How fanatic are you?

[S. Drakensson]

I am a videogame writer & designer and in 2014, i decided to specialize in Japanese-styled games and Anime-games. This would require me to firstly, get an artist to make proper Anime-visuals and not the cheap copycat style that is often done by
non-Asian artists. There are particularly very skilled and authentic artists from Spain. The second thing i had to make sure of, was to include the same weirdness and character stereotypes. Though there are some things i might have to drop since i don't handle them very well.
For example girls with megaton tits.......im not mentally capable of doing that xD. Wich brings me to this question: would you as a player, hate a VN/Anime-game if it went a liiiiiittle bit Western on some parts and dropped some of the Japanese things?

In other words: how fanatic are you? xD

btw, here is a character from our upcoming videogame 
http://pre01.deviantart.net/9f05/th/pre/f/2016/320/7/0/706abd5a8d4b71d3b00563e5fcff3f50-daonlwm.jpg

[AaronIsCrunchy]

A'ight, here's my take on it.

I'D PREFER IT IF YOU DROPPED THE JAPANESE THINGS

Honestly, I think originality and cultural differences explored in VNs can only help to expand the medium. Why set something in Japan (or incorporate Japanese thingmies) when there's a wealth of things to be explored on your home turf?

Basically, go for it

[Mugi]

The visual novel genre isn't exclusive to Japanese games. Go for it, be as western as you want.

[Suzu Fanatic]

It's not the style, culture, or origin that matter to me - it's the personality, depth of characters, and immersive storytelling that win me over. I admit I favor anime artstyles over western styles, but for me its a secondary concern. Many would disagree with me - but I'm fine with "tired" tropes and cliches - as long as it's well executed.

 

Beyond that, I feel you should create it in a way you have fun doing so - a labor of love often comes across as sincere, and typically has higher quality then a labor of profit. You'd be surprised how often a reader can tell the difference in the authors intentions.

 

best wishes with your work!

[Ariurotl]

5 minutes ago, Suzu Fanatic said:

It's not the style, culture, or origin that matter to me - it's the personality, depth of characters, and immersive storytelling that win me over. I admit I favor anime artstyles over western styles, but for me its a secondary concern. Many would disagree with me - but I'm fine with "tired" tropes and cliches - as long as it's well executed.

 

Beyond that, I feel you should create it in a way you have fun doing so - a labor of love often comes across as sincere, and typically has higher quality then a labor of profit. You'd be surprised how often a reader can tell the difference in the authors intentions.

 

best wishes with your work!

I can't believe you didn't point at your username.

[Narcosis]

59 minutes ago, S. Drakensson said:

I am a videogame writer & designer and in 2014, i decided to specialize in Japanese-styled games and Anime-games. This would require me to firstly, get an artist to make proper Anime-visuals and not the cheap copycat style that is often done by
non-Asian artists. There are particularly very skilled and authentic artists from Spain. The second thing i had to make sure of, was to include the same weirdness and character stereotypes. Though there are some things i might have to drop since i don't handle them very well.
For example girls with megaton tits.......im not mentally capable of doing that xD. Wich brings me to this question: would you as a player, hate a VN/Anime-game if it went a liiiiiittle bit Western on some parts and dropped some of the Japanese things?

In other words: how fanatic are you? xD

btw, here is a character from our upcoming videogame 
http://pre01.deviantart.net/9f05/th/pre/f/2016/320/7/0/706abd5a8d4b71d3b00563e5fcff3f50-daonlwm.jpg

Looks good, although a single character concept does not ring much. That said, if you can pull it off, by all means, you should. I will gladly welcome a western vn with western-based themes and japanese styled anime art. It's actually something I'm hoping for more nowadays.

It's worth to note, that even though art remains important, what really pulls people into a vn is the writing and worldbuilding. Neglect those and even the best art won't help your game.

[EastCoastDrifter]

Funny. When I read the title, I thought this thread was going to be a "how much of a fan are you?" kind of thing.

Anyway, if you want your VN to be Japanese anime-themed, then by all means, do so. However, you have to be prepared to do a lot of research, because creating stories based on real life locations that you never even been to or lived in is gonna be difficult than creating one based on places you know. Hope you have the time to do so.

Edited December 5, 2016 by KonpekiUmi

[Benji Price]

Honestly, I think that when you're writting a story you should make it taking advantaje of your own personal experience in the place you know better. In the VN world western oriented themes are rarely found and, as a fan, I'd like to see a story taking place in other place than japan (or fictional world). That doesn't mean you should not put some Jap influence (like the jap style characters, and BTW the character you put there seems really cool).

But in my opinion, I'd be awesome to have a VN with a western location, not only geographic, but cultural aswell.

I wish you luck!

[Nandemonai]

There's a reason Japanese VNs, etc. feature Japanese settings so much.  Why do the aliens always attack Japan?  Why does Tokyo Tower get blown up so much?  For the same reasons New York gets attacked in Hollywood movies.  It's more familiar to the intended audience, yes, but also, it's more familiar to the writers.  One of the big pitfalls is trying to write about something you don't know anything about.  So I'd avoid trying to go too Japanese, unless you've actually lived there for a significant amount of time.  You'll either have to spend a ton of time researching all kinds of things, or you'll get a lot of it wrong.  You really need to understand why those stereotypes work for the Japanese audience in order to be able to use them correctly.

Also, don't include something because "it's expected".  Saya no Uta departs from 'the usual characters' rather, uh, disturbingly; this is the reason it's so well regarded.  Include something because it adds to your story.  Especially don't include something if you don't really like it, and are only including it because you think it's a bullet point people will want to see.

[Okarin]

First off, if you're gonna make a Japanese setup and you do it badly, it's as good as nothing.

Write about what you know most, not about clichés. There are bazillions of VNs with the samey clichés, there's no need for one more. Although, going by Sakura games' sales, I can be wrong. But, I guess people that buy Sakura games just don't know any better.

Anyway, the first thing you should decide is whether you're going for sales or for quality. Note that quality can mean sales, but the other way around, I'm not so sure.

I mean, giving people more of the same can please them, or saturate them.

For example, an interesting game is Stay! Stay! DPRK because it parodies an existing Japanese game, but with Western approach, humour, and mindset. Done by Westerners for Westerners.

Another example is The way we all go, it's set in Japan, and chock-full of yanderes and yanderes are an intimate Japanese concept, but it could work outside of Japan. Also the setting gets minimally in the way of the storytelling. You won't see the devs stumbling about Japanese things because they avoid it, and just use most generic things like Shinto shrines.

Got it?

[ittaku]

I'm glad to see the prevailing opinion is to steer clear of Japanese settings. This topic comes up every week or so on these forums and I agree it shows lack of imagination to use Japanese settings or characters simply because the bulk of things you've played/seen/imitated come from Japanese media and games. A non-Japanese person creating Japanese settings will always get it wrong, either subtly or embarrassingly badly, no matter how much they've tried to absorb the culture. The counterargument is that the Japanese often use Western settings, but in my experience virtually all of the Japanese executed Western settings are terrible and since we're used to Japanese'isms we tolerate them although they never survive any meaningful scrutiny. Them using English is even worse...

 

So yeah, by all means make this character a Westerner, and in fact, do it to the rest of the characters and the setting too while you're at it.

[S. Drakensson]

7 hours ago, Okarin said:

Although, going by Sakura games' sales, I can be wrong. But, I guess people that buy Sakura games just don't know any better.

Sakura games sells well because.......let's be humble and honest here.......because the people that buy those games are hormonial, too hormonial for their own good. No one buys a Sakura game for the story or gameplay. They buy them simply because of boops XD

i made a vow to myself to never make hormonial fetish Anime-games like that. I want to make honourable, serious anime-games with respectable characters and a respectable tone......not a sexual one. 

I would like to follow my heart, meaning making games being western in style since the western world is the one i was raised in ergo: knows best.
But i also want to include some Japanese elements. I was unsure if people would tolerate western elements in Anime-games but luckely, judging from the replies here, it is acceptable. Time to go!

[Kurisu-Chan]

Dude, do whatever you want, the first step in creative processus is to do what you want to do, and not try to appeal to everyone.

 

Because you'll never appeal to everyone, that's the truth, then, make something you like. 

[S. Drakensson]

3 minutes ago, Kurisu-Chan said:

Dude, do whatever you want, the first step in creative processus is to do what you want to do, and not try to appeal to everyone.

Because you'll never appeal to everyone, that's the truth, then, make something you like. 

as game developers we are taught to care much about feedback/opinions. I have an interesting view there.

If it is feedback on something like bugs, tech problems and grammar, THEN i do care

But feedback on something extremely subjective like story or gameplay, then.......eeeeh.....i don't care that much to be honest. If 50% of humanity hates your story and the other half loves it, WTF are you supposed to do? It is impossible to know what to do!
Whatever you do, someone will like and dislike it. Therefore i dare to say that i don't really care that much to be honest. I know that sounds very controversial, but think about it, it makes some sense. It is too subjective.

Here is a golden quote from composer Thomas Bergersen from trailer-music company Two Steps From Hell. This quote is a big shield for my statement
"I think I stopped caring about what people do and enjoy a long time ago. If something works for someone, but not for me, I’m happy for them, and I’ll just move on.
I try to ignore the fact that I’m working in a narrow-minded industry, and just focus on what I like to do"

[Kurisu-Chan]

You don't get me, i'm not talking about your process as a game designer or a game developper, i'm talking about what you want to do.

 

Feedback is important for 2 things : to judge your gameplay, and to see if your target market reacts positively or not, but your creative process shouldn't be rulled by what is trending nowadays or by looking to appeal to the masses, you can do that if you're a big corporation needing money, but you are prolly an indie developper, and in my opinion, indie devs should go for more original routes rather than doing classic game design. 

[S. Drakensson]

Just now, Kurisu-Chan said:

Feedback is important for 2 things : to judge your gameplay, and to see if your target market reacts positively or not, but your creative process shouldn't be rulled by what is trending nowadays or by looking to appeal to the masses, you can do that if you're a big corporation needing money, but you are prolly an indie developper, and in my opinion, indie devs should go for more original routes rather than doing classic game design. 

yes yes, i always try to be as original as possible but not because people demand it.......but because i personally feel indescribably uncomfortable with making things wich have been standards or cliches  
About the feedback thing. I welcome all feedback ergo i don't disable comments and threads. I don't claim my work to be a masterpiece. I don't lash out on reviews and go Phil Fish on them. But i just don't care very much, because i realize how subjective everything is. Therefore, just like Thomas Bergersen, i stopped caring. Not because im an asshole, i don't intend to be an asshole, but  i dont care because the subjectivity is exhausting to understand. As said, if there is feedback on vital parts like technical issues, grammar and bugs, THEN i care.

[Darklord Rooke]

20 hours ago, S. Drakensson said:

btw, here is a character from our upcoming videogame 
http://pre01.deviantart.net/9f05/th/pre/f/2016/320/7/0/706abd5a8d4b71d3b00563e5fcff3f50-daonlwm.jpg

I like that the character is holding a nice, sensible longsword and not something three times as big as themselves :3

[Kurisu-Chan]

Just now, Darklord Rooke said:

I like that the character is holding a nice, sensible longsword and not something three times as big as themselves :3

Do you mean : Zweihander?

 

[S. Drakensson]

4 minutes ago, Kurisu-Chan said:

Do you mean : Zweihander?

 

no, that is a Scottish Claymore  

Zweihanders were much much mucha bigger!

[Kurisu-Chan]

I'm talking to Rooke actually.

 

Cause i have a fetish for Zweihanders and Dadao. 

[Darklord Rooke]

3 minutes ago, Kurisu-Chan said:

I'm talking to Rooke actually.

 

Cause i have a fetish for Zweihanders and Dadao. 

Zweihanders were about as big as a person, possibly a touch more but were still fairly light...ish. So the one in the picture is too small to be a Zweihander, and all those swords anime characters carry around that are two times as big as themselves and look like they weigh a ton are too large xD

[Kurisu-Chan]

who cares, Rooke? 

[Darklord Rooke]

3 minutes ago, Kurisu-Chan said:

who cares, Rooke? 

The people wielding them  

[S. Drakensson]

I care. Because i prefer to be realistic on many parts even in fiction  

[EastCoastDrifter]

Look, I get what people are trying to say when they do not advise you using Japanese settings and the like over fear of inaccuracy, which can be helpful tips in their own right if they didn't border on discouraging you from doing so. Many people here think that as a Westerner, you should only do Western things, but I think the exact opposite here. Like I said before, you're free to use Japanese settings to your liking. Don't let people tell you what you should or should not do. Follow what you feel is best for you, and good luck.