Rebecca Crawford spoke to the class on 5 March about the world of Japanese visual novels. A visual novel is an interactive game that is not dissimilar to ordinary novels/literature. The story is driven by player choices that result in multiple endings. They are normally illustrated by static images while text boxes and dialogue tell the story. they are typically not linear stories.
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| Chaos: Child - http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2017-09-17-172231.jpg - Date accessed: 06.03.19 |
Rebecca spoke about the history of visual novels and how they came about. They began in 1980s Japan as arcade games grew in popularity around the world. The story was central to the game and they demonstrate minimal gameplay. From my research, 'Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward' was one of the first visual novels to be critically acclaimed. almost every decision alters the game's story and thus the ultimate ending. Rebecca stated that the visual novel exploded in popularity once the 1990's hit Japan. They are cited to be arguably a precursor to modern role-playing games. The influence of visual novels can be seen in RPGs even today; for example, most early Final Fantasy games feature text boxes and sprites to narrate the story rather than voice actor, a characteristic of the the visual novel. Even in Bethesda's franchises 'Fallout' and 'The Elder Scrolls', talking sequences are very similar to that of visual novels.
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| Zero Escape - https://d2e111jq13me73.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/styles/share_link_image_large/public/screenshots/csm-game/zetng1.png?itok=LUAN5l5b - Date accessed: 06.03.19 |
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| Final Fantasy VII - https://nichegamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/final-fantasy-vii-05-22-15-1.png - Date accessed: 06.03.19 |
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| Fallout New Vegas - https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/130/images/thumbnails/46999-1-1341879200.jpg - Date accessed: 06.03.19 |
The genres visual novels usually adhere to are fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. The reason being that they usually focus on themes of escapism and transport the audience to a fantastical world. What I found interesting in this talk is the common theme with Brian's talk. Rebecca spoke in depth about branching narratives and how it is vital in visual novels that the player has choices and the will to make the story their own. I find that this is a good way of setting the genre apart from literature or movies.
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| Branching Narratives - https://thestoryelement.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/branching_tree.png - Date accessed: 06.03.19 |
It could be argued that the latest experimental instalment of the 'Black Mirror', "Bandersnatch", took inspiration from Japanese visual novels. I believe that they most certainly had an influence over this television episode. For example, Shibuya Scramble (2018) is a game that uses live action video sequences, images and audio to tell the story of a kidnapping in Japan. This is entirely like what Netflix's 'Bandersnatch' has since done. The 'Black Mirror' episode forces the player to make several decisions which affect the story as a whole resulting in various endings. This shows the influence of Japanese visual novels on Western TV.
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| Shibuya Scramble - https://cdn3.dualshockers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/428-Shibuya-Scramble_20180831145811.jpg - Date accessed: 06.03.19 |
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| Bandersnatch, Black Mirror - https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims?quality=85&image_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fo.aolcdn.com%2Fimages%2Fdims%3Fresize%3D2000%252C2000%252Cshrink%26image_uri%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fs.yimg.com%252Fos%252Fcreatr-uploaded-images%252F2019-02%252F391bc400-3062-11e9-b79e-34ea560653c7%26client%3Da1acac3e1b3290917d92%26signature%3D0e0f841b87588db8c322d34667b609896bcb1a8f&client=amp-blogside-v2&signature=c57348c98f1e8f1021762fb0f5252e63d9312cf1 - Date accessed: 06.03.19 |
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