RPG's and Visual Novels (part 4)

Another important distinction between the two genres of games is that RPG's are often “open-world” environments, meaning that you can explore and talk to whomever you choose. In a VN, although there are some choices to make along the way, you are often riding the rails of the story and the characters you talk with are part of a structured narrative. VN's allow for much more development of the characters because their responses to your choices feel more personal and deepen a sense of development in each relationship through extended, relevant conversation. In an open-world RPG, the different characters you interact with often have a set number of fixed responses and are limited in scope because you have the freedom to move around and talk to any of them. It's more free-form, almost like jazz, with themes and spontaneity. A visual novel, on the other hand, might be more structured and feel less free, but the complexity of development is something that could not be achieved spontaneously—it would require much more pre-planning with larger, interlaced themes and development, similar to classical music. One isn't necessarily better than the other but, like music, it becomes a matter of personal preference.