POV shift

[Aoyama Ryuu]

Ok, so I was struck by an idea while writing.

The prologue to my story is written from the point of view of one of the heroines that the main character can fall in love with. As such, I didn't think I could slide in any choices, but then I thought about it and asked myself 'Why not?'

So what I've thought about is that the POV should shift from time to time so that the heroines can make choices as well as the main character. Not really like crafting a dialog between them, but some of the girls' choices would be needed for the love story to brew, as much as the MC's. It sounded good in my mind, but I wanted to get a second opinion before I give it more shape.

So, what do you guys think? Would you like something like that? Worthless, time consuming?

[Alera]

Oh! I actually like that idea!
But it sounds a bit tricky. I'm curious how it could turn out.

[Radhreni]

I think this is a fascinating idea! Real world relationships require participation by both (or more!) individuals involved -- why not a VN or dating sim that models itself after that?

Well, the first reason I can think of is that it's probably harder to program, and the second is that the writing will be even more involved -- difficult, even, depending on the skill of the writer(s) on the project. But I would still love to see someone try this.

[LVUER]

Not a bad idea... though I don't know if it's good for VN... in the end, it's all depends on the writer's ability. Just be careful, since switching POV too often could confuse your readers, and lessen the immersion (since you're not playing you/one character).

There are several VN that do POV switch, usually to the heroine's POV whose path is being played right now. But not too often, perhaps only once or twice during the entire story. Just too spice things up...

[Aoyama Ryuu]

Well, my main character tends to do some crazy disappearance acts once in a while in which the POV shifts to another character anyway; what I was wondering was if I should give the character choices. Not really action choices, but more like choices that lead the girls to think about their relationship more.

The problem with that is - will it still feel like the main character, whom the reader should identify with, is falling in love? Or will it just feel that two manifestations of his self are each playing their role to fall in love?

I don't think the POV shift will be confusing as I change from 1st person to 3rd person immersed when I change POV.

I'm still not sure how I should approach this, I don't want it to seem artificial, like something directed by the reader.