Guys what storylines do you enjoy most about novels?

Majoloaf

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Jul 3, 2017
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Do you guys like stories that are linear, or to have the ability (by selection options ) to influence the story and by missing some parts out the story and might lead different endings later in the game ? Or is more in the story you keep focus and of course sex scenes.
 

OsamiWorks

Member
May 24, 2020
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I'm pretty flexible when it comes to games.

If its story driven then the writing has to be good, multiple storylines can be good but only if they add to the stories experience. Sometimes I feel like branches that exist are there to make me play through things again and are giant wastes of time. Most of the time I prefer one singular story line with optional extras for things like characters or sidequests. If the story is awful but the gameplay is entertaining and you're rewarded for progression then I'm happy with that as well.
 
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bobdickgus

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
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Well I like romance harems with choices that are more flavor text/flavor scene influences rather than totally divergent paths.
Either option to reject a LI with content you don't like for instance femdom(also no dumb fuck gated other LI content through a specific fetish LI) or option to have vanilla content with that LI instead.
Non harem romance games I have little interest in anymore.
If there is a single LI game fine or throuple game like Triangle fine, but when you have many LI's and a single LI end I won't even bother playing anymore, that is just me though I never play multiple paths and saves anymore.
 

Veileos

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Feb 7, 2022
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I dont mind a story on rails(choices for bad ends and sex scenes ex Now and Then) as long as its good and keeps up a decent pace. I noticed a lot of the VNs with lots of branches get abandoned or I lose interest in them because all the branching stories get out of control(Being a DIK for ex). I do enjoy a mix of both though. Little choices where you get some different dialog or different sexual scene. As long as its not a sandbox(ex Oppai Odyssey I thought was great but the sandbox just ruins all story flow).
 
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Doorknob22

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Nov 3, 2017
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From players point of view it's not always easy to decide. We all want to feel our actions matters but we want to sex all the hotties and choosing between them is not always fun.

As a dev, I can say it's a huge dilemma. When I offer "meaningful choices", i.e. completely different paths for both art and text it means I'm adding materials some players will not see; a waste of time and effort. On the other hand, it's hard to ensure all players see all the content and still feel they made "meaningful choices".

Personally I try to combine. Some paths are completely different with different art and dialog. Others share the same art (or high percentage of identical art) but have different dialogs.
 

♍VoidTraveler

Forum Fanatic
Apr 14, 2021
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Of course i like a story which i can shape with my choices.
And these are the hardest to make. :giggle::coffee:
Linear story can be fun too, but those look more like books than games to me and thusly are less fun.
Sex in games i consider to be an enhancer, if you can put extra fun into a game then why not?
Also i like story which means business, quality high-level writing, often serious story.
Schoolboy-level writing with childish plot will only irritate me.

A fine example of a story i like on this site you can find: Here and here.
 

Jofur

Member
May 22, 2018
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272
I might be strange, but for me being able to influence scenes in the moment is more important than long-term impactful story choices.
I'm talking about things like dialog choices that give different reactions and allow you to roleplay the MC's personality a bit. Even if it's just surface level fluff and doesn't affect anything beyond changing two or three lines.

I hate choices that forces me choose between two pieces of content(unless there's no other way, like choosing between a character's rival or love route) like exclusive routes that lock out another character. If you are gonna have to replay the game to get all the good stuff, the entire game needs to be built around it or else it's just tedious.
 
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Multy2k

Newbie
Jun 24, 2020
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I like multiple endings. Especially if I have to guess the flags or the requirements.
So the obvious pick a name for a route will make me skip the rest of the game.

Story setting that I like is about struggle, strife, conflict, or mystery. Plain slice of life will be skipped.
Examples, the old Clannad and the recent... kinda... Eden of Grisaia
 

kristijanEX

Active Member
May 25, 2020
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I like choices even if it just changes a couple of dialogue lines, but obv I would prefer it if it locks me out of content and gives me some content that another player with different choices wouldn't get. But then again you gotta make the choices either be straightforward or just make sense so that you don't lock yourself out of a character that you like.
 

Deleted member 229118

Active Member
Oct 3, 2017
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The hard part of any story is making it interesting.
So many i just press the skip buttion because of boring dialog.

As for what i prefer.
I personal prefer the story to happen with different dialog only taking a different route to the same outcome.
Different outcome visual novels never seem to work well.
You end up using a walkthrought to pick the right answers.
It feels like your being punished for not playing as the dev intented.
I much rather have a well told story where your dialog leads you to the same outcome via a different route.

For example: If i decided to drink coffee or thea change's a small part of the story.
I still end up sleeping with the waittress(unless i choice not to. For some reason(uselly because she is really ugly or i am too invested in other characters)

Choices like impregnate or not to impregnate.
But no game overs or missing content.

Full offense:
Very few people can write an interesting story.
And none of the can make a good choice your own adventure story.
Like seriously.
I played so many choice your own adventure stories where it was:
Do this or lose.
That is just bad game design.
 

Sennistrasz

Active Member
Oct 6, 2020
624
747
I don't like diverging paths any more, or any story with right and wrong answers. There's always one storyline that turns out to be better than another in quality, not in the way that I like the story more, but that it just has more work put into it.

The best choices that a game can make should reflect your interpretation of MC's personality - multiple ways to solve the same problem.