I'm sure most have seen the announcement of the KFC Visual Novel
A game made by Psyop (Who has made positive VNs) and published by KFC themselves as marketing to get people talking about the brand. All in all, it doesn't seem like a big deal. Just a weird VN to get people talking. However, said VN announcement has had a lot of push back and seems to be the straw that broke the camels back within the VN community.
There are plenty of examples on twitter If you search for VN.
One of the biggest complaints I noticed, is how VN's such as this will get exposure on all manner of gaming website (regardless if they typically covers VNs).
While other titles will never see an article or a mention, despite being of high quality. I think this is a fair point, even if there's no real input I can share on fixing it.
As someone who likes VNs and has played their fair share of all types (Though I wouldn't say i'm a connoisseur of the genre). I can understand the concerns of "Ironic" VNs doing more harm than good in the west. Especially when the genre has a image problem it can't seem to shake in appealing past the already set fans it has when new titles come out actually asking for higher prices (Due to localization costs and the like). In the case of the KFC Visual Novel, I do think it's a little unfair to throw it under the bus before it has come out, as there's always the chance it's better than expected. One example that's brought up is Hatoful Boyfriend which is actually a quality story despite the odd setting. Even If the title is not, at least the developers were able to get a pay check and perhaps use those funds on another game as they've made a positively received VN before
Overall, I think a lot of the concerns that have been brought to light are perfectly valid. Regardless of how the KFC VN turns out, it has definitely opened up the conversation on this topic as a whole and i'm curious to see how others feel on the matter. As the conversation seems to be going further than just the KFC title now.
A game made by Psyop (Who has made positive VNs) and published by KFC themselves as marketing to get people talking about the brand. All in all, it doesn't seem like a big deal. Just a weird VN to get people talking. However, said VN announcement has had a lot of push back and seems to be the straw that broke the camels back within the VN community.
There are plenty of examples on twitter If you search for VN.
One of the biggest complaints I noticed, is how VN's such as this will get exposure on all manner of gaming website (regardless if they typically covers VNs).
While other titles will never see an article or a mention, despite being of high quality. I think this is a fair point, even if there's no real input I can share on fixing it.
As someone who likes VNs and has played their fair share of all types (Though I wouldn't say i'm a connoisseur of the genre). I can understand the concerns of "Ironic" VNs doing more harm than good in the west. Especially when the genre has a image problem it can't seem to shake in appealing past the already set fans it has when new titles come out actually asking for higher prices (Due to localization costs and the like). In the case of the KFC Visual Novel, I do think it's a little unfair to throw it under the bus before it has come out, as there's always the chance it's better than expected. One example that's brought up is Hatoful Boyfriend which is actually a quality story despite the odd setting. Even If the title is not, at least the developers were able to get a pay check and perhaps use those funds on another game as they've made a positively received VN before
Overall, I think a lot of the concerns that have been brought to light are perfectly valid. Regardless of how the KFC VN turns out, it has definitely opened up the conversation on this topic as a whole and i'm curious to see how others feel on the matter. As the conversation seems to be going further than just the KFC title now.
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