It occurred to me that there are quite a few of you who watch anime. As such, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the next phase of nerdiness brought to you from Japan: The visual novel.
What is a visual novel?
A visual novel is a game composed primarily of text, with added visuals and sound. There are usually character sprites over a hand-drawn background, with a text box at the bottom of the screen which shows dialogue, narrative, or description which progresses the story every time you click. The stories in question range the gamut from science fiction, adventure stories, love stories, to stories involving vampires, to stories of abandoned androids watching the objects entrusted to them for all eternity.
(Planetarian)
(Tsukihime)
Often an option screen will pop up, in which you can choose between 2 or more different actions for the protagonist to take. Many visual novels have an increased element of interactivity, such as strategy battles similar to those seen in final fantasy tactics, or the ability to move the character between different locations at will.
(Wanko to Kurasou)
(Utawarerumono)
Visual novels have been around for a long time. As such, there is a huge amount of disparity between different visual novels in terms of features, art quality, and whether or not the characters are voiced. Most of the worst visual novels are just weekend projects thrown together by an American using the Ren'py engine. However, it is usually easy to tell at a glance how much work went into a visual novel.
(Kikokugai)
(Hissatsu Panda Samurai)
That's not to say only Japan can make quality visual novels, however. Katawa Shoujo is a visual novel which has been in progress for the last several years, and should be released this year. The art and writing style indicate that it is going to be a very high quality visual novel indeed!
(Katawa Shoujo)
If you watch anime, you may have watched several that were based off of visual novels. For instance, if you have watched Fate/Stay Night, Clannad, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Chaos;Head, Shuffle!, School Days, or even Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, these were all based off of Visual Novels. You'll have to trust me on this for now, but the visual novels these anime are based off of can be far more enjoyable than the anime itself.
(Fate/Stay Night)
(Chaos;Head)
Why are visual novels in any way superior to other forms of entertainment?
Visual novels are unique in that they are not constrained in the same manner as other mediums. In movies, a director has to be very careful not to cut between scenes too quickly, or the audience will become disoriented. A visual novel reads like a book, so the author is free to give the reader information in whatever manner the author finds most effective. For instance, if an anime were to show you a giant robot, it would probably pan from the bottom of the robot to the top. With a visual novel, they could show a picture of the robot in the background, describe it to you, and tell you what the functions and capabilities of the robot are all at the same time. This would be slightly harder to accomplish with the movie medium, unless the author had a character in the movie doing it for him. Further, the author is able to direct your attention to something specific with his use of language. He is also allowed the use of literary devices, etc which are normally inaccessible to visual mediums. In addition, written form allows the author to give us the opinion of a character without the character having to say it. It gives insight into the characters you are watching/reading about and allows for further character development.
(Kikokugai)
Video games are usually constrained in a different way. The storyline in video games is often a slave to the gameplay. A classic example would be the old final fantasy games, in which the character was made to run around completing quests, always having to defeat a boss in order to progress. A more modern example would be the halo games. As a written work however, visual novels are free of the constraint of making the player do something. Very few visual novels are based around the concept of 'progression', 'leveling up', or 'getting stronger'. Because they read like a piece of literature, they often opt for a more realistic approach, and aim to tell a story rather than throw the player into a progressive series of challenges.
While visual novels offer many of the advantages of books, they expand upon the medium with the addition of visuals, music, sound effects, voices, and an element of interactivity.
So people translate these games?
Yes! In fact, you may have already played a visual novel without realizing it! The Pheonix Wright series is basically visual novels, Ar Tonelico and Fire Emblem both have visual novel elements, and if you've ever played Policenauts, Radical Dreamers, or The Portopia Murder Mystery, you've played a visual novel. For the rest of you, there are about 350 translated visual novels, and more being translated every day!
(Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney)
Other notes
A visual novel may or may not be erotic in nature, but those which are can be called 'eroge' or 'H-games', where the 'H' stands for 'hentai'. There are many non-erotic games to choose from, but for those who are not completely opposed to '18+' games, the options are much broader. Of the games with erotic scenes, they can be separated into roughly two categories. First are the games with very deep plots and complex characters, which happen to have erotic scenes. In these games, the scenes serve to bring the reader closer to the characters, but are usually very short and easy to skip over. Some games even have an option to disable erotic scenes or automatically skip past them! In some games, the erotic scenes are the culmination of a long romance story between the protagonist and another character. This offers the reader a bit more of a concrete conclusion than a simple peck on the cheeks and then the story ends like a romance movie or somesuch. The second category is those games based completely around sex. These games are usually easy to tell apart by the title. For instance, 'Tasty Shafts' and 'Suck My **** or Die!' are not going to have the complex plot and characters that you(hopefully) crave.
While it it unfortunate, most eroge are directed at straight males, although there is a strong undercurrent of games aimed at gay men/women and straight women. To reiterate, the erotic scenes in any good visual novel are completely optional, and serve only to make the characters more vivid to the reader.
(Demonbane)
Additional Info
WARNING: vndb.org has NSFW pictures hosted on it. They are hidden by default, but their system isn't perfect so you may stumble upon an erotic picture while surfing there, especially if you're looking at less popular visual novels which don't get moderated as often.
vndb.org is a great site for learning about new visual novels(my account on that site is http://vndb.org/u1019/votes?c=all;o=d;s=vote , you can see all the visual novels I have played, as well as what I rated each of them.) If you go to 'Visual Novels' on the left of the page, you can sort all visual novels by 'rating' or 'popularity', both of which should show you a fairly accurate picture of which visual novels are most highly praised by fans in general. Here is the list sorted by popularity: http://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=tagspoil-0;o=d;s=pop . While looking at a visual novel page, you can click on the name of the english translation to go to the translation's official website.
tlwiki.tsukuru.info is a good site that has a lot of hosted fan translations, and also links to a lot of off-site translations. These guys work hard at what they do, and have put out some great translations(Saya no Uta, Chaos;Head, and Kikokugai to name a few.)
Where can I get visual novels?
Many visual novels have been commercially translated, and others have been fan translated. The commercial translations are available for sale and download from companies such as JAST USA and Mangagamer, while the fan translations are usually a patch for which you must have the Japanese version to install the patch to. You might be able to find the Japanese version of a game on ebay/amazon.co.jp. Additionally, if you know how/where to download anime, you should be able to find visual novels to download as well without a problem, but if you are considering buying a game but want to try it first, feel free to PM me and I might be able to give you a hint in the right direction.
I never found an interest in visual novels. I don't know why, but I couldn't find them interesting. Probably because I could not find any of the good ones. I'll be sure to check some out on the site you listed above.
I never found an interest in visual novels. I don't know why, but I couldn't find them interesting. Probably because I could not find any of the good ones. I'll be sure to check some out on the site you listed above.
Yeah, I tried a few demos of ones/torrented some, and I really didn't like them. They were either really short, or just boring or not very interesting.
Clannad and Fate Stay Night were the only two I played. Other than that I'm not really into them, I played Fate because I wanted to know more about the characters. The only time I'll play an Eroge.
Clannad and Fate Stay Night were the only two I played. Other than that I'm not really into them, I played Fate because I wanted to know more about the characters. The only time I'll play an Eroge.
Tsukihime[lit. 'Moon-Princess'](Drama/Action) - A boy named Shiki wakes up in a hospital after recovering from a tragic accident which leaves him close to death. He finds that he has gained the power to kill anything simply by cutting along 'lines of death', which only he can see. What is the source of this power, and what meaning does it hold for him?(Long)
Sekien no Inganock[Inganock of the Brightest Flame](Drama/Adventure) - A town named Inganock lies shrouded in mist, isolated from the outside world. It's been like this for 10 years, ever since a day known simply as 'The revival'. The city residents seem unable to retain memories of this revival, and their bodies have slowly changed over time. Hopelessly mutated and many of them sick beyond hope, the populace is far too concerned simply with surviving to worry about such lofty thoughts as why they became like this. Among these 'people' walks a doctor, illegally curing the poor for free. His name is Gii, and the upper echelons of society aren't too pleased with his actions...(Medium)
Planetarian(Drama) - The story of an android stuck in an abandoned city guarded by battle drones, waiting for customers to come to her planetarium for 30 years.(Short)
Wanko to Kurasou[Living With Puppies](Drama) - In a world where 'pets' look like humans and have intelligence often rivaling humans, many people neglect or even discard these pets. You find one of these, a dog, discarded in a trash heap outside your apartment one day. Resolving to take her in, you now find yourself a pet owner, with all the responsibility that entails(no pun intended).(Medium)
Yume Miru Kusuri[A Drug That Makes You Dream](Drama) - There are three girls central to this VN. The first is a quiet girl, constantly bullied by the girls in her class. When their bullying starts to go a bit too far, you decide to step in. The second girl is your senior in high school. She is a typical case of a spoiled princess, but has a tendency to take rash actions in her boredom. The third girl is a local vagrant, claiming to be a fairy and generally causing a nuisance. Quite amusing.(Medium)
Saya no Uta[Saya's Song](Drama/Thriller) - During a traffic accident that kills both of his parents, Fuminori sustains massive head trauma. Using an experimental new procedure they are able to save him, but upon awakening he finds that the world is no longer as he left it. Everything is covered in gore, the humans are writhing lumps of flesh with distorted voices, and everything is generally terrifying. On the verge of insanity after lying in his gore-covered hospital bed for what seems like years, Fuminori is suddenly confronted by a welcome sight: a lone, normal, human girl. Why does only she appear normal, and is she his salvation?(Short)
In the interest of showing one of my interests to a more appropriate group of people, could a mod move this thread to other games?
I don't think other games would be right for this, since they aren't actually video games.
The thread shouldn't be moved to Culture, Media & Arts either because that place is a ****ing graveyard for threads.
OT: I haven't played any visual novels myself buy I've been interested in them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please correct any spelling or grammatical I make.
I don't think other games would be right for this, since they aren't actually video games.
The thread shouldn't be moved to Culture, Media & Arts either because that place is a ****ing graveyard for threads.
They're kinda like video games because you click to progress the story, and most of them force you to make choices that change the outcome of the story.
They're kinda like video games because you click to progress the story, and most of them force you to make choices that change the outcome of the story.
Still.
hmm... I wanted to install and play Saya no Uta but... Well... I couldn't? It wouldn't work/open.
I read somewhere that you need to change your computers locale settings or something and I honestly don't know what the **** is going on?...?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please correct any spelling or grammatical I make.
Still.
hmm... I wanted to install and play Saya no Uta but... Well... I couldn't? It wouldn't work/open.
I read somewhere that you need to change your computers locale settings or something and I honestly don't know what the **** is going on?...?
FWIR, you're gonna want to go to Control Panel –> Region and Language Settings –> Administrative Tab. From there you'll hit the button "Change System Locale..." and change it to "Japan(Japanese)".
However, this may not fix the problem if the program just wouldn't start up. If you ever feel like trying to install it again, PM me and we can get it working.
FWIR, you're gonna want to go to Control Panel –> Region and Language Settings –> Administrative Tab. From there you'll hit the button "Change System Locale..." and change it to "Japan(Japanese)".
However, this may not fix the problem if the program just wouldn't start up. If you ever feel like trying to install it again, PM me and we can get it working.
ah, thanks.
It says I have to restart my computer so I'll do it later.
Are there any side effects to this?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please correct any spelling or grammatical I make.
ah, thanks.
It says I have to restart my computer so I'll do it later.
Are there any side effects to this?
I have noticed 2 side effects:
1. Backslashes used to show up as japanese yen signs. They don't anymore, even though I still have my locale on Japanese, and I don't know what's changed.
2. I think this has happened to me once, but I downloaded a program(Blender maybe?) and it used Japanese install screens. Hasn't happened to me since, so I'm assuming they used some kind of funky installer which had several languages programmed into it. Regardless, it didn't end up being a big deal as the program itself was in English after I installed it.
I have noticed 2 side effects:
1. Backslashes used to show up as japanese yen signs. They don't anymore, even though I still have my locale on Japanese, and I don't know what's changed.
2. I think this has happened to me once, but I downloaded a program(Blender maybe?) and it used Japanese install screens. Hasn't happened to me since, so I'm assuming they used some kind of funky installer which had several languages programmed into it. Regardless, it didn't end up being a big deal as the program itself was in English after I installed it.
ah, okay good, nothing too bad/common then.
Well thanks again.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please correct any spelling or grammatical I make.
I feel it's incredibly important to mention that Katawa Shoujo JUST came out. It's free, it's awesome, and it's my game of 2012, no questions asked. Check it out if you will.
So wait,a whole thread about digital novels and you leave out 999? lolwut?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I often think about that old metaphor, the one that says we are all islands on a wide sea. Especially these days, now that things are more difficult than before and the world appears to be harsher than we once imagined it to be. We are all like islands, the philosopher said. Perhaps it's true. Yet I cannot help but remember an older saying, scratched on a cave wall somewhere by a long-forgotten prophet: in the end, the sea will claim everything."
What is a visual novel?
A visual novel is a game composed primarily of text, with added visuals and sound. There are usually character sprites over a hand-drawn background, with a text box at the bottom of the screen which shows dialogue, narrative, or description which progresses the story every time you click. The stories in question range the gamut from science fiction, adventure stories, love stories, to stories involving vampires, to stories of abandoned androids watching the objects entrusted to them for all eternity.
(Tsukihime)
(Utawarerumono)
Visual novels have been around for a long time. As such, there is a huge amount of disparity between different visual novels in terms of features, art quality, and whether or not the characters are voiced. Most of the worst visual novels are just weekend projects thrown together by an American using the Ren'py engine. However, it is usually easy to tell at a glance how much work went into a visual novel.
(Hissatsu Panda Samurai)
That's not to say only Japan can make quality visual novels, however. Katawa Shoujo is a visual novel which has been in progress for the last several years, and should be released this year. The art and writing style indicate that it is going to be a very high quality visual novel indeed!
If you watch anime, you may have watched several that were based off of visual novels. For instance, if you have watched Fate/Stay Night, Clannad, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Chaos;Head, Shuffle!, School Days, or even Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, these were all based off of Visual Novels. You'll have to trust me on this for now, but the visual novels these anime are based off of can be far more enjoyable than the anime itself.
(Chaos;Head)
Why are visual novels in any way superior to other forms of entertainment?
Visual novels are unique in that they are not constrained in the same manner as other mediums. In movies, a director has to be very careful not to cut between scenes too quickly, or the audience will become disoriented. A visual novel reads like a book, so the author is free to give the reader information in whatever manner the author finds most effective. For instance, if an anime were to show you a giant robot, it would probably pan from the bottom of the robot to the top. With a visual novel, they could show a picture of the robot in the background, describe it to you, and tell you what the functions and capabilities of the robot are all at the same time. This would be slightly harder to accomplish with the movie medium, unless the author had a character in the movie doing it for him. Further, the author is able to direct your attention to something specific with his use of language. He is also allowed the use of literary devices, etc which are normally inaccessible to visual mediums. In addition, written form allows the author to give us the opinion of a character without the character having to say it. It gives insight into the characters you are watching/reading about and allows for further character development.
Video games are usually constrained in a different way. The storyline in video games is often a slave to the gameplay. A classic example would be the old final fantasy games, in which the character was made to run around completing quests, always having to defeat a boss in order to progress. A more modern example would be the halo games. As a written work however, visual novels are free of the constraint of making the player do something. Very few visual novels are based around the concept of 'progression', 'leveling up', or 'getting stronger'. Because they read like a piece of literature, they often opt for a more realistic approach, and aim to tell a story rather than throw the player into a progressive series of challenges.
While visual novels offer many of the advantages of books, they expand upon the medium with the addition of visuals, music, sound effects, voices, and an element of interactivity.
So people translate these games?
Yes! In fact, you may have already played a visual novel without realizing it! The Pheonix Wright series is basically visual novels, Ar Tonelico and Fire Emblem both have visual novel elements, and if you've ever played Policenauts, Radical Dreamers, or The Portopia Murder Mystery, you've played a visual novel. For the rest of you, there are about 350 translated visual novels, and more being translated every day!
Other notes
A visual novel may or may not be erotic in nature, but those which are can be called 'eroge' or 'H-games', where the 'H' stands for 'hentai'. There are many non-erotic games to choose from, but for those who are not completely opposed to '18+' games, the options are much broader. Of the games with erotic scenes, they can be separated into roughly two categories. First are the games with very deep plots and complex characters, which happen to have erotic scenes. In these games, the scenes serve to bring the reader closer to the characters, but are usually very short and easy to skip over. Some games even have an option to disable erotic scenes or automatically skip past them! In some games, the erotic scenes are the culmination of a long romance story between the protagonist and another character. This offers the reader a bit more of a concrete conclusion than a simple peck on the cheeks and then the story ends like a romance movie or somesuch. The second category is those games based completely around sex. These games are usually easy to tell apart by the title. For instance, 'Tasty Shafts' and 'Suck My **** or Die!' are not going to have the complex plot and characters that you(hopefully) crave.
While it it unfortunate, most eroge are directed at straight males, although there is a strong undercurrent of games aimed at gay men/women and straight women. To reiterate, the erotic scenes in any good visual novel are completely optional, and serve only to make the characters more vivid to the reader.
Additional Info
WARNING: vndb.org has NSFW pictures hosted on it. They are hidden by default, but their system isn't perfect so you may stumble upon an erotic picture while surfing there, especially if you're looking at less popular visual novels which don't get moderated as often.
vndb.org is a great site for learning about new visual novels(my account on that site is http://vndb.org/u1019/votes?c=all;o=d;s=vote , you can see all the visual novels I have played, as well as what I rated each of them.) If you go to 'Visual Novels' on the left of the page, you can sort all visual novels by 'rating' or 'popularity', both of which should show you a fairly accurate picture of which visual novels are most highly praised by fans in general. Here is the list sorted by popularity: http://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=tagspoil-0;o=d;s=pop . While looking at a visual novel page, you can click on the name of the english translation to go to the translation's official website.
tlwiki.tsukuru.info is a good site that has a lot of hosted fan translations, and also links to a lot of off-site translations. These guys work hard at what they do, and have put out some great translations(Saya no Uta, Chaos;Head, and Kikokugai to name a few.)
Where can I get visual novels?
Many visual novels have been commercially translated, and others have been fan translated. The commercial translations are available for sale and download from companies such as JAST USA and Mangagamer, while the fan translations are usually a patch for which you must have the Japanese version to install the patch to. You might be able to find the Japanese version of a game on ebay/amazon.co.jp. Additionally, if you know how/where to download anime, you should be able to find visual novels to download as well without a problem, but if you are considering buying a game but want to try it first, feel free to PM me and I might be able to give you a hint in the right direction.
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
(Saya no Uta)vv
(Wanko to Kurasou)vv
(Fate/Stay Night)vv
(Tsukihime)vv
(Sekien no Inganock)vv
(Clannad)vv
(Yume Miru Kusuri)vv
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
Anyway, nice thread.
Glad to hear it. Here is the list I was talking about. Fate/Stay Night seems to be the most popular at the moment.
http://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=tagspoil-0;o=d;s=pop
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
Yeah, I tried a few demos of ones/torrented some, and I really didn't like them. They were either really short, or just boring or not very interesting.
Steam: RobotDeathParty
Here are some translated Visual Novels with no 'ero' in them.
http://vndb.org/r?q=&fil=type-complete.doujin-0.minage-0~6~7~8~9~10~11~12~13~14~15.lang-en.olang-ja.plat-win
I'd particularly recommend Umineko no Naku Koro ni, which I believe isn't on that list due to being 17+...I think 17+ means gore?
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
Tsukihime[lit. 'Moon-Princess'](Drama/Action) - A boy named Shiki wakes up in a hospital after recovering from a tragic accident which leaves him close to death. He finds that he has gained the power to kill anything simply by cutting along 'lines of death', which only he can see. What is the source of this power, and what meaning does it hold for him?(Long)
Sekien no Inganock[Inganock of the Brightest Flame](Drama/Adventure) - A town named Inganock lies shrouded in mist, isolated from the outside world. It's been like this for 10 years, ever since a day known simply as 'The revival'. The city residents seem unable to retain memories of this revival, and their bodies have slowly changed over time. Hopelessly mutated and many of them sick beyond hope, the populace is far too concerned simply with surviving to worry about such lofty thoughts as why they became like this. Among these 'people' walks a doctor, illegally curing the poor for free. His name is Gii, and the upper echelons of society aren't too pleased with his actions...(Medium)
Planetarian(Drama) - The story of an android stuck in an abandoned city guarded by battle drones, waiting for customers to come to her planetarium for 30 years.(Short)
Wanko to Kurasou[Living With Puppies](Drama) - In a world where 'pets' look like humans and have intelligence often rivaling humans, many people neglect or even discard these pets. You find one of these, a dog, discarded in a trash heap outside your apartment one day. Resolving to take her in, you now find yourself a pet owner, with all the responsibility that entails(no pun intended).(Medium)
Yume Miru Kusuri[A Drug That Makes You Dream](Drama) - There are three girls central to this VN. The first is a quiet girl, constantly bullied by the girls in her class. When their bullying starts to go a bit too far, you decide to step in. The second girl is your senior in high school. She is a typical case of a spoiled princess, but has a tendency to take rash actions in her boredom. The third girl is a local vagrant, claiming to be a fairy and generally causing a nuisance. Quite amusing.(Medium)
Saya no Uta[Saya's Song](Drama/Thriller) - During a traffic accident that kills both of his parents, Fuminori sustains massive head trauma. Using an experimental new procedure they are able to save him, but upon awakening he finds that the world is no longer as he left it. Everything is covered in gore, the humans are writhing lumps of flesh with distorted voices, and everything is generally terrifying. On the verge of insanity after lying in his gore-covered hospital bed for what seems like years, Fuminori is suddenly confronted by a welcome sight: a lone, normal, human girl. Why does only she appear normal, and is she his salvation?(Short)
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
I don't think other games would be right for this, since they aren't actually video games.
The thread shouldn't be moved to Culture, Media & Arts either because that place is a ****ing graveyard for threads.
OT: I haven't played any visual novels myself buy I've been interested in them.
They're kinda like video games because you click to progress the story, and most of them force you to make choices that change the outcome of the story.
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
Still.
hmm... I wanted to install and play Saya no Uta but... Well... I couldn't? It wouldn't work/open.
I read somewhere that you need to change your computers locale settings or something and I honestly don't know what the **** is going on?...?
Which OS do you use?
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
Windows 7 Home Premium
FWIR, you're gonna want to go to Control Panel –> Region and Language Settings –> Administrative Tab. From there you'll hit the button "Change System Locale..." and change it to "Japan(Japanese)".
However, this may not fix the problem if the program just wouldn't start up. If you ever feel like trying to install it again, PM me and we can get it working.
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
ah, thanks.
It says I have to restart my computer so I'll do it later.
Are there any side effects to this?
I have noticed 2 side effects:
1. Backslashes used to show up as japanese yen signs. They don't anymore, even though I still have my locale on Japanese, and I don't know what's changed.
2. I think this has happened to me once, but I downloaded a program(Blender maybe?) and it used Japanese install screens. Hasn't happened to me since, so I'm assuming they used some kind of funky installer which had several languages programmed into it. Regardless, it didn't end up being a big deal as the program itself was in English after I installed it.
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
ah, okay good, nothing too bad/common then.
Well thanks again.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Katawa Shoujo
Like anime? Try Visual Novels.
"I often think about that old metaphor, the one that says we are all islands on a wide sea. Especially these days, now that things are more difficult than before and the world appears to be harsher than we once imagined it to be. We are all like islands, the philosopher said. Perhaps it's true. Yet I cannot help but remember an older saying, scratched on a cave wall somewhere by a long-forgotten prophet: in the end, the sea will claim everything."
-Jonas Kyratzes