hundreds of pages, but for a short VN or a longer VN with different mysteries for each chapter I think it would be a nice change of pace to get away from murder and focus on other crimes, or even non-criminal mysteries like unraveling someone's mysterious past.
I see the point Dine and Stout make when they say that--I think John Dickson Carr said something along those lines as well but I can't recall--but no one can deny how theft can be a worthy crime in mystery fiction if committed by the right criminal, like Arsene Lupin. Their point was probably that it was hard to make the reader care about a lesser crime than murder, and I can see where they are coming from. The tension is "Will this horrible act be avenged?" which is very much different from the kind of tension one would get from theft, though it could still be just as intense. But with gentlemen thieves such as Lupin, it becomes pretty easy to involve the reader with the crime.

And as you said, the medium is perfect for mysteries, so I think VNs can afford to do some experimentation with it. I wish there were more mystery VNs. While most VNs rely on a ton of choices, all mysteries really need is that one final choice, when the reader is asked to think it through and name the culprit. I'm currently working on a fantasy/mystery one myself, because the idea of mystery visual novels sounds really interesting. I really want to see someone use the medium to take Ellery Queen's "challenge to the reader" to another level.

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Re: Different genres

#9 Post by GratuitousMoonspeak »

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys! Just started playing Saya no Uta and... I would kind of like to see more Lovecraftian visual novels out there. I'm not a big fan of Lovecraft, but he did influence the horror genre in some pretty significant ways (though I also feel that horror writers need to take more pages out of his book, he was pretty great at building atmosphere).

Speaking of which, I wish more non-professional VN writers would focus on horror.
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Re: Different genres

#10 Post by Anarchy »

[shameless plug]You should check out my horror VN then![/shameless plug] And if I'm not wrong, Taleweaver has several awesome mystery/SF/horror pieces lying about, so you should check those out too.

Saya no Uta is a goddamn masterpiece and is probably what really got me into VNs in the first place. Urobutcher is the best.

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Re: Different genres

#11 Post by GratuitousMoonspeak »

Anarchy wrote:[shameless plug]You should check out my horror VN then![/shameless plug] And if I'm not wrong, Taleweaver has several awesome mystery/SF/horror pieces lying about, so you should check those out too.

Saya no Uta is a goddamn masterpiece and is probably what really got me into VNs in the first place. Urobutcher is the best.
About your VN: It was entertaining but a bit confusing at the end. Though, I don't know if that was what you were going for... Even so, I liked it. It didn't scare me much, but yeah, still entertaining.

And I really like Urobuchi's writing. He's probably one of the better writers I know of, even though I've only experienced his stuff through fan translations.
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Re: Different genres

#12 Post by ThisIsNoName »

I can't think of the genre name, but one thing I would like to see more of is something kind of like The A-Team, MacGyver, Cowboy Bebop, or even Seven Samurai. Basically, where the main characters have a problem to solve, and the majority of the storytelling takes place within the scope of that problem, with backstory coming second.
I suppose you could call it an episodic VN, but that might be confused with a VN that just has multiple parts.

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Re: Different genres

#13 Post by GratuitousMoonspeak »

ThisIsNoName wrote:I can't think of the genre name, but one thing I would like to see more of is something kind of like The A-Team, MacGyver, Cowboy Bebop, or even Seven Samurai. Basically, where the main characters have a problem to solve, and the majority of the storytelling takes place within the scope of that problem, with backstory coming second.
I suppose you could call it an episodic VN, but that might be confused with a VN that just has multiple parts.
Ooh, that sounds really interesting! I'm not sure if that format even has a name (though I'm sure it actually does). But besides that, I think the format would work well with visual novels (and some people already do episodes, if I'm not mistaken, just not in the way you described).
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Re: Different genres

#14 Post by Greeny »

I'd like to see more western-style noir VNs. I don't mean like noir games made in the west, I mean as in there's just something particular about the murder mysteries in the west. I couldn't pinpoint it though.
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