So... recently I've started to become interested in the vast world of Japanese Visual Novels. Probably the most well-known series of Visual Novels in western culture is Ace Attorney. I suspect many people here have played it.
The Visual Novel is quite a fascinating medium actually. It's a combination of a book, an animated show and a game. Most of the time is spent reading text while mostly static character images are shown. The game aspect comes from the choices you make during gameplay. Now this varies hugely from visual novel to visual novel. The Ace Attorney series at times plays a lot like an adventure game rather than a visual novel, and during court sessions there's cross-examination. At other times the gameplay is reduced to just making choices every now and then. In some visual novels, the effect of your choices is huge and there are vastly different outcomes. In others, there are only a few meaningful choices that may lead to altenate endings and for the most part, you're on a linear path.
I have played the Ace Attorney series, but also one other visual novel, Clannad, and this one REALLY fueled my interest in the genre. If I can ever find something quite like it, I'm content. One other Visual Novel I'll definitely grab as soon as it's out is Steins;Gate, which is scheduled to have a US Release in Q1 2014. Since I loved the anime, I'm very excited to see what the original is like.
So, is anyone here particularly into visual novels? Maybe give a few recommendations to someone like me who would like to get into it? What do you think about the medium of visual novels in general? Can they even be called "games"?