"Real" choices in a VN

[Vokoca]

If I were to talk about a work that used choices spectacularly.. or maybe, used them in an interesting and/or creative way without actually being too "gimmick-y"? Although it's extremely subtle, I felt the choices in Subarashiki Hibi were so perfectly integrated into the story that it's almost mind-boggling. In the first chapter or so, they indeed seem to be quite pointless.. but the rest of the choices appearing after the first chapter manage to play off of the characters and dramatically affect the story in a rather novel yet unexpected way. Basically, these choices were written in to be such a crucial part of the story instead of the standard system that some other games have. I guess it's one of the reasons why I admire SubaHibi so much within the 'Visual Novel medium'. The medium is well-known for the dating sim-like structure with heroine routes and choices to pick those routes. And so with that generalization in mind, I can only admire the choice system in a work like SubaHibi. Also given some of the talk above, Muramasa is perhaps even greater with the use of choices. (I haven't gotten far enough in it to understand :<)

[Darklord Rooke]

They range from obvious to absolutely meaningless, while each and every one of them has a timer, as if picking what you think is hidden in a present one of the characters gets could destroy the time axis itself - but what they actually do is either nothing at all, or they lead you into a retry screen. Wow, so much depth!

 

[Totodile]

The most significant choices I had to make were:

 

>Cum inside

>Cum outside

As a man i can confirm this was a truly nerve wracking, life changing, internal war-starting choice if not done correctly 

[RinXD]

I personally do not think it would be cost effective to add choices that had actual consequence too them to a vn