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Starting a blog about western VNs and VN developers? [EVN Chronicles "Megathread"]


Plk_Lesiak

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This is such a cool idea! I'm super interested in western vn development but its hard to find people who focus exclusively on western vn content. Thanks for this, I'm definitely following!

I'm also interested in how western vns with Japanese art styles are viewed vs western vns with different styles, especially since I'm more interested in creating content not in the traditional anime style. It seems though to be a popular choice amongst western vn developers though (anime style art). I've seen some people say they prefer one over the other or not care at all as long as the story/game is good. It would be cool to see if that comes up over time of reviewing lots of different western vns. Nevertheless, I'm excited to see what more you post! 

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58 minutes ago, rambitious said:

This is such a cool idea! I'm super interested in western vn development but its hard to find people who focus exclusively on western vn content. Thanks for this, I'm definitely following!

I'm also interested in how western vns with Japanese art styles are viewed vs western vns with different styles, especially since I'm more interested in creating content not in the traditional anime style. It seems though to be a popular choice amongst western vn developers though (anime style art). I've seen some people say they prefer one over the other or not care at all as long as the story/game is good. It would be cool to see if that comes up over time of reviewing lots of different western vns. Nevertheless, I'm excited to see what more you post! 

Thank you! ^^ I've touched on the artstyle thing a bit in my Starlight Vega review and various posts both on the blog and all over the forums. I think some people might be hesitant to play a game with a very distinct, western artstyle, such as Cinders, but more often than not games that try something different, but keep the art decent-quality and consistent are well received. In today's post you have the example of Brilliant Shadows, most of Ebi-Hime's work is also pretty far-detached from generic anime style, but is widely appreciated.

I think it's a bit of a superstition that VN fans are very conservative in this regard - how the OELVN market looks is more about the developers not wanting to experiment/taking the relatively easy and safe road of imitating what everyone is used to seeing, rather than attempting to create a unique aesthetic. :)

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10 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Thank you! ^^ I've touched on the artstyle thing a bit in my Starlight Vega review and various posts both on the blog and all over the forums. I think some people might be hesitant to play a game with a very distinct, western artstyle, such as Cinders, but more often than not games that try something different, but keep the art decent-quality and consistent are well received. In today's post you have the example of Brilliant Shadows, most of Ebi-Hime's work is also pretty far-detached from generic anime style, but is widely appreciated.

I think it's a bit of a superstition that VN fans are very conservative in this regard - how the OELVN market looks is more about the developers not wanting to experiment/taking the relatively easy and safe road of imitating what everyone is used to seeing, rather than attempting to create a unique aesthetic. :)

Haha, its not too far off from other gaming/media industries where developers go for what they think sells over taking risks with style etc. I'm honestly not surprised. But I agree, its definitely a superstition based on what I've seen. People just want to enjoy a quality vn regardless of whether the art is anime or not.  But also like you said, people might be more hesitant to play a game like Cinders, so the art style does have some face value in drawing the player into actually playing the game. As a western developer and someone who was actually drawn to Cinders because of the art style itself, I wonder if creating more western style vns would attract more western players to vns in general, hence the "make vns popular in the west" thing. Or maybe its totally irrelevant but despite, its an interesting thing to consider. 

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1 hour ago, rambitious said:

This is such a cool idea! I'm super interested in western vn development but its hard to find people who focus exclusively on western vn content. Thanks for this, I'm definitely following!

I'm also interested in how western vns with Japanese art styles are viewed vs western vns with different styles, especially since I'm more interested in creating content not in the traditional anime style. It seems though to be a popular choice amongst western vn developers though (anime style art). I've seen some people say they prefer one over the other or not care at all as long as the story/game is good. It would be cool to see if that comes up over time of reviewing lots of different western vns. Nevertheless, I'm excited to see what more you post! 

Well, I'm no expert on this, but I remember someone told me a long time ago that OELVNs that use the Japanese anime style are not considered true VNs, in the same as the "western-created anime are not anime" debacle.  It's been an ongoing debate for years, only made worse by elitists slinging the word "weeb" on the creators of any OELVN that tries to use the anime art style.  Though oddly enough, I've seen OELVNs that use a more western art style get more scorn than the ones that try to emulate anime art styles, as if it's a cardinal sin of all VNs.  Of course, if you want to make something more western, don't let the backwards thinking of people get to you.  There are some out there who prefer the western style over the anime style, and those who love the western style see it as a nice change of pace.  Best of luck.

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2 minutes ago, EastCoastDrifter said:

Well, I'm no expert on this, but I remember someone told me a long time ago that OELVNs that use the Japanese anime style are not considered true VNs, in the same as the "western-created anime are not anime" debacle.  It's been an ongoing debate for years, only made worse by elitists slinging the word "weeb" on the creators of any OELVN that tries to use the anime art style.  Though oddly enough, I've seen OELVNs that use a more western art style get more scorn than the ones that try to emulate anime art styles, as if it's a cardinal sin of all VNs.  Of course, if you want to make something more western, don't let the backwards thinking of people get to you.  There are some out there who prefer the western style over the anime style, and those who love the western style see it as a nice change of pace.  Best of luck.

I've heard that argument as well and I guess it will go on for eternity xD. I find also that having anime art styles where I've studied art is really discouraged/frowned-upon but that might just be a western art-school thing, I wouldn't know for certain. I guess in the end you can't please everyone so you've just got to do what makes you happy. Thanks so much, I'll definitely need all the luck I can get!

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25 minutes ago, rambitious said:

Haha, its not too far off from other gaming/media industries where developers go for what they think sells over taking risks with style etc. I'm honestly not surprised. But I agree, its definitely a superstition based on what I've seen. People just want to enjoy a quality vn regardless of whether the art is anime or not.  But also like you said, people might be more hesitant to play a game like Cinders, so the art style does have some face value in drawing the player into actually playing the game. As a western developer and someone who was actually drawn to Cinders because of the art style itself, I wonder if creating more western style vns would attract more western players to vns in general, hence the "make vns popular in the west" thing. Or maybe its totally irrelevant but despite, its an interesting thing to consider. 

Yeah, it's definitely an important topic, after all western VNs have to differentiate in some ways to actually get any kind of footing, being "like the Japanese stuff but without the budget" is not really a place you want your game to be in as a developer. For now, I think, the biggest source of strenght for OELVNs is different profile of the creators (a lot of women and people that don't blindly copy the more problematic tropes typical for Japanese media). I absolutely adore some things that come from Yuri Game Jam or NaNoRenO because of the originality and passion involved in those projects, but also how they construct female characters and romance. But these are mostly very niche products produced by individuals or tiny teams, bigger studios need to have a bit more courage in finding their own paths for the genre to lose a bit of its "weeb" stigma and have any chance to reach a broader audience, or even to get proper respect from the current VN fanbase. 

And the fact that people always argue both ways with this topic simply means there's no one "right" approach, the quality of the end effect is most important. Although, the market seems to be getting oversaturated, being generic is probably the worst thing you can do in a time like this (unless you can offer enough shiny anime boobs to bait in the ecchi crowd, after all, the VN sales on Steam might be going to s****, but not for Nekopara and Sakura games :p). 

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1 hour ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Yeah, it's definitely an important topic, after all western VNs have to differentiate in some ways to actually get any kind of footing, being "like the Japanese stuff but without the budget" is not really a place you want your game to be in as a developer. For now, I think, the biggest source of strenght for OELVNs is different profile of the creators (a lot of women and people that don't blindly copy the more problematic tropes typical for Japanese media). I absolutely adore some things that come from Yuri Game Jam or NaNoRenO because of the originality and passion involved in those projects, but also how they construct female characters and romance. But these are mostly very niche products produced by individuals or tiny teams, bigger studios need to have a bit more courage in finding their own paths for the genre to lose a bit of its "weeb" stigma and have any chance to reach a broader audience, or even to get proper respect from the current VN fanbase. 

And the fact that people always argue both ways with this topic simply means there's no one "right" approach, the quality of the end effect is most important. Although, the market seems to be getting oversaturated, being generic is probably the worst thing you can do in a time like this (unless you can offer enough shiny anime boobs to bait in the ecchi crowd, after all, the VN sales on Steam might be going to s****, but not for Nekopara and Sakura games :p). 

Yeah, being seen as a lesser version of the original is not a good thing, I personally feel obligated to combat that as a developer with my own projects if I can achieve it. It would be cool if a bunch of niche developers and/or tiny teams for this sort of content got together and made something much larger; a bigger studio that caters specifically to that kind of content.  Though starting and keeping any kind of game development studio is not easy and a lot of them form and go under very quickly. Then again, things like kickstarter and patreon make it more doable nowadays but still it is hard to stand out and profit i guess.   

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1 hour ago, rambitious said:

Yeah, being seen as a lesser version of the original is not a good thing, I personally feel obligated to combat that as a developer with my own projects if I can achieve it. It would be cool if a bunch of niche developers and/or tiny teams for this sort of content got together and made something much larger; a bigger studio that caters specifically to that kind of content.  Though starting and keeping any kind of game development studio is not easy and a lot of them form and go under very quickly. Then again, things like kickstarter and patreon make it more doable nowadays but still it is hard to stand out and profit i guess.   

Be careful how you present your projects on Kickstarter.  Kickstarter has gotten a bad rep over the years for their notorious and abysmal line-up of games, due to in large part because of the actions of the developers themselves.  Even VNs are not safe from this.

Spoiler

coughlibraofthevampireprincesscough

If you're going to start a Kickstarter for your VN, make sure you're up-front and honest.  It's very easy to lose the trust of backers if you fail to bring those expectations, even if it is a simple mistake.  It's a win-or-lose situation, so tread carefully.

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1 hour ago, EastCoastDrifter said:

Be careful how you present your projects on Kickstarter.  Kickstarter has gotten a bad rep over the years for their notorious and abysmal line-up of games, due to in large part because of the actions of the developers themselves.  Even VNs are not safe from this.

  Reveal hidden contents

coughlibraofthevampireprincesscough

If you're going to start a Kickstarter for your VN, make sure you're up-front and honest.  It's very easy to lose the trust of backers if you fail to bring those expectations, even if it is a simple mistake.  It's a win-or-lose situation, so tread carefully.

Yeah I'm pretty aware of that, and to be honest I'm kind of hesitant about doing it at the moment. Once I release the demo of my game, I'll consider setting one up but for now I'm just trying to gauge my options. I won't need to do it if I can acquire the funds on my own to hire people to work on the vn with me in order to make it the full game but thats doubtful so its a tricky situation. (that being said i'd rather pay people for their effort in working with me then relying on collab/volunteer work just as an ethics thing) Time will tell xD

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Like I said elsewhere, I really love the idea of your blog. It's well presented, and the reviews are excellent.

Not only did they make a lot of the games more approachable, I really wanted to pick up a few of them just because of how you described them!

I think this is an excellent idea. Do you post new stuff to like a Twitter account where it can be tweeted/rewteeted?

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58 minutes ago, arosia said:

Like I said elsewhere, I really love the idea of your blog. It's well presented, and the reviews are excellent.

Not only did they make a lot of the games more approachable, I really wanted to pick up a few of them just because of how you described them!

I think this is an excellent idea. Do you post new stuff to like a Twitter account where it can be tweeted/rewteeted?

Thank you! I'm glad that someone feels encouraged by my posts, as an OELVN dev you're probably easier to convince than some of the die-hard JP-VN fans around here that I'm trying to convert, but still, this makes me happy. ^^

And no, at the moment I don't have a Twitter account set up for this use, but I might have to do something about that, you're the second person asking this question. ;)

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2 hours ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

...as an OELVN dev you're probably easier to convince than some of the die-hard JP-VN fans around here that I'm trying to convert, but still, this makes me happy. ^^

Guilty as charged; I might be a little biased, but I loved it!

 

2 hours ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

And no, at the moment I don't have a Twitter account set up for this use, but I might have to do something about that, you're the second person asking this question. ;)

I think Twitter can be a pretty nice way to follow and boost interesting things up. I know if you had a Twitter, I'd want to follow you there so that I could share your new posts and news with other people that I've had the pleasure of networking with.

And it even helps the forums out more, because then people will be coming in and checking out your blog here at Fuwa, and then maybe they'll stay and try out a couple VNs, and it's a wonderful cycle.

I think if you're really serious about doing this kind of blogging, that you could totally make it work in a way where you had a lot of people peeking in on what you're writing. I know I'll be making an effort to point out the things I enjoy most in your writing.

Okay, love, keep being awesome!

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33 minutes ago, arosia said:

Guilty as charged; I might be a little biased, but I loved it!

Heh, I think I've seen people biased against OELVNs much more than someone can be biased for them. It's one of the reasons I find writing the blog this satisfying, there's a lot of unfair assumptions and simple lack of curiosity about the western-made stuff that I try to fight with through my posts. ;)

Quote

I think Twitter can be a pretty nice way to follow and boost interesting things up. I know if you had a Twitter, I'd want to follow you there so that I could share your new posts and news with other people that I've had the pleasure of networking with.

And it even helps the forums out more, because then people will be coming in and checking out your blog here at Fuwa, and then maybe they'll stay and try out a couple VNs, and it's a wonderful cycle.

I think if you're really serious about doing this kind of blogging, that you could totally make it work in a way where you had a lot of people peeking in on what you're writing. I know I'll be making an effort to point out the things I enjoy most in your writing.

Okay, love, keep being awesome!

Well, you did it: https://twitter.com/PulkownikLesiak

Please don't judge on the brony stuff, I'm way too lazy to manage a few separate accounts. :D

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Hello there, My Loved Ones!

Today I'm offering you a review of CUPID, in my opinion one of the most interesting and compelling OELVNs out there. I'm also very satisfied how the text itself turned out, I hope at least some of you will share that impression. :3

After this slight detour, my otome-themed posts will continue for a few more weeks. I'm also quite excited to announce that I've conducted two interviews with VN developers that will go live in March. I'm hoping for the possibility to publish them in a way that will reach a bigger audience than a simple internal blog post would, but it's a complicated topic that I'll be working on in the coming weeks. Whatever happens, I hope that you guys will enjoy reading this content as much as I did enjoy creating it. :)

 

Also, this weekend I'll be in Cracow on a cultural studies conference, talking about VN fan translations. I hope I'll be able to bring back some pics to show off, but either way, wish me luck. ;)

Have a great week everyone!

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Hey Plk_Lesiak. I saw this thread updated, and this seemed like the most relevant place to publicly pose this question to you. What are your thoughts on Synergia? I don't follow the OELVN scene that much (and certainly not as closely as you). So I am curious about your opinion. I could be wrong, but this VN doesn't seem to be getting the attention that I think it deserves. I haven't seen an OELVN look as visually beautiful since the last time Doomfest was involved in a project (damn I miss Dischan). Furthermore the art and direction seems to compliment the ambitious story. So I have really high hopes that this VN could end up being really good. It isn't out yet, but I thought it would have gathered a larger following by now. 

 

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1 hour ago, Zalor said:

Hey Plk_Lesiak. I saw this thread updated, and this seemed like the most relevant place to publicly pose this question to you. What are your thoughts on Synergia? I don't follow the OELVN scene that much (and certainly not as closely as you). So I am curious about your opinion. I could be wrong, but this VN doesn't seem to be getting the attention that I think it deserves. I haven't seen an OELVN look as visually beautiful since the last time Doomfest was involved in a project (damn I miss Dischan). Furthermore the art and direction seems to compliment the ambitious story. So I have really high hopes that this VN could end up being really good. It isn't out yet, but I thought it would have gathered a larger following by now. 

Yeah, I somewhat agree, but I actually haven't seen a meaningful update from that project for a long time. It was announced more than an year ago and there's still no release date and if the devs made some consistent attempts at promoting it, I haven't seem much of that. I think marketing is really not something most OELVN creators have figured out - although if Synergia turns out half as good as it looks in the promotional material, I think it will gather a lot of attention closer to its release. 

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25 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Yeah, I somewhat agree, but I actually haven't seen a meaningful update from that project for a long time. It was announced more than an year ago and there's still no release date and if the devs made some consistent attempts at promoting it, I haven't seem much ofthat. I think marketing is really not something most OELVN creators have figured out - although if Synergia turns put half as good as it looks in the promotional metrial, I think it will gather a lot of attention closer to its release. 

Yeah, I was just wondering if I was just not looking in the right places for updates. But it really seems that their marketing is kind of poor. I just hope that the project is still continuing. Last time a VN I liked stopped updating about progress, it eventually got cancelled (I'm looking at you Dysfunctional Systems Episode 2). I really don't want a repeat of that. As I have genuinely been anticipating this VN since the creator posted a thread of it on Fuwa over a year ago. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sooo... I guess I've reviewed a nukige? And liked it? Well... Not really. At least when it goes to nukige part. But both playing through and writing about Cute Demon Crashers was pure joy, I hope it's at least somewhat visible in the quality of the blog post. :) Next week, there's more interesting stuff coming: my first developer interview, along with the concluding "Otome Month" review, while starting March 23th, we're entering the world of yuri - and it should be a fun one, considering this niche is pretty much one of the pillars of OELVN community. :3

Also, if some of you missed that development, I've started using Twitter regularly to announce blog updates (and various, more or less related stuff). Feel free to follow me there, if you feel like it, I'll try to keep it pretty on-topic and won't spam dank memes (unless they're really good ones). So, that's pretty much all for now, I hope you'll find my newest review amusing and please check out the blog next week - if you're curious about the OELVN market and development, you should find the upcoming content interesting. :)

 

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So, I’ve been working to bring different types of content to the blog for some time and today I have an immense pleasure to present you my first “Developer Spotlight” post, where I’m talking with Jackie M. from the yuri & otome studio Reine Works, about their recently-released game, The Seven Districts of Sin: The Tail Makes the Fox, and general realities of the OELVN market:

I will appreciate any feedback on the interview – I don’t have much experience in this field so I’m very interested whether it was a good read and what kind of questions and people you would like to see in the spotlight in the future. :) Also, feel encouraged to check out my review of the game itself – it’s definitely not an instant classic, but takes quite an interesting and in some ways ambitious direction:

With this game, the otome event on my blog is officially over. From the next week, we’re venturing back into the world of yuri and I think we’ll stay there for quite a while, as I discover new layers or OELVN yuri goodness and maybe even talk with some creators whose work I enjoy immensely.

Thank you for following my compulsive literary output and have a great week everyone! ;)

PS Does anyone have the possibility to share the interview post on the visual novel subreddit? I’ve seen they don’t tolerate self-promotion and I don’t have the time to get involved there really. :<

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