Unusual plots and twists for VNs/games

[Hadron-5]

Hi everyone,

After having spent some time on F95 and going through quite a few of the VNs/games I have grown all too familiar with certain cliches. I am not that interested in reading about yet another monstrously endowed sport jock going through college; I am tired of the 18-year old know-it-all-best-at-everything-Arnold-body-without-going-to-the-gym orphan that inherited his uncle's vast wealth while haunted by the shadow organization that killed his family; I don't want to see yet another bombshell eye-patched & katana wielding 18-year old ninja-soldier-navy-SEAL-shinobi-samurai-robot-assassin with a heart of gold.

I am however, a deeply optimistic man at heart, and rather than lament the dearth of new ideas on our beloved webpage, I would ask you all what *new* plots, concepts, twists, or bamboozles, you think could be fun in a VN or F95-appropriate game. It doesn't have to be a grand story or complete arc, it could be anything from a full VN plot down to a small idea or twist on an established path. What do you think could be a fun and intriguing addition to a VN/game that you haven't seen ad infinitum already? Perhaps something here could even serve as inspiration to one of the many talented devs around.

 

[Luv2CreamInTeens]

the thing with expecting insane plot twists in these games is that if the writer of the game was that good he would be writing for film/tv and not a porn game

its why i always chuckle when people say they play these games for the story rather than the sex

 

[Ashira13]

Eternum has a couple of unexpected plot-twists. and the writer is good enough to be on par with any of the writers in the film-industry

 

[peterppp]

the thing with expecting insane plot twists in these games is that if the writer of the game was that good he would be writing for film/tv and not a porn game

its why i always chuckle when people say they play these games for the story rather than the sex

the flaw with that logic is that if you are a writer who wants to write a story about a mc fucking his mom and sisters, you can't do that in the normal film/tv industry. it would be a porn film, and even in the days when porn films had plots, they weren't as deep and long running as you can make it in an adult game released over several years of development. sure, you could write a novel and publish it, but if you rather want it in a vn/game...

 

[Luv2CreamInTeens]

the flaw with that logic is that if you are a writer who wants to write a story about a mc fucking his mom and sisters, you can't do that in the normal film/tv industry. it would be a porn film, and even in the days when porn films had plots, they weren't as deep and long running as you can make it in an adult game released over several years of development. sure, you could write a novel and publish it, but if you rather want it in a vn/game...

well as someone who is not into incest (immediate family incest anyway, i dont consider extended family like aunt/cousin/niece the same), i cant name a single game i have played on here where i felt that the incest in the game contributed to the plot in any positive way, in fact most of the games on here would be better IMO without the incest

 

[tanstaafl]

(snip) what *new* plots, concepts, twists, or bamboozles, you think could be fun in a VN or F95-appropriate game. (snip)

You could create one of the type of AVNs that focused on a single love interest and one other temptation, the twist is that early on in the game before you were serious with the primary LI you could hook up with a random hook up that turns out to be a stalker/yandere that falls for you, goes nuts, and burns your house down with your LI AND the temptation LI in it.

 

[Ashira13]

You could create one of the type of AVNs that focused on a single love interest and one other temptation, the twist is that early on in the game before you were serious with the primary LI you could hook up with a random hook up that turns out to be a stalker/yandere that falls for you, goes nuts, and burns your house down with your LI AND the temptation LI in it.

wouldn't that be an Acting Lesson

 

[tanstaafl]

wouldn't that be an Acting Lesson

Of course not, this is a completely original, never before seen idea, that is in no way connected to one of the most controversial and talked about AVNs ever made. Honestly. You can trust me.

 

[Ashira13]

Of course not, this is a completely original, never before seen idea, that is in no way connected to one of the most controversial and talked about AVNs ever made. Honestly. You can trust me.

yep...

 

[anne O'nymous]

well as someone who is not into incest (immediate family incest anyway, i dont consider extended family like aunt/cousin/niece the same), i cant name a single game i have played on here where i felt that the incest in the game contributed to the plot in any positive way, in fact most of the games on here would be better IMO without the incest

And what the fucking fuck do this have to do with the fact that there's actually good writers in the adult gaming scenes?
This being said, you aren't the only one thinking that most games on here would be better without incest, and it's the reason why there's only 2,8xx incest games among the 20,xxx games available. How can you not be into incest, and not know that ~85% of the games available do not have incest?

If you're as good as understanding a game story, than you are at understanding a four lines long perfectly explicit comment, it's not surprising that you find none that worth being played for its story.

 

[anne O'nymous]

[Sorry for the double post]

You could create one of the type of AVNs that [...]

You can also write a story about a guy inheriting, through his blood, some magical power from the past, and facing an organization that want to eradicate this power. You'll then do everything you can to protect your mother and sisters from that organization, just to discover at the last minute that it's your younger sister who told them that you have this power.

Or you can be more realistic and build a story around an App that give you sexual challenge. The MC would be madly in love with a girl, but agree to not have sex with her, using the said App to have sex with a lot of other women. This until the moment he discover that his girlfriend is the one who made the App.

I'm sure that those ideas would make relatively good and successful games...

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

What do you think could be a fun and intriguing addition to a VN/game that you haven't seen ad infinitum already? Perhaps something here could even serve as inspiration to one of the many talented devs around.

This is a completely wrong framing of the problem, in my opinion. First, insiration rarely comes from a forum post that boils down to "I want this and this fetish fuel, gib gib gib gib!!" If you want to inspire someone, present them a great piece of media from which they can steal ideas.

But the bigger issue is that the bad writing you're complaining about is not to be fixed by sprinkling something "fun" and "intriguing". On the contrary, it's fixed by sprinkling something extremely boring and serious. Creative writing basics. That 18-year old mary sue orphan that inherited vast wealth is violating very basic rules of storytelling. No, a good story starts like The Martian, with the protagonist being well and truly fucked, or becoming so withing a few opening chapters. So, maybe a vast mansion inherited, but only if a chainsaw-weilding maniac comes after anyone who dares to live there.

 

[Hadron-5]

This is a completely wrong framing of the problem, in my opinion. First, insiration rarely comes from a forum post that boils down to "I want this and this fetish fuel, gib gib gib gib!!" If you want to inspire someone, present them a great piece of media from which they can steal ideas.

But the bigger issue is that the bad writing you're complaining about is not to be fixed by sprinkling something "fun" and "intriguing". On the contrary, it's fixed by sprinkling something extremely boring and serious. Creative writing basics. That 18-year old mary sue orphan that inherited vast wealth is violating very basic rules of storytelling. No, a good story starts like The Martian, with the protagonist being well and truly fucked, or becoming so withing a few opening chapters. So, maybe a vast mansion inherited, but only if a chainsaw-weilding maniac comes after anyone who dares to live there.

I think you read too much into what I said. I didn't mention any fetish or sexual encounter - in fact I tried to avoid that since those things would make more sense as an effect of building a story rather than a planned event. Second, I did not expect anyone to show such as AI behaviour as to steal the exact words from this thread. Rather, I was thinking that someone could read what is here and ponder whether that could be adapted in a fun way to an existing storyline, arc, or event. Already from what anne O'nymous wrote above are interesting starting points for things that could fit well into any number of VNs that have a smartphone interface (and would be a lot more fun than the usual not-TikTok app).

As for having to be serious and boring, I think that applies more towards realistic drama stories (The Martian being so grounded helped convey the gravitas beautifully and preempted the need for world building). Either way I don't think I can argue with points here as those notions are quite subjective. All I can say is that I have found great VNs here, some of which do as you describe, and some of which do not, so it does appear possible to break that mould.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Already from what anne O'nymous wrote above are [...]

... the same than what tanstaafl did, plot of really well know games.

Not to mock you, but to point an obvious truth: it's never [this] (whatever "this" is) that is missing, but always you who are missing it.

There's hundreds of games with unusual plots and twists, some being part of the games that, whatever how overrated or not they can be, can only be missed by a blind person.

 

[Luv2CreamInTeens]

And what the fucking fuck do this have to do with the fact that there's actually good writers in the adult gaming scenes?
This being said, you aren't the only one thinking that most games on here would be better without incest, and it's the reason why there's only 2,8xx incest games among the 20,xxx games available. How can you not be into incest, and not know that ~85% of the games available do not have incest?

If you're as good as understanding a game story, than you are at understanding a four lines long perfectly explicit comment, it's not surprising that you find none that worth being played for its story.

and most games on here are shovelware so i could care less what percentage of the overall games have the incest tag, if you sort by likes (probably the best indicator of quality among the sorting options, i find weighted rating near useless) it seems like more than half of the most liked games have the incest tag

and incest or lack of has nothing to with the quality of the writing, i just stated that it didnt ADD anything to the game as i was responding to the guy

 

[Hadron-5]

... the same than what tanstaafl did, plot of really well know games.

Not to mock you, but to point an obvious truth: it's never [this] (whatever "this" is) that is missing, but always you who are missing it.

There's hundreds of games with unusual plots and twists, some being part of the games that, whatever how overrated or not they can be, can only be missed by a blind person.

I don't doubt any of this, I have read less than 1% of all VNs on this website, but it doesn't invalidate my earlier postulate. And, as an educator, formalizing plot lines and ideas is a truck load more useful for conveying them than throwing a book at someone's head (even if the latter can be more satisfying).

 

[Luv2CreamInTeens]

If you're as good as understanding a game story, than you are at understanding a four lines long perfectly explicit comment, it's not surprising that you find none that worth being played for its story.

oh wise one, please tell me the games on here with such amazing stories that I clearly cant comprehend

meanwhile i will find you hundreds of Netflix filler shows that nobody watches that would blow whatever game you name out of the water in terms of quality of storytelling

 

[anne O'nymous]

[...] if you sort by likes (probably the best indicator of quality among the sorting options, i find weighted rating near useless) [...]

There's no such thing as "sorting by likes". It sort by number of reactions, and this number include the two negatives ones.

[...] i just stated that it didnt ADD anything to the game as i was responding to the guy

Showing by this, that you totally missed the point, confusing "example" with "argument".

oh wise one, please tell me the games on here with such amazing stories that I clearly cant comprehend

Just one, because you're funny, Karlsson's Gambit.
But I have no doubt that you'll be quickly lost...

meanwhile i will find you hundreds of Netflix filler shows that nobody watches that would blow whatever game you name out of the water in terms of quality of storytelling

Well, good for you if those fillers can blow your mind. At least they serve to something, helping the most challenged to not feel too dumb.

 

[LunarEcho]

Honestly the coolest thing in a VN to me is probably having choices actually make a significant impact on the ending you get since it can definitely shake things up. Cavemanon does a pretty good job of this in Snoot Game and I Wani Hug That Gator! as well with a unique point system that determines which of four endings you get, and the endings (at least to me) didn't feel at all really "expected" until realizing more about the meta of the point systems. It makes it even cooler on the other playthroughs since the endings are significantly different enough that they keep you guessing for what the hell is going to happen.

Henchman Story did something similar with having a bunch of branching paths to different endings, and the sheer amount of choices in it keeps the playthroughs fresh without being too predictable about what will happen, although a downside is that a walkthrough may be needed to find the last ending or two if you're struggling to get them.

 

[Doorknob22]

1. 40+ men (who are not Ugly Bastards) rarely get to be MCs.
2. Games with plots which give the player the feeling the developer knows (more or less) how the story ends and the MC is trying to achieve something meaningful, instead of simply limping from update to update.
3. Unique historic periods and locations which are not "vaguely contemporary USA".