computer games forum

This is a poll done mostly for my own curiosity
I have some ideas myself, but I'm curious to see what people say, so I won't spoil anything. You can pick multiple choices, so if you think the game had poor art/writing/etc you can pick them all!
(I'm not offended, considering is one of my worst selling games of all times...!)

I don't like the Supernatural theme.

And if it was only horror but no supernatural?
edit: I realized it was a bit of a stupid question lol, horror is almost always supernatural

jack1974 wrote:And if it was only horror but no supernatural?
edit: I realized it was a bit of a stupid question lol, horror is almost always supernatural

Then I think they tend to use the term Thriller.

Myself, I am fine with a supernatural theme, but that is one of those personal preference things.

To be fair, horror can be a difficult genre to do right. Personally, I love the Gabriel Knight series and Lovecraft's work, but there was something about Vera Blanc which felt really bland and uninteresting. The art style didn't do it any favours, I think. Not because it's something other than anime or bad quality overall, but because it gave off this sense of beige blandness as well. From the introduction, both the characters and the narrative settings sounded very familiar in an unappealing way, as if I had already seen the same stories done elsewhere a number of times before. Other games of yours stood out a lot more, either in gameplay style, characterisation or setting, which is why I think they didn't have the same problem.

If the Vera Blanc series was revamped at any point, I'd be looking into ways to make it more unique within its genre. The Walking Dead by Telltale Games for example, would be just another zombie flick in a very saturated genre if it wasn't for their narrative approach, which cast the whole affair as a character-based melodrama centered around human relationships, morality and the futility of survival in a post-apocalyptic world.

Also, I think the characters could use a bit more vulnerability. Vera's initial description portrays her as beautiful, incredibly rich, charismatic AND gifted with supernatural powers. The combination of all the above turned me off as a reader/player, because the apparent lack of flaws makes her seem less human and more like a cut-out caricature of a person, like an Harlequin romance protagonist. It's difficult to empathize with characters who seem so perfect and invulnerable.

Sorry if I sound really critical, I just thought detailed feedback would be best for this kind of discussion :D

Yes thanks, the feedback was useful

Miakoda wrote:

jack1974 wrote:And if it was only horror but no supernatural?
edit: I realized it was a bit of a stupid question lol, horror is almost always supernatural

Then I think they tend to use the term Thriller.

I'm not really into Horror either,I'm too much of a scaredy cat to put myself though things like that. For instance;Not knowing it was a bit of a horror story I ended up playing through Lifeline on my phone,alone,at night,in my dark basement. And I almost got freaked out enough to stop playing it all together,so that light level of horror is about as much as I can stand.

If you are talking more about a mystery/suspense style thriller,I'm all into that. Like I initially thought Nicole was a supernatural horror story for some reason. It wasn't until after I read the description when it was in the Heart bundle that I realized it sounds more like the type of thriller that I like and i became interested in playing it.Though I must admit even though I did buy it in that bundle I've yet to actually try it yet,so I can't say for sure if it's something I like,but it sounds like the style of thriller I would like.

When I found Winter Wolves, I was really only interested in Planet Stronghold and Loren the Amazon Princess, because I was looking for RPGs. Eventually, I started buying some of the visual novels. I didn't really care for the comic book style presentation of Vera Blanc, and I was also uninterested in GxB romance, so those I skipped.

Well this was interesting, since I thought the main reason was the poor art style (and seems I'm right) but also the writing. Instead it's the idea/characters, I didn't think was that

jack1974 wrote:Well this was interesting, since I thought the main reason was the poor art style (and seems I'm right) but also the writing. Instead it's the idea/characters, I didn't think was that

For what it's worth I actually really like the art style,But as I'm sure everyone has noticed by now, my tastes of many things is often atypical.