Is it conventional to have the MC appear onscreen as a asset in a first person narrative?

[Rensuka]

Hey All,

I’m writing a VN where the main character is also the narrator and the story is being told from their point of view. What I was wondering was how other VNs handle this? I know Utawarerumono never has the MC as a sprite or asset and they only appear in certain CG scenes. I was curious if this is the conventional way to handle this sort of narrative? I know there are probably many different ways these types of VNs do thing but just going for in “general.”

[parttimestorier]

Yes, plenty of VNs don't have a sprite at all for the main character if they're telling the story in first-person. (Especially not if they're written to be a player-insert character, in which case they might not even fully appear in CGs.) Some might have a small portrait at the side of the textbox to show some of their facial expressions, but not a full sprite. However, I have seen some that use a sprite for the main character as well, and I personally tend to enjoy that because more cool sprite art to look at is always nice! So I think it really depends on what feels right for your project.

[Rensuka]

Thanks! I do like the idea of having a sprite for the MC so maybe I will go that route.

[RicharDann]

To add a bit of my two cents, I've also seen some VNs that are mainly told from the Main Character's perspective, but at some point change POV to another character, who then sees the MC, thus they appear as a sprite. It's not that unconventional, just not so widely used.