Archive for August 2026
Power Fantasies: Strength, Love And Peace – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels
Three Pillars
Not
every visual novels wants to be an artistic masterpiece which pushes
the medium into new territory and instead many are aiming to fall
into the eternally popular category of Power Fantasy. Upon hearing
its name, it might be tempting to immediately jump to thinking about
overpowered protagonists fighting superpowered enemies, but this is
only one side of the Power Fantasy and is arguably the least prolific
in medium. The biggest slice is taken up by the romantic style where
the protagonist is wildly attractive to members of the opposite sex
and the strength of their combined love overcomes all. Adjacent to
this sits the last major type in the fantasy of peace where conflicts
either do not occur or are resolved quickly with minimal stress and
damage. These all share the common thread of being detached from
reality and able to resolve their respective problems without having
to pushed beyond the confines of their specific fantasy. Let’s
fulfil our dreams and find out how each of these types of Power
Fantasy manifest in visual novels.
Martial Power
When
thinking of a Power Fantasy most people jump to the idea of physical
or magical strength where the protagonist possess them in large
amounts and even has their own unique powers which set them apart from
the other characters. The aim here is to offer the player a sense of
vicarious empowerment through an element of self-insert common in
these protagonists. As such they tend to have either vague
personalities or be lacking in strong emotions in order provide a
space into which the player can easily slot themselves without too
much friction. Despite this these protagonist rarely slip into being
the kind of complete blank slates as those of the romance Power
Fantasy due to the need for them to have tragic backstories and
secret connections to the plot, so their powers can be justified and
they can become increasingly involved in the drama of the story. Once
the player is comfortably slotted into their position, the powers can
be put to use in a series of spectacle battles which are the real
beating heart of this kind of story. It is a Power Fantasy focused on
feeding off the tension and heart pumping action while the player sits in a
comfortable position where they know their protagonist will
ultimately win the day. A comparison to a roller-coaster comes to
mind, both are experiences which present some level of danger in
their presentation but the participants all know they are perfectly
safe and are instead buying into a sanitised version of this danger.
This kind of Power Fantasy is not as prolific in visual novel as it
is in other types of game due to the difficulties in creating the
needed feelings of action and moment in what is a predominantly static
medium. Skilled developers have made it work but for many it is
simply not worth the risk and investment in this skill set when more
compatible Power Fantasies exist.
 |
| Nothing sells power quite like being really big |
A good example of this being pulled
off successful is Tokyo Babel. Tendou Setsuna is an absolutely
overpowered protagonist who goes toe to toe with angels, demons and
even gods and coupled with his relatively weak emotional range, makes
him a perfect vessel for this kind of fantasy. It leverages its down
time to make sure the connection to the player sticks with it pushing
the other characters forward in interactions to further relegate Setsuna
into the background to de-emphasise his personality. As for the
action which he partakes in, it is all extremely over the top and
involves spectacular feats of magic and physical combat removed from
any sense of reality. This is a perfect space for Tokyo Babel’s
Power Fantasy since it can fully detach itself from any grounded
ideas which might break its hold and gives it room to ensure each
subsequent battle ups the danger so the player can experience their
roller-coaster.
Not all games of this type need to have their
protagonist in such a commandingly powerful position. Coμ often has
its protagonist in battles where they are on the back foot despite
the power of the black dragon Babylon being at his command. This is
because of the fact Babylon’s power can only be drawn out to its
full potential when he works with the other people connected with it.
As such the highs of this Power Fantasy are contrasted by
exceptionally deep lows so it can full embrace the ‘safe danger’
it thrives on. It also gives it a bit of flexibility to lean into the
idea of a community being a kind of power and connect it to the
moments of catharsis when the group wins together with the player feeling
they played a role in it. Mizuwa Akihito has a far more distinct
personality and identity than Setsuna since he ends up being more
directly connected to events and so needs the extra wrinkles to
accommodate the more elaborate motives and interactions. Yet he still
has enough blurring around the edges to allow the player to
comfortably slip into this role and form the emotional connections
needed for the Power Fantasy to function.
The Power Of Love
By
far the most dominant Power Fantasy in the visual novel space is
focused around romance. The defining feature of this type of fantasy
is the way the protagonists are always inexplicable attractive to
members of the opposite sex. While this can mean the characters fall for the
protagonist at first sight and are all over them immediately, it is
often more subtle in its implementation with the ensemble gradually
coming together around them before moving into the explicitly
romantic events. A slow build up like this gives the characters time
to breathe but also staggers out the fantasy so it is less in the
player’s face that they are being pandered to. When selling the
romance is the name of the game the emphasis shifts into individual
interactions, but having the characters constantly jumping on the
protagonist can create a weird undertone of infidelity it wants to
avoid. As such pure love must be bound up in the fantasy in order to
make the player feel special and desired through the vessel of the
protagonist. Despite this direction, many titles lean into a degree
of jealousy and competitiveness to present the idea of every one of
these characters wanting to end up with the protagonist and being
willing to fight for that privilege. The protagonist themselves is
generally a blank slate who falls under the broad category of ‘nice
guy/girl’ with a traditional moral compass. Placing so few
character traits in them is important since they exist as a thin film
for the player to experience the Power Fantasy through.
Another side
to this fantasy is the power of love which underpins its later
sections once a romance with a specific character has been
established. What this promises to the player is that the newly
formed bond between them will overcome every trial which is put in
front of them and there is never any doubt they will succeed. Some
titles have this be literal with the protagonist’s love being the
magic touch needed to save the other person while others have the
pair work together to defeat whatever obstacle is put in their way. The point of such strength is as a
means of solidifying the romantic Power Fantasy in a quantifiable
manner where the player can feel the culmination of the pair's
relationship.
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| Got to get as close as possible to really sell the romance |
Sabbat of the Witch fully embraces this fantasy as a
core pillar of its identity while making sure never draw unnecessary
attention to this fact. The key to a good romantic Power Fantasy is
to never spell out its existence but instead to quietly let it creep
up on the player and so this game is slow in inviting all the
heroines into the main circle. Each of them has a massive soft spot
for the protagonist despite him being the quintessential ‘nice guy’
with few memorable traits of his own which makes him perfect as the
screen to view this budding love. The power of love features
prominently in game’s narrative progression with many problems
being solved with the protagonist’s love conquering things like
memory loss and there is even one point when their love actually
manifests as a physical object just to drive home its strength. As a
result the Power Fantasy it offers is focused and never lets the
player out of its grip for a second in order to allow its mesmerising tale
of romance to never loses their interest.
On the female face end of the
spectrum there is Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth with its suite
of suitors who all find our protagonist magnetic. There is a slightly
greater attempt to justify the initial reason for their interest
through the fact she has deadly poison in her veins and her dramatic
encounter with Lupin. As such there is a common starting thread to
these future relationships which provides a less broad romantic
fantasy in exchange for a more cohesive progression of the
characters’ bonds. Cardia falls into the fair standard ‘nice
girl’ archetype common in otome meaning a generally pleasant and kind
person with a stubborn sense of good which allows her to serve the
role as the player’s vessel. Since otome already leans its
protagonist towards emotional intelligence and empathy as the main
ways to help the suitors, it naturally expands into the power of love
when intensely focused on one of the suitors and pushes it as a
critical part of their eventual happy ending. Combining these pieces
results in a more protagonist centric version of the Power Fantasy
with them being a magnet for misfortune and suitors to better
highlight the emotional highs.
Power To Be At Peace
Sitting
off to one side of these two titans are the Power Fantasies which
sell an impossible peace and a constant cosy feeling. They present a
normality which is sharpened to a point where all conflicts have been
removed or can be solved through simple and reasonable conversation.
There is no stress or trails in this vision of the world and instead
we are all just a step away for happiness if only we would let go and
embrace those around us. Community and belonging make the core pillar
of this Power Fantasy, where being a part of these groups comes
without the social pressure, group power struggles or constant
maintenance which often define their real world equivalents. Here it
is only a matter of existing and this alone is enough for you to be
able to form bonds and be appreciated. As such it does not demand its
protagonist be a blank slate like the others, even if it
does tend to lean in that direction, since what it being sold as the
Power Fantasy is more a vague atmosphere rather than something
focused on one character. Interactions between characters end up
being more important for the fantasy over one individual through the
support and affection they show for one another without any strings
attached.
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| OH NO, a cat got in! Truly world ending stakes! |
Across its three games, the Coffee Talk series has made
this type of Power Fantasy its selling point. Everything about it
from its choice of lo-fi music to its comfortable cafe to the
colourful and universally likeable cast scream cosy.
When conflicts appear they are all resolved by the characters sitting
down and talking about their feelings in a measured fashion and each
party coming to understand the other in an idealised vision of what a
relationship should look like. The stakes are suitably low to match
the cafe setting with everything being limited to the scope of an
ordinary life so it is easy to for the game to draw the player into
the fantasy it is presenting. Its protagonist is fairly weak in the
personalty department and instead serves as the player’s vessel and through the drinks they
serve to give them agency over the Power Fantasy. Coffee Talk walks a
fine line in terms of convincing the player of its believability and
selling the lack of conflict since if they solve the problems too
quickly then the resolution comes across as fake, but if done to
slowly it will break the illusion of peace the game depends on.
Conclusion
Despite
the negative connections surrounding the Power Fantasy, it remains a
popular and diverse element of visual novel narratives. By focusing
on the physical or magical strength of its protagonist it can create
a sense of empowerment through exaggerated spectacle and heart
pumping tension. On the complete opposite end the fantasy can present a
cosy and peaceful world devoid of the conflicts of reality which can
wrap the player in a warm blanket and assure them that they have
value and influence within this world. If romance is the main selling
point then the protagonist becomes inexplicably attractive to the
opposite sex and their combined love conquers all. Overall the Power Fantasy is an impressive tool to
help invest the player in the story and facilitate a boarder set of
associate themes and ideas which make it worth considering when
planning out your own visual novel.
Service Sims – Uncovering The Hybird
On The House
For
an industry which tends to treat its workers poorly, it is surprising
to find the fantasy of the Service sector tends to towards peaceful
and positive community centric interactions. These Service Simulators
are games focused around a single shop or establishment like a cafe
or bar were the player can interact and serve with customers one on
one. Dialogue forms the foundation of these titles which is where the
visual novel element comes in and it spends a lot of time building up
each character through their many quirks and dreams. The mechanics of
a Service Sim are never particularly complex with them mostly acting
as a test of the player’s memory about a person’s preferences as
they prepare something to meet these tastes. As each game progresses
it reveals the idyllic community centric fantasy it captures, it is a
place were the customers get along with one another, form bonds and
care for everyone on a personal and small scale. Let’s take some
orders and find out how this character centric hybrid uses these
individual parts to achieve its vision.
Chatting To Customers
The
majority of a player’s time with a Service Sim will be spend
talking to the customers about their day or what troubles them. This
is where the visual novel part of the Sim is at its most prominent
and leverages the intimacy of its perspective to sell the idea of a
conversation over the counter. Framing the character sprites as being
behind the player’s work space yet in front of the background puts
a sense of distance between them and the cast without losing the
feeling them being personable. They are still the customer after all
and the protagonist has a job to do of which talking to them is just
one part of it. Yet this distance allows the gradual way the
characters open up have a sense of weight to it since they overcome
the barrier and form a meaningful connection. Serving customers is a
mostly one on one affair at the beginning in order to give the player
a chance to understand the cast as individuals and invest in their
arcs while not being distracted by additional interpersonal
relationships. It helps create the idea of their bond with the
protagonist being something distinct from the other people they know
and allowing the player to be a catalyst for change in their lives.
All of these strengths are held in a delicate balance related to the
total size of the cast. Too large and there is not enough space for them express themselves as anything more than caricatures and if it is too
small then player will get board seeing the same few people over and
over again. What makes this more complicated is that there is no best
size for a Service Sim cast since the length of a title and how much
it wants to leverage community as a core aspect can dramatically
change the number.
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| Only one character will appear on screen for most of the game and this controls player perception |
Perhaps the most well known example of the Service
Sim is VA-11 HALL-A and it has spawned much many games drawing from its
formula. Small and intimate are the immediate feelings the game
tries to invoke through its back alley bar which few people come to in the pressing darkness of this cyberpunk city. For most of the
game the player will only see three to four characters per day so
they get plenty of time for each one to express themselves and build
up the foundations which will lead to their personal conflicts and
growing relationships. The presence of alcohol lends legitimacy to
how lose tongued the cast can be at times with someone who is still a
stranger to them. It also plays of the unique opportunities inherent
to its bar setting and its limited view of the outside world to
create a slight sense of helplessness and claustrophobia later in the
game when events far larger than the cast start moving their lives in
ways they have no control over. The framing of each character inside the UI design is very singular in its focus with the window showing
them being dominated by their sprite and making their large
expressions a constant source of movement and life. Making Jill their
own character rather than a player self insert means it loses a sense
of player agency, but it makes up for by being able to have her
intertwine with the rest of the cast as they invert the original
dynamic to make her the subject of the heart to heart.
Over in
fantasy land we have Tavern Talk which uses its similar drinks
based location for a different effect. It is far lighter in tone and
so leans into its bright setting for an excentric collection of
fantasy races and professions. Handing out quests to the right
customers lends their stories a puzzle like element and encourages
the player to pay attention and get to know everyone which
passes through the Inn’s doors. In contrast to VA-11 HALL-A, Tavern
Talk’s main window being entirely dominated by the tavern bar and
the characters occupying a relatively small part of it with their
seated sprite. By having this smaller presence they come across in a
far more gentle and human manner where they are not trying to
dominate the space with their personality but are instead just people
looking for a drink. Given their inhuman nature this shrinking of
their presence is important to ground their presentation in a feeling of fragility and allows for a more dynamic range of camera
movement to capture their emotions. These choices lend the game a
life and energy through which it can use to embody the smaller nuances of
human interactions.
Work For Idle Hands
Breaking
up the conversation is the other mechanical side of the Service Sim,
the actual service offered by the establishment. The actual content
and systems can vary quite considerably but they all function as a
kind of test at their core. At first to see if the player can
navigate the systems to fulfil the customer’s order then later to
demonstrate they understand each character through making an order
based on a vague outline. This pushes the player to pay attention
when the cast talks and provides a practical advantage to caring
about what they have to say. It also gives the player something to do
and breaks up what could become a repetitive loop of conversations. Due to how game specific these systems can be, it is best to
go through some examples to illustrate the framework which underpins
them.
Hookah Haze has the player preparing the titular hookah by
mixing the flavours to craft the desired vapour. This is a title in
love with hookah in a way far more which is far more important to its identity and see its hookah as more than just a
means to test the player. The game takes them through the entire process
and makes them act it out and imparts the love for hookah shared by
the cast onto the player so they can feel this common connection. For a more mechanical leaning example, High Times
serving of doughnuts has the player attempting to capture emotion
through the toppings and extras covering the ring. It is a means of
engaging and processing the thoughts of the character being served
and aims towards a broad empathy with them using their desire for
doughnuts. There is a deliberate attempt to not make the correct
answer too hard to reach with the aim instead being to utilises its
benefits without breaking up the light and breezy tone underpinning
the rest of the game.
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| It is very in love with hookah... |
Since VA-11 HALL-A is one of the founding
pillars of this hybrid it should come as no surprise to find it has
the simplest version of these systems. Mixing drinks from a selection
of synthetic bases is the name of the game and it has none of the
extra layers later games would add to the formula. Instead it is far
more free form in its implementation with it often asking for the
player to figure out drink recipes on their own based off what little
information the customer has provided. It demand the player pay
attention to their customers if they want a chance to succeed and in
so doing lend the visual novel sections a complimentary weight to
their narrative focus. What should be clear from all of these
examples is the way the Service mechanics exist in a position to
reinforce some part of the narrative structure, often the characters,
in a way which best matches the overall package. It provides a
Service centric lens for these games to focus themselves through and
prevent the possibility of them becoming a jumbled mess of overly
long conversations.
Dreams Of Community
So
far the interlocking systems of a Service Sim have only been framed
through their initial use to create individual intimacy with
customers, but another important aspect which subtly builds up in the
background of all this is a sense of community. In order to increase
the variety of social situations the characters can be placed into,
these game naturally start to include multiple customers in the same
scene and have them interact with the protagonist as a middle man
between them. Over time the regulars develop their own social circles
providing the establishment with a growing sense of community as
people coming together through chance encounters form lasting
connections. How much a title wants to lean into this element of its
identity depends on its overall tone and if it wants to lean into the
idea of being ‘cosy’. Choosing to capitalise on this trait means
forsaking some of the friction and negative parts of human
interaction in favour of bring out positive and mutually
affirming emotions. Neither approach is wrong, but it does
fundamentally alter the way in which the Service Sim engages with its
cast.
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| The more then merrier |
One game which pushes the its cafe as a centre of community is
Coffee Talk. Everything about the way it presents its characters
makes their connections come across as the main attraction. The cafe
has a row of chairs in front of the player where the customers will
sit and so immediately cementing the idea that there will be multiple
sharing the same space. In addition it allows the closeness or
distance between their seats to communicate their emotional closeness
or distance and they can move around to physically signal this
change. After their initial introduction the characters often spend
more time talking to each other and, coupled with the a more general
de-emphasising of the protagonist, makes them shine through their
colourful and positive interactions. Eventually the cafe becomes a
lively a bustling place where all the chairs are filled and it gives
the place itself an identity as this meeting spot for a new born
community. Another take on this style of Service Sim can be seen in
Kemono Teatime. Here the community comes from the familiarity the
customers demonstrate towards the two girls running the cafe and they
become the beating heart of this web of connections. This is
important for the overarching emotional beats of the game since they
all revolve around this central pair so it cannot afford to send too
much time on interactions between other characters. Shifting the
heart of the community away from the location itself and onto the
girls frames it through the lens of their efforts to welcome and tend
to customers rather than the chance encounters found in other titles.
Intimacy with the two protagonists ends up forming around this
constant exposure to them and shows the impact their bonds have on
the people who walk into the cafe.
Conclusion
The
Service Sim acts as a weird mix of fantasy and reality where a visual
novel narrative meets mechanical simplicity to create a consistently
compelling hybrid. Dialogue forms its backbone as the player
interacts with customers in a personal situation where they can get
to know the cast. Over time this grows into a sense of community when
the characters start interacting with each other and building their
own relationships. This is underpinned by the mechanics of serving
these customers and meeting their demands which rewards the player’s
investment in learning about them through a quantifiable manner. In
choosing to marry the visual novel to a simulation of the Service
industry, the result will always lean somewhat towards the slower
paced and more relaxed end of the experience spectrum given the
limited setting preventing anything grander from taking place.
Tournaments – Genre Deep Dive
Elimination Matches
Competitions
and Tournaments act as a sub-genre for a fairly limited group of
stories with it being inherently part of the sports genre and
particularly popular in all sorts of action shonen titles. It has an
enduring appeal which keeps it popping up time and time again and so
it should come as no surprise to find it in the visual novel space.
One of the biggest advantages it offers is the way it provides a
reason for the larger than life cast to clash with one another and
generate the narrative drama needed to keep the player invested. Due
to the heavily regulated nature of a Tournament, it can have clear
boundaries as well as heroes and villains without needing to bring in
the moral complexity of the real world. The match structure gives a
natural vehicle for pacing across the experience with its moments of
tension and calm conveniently building towards the climax. Let’s
step into the stadium and discover why this sub-genre remains a
staple in fiction.
Battle Of The Egos
The
mixture of smaller rounds between groups or individuals and the
larger scale rising stakes makes the perfect stage for the larger
than life characters found in visual novels to show themselves off. Finding a
place to properly showcase the colourful personalities who drive the
story can be a complex challenge and it is here the standardised
structure of a Tournament helps alleviate this tension by providing a
space where they can be believably forced to interact. This is
especially true for any competition involving combat where the
beliefs of the combatants clash as they exchange blows and their
hearts are put on full display for the player. Since there is no
actual danger to the contestant’s lives, both the victor and loser
gain valuable lessons about themselves so they can continue their
character development as opposed to the finality of conclusion in a
more serious situation where the stakes were higher. The Majikoi
series is defined by its absurd and over the top cast so it can make
use of the Tournament genre to parade them around which it does in
Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! S. Here the old members and the new
comers get a chance to demonstrate their identities and motives one
after another in an orderly fashion where they get their undisputed
moment in the sun. Beyond the battles themselves, the cast get a lot
of time to scheme and bounce off one another to sell their
contrasting egos and values. When it comes to character
development none stands out more than Momoyo since
the whole event and the involvement of Tsubame were all done with the
aim of getting her taste defeat and grow as a person. This major push
forwards for a main heroine acts as a capstone to the other smaller
arcs distributed among the rest of the cast over the competition’s
duration. It brings into focus the many entertaining battles which
occurred and how it has brought the cast together as a community.
 |
| Combat forms the backbone of most Tournaments |
When focusing on a Tournament between factions rather than
individuals the scope of the colourful interactions narrows to the
group the player is following. Yumina the Ethereal’s election war
is a prime example of this trend with it being firmly locked onto the
debate club and those they fight and not playing attention to what
other clubs are doing at the same time. In taking this approach the
game achieves several important aims chief among them being to allow
the characters a chance to endear themselves to the player in a
relatively low stakes environment before the big twist of the second
half throws them in the deep end. By having the focus being on how
their personalities clash with the current opponent, the scope of
interactions can be controlled in order to give a better showcase of
their thoughts and the outline of the arcs which will come to define
later on. Another aim which plays into this smaller scale is the way
its conveyor belt of opponents maintains steadily escalating
challenges and tensions for the narrative. When a new antagonist comes
to confront the debate club they are immediately a threat while also
making the competition as a whole easier to keep track of in a way a
Tournament which jumps between contestant could not achieve due its
sprawling nature.
Controlled Environment
Boundaries
and structure are what give the Tournament genre its distinct and
easily recognisable feel. Regardless of how outlandish the nature of
the competition, all of them adhere to the same basic form the player
has experienced or witnessed in their own lives. This ensures the
game will have at least this base level of grounding in reality it
can then springboard off in order to sell their own unique premises.
It is also a fundamentally ‘safe’ environment, in that the rules
generally protect the contestants from harm which makes the stakes
rely more on the emotional weight of the contestants success rather
than on an immediate sense of danger. These combine to create and
easy to understand and focused narrative space where a variety of
character arcs can be neatly lined up alongside the rising tide of
competitive drama. ‘Sports’ style Tournaments are the most common
structure found in this genre, these being individuals or small
groups fighting each other and the winner progresses to the next
stage. This frequency is primarily because they are simple to understand and
generate excitement when compared to the ‘Humanities’ style where the
entrants submit something and then are given a final standing on a
set date rather than having to directly contend with other people.
A
popular example of the Sports type is Aokana - Four Rhythms Across
the Blue and its Flying Circus which even referring to its
contents as athletes. The spectre of this big event cast a shadow
over the story and the lives of the characters even when it is not
actually taking place. Since the baseline expectations for what the
Flying Circus will entail is established early, the title can have
its individual events parsed through this rigid lens
in order to make each heroines engage in the event specific to them while adhering to the same overall outline. By being a ‘Sports’ type, the cast can be conveniently placed opposite other contestants who
can push them to develop or challenge their values without it coming
across as contrived. These opponents are established earlier in the
narrative and their interactions with the main cast are believable
since they are all heading towards the same destination but only one
of them can make it all the way. A desire to win defines much of the
cast with it pushing the ideas of how competition can lead to healthy or unhealthy growth and traits depending on the way a character
chooses handle their feelings.
 |
| Sci-fi Sports are such a strange beast |
‘Humanities’ type competitions are
an even stranger beast since most exist to enhance already established narrative tension. Sousaku Kanojo no Ren'ai Koushiki utilises them
multiple times across its story from writing competitions to
popularity polls. Each one is placed in the context of the
protagonist’s relationship with another character and the emotions
surrounding them. It provides a legitimate reason for the cast to
clash while not bringing in any negative associations given such
competitions are more of a chance to show off their skills rather
than undermine each other. The game makes sure to frame it in this
positive light as an opportunity for mutual growth and sorting out
their complicated feelings. Rather than lingering and building up the
drama like in a ‘Sports’ type, this is an affair which creates a
small bit of tension before rapidly disappearing when the story wants
to move on.
Build Up And Cool Down
Perhaps
the single most valuable part of the Tournament structure from a
developer’s view point is the natural peaks and troughs created due
to the round system it employs. When a new round starts the
participants are generally announced meaning the characters get to
know who they are up against and this begins the rising tide of
emotion. The two opposing groups then get more interactions and
emotionally clash over who is going to be the winner. Then the
climatic of the curve comes in the actual match and it outcome before
plummeting back down during the cool down following the victory. Some
form of this cycle appears in almost all titles with a Tournament of any kind unless they are engaging in subversion or only
want it for a short duration. The reason this structural outline is
so important lies in how it offers a quick and impactful skeleton on
which the developers can hang the meat of the narrative without
having to constantly worry about pacing the overall experience.
Obviously they still need to consider it on the smaller scale and
towards the finale where their own unique spin needs to be more
apparent in order for the player to not lose interest due to the
structure's repetitive nature.
Koiken Otome leans heavily into this
structure for large part of its playtime in order to fill the void
created due to a lack of external threats. Instead it puts the
emphasis on the cast’s pursuit of personal improvement and rivalry
with their peers. This lack of danger means the ups and downs of each
round serve as the main pacing mechanism while allowing an extremely
protagonist centric flow of events in order to ensure he gets enough
interactions with the heroines. One trait the game inherits from
others in the genre is the way attending a magic or superpowered
school always leads to some kind of battle Tournament so as to frame
this activity as a legitimate competition rather than training child
soldiers. The lack of danger hold an important position here since if
there was a chance of real harm then it would bring up moral issues
such titles are not equipped to address.
 |
| Every section ends with a master + servant battle |
Not all games using this
structure are so devoid of threats and Fate/EXTRA demonstrates how
the spectre of death can elevate this outline. The holy grail war on
the moon uses the round based style where two masters are put up
against each other and the survivor gets to advance to the next
stage. Having this mixture of large scale competition and single
adversary focus gives the room to create a sense of escalating danger
as the contestant numbers dwindle and allow the player to get to know
each master on a personal level. It also lulls the player into a
false sense they know what is coming only for the game to
increasingly subvert it as the quality of the opponents ramps up.
Since each master is both a danger to the player and someone they
sympathise with, the structure gives an inevitability of each final
battle and helps it hold both the cathartic release from death and a
sadness at the loss of the person they have grown to care about.
Conclusion
When
pitting two people against one another their beliefs and motives can
be more clearly viewed through their actions and it is this which the
Tournaments genre in visual novels capitalises on. It provides a
stage on which the colourful cast can act out their play while
allowing both sides to experience growth and continue their journeys
after the match. The structural outline of a Tournament gives the
story a perfect framework to naturally curate its narrative pacing so
can focus on its own unique twists. Competitions of all kinds offer a
sense of familiarity to what might otherwise be an outlandish setting
and helps being the wild conflicts onto an understandable level for
the player to empathise with. As a sub-genre it combines flexibility
with rigidity to form a diverse space for storytelling so it is no
wonder it is popular with both players and developers.
Schrödinger's Call Review – Is The Line Alive Or Dead?
Genre – Mystery, Drama Play Time – 10 hours Developer – Acrobatic Chirimenjako Steam VNDB
Hotline To The Dead
As
a method of commination, a phone call walks a strange line between
the awkwardness with its audio lacking the important
non-verbal cues of human interactions and the deeply personal
connection of having someone speak directly into your ears. This
unique experience lies at the core of Schrödinger's Call’s
narrative presentation which leans heavily into this space of
intimacy and misunderstanding to craft its dramatic and emotional
highs. The game follows Mary as she works as the last confidant for
recently deceased spirits where she takes their calls and tries to
help them make peace with their lives. All of these people do not entirely remember the trauma which keeps them here so a strong
investigative element runs through the title as the player must
deduce the truth and help Mary solve their cases. Each of the cast
Mary talks to over the phone bring their own quirky personality and
unique animal form to the table in order to make them easy to keep
track of and a joy to talk with. This sense of striking identity
extends to the visuals which use of a predominately black and white
sketched aesthetic backed up by sudden bold use of singular colours
to allow a moment or person to stand out. However, this is a game
plagued with odd game design such as an overuse of repetition and an
abundance of choices which merely loop the player around and waste
their time. Are these development decisions enough to undermine this
deeply personal tale of lies, loss and love? Let’s pick up the
phone and find out.
A Cat In The Box – Narrative And Themes
From
the moment Mary first picks up the phone there is a permanent through
line of personal mysteries about each caller as well as about Mary
herself. Having every person not completely remember their life
creates enough space for speculation about what trauma holds them here
and gives the player something to slowly pick apart over the course
of the game. Each chapter is made up of one main caller which Mary
has to help pass on and a selection of secondary callers who all knew
the main caller in life or they are somehow linked to them. This
interweaving web of relationships helps prevent the calls from
becoming repetitive since the player will be bouncing around between
these vastly different and colourful characters. Putting all the clues about their past together at the finale
of a chapter and freeing them is an incredibly satisfying experience
with a good catharsis and emotional climax to it.
 |
| The game begins and ends with this phone |
Similarly Mary’s
own past is slowly teased over her various encounters with the
callers and provides a nice plot thread to link the entire title. The
picture of Mary becomes more muddy over time as the fault lines in
her personality reveal themselves and overturn any initial
impressions of her character. So when the big reveals do come they
are still shocking but make complete sense when looking back at the
subtle hints left over the entire play time. Once all the callers
have had their turn and the spotlight turns to Mary, the game does
not pulls its punches and crafts a compelling final act where her
suffering get put on full display for the player to engage with first
hand. It is an impactful way to end the game and will sit in the
player’s mind as the credits roll and they put down the phone for
the last time. On a broader point, Schrödinger's Call makes a lot of
narrative use out of its use of the phone as the main means of
communication. There is a great deal of attention played to the
misunderstandings and nuances which occur only over the phone and
even make one of these a core plot line to great dramatic effect. The
phone also serves the role of being a symbol of connection, or the
seeking thereof, and how such relationships can be
fraught with problems and cut off when we least expect it. Yet it is
precisely these connection through the calls Mary makes which
ultimately save not only those callers but also Mary herself when she
comes to understand the value of those bonds. All of this is cleverly
conveyed through the ups and downs of the narrative and its gentle
warmth can be felt when it is most needed.
If
there is one thing Schrödinger's Call seems to have an obsession
with it is repetition. The game constantly repeats itself even when
the events or information it is repeating have only just happened
mere moments ago. By far the biggest offenders are Mary’s write ups
after each call where the player is taken through the call they just
experienced. Nothing in the game is complicated enough to justify
this kind of aggressive hand holding since all of the main points of
a call are highlighted during the call so the player cannot possibly
miss them. It is as if the game does not trust the player’s memory
and its own ability to hold their attention. At least a quarter of
the play time is dedicated to such repetition making it a constant
and invasive force many will find difficult to ignore. Had these
recaps only occurred once every so often then they might have served
a useful purpose to refresh the memory, but instead they are the
largest stain on the overall experience.
 |
| Gasp! Just like the famous thought experiment! |
A separate and less
noticeable problem can be seen in the way the game hand waves away
certain elements which seem like they should be important but end up
slipping to the sides in favour of the emotional finale. The moon
crashing to earth is perhaps the biggest of these and you would think it would be a big and constant presence but instead it has a
surprisingly minor presence and often forgotten. This is to the point
at which the game itself seems confused at times as to whether the
moon falling really happened or not with it bouncing around on its
position on the truth during the ending. Another weirdly discarded
feature pops up when looking at the cat, Hamlet, who acts as Mary’s
companion throughout most of the story. Despite this prominence and
the mystery surrounding him, he is somewhat discarded towards the end
and there is never any real resolution to who or what he is and where
he goes or what his purpose might be. Neither of these concepts matter
much to the emotional weight of the final act so it is understandable
they go pushed aside, but some proper clarification would have been
nice to neatly wrap everything up.
The Animal Kingdom – Characters
Being
glued to the phone naturally leads to a conversation heavy style of
narrative so it is important for the characters to be interesting to
converse with and on this point Schrödinger's Call is impeccable.
Each of the main callers has their own distinct relationship with
Mary and bounce off her in entertaining new ways in order to keep
them feeling fresh. From Lucy, the guilt ridden mother, to Violet,
the gentle and confidant rich girl, they all present themselves
through their memorable mannerisms then, as the player comes to know more
about them, their flaws and imperfections give them a delicate
humanity. Their associated secondary callers have intertwining views and lives despite the fact they never talk to one another
during the game and rely on Mary to be a go between which helps
further push the importance of her centralising role. As they all
slowly remember their shared history, the powerful emotions this
brings out constitute much of the titles ups and downs for them to
push through and this journey is what makes them so memorable. The
chapter structure also ensures they never outstay their welcome with
their resolutions coming at just the right time when they have said
all they need to and the player is ready to move on.
 |
| Choosing to have each caller be a different animal person was a smart choice |
Every caller
somehow has an emotional similarity to Mary and it is by interacting
with them that a more complete picture of how she thinks becomes
clear. This is an excellent method of making every character
important since they each hold a piece of the puzzle about Mary and
her lost memories. It also helps reinforce the idea of Mary as an
empathetic person who is suitable to be the last confidant while
setting this trait up be questioned and its fragility to be brought
to the front. Mary’s broader characterisation is wonderfully put
together from her ability to act as a problem solver for the callers
to her eventual confrontation with her own past. Throughout she
remains a central pillar of the player’s interest and the texture
of her personality is teased out slowly to keep them on the edge of
their seat. Investing emotional in Mary is easy which is extremely
important when the final sections of the game rely so heavily on the
player’s connection with her.
Hold The Phone – Visuals, Audio And Technical
When
loading up the game for the first time its visual language
immediately marks it out from its peers with its use of darker
colours and strong lines. The majority of time black and white will
be presented to the player as they act as the baseline for this space
between life and death. It speaks to the delicate balance maintain
here and Mary’s role in pushing people out of the intermediary
place. This pairing of contrasting lines and white voids makes the flat
and dark colours which each of the callers brings to the table stand
out against Mary’s own bland room. Each lacks the lustre they may have once had
to mirror the poor state the callers find themselves in yet the
colours still hold a weight to them and subtly communicates the
emotions and personality they had in their prime. The soundtrack is
similarly dulled with a heavy use of deep and resounding sounds even
in pieces aiming towards a lighter tone for their associated
character. It does a good job of capturing the mood of each caller to
the point of the player being able to recognise which person is
calling from their track alone. Furthering the auditory identity of
the cast are their series of distorted voice snippets which all carry
the fuzziness of a phone line and their own unique cadences.
These elements combine to create an audio-visual landscape which help
elevate Schrödinger's Call and make it easier to overlook its
issues.
 |
| Clean, informative and filled with personality |
On
the mechanics side of the equation things are a bit more uneven in
terms of quality. Having the player input the phone number of the
person they want to call by rotating the dial gives the phone a
wonderful sense of tactility. It helps centralise the phone as a
device of connection through this physicality with the phone also
needing to be manually picked up to answering incoming calls just to
keep it in the player’s mind. In a similar vein, the notebook has the player flipping between its writing covered pages to find the
clues needed to answer the mysteries and set the caller free. Later
on it becomes an important narrative point when starts to become the
playground for Mary’s increasingly decaying mental state. Despite
the game forcing the player to spend too much time looking due to the
constant recapping of events, it remains an endearing feature due to
its role in the story and Mary’s illustrative drawings.
Unfortunately things get worse when looking at one of the biggest
points of player interaction, choices. The offender here is the way
choices are looking for only one response and looping the player back
around to the start of the text if they choose incorrectly. This is
understandable in the quiz sections where the whole point is for
there to be a right and wrong answer, less so when they are used for
the general conversation choices without any kind of clear correct
option. The second group form the majority of the choices in the game
and so the player regularly finds themselves being looped around
since they have no context to know what the game wants from them with
such a small amount of information. What makes this worse is the way
the choices initially create this idea of non-linearity which
encourages the player to explore the narrative space only for them to
be slapped across the face for attempting to do so.
Conclusion
Finding
connections with others can be a difficult and delicate yet rewarding
endeavour and it is this core message which Schrödinger's Call
wonderfully captures with every call. The mystery of each caller’s
life and regrets makes for a compelling series of interactions which
build towards the greater finale around Mary. Each character has a
vibrant life to them which allows their calls to be constantly
engaging while slow picking away at the tragedy they hold in their
hearts. A strong audio-visual style supports this growing narrative
and uses colour to create contrast and dulled beauty in order to sell
every revelation. The phone and the notebook mechanics add a tactile
feeling to the small space Mary inhabits and lends these solitary
points of connection a weight they would not otherwise possess.
Issues of execution do exist throughout the experience from
repetitive hand holding to vague plot points to frustrating choices,
but none of these are enough to break the brilliant vision of the
work yet they do add some distracting cracks.
Verdict –
Deftly dials up an imaginative story of the fragility and value found in human connections told through the distorted audio of a rotary phone.
Yet it never quite reaches its full potential due to some poor design
decisions related to repetition and time wasting choices.
Pros-
+
Each caller is their own mystery where picking away at their past
slowly unveils the tragedy keeping them from passing on.
+
Makes the most out of the phone with a series of plot twists and
misunderstandings perfect for the nebulous connection it provides.
+
The cast has a good variety to it and they rub up against Mary in
their own unique ways.
+
Mary is an excellent protagonist who starts out as a seemly well
adjusted girl and over the course of the game the player gets to see
her gradual collapse.
+
Well crafted visual and auditory identity weaved in amongst the
tactile mechanics of the phone and notebook.
Cons -
-
Repetition plagues the game with it constantly going over events
which have just happened as if it is afraid the player might miss
something.
-
Frustrating abundance of choices which loop the player around them if
they choose the wrong option and wasting their time.
-
Some plot points end up discarded and unclearly resolved.
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