Japanese adventure
Japanese adventures ( Japanese ア ド ベ ン チ ャ ー ゲ ー ム , adobenchā gēmu from English adventure game ), short: AVG or ADV, is the specifically Japanese version of adventures . Outside of Japan, these are often referred to as visual novels ( ビ ジ ュ ア ル ノ ベ ル , bijuaru noberu , German for example: " visual novel "), which are only a sub-genre, but also confused with dating sims .
Japanese adventures are mostly text adventures that use still images. These usually do not contain the puzzles, an inventory of objects or a verb system (e.g. "Use x with y", "Speak with z") typical of western adventure games, and the plot usually has a strong romantic or erotic aspect. They are more like interactive novels or interactive fiction .
history
The novel genre was founded in 1992 with the thriller / horror game Otogirisō by Chunsoft for the Super Famicom . This game was so successful with 300,000 copies sold that it became the model for subsequent adventures and its titling as a sound novel ( サ ウ ン ド ノ ベ ル , saundo noberu , dt. "Tonroman") for the namesake of a new genre. A special feature of this game was that after the first playthrough, new decision options and thus further scenarios were unlocked.
Among the many imitators of this game was the game developer Leaf , known for its eroge (also called adult game ) . In 1996 he brought out Shizuku ( 雫 ) and Kizuato ( 痕 ) two such eroge in style, both in terms of the gloomy basic theme and the presentation of the text, by Otogirisō . In order to avoid the use of the protected brand Sound Novel on the one hand , and to emphasize that the main focus is on the graphics, this series was called Leaf Visual Novel Series . Although both games sold satisfactorily for Leaf, they couldn't stand out from the rest with their rape theme, which was common for eroge at the time. That changed when the third game in the series To Heart was released in 1997 . With its warm love story as well as high quality music it sold very successfully. It soon found many imitators who also used the term visual novel and thus made it a genre name.
Also in 1992, Dōkyūsei, the first representative of the Ren'ai Adventures ( 恋愛 ア ド ベ ン チ ャ ー ゲ ー ム , Ren'ai adobenchā gēmu , dt. "Love adventure game", short: 恋愛 ADV) - games in which a love affair with one or more other characters was released needs to be built. However, this was not a pure adventure game, but also had simulation properties, so that it is also a Ren'ai simulation ( 恋愛 シ ミ ュ レ ー シ ョ ン ゲ ー ム , ren'ai shimyurēshon gēmu , dt. "Love simulation game"). Ren'ai adventures make up the majority of Japanese adventure games today, while the thematic genres mystery, thriller and horror with their puzzles predominate in western adventure games.
Sub and related genres
Because of this rather unusual topic for western adventures as well as the common anime style, they are often confused or equated with dating sims or Ren'ai simulations. The difference lies in the fact that the success of simulations depends on statistical values and in adventure games on correct answers at decision points. Both Ren'ai adventure and simulation themselves belong to the common genre of Ren'ai games ( 恋愛 ゲ ー ム , ren'ai gēmu , dt. "Love game"). The games, especially Ren'ai games, are often about attractive girls and women and in this case also belong to the genre of galgē ( ギ ャ ル ゲ ー , gyarugē , short for Gal game , ギ ャ ル ゲ ー ム , gyaru gēmu , dt. "Girl's game") or . Bishojo games (dt. "Pretty girl game"). Both terms are partially synonymous, but the former is used more for adult games and the latter for games with pornographic scenes.
Another subdivision of adventures is made in Japan on the basis of the text presentation. If the output text, which also has a more detailed, descriptive character, extends over the entire screen, which reinforces the impression of a novel, then it is a novel game ( ノ ベ ル ゲ ー ム , noberu gēmu from English novel game , dt. " Novel game ", short: NVL) or digital novel ( デ ジ タ ル ノ ベ ル , dejitaru noberu , German" digital novel "). With other adventures, the mostly shorter and more dialog-heavy text is displayed in a box at the bottom of the screen. Novel games are then further subdivided into sound novels and visual novels. Whether a game is a sound or a visual novel does not depend on the sound or the graphics, but in which tradition the developer sees his game. In a narrower sense, Sound Novel only refers to the novel games from Chunsoft and, as a protected trademark, may not be used, and Visual Novel only those from Leaf. Based on the content of their works, novel games with erotic content (Erogē-Ren'ai-Adventure) are referred to as visual novels and the rest, especially horror games, as sound novels.
Contrary to the widespread opinion outside of Japan, only a small part of the Japanese adventure games are (visual) novels, since although most Japanese adventure games are Ren'ai adventures, the text output is very often limited to a box at the bottom of the screen.
VisualArt’s introduced with Keys Planetarian - Chiisana Hoshi no Yume ( プ ラ ネ タ リ ア ン ・ 小 さ な 星 の ・ , puranetarian - chiisana hoshi no yume , dt .: "Planetarian - the dream of a little star") the term Kinetic Novel for works that are completely linear have no decision points and are usually distributed over the Internet.
Game mechanics
Japanese adventure games differ from other genres in their extremely minimal game mechanics. Since Japanese adventures in general and sound or visual novels in particular are interactive novels, the majority of player interaction is limited to displaying the next sentences by pressing the mouse or keyboard keys, with new scenes occasionally appearing with changed music and graphics. Newer games often have a function that automatically displays the new sentences at speaking speed or a fast forward to the next decision point that makes this interaction superfluous.
The games contain sporadic multiple choice questions, whereby the player's decision is saved as a flag and influences further action. Individual or groups of flags then determine the storyline ( route ) that is followed, as well as that it concludes.
Some Japanese adventure games are not just limited to being text adventures in that they include additional elements. In Symphonic Rain , the player must play a musical instrument and achieve a high rating in order to advance. Such elements are often implemented as relevant to action.
Shorter works, mainly fan games ( dōjin games ) or called kinetic novels, often contain no decision points at all. However, fan games are becoming more popular, and some are selling exceptionally well, such as. B. the visual novel Tsukihime, which sold more than 100,000 times or the sound novel series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni , which sold more than 500,000 times. These fan games are usually created with existing script engines , such as NScripter or KiriKiri 2 .
The basic structural unit is often a formulaic day of waking up and going to bed instead of chapters.
style
Many Japanese adventure games have (dubbing) speakers ( seiyū ) for the characters' voices. Almost exclusively, however, the protagonist is left blank and often only the female characters are provided with voices.
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In a typical Japanese adventure game, the graphics consist of a number of general backgrounds - usually only one per location - with superimposed character sprites ( 立 ち 絵 , tachi-e ).
The perspective is from the protagonist, who is therefore also invisible in addition to the "voicelessness" mentioned.
In certain key scenes, event CGs (computer graphics) are shown, which can show detailed, cinematic camera settings and the protagonist, although the eye area is still often not shown. These event CGs are unlocked once they have been found and can be called up again at any time in the main menu. This creates additional motivation to play through the game again with other decisions, as it is usually impossible to unlock all of them the first time.
In contrast to novels, the story is seldom in the 3rd person and the presentation of the events takes place almost exclusively from the perspective of the 1st person.
Content and narrative genres
In narrative terms, aspects of everyday life are often taken up, but science fiction , fantasy and horror are also not uncommon. Many Japanese adventure games have a basic romantic theme.
Ren'ai-Adventure are traditionally eroge and thus contain hentai scenes. In demanding Ren'ai adventures, however, these only serve as a reward. However, these scenes are removed in console ports. There is a family-friendly version of almost every game from the manufacturer Key , and several have only been released in adult versions. Some of the fans were dissatisfied with the game Clannad because there were no sex scenes that were made up for with the offshoot Tomoyo After - It's a Wonderful Life .
distribution
While adventures outside of Japan only eke out a niche existence, the Ren'ai adventures alone make up almost 70% of all PC computer game titles in Japan. Most of the adventures are produced for the PC and console versions are often portings of very popular PC adventures, whereby the sex scenes are removed from Erogē. Outside of Japan, only a small part is licensed, such as B. the Ace Attorney range or Hotel Dusk: Room 215 ; Ren'ai Adventure - which make up the majority in Japan - mainly in the USA , most of which are then eroge , with exceptions such as B. the AnimePlay series.
In addition to these commercial translations, there is a fan translation scene that translates both free, such as Narcissu , and commercial versions, mostly into English.
Well-known representatives
Web links
- Link catalog on the subject of visual novels at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
- 初心者 の た め の 現代 ギ ャ ル ゲ ー ・ エ ロ ゲ ー 講座 (Japanese)
- VNDB - The Visual Novel Database, a database of Ren'ai games
- Visual-Novel.de a German wiki about mostly German-language visual novels
Individual evidence
- ↑ 業界 に 一 石 を 投 じ た ジ ャ ン ル “サ ウ ン ド ノ ベ ル” を 今 一度 振 り 返 る (1/2) . ITmedia, July 26, 2006, accessed December 6, 2008 (Japanese).
- ↑ 業界 に 一 石 を 投 じ た ジ ャ ン ル “サ ウ ン ド ノ ベ ル” を 今 一度 振 り 返 る (2/2) . ITmedia, July 26, 2006, accessed December 6, 2008 (Japanese).
- ↑ KineticNovel.com: キ ネ テ ィ ッ ク ノ ベ ル に つ い て ( Memento from February 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ コ ミ ケ 72 ： 世界 最大 の マ ン ガ の 祭典 今年 の 注目 は 腐 女子 . In: ま ん た ん ウ ェ ブ . Mainichi Shimbun , August 16, 2007, archived from the original on August 22, 2007 ; Retrieved August 9, 2010 (Japanese).
- ↑ 自費 販 売 ゲ ー ム 「ひ ぐ ら し -」 映 画 化. In: nikkansports.com. August 13, 2008, Retrieved August 9, 2010 (Japanese).
- ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=1510 (accessed December 1, 2006)