Editing Visual novel (section)

==Structure==
Visual novels are distinguished from other game types by their generally minimal gameplay. Typically the majority of player interaction is limited to clicking to keep the text, graphics and sound moving as if they were turning a page (many recent games offer "play" or "fast-forward" toggles that make this unnecessary), while making narrative choices along the way. Another main characteristic of visual novels is their strong emphasis on the prose, as the narration in visual novels is delivered through text. This characteristic makes playing visual novels similar to reading a book.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lebowitz |first1=Josiah |last2=Klug |first2=Chris |title=Interactive storytelling for video games : a player-centered approach to creating memorable characters and stories |date=2011 |publisher=Focal Press |location=Burlington, MA |isbn=978-0-240-81717-0 |pages=192–195 }}</ref>

Most visual novels have multiple storylines and more than one ending; the mechanic in these cases typically consists of intermittent multiple-choice decision points, where the player selects a direction in which to take the game. For example, in a [[dating sim]]ulator-themed visual novel, the player is prompted to pick different characters to date which, in turn, leads to a different ending. This style of gameplay is similar to story-driven [[interactive fiction]], or the shorter and less detailed real-life [[gamebook]] books.<ref name="klug_194-7"/> 

Some visual novels do not limit themselves into merely interactive fictions, but also incorporate other elements into them. An example of this approach is ''[[Symphonic Rain]]'', where the player is required to play a musical instrument of some sort, and attain a good score in order to advance. Usually such an element is related as a [[plot device]] in the game.

Fan-created novel games are reasonably popular; there are a number of free game engines and construction kits aimed at making them easy to construct, most notably [[KiriKiri]], [[NScripter]], and [[Ren'Py]].

Many visual novels use [[Seiyū|voice actors]] to provide voices for the [[non-player character]]s in the game. Often, the protagonist (that is, the [[player character]]) is left unvoiced, even when the rest of the characters are fully voiced. This choice is meant to aid the player in identifying with the protagonist and to avoid having to record large amounts of dialogue, as the main character typically has the most speaking lines due to the branching nature of visual novels.

===Narrative branches===
[[Nonlinear gameplay|Non-linear]] branching storylines are a common trend in visual novels, which frequently use multiple branching storylines to achieve [[multiple endings|multiple different endings]], allowing non-linear freedom of choice along the way, similar to a [[Choose Your Own Adventure|choose-your-own-adventure]] novel. Decision points within a visual novel often present players with the option of altering the course of events during the game, leading to many different possible outcomes.<ref>[http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-First-Free-Visual-Novel-Engine-Released-30725.shtml The First Free Visual Novel Engine Released], [[Softpedia]]</ref>{{bsn|date=June 2024}} An acclaimed example is ''[[Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward]]'', where nearly every action and dialogue choice can lead to entirely new branching paths and endings. Each path only reveals certain aspects of the overall storyline and it is only after uncovering all the possible different paths and outcomes, through multiple playthroughs, that every component comes together to form a coherent, well-written story.

The digital medium in visual novels allow for significant improvements, such as being able to fully explore multiple aspects and perspectives of a story. Another improvement is having hidden decision points that are automatically determined based on the player's past decisions. In ''[[Fate/stay night]]'', for example, the way the [[player character]] behaved towards [[non-player character]]s during the course of the game affects the way they react to the player character in later scenes, such as whether or not they choose to help in life-or-death situations. This would be far more difficult to track with physical books. More importantly, visual novels do not face the same length restrictions as a physical book. For example, the total word count of the English [[fan translation]] of ''Fate/stay night'', taking all the branching paths into account, exceeds that of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' by almost 80%. This significant increase in length allows visual novels to tell stories as long and complex as those often found in traditional novels, while still maintaining a branching path structure, and allowing them to focus on complex stories with mature themes and consistent plots in a way which ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books were unable to do due to their physical limitations.

Many visual novels often revolve almost entirely around character interactions and [[Dialog tree|dialogue choices]] usually featuring complex branching dialogues and often presenting the player's possible responses word-for-word as the player character would say them. Such titles revolving around relationship-building, including visual novels as well as dating [[simulation]]s, such as ''Tokimeki Memorial'', and some [[role-playing video game]]s, such as ''[[Persona (series)|Persona]]'', often give choices that have a different number of associated "mood points" that influence a player character's relationship, and future conversations, with a non-player character. These games often feature a [[Persistent world|day-night cycle]] with a time scheduling system that provides context and relevance to character interactions, allowing players to choose when and if to interact with certain characters, which in turn influences their responses during later conversations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Defining Dialogue Systems|author=Brent Ellison|date=8 July 2008|website=[[Gamasutra]]|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/defining-dialogue-systems|access-date=30 March 2011}}</ref>

It is not uncommon for visual novels to have morality systems. A well-known example is the 2005 title ''[[School Days (visual novel)|School Days]]'', an animated visual novel that [[Kotaku]] describes as going well beyond the usual "black and white choice systems" (referring to video games such as ''[[Mass Effect]]'', ''[[Fallout 3]]'' and ''[[BioShock]]'') where you "pick a side and stick with it" while leaving "the expansive middle area between unexplored". ''School Days'' instead encourages players to explore the grey, neutral middle-ground in order to view the more interesting, "bad" endings,<ref>{{cite web|last=Eisenbeis|first=Richard|title=How A Visual Novel Made Me Question Morality Systems in Games|url=http://kotaku.com/5938370/how-a-visual-novel-made-me-question-morality-systems-in-games|website=[[Kotaku]]|access-date=28 August 2012|date=28 August 2012}}</ref> e. g. an ending where a character dies or the main protagonist does not advance towards the flow of the story.

====Kinetic novels====
{{redirect|Kinetic novel|the brand|KineticNovel}}
'''Kinetic novels''' are visual novels with non-branching plots, similar to a conventional novel or a graphic novel in multimedia form. Examples of kinetic novels include ''[[Higurashi When They Cry]]'', ''[[Muv-Luv Alternative]]'', and ''[[Digital: A Love Story]]''.<ref name="klug_194-7">{{cite book|title=Interactive Storytelling for Video Games: A Player-Centered Approach to Creating Memorable Characters and Stories|date=March 2011|publisher=[[Focal Press]]|location=Burlington, MA|isbn=978-0-240-81717-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QUrarEcvaO8C&pg=PA194|author=Chris Klug|author2=Josiah Lebowitz |access-date=20 February 2012|pages=194–7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Estrada|first=Marcus|date=2017-12-18|title=Review: SeaBed|url=https://hardcoregamer.com/2017/12/18/review-seabed/282385/|access-date=2020-09-10|website=Hardcore Gamer|language=en-US|quote=This is a kinetic novel meaning there are no dialogue or story choices to make throughout a playthrough.}}</ref> The term was first used by the publisher [[Key (company)|Key]] for their title ''[[Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet]]''.

===RPG hybrids===
There are [[role-playing video game]]s that feature visual novel-style elements. A well-known example in the West is [[Mistwalker]]'s ''[[Lost Odyssey]]'', an RPG that features a series of visual novel-style flashback sequences called "A Thousand Years of Dreams".<ref name="1up_novel">{{cite web |author=Ray Barnholt |title=The Weird World of Japanese "Novel" Games |url=http://www.1up.com/features/weird-world-japanese-games |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018074932/http://www.1up.com/features/weird-world-japanese-games |archive-date=18 October 2012 |access-date=8 March 2011}}</ref> These sequences were penned by an award-winning [[Japanese literature|Japanese short story]] writer, Kiyoshi Shigematsu.<ref name="develop">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.developmag.com/news/29489/Lost-Odyssey-translator-mystified-by-Microsofts-efforts|title=Harvard's Rubin on translating 360 epic Lost Odyssey into English|last=Fear|first=Ed|date=17 March 2008|magazine=Develop|access-date=30 January 2009|archive-date=24 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724105415/http://www.develop-online.net/news/29489/Lost-Odyssey-translator-mystified-by-Microsofts-efforts|url-status=dead}}</ref> Another title is the [[Arc System Works]] [[fighting game]] series ''[[BlazBlue]]'', which plays off of a complex fantasy setting where a one-hundred-year period is reset indefinitely with many variables. The many branching storylines in Story Mode can serve as stand-alone stories, but players must consider them together along with Arcade Mode stories to be able to fully understand the universe.

Another successful example is [[Sega]]'s ''[[Sakura Wars]]'' series, which combined [[tactical role-playing game]] combat with visual novel elements, introducing a [[Real-time game|real-time]] [[Nonlinear gameplay#Branching storylines|branching choice]] system where, during an event or conversation, the player must choose an action or dialogue choice within a time limit, or to not respond at all within that time. The player's choice, or lack thereof, affects the [[player character]]'s relationship with other characters and in turn the characters' performance in battle, the direction of the storyline, and the ending. Later games in the series added several variations, including an action gauge that can be raised up or down depending on the situation, and a gauge that the player can manipulate using the [[analog stick]] depending on the situation.<ref name="rpgamer_sakura">{{cite web|title=Sakura Wars ~So Long My Love~ Interview|publisher=RPGamer|year=2010|url=http://www.rpgamer.com/games/sakura/sakura5/sakura5int.html|access-date=30 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511131711/http://www.rpgamer.com/games/sakura/sakura5/sakura5int.html|archive-date=11 May 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The success of ''Sakura Wars'' led to a wave of games that combine role-playing and visual novel elements, including ''[[Thousand Arms]]'', ''[[Riviera: The Promised Land]]'', and ''[[Luminous Arc (video game)|Luminous Arc]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sakura Wars Comes to America, But is it Too Late to Matter?|author=Jeremy Parish|date=8 May 2009|website=[[1UP.com]]|url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8988084|access-date=18 May 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718064655/http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8988084|archive-date=18 July 2012}}</ref>