04.12.16

Since I'm already making these posts that do not pertain to any specific game I've been playing, here's another one. (tl;dr at the end)

So I figured I'd start with a new game today and pulled another VN out from the metaphorical RNG hat. Now, normally, this wouldn't be a problem and I'd just go and give it a try. But this time, I figured that maybe this is not the best way to go about things.

The problem starts with the fact that visual novels are, as the name says, novels, not games. Of course that point can be argued, less so in the case of kinetic visual novels (which, in my opinion, are usually the best ones), but making decisions and having differing actions happen based on those decisions makes them games, no? No. I think that anything considered a visual novel has too little "gameplay" (if it can even be called that) to consider it a game. Of course, there are always cases that blur the line between the two, and that line can be in different places for different people. I'd label things like Long Live the Queen and Danganronpa under games, even though they're conceptually the same as visual novels - mostly reading, but you can make decisions and have different actions happen based on those decisions. (They're good games by the way, would recommend. Especially the former.)

Now, having established my opinion on them not being games, the question arises whether they're suitable material for this blog. I don't really talk about books I read, nor anime I watch, so why should I discuss VNs? And honestly, I kinda think I shouldn't. The only argument I have is that "other sites focused on games categorize them as games, and discuss them as if they were". Well, that, and that perhaps clicking is a little bit more involved than staring at a screen for 20-25 minutes straight or at two pages for a total of 2-3 minutes before switching to the next episode/page. But I respect my own opinion and the reasoning behind said opinion, and therefore stand by it - no VN discussion on my blog meant for games.

And that would be great and all, but it still leaves one problem - content. I try to write every day, because ideally I should have some sort of material for mostly every day. I try to surround my life with entertainment, which is mostly in the form of video games, but since a good story scratches the entertainment itch just as well as a good game, I'd have far longer periods of time where I wouldn't be playing anything. So from that perspective, why not extend this to cover the other forms of entertainment I enjoy as well, even if just in passing? So, yeah, I'll... make minor adjustments based on this decision.

So, moving back a notch in the topics, the way I've selected visual novels to read so far has been the same as I've done for games. See if something looks interesting, then try it. This differs from how I select other stories, like books or anime, where I just pick something that's popular and well received instead of reading what it's about. (And sticking to the fantasy genre on books, because realistic things tend to be boring for my taste.) Now, I can't do this with games. Possibly because I'm too much of a snob in that area, which is most likely the result of playing too many of them. But visual novels have a very nice database of them, so I can just (mostly) start from the top, and perhaps I'll eventually develop a more refined taste on them.

Except that... it seems a prerequisite for being good is to be lengthy. From the 14 highest rated ones I checked, 11 are >50 hours, and 3 are 30-50. Now, let's put the former into perspective in terms of books. So, you know those thick 600-page giants? Well, those aren't even close. Stack 5 of those, and you'll be at the minimum length these VNs could be. So stack 2-3 more on top of that pile that's nigh too heavy to carry already, and that's an estimate on how long they are. But wait, there's more. Most of those are a part of some multi-episode series, each of which is as long. So, take that giant intimidating pile, and add 2-4 more piles of similar size next to it. Or on top of it. But you'd probably reach the ceiling before they'd fit. And that... is how much reading there is. Now, while I love lengthy stories if they don't get dull, I don't really have that kind of time. So I'm kind of conflicted if I should just start reading, and see where one of them takes me, or pick some of the shorter, <50h ones that don't have a mass of prequels and sequels.

tl;dr: VNs aren't games, so I'll refrain from now on from discussing them as much, but will in turn just as briefly mention any other forms of entertainment I've been enjoying. Also, the best VNs are way too long.