What kind of Visual Novel do you guys enjoy more ? The more “open world” like Visual novels like Feeder Simulator , Fattening Career etc. ? Or the one like Forks. More linear and straightforward ?
Ones that allow more gameplay, and don’t just talk to you. As for Linear or openworld, idk. Depends on the game since some linear have been good, whilst others have been boring, and vice versa.
There is a lot to consider for such games. Because depending what kind of Visual novel it is , some criteria have to be worked on heavily.
Let’s take Feed my Affection from Tonbelly. The world feels nice and there’s a good selection of different characters.
Forks was more story driven without having the choices to revisit certain areas. Both are great examples of very good Visual novel weight gain games that work differently
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As long as I get meaningful selections, either really work. I just don’t want one where it’s like, disgustingly linear and choices either aren’t there or don’t matter.
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Both are good and both have their strengths- which is best really depends on what best serves the story you want to tell and how complex you want it to be from a development perspective
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Not so much a visual novel as it is a simulation and management game but second helpings is by far my personal favourite!
For a developer/writer, I think this is one of those “best tool for the job” situations.
Are you excited about specific stories and scenarios? Use a classic visual novel approach. Are you more into systems and possibilities? Make a game out of it. There are ways to split the difference (lots of choices and gameplay in a VN, longer set-pieces in a game), but that’s trickier to get right.
As a player, I really really like both, but it bugs me when games only reward one kind of playthrough with content. At that point they’re basically VNs without the renpy niceties. On the other hand, a lot of creators are decent but not great writers, and games bear that more gracefully than VNs.
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I lean more towards more linear games. Open world games can be ambitious out the gate with the number of mechanics and characters you can interact with, but lack a good depth to them until the game is more complete. A more linear game can typically go in-depth with a few storylines and have a stronger sense of progression as the game develops.
But, as others have said, having choices with consequences is ultimately what I like most.
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