Which is more important in a Visual Novel to you?

[Pyonkotchi]

This gts asked a lot. They go hand in hand. It's a visual novel naturally it should have nice visuals AND a great story o:

[Zocha]

My opinion is probably biased because I'm an artist, but I'll always appreciate a visual novel more if it has great artwork.

Like some people have said, if the artwork isn't good enough, it automatically turns me off and I won't even consider playing it. Even if it has the best story in the world, I would rather read it without any graphics than having to stand to see some horribly drawn art beside it.

[Raalk]

Plot. I love the hell out of Umineko and it has crap-for-art.
Tsukihime is also my favorite VN and it's less than stellar.

[Elenakiara]

While the art has to be pretty at least to some minimal extent or just not 'too' ugly, the story is what's important in my opinion. Sure, great art and a great plot would be perfect, but it's not always the case.

[Machus]

Hard choice.
Do you mean pure art quality or the execution?
The story in Eyes of a Dead Fish was touching, and the art, though simple, was striking. That is a good example of a great game. (one I recommend to any who haven't yet tried it)

It's a bit in favor of story, because I can play a game with terrible (to an extent) art as long as the story is really great. However, if the story is bad, then I find myself unmotivated to continue playing the game.

[otomegirl24]

For me, I'd say the story is more important. If I don't like the story, I probably won't finish it even if the graphics are good.

[GeminiStar00]

I think they're intertwined.

Personally, the method of VN storytelling that's always disappointed me the most is when it relies on narration to tell the story. You know, the types where they show you a background, and then the narrator goes on and on and on and on for paragraphs. It's especially annoying when so often the scenes end with no character interaction whatsoever. You might as well be reading a book.

I always thought that narration should be used for establishing atmosphere, but the real storytelling should be intertwined with dialogue, visuals and audio portions (music, SFX, etc). I mean, what's the point of creating a visual novel if you're not going to use the visual portion to your advantage?

So...it's not a question of "which one is more important." It's a question of, how do use one to enhance the other?