Editing Visual novel (section)

===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>