Do you prefer more linear games or more open/grinding?

[Jackboo1]

I have found myself replaying more linear vn than those more open, with a lot of grinding.

For me, linear approach and with good story is better, especially if they are focusing on few characters.

 

[DarthSeduction]

Either approach can be well done, the problem is the grind you mention. In porn games especially, grind is a method of dragging out the content to create a sense that you've earned something that the developer had no way to let you earn through narrative. To make this clear, what I'm saying is, in most games where there's a grind, there's also minimal plot. The female characters are often the antagonist to the protagonists goals of sexual gratification. They need to be defeated, and so you have to grind repetitive tasks to get them to eventually let down their walls. It's earned in that you worked for it, but it's not earned through narrative purpose.

Almost all games where this occurs you could nearly eliminate the grind by giving the female characters a motivation of their own that would bring them into sexual contact with the MC. There's a rule in writing that isn't always followed, but makes for a good story when done properly, about making each member of your cast mirror some aspect of the MC. When you do this it's easier to have their motivations line up and bring them in to a similar goal, or, put them at odds with one another.

For instance, if your character is going through a midlife crisis, they've realized they've just lived for money and as another cog in the system, never really doing anything for themselves for a long time, you need to create other characters who are struggling with similar issues. Maybe he's married to a wife who embodies that cog in the system mentality, identifying herself through consumerism and "keeping up with the Joneses". Maybe he's got a kid who's going through their angst ridden teen phase, trying to figure out who they are, and what it means to them. Maybe their kid has a slightly older romantic interest who has truly discovered what they are and want to be in life. And then you need an antagonist. Here you should have someone who's opposite the MC, maybe someone who denies who they truly are.

Each of those characters exists in one of my favourite films, American Beauty. And as a result of all their own problems they have conflict and growth. The antagonist, the neighbour across the street who's so convinced his son is having a gay affair with the main character is absolutely disgusted by and homicidal over that fact because he denies his own homosexuality. The main character only even spends time with the neighbour's son as a result of wanting to change himself and the son being the boyfriend of his daughter who has found who he wants to be, is more than able to catalyse that change for him, as he's also doing for his daughter. The daughter is dating the neighbour's son and he is able to guide her through finding herself. And the wife acts as a sort of pushing off point for both the daughter and the MC, by being the one who holds them both back with her need to put on a fake face for the world to see, they're both, for their own reasons, disgusted by her.

And it would not be hard to change this into a sex story. There's already the line in the plot where the MC is interested in a sexual relationship with the daughter's best friend, one that only doesn't culminate because she admits to being a virgin and he has a change of heart. It would be so easy to add incest subplot with the daughter, a plot with her friend, maybe a hooker or something that the father goes after. Trying to shatter the ice queen of a wife in order to catalyse a change in her. The things I'd change then would be the neighbours. I'd make the neighbour kid a girl, a lesbian side plot for the daughter who embodies all the same attributes as before, only now she's got a vagina, and on that same notion, I'd make the enemy not her father, but her mother, and make her actual problem into something related to incest, as she's maybe seen a video her daughter took that looked to imply there was as sexual relationship between father and daughter there.

And moreover, I'd make this an open world game. You'd be able to advance the story lines at your pace, however, I would gate some content going forward until you'd moved all the plots forward, something most life sims don't do. That said, if you wanted to avoid content with the wife for instance, then you'd be able to advance that plot while keeping her an ice queen. Or if you weren't interested in a prostitute, you could choose to not do that. etc.

 

[Firebless]

I like games with choices and good story that arent either too grindy or linear. I want to feel part of the world, and thus, the more interactivity is provided, the more immersive the experience. Unfortunately, most games go to either extreme, being linear or grindy. You dont have to sacrifice the interactivity of an open world to get a good story. Games that stand up, with a fine balance, are Coceter Chronicles and Good Girl Gone Bad.

 

[redknight00]

If the choices were only either linear or grindy I wouldn't play WEGs at all :coldsweat:

For me linear is not very replayable for the reason that I can't change the story, so I only replay if the game is really, really, REALLY good, which is of course rare.

Grindy is easier to replay because I can always cheat. Actually i cheat from the beginning on every grindy game, but that is beside the point.

But in the end my pick would be games that have choices (and they matter) but the grind is well done and kept under control.

 

[megaplayboy10k]

Well, the only issue I have with linear games is when my choices are few, far between and seemingly inconsequential to the storyline. Gaming is a form of interactive storytelling, and when the interactive aspect is minimized, it tends to pull me out of the game. Having things that happen regardless of what the character does is fine, it's when everything seems to be running on rails that I start to get annoyed as a player. Clicking through 50 dialog pages in a row before I get a choice, for example.

 

[hakarlman]

I have found myself replaying more linear vn than those more open, with a lot of grinding.

For me, linear approach and with good story is better, especially if they are focusing on few characters.

Problem with linear approach is you can get locked into a path which means you can't see all the content without having to start all over again. Often times in a linear approach it's trial and error in which you have to constantly reload your save game. Open grinding approach lets you change your path if you want and not get locked into any decision.

 

[Gomly1980]

2 of my favourite games are pretty open RPG's.

Roundscape Adorevia and The Last Sovereign.

The problem I have is I work from home, my kids are grown enough to have their own lives and my wife is a nurse working long shifts so I have a lot of spare time. A linear VN takes me between 20 minutes and an hour to get through which is great but doesn't exactly help with my time filling.

I can put 50-80 hours into a well made RPG. Roundscape and Sovereign have great story and characters that pass the time well.

It's a shame there isn't more of them.

 

[Agent HK47]

I think Milfy City & Long Live the Princess are good examples of how to make a good grind. Milfy makes you takes pictures of your sister modeling outfits for you, and you can do it differently every time. LLTP is a bit more towards the "classical" grind, but you still unlock new, spicy scenes, pretty much every day, which makes the events feel new and refreshing.

As for what I prefer, I simply prefer what suits the story best. In a game with only a single or maybe 2 girls (or men) to achieve, a pretty linear storyline would probably make more sense to me. If a game has 3 or more possible girls to achieve, then I would probably say that a more open world setting would fit the game better, since it allows the player to chose who he wants to approach and when he does it.

 

[gobaterrann]

Personnally, the closer a game gets to something that looks like a story driven "open world" is the best (just not on RPG maker, which is a horrible system), IMO they are those that best conjugate freedom, replayability and sex scenes as reward. But the sex scenes have to tbe evenly spread in the game as to never get the player bored with excessive grinding. Old school LOP games would do that quite well. Milfy City seems to really get it right as well. Russian QSP games would be top notch if it wasn't for the bad translations and ridiculous grinds. I also like those games that give a player second chances without having to start over again. Not realistic of course, but then gameplay is an art that depends on more than just realism.
I don't like linear VNs where there is a big chance to miss a scene because of an arbitrary "bad" dialogue selection. This forces artificial replayability on the player, who then has to go through the same content all over again multiple times for a chance to get things right. These games are often unplayable with no walkthrough.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Well, the only issue I have with linear games is when my choices are few, far between and seemingly inconsequential to the storyline.

God, I hate this and it's what come the more often lately. Whatever you chose, you'll end in the same place It's even worse when the author assume that you made what is for him the evident choice. You'll go all, "it's the start, I'll not act like a full pervert" and choose to not peek. Then two minutes later the girl refuse to talk to you because she's mad that you saw her naked. Boom, the story is killed.

For me, linear approach and with good story is better, especially if they are focusing on few characters.

Well, for me when it come to games, neither a linear nor the full grinding approach is the good one. I have nothing against a VN, but it's a story, not really a game. As for the full grinding approach, like @DarthSeduction said, it's just the proof of a missing story.

A good game should be between the two. It have points, but you win, or loose (it's important), them according to your choices during the story. Meanwhile, the story itself evolve according to the number of points, leading to a Game Over after some times if you really did it badly. Whatever if it's in a VN style or an opened world approach. You can even have some (few) repetitive scenes, as long as the majority of the points, or the points which matter, come from the story itself.
That's the difference between, by example, Summertime Saga and Super Powered. Both are opened worlds where you chose your next action between multiple possibilities. In both, the possibilities depend of your points with the characters, but only the first one have a real story. Not a story as strong as in a VN, but at least it's a story. You advance because you've a goal and/or you want to know more, not just because you want to go further with the girl.

But, obviously, it's more difficult to do than a full grinding game, since you'll need a story. It's even more difficult than a VN, because your story will have multiple state for a same step, depending of the number of points. It's not a VN, so being at day X doesn't mean that this will happen. You don't need to write a story, but to write a story and some variations around it.
You played it well, you'll have a BJ during this scene. You were less attentive to your choice, she'll say that, if she liked you more, she would have gave you a BJ. You were a disaster, she'll don't even talk about it. You've always chose the wrong option, well, time to end the massacre, game over. And all this must be part of the story, must be take in count in the future scenes. Next time she'll give you a BJ can in fact be the first one, so you should have a "wooowww, you've made a lot of progress" as well as a "It's not so bad for someone who never sucked a dick before".
It need more works than a pure VN, but as player I found this more enjoyable because my choice have a real impact on the story. I play the story I chose, not the one imposed by the author. Once again, I have nothing against VN, but in this case don't give us choice since they'll not matter.

 

[SkyRebel]

I'm working on a choice based, somewhat linear VN. It took me months to come with a reasonable plot by my standards. The game is set up in a world which is a little different from ours. The game's fantastic theme allows me to implement things that are impossible or hard to achieve in a regular VN. Because of this, the player will not be punished with game over screens or ntr things. I will try to make the choices based on MC's vision of life instead of a right/wrong choice system.
So yeah, I will always play a good linear story VN over a grind based one.

 

[LS135]

if the plot is good i dont mind it being linear, but i like open games with multiple options as long as it doesn't involve a lot of boring grinding.

 

[Ataios]

As far as grind goes, I think this is never a good thing in a porn game. Playing mini games or fighting random encounters distracts from the story and the sexual content. An open world game doesn't have to contain grind though.

When it comes to open world vs linear, I think open world games give the player more freedom, while linear games are better at telling exactly the story you had in mind. In general I think open world games tend to attract larger audiences, because in an ideal case any player gets what he wants. In an open game the player decides wether the MC falls in love with the girl next door or blackmails his mother into sexual servitude, thus attracting people with different fetishes.

While I don't think a porn games has to be open world like Fallout or Skyrim, it's definitely a good thing to give the player some choices. A good example for a game that is good at telling story, while still giving the player a fair amout of choices is Milf's Tale.

 

[ponk]

Personally I prefer rpgm games however the ones with almost no grinding and that focus on events and choice making over doing the same thing over and over again. However I don't mind games like Roundscape Adorevia since I think they really tried to make the combat as interesting as possible for an ''adult'' game.

 

[Zarathos4]

I like a lot of the RPG maker ones. It reminds me of playing Zelda or Pokemon. So I guess more open, would be my choice. But I like the ones that focus more on different events or quests. Rather than doing the same thing over and over. And I dont mind turned based attacks in game. As long as its not complex. I've played some that were trying to change it around and just didnt get it.

But I also like having choices in missions. Choices that have may have unseen consequences later. Like with Renryuu Ascension. It feels more like a game with XXX rewards. Then a XXX game with a little bit of story. Also with Legend of Queen Opala series. While it really is a XXX game with some story it gives you option to be evil or be good. with consequences for both. Which is a nice.

Then again. If I just want to waste a bit of time, a short HTML story game is not so bad either.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

Nonlinear and with a lot of control over the characters/scenes. But not to the point of something like Corruption of Champions, which includes a ****ton of fetishes to the point where you're wading through content you never asked for (especially as a non-furry), the whole game is delivered through text and there's no hope of ever furnishing it with dedicated, quality artwork for all the scenes. Come to think of it, I think CoC also goes for breadth rather than depth. I'd prefer much fewer characters but many more options for them so you can tailor the game to your tastes.

 

[rorzy]

While I absolutely enjoy both(and rather than focusing on a type, it depends on the individual games themselves), open\sandboxy would be my favorites. However it does require that you feel like you belong in the world, and that the world is alive(which is a challenging thing to pull of without a doubt, which few games have managed). Akin to Gothic series(which really managed to pull you in and make you feel like you were just another prisoner).

Sadly only h-games that have come close to this in my opinion is Brave Souls and Kingdom.

 

[GuyFreely]

When it comes to games on this site, I prefer a more linear VN style. Not to throw shade, but the 'gameplay' in more open games here is usually not that fun for me. I won't get into the grinding and all that, I have a whole thread on it. The times I play more open games is when mods have been added to a game that is already entertaining without erotic content. Skyrim being a big one for me and to a lesser extent the Sims.

There are some story driven erotic mods for Skyrim which are about as hit or miss writing wise as the games on here. Even with the non story mods, I can sort of build my own scenarios. It takes a bit of imaginative effort on the part of the player, but it can be entertaining. I haven't been doing much erotic Skyrim since finding this site, but to put it into perspective, I "cheat" a lot on the vanilla quests when trying out mods. By this I mean I don't have any problem using teleport commands to save a hike or things that get me through it faster. I've done the vanilla quests so many times, I just can't be bothered any more. I will often spawn in whatever sexy armor I added to the game, because the whole point was to wear it so, yeah.

I think if a dev is capable of making a fun, engaging game without erotic content, they will often just do that. It has more broad appeal and can get places like Steam easier. As soon as you add erotic content, you severely limit your audience. The amount of devs with solid game making skills that embrace true erotic content are extremely few. I guess what I'm saying is I would love games with 40+ hours of fun gameplay and erotic content, but that is a rare beast.

 

[Gomly1980]

When it comes to games on this site, I prefer a more linear VN style.

I thought the same a few months back but after playing a few H RPG's I get bored with linear VN's.

I need me some gameplay.

 

[Ignazzio]

If I was talking about real VNs with actual plot I would go all the way with linearity. Ofc some branching is great in such games but it might go full linear like Muv Luv. But If I have to choose some western Patreon productions I will go all the way with open world and different options. Vast majority of our games has no real plot nor realism so my dream game would be veeery open with huge variety of options. Bright Past is like a perfect example of a game I'd like to see finished.