Project: (VIDEO) What Are Visual Novels

[Tay]

Hello all,

I need your help! I'm putting together a video introduction to visual novels for the site's FAQ page and want to pool our brain cells. Please take 3 minutes and answer a few questions.

Thanks a ton!

Tay

* * * * *

* * * * *

In your own words, what is a visual novel?

What makes you love VNs?

Name one favorite song from a VN:

Can you think of a moment in a VN-to-Anime where the anime perfectly effectively mirrored or embodied the novel?

If you have any additional comments about what you'd like to see or would suggest be added to a "What are visual novels?" youtube video, please add those comments below.

Edited September 11, 2012 by Tay

[Bolverk]

In your own words, what is a visual novel?

- A Story presented with visuals and audio. Almost like a book with great story, visuals and audio. Superior to books in many ways (con's too of course), a combination of media we love from movies with music setting the mood. Faces, voices, mannerisims setting the characters, and the story. But much longer and a choice how the story would/will develop.

I could compare it to a movie: Citizen Kane, made in the 40's it's more of a book displayed in visuals and audio. Even so it's praised as one of the best moives of all time. That is similar to what VN's are IMO.

What makes you love VNs?

-It's a combitation of what I love the most: Great story, visuals and audio. With the choice to choose how the game will develop.

And I dont need to flip pages..... *Lay in sofa*, look at screen, set to auto read, dont move a muscle for the next hour. Ahhh the joy of simple things.

Name one favorite song from a VN:

I mainly find the Openings most memorable, Ever 17, G senjou no maou, sharin no kuni, all great songs imo. All clannad music is great, amazing all of the BGM's.

Can you think of a moment in a VN-to-Anime where the anime perfectly mirrored or embodied the novel?

- "perfect" is rather loose prospect, as there is always differences. But.

The scene at the end of steins;gate where they stand at the top of the radio building, infront of the crashed satellite before they travel. It's pretty much exactly the same in both the anime and VN.

[trhvmn]

Ah, let's see...

In your own words, what is a visual novel?

An art medium that combines literature, illustrations, and music. The ratio of each of those three in a given VN depends on the work itself - some are more reliant on the music (Higurashi, Umineko), others don't have a lot of graphics (Narcissu). A visual novel may also feature interactive elements; if it does, it could even be considered a video game (Phoenix Wright, Sengoku Rance). I'm not exactly sure where the line between the two is drawn, though I'd like to figure it out someday.

What makes you love VNs?

Hmm... I'm not exactly sure, to be honest. I suppose, in one part, the ways the stories are constructed - their length, the first-person narrative style, choices, stuff like that. I also enjoy more depressing or darker stories, and those are plentiful in VNs. (and I like manga-style illustrations too lol)

On the other hand, something that I never noticed until I read an article that Aaeru linked to somewhere - visual novels are like regular novels in that they allow the reader to use their imagination to form the story... but while in regular novels, you don't get any sort of guildelines regarding that, VNs lay down a framework that you can base the scenario off of using the visuals.

I'm not sure if I worded that properly, so here's an example that I took from my own experiences. Whenever I'm reading a book, I often find myself imagining what a character or place looks like as soon as they're first introduced, only to have to redo that mental image once the character/place actually is described. I never have such problems with VNs, since you can already see what everything looks like as soon as they appear, but those visuals are only there so you can have an idea of what's going on - enough to construct the mental images without confusion.

Name one favorite song from a VN:

Eh, there's one from Umineko that I always thought of as really amazing, but I don't remember its name and saying when it plays would probably be spoilers. Though most songs from Umineko are excellent, really.

Can you think of a moment in a VN-to-Anime where the anime effectively mirrored or embodied the novel?

Huh... I haven't watched any good such adaptations to comment on this (well, I'm watching Steins;Gate right now, but I haven't read the VN). However, having watched the Fate/stay night anime after reading the original work, and having found it amazingly terrible, I'd like to present my opinions on why it failed so hard.

• The most immediate error that was apparent to me while I was watching it was, without doubt, their failure to stick to a single route. It seems that they decided to started off with Fate, but then tried to shoehorn elements from Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel into the plot, only to realize that it wasn't working out as they neared the end.

Considering that F/sn has a pretty serious story, the clusterfuck that this resulted in should be apparent. Story elements that were completely irrelevant to Fate's plot ended up being introduced but not fully developed, which just made things confusing (example: revealing Archer's Noble Phantasm, but not his identity).

• Second... ok, obviously they couldn't animate the h-scenes since the anime aired on TV, and the ones in the VN were pretty bad anyway, but... couldn't they have taken the scenes from Realta Nua (the non-h rerelease) instead of making shit up, like the infamous Mana Transfer Dragon? (and let's not even mention the Mana Transfer Dolphins from the UBW movie)

• Third... ok, bias here, but I just don't like Deen. The quality of their works is pretty... ehhhhh. F/sn is one of the most famous visual novels out there, so why did such a studio get to produce its anime? Same goes for Tsukihime, whose anime is also famous for being horrible (I haven't watched it yet, though, so no comments on it). I rejoiced greatly upon hearing that Ufotable would be producing Fate/zero.

Anyway, I'll refrain from bitching much further about this. Bottom line, not being completely faithful to the original work, not being able to decide which route to do, having a shitty studio produce the anime. There's probably more to this, but that's what I can think of right now...

I think I'll add a "what I think would make an adaptation be good" section to this tomorrow, so as to not make this part so bitchy lol.

[Guest]

Hey Tay I put up a post on the blog: http://visualnovelaer.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/project-video-what-is-a-visual-novel-looking-for-feedback/

These are the games I would use:

Clannad, Little Busters, Steins;Gate, Fate/stay night, Kanon, Amagami, Ore no Imouto konna ni kawaii wake ga nai, Starry Sky, Hakuoki

Tears to Tiara (maybe), Haganai (maybe), Majikoi (maybe),

I would put Hakuoki. That's a definite.

Avoid Higurashi, Umineko, Tsukihime

[Guest]

One more thing I would do is, keep it short keep it snappy. One scene, one joke, transition to next game, repeat: one scene, one joke, transition to next game, repeat.

Hey also if not sure what scene to use (bcuz there's no way you could have watched or play most of these games), ask on anime forums, those are the best places for this kind of stuff.

[Bolverk]

Here is a link to a rather large anime site: My link It should be practical to take a look at.

What I gather about popular animes made from VN's that would be, Clannad, Higurashi, Steins;gate and Fate stay night. I would have to agree with Aaeru about higurashi, as much as I dispise that outlook. The art may scruff away newcomers.

The reason to use popular animes is that it will make them interested. But you don't need to make the video centered around that.

As to Aaeru suggestion, Clannad would fit that quite well, lots of comedy. Little busters, very funny. You could mention they made Angel beats, just a thought.

[tsun2yan]

In your own words, what is a visual novel?

To me, a visual novel is the final result of modern story telling-the fusion of all present day techniques to present a story into one glorious medium. This is through the visuals and music (Movies and television), high reliance on text and narrative (Books), and various choices and possibly even gameplay to enhance immersion and story telling options (Video games). In other words, pure awesomeness

What makes you love VNs?

1. Read above, its fairly obvious

2. The ridiculously niche nature of VNs allow them to tackle ideas, themes and concepts mainstream media wouldn't touch with a long stick. This can be clearly seen in something like SubaHibi, which features truly horrifying scenes which contribute to the story, but it is still safe to say that it would be impossible for a movie to be made out of it. Hell, I doubt even something like Umineko would be made in a Hollywood TV series since the concept is so weird.

3. Strong reliance on character development.

Name one favorite song from a VN?

Clannad's "Nagisa Farewell at the Foot of a Hill" and "The Place Where Wishes Come True", makes me cry every time ;_; . Also Umineko's entire soundtrack.

Can you think of a moment in a VN-to-Anime where the anime perfectly effectively mirrored or embodied the novel?

Also from Clannad, but Nagisa's death scene in after story, as well as when Tomoya has the whole realization thing with Ushio on the train back.

Both of those scenes are absolutely perfect in the anime, and make me cry each and every time I see them (Actually I was pretty much tearing up just from remembering those scenes writing this post)

[Tay]

Okay... Here is Draft 1 of my Intro to Visual Novels video.

It's not the greatest thing that ever happened to man, by any means, but it's a first shot. I'm up for suggestions, criticism, suggestions, etc. I tried to incorporate all sorts of sources (including my own experience), and I hope you all feel like it's representative of your feelings. Aaeru's opinion matters most of course, because she's the one commissioning it.

A few notes before you watch it:

1. If you don't like it, that's fine! Please give me feedback.
2. Incorporating video of anime/VNs did not work well. That's why I went with this option. If anyone has the skills to more successfully integrate VN/Anime video, wonderful! I'll be happy to send the video I've captured or downloaded to help the process.
3. The video goes up to HD, so go fullscreen if you have good internet : )

Click the icon above to go to the youtube video. Or click this link.

[Guest]

Hey nice

Actually I was thinking something completely different. I was thinking just play the Clannad game for the audience. No intro. Do 15 seconds of Clannad then move to Little Busters, 15-20seconds of LB! then Steins;Gate, then FateStayNight, no text in between, no pauses required. just a very quick transition between. Almost no text. u can put a floating subtitle to introduce the game + company, but even that's not compulsory.

u dont have to use custom music, just use the sounds straight from the VN.

thats why in the FAQ page i wrote,

"A visual novel is like watching an anime except much longer... etc"

"The best way to understand how these things play is to just see them in action"

http://visualnovelaer.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/faq-designing-process-what-is-a-visual-novel.jpg

You wouldn't need to put large amounts of text (or any text) in the video because the page where it's going to go will have text anyway. Also play the sounds as-it-plays in the VN. Dont overlay with custom music.

sorry for the misunderstanding, i shouldve made that clearer.

[Tay]

Hm. Alrighty. I'll see what I can do : )

[Tay]

Update: Hopefully I'll have something done by tonight. : )

[harry_kinomoto]

In your own words, what is a visual novel?

Life lessons. Treasured experiences. Bastions of virtue and goodness without which I would not be who I am today.

What makes you love VNs?

Difficult. The characters, mostly. The way you get to know them. The visions of a perfect human spirit that they burn inside your brain. The way this vision makes you feel such longing - and the way this longing compels for you to do your utmost to realise it in a reality which you come to be aware actually holds a very fragile world.

Name one favorite song from a VN:

ok it's an arrange and the original is underwhelming but I did just wanna post that =P

Can you think of a moment in a VN-to-Anime where the anime effectively mirrored or embodied the novel?

I did think the entire Clannad anime was sublime. Everything seemed to translate very well and I was hooked at first instance. In fact, the moment I tried to play the VN to find out what else I had missed, I quit very fast. I think it was because the anime had already told everything there was to tell in the story - to the extent that I felt reading the VN was effectively re-reading something.

(I might also add the Chaos;Head anime is an example of the reverse being true. Far too rushed imo!)

***

That's all from me. Also Tay, please check your PMs and mailbox!

[Tay]

Dun-dun-dun-dun!!!! An amazing thing has happened! ... Actually, two amazing things have happened.

1. I finished Draft #2 of the video project. Is it great? Not really. Is it what Aaeru asked for? Not exactly. More on this below.
2. I found out that OTHERS are working on the video project, too! And when I say others, I mean other capable video editors. I'm not a fantastic editor, so the fact that there are amazing people working on this means that Fuwanovel will get a good final product and a decent representation of Aaeru's desires. : ) Yay

OKAY, a few notes about Draft #2:

Things that Aaeru didn't want to happen which happened:

1. it's 5 minutes
2. There are only 3 clips
3. It's not snappy or always hilarious

Things I learned in the process:

1. 20 second clips aren't enough to give a situation context. I tried it several ways and showed it to a few people, but nobody could gather what gameplay was like, or what the point of a VN was, from short, context-less clips
2. #1 may simply be a result of my mediocre video editing skills
3. I don't want to do video editing for a living. (Yay medicine!)

LINK) TO WATCH GAMEPLAY VIDEO

CLICK ABOVE IMAGE (OR THIS

Edited September 21, 2012 by Tay

[Guest]

Hey the draft #2 is pretty good~

Hmm I guess 20 seconds is too little,.. i didn't' think about that.

I was thinking auto-mode is too slow, and usually people set them to really slow, have to manually click after all to convey the feel of what playing the game will feel like. (which means have to manually capture the clips)

The other thing was, it can't be slow to start or cause the viewer to feel impatient, it has to instantly grab. imagine you have a 10 seconds window before the guy gets bored and closes the window (bcuz the vid didn't grab his interest). That's why I still think it somehow has to be snappy (humour second to that). I liked the first clip the most, I would put Sunohara on the screen right from the get-go (right from 0m 00s) and reduce the airtime or speed up the text. If we put Nagisa on the screen as soon as the vid plays, that would be good too. (That game doesn't have many two-shots.)

It's a matter of selecting the scene, that's the hardest. I don't mind if I go through and handpick some (ive got all the games here on my PC anyway). The steins;gate (needed Kurisu on the front) & FS/N clips were not as good as the Clannad one. I noticed you put a short eyecatch transition? you can introduce the game by overlaying a small font text directly on the video as the game is playing and it should serve the same purpose.

also little busters is great for this, it has lots of great scenes.

Btw what tools to use in order to capture the videos or to edit them in?

will get a good final product and a decent representation of Aaeru's desires. : )

>.< sorry I'm so anal with this stuff, it's one of the important items on the website, I figured thousands of ppl will see it and make their decisions based on this clip

aaeru

[Tay]

>.< sorry I'm so anal with this stuff, it's one of the important items on the website, I figured thousands of ppl will see it and make their decisions based on this clip

: ) That's exactly my point, too! We're looking for "freakin' amazing!" for your freakin' amazing site! No need to apologize for it, we're all pulling for fuwanovel!

We'll get it right, but hopefully something okay-ish will come up which will allow you to launch the FAQ sooner rather than later.

Spasibo!

Tay

PS: I use CamStudio-Recorder for the VNs. It's free and awesome.

Edited September 16, 2012 by Tay

[Guest]

: ) That's exactly my point, too! We're looking for "freakin' amazing!" for your freakin' amazing site! No need to apologize for it, we're all pulling for fuwanovel!

no no that's completely exaggerated,

sry i passed out last night (i.e. went to sleep), although i did finish writing the 3 articles on wiki.fuwanovel.net

anyway, the images for Hinomaru and a whole ton of other games in the 'Upcoming Section' hasn't been created, and they havent been entered into the database yet,

see https://fuwanovel.net/novels/82

I want to enter every single project into the Upcoming section from this entire list: http://vntls.tindabox.net/week/2012-09-15 (except the Mangagamer/JAST ones which will be excluded, usethis page to tell which is which)

Also ill message you the link to the spreadsheet we use (which is ALSO out of date lol), it's a spreadsheet of which art asset is done, which ones still need to be made.

anyway ill give u the instructions bit by bit, ive just got to convene with jichi to get the annot player specifics done and then ill get around to helping u out.

[Tay]

although i did finish writing the 3 articles on wiki.fuwanovel.net

I know. They look pretty awesome. This is my first exposure to copyright law/criticism (not a lot of that in the things I study @ university). Very interesting.

WORK UPDATE:

Spreadsheet : All the games on that list have been updated on the spreadsheet! I decided to keep the JAST/Mangagamer ones on the sheet (but struck-out and greyed) so that updating the list next time will be faster and easier (don't have to check which projects are done by them, etc.).

Database : I'm planning on starting a few of those, but a priority list would be VERY helpful (so I can manage my photoshop time more efficiently).

NOTE: I'm going to move this discussion (about upcoming games/database) to my volunteer thread, that way people can keep posting on this thread if they'd like about visual novels.

Edited September 17, 2012 by Tay

[harry_kinomoto]

Ok I should probably poke my head out of the woodwork and come clean as the guy who's taking over this. Much Kudos to Tay for help provided thus far with his earlier works though!

I should probably say I'm no video editor myself; but I think I'm making progress. Right now, I just need 2 more VN clips before I can start editing proper. I'd already asked Tay for ideas on it but if anyone else could help it would be appreciated~

The scenes I'm looking for:

• -Something that features intellectual discourse. Anything philosophy-related about parallel universes, the meaning of life or love, crazy theories on them...that sorta thing!
  
• -Any scene where it is obvious that the relationship between two lovers has advanced significantly after. Things like heart-to-heart conversations while overlooking a beautiful sunset. Or scenes where people suddenly spurt serious confessions before a dramatic incident or an unashamed guy lifts a girl on her shoulders despite her protestations - up to you!
  

Ideally (but not essentially) try to avoid VNs I've already taken clips from. I wanna include a good range you see, so try to avoid: Fate/Stay Night, Little Busters, Chaos;Head, True Remembrance and maybe My GF is the President. I'm lacking stuff from Otome-Ge so if you can find something from them that's a definite plus. I also don't mind if you find something really good from Katawa Shoujo, because it'd be easy to find another choice screencap like that.

Oh also, don't fuss too much over the length of the vid. Better to record more of it than less - I can edit out the irrelevant bits easily.

Anyone who has ideas, please PM me! (or post on this thread)

[dfallengod]

too me a while to talk notice this post..

hmm seems good but is this really okay?

Its quite lacking....

1st: Visual Novel is not limited only in box choices you know. You should know by now....

There date sim type visual novels like love-plus, kimikiss, amagami(if you play the game full) and etc...

also srpg type visual novels like sengoku rance, tears to tiara, utawaremono and so on.....

2nd: there are various kinds of visual novels. You should take note of that. there are eroge content visual novel....

nukige can be visual novel but it unlike those which more on story its more focus on sex than story. So please dont leave those out.

to make it short in 2nd: Visual novels can be either categorize as galge, otomege, eroge and nukige.

edit: also add GL Game and BL game.

one thing eroge == nukige but sometimes nukige =/= eroge

if your new in visual novel at least ask those who played various ones like me...

[Conan]

In your own words, what is a visual novel? At the basic level, a visual novel to me is a story where you read text and click to continue (Sometimes Auto is on and ext). Some visual novels are more like games such as Rance, Aselia. Many of them have choices you make but not all.

What makes you love VNs? After you play either Umineko, Yu-No, Muv Luv Alt, G Senjou, Ever17, Fate, almost any Nitro+ novel (Way more novels than this, but these are the ones from the top of my head) you realize how amazing some people can write stories. The stories are just so captivating and well written, I am surprised visual novels aren't popular. (Give it a couple years)

Name one favorite song from a VN: If you played the game, probably will agree it is a moment you will never forget. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhuRbA5C6c

Can you think of a moment in a VN-to-Anime where the anime perfectly effectively mirrored or embodied the novel? Not a single one, every single time the novel is superior.

[harry_kinomoto]

dfallengod, thanks for raising those points early, they are both indeed very important, and my answering them well help clarify the underlying philosophy I’m taking when making this vid.

Simple things first:

1st: Visual Novel is not limited only in box choices you know. You should know by now....

There date sim type visual novels like love-plus, kimikiss, amagami(if you play the game full) and etc...

also srpg type visual novels like sengoku rance, tears to tiara, utawaremono and so on.....

I’d already included a cut of Daibanchou as an example of VNs with gameplay. Forgot to mention it in my first post ^^;

Now for the more complicated stuff:

to make it short in 2nd: Visual novels can be either categorize as galge, otomege, eroge and nukige.

edit: also add GL Game and BL game.

one thing eroge == nukige but sometimes nukige =/= eroge

I oppose that way of thinking on a very fundamental level. If it were totally up to me, I would get rid of the entire notion of labelling VNs like that altogether! Indeed, I think I had persuaded Aaeru not to include such classifications on the site several months back. Nevertheless, I think it’s a point that deserves to be repeated again.

Consider what it means to call something a Nukige…

nukige can be visual novel but it unlike those which more on story its more focus on sex than story.

And how, I ask, does one determine whether or not a VN focuses more on sex than story (or vice versa)??

Visitors to 4chan some time back will recall how this issue could incite considerable flame wars. I PLAY MUV-LUV FOR THE PLOT ORLY WHAT IS THIS “PLOT” IN MUV-LUV THAT YOU SPEAK OF etc... I think it drives home the point that questions like the above are completely, utterly subjective. There are people who would be able to find deep meaning in seemingly cliched, superficial storylines; and there are people who will ignore even the most amazing piece of literature and home straight in on the sex simply because drawn on the cover is the most HNNGH-inducing imochara that they have ever seen!

tl;dr: there is no such thing as a true nukige. Even a seemingly clear-cut example like SonoHana 7, whose official art doesn’t try to hide the fact that the only thing that goes through Takako’s mind when Runa is being all Tsun is how she will sound when she’s playing with her in bed...

...well, would you believe me if I told you that I submitted to my college writers’ magazine 500+ words on what that game says about asserting yourself in relationships? Unfortunately, it proved too much for their conservative minds even though I took deliberate care not to make it explicit... prudes

Let’s now consider the above in respect to the actual problem at hand: how to introduce complete newbies to the idea of VNs.

First off, anything aimed at beginners must avoid jargon as much as possible because it will only confuse them. Thus instead of saying...

VNs can be classified into: galge, otome-ge, eroge, nukige and GL/BL games. (and of course not forgetting datesims, or love comedies or nakige)

...I instead considered...

VNs can be classified according to whether the focus more on sex than story; whether they are made more for guys or girls; and whether or not they incorporate gameplay elements.

...and because we have established the first point is essentially untrue, and that the other two points can be demonstrated simply by showing examples of such VNs, I summarised that to become...

There are many types of VNs available. Some of them include H-content.

And even though I personally think of VNs more as stories than things with H-content, I assure you that definitely did not forget to mention that some VNs can feature Ero. In fact, by including a snippet of Ero voice and a VN cover complete with 2 girls (pink hair-type) with exposed boobs (personally censored by me~), panties (1 striped, 1 plain), all about to play host to a good number of dribbling tentacles, I may well have mentioned it a little too much...

******

I hope that answers at least some questions! Maybe we should move this somewhere else to prevent this thread from being derailed...

Anyways progress update! Found a good scene from The Second Reproduction for the "getting to know you" bit. Still stumped for something intellectual though

[dfallengod]

Consider what it means to call something a Nukige…

And how, I ask, does one determine whether or not a VN focuses more on sex than story (or vice versa)??

uh this is somewhat uh....clearly you dont know whats nukige?

抜きゲー（ぬ - ）とは、アダルトゲームソフトの1ジャンル。性行為シーンに重点

を置いたタイトルのことを指す。

link here: http://dicionario.sensagent.com/%E6%8A%9C%E3%81%8D%E3%82%B2%E3%83%BC/ja-ja/

Visitors to 4chan some time back will recall how this issue could incite considerable flame wars. I PLAY MUV-LUV FOR THE PLOT ORLY WHAT IS THIS “PLOT” IN MUV-LUV THAT YOU SPEAK OF etc... I think it drives home the point that questions like the above are completely, utterly subjective. There are people who would be able to find deep meaning in seemingly cliched, superficial storylines; and there are people who will ignore even the most amazing piece of literature and home straight in on the sex simply because drawn on the cover is the most HNNGH-inducing imochara that they have ever seen!

what do you expect? you think all people read japanese?

since muv-luv is a +18(eroge) game they just go for the ecchi scenes than the story

tl;dr: there is no such thing as a true nukige. Even a seemingly clear-cut example like SonoHana 7, whose official art doesn’t try to hide the fact that the only thing that goes through Takako’s mind when Runa is being all Tsun is how she will sound when she’s playing with her in bed...

oh yeah I forgot about yaoige and yurige

SonoHana is its a yurige....

i dont know the story well...I cant judge that yet...

there is genre yaoige and yurige is available a long time ago so I dont think SonoHana as a nukige....

or probabaly SonoHana wasn't a nukige to begin with. Those persons saying SonoHana is a nukige..They have no idea..

VNs can be classified according to whether the focus more on sex than story; whether they are made more for guys or girls; and whether or not they incorporate gameplay elements.

half true but thats not it...

because its a true fact that visual novel is a text-base game which has a genre plot-wise...

Games in japan are always categorize games as galge, otomege, nukige and so on.

"ge" gets from the word game(in japan "gemu"). if you ask them "have you played amagami?"..

they will just say "you mean that galge?"

the majority wont say "visual novel" I tell you...

thats why visual novel can be either those genre I mention...

Example:

Fate/stay night is a adv(adventure)ge and a eroge.

Fate/stay night Realta Nua is a adv(adventure)ge and also a galge.

Cross Channel is a nakige and also a eroge.

but in english they make things more easy to refer to them as visual novels...since all structure of the games are the same...

so it best to explicit the true meaning of visual novel.

as what I say "visual novel is a text-base game which has a genre plot-wise"

I really cant explain further more..its up to you..I check if the thing you made is convincing..

the first one is not to well explicit the visual novel well...or should I say it was way to simple....

well only few I can say its true novel base visual novels..^^

[Tay]

Interesting points, all, but here's the point I wanted to get across with my early work: Whatever video comes out of this needs to be easy to understand and accessible.

We're talking about people who are brand new to the medium and who--in my opinion--don't need a complete breakdown of the genre. We want to showcase the best and most fun aspects of a handful of games, showcase common elements (humor, characterization, click to continue, etc.), and sell them on trying a classic. Once somebody starts playing a decent VN, they're almost always hooked.

Point being, imo we should keep it simple, upbeat, interesting and helpful. Too much info in an introductory film is generally not helpful.

[harry_kinomoto]

As much as I wanna continue this debate you’re right. I shall stand and deliver~

I selected a scene from G-Sen for the intellectual bit, but it wasn’t really what I was looking for (the mood’s not right. Wanted something more abstract; as opposed to didactic like this one). However as it’s probably better to get feedback first I thought to release it sooner than later! I give myself a week to keep searching for a better scene. If by the end of next Friday I still find nothing, I’m sticking with this one.

Oh btw, since it may not a final version I put up the vid, published under my YouTube channel, as unlisted - that means it won’t turn up on public searches for now.

Anyways feedback please! Comments, criticisms, flames even There are 3 things I particularly wanna know:

• 
  
  
• Does the text change too quickly? (ie can you keep up without having to pause it)
  
• In selecting scenes I employed the marketing tactic everyone loves to hate: cut it off when stuff starts getting interesting. Obviously, this is intended to imply: if you like it so much, go play the full thing. Does doing this achieve that; or does it just annoy you?
  
• Above all, is the video, as Tay said, simple and accessible? To the point that it’s something you’d be willing to send to your friend who asked you about VNs the other day?
  

EDIT: Updated vid, changed "intellectual" scene. Should be good to go~

Edited September 25, 2012 by harry_kinomoto