Steam #VisualNovelFest says that #VisualNovels are not games right on the welcome banner for the event.
What a slap in the face to #VNdevs and #VisualNovel players alike.
If you make VNs or play VNs & have feelings about this, reply below, it may be used for an article.
#VideoGames #IndieGames
What a slap in the face to #VNdevs and #VisualNovel players alike.
If you make VNs or play VNs & have feelings about this, reply below, it may be used for an article.
#VideoGames #IndieGames
Comments
I'd say it's a game, just more casual/pure story...
Kinetic Novels on the other hand remove the choice (which is the sole game element), and at that point you have an augmented graphic novel.
I'm much happier to support the Storyteller's Festival by the excellent @twoandahalfstudios.com, which fully values narrative games.
You can just *tell* that someone didn't think that through.
I'm flashing back to when my college's choir performed the score to LOTR live in Chicago years back, and the poster advertised "over 100 musicians and singers", and we're like, "oh." 🫠
And here I just thought it was painfully elitist. 😓
Visual novels are an interesting medium of games and storytelling. They are games, dammit!
It's one thing to make a cheeky joke as an individual, but Steam is "the" digital games distribution platform. Why would you say this at the expense of your own clientele? Bizarre. Stick to promotion and get a better copywriter.
I'm not well versed in this genre (so far tho I'm so into it), but I can't NOT see these as games. They're interactive to play, & I imagine building them is much like building any narrative game
Visual novels are a unique medium of storytelling with visual elements. While some are linear and do not feature choices, many do and some even feature various gameplay mechanics!
The banner (even the corrected one) is a great example of these misconceptions :/
1) explicitly and only a dating game
2) no gameplay, only reading
Or 3) porn adjacent or contains sexually explicit content
they're at the very least game developers, and I personally feel their creations should be considered games
Me: OOOO VN FEST
to
Me:
I mean I know why, but URGH
But nah, not here for the elitism.
It gets a bit tricky to define if some vns do have gameplay or stat elements but if we're talking a purely kinetic vn I wouldn't call it a 'game'.
At the end of the day it's just a label and I don't put much stock into it myself, though I know others disagree
Do you consider it a game if it has other elements?
i.e. Mini Games, resource or management sim, match-3 or merge mechanics, look-&-find or puzzles, map & exploration mechanics
Where is the line for you between visual novel & game?
But on the flipside I've seen people debate whether games like these are 'really' vns because of these gameplay elements
For example, they are classified as games by SAG-AFTRA, which gives union voice actors working on them protections.
Anything that uses player input as a mechanic is a game, imo.
Not sure what the thought process was here.
i know i said i was going to shut up about this, but the more i think about it, the madder it makes me. ugh!!!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3351080/qualia/
(I'm...partially snarking.)
Hold on, let me just coincidentally stare at Death Stranding.
And of course, the usual sexism because in the West we have this perception VNs are giiiiiiirly romances.
For another...Folks do realize Doki Doki is SPECIFICALLY referencing romance vns AIMED AT DUDES!? RIGHT?!?
Umineko and Higurashi—kinetic novels that are called games by pretty much everyone—would like to enter the conversation.
The math isn't mathing, Steam.
I'm pretty sure everyone considers Doki Doki Literature Club, Slay the Princess, Scarlet Hollow and other interactive fiction to be GAMES.
I literally had the "Yes, visual novels are games and here's why" discussion here the other day
Just because it's a different kind of medium to mainstream genres doesn't make them not games
I also think the place for this discussion is not on a banner for a festival meant to be celebrating a medium.
https://bsky.app/profile/justajustiguy.bsky.social/post/3ljiw4owdcc2m
This is an amazing and wonderful medium for storytelling on its own.
I have no idea what Valve is thinking with this festival. From not including some actual VNs to including things that are obviously NOT VNs, it’s anyone’s guess what is going on. And this isn’t the way to sell them more on your gaming storefront I feel like?
"story and character driven" -> like any storytelling medium, and not all games
"choices matter" -> not in every VN
"they involve UI" -> like any software
"gameplay mechanics" -> only a small portion of VNs
"require coding" -> like any software
Either way, they sadly changed it to "yes" now, so whatever.
I think if a developer of a visual novel doesn’t want to call *their* visual novel game, I respect that.
(I didn't go into WHY I don't really think VNs classify as games here, because it doesn't really matter for this argument)