I personally consider VNs as the best medium if you want to tell a big ass story. It has all the details only a book can provide (games and movies leave a lot of them, replacing the inner world of characters with action and visuals), PLUS it has variability and choices, plus visuals and voices. VNs only lack animated action and gameplay, though some of them actually have one or another. BTW, most videos fail to actually tell the plot properly as they leave out a lot of things that are present in the script / original books (did you know that all movies are written, first?).
Why would anyone skip the actual story if it's interesting?
This VN in particular isn't famous for its fabulous plot, so that's fair enough if you're just playing it for h-scenes. But how come an actual h-game is better when instead of reading you should go through actual gameplay which is rarely can be skipped and is almost never original or that interesting?
Well, that's a strange choice considering that he has a "cuck demon" or something, lol.
Yeah, like I've said each medium has its pros and cons. I didn't list all of them of course because the list would be very long and this is not a research paper lol. No medium is superior than the other, all it comes down to is preference. Like I also said that certain art fits certain medium (like some things are best for movies, some for games, some are best left as books, etc.)
Most people hate VN format, some like them like you but based on the sales (VN sales right now are dwarfed by other mediums which is why there are many trash CG collectathon H games with barely any gameplay/story. Cheap to produce, higher profit margin, less time to make). VN requires a good writer, good artist, and optionally voice actors. Games can also be cheaper to produce than VNs depending on scale. I agree with you on the movie/video lacking some aspects. Like in another post of mine I stated that the OVA of this game is severely lacking compared to the source material (this game). Another good example of movie/video being inferior is the Fate series. What started as a porn VN became mainstream anime. The anime/movies barely touch on the plot intricacies of the original Fate Stay Night VN, specially Shiro's head monologues. I actually read 2 whole ass routes of the Fate VN (got burnt out due to the long wall of text) Fate route and UBW route. Gave up on Heaven's feel (but I know it's a good story and maybe I'll just watch the anime/movie of it to get the summary).
One major downside of VNs is time consumption. Compared to movies/videos, games, the time investment of VN is insane and it does not keep majority of people hooked to finish it. Games are more engaging, while movies and videos are usually shorter and summarized form of the story (sure some plot intricacies may be lost here and there, but it may be worth it to get more eyes onto the IP/ series).
Quote: "Why would anyone skip the actual story if it's interesting?
This VN in particular isn't famous for its fabulous plot, so that's fair enough if you're just playing it for h-scenes. But how come an actual h-game is better when instead of reading you should go through actual gameplay which is rarely can be skipped and is almost never original or that interesting?"
I am a simple man I don't need a world changing story to be entertained about something. Would I consider something good even though it's plain entertaining? No, there are some stories I can consider good, while some can keep me interested enough based on background plot/lore/setting.
Alicesoft games are famous for their games not because they are purely VN (they may have some purely VN games) but because they have gameplay in their VN. Gameplay can reduce monotony in plainly reading, introduce some action moments that the player can influence/interact with. The gameplay does not need to be groundbreaking but it needs to be good enough to keep the player engaged/ not be a tedious slog to go through. Another developer who makes VN disguised as a game is Oneone1. They have long ass script, branching routes. Would I consider the gameplay of most alicesoft games/oneone1 games good? They are mostly fine, serves the purpose of getting more engaged with the world rather than be a passive reader (with choices here and there in VN games, where most choices could be an illusion of choice).
Different people have different tastes, but the objective fact is that VN market is extremely niche (compared to normal games). Normal games, movies/videos sell more than VNs. Do I consider VN as a bad medium of art? Hell no, all of it can co-exist for one cannot be innovated/developed without the other. Would modern art form today exist if books did not exist? No it would not, but as time progresses people will prefer more convenient ways of consuming art. The whole Fate series would not exist if not for the VN.
VNs could be told with gameplay in mind many games have proven it is possible (the problem would be is that it will increase cost for the developer and it is a thing that they must balance specially if they are indie). Just because something has gameplay (specially h games) does not mean that the story will be trash. Sure majority of h games have trash stories, but the same can also be applied to purely VN H games. The main point of VN H games usally is the H-Scenes and sometimes dumb reasons are used to justify the "plot". Another good h-game that I can consider a "VN-like" is demon roots. It has gameplay yet it also has a deep and engaging story.
Kamidory Alchemy meister is also like a VN with its dialogue yet I played the shit out of it years ago because it has engaging gameplay. Transition from purely VN to a gameplay with a deep story is usually great for the game (sales wise and pacing wise), but a major downside of that is the dev time to develop a good an engaging enough gameplay, and the additional cost to make it (which major indie developers cannot afford, but some take a major risk in order to get more eyes in their game).
