Looking for KN/VN suggestions!

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Inksword
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Looking for KN/VN suggestions!

#1 Post by Inksword »

So, I recently started working towards the idea of making a Kinetic Novel, and made a few posts about it. However, in terms of what I'm most familiar playing, I've basically only played traditional VNs: GUIs with a static background, 1-2 sprites, and dialogue on the bottom. These only very occasionally cut to larger blocks of text and CGs are reserved for very special occasions. However, I want to expand my view of how VNs and KNs can be presented before I start my game. If my story can be told better in a non-standard way I don't want to be blind to the possibility.

I'd really love some suggestions for games that present their content in ways that are different than the standard. Whether they're 100% CGs with no sprites, have interesting cuts, weird art assets, animations, or dynamic GUIs, I'm looking for games that present their text and art in outside-the-box ways. Obviously I'd love if I could save some money and look at free/cheap stuff, but I definitely am willing to pay for quality stuff.

So, any suggestoins?

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Imperf3kt
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Re: Looking for KN/VN suggestions!

#2 Post by Imperf3kt »

Try DDLC (its free, but you can also make a donation)
I didn't personally enjoy it all that much, but I do have to praise it for its out of the box thinking.
I'd rather not spoil too much, but the way that game works, requires you to actually mess with the game files themself.

If you don't mind mild adult content (suggestive moaning, topless sprites), you could give Huniepop a try.
The UI in that game is pretty neat in my opinion.the game progresses by a successful match.three puzzle game. Keep in mind that not everyone is a minigame wizard, so some people may dislike this mechanic.
Warning: May contain trace amounts of gratuitous plot.
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Inksword
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Re: Looking for KN/VN suggestions!

#3 Post by Inksword »

Imperf3kt wrote: Sun May 20, 2018 7:23 pm Try DDLC (its free, but you can also make a donation)
I didn't personally enjoy it all that much, but I do have to praise it for its out of the box thinking.
I'd rather not spoil too much, but the way that game works, requires you to actually mess with the game files themself.

If you don't mind mild adult content (suggestive moaning, topless sprites), you could give Huniepop a try.
The UI in that game is pretty neat in my opinion.the game progresses by a successful match.three puzzle game. Keep in mind that not everyone is a minigame wizard, so some people may dislike this mechanic.
I've actually played DDLC! No worries about spoilers there. By and far it's majorly presented with background/sprites/textbox format, though the parts where it gets... glitchy for lack of a better non-spoilery term are interesting!

I've heard of Hunie pop and seen screenshots, and I think it's an interesting attempt at creating a more interactive experience for what's essentially a non-interactive linear story of want girl > progress > get girl. I'll definitely think about checking it out if I end up going really broad in my explorations.

Keep em coming!

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Re: Looking for KN/VN suggestions!

#4 Post by morinoir »

If you're looking for non-standard story telling in vn or kn, I found this two while searching for some references some time ago.
Quartett! by Littlewitch. You can read the article of it along with some screenshots here : https://www.ricedigital.co.uk/visual-no ... -quartett/
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Also Shoujo Mahou Gaku Little Witch Romanesque, again, by Littlewitch. And here's the review so you can get better understanding of the game : http://www.otakustudy.com/visual-novel/ ... el-review/
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Re: Looking for KN/VN suggestions!

#5 Post by Zelan »

don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story partially uses the "traditional" VN style, but also makes heavy use of an onscreen phone feature, which is used to give information in another way besides through dialogue. It also allows themes like online privacy to be explored a little bit. This one is rather long and it would take you several hours to reach an ending, but playing for just a few minutes would give you a good idea of how the phone mechanic works.

Nightowl and .help by Mikomi both use a chatroom mechanic. It's similar to a traditional VN in that you simply click to advance the text, but everything is drawn so that it looks like an actual chatroom. Nightowl uses only the chatroom mechanic, while .help switches between that and traditional VN setup. Both are pretty short and you could quickly play through either or both to get a feel for the chatroom mechanic.

Her Tears Were My Light utilizes a really cool time travel mechanic. You can travel back in time and change the decisions that you've made; however, reaching a certain point before rewinding also adds new choices that you didn't have before. (I should add that the "tutorial" for this mechanic is perfectly worked into the story, so it doesn't have to pause and say "THIS IS HOW THE GAME WORKS.") The main menu screen also changes based on which ending you've most recently achieved. One route is pretty short and easy to complete, but I would recommend playing through all the endings for the full experience and understanding of the time travel mechanic. (Also, it's a super cute story.)

I woke up next to you again. actually doesn't deviate all that much from read text, choose option, but it's all drawn so that it looks very dynamic and it doesn't actually feel traditional at all. One playthrough takes only 5-10 minutes and I would highly recommend getting all four endings. It's a really meaningful game and definitely one of my favorites of all time.

Natalie and Nobody Understands MIA by kenibatz both lean more towards being games than pure visual novels, so they might not be exactly what you're looking for, but they do showcase what else you can do with a game. Both are pretty short. Natalie is another personal favorite.

Put A Sock In It! is a lot of fun; it starts with you picking two characters to star in the scene. At certain points, three options will come up on screen and you'll have to choose one. The branching gets pretty crazy at times and it takes a lot of dedication to get every ending, but the way choices are done is really interesting as just one different choice can lead to an entirely different ending. As mentioned before, it will take a very long time to get every ending, but playing just a few will give you a good idea of how the game works (and hopefully you can find one of the morals).

What's Your Name? uses a personality test at the beginning to decide which route you'll play. It takes a bit of tinkering to figure out which combinations you'll need to get on each route. After that, the route gets interesting as the questions are timed, so pressure is put into the player to answer each one before time runs out. To make things more high-stakes, sometimes the best answer is not to answer at all. One route in this game is fairly short; it will take longer to play the game to completion (i.e. get all three routes, and the best endings, and see the game's epilogue). However, you can gain a good understanding of the game's mechanics with just one or two playthorughs.

Who Is Mike? also uses the tactic of timed choices, mentioned above, and additionally has an unusual protagonist. I don't want to spoil the VN so I won't say too much here, but everything combines into a really well-done story. It would take quite some time (and probably require a walkthrough) to get every ending, but playing through a couple times will give you an idea of the story and mechanics.

Where the Sun Always Shines uses speech bubbles instead of text boxes to show who's speaking. I haven't personally played this one so I can't attest to its length, but I have played other VNs by ebi-hime and they're always excellent.

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