I did 2 blogs today o.0 Well , I'm a weeny bit too lazy to guide you to the previous one vialink , however :P

This blog is an introduction to the general system and concept of Visual Novels.

Settings and Concept :

Visual Novels are essentially decisions and consequences games. In conversation sequences , depending on what you say , or do in certain sequences , may result in a different storyline or what we call "route" or "Arc". It may also result in different endings , usually split up into Bad , Good or True Endings per route. You may also meet dead ends which results in a Game Over and you may save anytime , which is important. Sounds simple? You may not get the desired Ending most of the times. There are also a Day System , every day you have to choose where to go and who to meet , which results in various consequences as well. The "Day" is depleted when a sequence of events had been initiated and completed and when the "Time Limit" is over , you will get to the conclusion of the story.

Most Visual Novels have a minimal of 3 Routes or to even a total of 5 or more routes.

Depending on the game itself , it may have special features like Chaos;Head which you have to choose a bad or good delusion but it , too , leads to various consequences in the storyline. Some Visual Novels might even have a mini-game feature.

Due to the concept of Visual Novels , many Dating SIMs are spawned from it , though not all Visual Novels are Dating SIMs of course.

Graphics :

Most Visual Novels utilise the usage of Anime portraits and backgrounds. There are usually no Animated videos either. Sounds boring , I'm sure , but fans of Visual Novels are usually more focused on the storyline and conversations , though the decent artwork of the portraits does enchance the scene A LOT.

Typical Plotlines :

Usually , Visual Novels tend to end up being a Romance / Slice-of-Life Storyline , maybe with a bit of Fantasy twist to it. Sometimes you may also need to do certain things to view a certain storyline route or ending , such as Fate / Stay Night Realtu Nua Ending , which you must clear all three Arcs to view the secret ending. Another example is Clannad , which you must clear the Nagisa route to continue on to After Story. But some people like mewent after Kyou or Tomoyo instead :P

Either way , Visual Novels are also usually well-known for having depressing and touching plotlines. Often playing a chord in your heart while playing through the game , understanding the characters and going through various branches of the storyline...that's the beauty of Visual Novels.

Often , the character you take control of is a male as well and VERY often , Visual Novels are usually H-Games , but there are always a All Ages version of popular Visual Novels which I prefer :P

Again , I must note that Visual Novels isn't just about dating , dating and dating. There is actually a plotline , which usually involves...

Romance , Fantasy or...Gore. ( Meh...I'm not keen on the last option , School Days made me sick :( The Visual Novel is 2x..no...5x worse )

So whose the main heroine? :

In Visual Novels , the main lead tends to be surrounded by a bunch of gals so who the heck is the main lead anyway? The answer tends to be extremely obvious , just look at the box art. The most prominent girl tends to be the main intended heroine for the plot. Some , like Clannad , have features like After Story which tells the after-math of the main heroine's Arc. However , again , the beauty of Visual Novels is that you can choose whom ever is applicable.

Cast of Characters :

Other than yourself who takes on the role of a main character, there are usually 3-5 main heroines in a Visual Novel. Naturally , their personalities are extremely different from each other , not to mention the character design. Well , in the Visual Novels I have played , I had seen Vampires , students ( Clannad , Chaos;Head...now that I mentioned it , there areplenty of Visual Novels based on students ), Deities ( Tayutama : Kiss on my Deity ), spirits ( If you count Servants of Fate / Stay Night :P ) , shrine maidens...urgh.

Visual Novel to Anime :

Animes can be adapted from video games , Mangas , Light Novels and lastly , Visual Novels. Usually , the Anime would mix all the Arcs of the Visual Novel together and then usually end up being a Harem , which is not seen in the Visual Novel itself. However , some Animes , like Clannad for example , stuck onto it's main heroine's plotline though with a bit of twists here and there.

Anime to Visual Novel :

Now , this is interesting. The only Anime I had seen having an Visual Novel adaptation rather than the other way round is Code Geass. The Visual Novel , Lost Colors , have an extremely flexible storyline , even for a Visual Novel. The interesting thing is that your not using Lelouch , you can choose to be a girl or a guy , you can end up with some of the guys or girls and there are even animated sequences once in a while. Well , I guess I would dig around more to see if there are any other Visual Novels that are based off Animes , rather than the typical standard of which most Animes are adapted from Visual Novels. I heard that there is a Spice and Wolf Visual Novel as well but I still need to do a bit of research on it.

Music and Seiyu :

Quiteoften , Music and Voice Acting were neglected in Visual Novels. Well , if you don't count the Opening Sequence anyway.

So should I try one? :

Visual Novels might prove boring to those who prefer action packed stuff. It's more or less for those who prefer a good storyline , preferably a heart-warming one ( Or even a depressing one ) but there are occasional exceptions. Either way , on the exterior , it's just plain boring but when you actually try it out , it's surprisingly addictive.

Unfortunately , most Visual Novels are in Japanese , but if your buying the PC version , be sure to check whether there are any fan-made English Patches , they help a lot.