Visual novels and "Interactivity"

[Ophi LeCracheuRouge]

As a visual novel player, I have found that most of the visual novel that i played are not as interactive as I would like. When i think of playing a Visual Novel instead of another media like an anime or a book, i feel like interactivity is one the major pros of visual novel but for most of the Visual Novel that i played the interactive part is like neglected, like the author just put few choice because it's a Visual Novel and he think that he has too. I have a feeling that the interactivity in visual novel is not what it should be. Maybe i am the only one to feel that way ?

So here's the question, do you think interactivity as an important part of visual novel ? Why ?
Do you think that there's many people that want more interactive visual novel ?
What are you playing or writing visual novel instead of other medias ?
How should we write visual novel protagonist ? As a interface between the player and the game or as a character like the other with this own backstories ?

I have a personal project of a "interactive" visual novel so your responses will help me a lot !

[gekiganwing]

... do you think interactivity as an important part of visual novel ? Why ?

It can be enjoyable. A Midsummer Day's Resonance is a short story with no choices or gameplay, and I liked it. Toradora Portable had some choices as well as adventure game elements (the protagonist can find items, some of which unlock choices). I mostly liked it. Sakura Wars 5 had timed choices, exploration, as well as tactical RPG battles. I mostly liked it.

Do you think that there's many people that want more interactive visual novel ?

There's a fanbase for story rich games. (I have seen this topic discussed on the Gaming Suggestions sub-Reddit quite a bit.) There's a fanbase for 3D polygon games which don't feature combat, but where the player experiences a story through interaction. People still enjoy interactive fiction. Likewise, people still enjoy classic graphic adventure games.

Unfortunately, I don't have any insight as to what sells. Someone else might. The best advice I can offer as an amateur is "today's bestseller is tomorrow's snark bait." In other words, trends can end quickly. A game can go from popular to forgotten in a hurry.

How should we write visual novel protagonist ? As a interface between the player and the game or as a character like the other with this own backstories ?

There are video games in which the player can customize their protagonist. Sometimes it's possible to shape their morality through choices and actions. Meanwhile, there are other video games in which the protagonist is pre-defined, and the player can only change their weapons and armor. I would not be surprised if there are options somewhere between "lots of customization options" and "almost no customization."

Think about reading the TV Tropes article So You Want to Make a Visual Novel. Just keep in mind that this website can be a time sink...

I have a personal project of a "interactive" visual novel so your responses will help me a lot !

Mix formats, styles, and genres as much as you want. Just be careful with the scope of your project. Plan to write only as much as you know that you can manage.

[puppetbomb]

The problem with more interactivity is that it becomes an extra aspect of a game that needs prototyping/testing/balancing, which translates into almost double the amount of work. It is probably by far the biggest reason why VNs with very little interactivity happens to be the most popular type of VNs for independant creators. Most creators you'll find here won't have the funds to hire game designers, so it makes more sense to strip down a VN to its core, which for the most part is story.

Anyways to your questions:

So here's the question, do you think interactivity as an important part of visual novel ? Why ?
Yes. A visual novel, being a sub-genre of the Adventure Game, must be interactive to fulfill its existence as a game.

Do you think that there's many people that want more interactive visual novel ?
Yes. Telltale games has proved that there is an audience for more interactive games. A major criticism, however, was that the choices made by the player had little to no bearing on the story. Independent VN creators have an edge in that aspect, since they don't have the same expectations to use the latest and greatest engine for graphics as Telltale. Meaning no pressure of deciding whether or not if it's worth it to spend thousands of dollars adding an extra story less than 10% of players will see.

What are you playing or writing visual novel instead of other medias ?
I'm assuming you mean "why"? I work in production on the art side, so I can see the appeal of having a set of reusable assets that can be used and reused almost infinitely.

How should we write visual novel protagonist ? As a interface between the player and the game or as a character like the other with this own backstories ?
It depends on how you want the reader to experience the story. There are many ways you can write a protagonist. There are fewer ways to write one that fits the type of story you are writing.

[MapletreePaper]

I'm working on my own VN and as a fellow player/reader I'll give you my take on this. I'm fairly new to the development scene, so please don't take my word as gospel.

1) Yes and no. Like you said interactivity is the main advantage visual novels have over traditional books and movies, but personally it doesn't hurt my experience if I'm railroaded through the game. I'm here for the characters and plot, if there's branching paths or a fun mini-game than that's all just gravy. Steins;Gate is my favourite VN and its first meaningful choice is almost halfway through.

2) Certainly. On a few occasions I've heard people complain that their "choices don't matter" in the VN they were playing. So make sure your choices actually mean something. Don't have the player choose what to eat for breakfast or who to sit beside if it won't land up impacting anything. Of course the story's flow chart would begin ballooning rapidly if every choice caused a different outcome, that's why most VNs use impactful choices very sparingly. This is circular logic though and leads to the problem discussed at the beginning of the paragraph. Unless you're making a dating sim I'm afraid there's no easy solution.

3) I assume you meant "why" and not "what". I'm making a VN because my vision requires both multiple endings and bilingual voice acting, a feat difficult to achieve in other mediums because of their limitations. I started playing VNs after I got into anime, it seemed like an obvious next step.

4) Ultimately it's up to you, but in my opinion the interface protagonist doesn't belong in anything other than a dating sim. In those games you're dating the other characters, so it makes sense that you'd what to slip into the protagonist's shoes. However, in say a sci-fi story, the cons of using an interface protagonist become much more open and hard to ignore. Think hard if you really need to go this route and how you'd approach it. Personally I'd rather the protagonist be their own character with their own backstory.

I hope that was helpful. You don't appear to be a native English speaker, so I suggest finding someone to proofread your VN before release. Your post, while totally understandable, has quite a few spelling and grammar errors. Good luck with your project regardless!

[Elsa Kisiel]

"So here's the question, do you think interactivity as an important part of visual novel ? Why ?"
Interactivity is the reason I'm playing visual novels. Unless the story and/or the graphic are really impressives, I'm not interested in kinetics novels.

"Do you think that there's many people that want more interactive visual novel ?"
Depend of what you mean by that. I know that some people want to have as much choices as possible, but others would prefer few but meaningful choices.

"What are you playing or writing visual novel instead of other medias ?"
I choose the media that fits the best the story. One of my projects is about a murder, and it will be more interesting if the player themselves are trying to solve it.

"How should we write visual novel protagonist ? As a interface between the player and the game or as a character like the other with this own backstories ?"
I hate "blank-sheet characters". I know they have theirs advantages. But I always write main characters with a personality, a past, and established relation-ships.

[Mutive]

So here's the question, do you think interactivity as an important part of visual novel ? Why ?

Yes. If I wanted to read a comic book, I will read a comic book. (I do occasionally read/enjoy kinetic novels, but it's an occasional thing in large part because I truly do believe that if I want a linear story with no interactivity, I'd be better off reading a comic/manga/graphic novel. Different media do things better than others and the *point* to me of having a video game is being able to interact with it rather than passively watch it.)

Do you think that there's many people that want more interactive visual novel ?

No idea. My best guess would be that there are a number of others who value interactivity, but have been wrong before and will be again.

What are you playing or writing visual novel instead of other medias ?

I like the ability to choose my own fate and make choices that feel meaningful, as well as to think and pay attention to the consequences of my actions in the way I couldn't in a comic. (Because, in a comic, the game is *always* the same.)

How should we write visual novel protagonist ? As a interface between the player and the game or as a character like the other with this own backstories ?

I think they can both work as can something in between.

Interactivity inherently means that *some* of the protagonist's behavior (and therefore personality) is determined by the player. But the protagonist can still have a *lot* of personality while doing that.

There isn't one *right* way. I can enjoy a blank slate protagonist because it's interesting to explore what *I'd* do if put into a given scenario (or what an insane melomaniac who likes torturing kids can do, depending on what I do with the character). It can also be interesting to have someone with more personality and just tweak the choices that person makes.

(Think the Inquisitor in DA:I vs. Geralt in "The Witcher". Both are great games. Geralt is a more interesting character because he's a character vs. a blank slate. But it's also fun to create an Inquisitor who does want I want her to do and I have a lot more control over the sort of character I build in DA:I because she *is* a blank slate.)

[RicharDann]

So here's the question, do you think interactivity as an important part of visual novel ? Why ?

To some extent, yes. I mostly prefer to have impactful choices or other kinds of interactivity. Though if you add too much interactivity, your game becomes less of a visual novel and towards other genres.

Do you think that there's many people that want more interactive visual novel ?

Probably most visual novel fans are happy with typical choice-based games with multiple routes or endings, however I'm sure there are a lot of great kinetic novels (visual novels without choices) out there and people that likes them, even I have played a few short kinetic novels and enjoyed them. Of course, I would love to see more visual novels with more gameplay, as long as they don't overdo it, I really liked Ace Attorney for example for the innovative puzzles and mechanics it mixed with its otherwise visual novel format.

What are you playing or writing visual novel instead of other medias ?

I love the medium and have always believed in its great potential since I played Fate Stay Night years ago and was blown away by its careful depth and complexity despite being an indie doujin game from 2004.

How should we write visual novel protagonist ? As a interface between the player and the game or as a character like the other with this own backstories ?

As long as it fits your narrative, either type of character is fine. Which one is best is subject to each individual opinion.

[Exagie]

Personally I feel the same way. I like my Visual Novels to be game-like in that there are lots of options to make, whether that's just by making choices to get with a certain character, or if there are more complex additions like map systems, character customization, etc. I don't think they need to be full of gameplay to the point that we lose the choice-based option storytelling, but if I wanted to sit down and read a comic book where my decisions make little to no impact on the story overall, I would do just that. I really enjoy games with a diverse amount of options that can lead to different endings, but that's just me. Games like this for me are things like the Heart no Kuni no Alice series.

-Exi