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Am trying to understand visual novels
Feb. 16th, 2021 03:15 pmI've often been concerned that I don't "get" much of genre media: that there's lots of shibboleths, gate-keeping, and stereotyping that isn't obvious (or even polite to talk about).
The latest nut that I'm trying to crack are visual novels. I might be second-guessing myself too much. A good director studies the masters of the form before they proceed. One must know the rules, especially if they're going to break them.
I worry that I'm learning the wrong lessons. I'm not dissecting these because I hate VNs.
🌌 The settings would often be fantastically incomprehensible to a modern person (nanotechnology, ark spaceships on a centuries-long mission, fabric of reality falling apart, etc.) but the social problems are mundane (dating, jobs, money, etc.)
🧩 Elaborate meta-gaming mechanics are encouraged. They increase replay value. Meta-gaming may treat the characters in the story as puzzles that need to be "solved" by inputting the right combinations of resources (in lieu of narrative reasons).
👶 Loli characters are common and encouraged. Especially if they express mature themes.
😎 Dialogue might be jaded and smug, in the style of a 1990s Vertigo Comic (Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison). Most characters will have the same voice. (Except the loli, who will have the loli voice.)
🗾 Dialogue may be shojo/shonen themed, "what kids think adults are like", where characters are painfully sincere, regardless of the absurdity. (They're too young to have this much life experience and self-reflection; who is more loyal, the samurai who serves a bad master is more loyal than the one who serves a good one; etc.)
🌎 A VN may combine both the "jaded 90s" tone and the "young-adult earnest" tone, even in a single conversation.
🛋 Many VNs are feel-good safe-spaces for a specific theme (LGBTQ, waifus, pop-culture references, etc.). It often doesn't challenge the user to think about a complex issue or to sympathize with a tragedy; instead, the VN creates a fantasy of another place where these themes are embodied and endorsed by the fictional characters, their existence is a comforting validation.
These points are so common to the VNs given to me as reference, that I'm assuming they are aspects of VNs that audiences actively enjoy. What am I missing? What's under-served?
Thank you for your consideration.
The latest nut that I'm trying to crack are visual novels. I might be second-guessing myself too much. A good director studies the masters of the form before they proceed. One must know the rules, especially if they're going to break them.
I worry that I'm learning the wrong lessons. I'm not dissecting these because I hate VNs.
🌌 The settings would often be fantastically incomprehensible to a modern person (nanotechnology, ark spaceships on a centuries-long mission, fabric of reality falling apart, etc.) but the social problems are mundane (dating, jobs, money, etc.)
🧩 Elaborate meta-gaming mechanics are encouraged. They increase replay value. Meta-gaming may treat the characters in the story as puzzles that need to be "solved" by inputting the right combinations of resources (in lieu of narrative reasons).
👶 Loli characters are common and encouraged. Especially if they express mature themes.
😎 Dialogue might be jaded and smug, in the style of a 1990s Vertigo Comic (Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison). Most characters will have the same voice. (Except the loli, who will have the loli voice.)
🗾 Dialogue may be shojo/shonen themed, "what kids think adults are like", where characters are painfully sincere, regardless of the absurdity. (They're too young to have this much life experience and self-reflection; who is more loyal, the samurai who serves a bad master is more loyal than the one who serves a good one; etc.)
🌎 A VN may combine both the "jaded 90s" tone and the "young-adult earnest" tone, even in a single conversation.
🛋 Many VNs are feel-good safe-spaces for a specific theme (LGBTQ, waifus, pop-culture references, etc.). It often doesn't challenge the user to think about a complex issue or to sympathize with a tragedy; instead, the VN creates a fantasy of another place where these themes are embodied and endorsed by the fictional characters, their existence is a comforting validation.
These points are so common to the VNs given to me as reference, that I'm assuming they are aspects of VNs that audiences actively enjoy. What am I missing? What's under-served?
Thank you for your consideration.
