What is the most important part in a Visual Novel for you?

[CeruleanGamer]

2 answers:

Likable Protagonist.

Lovable Heroines.

Likable in the sense that he will be remembered by me for months/years and if anyone dared trash talking them, I'll be the first white knight in line to defend that protagonist. Traits I like in a likable protagonist: caring (Chihaya from Eiyuu Senki), smart/strategic (like Hakuoro from Utawarerumono), talented/multi-faceted (like Masaya in Princess Evangile with his part time jobs), bad ass (MASTER THERION from Demonbane kind of bad ass), and logical (like Nikola Tesla from Gahkthun). 

Lovable heroines are much harder because they have a bigger contribution in me assessing whether a VN is good or not and there's usually 4-5 heroines with maybe 1-2 that are what I consider "lovable". While I would love the traits I mentioned for the protagonists to be on the heroines too, there are several traits I despise as well. Some are always "damsel in distress" (kinda annoying when the heroine always gets in trouble), way too emotional (sorry babes, I don't like girls with too much baggage), and clingy (like Nemu from Da Capo or Chinami from Hoshizora no Memoria).

[Black Sands Entertainment]

On 2/12/2016 at 0:27 PM, Jade said:

Awesome MC,

Everything else is tolerable as long as the MC is fucking awesome.

lol you got damn right

[NickFreja]

There are 3 important things that I care in a VN. Number 1 story, it must be at least good enough so I won't have any regret wasting my time reading that VN. The other 2 things are bgm and H scene. I prefer to read a VN that have H scene than all ages because I'm pervert and normal lol. Nah it also could act as break from the story itself, like prevent me to sink too deep to the story xD

[pik3rob]

Good Pacing is definitely the most important to me. If a Visual Novel has poor pacing, then it will just bore the hell out of me, and the only way I can continue reading is if I force myself, which is never a good thing. 

Character interactions are also important to me. Seeing characters interact in a way where nothing they say to each other can engage you will really put me off.

[Satsuki]

Art and character. If the art is sh*t, and there is no likable character (or at least, not suit my taste), then I will just drop the hell out of the VN, regardless of its 10/10 IGN story.

[Xilium]

The Hentai

Bluntly put, other mediums are much better at telling a story, developing characters, creating a mood with music/sfx. And for the handful that have gameplay beyond making dialog choice, they pale in comparison to traditional video games.

The HCG is THE reason I play VNs and the more the better. That said, those other aspects are still important, specifically characters and story. It's easy to find the CG online if all I wanted were the images but having context for those images make them far more appealing. And while hentai (anime) is typically more appealing visually, most are only 1-2 episodes so you have very little time to generate an interesting narrative or characters. Context is important.

[pik3rob]

27 minutes ago, Xilium said:

And while hentai (anime) is typically more appealing visually

I'd argue that hentai anime are typically far inferior visually. Hentai anime look like they were made over 15 years ago. Their art isn't really up to the same quality that modern anime are. Visual Novels on the other hand have HCGs that surpass both of them for the simple fact that they're still images. Not all VN HCGs are great, but most of the time, they're superior to a hentai anime.

[VirginSmasher]

Just now, pik3rob said:

I'd argue that hentai anime are typically far inferior visually. Hentai anime look like they were made over 15 years ago. Their art isn't really up to the same quality that modern anime are. Visual Novels on the other hand have HCGs that surpass both of them for the simple fact that they're still images. Not all VN HCGs are great, but most of the time, they're superior to a hentai anime.

Some hentai anime look more recent just not to the level of modern anime. I couldn't even imagine how awesome a hentai anime with Ufotable level animation quality would be 

[Xilium]

9 minutes ago, pik3rob said:

I'd argue that hentai anime are typically far inferior visually. Hentai anime look like they were made over 15 years ago. Their art isn't really up to the same quality that modern anime are. Visual Novels on the other hand have HCGs that surpass both of them for the simple fact that they're still images. Not all VN HCGs are great, but most of the time, they're superior to a hentai anime.

The fact that they are animated alone typically makes them better than HCG for me, but that is also the reason why they aren't as well drawn as HCG. As you said, a static image is simply easier and cheaper to do well. I don't think your average VN is much better than your average hentai though.

That said, hentai studio Queen Bee is the worst thing to happen to the hentai industry in a long while. .Gif images have more frames than the garbage animation they put out and they do look like they were legitimately made 15 years ago. They're clearly dirt cheap to hire because they've been getting a lot of work lately.

[Tyr]

8 hours ago, pik3rob said:

Hentai anime look like they were made over 15 years ago.

No, the hentai anime made 15 years ago look MUCH better. In fact, most hentai anime made 25 years ago look even better than regular anime shows today. It gets worse, not better.

[Funyarinpa]

1 minute ago, Tyrosyn said:

hentai anime made 25 years ago

Source your claims please. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Tyr]

2 minutes ago, Funyarinpa said:

Source your claims please. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Me watching hentai animu since the 80s lol.
To name a few: Cream Lemon, Urotsukidouji, Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, La Blue Girl, Injuu Onna Kyoushi...

Hentai nowadays are pretty much impossible to watch if you know how they once looked.

[john 'mr. customer' smith]

i can't really say any of these things are the most important to me, it can't really be good unless it has at least decent everything. i happen to be a big fan of the combination of writing and music done well, but characters, art, story, pacing etc. can all make or break a vn for me

[Makudomi]

It's hard to say since, at least for me, it's the way all of the different parts of the VN work together to tell a story that makes this medium so awesome.

I guess if I had to put them in order of importance, it'd be:

1. Characters
2. Dialogue/Narration
3. Story Premise
4. Sprite Art
5. Music
6. CG Art
7. Voice Acting

[Okarin]

Well it can't be art, since Sakura Beach has great art and it's terrible in every other aspect.

For me it's the plot, the setting, the feel and the writing, I'm certainly not there for the H. Never fapped to a VN, only like once or twice I felt the inclination.

It's no surprise many people are naming characters, since telling a story never seen is difficult, characters tend to make or break a work of fiction.

[Dergonu]

1 hour ago, Okarin said:

Well it can't be art, since Sakura Beach has great art and it's terrible in every other aspect.

RIP everyone who said art

( .. Didnt I rank art pretty highly? )

[Arcadeotic]

4 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

RIP everyone who said art

( .. Didnt I rank art pretty highly? )

80% of us did, but eh, whatever

As did you Derg

[Barktooth]

For me it would have to be the mood/atmosphere. That's influenced by a lot of things I guess, most importantly BGM and the setting, but art and characters have an effect on it too. The only reason I started reading Rewrite is because I thought the idea of the afforested city overgrown with trees was great.. though I was a bit disappointed by how it actually looks in the CGs.

My favorite VN is probably Everlasting Summer because it has absolutely the best atmosphere of any VN I've ever read (granted, I haven't read many ). It doesn't have too good of a story or characters but the atmosphere totally makes up for it.

[VirginSmasher]

5 hours ago, Dergonu said:

RIP everyone who said art

( .. Didnt I rank art pretty highly? )

There are a lot of art snobs in these forums who won't play a VN unless it has good art, which is a stupid mindset to have because they could be missing a great story.

[Funyarinpa]

7 hours ago, Tyrosyn said:

Urotsukidouji

YOU WERE NOT FUCKING KIDDING

[Dergonu]

1 minute ago, VirginSmasher said:

There are a lot of art snobs in these forums who won't play a VN unless it has good art, which is a stupid mindset to have because they could be missing a great story.

I personally love good art. Not gonna lie, I got hanasaki work spring just because of the pwetty colors

That being said, I would never throw away a VN because the art is "bad." A lot of older VNs have a little iffy art, but that doesn't mean they are bad.

(And, like was mentioned, some VNs have great art but .. suck )

 

For me it usually comes down to a combination of a lot of things.

Unless its a nukige. I can read a nukige with horrible story if the art is hot enough. I'm kind of a simple person when it comes to nukige

[VirginSmasher]

Just now, Dergonu said:

Unless its a nukige. I can read a nukige with horrible story if the art is hot enough. I'm kind of a simple person when it comes to nukige

The only exception. Nobody plays nukige for the story after all 

[LiquidShu]

How engrossing/fun it is for me to read, something I can be invested in. 

[ChaosRaven]

10 minutes ago, VirginSmasher said:

There are a lot of art snobs in these forums who won't play a VN unless it has good art, which is a stupid mindset to have because they could be missing a great story.

It isn't so easy. A visual novel isn't just a simple book where the writing is everything and the reader imagines the art and audio himself. The quality of a visual novel depends on more than just the writing, it depends on the combination of writing, art and audio, and all of them can ruin the experience.

Let's just take one of your favorite VN's, Majikoi maybe?! And now let's take your favorite heroine in it and replace her voice actress with another one that sounds like the one of a demotivated hobo (or a dude). Next, replace the music with some dull low level music even the most tolerant person would get bored of. And for the finishing blow, replace the character sprite of the heroine with the most ugly hag you've ever seen (or a dude). So, do you really think you'd enjoy the story like before now? The writing is the same after all - so it shouldn't make a difference, right?!

You can't judge the writing quality of a VN just from looking at it, but everyone can judge the art. Ratings certainly help but there's still the matter of taste. But pretty much all VN's have romance as a theme and how can a writer succeed in that if the reader doesn't consider the heroines attractive? If the writer is good he might still be able to evoke sympathy for her, but that's no the same like getting the hots for a girl.

This also doesn't mean that the best art automatically makes the best VN. Bad writing can certainly ruin a VN too. But the art has to maintain a certain 'minimum standard' to allow the writer to show his full potential. The required level of art is a very subjective thing though. For example, I consider Overdrives art more one the average side but they make up for it with good slice of life and comedy writing. I like some of the characters much more than ones from VN's with better art. But I would still enjoy them even more if they would have been drawn by one of my favorite artists.

Overall, I think most people are smart enough to judge a VN by a combination of several factors like art + ratings + story synopsis + VNDB tags. I might be an art addict, but I won't buy the pig in a poke. There are enough VN's with good art to do some cherry picking and the best artists often work with the best writers anyway.

[CeruleanGamer]

53 minutes ago, VirginSmasher said:

The only exception. Nobody plays nukige for the story after all 

Nonsense. Everything must be known whenever the protagonist's dick enters the heroine and it must be described in detail. I have to know what happens to her pussy and how she feels about it.