A tense moment from Sigh of the Abyss by Rascal Devworks
I tried visual novels for the first time in the spring of 2023 and fell in love. I've played through a number of them over the last couple of years, so I have a good handle on what my preferences are. And since I've started reviewing VNs here, it might interest you to know what I look for in them. These are just things that tend to appeal to me. Since there are so many VNs out there, it's worth considering what you want out of them.
Hand-drawn Western style art preferred. I prefer Western style art. The more anime the style is, the less I tend to be drawn to it.
Art > text-heavy or text-only VNs. I come to visual novels to see the characters and locations in some motion, not just a few static pieces with walls of text.
Pet peeve: The younger and more cutesy the characters appear to be, even if they're supposed to be adults, the less I'm interested.
Music > silence. As long as it fits the story, I don't care if the music is original or not. I actually think it's cool when royalty free music and sounds are used, but then I love to see such offerings for a community to build on.
Sound Effects: Nice but not a dealbreaker.
Voice Acting: I love voice acting and voice actors, and I've backed Kickstarters raising funds for voice work because it can add something. That being said, I'm just as pleased with VNs that don't have it. As long as the characters have perrsonality, it's easy to imagine their voices on my own.
Subtitles are a must; I came to read, yo!
Rewind and/or text log is preferred because sometimes I get interrupted, click too fast, or a line just didn't sink in the first time.
Sir Brash, a pretty problematic guy from Demonheart by Rolling Crown
Main Character: Female preferred; I'm a big otome fan! But I'll play other genders sometimes, too.
Friendships: Sure. It's especially interesting to see a variety of friendships.
Romances: Yes please! With a variety of conversation options to build relationships, from flirting to deep conversation. And options for love interests and orientations! I'd love to see more options for polyamorous relationships.
Rivalries/Enemies: As long as they're not one-note, grating bastards all the time, they can be fun.
Morally Sus Characters: Oh yes! It's okay if they're twisted, confused, selfish, etc. - but I'd like chances to learn why they're that way and to see other sides to them.
Under 18 Characters: No thanks; I like my stories to be about adults.
Branches > linear.
I like choices and lots of 'em! (Demonheart totally spoiled me in this regard; blame/thank Lamb.)
I don't expect every choice to directly impact the flow of scenes or the ending but it's best if some do. I'm happy if choices let me learn more about characters or the world or develop relationships further. I love having a variety of attitudes in the responses the MC can give (serious, bratty, sarcastic, etc.) so it feels like I'm building a personality for them.
It's nice to have at least a few endings to shoot for. I don't mind having a whole bunch as long as I can find a guide to get 'em all.
Roman holding Carmen at swordpoint in the explicit Sanguine Rose by DuskyHallows
I'm good with a broad variety of mature content, and most VN descriptions do a good job of letting you know what's in the story.
Ideologically Sensitive Material: I'm open to many topics, but I've found myself not wanting to deal with religious abuse in my VNs.
Nudity: I enjoy it when the creators want to provide it. We have some wonderful artists in visual novels who can really show the beauty of bodies.
Sex: I definitely like it to be an option! Text-only is okay; erotic CGs are nice; animated scenes are cool. Unless it's a primarily erotic novel, it's good if you can skip sexual involvement, though. Sometimes you're in the mood, sometimes you're not. Yes, I'm an amare game fan.
"Strong Language": It doesn't bother me, even in historic or fantasy settings.
Violence & Gore: I'm usually fine with it.
It's nice to be able to choose a name and pronouns for the main character, but I'm okay if I can't.
I like to see the MC, at least from time to time, but I know many VNs don't offer that.
If I can see the MC, it's nice to be able to choose some aspects of what they look like. VNs with options to change outfits or what an environment looks like give me an extra little thrill.
I've been drawn to fantasy and horror VNs the most, as well as VNs that blend the two. I haven't actually read many traditional fantasy novels, even though I like the genre, so it's stood out to me that I seek out fantasy visual novels. I've seen sci fi games that look interesting but just haven't felt the urge to get them yet.
Character Attitude Systems: I love options that let you build a distinct attitude for the main character!
Hybrid RPGs: I go to action RPGs to run around, fight monsters, get gear, and all that; I go to visual novels for character interactions and story. Playing a hybrid means I can't easily skip ahead after trying new choices and that gets frustrating.
Puzzles: Simple ones are okay but I'm not interested in a lot of them or high difficulty ones.
Resource Management: These kinds of systems can be fun, as long as they're not so tricky and demanding that it becomes a slog.
Micro VNs are fun to read over my morning coffee, but I prefer games that take hours per playthrough and need 3+ playthroughs to get most of the story, achievements, etc.
I often turn to Steam because it's easy to take screenshots, which I love to do throughout. I also like achievements, since they help me get a sense of how much of the story I've experienced That said, I also get VNs on itch.io. There are so many to choose from, and itch doesn't seem to be as difficult to publish on. I also appreciate that you can pay creators on itch pretty much anytime. For instance, I recently tried Ebon Light by Underbliss for free, since it's an option under Pay What You Want, but I fell in love with it hard and went back to pay for it, which was easy to do. I adore the wonderfully creative folks who work on visual novels and want them to reap rewards for their labors without undue fuss!
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