Sunday, September 22, 2024
The Only Path Forwards
Choices
and the routes they lead into are often seen as the defining elements
of what it means to be a visual novel, but the reality of the medium
paints a far more varied picture in the form of the Kinetic Novel.
This entirely linear format goes against the flexible design of other
visual novels in favour of a more controlled and curated experience.
There is nothing new about the Kinetic Novel with many of oldest
titles following this structure. Over time it fell out of favour as
the non-linear elements appealed to the tastes of an audience who
wanted more player expression. Nevertheless the Kinetic Novel has not
disappeared and found its niche in side content or fandiscs where its
self contained nature works to keep the focus on the smaller scale
narratives. Sometimes a big title does come along utilising it due to
the fine level of control allowed through its structure and ability
to shape the perception of key moments. Why has this style of visual
novel survived the test of time? Let’s be railroaded and find out.
A Straight Line
What
does it mean to be linear? At first glance it might seem to be simpler
than its non-linear cousin given its lack of systems surrounded its
core narrative. However, it is exactly because of this lack of other
distractions that a Kinetic Novel must tread carefully since all eyes
are focused on a single path of progression and people are more likely
to see any issues with its story. This pressure is not unique to
Kinetic Novels and many different types of games using linear
structures run into the same issue. Keeping the player engaged in the
narrative without anyway for them to influence it means crafting a
directed experience where the pacing is a roller-coaster ride with
enough ups and downs to create texture. There is also a
greater emphasis on making the characters universally interesting as
they have a uniform importance rather than the specific focus of a
route based title and this leads them to be some of the most
memorable characters in visual novels. Player expectations are generally higher
for Kinetic Novels due to the idea that for something lacking in
anything outside of its narrative to be worth their time it must be
an exceptional in what it does. Its singular focus helps it meet
these expectations, but it is an uphill battle which many titles fail
to reach the top of.
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| A story about robots being linear is oddly fitting |
Let’s look at Stella of the End as an example
of a Kinetic Novel and its relationship with the linear. It chooses
to utilise its structure by immediately present the core unique
elements which will drive the narrative forwards and act as the main
source of intrigue in the machines and the robot girl our protagonist
finds himself escorting. Once this is established the game is sure
never to lose its focus on those parts in order to keep the
experience for meandering and helping it maintain player engagement.
This also plays into the pacing of the Stella of the End which is an
episodic odyssey style story and those elements form the constant
that bridges the gaps between each episode and makes them feel like a
cohesive narrative. Since it has no choices it has to rely completely
on these core driving forces to provide the meat of the experience.
These must be up to scratch since the player cannot simply play
another route if they are bored so the game have one chance to
present the narrative to the player and it has to maintain that
consistently throughout its play time.
Narrative Control
The
biggest incentive for making a Kinetic Novel over a standard visual
novel is the many tools it offers to curate the experience and ensure
each story beat has the correct impact. A route based title cannot
know which path the player is going to choose first or last and so
has to format each one make sense in isolation with a part of the
narrative rather a cohesive whole. Being entirely linear means a
Kinetic Novel can avoid this pitfall as the player’s current
progression is a constant and known factor a developer can use to
plan the exact experience they desire for the player. This allows for
plot twists and hidden information to be effectively paced and
unveiled without the player losing track of what is going on as they
would if they were jumping between separate routes. If a title is aim
for a specific kind of narrative complexity or has a key emotion it
wants to be the focus above all else then the control offered by the
Kinetic Novel provides an easy means of ensuring these elements are
not lost in the structure of the visual novel. These are also the
kinds of games which do not mind being linear since they have strong
and immediate hooks to drag the player through the entire play time
and so trading player freedom for control over the story does not
effect them negatively.
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| Umineko cares about one thing, its mysteries |
Umineko and Higurashi are some of the most
well known Kinetic Novels and take full advantage of the narrative
control offered to them. Each episode is a mystery onto itself which
feeds into an overarching mystery and their linear nature makes it
easy for the information for both sides to be tightly controlled and
paced leading to a series of dramatic ups and downs that build into a
finale. It relies heavily on the complex and engaging nature of these
mysteries to keep the player engaged and their strength is boosted
through the intensity provided by this linear structure. On the
opposite side of the content spectrum sits Witch On The Holy Night
which leans on its action and heightened drama as the means to keep
the player moving forwards. The game benefits from its linear
structure because of the way it can craft its characters’ emotional
journey in a precise way and weave them into one another rather than
having them exist separately as in a route based title. Having a
shorter play time and a once and done style of narrative also aids in
making the choice of a Kinetic Novel feel natural.
Side Content And Fandiscs
By
far the most common place to see Kinetic Novels is as fandiscs or
side stories to an existing route based visual novel series. These are
short and self contained works which build upon an established
premise and characters so require little in the way of set up to
function. They are focused on a few key elements per title with after
stories and different perspectives on the original game being the
most common types of content. Since the ending has already been
reached for the core narrative before these stories even start it
makes little sense to allow the player to influence their direction
given everything major has ended. These are merely tales of the
characters’ happy lives afterwards and small pieces of new but
unimportant information and as such it makes more sense to offer them
up to in the most direct fashion possible. In doing this the game can
make sure it doesn’t outlive its welcome by not asking the player
to go through its stories more than once. Their nature means the
stories can never have any meaningful narrative beats in them and so
exist as fan centric fluff. This is not a bad thing as it is exactly
what they player has signed up for, but this is a victory lap and
going round the same scenery as before can be fatiguing after having
already spent so much time their in the original title.
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| Focus on a single character in a side story allows all the emotional weight to rest on them |
For example
the Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm – EXTRA games are continuations of
specific parts of the original game and firmly focus on the one
heroine they want to be the star of the show. Here it would make no
sense to offer the player choices due to the lack of other possible
heroines to follow and how the title wants to tell a story without any
distractions from its core premise. In a similar vein Dies irae -
Interview with Kaziklu Bey provides the backstory for a specific
character and is set in a past distant from the events of the main
game. The outcome of this story has already been determined since the
player knows what happens to the protagonist of this side story from
the events of the main game. As such a Kinetic Novel makes sense so
as to not confuse the player about how this fits into the timeline of
the original title and it helps keep the focus squarely on the events
which shaped the character.
Conclusion
Being
a straight line gives the Kinetic Novel a specific niche within the
modern visual novels space which meets the needs of certain kinds of
games. Having a linear structure fundamentally changes the way both
players and developers engage with a narrative as all eyes are on the
core experience with nothing to distract or offer a diversion from
it. In exchange the developer gains a large amount of control over
the narrative in order to shape it into an exact form with the needed
pacing and emotional beats needed to create powerful moments while
knowing the order the player will experience them in. The most common
place to find Kinetic Novels is in the form of fandiscs and side
stories which lend themselves to a linear structure as they expand
off existing elements of a concluded story. Overall, while not as
popular as they once were in the medium, the Kinetic Novel possesses
a unique set of tools that meet the needs of certain kinds of
narratives and should you plan on making on such visual novel then it
is worth considering this type of structure.
