Gilozard: Wait wait wait - GOG has
how many adventure games? But they won't take them if the dev calls the game a visual novel?
Adventure games and VNs are basically the same thing. Taking one and not the other is silly.
There is a pretty big difference, namely the interactivity.
Most VNs, while at heart are very similar to western adventure games, generally feature much less interactivity.
Most adventure games allow you to move your character around, click on various objects at any time, etc.
'true' Visual novels on the other hand, are largely a passive experience. Mostly reading, with limited interaction, other than at specific set points where a conversation option, or other choice is available.
hedwards: I wish people would stop inventing new terms for things we already have named. Or at least would refrain from re-assigning ones that are in current use.
The reason why it confuses the issue is that they're not really novels and they're not really graphic novels either. Hence the confusion. Plus, those have been around for probably 20 years at this point, and I'm not even sure I remember what we used to call that subgenre of adventure game.
But the term 'visual novel' has been around for years and there is a distinction between a 'visual novel' and 'choose your own adventure game', 'graphic novel', etc.
A Visual Novel is, in its most general form, an electronic novel with pictures. But not in the way that a comic is, which divides the story into panels, word bubbles, etc. and often avoids standard 'novel-esque' prose.
In many ways a VN is closer in style to that of a 'picture book', but usually being more adult orientated and actually containing a full 'novel'.
A visual novel may, or may not be an 'interactive story' where one can make choices to change the outcome. These are the most common form of VN that you'll find, though 'Visual Novel' itself is just an umbrella term for both of these used in the west (in Japan, different terms are actually used for the more 'traditional VN and the interactive VN).
Possibly more importantly, however is the fact that a visual novel is very much a Japanese creation. We certainly have Western 'VNs', but more often than not, they're influenced or inspired by Japanese visual novels. While something like a 'text adventure' might come close to a western equivalent, nothing we do is exactly like a true Jap VN. The style, format and aesthetic are very different (not least of all due to the anime artstyle used), so it's unfair to say that VNs are just relabelled novels, or something.
Just
taking a look at google images should immediately show you the sort of style that visual novels have.
I guess for someone who has never heard the term 'visual novel' before, it could be a bit confusing, with natural connections to 'graphic novel', but as soon as one has been told what is actually is, it's hardly confusing at all.
Gilozard: For the past little while people have been calling adventure games or choose-your-story RPGlikes (Hatoful Boyfriend, Long Live the Queen, etc) visual novels. I don't get why, because the term confuses the issue, but that's what people are talking about.
In time, like any genre, visual novels included a lot more than just the 'story itself', such as RPG elements, stat-elements, etc.
This in no way takes away from, or confuses the fact that they are ultimately visual novels.
Many Bioware games contain 'dating sim' elements, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't call them RPGs.
As I stated above, a visual novel is ultimately an interactive Japanese illustrated novel. As long as that aspect remains the primary feature, it's a VN. If a game is primarily an RPG or something else, but contains VN elements, it remains an RPG (it is just said to contain VN elements).
hedwards: Then there's people who insist upon calling comic books graphic novels purely as a measure of elitism. I sometimes attend meetups with professional comic book and comic strip folks and I never got the impression from them that the distinction is about anything other than elitism.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was always under the assumption that 'graphic novels' specifically referred to complete 'long form' comic narratives published into a full book or 'novel'.
'Comic books' on the other hand are the single issues, or periodicals, not necessarily intended to be a full book, or 'novel'.
