Showing posts with label Genre Deep Dive. Show all posts
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
Coming Of Age – Genre Deep Dive
On The Edge
Transitioning
to adulthood and leaving the days of childhood behind is a common
thematic trope throughout history so it should come as no surprise
for visual novels to make use of it. Coming of Age rarely holds the
sole focus of the narrative and instead exists as a genre only
visible once the characters' arcs have been completed and they gain
their maturity. Playing directly into drama of entering the adult
world and assuming the responsibility which comes with age is the
simplest form of the genre given it places it directly in the
player’s face to make the theming clear. Since maturity can be
subtle in nature there are games which choose not to tie it to age
and rather present it as something gain through personal conflict
beyond the process of growing up. Not all presentations of the Coming
of Age are entirely positive with many dwelling on what has been lost in the face of the inevitable march of time.
Let’s put on our big boy shoes and find out how a genre can extract
drama from the act of getting older.
Stairway To Adulthood
There
is an inherent layer of conflict built into ageing as the march of
time changes people and forces them into uncomfortable new
situations. Periods of transition bring these feelings to the
forefront and few are more dramatic then stepping into adulthood.
Gone are the protections of childhood and the characters are thrust into a
world of responsibility which they must contend with. This is by far
the most direct type of the Coming Of Age story since it is a literal
coming of age rather than a purely emotional one. Since it is so
immediate in its presentation these visual novels tend to deal with
the realities of adulthood such as jobs and having children. They
push the idea of responsibility in a series of smaller scale changes
to a character’s life before leading them into the life shattering
conflicts required for an exciting finale. Titles looking for a slow
build up while pushing a continuous Coming Of Age theming tend to
pick this style for exactly these reasons since it gives incremental
emotional moments to keep the player engaged in the lead up to the
pay off while also appearing to be a natural extension of its ideas.
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| YU-NO's cast are often defined by their immaturity |
One of the most prominent examples of this jump to adulthood is
Clannad, in particular the After Story section. Tomoya has to deal
with the responsibilities of being an adult as they are thrown at him
one after another from getting a job, marriage and preparing for a
child. Many of these end up being minor hiccups used for comedy but when combined they create a sense of Tomoya’s growing maturity
through him overcoming them. They lay the foundation for the bigger
hurdles of his journey into adulthood in the form of dealing with a
child. Forming a connection with his child presents the greatest
challenge for him given all the personal and emotional baggage
surrounding his own life and only by finally coming to terms with it
can he be a good father. This acts as the climax solidifying the
final stage of his Coming Of Age where he can cope with the
responsibilities and maturity appropriate for his age. Not all uses
of this style need present day or real world connections to be
impactful since maturity is an internal quality. YU-NO presents this
approach in its later section where Takuya is whisked out of our
world and ends up being trapped there leading to him having to
quickly learn to be an adult. Since this is a loosely fantasy world,
adulthood means a maturity and responsibility to those around him
rather than the specific expectations for the modern world, hence why
he does not get a job but instead involves himself in activities related
to his survival. Interestingly just like Clannad the final stage of
this journey into maturity is connected to a child but this time it
is the pursuit and reconnection with the child after they are
kidnapped. The idea of successful raising a child is a common
narrative beat to end the arc on since it is seen as the most taxing
aspect of being an adult.
Maturity In The Face Of Change
Not
all Coming Of Age stories need to be focused around a transition to
adulthood and they are more often based around a looser idea of
personal maturity. This makes for a malleable source of drama and
development suitable for appearing alongside other styles of
narrative without distracting too much from them. It can take the
conflict at the centre of story and have the cast mature in the face
of this challenge and can co exist with each specific character arc
to create a complete sense of transition out of childish traits into ones
demonstrating growth. These tend to be focused around negative
internal elements like trauma which haunt the character and need to
be resolved so they can move on with their lives. What is important
to emphasise here is the idea of the growth as maturity must be
pushed by the game, either explicitly through text or implicitly
through the character’s place in the world, just overcoming the
negative aspect is not enough in of itself to be considered Coming Of
Age. However, it is exactly this slight overlap with other genres
which allow it to be so freely used within a complimentary context to
those same genres. Little Busters encapsulates this approach to
Coming Of Age drama as it entangles this journey to maturity with a
variety of different narrative threads. For the majority of the game
it stays in the background of the thematic mixture so the romance and
supernatural threads can be the focus yet still contextualises those
as steps towards a growth in overcoming trauma. This continuity
of its underlying presentation makes the shift into it being the core
message during the finale a natural one where the revelations about
reality and its sadness are contrasted against the cast’s known
ability to grow beyond it. So as they move into a maturity they
previously lacked there is a strong sense of catharsis where the
title’s conclusion becomes a final release for a quiet build up and
it is a powerful emotional moment to end on.
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| His age should not be the reason he accepts... |
The Melancholy Of Growing Up
Growing
up is not all sunshine and rainbows, some aspects of childhood and
innocence are forever lost in the transition and, no matter how much
the person might want to recapture them, they can never truly be
restored in quite the same way. For visual novels this manifests in a
sense of melancholy at this transition into maturity where the lost
is dwelled upon for dramatic effect and the cast wrestle with its
passing. How these emotions all play out varies wildly from game to
game since melancholy is an extremely vague feeling being anything
from the partner for depression to a loose acceptance of change. Its
shifting nature makes it unsuitable to be the main thematic push so
it often ends up forming the underlying tone present through each
step along the Coming Of Age journey. Despite this position in the
narrative structure, its use is limited by the emotional state it
invokes not always being compatible with the kind of stories told
alongside this genre due to the more positive spin on growing up they
aim towards. While melancholy might not be immediately negative,
there is a connection with dwelling in the past and loss which forces an
introspection on maturity and demands a slower pace for it to have
its desired impact. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien demonstrates this use of
Coming Of Age drama through the way it ties into the romantic
progression. It focuses on the characters’ loss of innocence due to
the gaining of responsibilities both to themselves and to the one
they love. There is juxtaposition between the childishness of their
love triangle and the realities of relationships where it plays out the drama to its extremes through this transition and its consequences.
The game continuously rubs in this melancholy into the wound to fully
immerse the player in the vat of emotions it has concocted so it can
make the catharsis of their resolution all the more powerful.
Transitioning out of these darker feelings is key to their success
since they are never entirely escaped, but merely something to be
pushed beyond as the characters move into maturity.
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| One birthday closer to the inevitable march of adulthood |
Conclusion
Utilising
the genre of Coming Of Age can be a surprisingly flexible process
which reflect the vastly different experiences people face in their
journey into maturity. The transition into adulthood due to age is
the most common way to use this idea since it is an easy to
understand experience the player can be expected to be familiar with.
Growing up may not be a universally positive process for the cast so a
title may choose to focus on the melancholy from a loss of innocence
and freedom as a means of creating an emotional tone. Maturity is not
necessarily a quality inherent to a certain age which means titles can frame their narratives within the context of personal
maturity in order for a more flexible application. Tying all of these
versions of the Coming Of Age genre together is the idea of
transition and growth so its appeal to developers as a means of
expressing a character arc is the foundations of its use in visual
novels.
Otome – Genre Deep Dive
A Feminine Touch
As
the inversion of the male centric structures typical of many visual
novels, it may be tempting to dismiss the beautiful woman surrounded
by handsome men as being more of the same just with the roles
swapped. However, this change in gender focus results in a
fundamental shift in design philosophy in order to appeal to a
noticeable different demographic. The larger male cast in the form of
the suitors is reflected in the way they clash and interact with each
other and their more aggressive pursuit of the heroine’s
affections. Emotional intelligence defines the Otome heroine, they
mix personal vulnerability with strength in their romance and
complete the suitor in a way which places the pair on equal footing.
Otome’s freedom from the typical trappings of the male centric
romances allow for a broader spread of settings, themes and tones
without losing sight of the attractions of the romance fantasy. Yet
it still adheres to much of the overarching expectations of visual
novels such as choices, routes and even its use of erotic content.
Let’s flee from the parade of adoring men and find out how the
genre’s core features promote such a distinct identity.
Pursued By Suitors
Just
like the heroines of male centric visual novels, the suitors are the
main selling points of Otome and form the backbone of the conflicts
and narrative direction. They differentiate themselves from their
female equivalents through how their masculinity is played up to achieve
a unique suite of personalities. Suitors tend to be more aggressive
and possessive in their romantic pursuit of the heroine and they are
often the ones to initiate the first push even if the heroine ends up
being the person who makes their relationship a reality. Amnesia: Memories
loves its its overly possessive men with almost all of the suitors
demonstrating these tenancies at some point or another. By far the
most extreme example of this is Touma who locks the protagonist up in
a cage in what he claims is an act for her own safety and, while the
game does treat it an overprotective action, it is never painted as
negative. Instead he is just letting the possessive aspect of his
love taking over and the protagonist has to work to bring him back to
reality so they can be together. This allows the
protagonist an agency over the narrative through being the one
who ultimately resolves the conflict with a taming of the beast
style of romantic fantasy.
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| Not exactly a great first impression |
Undertones of violence are a common among
Otome suitors were the man is just a powder keg waiting for a spark
to ignite. Mixing in this trait gives a sense of danger to what might
otherwise be fairly vanilla romances and expanding on how conflict
can be handled within the narrative. The suitors of BUSTAFELLOWS are
all have a certain degree of this undertone due to their connections
to the criminal underworld. On a moment to moment level this works as
a way to keep the player on their toes since the treats facing the
heroine could be inside the group and well as external to it. Even
when it becomes clear the suitors are not an immediate danger the
tension still remains for the men with more direct connections to
violence such as Shu Lyn O'Keefe. The narrative value then
transforms into a process of overcoming the barrier this presents
between heroine and suitor and fleshing out their character arcs as
the motives of the suitor are revealed. It is worth noting at this
point the connection between these traits, attractiveness and erotic
appeal within the genre’s audience. While Otome eroge rarely get
localised they do in fact exist and display the same aspects of
masculinity just filtered through the characters’ sexuality. Let’s
look at one of the few translated examples in Fashioning Little Miss
Lonesome. It is different in tone from the previous titles covered as
a comedy romance and so lacks the direct undertones of violence
present it those games. Yet when it comes to possessiveness and
aggressiveness the suitors are more than happy to oblige as they
pursue the heroine and coerce her into going along with their plans.
This plays into the comedy and erotic nature of the game through its
sheer absurdity and the way it leans into these as attractive
elements to create an appealing and safe fantasy for the player to
enjoy.
The Not So Distress Damsel
Otome
heroines make for an interesting contrast when compared to their male
equivalents given how vulnerability has a prominent role in their
characterisation and development. This is not the same as being weak
where they are a damsel in distress to be protected by the suitor,
even if that style of narrative does exist within Otome. Rather it is
a characteristic of their emotional intelligence where they are able to be open with their own feelings in a way male character is simply
not able to be. This is especially important in the way it relates to
the suitors since they need her to help them sort out their own
chaotic emotions and reach the happiness they desire. Through this
the heroine attains a critical non violent role within the story’s
progression to ensure they are always relevant and pushing the plot
forwards. The heroine of Hakuouki, Yukimura Chizuru, is a good
example of this idea as while she does have some martial skill and
supernatural blood in her veins, her identity in relation to the
suitors in not defined by these traits for they instead come to rely on her
to be their emotional crutch. As the suitors place in the world is
taken away from them over the course of the narrative, Yukimura
remains the only constant in their lives and she has to grapple with
their increasingly decaying mental state in an effort to save them
from this downward spiral. Her ability to successfully navigate this
process works well as a core pillar of the game since its heightened
feelings naturally lead to big outburst and powerfully empathetic
moments from both sides of the relationship.
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| A promise can mean a lot |
A variation of this can
be seen with Steam Prison’s heroine, Cyrus Tistella, who early on
in the story is placed into a dangerous situation which she spends the
rest of the game dealing with and manages to do so in no small part
due to her emotional intelligence. It is through her ability to see beyond the fronts of the suitors she is able to pull herself up after her
fall from grace since she is able to pull out the good in them even
when it appears there might not be any. What is important here is the
way this sensitivity to emotion serves her better than her notable
physical prowess, in part due to her diminished position, but mainly
due to the way it aligns the game’s themes unity and seeing beyond
discrimination. Another approach to this emotional sensitivity is
contrasting it with the violence which the heroine and those around them
engage in. Ueno Enju from Nightshade presents this conflict between
the two sides of the heroine, the emotions she feels for those around
her and the shinobi heritage which she takes pride in yet is a path steeped in violence and ruin. The outcome of the story is based on which side
she chooses and so is how the suitors react to her which makes for an
engaging friction amongst the group.
Conflict Across The Spectrum
One
of the noticeable features of Otome is a willingness to leave the
confines of the typical school setting and try its hand at stories
in a fantastical or adult environment. Schools do still have a major
presence in the genre but not quite the strangle hold it has over
male orientated titles. The kinds of female appealing narratives offer
a greater degree of freedom in the way they can be presented to the
player as demonstrated in the previous sections. Underpinning this
flexibility is the aforementioned elements of danger from the suitors
masculinity which naturally lends itself to being mixed in with other
sources of more mature threats and mysteries. Many of these settings
have the characters as adults within a working environment like the
police in Collar x Malice. For its protagonist, Hoshino Ichika, her
work provides a reason for her to become involved with the suitors
and place herself in danger while doubling up as an avenue to express
the game’s themes. Given the already contrived nature of the
title’s set up, it would have had to tie itself in even more knots
to get a school setting to make sense on top of it not meshing with
the tone it wants to establish. The work environment and professional
experience of the cast also lend the narrative a baseline level of
maturity within the player’s mind before they even open their mouths
and further reinforce this direction. Otomes entirely detached from
the real world are also freed from the school mandate if they set the
appropriate expectations, such as with Psychedelica of the Ashen
Hawk. Under a blanket of thick snow and medieval trappings the game
keeps any thoughts of school out of the player’s head by rapidly
defining the limits of its narrative space and confining them within
its walls. Despite the relatively young age of the protagonist, the
focus on the concealing their gender and the danger they become
involved in make sure the forwards pressure becomes a core aspect of
the title’s identity. Such a story relies on the completeness and
alien nature of its setting to immerse the player and so the freedom
from setting expectations allows it commit to the absence of familiar
elements from our own world.
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| Colours and place create a powerful sense of place |
Conclusion
No
genre is quite the same as Otome with its particular vision of
romance, drama and characters, even its male equivalents tend towards
stories of very different kinds. Part of this uniqueness stems from
the suitors and the way they lean into their possessive and pursuit
of the heroine to create a cast of proactive and dynamic individuals.
It is also a genre not bound to the school setting to the same level
as its peers so offers a flexible package for a greater variety of
stories to be told within it. The way the heroines of Otome get to
present their strength and vulnerability through their emotional
intelligence results in more charged narratives where the suitor needs the heroine as much as she needs him. Overall the effect which the gender of audience has on how visual novels can present love and
relationships is interesting to witness and shows what can be
achieved within the medium.
Detective Fiction – Genre Deep Dive
On The Case
From
Sherlock Holmes to Columbo, Detective Fiction has a vice like grip on
the popular consciousness so it is no surprise to find visual novels
making use of such stories. The way visual novels play into the
strengths of video games and written mediums results in a unique
blend of roleplay while still having the strong personalities key to
a good detective. When the focus is around the detective within an
officially sanctioned organisation like the police the story tends to come with
more authority for the characters and the struggles at having to
navigate red tape. Stepping into the private sector and the detective
gains a more scrappy mentality where they have to work to unearth
clues in a less direct fashion compared to their official
counterparts. Then there are characters put into the role of
detective out of no choice of their own and this lack of experience
alongside them often being directly connected to mystery they are
solving gives them a wider emotional and narrative range at the cost
of much of the detective fantasy. Let’s put on our deerstalkers and
deduce how these traits of the genre influence its presentation and
what stories it tells.
Official Police Business
Working
in an officially recognised organisation like the police or some form
of special unit gives the detective a greater degree of authority to
wield while also demanding they be accountable to regulations.
Narratively this often manifests as some elements of the police
procedural style where the characters have access to a wide range of
other professionals in various field who can provide information they
would not otherwise be able to know. Another common feature is a
fixation on the crime scene from an analytical perspective where the
detective picks over every detail of the area beyond what is
necessary to solve the case in order to sell the idea of just how
capable they are and many resources they have at their disposal. In order to
create a sense of the authority available to the detective they are
able to get access to restricted locations and make people they are
interviewing feel as if they have to talk which both feed into this
idea of the borrowed power they are wielding. Red tape is a part of
any large organisation and at some point the detective is going to
have to be shown engaging with it. The exact extent of the paper
pushing and regulation which appears depends on the extent it leans
into being a fantasy with the grounded tales tending to have more
mundane work and the action focused ones being less interested in
breaking the story’s flow to accommodate it.
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| Got to get all the details of the crime |
This divide between
the kinds of police detective fiction defines much of this side of
the genre in visual novels so let us look a pair of games which
exemplify each end of the spectrum. AI: Somnium Files is not a
realistic depiction of police detective work in any way with the
futuristic sci-fi tech and the special branch dedicated to use it. There
is a strong through line of drama where the Detective Fiction is a means of
presenting a complex narrative rather than an attempt to engage with
the realities of solving crime. Date Kaname never has to sit down and
do paper work and spends as much time goofing off as he does working
to the point you could be forgiven for forgetting he is in-fact in a
position of authority. Yet he does have to work within the bounds of
the police’s structure such as not being able to arrest or hold
people without evidence and this is used as a
dramatic device to build tension and tie his hands. It also acts as a
means of easily presenting him in a heroic light as he struggles to
do what is right while also balancing his role as a representative of
a group far bigger than him. Crime scene investigations is a core
aspect of AI: Somnium Files identity and over the course of the game
the player will investigate them in great detail as they try to piece
together the mystery. Here is where the appeal of the detective
fantasy is at its strongest in AI where the fragmentary clues
tantalisingly place the truth within reach, but only the detective
has ability to reach that conclusion. On the other hand CollarXMalice
is much more interested in the day to day operations of the police
despite it also have an outlandish premise. The protagonist spends a
lot of the common route performing the routine actions required of
the police from filling out paperwork to taking calls to patrolling
the streets. Through these actions the game’s world is
contextualised within a sense of normality the police are trying to
maintain despite the circumstances around them. Returning to this
normal is a key motivator for the protagonist and their mundane
actions showcase her vision of such a life which remains potent as
the antagonists attempt to take it away from her. Since she is not a
detective by position but instead circumstance, this causes the
mystery solving element of the detective to move away from the crime
scene itself and into the way each crime paints a picture of what the
antagonists are after as she works towards the truth about each
one. Being part of the police does give her access to specialists, in
a more grounded way than AI’s sci-fi magic, with the most notable
of these being Shiraishi Kageyuki of the crime lab who regularly
gives her useful information his department has gained. Everything
aims to sell the police in this setting as a believable version of
their real world equivalents and sell the lumbering nature of this
organisation which the detective belongs to.
Private Eye
A
private sector detective is free from the constraints and
responsibilities of the police but in exchange do not have access to the
professionals or the ability to pressure people for information
through their authority. This leads a lot of such detectives to be
characterised as scrappy underdogs who have to use their intelligence
and creativity to the evidence they need to solve the crime. It
pushes the super smart end of the detective fantasy where they are
utilising their cunning to pry truths out of people which they would
otherwise never speak. Having some connection to the
police is a relatively common means to get the detective the
knowledge he need, either because they were once part of the police
or through a friend on the force, yet there is careful balance here
since it could easily undercut the scrappy element of the fantasy and
so the source of the information often only reveals a limited amount
since they are bound by confidentiality. Interactions with the
criminal underworld or shady information brokers is another angle
this style of detective can bring as they tread the line between the
light and dark sides of the world in pursuit of the truth. This plays
into the more morally grey tendencies of a detective working for an
inherently selfish motive in money where their compass might lead
them to do things the player may not agree with.
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| Finding all those tiny clues |
As a genre this type
of detective is deal with in one of two ways, either it is treated
with the utmost seriousness and leans into the darker side of human
nature or it goes the opposite way and makes the lack of restrictions
of their activities the source of a light adventure with a free-form
structure. The Kara No Shoujo series is sits decidedly on the side of
the former with its horrific murders and generally dark tone.
Tokisaka Reiji is not initially hired to solve a murder but rather to
go undercover as a history teacher to investigate a series of
disappearances at the behest of the vice principle. This is an
important part of the narrative set up as it establishes the for hire
nature of the detective and as he pokes around to try and solve the
disappearances the player gets to see the cunning way he uses the
minimal resources he has at his disposal. His lack of detachment from
the people he interacts with and his willingness to get personally
involved in their lives marks him as a less professional and more
human version of the detective. Given the small cast of characters
this focus on them allows the game to place the horror of the murders
on a personal level where the player will witness the effects it has
on a wide spread of the cast. It also highlights how compromised the
detective is when he acts in accordance with his emotions rather than
the logic more befitting his status and this makes his struggles and
successes feel personal to him. A lighter take on the private
detective can be seen in Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands
Behind where the protagonist assumes the role after being taken in by
a more experienced detective. The young age of the protagonist allows
them to fit into the school setting where they are tasked with
investigating the disappearance of a young girl and it makes his
naivety and inexperience blend into a coming of age story which
steers clear of anything too dark for its broader target audience.
Witnessing the growth of a detective on the job is a part of the
genre this game plays heavily into as the player gets to witness the
protagonist grow and find the skills he needs to solve the mystery
and discover the spark of genius which defines him as a detective.
Following this growth is one of the main ways the narrative gets the
player invested in seeing the story to its end and gives another
emotional avenue to the mystery beyond the desire to see it solved.
It also leads to a story about building a future and is hopeful for
the people involved in contrast to the spiral downwards which defines
Kara No Shoujo.
Amateur Hour
The
final type of detective fiction is one where the detective is an
unwitting everyman who lacks any spark of deductive genius. They are
drawn into investigating the mystery when circumstances compel them
rather than as part of their profession. By the end of the story they may have picked up
the skills of the detective but they do not start out with any of
them and struggle against what is asked of them and even at the end
their abilities are something they want to never have to use again.
These detectives possess likeable and familiar traits of people the
player might meet in their day to day life giving them by far the
most grounded starting point for the genre and it tries to keep them
within this core identity so they never lose their connection to the
world they came from. Due to their origins they have no way of
accessing the information necessary to solve the mystery like other
styles of detective and instead the game adopts a contrivance, such a
some form of magic or a contained environment, in order to provide
the clues and resources need to solve the mystery. This need for a
strong justification for the detective’s engagement and ability to
solve the mystery does lead to this end of the genre tending to be
far more wacky in premise with it stretching the limits of the genre.
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| Naegi is an extremely over the top version of the everyman |
Danganronpa is perhaps the poster-child of how distinctive this side
of the detective genre can be in visual novels. Its detectives are
always confused participants in the death game which demands they
solve various murders with the minimal skills at their disposal.
Their deer in the headlights reactions to what is happening around
them firmly places them as an everyman who has to stand up to the
task in order to survive no matter how unsuitable they might be for
the job. Focusing on confining the cast inside a limited location to
incite the death game also serves the double purpose of ensuring the
clues the detective needs can be found despite their limited skills. Meanwhile their captor, Monokuma, serve as the specialist who can provide
the detective with information they could otherwise not know even if
they might present it in a misleading fashion. While not as comically
over the top as Danganronpa, Umineko’s use of magic in its setting
gives it a legitimate reason to be able to supply Battler with all
the details of the case from his vantage point outside of time and
space. Battler himself is the definition of an unwilling detective
when he is thrust into the role when people start being killed around
him and he raw reactions to events and way he struggles to adapt make
him start out being an everyman. Eventually he does take to his new
role as detective which is in the game’s best interest given how
much it plays of the idea of the detective and the cliché’s of Detective Fiction, but even then it is careful to keep his motives of
saving his family and friends front and centre to utilise this
contrast between actions and motive to fuel his character growth. He
is not the only detective on the case with Beatrice acting as a
detective who seeks to prove magic as the cause of the mystery as
opposed to Battler’s realistic perpetrators. The pair’s vastly
different views on events are a core part of Umineko’s appeal since
it understand the qualities of a good detective and has each of them
take on a form of this fiction to better comment and engage with its
troupes and conventions.
Conclusion
Detective
Fiction comes in all shapes and sizes within visual novels as they
try to adapt its malleable genre mysteries and strong personalities
to the stories they want to tell. Police detective narratives stress
the structures the detective is working within both in terms of the
authority it gives them and its restrictions to sell the power and
struggles it brings. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the
everyman detective is dragged into the mystery against their will and
has few resources to aid them in order to make the success of solving
the case all the sweeter. Between them is the private detective who’s
connections to the police and the underworld give them the
information they need but results in a more morally grey narrative.
As you may have noticed from the examples from each part of the genre
there is a lot of overlap between these kinds of Detective Fiction
since this approach allows these games to take the aspects they need
to tell their mysteries. Such a varied and adaptable genre is perfect
for those looking for a way to create a mystery visual novel with a
focus on a single or few deductive individuals.
High And Medieval Fantasy – Genre Deep Dive
Another World And Time
Due
to the widespread influence of Tolkien on fantasy, there has been
a lot of overlap between High and Medieval Fantasy genres to the
point of the two often being one and the same. Technically High
Fantasy does not need to be set in the medieval times of its world, it just has to be set in a world separate from our own with its own set of
magically rules. In reality the majority of High Fantasy visual
novels are also Medieval Fantasy and so the two must be talked about
together to get a proper overview of their workings. One of the most
common elements of these genres is the way magic is out in the open
and normal knowledge for all those in the setting which changes how
characters engage with it and see their own role within their society.
From the Medieval side comes the political structures and general
aesthetics where towering stone castles and golden temples are ruled
over by monarchies with knights and princess and this influences the
kind of narratives these games like to tell. The distancing of the
player from the familiar through the worlds of High Fantasy tends to
lead to it focusing on using its world as an exaggerated reflection of
our own where the core themes are writ large in every action. Let’s
weave a tale of sword and sorcery and discover the extent of what
these genres have to offer.
Magic In The Open
A
common feature in many titles of these genres is the presentation of
magic or magical elements as a natural part of the world and
something known to all. This contrasts with games from genres like
urban fantasy which often have magic being a hidden side to the
familiar everyday reality of modern life. Having magic be a
fundamental aspect results a variety of changes to how social and
political structures operate since there are people or creatures capable of
reshaping the world at their whims. Titles of these genres often
operating on a higher power level with magic not being accessible to
all and tending to have a society where those who do have it
generally hold a higher value. Many Eushully games like Kamidori
Alchemy Meister and Madou Koukaku broadly fit into this space where magic
often equals special treatment while angels, demons and other
divine forces play an active role in deciding the fate the world.
Kamidori is a smaller scale version of this outline with it being
focused on the lives of those running an alchemy shop and their
inevitable magical encounters. Here the grand forces and powers are
shown through their influence on the individual lives, angels are
objects of faith who follow their convictions while humans
possessing magic offer their services to those who pay them and
elemental spirits lazily live out their existence. Grand power
scaling is common in these genres and yet they can still leave room
for the everyday operation of these worlds.
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| There are all kinds of fantasy races on offer in Kamidori |
On the
diametric opposite side sits Madou Koukaku due to its focus on
miliary might and the struggles for control over an empire. Magic is
a tool of war in this story and the Magical Machine Dolls are the
keys to winning the war. This higher perspective on the affairs of an
empire places magic firmly as an instrument of power and those who use
it or command such individuals gain positions of authority. Magic is
presented within the world as another weapon like a cannon or even an
atomic bomb and so it is easy for the player to understand why they
would be such importance through its comparison to real world conflicts.
A lens like this is important for something as abstract as magic
since its fantastical nature can stretch its believability and cause
a disconnect with the player.
King, Queens And Castles
From
the Medieval Fantasy comes many of the political structures found
throughout both genres which come to shape the themes they
choose to handle. Some form of monarchy is the most common style of
political institution among titles in these genres with all the
associated kings and princesses alongside their magnificent castles.
This is of course a reflection of real world medieval Europe although
sometimes it will extend out into medieval Japan with its Emperor and
hierarchy, but it still maintains the focus on a single ruling
individual holding the majority of the power. Since these genres tend
to lean into the idea of an escapist fantasy, they often find
themselves glorifying monarchy with its rulers holding good intent or
the person the characters help raise to power leading to a virtuous
age. Any evil is just a few bad apples who are not symptomatic of a
wider problem and just need to be removed for everything to be
better. No real attempt is made to provide an even presentation of
the realities of the system and these games make sure to distract
away from this fact so it will not sour the experience. The power
politics and backstabbing under a single ruler adds an important
element of danger beyond the characters’ control and to keep the
player guess where danger will come from next. The Utawarerumono
titles Mask of Deception and Mask of Truth both take this political
danger and make it a bed of thorns for their protagonist the
navigate. All of the struggles centre around the emperor of
Yamato and the young princess and heiress with the various factions
and people positioning themselves to gain favour and power around
them. This is given even greater importance from the special magical
masks given out to those who hold the emperor’s favour and it
neatly ties the magical element of the world into the struggles for
dominance. The protagonist is a reluctant player in these battles
which works to absolve them of seeking power for their own gain and
helps frame them as a virtuous righter of wrongs in this pit of
snakes so the player might cheer for them.
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| Got to love the power struggles of succession |
Monarchy is not the only
system present in these genres as a few of them choose to add
elements of theocracy into their narratives. Here a religious
organisation or figure hold a major sway over the affairs of the
nation and in many stories are not mutually exclusive with monarchies
even if the two will often butt heads as a result. Overtones of faith
and belief as well as religious imagery tend to find there way into games
involving this system of governance alongside tests of that faith for
the zealous characters and the idea of forgiveness and sin. Aiyoku no
Eustia engages in a mixing of monarchy and theocracy in a floating
city ruled by a king and kept afloat by the prayers of a saint.
Obviously the idea of a city flying due to religious fervour places its
fate in the hands of the church who have the saint at their centre
and want to keep her on their leash. It also uses a large amount of
vaguely religious imagery in the form of the people growing wings and
the idea of angels which it constantly circles back to and forms its
core theming. The growth and development of the saint is where much
of the testing of faith comes from as she rebels against the church’s
hold on her and the true nature of her role. Pushing this theocracy
angle gives the game a strong visual and narrative identity it would
not have without its use of religious elements.
Beyond The Real
By
choosing to set a visual novel in alternative world with its own
rules distinct from our own, the developers gain a freedom to shape
the bigger picture of their narrative in more exaggerated and to the
point ways than in a real world setting. Using the very fabric of the
world as a canvas to paint the core themes and ideas is the main
advantage of following this path since it makes it difficult for the
player to miss them. It also offers a way to ground the magical
elements of the setting within an easy to digest core point around
which it can be contextualised and given substance. For The Second
Reproduction, the big element it uses to write is its various demons
and their powers. They are both the darker aspects of human nature
while still holding many positive qualities and the contrast they
offer to the humans in the story holds many of the key themes of the
work. Placing these demons within the context of an ongoing war
further drives home this emphasis on the extremes of human nature and
how engaging in one extreme does not exclude you from the other while
also adding a tension to every interaction with the demon characters.
From this dynamic the magic fights and powers are given the role of
representing the conflicting aspects of humanity through the methods and
directness of the powers they wield against each other.
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| Having a magical race be a mirror for human nature is a fairly common idea |
Not every use
of alternative worlds needs to be quite so grand and leveraging the
same tools can create jokes just as well as themes. Despite its
almost aggressively standard sword and sorcery setting, the Rance
series seems to hold its setting in contempt and regularly makes
jokes at its expense. Each title has everything you would expect from
a world of this type, wizards, knights, castles and princess who are
all made a mockery off by one very horny guy. It still knows how to
take somewhat seriously when needed but the unique characteristics of
the world are flexible enough to swing either way since they are well known to the player so can be supported or subverted
depending on the situation. Everyone else except the titular Rance
takes their world entirely seriously and their magical conflicts and
kingdom spanning strife are of dire importance. They are the straight
man for Rance’s antics as they struggle to deal with his absurd
choices which fly in the face of the expected reaction of a hero in
his place.
Conclusion
Despite
how bound at the hip Medieval and High Fantasy are there is still a
lot of variety to the way they implement their narratives. With magic
being an open aspect of so many of these stories, it changes the
social and political structures of their worlds and makes them more
flexible when it comes to their approach of engaging with their
characters. Since these worlds operate on such a different set of
rules to our own they offer more opportunities to shape them to
showcase core themes and ideas or just for the sake of humour. The
political structures inherited from Medieval Fantasy tend to be
either monarchy or theocracy and shape the direction of the narrative
and the imagery it chooses to invoke. Overall there is a lot on offer
when choosing to this meshed dual genre and it definitely demands
more creativity and imagination to get the most out of or risk
appearing cliché or seeming to have a world with inconsistent rules.
Utsuge – Genre Deep Dive
Let The Tears Flow
How
a person deals with the inevitable tragedies of life reveals a lot
about them. All things will pass and there is a certain catharsis in
having characters face this reality. Such is the driving force behind
the Utsuge or ‘depressing game’. This is a genre which makes it
clear from the moment it starts that there is no hope of a happy
resolution and continues to hammer it home until the credits.
Confronting the inevitable is a core part of the theming and power of
its narrative with death being a common element in many of these
games. Being the one who will be left behind once this tragedy has
passed makes for a compelling struggle for the genre’s characters
as they try to find meaning within their suffering. The emotions
experienced in the face of this suffering are not explored by many
stories due to their depressing nature and yet they present an interesting
side to our humanity. Let’s cry a river and find out why Utsuge is
such an engaging genre.
Facing The Inevitable
Not
every problem has a solution and not every story has a hero who will
save the day. Sometimes the worst will come to pass and there is
nothing we can do about it. A game about such events might seem like
it would only be depressing but there is a lot of nuance in how a
narrative and characters can deal with the inevitable ending awaiting
them. This is the kind of genre which makes it very clear how things
are going to end from the moment they start. There is no attempt to
cushion the blow so it can get that initial pain out of the way and
allow the long march towards the finale to be done under the spectre of
certainty. It is not just the player who knows how things will end,
the characters often have a good idea about it as well and their
reactions to this information form the majority of the conflicts in these games. By looking at how the characters react to their
circumstances, the player is forced to consider if they would react
the same in this situation and what being human means in the face of
disaster. The efforts to come to terms with the sadness they know
awaits can lead the characters to do extreme things in order to run
away from the inevitable and yet they cannot run from this knowledge
so as the time approaches they have no choice but to look it in the
eyes. A tragedy is by its nature unfair to its victims and it is also
what makes it so compelling to watch.
 |
| Sorry I'm too busy crying |
Narcissu is a particularly
famous example of this exploration of the inevitable. From the moment
it starts the terminal illnesses of its two main characters are made
unavoidably clear and so too is what sort of ending the player can
expect. This is game primarily interested in how its cast
deal with their imminent demise and their choice is to reject the
options offered to them by society and run away together. A
desire to wrestles some control over their lives in the face of
something which has completely taken that away drives much of the
emotional core behind their words and actions. This is not a fast
paced experience with lots of dramatic moments but rather a slow
plodding introspection as the unavoidable creeps up over the horizon.
It asks the player to consider what meaning and value their rejection
has and through it the player's own mortality. While this does result
in an experience characterised by tears rather than smiles, it does
create a powerful impression despite the short length of the title
and leaves the player to ponder it long after the credits roll.
Beyond Tragedy
Another
side to Utsuge is the characters who are deeply affected by the
disaster but must continue onwards after it has passed. They are
often left scared and it is their struggle to deal with this pain
where it gains its narrative power. Exploring the aftermath of
tragedy is not unique to this genre as many a narrative has a tragic
backstory in it, but what makes tragedy a memorable feature here is way the
characters do not simply overcome it like in other genres. Instead
the damage of those events never truly goes away with the cast
having to adapt to their scars rather than wiping them away. This
results in a similarly introspective tone to the facing of the
inevitable style of Utsuge but shifted towards the past where the
tragedy took place. It has a bit more room to be dramatic since it
does not quite have the same known outcome and so gains the ability
to hold the player in suspense about if the characters are going to
overcome the adversity within them. As such they are not quite
as constantly bleak as is often expected of the genre with it
treading a fine middle point between hope and despair where it
appears as if it could fall into either extreme at a moments notice.
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| Trauma can create all kinds of different responses |
An interesting example of this genre trait is Psychedelica of the
Black Butterfly where its cast are at once the victims of the
inevitable tragedy and the ones who have to move passed it. The game
achieves this balance by giving the cast varying degrees of memory
loss so their victim status is obscured from them and the player. It
is the slow unveiling of the extent of their scars which forms the primary
emotional conflict as the group try to unravel the mystery of space
they are trapped within. These breadcrumbs of pain force a reflection
on their initial personalities and show how they each deal with the
realities of what has happened to them. Such is the course of the
eventual discovery of the casts’ various traumas that bought them
to this pace and must be faced for them to leave. It is a kind of
external representation of their introspective journey so as to add a
dramatic threat to proceedings. While all the characters broadly
receive happy endings, their struggles are tinged with a
bittersweetness where what has been lost will never truly be
replaced.
Another Side To Humanity
Perhaps
the largest factor differentiating Utsuge from something which merely
uses its heightened emotions for dramatic effect, like nakige, is the
way it leverages them as a method of exploring what it means to be
human. It is inevitable that we will all experience some kind of
disaster or loss in our lives since nothing is immune to the march
of time. Processing the emotions these situations produce can be
difficult and so there is a certain catharsis to having fictional
characters deal with similar experiences. Struggling with this
predetermined outcome provides its own inbuilt drama and it can slowly
stew in a way which gets into your head. Not all emotion is
positive and the darker thoughts inside our heads are often avoided
by other genres because they are seen as undesirable and yet they are
undoubtable part of being human. Despite the depressing tone that results in focusing on them, Utsuge presents these feelings and asks
what they tell us about the human experience and what value exploring
them has in understanding oneself. While the ending for its
characters may not be happy it still has a respect for their
struggles and as such acknowledges the player’s own in a way where
it becomes an exercise in self-reflection.
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| I'm sure everything will be completely fine... |
There are many Utsuge
which could demonstrate this tendency, but let’s look at Bokuten –
Why I Became an Angel since it provides a clear example of this
practice as a core pillar of its experience. This is due to the way
it flows from character to character exploring their struggles and
finding the meaning which drives them to continue onwards even in the
face of disaster. It is also reflected in the protagonist’s journey
to discover the true meaning of happiness as they deal with their
depression where his interactions with the angels and other
characters informs his ultimate understanding of the value of their
struggles. While the results of these actions is mixed in their
success, the game is more interesting in recognising the process
rather than the outcome and points to this as the place meaning
resides even if the ending is not always happy.
Conclusion
Many
genres want to get the player to cry but few can do it with the impact
and resonance offered by Utsuge. It forces its cast to face an
inevitable ending and makes it clear to the player exact how tragic it is going to be in order to build a sense of doom. Much of the
genre’s thematic and tonal impact comes from how the characters
deal with this looming disaster and the value of their struggles
despite their often futile nature. Then there are those who are left
behind after the tragedy has passed and their struggles to deal with
the trauma of what happened which aims to resonate with the player’s
own experiences of loss and suffering. Overall, there is no genre
quite as capable of being depressing yet thoughtful as Utsuge and for
those seeking to address the tragedies of life this is a perfect fit.
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