Which do you like better Kinec or Nonlinear visual novels?

[ririruetoo]

I was just wondering what people liked. I myself enjoy Nonlinear the best.

[YonYonYon]

IMO, nonlinear is the best. 'cuz I'm an Explorationist

[Taleweaver]

Nonlinear. Kinenos rarely appeal to me; I could watch a good movie instead, or read a good book. It's the choices that make it juicy for me.

[lordcloudx]

I generally enjoy non-branching visual novels more, though I hesitate to use the term, "kinetic novel." I rarely enjoy the "gameplay" aspect of visual novels although I don't really discriminate against those types of VNs. I prefer minimal branching if possible like in Swan Song.

[Death_HUG]

I love nonlinear VN! I love making choices and see what happens after! I havn't read any kinetic VN and they don't really interest me...

[HigurashiKira]

I like kinetic novels more, Narcussu being one of the reasons why.
I've come to dislike Non-Linear games after a certain"incident" involving a non-linear game.

Case in point:

[bunny-gypsy]

This is me for all games in general: I prefer non-linear stuff. That's why I like Simulation games (like The Sims, dating Sims, Startopia, etc) and "sandbox"-y games (think iNFAMOUS or Grand Theft Auto or Elder Scrolls games), or games with multiple choices (Mass Effect, Dragon Age) or exploration (Elder Scrolls games and adventure games).

I do like some linear stuff (ex: Uncharted 2, Darksiders, Prince of Persia, etc), but I tend to like to feel in control in some aspect, whether or not it affects the story or not.

I like to feel involved in some way.

I need to actually do something in the game, even if it's only the battles in between the cutscenes.

Otherwise, I could just get a good comic book and/or books (and there are many to choose from) instead, heh.

A "kinetic" visual novel (why do they call it kinetic? Because the story moves regardless whether or not you are actually clicking? I thought the ones with choices would be kinetic, lol!) would have to have a really, really, good story or an interesting and unique premise (like, not in a high school, for example) for me to consider playing it.

[Cidz]

I like non-linear works. Since I'm playing a game I would like some sort of game play/involvement. That is why i was appealed to VNs and Dating-sims because i got to interact with the characters and choose how i wanted it to end up. It's fun. Reminds me of those choose your own adventure books i loved those as a kid. id read them over and over choosing different choices each time.

[ririruetoo]

I feel the same way as you Cidz! I loved those books as a kid....actually....I still read them....(^_^) But that was what made me interested in Visual Novels, the option to change the story based on what you would say or do. I love them~! Kinetic are okay, but there are only a few I enjoy.

[HikkiPanda]

I love both ^^, as long as the story is good

[LVUER]

If the story is really good, I don't mind with kinetic, but I definitely like VN better. If I don't want the interactivity part (and the multi-ending), I would watch anime instead or at least reading a novel.

[Aleema]

Hmm, well, the thing for me is that I generally want more than just a novel. Whether the story branches or not, I play VNs if they're entertaining. I have a backlog of novels I can read if I just wanted a book, so I generally look for gameplay, not how many endings there are. For instance an RPG can be totally linear (story-wise) and I would be very okay with that, because something else is variable and is affected by my choices. Do I like branches? Heck yeah. But it wouldn't make a VN/story better or worse to me. In fact, it can often make a story worse.

[LVUER]

Oh, I thought we are talking about visual novels? Not some hybrid or other genre of games...

If we're talking about games, then it doesn't really matter whether it's linear, branching, or even sandbox (though a sandbox game could also be linear, branching, or have multi-endings). FFXIII is very linear, but I love it. RE4 and 5 are also linear, but I also love both of them. To the extreme, Virtual On is also very linear, but I really really love it.

Although still... I still prefer branching/multi-ending. I kinda hope if there's a way to revive Aerith (and ending where Could ends up with her), for example ^_^

[Aleema]

Yes, we are very much talking about visual novels. I personally think games like Re:Alistair or Planet Stronghold are still a visual novel even though it has gameplay outside of a menu choice. I just apply my fun-o-meter towards all games to visual novels, too.

[Mink]

Eh, I really don't have a preference for one or the other. I don't see how kinetic novels are all that different from, you know, normal novels. I like to read novels, so why wouldn't like them? (Unless I just didn't want to take up space on my computer, but that's what my external/portable hard drive is for)

And either way, both have to interest me story-wise. If a VN has a billion different choices/paths/whatever, it doesn't really matter if what it's about doesn't interest me at all, and the same goes for a KN (story-wise, I mean).