AMN Anime Visual Novel Review System
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June 04, 2006
by: James Jursudakul
A look at how Visual Novels are reviewed at AMN Anime.
Four months after the opening of the Anime Games section at AMN Anime, the review system is finally ready!
For our Visual Novel "Game" reviews here at AMN Anime, we're reviewing these titles on the basis of being a Visual Novel as opposed to Games in general. Therefore we have decided to grade visual novels in the following categories: Story, Gameplay, Audio, Characters, Art, Ecchi Scenes (18+ Titles Only), Replay, and also assign an Overall Rating. A lot of weight is placed on the story of these titles and not so much the the gameplay because most of the titles involve just reading thru a bunch of text and what little gameplay they have involve just selecting a path or option. But what of games that are more than just scrolling reading thru a bunch of text like Piece of Wonder or Brave Soul you ask? Well, those are more of the oddities than the standard of what we'll be reviewing here at AMN Anime and thus we'll have gameplay considerations for those titles. Thus a perfect 10 rating for a visual novel game means it's a superb title in the visual novel genre of games but it doesn't mean it's better or as great a game like Ocarina of Time.
Story:
A lot of weight is put into this category. The score assigned is based on how much we enjoyed the story, as well as how a we might consider it in relation to other games available.
Gameplay:
Although a score is assigned for this section, there is not a lot of weight placed into it for most titles. There are a few games however, that have more emphasis on gameplay than others.
Audio:
An assigned score based on the voice acting as well as the BGM and sound effects. This section is quite important for the BGM and voice acting can really do wonders for getting the player into the game's story!
Characters:
What we thought of the game's characters and how well the voices and personalities fit their design.
Art:
Also quite an important part, as this is the "visual" half of the visual novels. Basically rated on the details and how much we like the character designs, backgrounds, and the occasional CG stills.
Ecchi Scenes (18+ Titles Only):
Similar to the art rating but the assigned for this is solely limited to the hentai scenes of an 18+ Title.
Replay:
How likely is the player willing to play thru the game again once it's complete? We also mention any extras that the game may have such as: CG gallery, Jukebox, etc.
Verdict:
How we feel about the title overall.
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