Sunday, October 12, 2025
Repetition Towards Perfection
Roguelikes/lites
and visual novels have never been styles of game associated with
one another for good reasons. Repetition is an extremely problematic
element for anything which leans into narrative since it undermines the
feeling of progress stories rely on yet it is core to the appeal of a
Roguelike. Of course this has not stopped developers from trying and
this has led to some interesting results as they attempt to reconcile
these two halves. A common narrative device used to try and justify
the repetition in the visual novel is the time loop where the player
character is trapped in some kind of repeating cycle which they have
to extract themselves from. When it comes to integrating these
elements into a compete package one method used is to segregate them
so they do not impact each other in any negative ways. Another way is
to firmly plant the visual novel within the Roguelike mechanics
either through narrative events or making whole story a Roguelike.
These three aspects are the defining pillars around which this hybrid
struggles to construct its identity. Let’s get ready to start all
over again and discover what this hybrid has to offer.
Groundhog Day
In
order to justify why the characters are constantly repeating the same
levels and fighting the same enemies many stories present it as them
being in a time loop and visual novels are no exception. The reasons
for its prevalence in Roguelikes stems from it being a popular trope which is
easy to understand while at the same time being open enough to not
restrict the kind of settings or characters it can have within it.
Utilising a widely known narrative framework frees the visual novel
aspects from having to extensively justify the existence of the
game’s mechanics since a loop naturally invokes the idea of
repetition. It also works to help make the reuse of some story beats
or lines of dialogue a means of creating the same emotional
experience of the cast being trapped even if many of them might
not be aware of their predicament. The loop as a means to further
this feeling is used by Gnosia to great effect when combined the physical confinement of the spaceship. Doubling down on the
restrictiveness of the setting might seem like a poor choice since it
limits the opportunities to add diversity to events, but here it
works in Gnosia’s favour as it ties its narrative closer to the
design space of its Roguelike mechanics. By removing all distractions
the game can focus on selling the life and death tensions its
investigation and social deduction elements thrive on and make each
new cycle have the same impact throughout its play time. The
randomness and unpredictability of a Roguelike is the core element
which allows this style of interaction to be possible with its ability to
shift the pieces around so they feel new again.
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| Oh no! Should have framed some. |
Time loops are not
limited to strictly sci-fi stories and any genre can comfortably fit
within its vague outline. This is one of the reasons it is so
prolific as a narrative device within Roguelikes and it has led to a wide pool of titles that might not have otherwise seen the mechanics
as compatible with them. One notable example of this is the game
Expelled! where its protagonist has become the prime suspect in an
attempted murder case and they have to figure out how to avoid
getting expelled by any means possible. This school setting and its
younger characters opens up a lot of possibilities for interesting
situations and more flexible morals given their desperation to avoid
an outcome which would ruin their lives. Teenagers tend not to be the
most stable people so the web of lies and questionable actions the
protagonist weaves over the course of her various loops do not feel out of place given all that is happening to
them. Assisting this narrative direction is the Roguelike mechanics
and the way they play on the slightly exaggerated nature of the game
with their social navigation and evidence manipulation that encourage
the player to experiment in what they can do before it blows up in
their faces. The aim always returns to uncovering the truth about who
is responsible for the attempted murder and curiosity guides the
player onwards through the title’s various cycles.
Mechanics First
In
order to not get in the way of the mechanics focused nature of
Roguelikes, the incorporation of visual novel elements often results
in a kind of segregation where neither side interferes with the
other. This is done in an attempt to not comprise of the qualities of
both parts of the game by giving them the space they need to exist in
their purest form. Such a divide is common in Roguelikes since those
who play them tend to value an uninterrupted gameplay experience
where story exists in its own dimension. As a result is an
immediately recognisable part of the genre such as in Duel Princess
which even at a glance quickly conveys its mechanical origin. This
deck builder Roguelike tells its narrative beats, often between the
various princesses, in between its larger sections of continious
gameplay and the two do not have any meaningful impact on each other.
Instead they are bound together through their common bright anime
styling and emphasis on the princesses and their personalities.
Having been disconnected they are free to focus on what each does
best with the deck building being given the ability to lean into the
castle defence and army management angles for fluid strategies
while the visual novel carries the reason and influence of the
player’s actions. It is not difficult to see why this division is
the main version of this hybrid since it offers the developer a means
of shaping the two halves individually to achieve their desired
effect.
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| The divide between this and the card mechanics could not be larger |
If the emphasis is flipped on its head with the visual novel
element being the driving force then the issues of this approach
become more pronounced as can be seen in Forsaker: Ding Ding &
Blade. Here the narrative is front and centre with the Roguelike
being the supporting pillar to provide a means for the player to act
out certain parts of the story. This imbalance highlights the jarring
contrast between the two halves of the game by creating long
stretches of visual novel which then suddenly stop to give way to a
free-form gameplay experience that is nothing like what the player
has been engaging with. It is clear Forsaker wanted to put it
story front and centre so this emphasis on narrative was an
inevitable outcome within this segregated approach and showcases how
delicate a balance is struck in those games who successfully manage
it. Should the positions of the two halves be inverted the problem is
not resolved and it merely shifts the visual novel elements being the
pace breakers to the flow of the gameplay which risks the player
being brought out of the experience provided in the Roguelike.
A Fine Line
Another
method for handling this hybrid is to more closely integrate its
writing into the flow of the Roguelike in a natural fashion. Creating
the space for this approach to work without it breaking the flow of
the other mechanics is not easy and for this reason tends to only be
used by titles able to commit to necessary reorganisation. If the
game can tread this fine line then it gains the ability to more
smoothly blend the two halves of itself together and avoid the
jarring feels possible in a sharply divided experience. A common
manifestation of this can be seen in titles like Umamusume where
small vignettes are used to humanise certain markers of mechanical
progress. This takes what would otherwise be a cold indication of
numbers going up and down and turns it into a moment of growth in a
girl’s emergent story and the consequences to the player’s
actions. The effectiveness of this approach at creating a bond and
telling an unstructured narrative can be see in Umamusume’s
popularity and the way it even made its player’s invested in the
real horses each girl embodies. Of course there is a major flaw here
and that is the way it rubs up against the repetition inherent in a
Roguelike. Reading the same thing over and over again can get boring leading to many players simply skipping through the scenes after a
few viewings which undermines their emotional impact over the long
term.
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| The small stories really sell the characters journey |
The ultimate end point of this merger between the two
halves is a game were the visual novel is the means by which the
Roguelike presents its mechanics. This style is extremely rare but
one notable example of it is Gnosia and its deduction sections. Here
the player has to interrogate the other characters to deduce who is
the gnosia while trying to deflect suspicion away from themselves.
All of this is presented within the framework of a visual novel
presentation and pulls from a large pool of responses to invite the
player to comb over every word and the way they were said to try and
gleam information. It is the core element around which the
tension of these situations is both shown and systematised and since who the
gnosia is differs on each run, it keeps the search from clues in the
text meaningful over the game’s play time. Being a linear Roguelike
with a conclusive narrative ending does help provide a place were the
player can stop playing and move on before the repetition starts to
undermine the appeal of its psychological thriller.
Conclusion
Given
the often uncomfortable relationship between visual novels and
Roguelikes it is surprising just how many attempts there have been to
make this hybrid work. To help this along there is an extensive use
of the time loop as a narrative device to justify the repeated visual
novel sections and why progression is tied to success in the
Roguelike. Attempting to blend the two halves together results in a
smoother overall experience at the risk of the narrative elements
losing their impact over time and becoming an irritation. On the
other extreme, segregating them can allow each the space they need to
fully express themselves at the cost of having to maintain a delicate
balance lest one start overwhelming the other. There is a lot of
potential in this hybrid waiting to be tapped into if the conflicts
between its elements can be resolved since there is a demand for a
strong narrative in Roguelikes as games like Hades have demonstrated.
