PixlBit

A look back at the history of one of gaming's strangest genres

When I say "visual novel," what do you think of? Perhaps Phoenix Wright or Professor Layton pops into your head, or Leisure Suit Larry, or one of the hundreds of Japanese dating games. VN games are bigger in the West than ever before, yet they're still a niche genre. But how did they begin? That's what this retrospective is all about.

First we need to define what a visual novel is. Giant Bomb has a great definition for it: "a sub-genre of adventure games, visual novels are interactive fiction that usually have very little in terms of gameplay but focus more on extensive storytelling, character interactions, dialogue trees, decision-making, and branching narratives, as well as artwork, cutscenes, voice acting, and music." VN games started in Japan and still dominate the market there; whereas the West did not have many VN games here. The genre became big here only after receiving localized ports of Japanese VN games.

I have to make a distinction here. What's the difference between a visual novel game and a point and click adventure game? The biggest difference is that VNs are in the first person perspective (like you're in the shoes of the protagonist), whereas PnC games are in the third person perspective and are more exploration-based. VN games are mostly about story, not exploration or discovery. So I would not consider games like Leisure Suit Larry or King's Quest to be VN games. The first VN game in the West would probably be Sierra's Mystery House (1980). Before that there were text adventure games, such as Colossal Cave Adventure (1976).

How did this strange genre begin and how did it make it over here from Japan? Well, get ready for a crash coarse in Visual Novels. Be warned, this is gonna get crazy.

The Visual Novel Genre Begins (1983)

The very first VN game was The Portopia Serial Murder Case, released in 1983 for Japanese PCs and the Famicom. This game let you be a detective and solve the case of many murders happening in your city. You would go to different places and question people. This game popularized the element of interacting with people in games, not just exploring. Most notably, this game was created by Yuji Horii of Enix, the man behind Dragon Quest.

This murder mystery game was a great success in Japan. No game had quite been like it that had come before. It grabbed a hold on Japanese minds, as Japanese love intriguing stories. Seeing its success, many other companies wanted to get in on it. Thus the Portopia clones began, and the visual novel genre was born.

The Portopia Clones (1984-1987)

Before Square was known for Final Fantasy, it was a small struggling game company in Japan. Seeing the success of Horii's murder mystery game, Square was the first to jump on the band wagon. They released The Death Trap in 1984 for the PC-88, which quickly led to a sequal the following year, Will: The Death Trap II. Like Portopia, these games were murder mysteries, giving you the task of exploring, talking to people, and gathering clues.

Enix was quick to release its second VN game, titled Karuizawa Yukai Annai (PC-88, 1985). It was another success. This caused even Nintendo to join in on the fun, releasing Nakayama Miho no Tokimeko High School for the Famicom in 1987. This was the first dating sim game, focusing on your attempts to woo a young lady into falling in love with you. As we will see later, this kind of VN would become the most popular in Japan.

None of these games were released outside Japan. No doubt the companies behind them thought they were too Japanese for other parts of the world, but another big problem was localization. The amount of text in these games was enormous, and finding the money and right people to localize would be difficult. The West had its share of point and click games, but nothing like what Japan had at the time.

Hideo Kojima and Dating Games (1988-1990)

Hideo Kojima, the man behind the Metal Gear Solid series, was inspired to enter the video game industry after experiencing The Portopia Serial Murder Case (as well as Super Mario Bros.). He believed games like Portopia had expanded the potential of video games. So Kojima set out to make his own VN game, and this came in the form of Snatcher on the MSX2 in 1988. Snatcher impressed due to its high quality graphics and writing. Due to its great succes, it would go on to be ported to several systems in the following years, even making its way to the West. Kojima followed up Snatcher with Policenauts (PC-98, 1994), which also had high quality visuals and story.

At the same time, dating sims were also becoming more popular in Japan. Alice Soft's Rance-Hikari o Motomete (PC-98, 1989) was the first adventure/RPG hybrid dating sim. Hudson entered the dating sim scene with its Cobra: Kokuryu o no Densetsu on its very own PC-Engine the same year. During this time, long animated intros became popular in Japan, such as the one for Nishimura Kyoutarou: Hokutosei no Onna (PC-Engine, Naxat Soft, 1990), in which a dude violently stabs another dude. Voice acting also became common in these CD-based games. The video below will give you a taste of a typical PC-Engine intro for a dating sim.

Home of the Dating Sims (1994-1995)

The PC-Engine quickly became the console for Japanese dating sims, the most popular being Tokimeki Memorial, released in 1994 by Konami. Dating sims were no doubt popular on NEC's console because of its graphical prowess. But the tides of dating sims were also changing in 1994. Koei released Angelique on the Super Famicom, which was a dating sim for girls; here you attempted to win the heart of a young man. This was later ported to the Saturn and PS1 in 1995, adding anime cutscenes. The PC-Engine and Saturn were filled with dating sims, which helped keep them afloat in Japan (whereas in the West they sunk quickly).

NEC's next console, the PC-FX, has to be the most Japanese console ever; it mostly had dating sims for its entire lifespan. One such game, Welcome to Pia Carrot (Cocktail Soft, 1995), had adult content mixed in. The goal of the game was to eventually get in bed with one of the girls. As naughty as it seems, such games quickly became popular in Japan, leading to many more.

Adult Visual Novels in Japan (1996-2000)

The adult VN scene in Japan really exploded with Shizuku for DOS/Windows (Leaf, 1996). But this game and many like it, had massive amounts of text and very little player interaction. We would find it woefully boring, but the Japanese ate it up like delicous rice. Leaf followed up with Critical Point (1998), which was just like Shizuku but with different girls. Adult VN games were mostly found on computers, not video game consoles. To this day, VN games are the most popular computer games in Japan, and I would imagine most of those are adult games. The Japanese seem to have a fascination with dating and romance.

Along Came a Lawyer (2001-2007)

Meanwhile, back in the West, we didn't have many VN games, but mostly story-based point and click adventure games. But that would soon change. In 2001, Capcom released a different kind of VN game on the Game Boy Advance in Japan. It wasn't a dating sim! It was an investigative mystery game starring a lawyer. Phoenix Wright made his debut in Japan, and after three games, Capcom decided to bring him to the West on Nintendo's new handheld, the DS. The DS was the beginning of video games breaking into the mainstream, which opened up the hobby to new markets. Perhaps this is why Capcom thought their new VN series might have a chance on the handheld in the West. 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was released in the West in 2005. It quickly became very hard to find in stores shortly after its release due to a shortage of games and high expected demand. Capcom shipped more units in March 2006, and later issued a new shipment in June 2006; these sold out within just one week. As of February 2007, Capcom had shipped 100,000 copies of the first Phoenix Wright game. The lawyer's success in the West was astonishing. This can partly be attributed to the series' fantastic characters and stories, but I think the West was also ready for something new. Phoenix Wright introduced us to the Japanese Visual Novel.

Bigger than Ever Before (2007-present)

Since the release of Phoenix Wright, the West has received more Japanese VN games than ever before. Professor Layton (2007) quickly grew in popularity just as Phoenix Wright did, seeing the success in several games in the West. The DS quickly became home to several visual novel games, such Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Jake Hunter, Time Hollow, and Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. Visual novel elements are found in many modern games now, meaning the genre has been more widely accepted by developers and consumers.

The VN genre is certainly not for everyone, but it's great to see it get more love in the West. It's bigger than ever here, and it appears that it's here to stay. Western gamers are not into dating sims, but there are now many VN games which are focused on mystery rather than romance, and these games most of all appeal to Western audiences. Japan can keep its dating sims and adult games, but its influence on the VN genre could not be more clear. This genre is completely Japanese, and it has greatly impacted our gaming world.