I was introduced to Visual Novels in 2017 via Doki Doki Literature Club. Like many others, I had no idea what to expect when going into this, and only peer pressure and mild curiosity was the reason I gave this any time. However, DDLC really ended up being a gateway drug to a peak fiction plethora.
Why Visual Novels Are The Perfect Medium
Visual novels are a hybrid between video games and books where the focus is on the Story, but there are gameplay mechanics and additions like choices, music, minigames, etc. I absolutely adore the existence of this medium because sometimes books can be understimulating, and video games are too much of a commitment.
There are four main reasons I think Visual Novels are perfect for consuming any media:
- Holisticness
- Exclusives
- Richness
- Speed
Holisticness
Visual Novels have little to no mediation in their length or the nature of their content. Moreover, this gives the medium no restrictions when it comes to how long or short the Story has to be or how disgusting the contents can be. There have been a lot of adaptations of brilliant Visual Novels like Steins; Gate, but most of the content from the original has been trimmed for the Anime Audience.
Furthermore, there are many storytelling elements, like the plot, setting, characters, point of view, and conflict, which get swallowed up upon adding restrictions. Muv-Luv Alternative is one such Visual Novel that requires a complete playthrough of both Muv-luv and Muv-luv Alternative; otherwise, it’ll feel lackluster, as evidenced by the Anime Adaptation’s rating.
Finally, my favorite part is the UI and Quality of Life features. It’s so convenient always to have a constant Backlog of what events transpired, multiple saves with labels, skip dialogue you’ve already read, and customize the look of the text and the text box. Of course, this varies between Visual Novels, but there’s a standard that makes revisiting Visual Novels much more of a joy.
Exclusives
Everything has its exclusives, such as Nintendo, PlayStation, and PC Gaming. Some Visual Novels will most probably never get an Anime Adaptation, like Saya No Uta or Subahibi, and that’s a shame because they are some of the greatest stories that a person will miss out on.
My favorite visual novel is Wonderful Everyday, otherwise known as Subarashiki Hibi or Subahibi. Furthermore, the beginning of this Visual Novel is notoriously weird, and people often drop it. However, I stuck to it and was on the ride for a lifetime of amazing writing, plot twists, character development, and, not to forget raw shock.
There are a plethora of hidden gems for everyone here, and, sadly, they don’t get talked about as often because, unlike finishing an Anime or a Video Game, finishing a Visual Novel leaves not a void of craving but a gigantic abyss that you’ll always need to quench with a dive into several more Visual Novels.
Of course, this point of exclusivity can also be made for Light Novels and Anime. I doubt Neon Genesis Evangelion will ever have an official Visual Novel. However, that’s how capitalism works, so there’s nothing we can do about that. However, when the exclusives can be so good, it’s easy to overlook the status of our eventual economic downfall.
Richness
Visual Novels combine all the elements of Books, Anime, and Video Games to give you an unparalleled experience that is rich in every department, from Music, Art, and Story to Choices, Alternative Routes, Different Endings, and other creative elements.
There is no ceiling for what new kinds of elements a visual novel can introduce. Furthermore, think about games like Fire Emblem and Ace Attorney. The way the Story is told is essentially how Visual Novels do, but they’ve added TRPG and Point-and-click Adventure mechanics to spice up the gameplay.
Visual Novels like Mahoutsukai no Yoru, also known as Mahoyo, have beautiful transitions and animation to highlight the peak moments of the Story. Furthermore, this clash with the normally static gameplay of Mahoyo makes the moments when dynamic elements like animations become much more significant and memorable.
On the other hand, let’s not forget how the Story can be richer as well. For example, if you’re watching the Clannad Anime, it’ll take you around 20 hours to watch both seasons. However, if you’re playing the Clannad Visual Novel, it’ll take you nearly 100 hours to finish every route.
Let me explain it in Anime terms:
You missed about 100 episodes of Clannad Content if you only watched Clannad and Clannad: After Story.
Moreover, Visual Novels have a multitude of different routes to explore and endings you can get. Hence, you can craft your own Story and What-Ifs to create a more personalized experience. We don’t want good guys to win all the time, so when you have the option to rewrite the Story as such for some amusement, wouldn’t that be fun?
Speed
You may be wondering what this has got to do with Visual Novels, as it takes almost a hundred hours to complete each Visual Novel. However, let’s remember speed is the rate at which we’re moving. This is completely ignoring the distance or the number of hours it takes to finish a Visual Novel.
For example, let’s take a visual novel, Anime, and novel of equal lengths. Anime is inherently at a disadvantage because you take longer to watch something than read it. However, you could increase the playback speed to 2x, but that would ruin the entire point of the Anime and what the Director intended.
So that leaves Visual Novels and Books. You consume both media mainly by reading, so it would be fair to say that you’d finish both at the same time. However, will you remember both of them equally? Of course not. It’s much harder to read words and make a picture out of them without mulling them over.
However, Visual Novels provide a picture book kind of experience where every fact is hooked with a picture, animation, or voice recording. These highlights make it much easier to finish something fast and remember it for a long time. Of course, you should take your time and enjoy reading instead of speedrunning for either medium.
However, leaving interpretations to the reader could be what some people want. If that’s so, Visual Novels can still be an advantage; turn off the art and background and read the visual novel like a book. You have the choice and authority to read however you want.
The Limitations Of Visual Novels
There are some issues concerning Visual Novels, but none of them are deal breakers. For example, any Visual Novel you buy from Steam will probably be highly censored and not really worth the convenience that Steam provides. However, you could buy the Visual Novel you want from MangaGamer or J-List.
Another complaint is the time it takes to finish a single visual novel. Still, I’d argue that spending a single high-quality Visual Novel over a few months will leave you with much more return on your investment than watching or reading a plethora of things that you’ll forget.
Starter Visual Novel Recommendations
I love introducing people to Visual Novels and have a nice backpack of recommendations based on your interests, vibes, and personalities. Furthermore, most of these Visual Novels are fairly short, so don’t worry about spending 100 hours reading something like Fate/Stay Night.
| # | Visual Novel | Elevator Pitch |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doki Doki Literature Club | It is a deconstruction of a generic harem story with elements of horror. It’s best to go into this blind, as the Spoilers can ruin the novelty of the plot. |
| 2 | Class of ’09 | Self-proclaimed Anti-Visual Novel where the goal is to reject love interest. It has loads of Dark Comedy and very off-color jokes you should probably not laugh at unless you want to be canceled. |
| 3 | G-senjou no Maou (The Devil on G-String) | It is a very solid Visual Novel with strong writing and plot developments. Also, the OST is a high-energy remix of various classical music, and who doesn’t want to hear Tchaikovsky break it down? |
| 4 | Saya No Uta (The Song of Saya) | The main character survives a car accident; however, the way in which he perceives reality is permanently altered. Unfortunately, his new reality is hell, and everyone close to him can only be seen as a disgusting amalgamation of flesh and pus. |
| 5 | Katawa Shoujo | Traditional-style visual novels have multiple love interests, except all of them are physically disabled in some way, which makes for interesting conversations or lack thereof (one of the said love interests is deaf). |
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