And for every Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom, there’s a poorly written, badly drawn, misogynistic visual novel that really probably shouldn’t have been made, much less shared with others. For every Starry Night, there’s a finger painting level work of art your toddler’s skill could surpass. In short-do visual novels have any substance to them? Visual Novels Are Literature-Sometimesįor every Wuthering Heights, there’s a subpar supernatural teen romance novel filled to bursting with cliches and creepy dialogue. However, when asking whether visual novels are literature, what people really want to know is whether VNs fulfill the following criteria: “writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest.” Typically, VNs also include some sort of choice mechanism and/or branching in the narrative if you’re just clicking through a story with visual elements, you’re most likely reading a kinetic novel instead. If it’s just visuals, it’s more like an interactive comic. If it’s just text, it’s interactive fiction. Note: While the term “visual novel” doesn’t seem to appear in any of the major reference books-yet-the widely accepted definition is that a visual novel is an interactive experience that pairs visual elements with written narrative to tell a story. According to these, technically, VNs would count as literature simply by merit of being “writings in prose or verse.” Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, for example, lists four separate definitions. Some see them as intriguing works of art, others as a symptom-or a contributing factor-to the continued pervasiveness (and perversity) of female objectification.īut are visual novels literature? What Qualifies as Literature?īefore we decide whether visual novels count as literature, we have to define what we mean by “literature.” Again, there are many definitions to choose from. For others, they provide an escape from the stress or mundanity of the real world. For some, they provide a balm for loneliness. Muv-Luv and Umineko are two highly acclaimed VNs that feature time shenanigans and are both essentially kinetic.Visual novels (VNs) are a lot of things to a lot of people. I agree with that point generally, but I think the examples they brought up could work in either style. I answered that I don't mind because it's not a significant factor that I consider when I'm picking something to read, but if I had to choose one or the other I would pick kinetic.Į: I read another comment ITT that brought up the themes of the story being a factor in kinetic vs dynamic. Branching stories are more for smaller scale games that are focused on character interactions. Kinetic VNs by nature are able to tell far more grand and elaborate stories with deeper characters. It's like RPGs with a premade character vs custom - compare the writing of Witcher 3 to Skyrim.ĬDPR was able to say 'this is the character, and this is the story he'll follow with some small-scale variance thrown in' whereas Bethesda is stuck with everyone creating their own character and no clue what people's backstories or intended paths through the game will look like. I think it's way easier to write a good story without having to account for 5 routes of waifu shit and branching choices. If i don't want a book, don't care about music & pictures : why pick a kinetic vn ? Vn with choices add something that books/movies/anime don't have, so i'm more interested in them. There's plenty of books i have yet to read already, so a kinetic vn will just add more.

So there's no point of getting into a kinetic novel instead of a book. Music and pitures are nice but i don't care if it's not there if i want the best story possible (animes, movies etc already do that and there's already a lot i didnt watch).

I always prefer choices for a vn because i want something more than a book. Ofc a good story is great but some ppl are looking for something more than a book with good music and pictures. But if you want a story that changes when you do something (choices), then kinetic is the worst choice (because you can't do anything). If you want the best possible story a kinetic visual novel is the best choice. No expert here but i think it depends what you want.

Visual novel vs kinetic novel