Sunday, February 16, 2025
Representing Emotion
When
looking at a visual novel is there any single part which can be said
to have the same importance as Character Sprites? Their presence or
absence defines a lot about how a player will perceive a title and
they express much of its emotion. Not matter what artistic style is
chosen for these sprites, they offer a core avenue to present the
unspoken parts of a scene where the visual novel does not to spell
out how a character is feeling and instead show it. Such a seemingly
simple element has a lot of variation in its implementation and how
it can get the player to react to it. The basic static sprites are
the most common type and many games choose them since they offer an
easy to understand visual language. Next up in complexity are the
animated sprites which include things like live 2D and full 3D models
where the aim is give a sense of life to every moment they are on
screen. Then there are the various miscellaneous types from back
sprites to silhouettes and these generally act as a way to complement
the primary style while offering narrative flexibility. Let’s find
our characters and see how each of these types works to enhance their
visual novels.
Static Sprites
If
you pick up any visual novel it is very likely to be using static
Character Sprites as it is the oldest and most well tested of the sprites so
developers tend to gravitate towards them. They are simple in nature
being images of the characters, often just a bust of them, which only
changes then the game progresses to the next line of text and
otherwise present themselves in a direct manner. This gives them a
clarity and uncluttered visual identity which makes it easy for the
player to understand the emotions or ideas the sprites are attempting
to convey. Not drawing unnecessary attention to themselves through
blending in with the rest of the static assets helps create a sense
that they are a part of the world they are shown within. Should other
elements need the spot light it is easy for these Character Sprites
to step aside due to their basic nature and not distract from what
the visual novel needs in order to move its narrative forward. Static
Character Sprites where once the sole way to present a visual novel’s
cast, but as technology and technique advanced many titles moved over
the using some form of animated sprites. These tended to be games in
the slice of life and romance genres and the ones which remained in
the static camp did so due to how difficult it is to balance animated
sprites and a series tone. As such the genres using static sprites
tend towards darker stories or titles from developers who simply lack
the resources to create animated sprites in the first place.
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| There 3D models are certainly unique... |
Since
this is the most wide spread type of the Character Sprite there are a lot
of examples of it in practice, so let’s narrow it down to Ever 17
and Stella Of The End. Ever 17 falls into the camp of being an older
title back in a time when static sprites were the only real option
and it has this baked into how it considers its visual presentation.
There is a slow and deliberate feeling to the choice of what
Character Sprite fits each moment where the lack of flexibility
forces each sprite to clearly communicate the intent of the scene.
What is interesting about Ever 17 is that it had an updated version
released for the Xbox 360 which used 3D sprites and it was
not well received. One of the main reason often stated for this
dissatisfaction is the way the new 3D did not capture the
atmosphere and charm of the old static sprites due to their weak
presentation of character emotion when compared to the sharpness
found in the originals. Key has maintained their use of static
sprites despite their tendency towards slice of life and drama as
core pillars of their work. This is maintained in their smaller
titles such as Stella Of The End where they use a distinctive art
style to help reinforce the its mood. Here the Character Sprites use their
static nature and blend into the elements around them to
create the impression they are part of this alien world and blur the
lines between them and the strange machines they encounter. This
gives the game the ability to craft a flow through the experience
where no single part overpowers the others which is always a risk
with the larger than life Character Sprites from other games taking
centre stage so often.
Animated Sprites
In
recent times there has been a trend in visual novels to include
Character Sprites which use dynamic motion to add life to its cast.
These animated sprites come in a wide variety from simple motions as
a character speaks to full 3D models with a free range of movement,
but by far the most common type is Live 2D. What each of these share
is an aim to create the illusion of the sprites on screen being an
actually person with all of the small mannerisms people do when
speaking. Their main advantage over static sprites is the way they
can flow from one expression or pose into another to provide a sense
of continuity to the character’s existence rather than simply
fading from one to another. Live 2D is the king of the animated
sprites due to the way it treads the line between the familiar static
presentation of the rest of the game and the expressiveness of a more
free form model such as 3D.
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| What is it with Live 2D and cat girls? |
Take for example Corona Blossom which
uses its Live 2D to emphasise its comedy and light tone. Here the
Character Sprites are constantly in motion even when not speaking to
give the sense that they are breathing and do all the small movements
people do even when standing still, but taken to an exaggerated level
to match the anime aesthetic. Despite this over the top feeling they
never appear out of place since they are carefully matched to all the
other elements from backgrounds to CGs to create a continuous world.
Their poses are still limited by their nature as a series of flat
images overlapping one another and cannot reach the level of dynamic
presentation possible with 3D. Visual novels using 3D sprites tend to
commit to 3D in other elements of their presentation in order to make
use of the dynamic control these models offer while not having them
feel out of place, such as in Virtues Last Reward. The free form
movement offered by the 3D Character Sprite is the most flexible
available and provides a developer with the means to precisely
express themselves as each part of the body can be positioned in 3D
space to give it a sense of life. A lack of clarity can be a problem
for 3D sprites since their movements and subtle visual cues add noise
to any message or feelings they are attempting to convey to the player
which can lead to them not having a powerful effect on them in key
moments.
Myriad Of Options
There
are a variety of other styles of Character Sprite used in visual
novels, but many of them only appear in specific use cases. Let’s briefly go over a few here. One interesting
variant is the back sprite where only the character’s back is shown
to the player. Fate Stay Night loves to use this type of sprite to
create a feeling of distance and rejection from the character to the
player. Turning your back on someone not only prevents them from
seeing your face, and thus your emotions, it also points you away
from them suggesting that you are heading in a different direction to
them. Silhouettes are a type of Character Sprite which sees use
either as an artistic or budgetary choice. In Kamaitachi no Yoru they
serve both purposes and work as a way to create tension and enhance
the mystery atmosphere. People shaped images inherently draw a your
eye yet there is something slightly unsettling about a human without
any concrete features to understand them through. So when such
characters are on screen and talking, it creates a certain sense of
something being off which the game can lean into with its narrative.
Taking photos of real places and people for use in visual novels is a
long standing option for those on a budget. However, photograph
sprites have their own distinctive feel to them and are grounded in
the real world in a way no other sprite can hope match. This can be
played with for a variety of effects such as in Hatoful Boyfriend
where the realistic images are of birds and the inherent silliness of
the idea of real birds being in a school setting as students is played for source of comedy. As images of the real world they have a
connection to it that our minds immediately cling to and this gives
them a rigid feeling which can serve a visual novel aiming for that
sort of presentation.
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| Umm... They are just birds right? |
Conclusion
The
choice of what Character Sprites to use in a visual novel has a
profound impact on how it is perceived and the tools it has access
to. Animated sprites allow for a feeling of life and presence to be
given to the characters on screen while still feeling like they
belong in this world. On the other hand static sprites provide a
clear and easy to understand medium for the presentation of character
emotions without any noise to distract from the developer’s intent.
Then there are a variety of other types from photographs to
silhouettes which each bring a new way for the perception of the
characters to be controlled and they do not demanding extensive screen time
to be effective. Overall the value these sprites offer as a tool kit for someone creating a visual novel cannot be
overstated and which one you choose to use should be considered
carefully so it matches the design of the game.
