VN Demos

[InvertMouse]

I just backed for a physical copy of that WAS campaign from Sekai Project. It has little hype (for a Japanese title), which I always have sympathy for. The demo was quite nice as well. Succinct writing that actually got a move on with things.

 

There is still a chance that the final story will be mediocre, and I end up blowing close to a hundred bucks. This is because the demo was very short. Perhaps the full game is not too long in length, which I actually welcome. The thing I am curious about is, what do folks think of VN demos?

 

Many years ago, I checked out the Ever17 demo because everyone was on about it (yeah I am a sheep). The demo consisted of the story's highlight scenes put together in a compilation. As a result, the demo made no sense and I had no interest in the game. Later, I saw Ever17 on sale during a convention. I fell for the hype and picked it up. Ended up really loving the full game. The demo almost caused me to miss out on the experience. To me, jamming in the best scenes was certainly not an ideal way to promote a game.

 

Even for standard games, I have heard that release a demo sometimes hurt sales. From personal experience, the pass few demos I have played did result in me not buying the game. I still appreciated them, since it is the honest thing to do, but nonetheless, it is something to consider.

 

I would like to know, what do you look for in a VN demo? Does it have to be of a decent length, etc? Any thoughts would be cool to hear about. Thanks .

[Zakamutt]

Now this might not be as true for VNs (and for kickstarters liek the WAS one etc, a demo probably will help), but it's an interesting take.

[Cyrillej1]

I like demos.. but I wouldn't try a demo anyways if I didn't have some interest in possibly playing/purchasing it at some point. So there have been some I've tried, and was just convinced to buy it... and some I've tried, where it convinced me otherwise and they've lost me as a potential buyer. So I guess it's kinda true overall.. they don't really help sales that much, lol.  But it's still nice to have as the consumer.  I trust my own judgment in whether a game could be good or not than someone else's reviews etc... but I will look at other sources if I have no other choice.

 

I haven't really played VN demos though... but if I did, I'd look for how good the Story can potentially be. Whether there are any interesting characters I like. Are there any other gameplay aspects, like rpg elements or potential choices branching into different story arcs.  I personally think... as a VN, it's probably best to start from the beginning because story is the most important part of it.... I wouldn't start reading a book by randomly opening it to the middle.  (that's just me though)

 

If Tears to Tiara 2 counts as a VN... I would have already been hooked by middle/end of first chapter (if it was a demo).

 

I think maybe at least 1hr-2hr would be good enough to determine whether something could potentially be good or not.. and a nice teaser.  

[Parallel Pain]

TtT2 actually had a Japanese demo which was like chapter 1.

 

From the demos for VN I've played I expect basically the first bits of the common route. I expect the main heroines to be introduced and the settings laid out, and I want to see if it's well written and if those things interest me.

 

And a lot of them tag on an h-scene. For that part it's just making sure it's not grotesque and then it's meh-sure-why-not. Though I have read interesting h-scenes, but never in a demo.

[Cyrillej1]

TtT2 actually had a Japanese demo which was like chapter 1.

[Heizei_koukousei]

Demos can really be a gamble, but more often than not it seems to work in the favor of the company who released the demo. If there is a lot of hype prior to release a demo is always the way to go.

 

I like to play demos of OELVNs and other lower budget releases when they are offered just to see how much effort the team put in.

[TimeWarp]

I feel like demos don't really work for me because I tend to binge on VNs. Especially if the plot is driving, it can be a nuisance for the story to suddenly be interrupted. Demos are still pretty useful just to see the writing quality in general, though. Quality can vary wildly from game to game.