Dear Internet,
Last
week, I said that I was in the beginning steps of making a kinetic visual
novel. I also said that I was going to
detail the progress of said novel about once every week. So, whether you like it or not, I am going to
ramble off here every Monday or so.
The
visual novel, as a genre, is something that I have known about for some time. It is also something that I have admired as a
mechanic for story telling since I became aware off. I was introduced to it from the game side initially
rather than the narrative side. Summed
up, I thought of it as a game type where the story takes precedence over the
gameplay. In many ways this is
true. Many visual novels are designed to
the point where there is no gameplay at all, just a minute amount of choices
that often boil down to two or three choices per conundrum. I have often seen them compared to
"Choose Your Own Adventure" books.
The only difference is that visual novels have audio and many more
pictures to accompany their stories.
Like
the physical books, visual novels have a limitation to themselves that work
against themselves as being categorized as games. They share a few elements that would get
themselves easily grouped together with video games, but there is also a strict
distinction that makes me hesitant to call visual novels "video
games." Both visual novels and
games have some sort of win/lose condition.
There must be victory and there must be defeat. Chess has a set of rules that the two players
must follow until one player wins or the game ends in a draw. Rock, paper, scissors has rules that dictate
a victory or a draw. "Super Mario
Bros." has a set of rules that determine if the player has succeeded. Visual novels have these, too, to a certain
extent. The player must navigate a set
of choices that lead to a happy ending, a true ending, or just survive long
enough to get out alive. Whether or not
you agree to the definitions of a "happy ending" or "true
ending" can be argued or even disregarded depending on the player or the
maker of the visual novel, but the fact remains that the player is well enough
made aware that they have reached an end of the novel. It is usually clear enough when an unfavorable
end is reached, which prompts the reader to try again. That win/lose mechanic is there is some
effect.
But what
about that distinction that separates them from games? Unlike a game such as checkers or chess,
visual novels must follow a strict script that is rigidly bound to travel a set
direction each and every time it is run.
Checkers and chess have enough variety within the possibilities of play
that a person cannot comprehend by themselves all the ways the game could go
when examining the game from the start or looking at the game as a whole. Visual novels only have a set number of
endings and possibilities that are clearly defined and figured before they are
even released. The player has little control
to say that the player can dodge a punch if the option to do so is not made
available to them. It is not like a skill
based game like "Super Mario Bros." where the player can gain a
higher score depending on the abilities of the player. Unless you get a better ending depending on
how quick you make a decision, skill plays very little into the visual novel's
mechanics.
Visual
novels are in many ways just interactive fiction, but that is precisely what
makes them great. A story heavy video
game that places more emphasis on gameplay than on story, such as the
"Tales of" series, wants to focus more on the game aspect. "Tales of the Abyss" has got one of
the most generic and annoying plots that I have come across. The characters are generally unlikable, the
themes are handled badly to the point that characters swerve haphazardly with
their dialog, and the plot is one that has been beaten to death by its own
series and other games in the JRPG genre.
Despite all this, I found myself entering battles and fighting monsters
because the gameplay was enjoyable. I
was not even doing it to grind for money or experience. The gameplay, itself, was what was enjoyable
and made me continue to play the game.
Visual novels, or at least visual novels without a game mechanic, cannot
get me to say the same thing. The story
is what the player is interested in when they start up a visual novel. You do not get the thrill from making a
decision in a visual novel. You get the
thrill by seeing how that decision impacts the story.
Of
course, a certain question must have popped in your mind by now. What does any of this have to do with a
kinetic visual novel, which separates itself by negating any sort of story
changing mechanic? Well, not much,
really. But knowing all of this is
something that made me realize that I need to start off a step lower than a
full visual novel. A short attempt to
try and make a barebones visual novel prototype resulted in realizing that I
was biting off more than I could chew, especially considering the limited
amount of time I have. The first step is
to make a straight road. After that I
can worry about making one with dead ends.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
Current Assets
Writing: 170 lines
Coding: 25 lines
Art: 0%
Audio: 0%
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