This go around, I asked you what attracts you to trying out a new visual novel. Some of the results I expected. Others were surprising. Here are the results out of 266 votes:
Nice Art
|
229
(86%)
|
Interesting Premise
|
214
(80%)
|
Favorite Genre
|
153
(57%)
|
Looks Different from Others
|
72
(27%)
|
Has an Artist I Like
|
73
(27%)
|
Has a Writer I Like
|
71
(26%)
|
Has a Composer I Like
|
25
(9%)
|
Has a Voice I Like
|
40
(15%)
|
Friends Suggested It
|
52
(19%)
|
The two strongest reasons were nice art and an interesting premise, which make sense to me, but I'm surprised that only 19% consider a friend recommendation to be a selling point. What makes you interested in trying out a new visual novel, specifically? Is there a certain kind of art style you look for? What turns you off from trying a new game?
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10 comments:
Not gonna lie, reason why I didn't choose friend recommendation is because none of my friends play dating sims. I'm the only one :(
But in terms of art, I guess you could say I like the kind of art in RE:Alistair, another game whose art I liked was X-note. I don't really know how to describe it but I guess I prefer soft lines? The colours seems a little washed out, but not pastel ... if that makes sense lol
Why am I not surprised? This pretty much sums up my conclusion after working on an experimental and then a more traditional work within the span of a month.
I'd say "Interesting Premise" can be interchanged with "Favorite Genre". For example, BxG players tend not to touch BxB with a ten foot pole regardless of the quality of the art.
The main issue here is that for people creating freeware works touching subject matter that they know won't be popular, they may wonder if it's worth investing in the art or if they know their audience will be limited they might just as well go super-cheap and use stock art.
Also, you tend to see a lot of new creators who demand the high quality art even before they get some experience making games on their own... and what artist would want to pair up with somebody unreliable.
I actually really like art that isn't very typical. A more cartoonish look is more interesting to me.
What Tacinn said about the friend's recommendation: I don't know any others who play visual novels and/or dating sims (Mr. Wright excluded). Unlike you though, I think this was a pretty expected result. It's a sub-genre still pretty much confined to the internet right now.
Work hard, promote, and start a revolution. I believe in you, Sakevisual! o.o b
As for art . . . art is all personal preference. I like near realistic backgrounds, but not people -- for example, I think Cinders has gorgeous background art, but my first inclination says I hate the figure art.
This is because I like expressive figure art, from all kinds of cartoonish to anime to things I can't even imagine until somebody draws them. I like to read open expression on people's faces (smiling, laughing, crying), something not usually emphasized in super realistic art.
(. . . Although, I might check out Cinders because the story looks interesting. Guess what things I chose in the poll. c:)
Like others have mentioned, I don't have many friends who play visual novels, especially indie ones. But if they recommend it to me, I can usually count on both interesting premise and/or nice art.
To be honest, I really don't care about voice acting in games, unless they are famous male Japanese voice actors such as Koyasu lol but I still wouldn't play it if the plot and art were bad. for me, nice fitting music is extremely important. I can't stand silence or music that doesn't make sense in context.
And yes, writers/ artists that I like would be a starting point for looking for new games, but that also correlates with the quality of plot and art.
Taste in art is really very personal. I like an anime/manga style, not overly generic or cute. I like a more pretty and mature style. Examples of art that attracted me: X-Note, OASE, Re:Alistair, Always Remember Me, Date Warp.
But in the end, if the story is really captivating, or simply has an atmosphere I like, I will keep playing (prime example, Frozen Essence). Since there really aren't very many indie visual novels, I give most of them a try.
When would I not even try? Art style that I really do not like. Or genre that I don't like, e.g. horror. (ex. the story of Fatal Hearts sounded interesting, but the whole blood, vampire, werewolves aspect turned me away, but of course lots of people also like that) Genres I personally love: science fiction, mystery, romance. I feel like for visual novels, mystery elements are essential for a captivating story line. Have different aspects revealed in different routes and that would get me going to obtain all endings, even for guys I normally wouldn't bother with in otome games. There has to be some incentive to keep playing: mystery, or lots of pretty cgs XD, humorous lighthearted entertainment and romance?
favorite indie games I've tried so far: X-Note, Re:Alistair, Date Warp, Jisei series (and Lucky Rabbit Reflex and Other Age Second Encounter which aren't visual novels)
It doesn't take much for me to try a game, but for me to play more than 10 minutes or the demo, I've talked about them above.
im fine with any actually. realistic, semi-realistic, childish, mature, and normal is fine.
If you ask me, story is paragon for me to be immersed in a world which is essentially limited to words,static imagery and sound. I won't really be staring at the art all the time but rather concentrate on the story and narrative flow.
Heck, I managed to finish the Elf classic "Yu-No" precisely because of this reason. The art is really dated but the story is something else.
I'm one of the minority whose only instant-sell point when it comes to video games at large is if they have a writer I like. (This applies as much to Shu Takumi as visual novel writers.)
Even if the art is nice, if a summary seems to have poor writing, then I won't play it.
For me, it's decent art that aren't a pain to look at, and friend's recommendation. Since I do play a lot of commercial VNs, I guess I do have quite a high standard for games already... Though, I don't mind BxB, GxG, creepy horror(no sudden high-pitched little girls screaming, please) or bad music since I can off the music.
What turns me off? Eh... I guess bad reviews, bad art, bad plot summary or R-18 stuffs, though I usually don't mind trying games that their creator actually put some real effort into them.
DON'T BUY IT, IT'S ONLY A DEMO
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