How much interest does the JNC community have in visual novels!

Jon Mitchell

I haven’t played any visual novels yet. I’d like to maybe give it a go. If JNC added visual novels to the manga/LN offerings ( gaming emulator on the app? Port to web plugin?) anyway if it were possible, what would you like to see? How much would you pay? Multiple premium credits for a full game?

Terrence

Maybe in the future they could try it if they have any interest. I think people are wary of companies trying too many things at once though (especially if one of them becomes lackluster as a result of diverted resources). I think JNC would need to be even more of a giant to try this type of venture.

In terms of cost, I'd expect games to cost at least 3 premium credits, probably more. Most high profile VN experiences cost around 40 dollars on release date.

I would love to see some stuff that had anime brought over:

Myself;Yourself
White Album 2
Rumbling Hearts

Fate / Stay (I know this is one of those expensive licenses, so probably Japan only for the foreseeable future).

Anything in the Infinity series would be nice too. Ever17 rerelease. Remember 11 and Never 7 first time official English market releases.

Nol_Mimi_Reyalta

This post is deleted!

Jaquobus

I like Visual Novels, but I wouldn't want J-Novel to to go into that direction in the near future (they have enough on their plate with redesigning the website, enhancing the app and figuring out the manga workflow). Even simply localizing a VN can be tricky depending on the engine, porting a VN to a new platform would be a massive undertaking. There are also already multiple VN publishers, and I'm not sure whether we actually need more contenders.

As for pricing, it really depends on the length and content of the VN: Clannad costs roughly 50$ on Steam, whereas Jast sells Saya no Uta for ~25$. And then there's Sakuragame which spams “English” “translations” of VNs for ridiculously low prices...

pleco_breeder

VN are a lot more fickle market than LN or manga. There's a massive amount of title out there, but very few of those ever amount to anything other than a brief showing in the market with a single release. This isn't to say that there aren't good stories within the format, but rather that they get nowhere near the exposure even in the Japanese market.

When this becomes coupled with the fact that a large portion of the titles are driven by the hentai market, the possibilities become even more reduced. When it comes to titles which do make it into mainstream, it is often those which have been edited for that kind of release by the producer. In those cases, they tend to be marketed toward consoles. Even among those that make it to that level, and get console or even anime releases, a large portion started out as hentai games. The Fate series is a perfect example of this string of events, and really is the rule rather than the exception.

Although there are companies which do translation of VN, I'm not sure this is something JNC would be looking toward. The credit system for members likely would not be a feasible option regardless, at least not in the current format, because of the expense of software licensing. The difference in the cost of licensing a book versus software is tremendous and royalties to the IP holder would be a limiting factor.

Likewise, the question of whether JNC wanted to release edited versions or accept the moniker of an 18+ company would come into play. If releasing edited versions, they would be continually scorned for censorship. However, if releasing original content would face equal resistance for distributing questionable material. This is why most of the companies working with the VN format are specifically identified as adult material. In that way, the issue is put to rest without any questions. JNC, if Sam opted to go into the VN format translations, would do much better to open a separate company (not related in any way other than ownership) in order to avoid the associated negative press and potential slander against JNC.

Please don't misconstrue that I'm trying to argue against the idea, I've read a couple of decent VN stories. I'm simply stating that there are a lot of pitfalls which would be associated with putting that kind of public image on JNC.

renofury

Very little. I was intrigued by some titles like steins-gate, and higurashi because of the anime, but I didn't find the gameplay fun and dropped them after a few minutes playing with them.

DoubleMangekyo

I'd like it if VN publishers do VNs and book publishers do books.
I want as few GATE manga / literally any Sol Press license situations as possible.

As for my interest in VNs, I've played some but these days I just don't have the motivation for anything too long.

Drone205

@renofury said in How much interest does the JNC community have in visual novels!:

Very little. I was intrigued by some titles like steins-gate, and higurashi because of the anime, but I didn't find the gameplay fun and dropped them after a few minutes playing with them.

Well "Novel" is quite literally in Visual Novels, they are not really video games. It would be better to compare them to Choose your own adventure books. "Turn left, pg 134. Turn right, pg 67," is the kind of thing you would expect but a VN goes to the "page" automatically.

Terrence

Steins;Gate is one of the least choice oriented series in VNs (you use a messaging system to pick choices, and it's not clear at all how those responses affect the story). I didn't love playing through S;G myself (after having watched the anime, so not a blind experience). I think Higarushi is even less choice oriented?

If you're a beginner to VN, I'd recommend Kamaitachi No Yoru (Banshee's Last Cry on American mobile phones). Lots of choices and branching paths.

The Zero Escape series, particular Virtue's Last Reward, also have branching from decisions (going through certain doors / choosing to Ally or betray), though broken up by puzzling gameplay, so not exactly a traditional VN.

renofury

@drone205 yes it was what it felt like, for me it ruins the pacing of the story since I am slow to decide when facing different options.

renofury

@Terrence Higurashi was my first try, I liked both the anime and manga, so much so that I also went through every possible English translated available sidestory.

I similarly approached the VN after having totally spoiled story line and just Higurashi multimedia experience wasn't enough to keep me interested. Also the version I had was only a 640x480 resolution so the visual quality wasn't there

Serah

@jon-mitchell said in How much interest does the JNC community have in visual novels!:

I haven’t played any visual novels yet. I’d like to maybe give it a go. If JNC added visual novels to the manga/LN offerings ( gaming emulator on the app? Port to web plugin?) anyway if it were possible, what would you like to see? How much would you pay? Multiple premium credits for a full game?

Despite this is an old topic... are there any you are interested in? By now there are several worthwhile ones available for free via Steam.

Jon Mitchell

@serah
Not sure , I’m open to suggestions. The idea of a good story and being interactive is what I find interesting.

Not a dating sim or anything like that

Serah

Visual novels are not always like that - or limited to a certain extent. A few good, mainstream, ones have been already mentioned. If i would not know you are after visual novels, the first thing I expected would have been you are interested in games like Disco Elysium and/or Tyranny. RPGs with a lot of impact by each decision made - with a good story, of course. Or Life is Strange, which I consider as a VN even.

Currently Doki Doki Literature Club (https://store.steampowered.com/app/698780/Doki_Doki_Literature_Club/) is one among the more popular ones, even within the U.S.A. as much as I have been told. Ever heard of that? Though, the genre is probably psychological horror, more than the typical harem+sci-fi thingy...

Narcissu (https://store.steampowered.com/app/264380/Narcissu_1st__2nd/) is free to play too - though if you know more about what kind of story you like to enjoy, you might benefit from the current sale on Steam.

What kind of visual novels you have enjoyed/tried so far?

Jon Mitchell

@serah

I’ll have to take a look at steam. I haven’t played/read any VN’s yet

Serah

@jon-mitchell hmm... the basic gameplay you can certainly check out by one of the F2P games. For a very good story experience, checking out GATE, Psycho-Pass and Dangoronpa might be worth your time.

If you have experience with the Ace Attorney franchise, even better.

Farmerdad

I have only tried "playing" one... maybe two VNs so far. I keep looking at getting them, though. However, I think it's a totally different beast than books and manga. The VNs I've looked at all had voice talent. I don't know if popular ones are even available without voice acting. I am interested in VNs, but not interested in JNC doing them as they are set up.

Kyon7

I'm more interested in novelisations of some VNs, like Umineko. It's just more convenient to read on kindle.

Serah

With the modern technologies it had become hard to say, if visual novels are still a worthwhile medium...

But then, as with light novels, a bunch of them have such good stories that they even gotten manga and anime adaptions beloved by plenty...

Terrence

There's not enough modern games doing choose your own adventure style stories (heck, there's barely even any published books doing that these days). T_T

There is a movement towards 3D Visual Novel type games, which I'm not sure if should be put aside in their own category (Ai Somnium Files, I'd even consider Adventure Games by TellTale similar like The Walking Dead). So VN producers are trying to adapt.

I think Live2D has also helped make expressive VNs a bit easier too (and I assume cheaper?).

I've heard from forum chatter people saying Sol Press has not made a profit on a single visual novel though... If true, doesn't make me feel very safe about the stability of that industry here (and you look at Sekai Project's delays and constant Kickstarters too).