Help introducing to Visual Novel

[jr-t]

hello there,

I heard about visual novel but don't know much about it.
Then which ones do you recommend me to be well introduced to VN ?
You sure have some best of, good examples of what can be a VN.

By the way, I read sevral time "kinetic novel", what is that ?

[Victoria Jennings]

I would suggest hopping on over to Other Story-Based Games on the bottom of the front page if you're looking for some good VNs. Or else, just go to the Completed Games section and download a few that catch your eye.

And as for your other question...

A kinetic novel is basically a visual novel, except without choices.

[rasburn]

If you want to try a nice VN with more gameplay (and less linear story) then I'd recommend RE: Alistair++

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =11&t=6726

It's a GirlxBoy game (you play as the girl) in case that makes any difference to you.

If you want to play a more story-driven game (either kinetic novels, or VNs with some branching choices) I think most games in the completed forums are like that. I'd recommend playing some of the shorter ones first

[Hijiri]

A good visual novel to start with is Narcissu, a free VN. Its more on the novel side than an actual game, but it is very well written and really impactful. Umineko no Naku Koro ni is also a good one (Its commercial, but EP1 is free and translated by Witch Hunt) hough can ne a bit long.

@rasburd, I think Re:Alistar is good for those who know what they're getting into (Who have two or three VNs under their belt) since the paths and the like may confuse some newbies.

[rasburn]

Yeah, I guess you might be right about Re:Alistair. It does contain a bunch of gameplay though

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a Kinetic Novel (no choices), and really long, but many people like it. It's the first VN I played, and I've played almost the whole series. The story is a bit weird / hard to follow, but the music is awesome (and is the reason I played it to start with).

[Hijiri]

Yeah, I guess you might be right about Re:Alistair. It does contain a bunch of gameplay though

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a Kinetic Novel (no choices), and really long, but many people like it. It's the first VN I played, and I've played almost the whole series. The story is a bit weird / hard to follow, but the music is awesome (and is the reason I played it to start with).

The problem coming from starting with ones with gameplay/choices is the fact that you start expecting similar things in other VNs. Just to put as an example (this is game-relates, but not VN related) CoD players going into, say TF2, will be so acustomed to what CoD has done that they won't really give it much of a chance. So IMO, its best to start with the least interactice games so that you build up a sort of "tolerance" to long periods without making any sort of choice.

[Auro-Cyanide]

Visual Novel tends to be a rather broad definition and can include a fair bit under it's umbrella, but generally they are novels that incorporate graphics, movement and sound. Generally they also include a level of interactivity, like making choices and sometimes further to include point and click elements and even Sim and RPG elements. Games that don't have this interactivity are called kinetic novels, as in that they are just novels that move.

Examples really depend what you are looking for. There are different levels of creators, from professional to single hobbyiest, so they tend to vary a lot. If you want to get a taste of what is out there I would suggest playing some demos and some short games from different levels and genres to see what is possible and different things you like. For kinetic novels from us indies I would recommand 'That Cheap and Sacred Thing' for story and 'Juniper's Knot' for visuals. 'Dusk' is also a good one for interesting layout. They are short so you should have trouble getting through them. Visual Novels are a little harder to pin down. I actually think Re:Alistair is a good example because it uses a lot of the typical elements of dating sims that have gameplay, it's polished, it's free, it's fairly short and it has a range of different visual techniques from the chibis, CGs and MMORPG layout. Since you're an artist you will probably mostly be interested in different visual techniques and not just story, so those are the ones I would pick out.

[Razz]

Bionic Hearts got me into VNs. It's also one of the few I can think of that has full voice acting.

Don't take it personally, babe, it just aint your story. A free VN about a teacher exploring the interpersonal lives of his students by spying on their texts.

Analogue: A Hate Story. A VN where you encounter the AI of a derelict ship. Really an unforgettable game.

Cinders. Eye candy VN. Very traditional styled playthrough.

I think all four are good playing experiences and show what VNs are capable of.

[jr-t]

Thanks everyone, i think i'll have a good weekend with these examples to play/read ^^

@Auro-Cyanide
I like your description, this is really instructive ^^

@Hijiri
You probably got a right point !
Interaction bring something really more exciting about story telling.

I tried Bionic Hearts and i'd say have been impressed yet, graphics aren't really impressive (especially the characters) but the telling really catch me.
I already went through 'That Cheap and Sacred Thing' too but didin't read it completetly, i'll give it a new try then.

oh, and another question, does everyone here use Ren'Py ? Is this forum dedicated to this Engine ?

Thanks again

[Auro-Cyanide]

oh, and another question, does everyone here use Ren'Py ? Is this forum dedicated to this Engine ?

Not everyone, but the majority does use Ren'Py. This forum wasn't founded directly around Ren'Py, but because creators interested in visual novels gathered and PyTom, the guy who created and maintains Ren'Py, is here often, it does tend to be the HQ for it. But some people use different engines and codes, and that's fine as well Generally as long as it's a story based game it definitely belongs here.

[jr-t]

And well you know, I think i definitely belong to these place

While I'm discovering all these suggestions I recognize so much of my project in this.
Thought i had a different approach because i'm telling a bit more with pictures. But the engine i'm using allow this since it's more centred on graphic.
Maybe I should post it in the completed game section then ?

Anyhow, i tried all of them but not finish them yet.
My fav is definitely "Don't take it personally, babe, it just aint your story", the double dialog is a killer idea
I like "Bionic heart" because it's really well written.
"RE:Alistair++" and "JuniperKnot" too, even if the first is not enough mature story for me and the second a bit too chatty for nothing.
Thanks you girls and guys ! You really change the general picture i had about VNs

[aeri]

If you would like to give a different VN game a go, you can try katawa shoujo I definitely never played a story like that before...and you are a boy in the game There are 5 girls you can choose from, but you can also get a shorter ending if you don't pick the appropriate choices.

I played Alistair++ and liked the story idea ^ ^

[jr-t]

@aeri
oh right that's true i read several time this name (maybe as a reference ?) over here, i'll take a look thanks.

By the way, do you have in mind which could be the VN with the most multipath ever experienced ?

[MarineScripter]

I'd recommend the Ace Attorney line that's for DS and iOS. It involves a lot of investigating and court action, but it was what first got me into VNs. So far there's six games but only five have been brought overseas as of yet.

[jr-t]

Oh i actually played some Ace Attorney but i never considered it to be a visual novel.
Does it have origine from VN ? Because i allways thought about it as an adventure game. I mean there's actually a lot of gameplay elements and i don't think we can really talk about different story orientation.
But i know we reach another topic there ^^'