A sub-category ofVisual Novels that avert the tradition of havingMultiple Endings and instead focusing on a singular, linear plot. There are no choices whatsoever, nor is there any form of interactivity involved, except for the player pressing the action button to advance the story. In other words, it's basically a single, linear story accompanied by visuals and audio. Originally used to describe certain visual novels byKey/Visual Arts (notablyPlanetarian), it has since then been used to encompass other visual novels.
07th Expansion refers totheir work as "sound novels," the vast majority of which have no real gameplay options or choices. The name refers to the greater emphasis on using music and sound effects to establish setting and "punctuate" key scenes. Although the first episode ofHigurashi: When They Cry was released two years beforePlanetarian, the name has not caught on outside of 07th Expansion's own work.
Examples of this genre:
- 31st March, Midnight.
- Absolutely Perfect Specimen
- Aster Asks!
- Bad Faith
- BS Tantei Club: Yuki ni Kieta Kako: Due to its cutscenes needing to synchronize with a live audio broadcast, the game automatically progresses the narrative at predetermined points, regardless of whether or not the player has performed any actions during the gameplay segments.
- Contract Demon
- Dies irae ~Interview with Kaziklu Bey~
- Dimensional Prophecy of Zohar Redux
- Disney's Animated Storybook
- eden*: They were only two, on the planet.
- fault milestone two
- fault - SILENCE THE PEDANT
- The Fountain
- Girl of the Bakehouse
- Guilty Gear: In a departure from how previous games,XX andAccent Core Plus in particular, would handle the main story, the Story Modes ofGuilty Gear Xrd and-STRIVE- take this approach, featuring a more cinematic experience with no playable battles whatsoever.
- Harmonia
- Harvest December
- Heartlovepowertemple
- Highway Blossoms
- Higurashi: When They Cry (though, notably, the eighth and final chapter,Matsuribayashi-hen doesfeature a prolonged section that can be described as actual gameplay)
- Juniper's Knot
- Koiken Otome
- Kyon: Big Damn Hero
- Living Books could be considered a prototype version of this, despite coming out way before this term (or its related term,sound novel)was even invented.
- Loopers
- Lovestruck visual novels, with a fewearly exceptions.
- Lunaria Virtualized Moonchild
- Malus Code
- Marco & the Galaxy Dragon
- Misericorde
- morphE
- My Furry Detective
- My Furry Dictator
- My Furry Maid
- My Furry Neighbour
- My Furry Protogen
- My Furry Stepmom
- My Furry Teacher
- Narcissu
- National Park Girls
- Necrobarista
- Nekopara
- Nie no Hakoniwa
- Penthos
- Planetarian
- Polyphonica
- Pumpkin Eater
- Red Shift
- Remember The Flowers
- Rise and Fall
- Rose Guns Days
- Saint Maker
- Sekien no Inganock
- The Smelly Mystery (similar toLiving Books but also doubles as a detective game for kids)
- Smoldeps Magickal Adventure
- Songs of Araiah
- Soul of Sovereignty
- Spare Parts
- Star Wars: Jar Jar's Journey Adventure Book
- Stella of the End
- Subverse
- Sugars Delight
- Sweetest Monster
- To You of the Future - I give you every song...
- TRianThology ~Sanmenkyou no Kuni no Alice~
- True Remembrance
- Tyrania
- Uchinuma Mizuki no Jun'ai
- The Unforgiving Flowers Blossom in the Dead of Night (a collection of short, more or less independent stories)
- Warm (2019)
- Witch on the Holy Night
- World End Economica
- Z.A.T.O.
