Sunday, March 9, 2025
Déjà vu
Of
all the subgenres of sci-fi and fantasy there are none as popular and
influential in visual novels as the Time Loop. It feels as if half of
all titles which want to be taken seriously go with some form of Time
Loop in order to tell their story. This is perhaps a natural result
of wanting to explain the existence of routes from an in-universe
perspective without having to deal with their often complex and
contradictory content. Of course it can also be used as an excuse to have
serious elements sitting right next to silly moments while trying to
preserve some sense of continuity . Character reactions to the Time
Loop are a favourite playground of this genre and the existance of a loop means they
can pushed pushed to extremes without having any lasting consequences
since it will be all be reset. Furthering this approach is the effect
dehumanisation has on the person undergoing the loop as they struggle
to maintain their sanity in a space without an ending or any means to
escape it. Let’s break the loop and discover the appeal and power
of the genre.
The End is The Beginning
Attempts
to marry the structure and narrative of visual novels define the
medium’s use of this genre. It provides a suitable justification
for its route based nature or the flexibility to have a more open
ended construction and neither of these extremes feels out of place
within the context of Time Loop. There is an inbuilt expectation for
repetition in this genre which aids in the smooth transition in and
out of common routes and other opening scenes the player will
encounter since it makes sense protagonist to experience these events
again if they are caught in this cycle. In playing into Time Loop
conventions such as these. visual novels can gain the freedom to
create twists and turns with the knowledge that the consequences do
not need to be immediate. For route based titles the expanding
tendrils of each route and their endings are an easy to
understand representation of the possible outcomes of the loop. A
classic example of this type is YU-NO shows its differing routes as
multi coloured splinters off the opening line on a flowchart from
which the player is encouraged to think about how each relates to
the others. It is to this menu the game goes after each ending to
further push the cyclical nature of its Time Loop and nudge the
player towards the branches they have yet to explore. The fact that
in order to progress down certain routes key items from other paths
creates a feel of the protagonist utilising the loop for their own
benefit as more about what is happening become clear. On a higher
level there is also the collection of special stones
which are needed by the player to break out of the loop and push into
the second half of the game. All of this comes together to create a
tactile weight to unlocking more of the paths and an easy to observe
forward momentum.
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| Representations of Time Loops in visual novels are always interesting to look at |
When it comes to Time Loops within a more open and
less directly linear structure Type-Moon’s fandiscs offer a pair of
interesting examples. Fate/ Hollow Ataraxia splits itself into
individual and self-contained events which the player can pick from during each time period. Since this creates a variety of possible paths
through the loop it cannot be easily presented in a flowchart even if
the paths for progression are indeed linear. Instead it is the amount
of choices and how more are slowly unlocked with each new cycle which
sells its repetition while not actually reusing more content than it
absolutely has to in order create a connection between player and
protagonist. Kagetsu Tooya leans closer to the continuous perspective
approach like YU-NO but takes it to its logical extreme with so many
paths and off shoots that attempting to make a flowchart for it would lead to an difficult to understand mess of lines. It forms a labyrinth of routes
forwards where the player is going to constantly bump into endings or
new routes as they work to help the protagonist escape. There is an
implicit challenge in this structure where the player must explore
and understand the space they are operating within so they can find
the way out and so fosters an engagement not otherwise possible
without the existence of a Time Loop.
People Under Pressure
No
matter how interesting a Time Loop might be structurally, if there are
not characters to be pushed to their extremes then it will be a dry
experience. Visual novels address this potential issue through
pushing their already character centric nature and keeping their
focus squarely on the people caught up in the loop. Due to the way
the loop removes a lot of the immediate consequences from character
actions they can be pushed to extremes that might normally be damaging or life
changing but are here removed once the loop resets. This lets the
story probe deep into a character’s motivations without having to
worry about how this will effect anyone in the long term and allows
it an adaptability when it comes to how to handle and frame each new
clash of identities. Extremes like these still have to make sense
within the context of the world or risk the loop appearing incoherent
so this freedom with the characters is not a ticket to do whatever
wild things the developer wants. Even if the characters do not
remember their actions in the loop, the player will and so it is
their mindset the game has to form its believability around.
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| Characters are key to a good Time Loop |
Generally this character focus pushes them into the spotlight one at
a time as with our two examples of this use of the Time Loop, Cross
Channel and Little Busters. Route based Time Loops such as Little
Busters already have an inbuilt mechanism where the player expects
the visual novel to concentrate on the selected character and so does
not have to contrive a situation for this emphasis since the player
has already created it themselves. It also helps the player
understand each character’s place in the world and their role in
the greater plot in a controlled yet exciting manner. By contrast
Cross Channel is far more rigidly constructed with heroines each
getting their turn in a linear order and provides a lot of fine
control over the player’s expectations and anticipation. The main
advantage this approach brings is the way it integrates the otherwise
isolated character arcs into a smooth and natural feeling direct path
as opposed to the bitty feeling route system.
Dehumanisation And The Looper
Repeating
the same few days again and again is going to have an impact of the
mental state of the looper and change how they view the people around
them. When there are no lasting consequences why should you care
about your actions? If people are just going to reset as soon as a
new loop starts can they really be considered anything more than set
dressing? There is an inevitable nihilism that seeps into a looper's
world-view the longer they remain trapped and they start dehumanise
the individuals they once cared about then they do this to themselves. Since this is
a pretty dark subject many Time Loops in visual novels skirt around
the issue by have the protagonist only remember parts of the loop so
they get to keep being themselves. However, when it is address the
character development opportunities it offers are powerful and lead
to many memorable moments. This is generally handled in two ways,
witnessing the character struggle with the birth of these emotions or
showing someone who has succumbed to the nihilism pull themselves out
of it.
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| Rika is interesting since we see her from the outside for most of the story |
Perhaps the most iconic example of the first type is Okabe
Rintarou as he fights against a loop which seems set in stone. From
the intimate perspective afforded by the visual novel format we get
to see decline in Okabe’s mental state as he tries many different
things in order to save those he cares about only for the world to
just adapt to his actions and lead the same outcome regardless. It is
only through opening up to the people he has started to dehumanise that he can pull
himself back from the pit of despair and move towards resolving the
loop which is a satisfying arc to watch unfold. On the other side we
have Rika Furude who has long ago been consumed by the nihilism of
the loop. What makes this noticeably different to Okabe’s portrayal
is the way the player gets to see this repeatedly from the persective
of someone who is unknowingly trapped in the loop. This makes her
sudden personality switching, treatment of her friends like pawns and
loss of interest when she considers the current loop a failure appear
alien and creates a tension between her perspective and the rest of
the cast as they try to salvage what she knows to already be doomed.
Once the player finally does get to see the twisted inner workings of
her head it is as a means to show her pulling herself out of this pit
through the new hope she has found and ultimately resulting in her
finding a way to her desired future.
Conclusion
Visual
novels and Time Loops are a perfect match for each other and a
constant source of new and engaging stories. The genre gives an easy
justification for the standard route based structure as well as more
experimental and flexible paths through the game. It offers an
opportunity to push its characters to their limits with the knowledge
that the long term consequences do not have to be considered so the
extremes can be wild. The person aware of the loop offers a unique
means of showcasing how easy it is for humans to slip into nihilism
and the dehumanisation of people they once cared about when pushed beyond
their limits. Overall there are few more fertile grounds then the
Time Loop and if you are thinking about making one then considering
the various options available to visual novels can go a long way.
