onorub Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Having reached 2020, i was wondering what do you people think was the most creative thing done in the genre in a VN released from 2010-2019. For me it's a tie between the "atmosphere customization" from The Letter and the "protagonist customization" from Ayakashi Gohan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 32 minutes ago, onorub said: Having reached 2020, i was wondering what do you people think was the most creative thing done in the genre in a VN released from 2010-2019. For me it's a tie between the "atmosphere customization" from The Letter and the "protagonist customization" from Ayakashi Gohan. Protagonist customization was common in the early parts of the 2000's but went out of fashion for obvious reasons... Innovation was pretty much nonexistent in JVNs in the last decade, though some companies did venture a little out into the wilderness with art or weird gimmicks. That's no surprise, though... It would be strange if the Japanese innovated in anything when it comes to VNs, since most 'innovations' in JVNs tend to create fan backlash. The only thing that can really be construed as an innovation in JVNs was the inclusion of more evolutions of the e-mote system, though the system itself is more annoying/distracting than anything else. Edit: Sorry, didn't mean to be short... but protagonist customization primarily got dropped because of how counterproductive it was in most cases to getting engrossed in the story-game. The only real remnant left from that is the generic harem protagonist who is so endemic to charage in general. Similar to the 'silent protagonist' in jrpgs, most fans of the medium look on excessive self-insert elements as a negative factor when deciding to buy a game in Japan. Ramaladni 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onorub Posted January 2, 2020 Author Share Posted January 2, 2020 38 minutes ago, Clephas said: Protagonist customization was common in the early parts of the 2000's but went out of fashion for obvious reasons... Innovation was pretty much nonexistent in JVNs in the last decade, though some companies did venture a little out into the wilderness with art or weird gimmicks. That's no surprise, though... It would be strange if the Japanese innovated in anything when it comes to VNs, since most 'innovations' in JVNs tend to create fan backlash. The only thing that can really be construed as an innovation in JVNs was the inclusion of more evolutions of the e-mote system, though the system itself is more annoying/distracting than anything else. Edit: Sorry, didn't mean to be short... but protagonist customization primarily got dropped because of how counterproductive it was in most cases to getting engrossed in the story-game. The only real remnant left from that is the generic harem protagonist who is so endemic to charage in general. Similar to the 'silent protagonist' in jrpgs, most fans of the medium look on excessive self-insert elements as a negative factor when deciding to buy a game in Japan. The thing that stuck to me about Ayakashi Gohan that made it creative to me is that the customization was a lot more organic than simply giving out stats. The one-hour long prologue is the protagonist's childhood, and depending on the choices at the prologue she develops one of two personalities, each one having a set of routes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchhamilton Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 i guess katawa shoujo maybe? a western release made by a group of people off of 4chan couldve been forgettable and nothing major but it turned out to be a well written vn. it was also many readers gateway vn into the medium. i remember after reading KS i had a different perspective on vn's. they can be inside looks into characters going through personal turmoil and growth who are all in a way messed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruberick Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 It's pretty tough to bring creativity in any order. You could consider it creative that Danganronpa added investigation and trials to their VN, but you could also consider it as parts that don't even qualify as a VN to begin with. Ladykiller in a Bind's conversation simulation with a huge amount of choices and outcomes comes to mind. Or maybe it's just creative to tell a unique story? Heart of the Woods and Highway Blossoms didn't follow tropes of girl routes, harem routes and whatnot and had worthwhile stories to tell. Since VN's have a very fixed structure, them getting creative is easiest by having things that make them less of a VN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GXOALMD Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 I really hope no one here is uncultured enough to consider DDLC creative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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