Somewhat new to VN's and had a question about multiple routes.

[Mushrtotem]

I'm somewhat new to VN's, I've played a few such as Sunrider Academy, all the PixelFade ones, DDLC, and one that was recommended to me a long time ago about some art academy that I can't quite seem to remember (if you know what this is I'd love to finish it since I didn't do all the routes.) But anyways I had a quick question since I'm a little new to what to expect from the VN industry: is it assumed that a VN will have multiple heroine routes unless otherwise stated? I'm not sure why, but unless the story is really good, I prefer not to play single heroine games, which is something I noticed while playing PixelFade's Crystalline which I think was fine, but I liked it a lot less when I found out it was a pretty linear experience. Is there a tag or something on VNDB I should look for to make sure there is at least 2-3 choices? Sorry if this is kind of a dumb question, just a little confused. Thanks for the help~!

[adamstan]

2 hours ago, Mushrtotem said:

is it assumed that a VN will have multiple heroine routes unless otherwise stated?

Yes, usually VNs will have multiple routes.

2 hours ago, Mushrtotem said:

Is there a tag or something on VNDB I should look for to make sure there is at least 2-3 choices?

The ones with single route will have tags like Kinetic Novel, Only A Single Heroine, Single Ending or Linear Plot, while the ones with many routes can be recognized by tags such as Multiple Endings or Branching Plot.

 

Edited November 13, 2019 by adamstan

[Mushrtotem]

Just now, adamstan said:

Yes, usually VNs will have multiple routes.

The ones with single route will have tags like Kinetic Novel, Only A Single Heroine, Single Ending or Linear Plot, while the ones with many routes can be recognized by tags such as Multiple Endings or Branching Plot.

 

Awesome, thanks a lot for clarifying that for me.

[Dergonu]

2 hours ago, adamstan said:

The ones with single route will have tags like ... Only A Single Heroine,

Just to nitpick a little, you can definitely find games with one heroine that has several routes/ endings.

[adamstan]

10 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

Just to nitpick a little, you can definitely find games with one heroine that has several routes/ endings.

True, like Kana ~Imouto~ for example. Let's scratch that one out then.

(I just copied tags I found on Planetarian, since it was first kinetic novel that came to mind...)

Edited November 13, 2019 by adamstan

[Plk_Lesiak]

3 hours ago, Mushrtotem said:

which is something I noticed while playing PixelFade's Crystalline which I think was fine, but I liked it a lot less when I found out it was a pretty linear experience.

Just as another piece of clarification, this is something Crystalline did on purpose to differentiate itself from the majority of VNs – I think it was a cool idea, just done poorly and the story ended up being bland and unsatisfying. You can basically expect any VN with a "Romance" tag and without "Only a Single Heroine" one to be a multi-route story with a few romance options.

 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, adamstan said:

True, like Kana ~Imouto~ for example. Let's scratch that one out then.

But this still have side heroines/side-route romances too, doesn't it? I think proper examples would be Gahkthun or Fatal Twelve, where there is some story variety but just a single love interest.

[adamstan]

15 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

But this still have side heroines/side-route romances too, doesn't it? I think proper examples would be Gahkthun or Fatal Twelve, where there is some story variety but just a single love interest.

I haven't actually read it since I'm too afraid of utsuge. However, according to walkthrough all six routes are about Kana. Or not? Yeah, there's one labeled "Yumi Ending". So I stand corrected again

Edited November 13, 2019 by adamstan

[Seraphim]

Maybe we should mention the One True End tag as well. There are a lot of VNs where there are several different routes but only one of them is canon, meaning stuff that happens in other routes (like romancing other heroines) tend to only be considered "what if" scenarios. If you're into having multiple romance options, I'm thinking this might also affect your opinion of the VN, since it can make the other heroines seem somewhat irrelevant.

And yeah, Kana isn't the only option in Kana Imouto, although the VN mostly revolves around her.

Edited November 13, 2019 by Seraphim88

[fuyopon]

> about some art academy

I can only think of Design Hero, but that's a pretty recent one and I don't think it focus on romance?? So yeah, I don't think it's that one haha
Maybe you can use this tag to help? 

Edited November 13, 2019 by Leonor

[Mushrtotem]

Thanks a lot for the help everyone!

5 hours ago, Leonor said:

> about some art academy

I can only think of Design Hero, but that's a pretty recent one and I don't think it focus on romance?? So yeah, I don't think it's that one haha
Maybe you can use this tag to help? 

I actually found it on accident while browsing VN's last night. It's called Canvas 2. I guess there was just an art club, not a whole art school lol. Thanks though

Edited November 14, 2019 by Mushrtotem

[fuyopon]

6 hours ago, Mushrtotem said:

Thanks a lot for the help everyone!

I actually found it on accident while browsing VN's last night. It's called Canvas 2. I guess there was just an art club, not a whole art school lol. Thanks though

Good!  I hope you have fun with the new recommendations

[Okarin]

Well, I think that the origin of multiple routes was offering a girl archetype for different people... so as to cover more bases, and make the game sell better.

For example, if at one point tsunderes are popular, put a tsundere character in there, but also put some more experimental character, and so on. Who really knows the inscrutable ways of moe?

There are also completionists like me, who only consider a game done when I've finished all routes. If not I consider it "dropped" and it possibly tired me. People like that get the most of their games, playing them to the fullest. But this is not guaranteed, and there's a type of player who tends to do only one or a couple of routes, so they have to cover more bases.

I WILL NOT get interested in a game that's the umpteenth attempt at generic moege, with meh art (in my eyes) and probably the old trite sex. For example, My Fair Princess, or Amatarasu Riddle Star. Sorry to all the people who love it, but this kind of game is a no-go in my book. I will have a lot more joy with some other type of game.

The companies know this, and proceed accordingly depending on their target audience.