in general, what made you want to read a visual novel?

[trooper6]

Oh I should have probably mentioned this as well. I'm a Mac gamer and if it isn't available on the Mac, I'm not going to play it, no matter how interesting it seems.

Also, what are OP and PV?

oh sorry about that, i'm not specific enough.
OP = Opening movie
PV = Promotional Video

i hope that answer your question

Thanks for explaining! I don't think most of the games I like even have opening movies or promotional videos!

[Uuzuchan]

A game that keeps me reading
There are a lot of games out there that have good arts and stories but don't have good writing. The game should be interesting and easy to understand. I usually stop playing that game if it is confusing or boring.

[Chasing Summer]

Although you’re not supposed to judge a book from its cover, the art/title is what usually catches my eyes first. But I make the real decision after reading what the story’s about. If you don’t like the outside, most people won’t bother to look on the inside. This is not always the case but yeah.

[Googaboga]

I first started reading VNs because I loved games with lots of story and multiple endings. VNs are obviously good for that XD. Nowadays I'm a bit more picky than I used to be since I've read quite a few VNs by this point. Normally the first thing I consider is the genre. If the genre is something I like I'm willing to be much more accepting of all the other aspects to the game. But if it is a genre I am not too interested in the game will have to make that up in other ways such as nice art or a good synopsis for me to consider playing it.

[Rinima]

The story.
Gotta have a good story.

I mean, good graphics and music are pluses, but not a necessity for me.

As a wise person once said (can't remember who) "A good story can save bad music and art, but good music and art can't save a bad story.".

[moonlightmaiden]

Definitely the story. I was already introduced to text based games and then through searching, I found visual novels. As I got into the world, I was excited to have art let me have a more concrete image of the story. Then as a musician, hearing beautiful music had me in love. Then as a computer science major as of last year, the interface has me curious about how someone created one... So, while the story is what enticed me to the world (and still the main component for me), everything that comes into play makes me happy.

[Crystaline Spade]

Because it counts as a JRPG, that's all.
For Hakuoki, it had shinsengumi...

[DeletedUser160413]

I first saw this game called Surviving High School on iOS while randomly searching for some good games on my iphone. It wasn't really popular or anything, I think I actually searched for high school or something. I'm the type who always liked dress up games and girly online games as a kid, so I downloaded it. I found it entertaining after playing the prologue of the game and they even released a new chapter for free every week. So I decided to buy a couple of their stories and really enjoyed them.

I didn't even know the name of these kind of games but then I searched for more on apple store and found voltage inc.'s games. I found their graphics way more appealing than the previous game but didnt enjoy the stories so much after playing the free prologues so I put it on hold.

It was only after like a year when I kind of got into anime that I realised that I wanted to play it again. A couple of months later after playing almost every route of "In your arms tonight", I realised I wanted to make my own story and randomly found Ren'Py. Took me a while to find this forum and realise it was the official one where people actually help each other, so I signed up.

[Green Glasses Girl]

For me it would probably go something like:
Artwork > Story > GUI > Music

I'm with this. Well, with characters and artwork in about the same place. Artwork is going to be the thing that catches my attention first in a VN. The characters also have to be interesting enough for me to keep reading.

[Tonna]

1st Artwork --> 2nd Story --> 3rd Sound&Voice