Do you prefer the text box to take up the whole screen, or to have it at the bottom?

[Cythnar]

It doesn't personally matter to me. One of the first VN's I read was Fate/Stay Night, and it wasn't particularly bothersome. You could still see behind the text, and in other VN's I've tried that have a similar text system (I can't remember if F/SN did this or not) you can close the text "wall" to see the visuals behind them more clearly. I do have a friend that vehemently protests against such text walls himself, and refuses to read F/SN for that same reason (which is sad, really) so I can kind of understand why some dislike it... It does seem to get in the way sometimes, but I mean, if you've read a book before, then how's it so terrible? I dunno, that's the best way I can say it, really. It doesn't bother me.

That said, no, I wouldn't judge a VN by the way its text is shown. If I enjoy the VN, I'll read it. Regardless of whether or not the text covers the whole screen or just a little box at the bottom. Though I would say it is easier to appreciate what's going on in a particular scene when you can see the expressions of the characters or whatever else may be going on.

[12kami]

Bottom :v

easier to read for me

[Turnip Sensei]

I don't really care, I like both. Though conversations are nicer in ADV style, especially if funny expressions on characters are included. 

 

To be honest at first I didn't even know that there was a differentiation between NVL and ADV style. I just thought that sometimes the text was displayed slightly differently and continued reading. It never bothered me at all.

[Abyssal Monkey]

You are right and for me it's annoying I'm not saying that I can't follow who is talking and most of the time is just 2 people so it's really easy to follow the conversation, still is really annoying. And the most important thing is the text covers the graphics and the art, so you need to press the space bar or some special key to take out the text from the screen and the slight blur too, so you can enjoy it as it should.

[XReaper]

i´m perfectly fine with both kinds of textboxes, as it depends on each game & how they handle it, so that the reader doesnt feel uncomfortable whilst playing. an overly colourfull, or excessive decorated frame lessens the gameplay experience in the same way, as choosing the wrong fonts/low contrast - leading to a bad readability caused by bright backgrounds.

[Tawm]

Situational. Voiced dialog should be ADV, at least.

[wyldstrykr]

is there a game that can switch to a the text window from full screen to the bottom one and vice verca? also im satisfied about wherever the textbox is since i hide the text window most of the time,

 

my problem is

full screen text: i can see the background but not full.

bottom text: i cant see what happens above of it

[Satsuki]

Full-screen text box pretty much defeats the visual aspect of VN, so, ADV for me.

[Scars Unseen]

Ive avoided F/SN and Higurashi because of the full screen text box. I can't stand that stuff when its over images. Kara no Shoujo and Cartagra had fullscreen text boxes set against a bloody background or straight black, and that wasn't a problem. 

 

Of possible interest to you then is that someone made a beta patch for the Steam version of Higurashi to change the text display to ADV style.

[Ene]

It doesn't really matter to me.