Simple question: Do you prefer (adult!) games to have music playing in the background or to play it silently?
I personally mute the music in every adult game as soon as I hear the main theme. Why? Because it sux most of the time. If there are two sliders for music and sfx, I tend to keep the sfx, but not the music.
I know everybody has their own taste, but if you know a adult game that could prove me wrong, please post it^^
Honestly, I mute my speakers anytime I play/read any VN/Game in this niche industry... It's why you never see me even mention music or sounds in any of my reviews... I really do not need to hear a bunch of sex noise for erotic content, or hear pointless sound effects for things like knocking on doors and so on...
As to music, much of what is used is either not being used with permission, or royalties are probably not being payed, or it is just basic melodies created for public use... It's rare if any erotic VN/Game is using original musical works by one of the developers... Especially with the threat that someone will steal it for their own monetary gain... And lastly, if the story telling is done right, the mood should be set by the story text, not by mood music, at least for me...
Just like when I'm reading a good book, I want to be immersed in the story, not distracted by unnecessary sounds and music...
When I read any Visual Novel, erotic or otherwise, I expect the story telling to set the mood, create the setting, and instill the intended emotions... The visuals are there as a bonus to help in telling that story... Occasional sound effects are just unneeded flash, that for me, don't add much to the immersion or are unnecessary... I think when sexual sounds are used in a Visual Novel, they actually detract from the story telling, and are a bit of a cop out by the developer from using text instead, to portray the erotic event... It's less effort to just paste in a sound effect, then to add more length to an erotic encounter with more images and text, which for me seems a bit lazy when the scenes use sexual sound effects... If you ever look at many Japanese Visual Novels, when it comes to sexual encounters, they use dialogue and monologue and story text to create the atmosphere of erotic fervor... It adds emotional depth to the encounter... Where as adding some sexual sound effects doesn't have the same impact... It feels more like a gimmick in a visual novel/game... I'm sure some folks probably do like sexual sound effects, but I could go watch some real porn with all sorts of sexual sounds if that is all I wanted... I prefer more intimacy through the story telling and dialogue within a well created visual novel/game, then hearing actors making noises, in a vid or otherwise...
Zip