What are the characteristics of an amazing visual novel?

[Happiness+]

What do you consider an amazing VN?

What do amazing VNs have a common?

[VirginSmasher]

I consider an amazing VN to be a VN with an great plot, good characters, and a lot of intrigue/mystery to both the plot and the characters.

[mitchhamilton]

interesting characters and arcs, heavy on a central plot, some twist, maybe, and high school kids. always high school kids.

 

what? dont blame me, blame the industry.

[r0xm2n]

* Either stirs the emotions, or is thought provoking. Maybe both.

* Nice writing.

* Great music that really nails whatever atmosphere the VN is going for. This I find really important...

Anything other that that depends on the genre or the target audience of the VN itself. Not all VN's are fanservice or sexy, or are thrillers, or have gripping plot, or have warm fuzzy feelings, or will tug on your heartstrings relentlessly, etc.

[Kenshin_sama]

Pretty much any VN where the main route is written by Maeda Jun. 

[MaggieROBOT]

Interesting characters, gripping plot, all routes (if not a linear game) must be balanced (as in one route is not clearly better than the other apparently lazily made ones).

Not really what I look for first but it also helps if the game have a good voice acting and the h-scenes aren't over long that it overstay it's welcome.

[VirginSmasher]

1 minute ago, MaggieROBOT said:

Interesting characters, gripping plot, all routes (if not a linear game) must be balanced (as in one route is not clearly better than the other apparently lazily made ones).

Not really what I look for first but it also helps if the game have a good voice acting and the h-scenes aren't over long that it overstay it's welcome.

Also, Boys Love is necessary (Totally not added by the guy who posted this)

 

[Ranzo]

Excellent characters are first in foremost in my mind when I think of a amazing vn. If it doesn't have that then it's just doomed from the start.

A story that can really grip me from the moment I start it up. I want to be drawn in immediately give me something that I want to come back to.

Good writing that is not overly focused on cliches, I'm fine with them being used on occasion but don't just give me nothing but that.

Something utterly unique to that particular Visual Novel is another hallmark of a excellent vn. Whether it is unique setting, unique characters, unique story, unique art style give me something I have not seen a hundred bloody times.

Finally, a great art style is a component that most truly excellent vn's share. Voice acting isn't a must when it comes to whether or not I think a visual novel is truly special but it does help.

[VirginSmasher]

21 minutes ago, Ranzo said:

Something utterly unique to that particular Visual Novel is another hallmark of a excellent vn. Whether it is unique setting, unique characters, unique story, unique art style give me something I have not seen a hundred bloody times.

Hence why I like multiple route mysteries so much. It's really unique to VNs and when it's done well, it turns out amazing.

[MaggieROBOT]

> Also, Boys Love is necessary (Totally not added by the guy who posted this)

Oh well, that really can improve a VN 

Joking aside, of the 7 VNs I gave a 9 (that for me is best of the best since I don't give a 10 to anything because nothing is perfect), only one was BL. It's actually quite hard to find an amazing BL VN, most of the ones I read are 8 or 7 tier (of course, this score is for someone that likes the genre).

But of course I like them, I never found a BL VN that had the one thing I absolutely hate in VNs: hours and hours of pretentious philosophical bullshit narration.

Edited March 12, 2018 by MaggieROBOT

[Jazid-Kun]

In my opinion, Number one, Unique plot and Storyline ( mainstream can be good too, but It's will be bad if its too much similarity with other VN. ) ,  Nice drawing is number two, bad story with good drawing its meaningless, then, Good voice acting (especially heroine VA , it's can lift up their quality ), Protagonist personality ( I can't endure with loser or crybaby protagonist _- ) , and the last one, Heroine (Dere2, gap moe, or whatever, Its can be main factor for VN can be Good one ) . 

[Kenshin_sama]

20 minutes ago, MaggieROBOT said:

Joking aside, of the 7 VNs I gave a 9 (that for me is best of the best since I don't give a 10 to anything because nothing is perfect), only one was BL.

Just out of random curiosity, which VN would that be?

[VirginSmasher]

23 minutes ago, MaggieROBOT said:

But of course I like them, I never found a BL VN that had the one thing I absolutely hate in VNs: hours and hours of pretentious philosophical bullshit narration.

What you don't understand yet is that's what the best VNs always do. 

[MaggieROBOT]

3 minutes ago, Kenshin_sama said:

Just out of random curiosity, which VN would that be?

The one and only BL VN that is amazing tier for me is Shingakkou ~Noli me Tangere~ 

The plot is horror-themed and nicely executed, the characters are very well written, the romance development have a pleasant pacing, okay, enough fanboyism

[Jean D’Arc]

i think an amazing vn needs good characters first of all, with interesting motivations and values and good development

an interesting, engaging, and/or well-built setting/world is important so you can feel immersed in the world it presents

obviously it has to do everything else at least well too

[solidbatman]

Setting. The setting of a VN can make all the difference. Setting changes your characters, your stories, your tone. We have a bajillion VNs set in a Japanese high school. We have far fewer set in Cold War Europe, or early 1900s Japan. Having a unique setting, something to stand out, might be the single most important aspect of a VN.

 

[Darklord Rooke]

4 hours ago, mitchhamilton said:

and high school kids. always high school kids.

[Acrylic7]

Personally for me, great visual novel have great story, great char and char developments, great music, great art/graphic, great voice acting. It may seems superficial but most great visual novel I encounter have these elements. But that's just me though. 

[alden_0023]

For me it is something that you can get immersed at and seperates itself from the cliches. It could be anything from writing, setting, concept, music, art, characters (looks, personalities), plot twists, story and character development. Any element that can leave a mark at you and you remember even years after reading.

Also, lolis

[Stormwolf]

8 hours ago, mitchhamilton said:

interesting characters and arcs, heavy on a central plot, some twist, maybe, and high school kids. always high school kids.

 

what? dont blame me, blame the industry.

Must be allowed to blame the industry and the people who makes the industry keep producing that shit  

[Plk_Lesiak]

I would say... Personality?

I don't know how to say it better, but for me a great VN has to combine its elements in a way that feel unique and immersive. Flowers felt like that thanks to the breathtaking art and carefully crafted characters. Analogue did it through clever introduction sequence and embedding its game mechanics within the story and setting. I don't think there's any one recipe, or set of elements that have to be amazing (apart from maybe the general quality of the writing - awkward sentences and obvious holes in logic won't get you very far). It's easier to say what a great VN can't have. For me it will be:

- Flat characters

- Boring characters without any an ounce of mystery

- Obvious cliches without any spin to them

- Painfully obvious plotholes

Anything else I can live with, if the structure of the game and its main story/intrigue are rewarding enough. Even when its goes to art, I have to like it to get really immersed, but it doesn't have to be amazing - and I think what is considered pleasant to look at is quite dependent on personal taste.

Edited March 12, 2018 by Plk_Lesiak
I honestly don't have anything against potholes

[Inorin]

Character development (Grisaia, Fate Stay Night , Muv Luv Alternative), plot development (Ever17, Zero Escape), the emotional feels (MLA) , the thrill (MLA,G-senjou no Maou, FSN) and art (Grisaia). Comedy is also welcome but not really necessary. Obviously, there isn't a vn that has ALL the desirable traits, which is why a vn which can be considered a kamige to someone may not be considered as one to another.

Edited March 12, 2018 by wei123

[chaironiichan]

I'm a very subjective person, I have biases that makes me sometimes likes objectively bad VNs, or hate good ones

Essentially, if a VN tugs my heartstrings in some way, has ear-wormy, memorable music, gets meta sometimes, or has elite h scenes, I'd probably look at it fondly in the future

 

[Turnip Sensei]

The obvious would be to say that great characters, engaging story, good writing and so on makes a great visual novel. 

But in my case, what usually separates great from really good is something really vague and undefinable: a sense of passion and creative drive behind the VN. That the writer (& staff) had something they wanted to express from the bottom of their hearts. Particularities aren't that big of a concern to me, reading a story where I can feel the author is truly having fun or writing about what they found important is what I enjoy the most. It could always be me misunderstanding or reading too much into it, but this sense of heartfelt passion is what matters to me. 

Concept of what is "good" is always somewhat subjective, and I've found that setting too strict guidelines to myself about what a work needs have to be "good" or what I should to expect just leads to disappointment. I can only feel the world from my perspective, so it's better to have an open mind and seek out things that resonate with me personally. Those can be my great things. And if a VN managed to affect me enough for me to consider it great, I can at least hope the same is possible with someone else.

[Dreamysyu]

Well, it's simple to define an excellent VN. An excellent VN should not have any major flaws in the aspects such as character development, plot quality and world building, if it's fantasy or sci-fi, or mystery, if it has mystery. An amazing VN, on the other hand, may have some noticeable major flaws, but some of these or other aspects should be done so exceedingly well, so the bad parts don't even matter in the end. Another plus may be if the VN is unique in some sense, but if a unique VN is genially badly written, it won't make it amazing imo.

Also, I noticed that I tend to care about characters and their development more than about other things, but it depends on a VN.