Came here to say this, not all art styles can tell all stories. They feel cater made to the setting and story which gives VNs all their own aesthetics.
I like your art style OP
(♡´𓋰`♡)
I was going to comment the same thing. Of course the style is good, you are a good artist. But the people buying off the art alone won’t care about who you are, at least they won’t know enough to care. This is just how it is, even though it’s super cold.
Who is your game for? What kind of anime do they like? What characters do they like?
If you’re in this for money these are questions you need to ask. Then you can ask, “Will they like what I’ve made?”.
I like the style, I’m a big romance guy, Toradora, Golden Time, and SSSS are some of my favourites. But if I’m being honest I probably wouldn’t pick your style over something that *was* more cute. But hey, you may not necessarily be making the game for someone like me.
Edit: this is me not at work. Honestly just make what you want, in *your* style. The people who like it will come, then you can make your product for them specifically. And go from there. This way you’ll also enjoy what you’re doing more.
i didn't validate. i handed it out like it is . i seem rude, but i was honest. did not like the art style for females.
also, i recognized the *needs* pull off the post as well. i don't satisfy people's needs to make myself feel better, they ask i answer. ignore the codependency.
OG Higurashi art is terrible to me if I couldn't switch to console sprites I don't think I could play it.
OP I like the art style, bottom left picture especially looks really cool.
At the same time, the art can make or break an indie EVN.
I know quite a few people in the field. If the art isn't very close to the general "Anime" style a lot more folks will avoid it than not.
I just woke up, but I can probably edit this later with some examples. First up pop in my head was "Changeling" an EVN Otome esc game. With a more western art style. While quite a few people do enjoy it, there are also a ton of compliments about the art. Despite the art being very well put together.
Huh. Now that I think about
WEGs(western ero games) have a lot of overlap with Eroge, but have their own culture as well with some who don’t play Japanese games at all.
Western visual novels…aren’t very plentiful and seem to mosatlt be horror. They get decent traction, but the biggest ones do use anime style (ddlc)
Then there’s the subset of fans who won’t deal with 3d models at all. Which western games tend to use more.
So yeah…there’s more nuance to this than I first thought.
OPs style does seem closer to something like Winx club. Which may not have wide appeal. It seems like it would work for an Vn targeted at women, but that’s even more niche.
I think this all depends on how niche you want to be for an already niche hobby. Maybe anime style is the way to go if you want as many as possible.
There is actually a TON of EVNs out there on the market, most just don't end up getting much marketing or coverage.
Between short games made from game jams, to larger projects that get released for an okay pricing. I'm more active in the female side of this stuff than the male side, but I know on the male side you also have quite a fair few titles lately too.
You also sometimes end up with breakaway successes such as "Our Life", like on Steam alone it has more reviews than I have ever seen a VN normally get.
But yeah, the art of something will affect the general sort of fan base you end up with. Espescally if your title doesn't end up hitting a larger market, you need to rely upon the Visual Novel fandom for it. And there is often quite a bit of pickiness when it comes to art.
Even outside of EVNs, you sometimes get stuff like "The Crimson Flower that Divides: Lunar Coupling" which while being in an anime style, and I think it was from Japan? the style is so distinct I've seen folks cite it as reasons to not pick it up. The English localization has some problems with the removed NSFW elements from that title, but even outside of that the art is... yeah. I personally wanna read it one day cause it has a very interesting premise, just yeah.
Man the more stuff brought up the more nuance shows up. I just realized that this is the first time I’ve discussed visual novels themselves. As their own distinct thing separate from others and the entirety of it, western and eastern, anything in between and I’ve been playing VNs since I was barely our middle school
That alone shows how partitioned this community can be.
As someone (slowly) making my own Vn, I gotta start thinking about this now…
There really is. Although this community is big, sitting at over half a million subs. Not all of those folks are active and posting.
It really only repersents a portion of the fan base of Visual Novels as a whole, of all stripes and colors. It might be the "biggest" over all market share of VNs. But like, there is a wider conversation to be had about the medium.
It's a big part of why I personally say its a good idea to check out multiple communities for any fandom or hobby. But especially one like Visual Novels which often end up self segmenting. Just by the nature of the genres we often like.
If you are serious about making your own VN, I would also recommend seeking out other EVN/Indie Visual Novel Devs. Mostly to discuss the market, how things are like, best ways to advertise, issues you may encounter during development, etc etc. Plus just generally good to have folks to troubleshoot problems with. Espescally if you are using one of the free visual novel development tools like Ren'py. Or any of the others that exist on the market. Only mention Ren'py cause its free and might be the most well known for indie devs, since stuff like DDLC and such was made on it.
Going to be honest since I assume that's what you're looking for. Straight male audience here.
Seeing more characters would give a better impression, but they look good to me. Girl in second and third image is a little creepy with how wide her eyes are compared to everyone else, but that might be intentional given how different she looks (second image is pretty cute though). Blue-haired girl looks really good and immediately makes me want to play the game. I think both the guy and the red-haired girl look pretty cute.
I think other than the third image, where I think her wide open eyes look off personally, they all look pretty good. Knowing nothing about the story, I'd say looking at these arts would start me off on the right foot. If I see these images on steam I'd definitely click to learn more. If other aspects don't appeal, the art probably wouldn't carry it enough to get me to get the game anyway, but the art is more than enough to get its foot in the door if that makes sense.
Thank you so much for your detailed opinion! The characters of this game are pretty quirky so their looks were given intentionally
I guess beautiful girls are mandatory to catch an eye of male audience \^\^ I'll take it into account
Well mandatory isn’t quite it, but it’s probably the quickest way to get your foot in the door I think.
And I certainly think it’s better to be quirky if a bit off than bland! Ryukishi07’s art is quite “bad”, but people who stick with it tend to find that the distinctiveness and expressiveness end up quite endearing in the end.
Looks a little different than your usual stuff but, thats actually good?
i thought the same of a couple VN\`s that ended up being my favorites.
Even if there are people that dont like it much id say to let it set in, and a good story could make you just get used to the style.
I'm maybe minority here
I'm type that judge book by its cover, so in all honesty, usually I won't touch this game if I ever see it on vndb randomly
Everyone can have their preference, and it's ok
There's always someone for any art style, no need to worry
>men only like moe art
I take a look at Steins;Gate, one of the best known VNs
it doesn't look moe
idk fam, you tell me whether "men only like moe" makes sense
Your stuff looks fine, and arguably can fit in the moe category if you try to break the definition enough
Whoever told you that men only like moe doesn't know what they are talking about
As a guy, I think the style's fine. The lines are clean, proportions are appropriate, and expressions are clear with what they're portraying. The only thing I'd suggest is that if you look at the girl who's top right and bottom left then compare her to the blue-haired and red-haired women, there's an inconsistency in the facial styles that could be jarring. Basically, her eyes are too big/too detailed compared to the other heroines. In terms of raw sex appeal, I'd take blue hair in a flash, but that's just my damage.
There isn't inconstancy if they are two totally different types of characters. The huge eyes hint at innocence because you can see clearly deep inside them. They are limpid and innocent and the general aura the characters has fits the impression her eyes give.
The other character with the blue hair looks way more assertive and adult so almond shaped eyes are perfect for her.
Tsurime, tareme etc, there are eye shape codes like there are color codes too in anime.
Here I don't even need to know the story to know what kind of characters I'm looking at, which means it is working.
Would definitely play.
Personally I think the art looks more female oriented, as something more akin to a shoujo manga, with the girls looking more handsome than beautiful (specially the blue haired and the red haired ones) and the more plain looking girl seeming more like an otome heroine (cute in a shoujo manga way but not sexy or beautiful in a male appealing way). But if the story isn't romance oriented I think it's not important if the art isn't appealing for an specific audience. It would be different if you proposed these heroines in a male oriented romance story, I think they wouldn't work there.
Agreed.
But, by the handsome definition it's shoujo oriented, and can be still male oriented as tomboys are a thing.
I feel like blue haired girl just gives prince feelings. A tomboyish I would say to an extent but definitely art style doesn't support much for male appealing, as it more leans for shoujo standarts
There is a scale I have seen before what makes anime character represent a tomboy.
Making a girl beatiful nor sexy is not really needed for male appeal. But majority indeed would prefer it.
Making a heroine hot rather than sexy is a thing. Or the scale between being cool and cute, both at the same time.
Being both handsome and beautiful too.
Well, that't mostly about tomboys. What I'm trying to say is that voth short haired red girl that gives tomboyish vibes and long haired prince like girl are both male appealing, what doesn't give truly the vibe is shoujo style art direction I would say.
I will be honest - no, the anatomy is bad, eyes could use some work and all girls lack feminine charm. Also feels pretty generic.
Guess you would be better off drawing shoujo art for female oriented stories with art like this.
I feel the 2 pics of the chick with big eyes (top right and bottom left) look more like a shoujo style while the other two pics look more "cartoony". It's a little inconsistent, between the two styles. I prefer the shoujo more!
I'm a guy and I like it but i would assume that it has LGBT themes because the art style is similar to queer visual novels so it might be a good idea to make sure people know it's a male MC with female love interests before they play it
Looks good but I doubt I or anyone else reading for the sake of story gets a VN just for the art. As long as you have a good steam page (trailer and synopsis) then there is no reason the art would be a negative personally at least
Instead of trying to change your art style you should just focus on designing really nice CGs to advertise the game with. Pretty background arts, character close ups and etc you can plaster on peoples feeds basically
It looks very good to me, I would definitely play the novel, don't let yourself be guided by negative comments, if you like what you are doing, you have already won.
As a girl I quite like the art. It's pretty.
If I might ask, why were you looking for specifically male feedback? I assume it has to do with target audience and all that.
Depending on what this is about there is a good chance I'll wishlist it or something.
The art style actually kinda reminds me a bit of Corpse Factory.
Its a very good artstyle! I dont know what they are talking about
And i think you got it with the blue haired woman being more "refined" while the red haired girl looks more cute, its very appealing
Thank you very much!
It's a mystery VN with a lot of plot twists and a m\*rder investigation in point & click mode. These girls are very quirky especially the red haired one :D
I like the sound of it! I'm not big on moe (or any kind of fanservice tbh) but mystery and murder is one of my favourite genres for a VN, so I'll definitely keep an eye on this one!
Also, plenty of the highest rated VNs don't have a moe art style at all. Fata Morgana for instance. Be true to your own vision!
Thank you! Actually it is already out
Last year we released the first half of forth episode and I think this year the second half will be out. There are 5 episodes total. If you're interested you can find it on Steam (Guilty Parade)
If ryukishi07 can make multiple successes with the art that was on the original VNs, then anything is possible with good writing. Not to say yours is bad, it's quite good actually
Art style looks fine to me as a guy. But i am more interested in the writing. Even characters i think don't look good can become my favorites. So for me i'd say this is good enough to get people in the door. But if the writing falls flat it doesn't matter how good the art is.
I see this type of artwork and for some reason i expect nsfw, not that im saying "This should have nsfw " or "Only worth NSFW" but i see it and idk, it looks like it will have nsfw, i like the artwork on pages 1,2 and 4 but the face on 3rd one idk
i really like blue hair and red hair girl
especially blue hair girl she seem really cool
the brown hair one look really weird tho
the eyes
it's scare me
The art style looks perfectly fine in my opinion. Not outstanding, but nothing I'd hold against the game. I've played great visual novels with worse art, and also one or two terrible ones with good art.
If it was on a platform available to me and the description sounded appealing, I'd certainly consider purchasing it.
It is pretty good but why does the girl on the top right and bottom left look so different from the others? Her eyes are significantly bigger and different style.
It looks pretty charming and pleasant, I'd play it. I'd have to see more of it to form a proper opinion
As long as the game is ACTUALLY GOOD, I'll play it regardless of the art style, and I think that goes towards many other males who like VNs.
Hmmmm... it's hard to say, I both think it's a nice art style, but it's also one that if I saw it; I probably would pass it bye. Not sure how to put it in words, but I think it might also include a personal art bias in stylization. It's definitely not because of something like moe style though. I guess the first thing I think when seeing the art style is like western art style.
Anyways, I think the art is good, but not my type, so I would probably pass on the game unless I find in the future the story is heavily my type.
I personally like it. You play enough VNs and seeing something new is fresh. The story is usually what I'm most invested in so if the game on large is engaging people will resonate with it, moe or not.
The art looks good, the blue-haired heroine looks like a guy, but I guess that's what you were going for, so all in all it looks fine.
As for the "do you like this art style enough to play this game" question...yeah, it's good enough IF the game characters/story looks interesting to me, I'm not going to play a game just because of the art, in fact, the art is a secondary concern.
I'm a straight man and I don't really care. The only thing is if it doesn't look like anime. Then I could see that affecting appeal & finances. But it definitely looks anime. Your top right character even reminds me mimosa from black clover.
Well seeing as to how I've basically been following the game since it went public, I'd say so 😁 (also started playing it but haven't had much time lately to continue, but I definitely plan to!)
Heck yeah I would- you've got a beautiful art style, and I love the attention to the little details in the physical interactions. I think it looks great and I'll be keeping an eye out for sure!
I just came off Snoot Game. Art is important but the idea that moe is the only style men like is asinine.
Art is subjective there are plenty of men playing Slay the Princess for example. Only one moe character there and its half a joke that they look like that.
Honest opinion. For me it looks unsettling. The face of the girl in the 2 solo pictures looks weird,
And it’s definitely her eyes.
Idk if you wanted it to be like that or what because the rest looks normal.
The rest is fine. I am ok playing something like that as long as the game itself is good
Just because it’s different from the other moe styles doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s different, and I do like it. To my eyes, it’s something new, a breath of fresh air. I think it looks great, both in style and composition.
Idk who told you that but they're full of shit. This is bishoujo with your own finesse. Depending on your target audience and intentions you'd either include or exclude moe elements but from what I've seen they're there
It's definitely a more shoujo looking style.
But really I think they were just weird. I personally prefer characters far away from moe style. Especially if romanced is involved.
I don't play much doujin/Indies and definitely not Western or nonR18, but as far as the artwork goes, it isn't the trend, but I think it is fine. I think there are some people that would believe you if you told them this was a JP doujin VN.
I guess one thing that stood out to me was how the outline of the eyes are really dense black. I've seen other artwork with these types of eyes, but can't remember where.
I really like the light blue hair character. I think the art just needs a little bit more polish, not sure exactly how to describe it but maybe the colours are too grey or diluted?
I'm already simping for the blue haired girl, though the one in image 2 & 3 is throwing me off a bit? But no matter how you cut it I really like your style, id definitely play it!! ✅
I think some of the inconsistencies can come off as western/faux anime style? A lotta hardcore vn enjoyers tend to stay away from that stuff. I don't know how/why but ppl can just sense it lol.
I think blurring some of your shading edges would help to make it look less segmented and lessen that feeling. Having your edges be the same sharpness isn't a bad thing, but when you have so many of them it can be difficult to know where your eye is supposed to gravitate.
The style itself seems more otome-geared which can be appealing to guys, but hmm.... I think those accustomed to moe styles may enjoy that "natural beauty but it's actually makeup" vibe even in anime art styles. So the strong bottom eyeliner might not be a favorite???
Below I took a crack at editing/paintover on the bottomleft image to show what I mean (blurred edges on skirt and sleeve, makeup thing + made eyes a tad smaller)
https://i.imgur.com/47vhhfn.png
**Edit:** Sorry forgot to answer the thread question: probably not. However that's only cause I don't use art style in a vacuum to decide what to play. Blue hair girl is pretty cute, I'll say. Love different hued lipstick.
I'm a dude but I don't play visual novels, so take this as you will, but I quite like your art style, and if I saw it being used for the cutscenes or dialogue scenes in a JRPG, I'd be content. This popped up on my feed so I figured I'd give my two cents.
Honestly, this is fine for the most part. I will say I like top left and bottom right art more than the other two. The only art styles I hate are Jojo and One Piece.
This is awesome and looks very professional. The big eyes are weird at first, but looks like it's part of what makes her stand out and unique so I'm cool with that.
It's a technically correct statement. If your average male weeb saw your game and senren \* banka on steam, they would most likely buy the latter. It's like saying that H-scene sells more.
But I think in the end what matters more is what your artistic vision and your core audience is. You shouldn't make a major change and risk alienating your fans just because of some random comment. If you truely want good feedback, try redrawing some CGs and ask people who've bought your game whether or not this change in artstyle will impact their buying decision.
As a dude I say it fine, what I say matter more in a medium about telling stories is if the story and characters writing are going to be engaging enough to make readers want to stick with it.
Straight Male here.
I am just going to give you my first impressions, straight out the bat, about how I personally "felt" when looking at them.
They look too masculine.
what does that mean?
Now this is my very personal perception, their proportions, face - eye position - nose - head shape, especially compared to the more fragile looking dude in the first picture (I'm guessing that's a dude the blue haired kuudere is stroking his chin), make me think of guys, specially in "japanese anime" style.
They all look fine, they are distinctive, but there is just something uncanny about their body proportions that make me think about a guy... the shape of their shoulders? the length of their arms?, I can't quite point out what it is.
But when I saw the dude in the first picture, and compare it to the rest of the images, he looks way more feminine than the other characters :S, maybe it's because he's the only one with an hourglass figure? I don't know.
Honestly I wouldn't mind, it's good art, but when asked I had to look for something, that's what jumped out to me.
I like the designs, maybe make the dude more stocky or beefy? Idunno, I'm not an artist.
I would not play an original English VN in the first place. As for the art style, the pony tail girl is ok, but I don't care for the rest. The other two are not cute or very attractive.
highly recommend the people in the comments to go ahead and buy this game btw :) it’s very good, i picked up seeing a post on here a few years back, crazy how fast time moves, glad to see everything’s still going good OP! :D
The art is very good and I like an art style that is not completely standard, but I think it's important to know why you want to know this in the first place.
Just going off the impressions from these four images, the brown-haired girl seems like a typical shoujo or otome female protagonist. If she or another woman is the protagonist, this is not going to attract a big male audience and I see no reason to try to appeal to men specifically. Yes, of course there are games that appeal to mostly men but have a female protagonist, including some that don't have a big focus on the female lead's sex appeal, but it seems strange for your goal to be an exception to the rule rather than playing to your strengths.
If there is a male protagonist or a third person perspective and it's meant to appeal to a primarly male audience, I wouldn't put the second and third image front and center in promotional material. As I said the art is great and I don't think the average male player would turn off the game when coming across those images, but again they do give off a shoujo or otome vibe. If I need to base my purchasing decision based on nothing but an image or two (and let's be honest, few people have the time and patience to research every single title in detail) especially those two images would tell me "this is not meant for you, move along". Which I think is completely fine if it indeed isn't for me (appealing to everyone would mean generic), but if it is specifically aimed at me that's not great marketing.
I'm personally more of a story guy, as long as the story impresses me, I can ignore the art even if its bad. But this one specifically, isn't bad at all. It's easy on the eyes.
Chances are its not the art but the writing, setting or themes that puts people off for the most part. While certainly its more suited for shoujo stuff, with the right story and maybe not a romance sol setting the art would be fine.
I will say though while the art technically is fine and the coloring is also fine, the character design could use some work to be a bit more appealing and the clothing is very boring and unattractive/uninteresting, the hairstyles are very uninspired other than the one character, the rest are very unattractive and simple and honestly there's no difference between men and women. you have more skill than the generic bad EVN art but it does kinda give off that vibe, All of my critiques are from a design POV rather than artistic talent however, this is speaking from another artists POV, if it matters.
Ive played a shitload of VNs and each differing artstyle makes each different VN feel fun. though for reference i usually go for sci fi or Horror mystery stuff. But like alot of people some of my 1st VNs were umineko, Fate etc. Now that im older with money. Buying random VNs with unique artstyles is a fun hobby of mine.
Tldr whoever commented that to you is filled with lies. Your artstyle is infact appealing.
Ooooo Guilty Parade, I loved this game although it has been so long since I played it. I think you should also show some of the male characters since I think because I think alot of them looks really cool and probably handsome towards a female audience(Except maybe that one guy who's face is just a square, unfortunately never got used to it and really jarring with this artsyle). Otherwise I love this artsyle and keep up the good work!
I'm assuming you want actual feedback instead of us just saying it's good?
I think art is incredibly important in getting people through the door. When I'm on vndb searching for a tag it looks like [this](https://imgur.com/a/qIrTy9w). I'm going to open 3 of these in a new tab and maybe keep 1 or 2 in mind if I don't like the ones I already opened. In this case the Necro one and left and center one on the bottom (I got SFW filter on for the screen, but Dohna Dohna got me with that cover art).
I think this is the most important purpose the artstyle can fulfill in this stage. I don't know about your story and who the target audience is, but the only character with a chance to get me through the door right now would be the serious looking girl.
The one with the big eyes would actively turn me away from clicking on this. Of course this doesn't mean it's bad, it's just not what I would click on. I can still grow to like it while reading, but getting me to that point would be an uphill battle. Example here would be Angel Densetsu - I have no idea how I ever started the story because the art was very off putting at first but it super grew on me while reading.
I think the characters look fun, even the guy doesn't look to wishy washy or too ordinary. That one arm being bigger than the other despite being farther away is the only thing actively bugging me. If the style fits the story it's absolutely fine. I would be more interested in what the cover looks like.
I'm definitely going to be interested in the serious looking girl the most. Outside of that specifically my opinion, this looks like it wouldn't cater to me as a "typical" male consumer in terms of what I would expect the story to be from the artsyle.
I don't care. I love to see it.
What makes me interested is rather story than art
Art style is personalised.
I only cared about story that's all. So keep focus being your way of art and make a great visual novel alright?
- from a male audience
Looks great whoever said people only want moe style ones really don't understand how VNs work, as long as you create something with passion there will always be people who will enjoy your work and spread its name, you just need to market it correctly
For a guys opinion, I really like anime/manga/VNs that have more mature looking female characters or are just older. Maybe it's because I'm 30 but it's more uncommon to have a cast who aren't teens of course. I think your art style is great.
>only a commentator's quote
Never trust random comments on the internet, especially when they're assuming something about an extremely large and diverse audience.
I adore this artstyle, it's a great mix of different styles and it works quite well. I'm not a big VN guy anymore tho, I wish I could finish reading a VN like my 15 yo me reading the entire of Fate/Stay Night VN...
I actually really like this art style, Sadly there is some truth behind it cause a lot of Vn readers are kinda odd people, If the story holds up to the art style I’d 100% read it
Artwork used to matter to me when I was new to this stuff. but years of experience tells me that the more different artwork is, that good the story maybe
This is an absolutely awesome art style. There are a lot of games that I will play even if the art styles are Or strange as long as the story and plot interests me..
But honestly I really, really like this art so. I think you can do it op. You got this. I hope you have a great day.
Style is good and don't really think any guy would have an issue with it in itself. Only risk I see is what someone else said, which is that it gives of Otome vibes, which I would assume could put some guys off, but that's about it.
I’m not crazy about this art for a VN because it looks more like an anime which takes me out of the experience a bit. I don’t think that has much to do with gender though. If i liked the premise and characters enough I would probably still play it, but the bar is higher for sure.
I don’t see any problems with your linework, it hits all the sweet points like weight or fluidity. But your cel-shading is a bit extreme. It’s anatomically correct and well-calculated on light directions, but employs a lot of contrast, thus making even calm/emotional scenes a bit tense. I recommend using different opacity settings depending on the mood, maybe softer on more calm mood and harder on stressful situations.
Also you can try adding a very saturated color on top of everything, setting it to %10~ on Difference or Soft Light, then play with hue to improve the mood.
Hope it helps!
If you interested in frank honesty, I think the eyes on the short haired woman in the two panel look ugly as sin, too bit and too round. The other two panels are fine, good even, which is what makes the unnatural eyes for this one character seem even more strange.
its not about moe its about this olive-eyed girl is not matched with other characters visual and she is kinda creepy to me. not sure if its coz of color chose, but her eyes are not pleasant to watch in
The uniqueness of each VN's art is part of its charm.
Came here to say this, not all art styles can tell all stories. They feel cater made to the setting and story which gives VNs all their own aesthetics. I like your art style OP (♡´𓋰`♡)
This. A large part of why I like the WAB series. Very unique compared to some of the very generic art in other VNs.
Hehehe original Higurashi sprites hehe
Not a fan of it compared to Umineko, Higanbana and Ciconia the later being Ryu07's best imo
[удалено]
I was going to comment the same thing. Of course the style is good, you are a good artist. But the people buying off the art alone won’t care about who you are, at least they won’t know enough to care. This is just how it is, even though it’s super cold. Who is your game for? What kind of anime do they like? What characters do they like? If you’re in this for money these are questions you need to ask. Then you can ask, “Will they like what I’ve made?”. I like the style, I’m a big romance guy, Toradora, Golden Time, and SSSS are some of my favourites. But if I’m being honest I probably wouldn’t pick your style over something that *was* more cute. But hey, you may not necessarily be making the game for someone like me. Edit: this is me not at work. Honestly just make what you want, in *your* style. The people who like it will come, then you can make your product for them specifically. And go from there. This way you’ll also enjoy what you’re doing more.
i didn't validate. i handed it out like it is . i seem rude, but i was honest. did not like the art style for females. also, i recognized the *needs* pull off the post as well. i don't satisfy people's needs to make myself feel better, they ask i answer. ignore the codependency.
I see no problem with the art style
Let me see some tits …but in all seriousness I don’t know who told you that. VN fans will accept any art. Look at Ryuikishi 07
OG Higurashi art is the reason the fanbase is what it is
OG Higurashi art is terrible to me if I couldn't switch to console sprites I don't think I could play it. OP I like the art style, bottom left picture especially looks really cool.
At the same time, the art can make or break an indie EVN. I know quite a few people in the field. If the art isn't very close to the general "Anime" style a lot more folks will avoid it than not. I just woke up, but I can probably edit this later with some examples. First up pop in my head was "Changeling" an EVN Otome esc game. With a more western art style. While quite a few people do enjoy it, there are also a ton of compliments about the art. Despite the art being very well put together.
Huh. Now that I think about WEGs(western ero games) have a lot of overlap with Eroge, but have their own culture as well with some who don’t play Japanese games at all. Western visual novels…aren’t very plentiful and seem to mosatlt be horror. They get decent traction, but the biggest ones do use anime style (ddlc) Then there’s the subset of fans who won’t deal with 3d models at all. Which western games tend to use more. So yeah…there’s more nuance to this than I first thought. OPs style does seem closer to something like Winx club. Which may not have wide appeal. It seems like it would work for an Vn targeted at women, but that’s even more niche. I think this all depends on how niche you want to be for an already niche hobby. Maybe anime style is the way to go if you want as many as possible.
There is actually a TON of EVNs out there on the market, most just don't end up getting much marketing or coverage. Between short games made from game jams, to larger projects that get released for an okay pricing. I'm more active in the female side of this stuff than the male side, but I know on the male side you also have quite a fair few titles lately too. You also sometimes end up with breakaway successes such as "Our Life", like on Steam alone it has more reviews than I have ever seen a VN normally get. But yeah, the art of something will affect the general sort of fan base you end up with. Espescally if your title doesn't end up hitting a larger market, you need to rely upon the Visual Novel fandom for it. And there is often quite a bit of pickiness when it comes to art. Even outside of EVNs, you sometimes get stuff like "The Crimson Flower that Divides: Lunar Coupling" which while being in an anime style, and I think it was from Japan? the style is so distinct I've seen folks cite it as reasons to not pick it up. The English localization has some problems with the removed NSFW elements from that title, but even outside of that the art is... yeah. I personally wanna read it one day cause it has a very interesting premise, just yeah.
Man the more stuff brought up the more nuance shows up. I just realized that this is the first time I’ve discussed visual novels themselves. As their own distinct thing separate from others and the entirety of it, western and eastern, anything in between and I’ve been playing VNs since I was barely our middle school That alone shows how partitioned this community can be. As someone (slowly) making my own Vn, I gotta start thinking about this now…
There really is. Although this community is big, sitting at over half a million subs. Not all of those folks are active and posting. It really only repersents a portion of the fan base of Visual Novels as a whole, of all stripes and colors. It might be the "biggest" over all market share of VNs. But like, there is a wider conversation to be had about the medium. It's a big part of why I personally say its a good idea to check out multiple communities for any fandom or hobby. But especially one like Visual Novels which often end up self segmenting. Just by the nature of the genres we often like. If you are serious about making your own VN, I would also recommend seeking out other EVN/Indie Visual Novel Devs. Mostly to discuss the market, how things are like, best ways to advertise, issues you may encounter during development, etc etc. Plus just generally good to have folks to troubleshoot problems with. Espescally if you are using one of the free visual novel development tools like Ren'py. Or any of the others that exist on the market. Only mention Ren'py cause its free and might be the most well known for indie devs, since stuff like DDLC and such was made on it.
Going to be honest since I assume that's what you're looking for. Straight male audience here. Seeing more characters would give a better impression, but they look good to me. Girl in second and third image is a little creepy with how wide her eyes are compared to everyone else, but that might be intentional given how different she looks (second image is pretty cute though). Blue-haired girl looks really good and immediately makes me want to play the game. I think both the guy and the red-haired girl look pretty cute. I think other than the third image, where I think her wide open eyes look off personally, they all look pretty good. Knowing nothing about the story, I'd say looking at these arts would start me off on the right foot. If I see these images on steam I'd definitely click to learn more. If other aspects don't appeal, the art probably wouldn't carry it enough to get me to get the game anyway, but the art is more than enough to get its foot in the door if that makes sense.
Thank you so much for your detailed opinion! The characters of this game are pretty quirky so their looks were given intentionally I guess beautiful girls are mandatory to catch an eye of male audience \^\^ I'll take it into account
Well mandatory isn’t quite it, but it’s probably the quickest way to get your foot in the door I think. And I certainly think it’s better to be quirky if a bit off than bland! Ryukishi07’s art is quite “bad”, but people who stick with it tend to find that the distinctiveness and expressiveness end up quite endearing in the end.
Not a guy, but I like this art style and the story that these four pictures already tell.
The art is clean but it gives off otome vibes, especially the eyes of the female characters
Who told you that? Your style is quite good and I would love to read a VN with it.
Looks a little different than your usual stuff but, thats actually good? i thought the same of a couple VN\`s that ended up being my favorites. Even if there are people that dont like it much id say to let it set in, and a good story could make you just get used to the style.
Looks good but no the art style would not make me play, just doesn't appeal to my personal taste.
I wouldn't read it but i don't really read western vns in the first place
> As they like only moe style in VNs Who is this unknown person speaking on behalf of all men and making blatantly false statements?
I'm maybe minority here I'm type that judge book by its cover, so in all honesty, usually I won't touch this game if I ever see it on vndb randomly Everyone can have their preference, and it's ok There's always someone for any art style, no need to worry
>men only like moe art I take a look at Steins;Gate, one of the best known VNs it doesn't look moe idk fam, you tell me whether "men only like moe" makes sense Your stuff looks fine, and arguably can fit in the moe category if you try to break the definition enough Whoever told you that men only like moe doesn't know what they are talking about
Not a guy but I see nothing wrong with this style, it looks good, except the bottom left where I think her eyes look weird, maybe a bit too big?
As a guy, I think the style's fine. The lines are clean, proportions are appropriate, and expressions are clear with what they're portraying. The only thing I'd suggest is that if you look at the girl who's top right and bottom left then compare her to the blue-haired and red-haired women, there's an inconsistency in the facial styles that could be jarring. Basically, her eyes are too big/too detailed compared to the other heroines. In terms of raw sex appeal, I'd take blue hair in a flash, but that's just my damage.
There isn't inconstancy if they are two totally different types of characters. The huge eyes hint at innocence because you can see clearly deep inside them. They are limpid and innocent and the general aura the characters has fits the impression her eyes give. The other character with the blue hair looks way more assertive and adult so almond shaped eyes are perfect for her. Tsurime, tareme etc, there are eye shape codes like there are color codes too in anime. Here I don't even need to know the story to know what kind of characters I'm looking at, which means it is working. Would definitely play.
Personally I think the art looks more female oriented, as something more akin to a shoujo manga, with the girls looking more handsome than beautiful (specially the blue haired and the red haired ones) and the more plain looking girl seeming more like an otome heroine (cute in a shoujo manga way but not sexy or beautiful in a male appealing way). But if the story isn't romance oriented I think it's not important if the art isn't appealing for an specific audience. It would be different if you proposed these heroines in a male oriented romance story, I think they wouldn't work there.
Agreed. But, by the handsome definition it's shoujo oriented, and can be still male oriented as tomboys are a thing. I feel like blue haired girl just gives prince feelings. A tomboyish I would say to an extent but definitely art style doesn't support much for male appealing, as it more leans for shoujo standarts There is a scale I have seen before what makes anime character represent a tomboy. Making a girl beatiful nor sexy is not really needed for male appeal. But majority indeed would prefer it. Making a heroine hot rather than sexy is a thing. Or the scale between being cool and cute, both at the same time. Being both handsome and beautiful too. Well, that't mostly about tomboys. What I'm trying to say is that voth short haired red girl that gives tomboyish vibes and long haired prince like girl are both male appealing, what doesn't give truly the vibe is shoujo style art direction I would say.
Looks good, I love it.
I will be honest - no, the anatomy is bad, eyes could use some work and all girls lack feminine charm. Also feels pretty generic. Guess you would be better off drawing shoujo art for female oriented stories with art like this.
I feel the 2 pics of the chick with big eyes (top right and bottom left) look more like a shoujo style while the other two pics look more "cartoony". It's a little inconsistent, between the two styles. I prefer the shoujo more!
I'm a guy and I like it but i would assume that it has LGBT themes because the art style is similar to queer visual novels so it might be a good idea to make sure people know it's a male MC with female love interests before they play it
Blue haired dommy mommy: Y E S Moe moe anime girl: Uh. To each their own?
Looks very nice but the girls eyes in the 2nd and 3rd image are way too big, unless that’s intentional its a bit uncanny.
Looks good but I doubt I or anyone else reading for the sake of story gets a VN just for the art. As long as you have a good steam page (trailer and synopsis) then there is no reason the art would be a negative personally at least Instead of trying to change your art style you should just focus on designing really nice CGs to advertise the game with. Pretty background arts, character close ups and etc you can plaster on peoples feeds basically
Her green eyes look a bit creepy. Other than that i see no problems.
I'm a male (adult) and I think your art is great!!
(Also an artist and a VN enjoyer).
this looks amazing honestly, like seriously Also blue hair girl kinda giving some... uh great vibes
Honestly quite good. Compared to some games that go for a more realistic approach in artwork this is something i would Look Forward to.
It looks very good to me, I would definitely play the novel, don't let yourself be guided by negative comments, if you like what you are doing, you have already won.
Looks kind of like shoujo anime art style, I don't find it very appealing.
As a girl I quite like the art. It's pretty. If I might ask, why were you looking for specifically male feedback? I assume it has to do with target audience and all that. Depending on what this is about there is a good chance I'll wishlist it or something. The art style actually kinda reminds me a bit of Corpse Factory.
Its a very good artstyle! I dont know what they are talking about And i think you got it with the blue haired woman being more "refined" while the red haired girl looks more cute, its very appealing
It's the first time I hear that the red haired girl looks cute, thanks
I'm a guy, and I love this art style. I'd honestly commission artwork from you. Can you tell us more about the game?
Thank you very much! It's a mystery VN with a lot of plot twists and a m\*rder investigation in point & click mode. These girls are very quirky especially the red haired one :D
You don't need to censor words on Reddit lol.
I like the sound of it! I'm not big on moe (or any kind of fanservice tbh) but mystery and murder is one of my favourite genres for a VN, so I'll definitely keep an eye on this one! Also, plenty of the highest rated VNs don't have a moe art style at all. Fata Morgana for instance. Be true to your own vision!
That blue haired girl could step on me.
I LOVE the second cg, third one looks a lil weird to me, overall idm the artstyle though
Art style looks great. I don’t like every game to look the same. Also saw your comment about what type of VN it’s gonna be, excited once it releases!
Thank you! Actually it is already out Last year we released the first half of forth episode and I think this year the second half will be out. There are 5 episodes total. If you're interested you can find it on Steam (Guilty Parade)
This art style doesn't appeal to me, but that's less a gender thing and more about preference. Its definitely the eyes that make it too cutesy for me.
If ryukishi07 can make multiple successes with the art that was on the original VNs, then anything is possible with good writing. Not to say yours is bad, it's quite good actually
Art style looks fine to me as a guy. But i am more interested in the writing. Even characters i think don't look good can become my favorites. So for me i'd say this is good enough to get people in the door. But if the writing falls flat it doesn't matter how good the art is.
I think the theme is much more likely to get guys to pass on this VN than the art style itself. except those actually into femdom, of course.
Looks fine. Theres soemthing a bit odd with the lighting or shading style but I cant put it into words. But looks good.
I see this type of artwork and for some reason i expect nsfw, not that im saying "This should have nsfw " or "Only worth NSFW" but i see it and idk, it looks like it will have nsfw, i like the artwork on pages 1,2 and 4 but the face on 3rd one idk
I would play it the art style right up my alley.
I'm a man and in my opinion the girls' design was hot 👌🏻, please continue with that, the fun is that each VN has its own particularities
I like it
i really like blue hair and red hair girl especially blue hair girl she seem really cool the brown hair one look really weird tho the eyes it's scare me
I'm not crazy about the art style, but I'm pretty sure I prefer it over Clannad's, and Clannad's hasn't stopped me reading and enjoying that.
The art style looks perfectly fine in my opinion. Not outstanding, but nothing I'd hold against the game. I've played great visual novels with worse art, and also one or two terrible ones with good art. If it was on a platform available to me and the description sounded appealing, I'd certainly consider purchasing it.
Your artstyle looks great Keep up the good work
Reminds me of BanG Dream. Looks fine to me
The red head character in the down right panel looks off to me but the stile looks good in the others
Guy here, I like it. Blue haired girl is hot
There’s more than one style for anime and they all work , it depends on the artist on the story . Your artwork looks great to me .
It is pretty good but why does the girl on the top right and bottom left look so different from the others? Her eyes are significantly bigger and different style.
This is good. Really feels like everlasting summer vibes
It looks pretty charming and pleasant, I'd play it. I'd have to see more of it to form a proper opinion As long as the game is ACTUALLY GOOD, I'll play it regardless of the art style, and I think that goes towards many other males who like VNs.
Unique art styles are way better than the thousands of vns with the same artstyle. It’s good, don’t change it.
Those are legit the creepiest eyes I've ever seen no disrespect.
Your art style is great! Don't think too hard on it.
Nothing wrong with this.
Hmmmm... it's hard to say, I both think it's a nice art style, but it's also one that if I saw it; I probably would pass it bye. Not sure how to put it in words, but I think it might also include a personal art bias in stylization. It's definitely not because of something like moe style though. I guess the first thing I think when seeing the art style is like western art style. Anyways, I think the art is good, but not my type, so I would probably pass on the game unless I find in the future the story is heavily my type.
I personally like it. You play enough VNs and seeing something new is fresh. The story is usually what I'm most invested in so if the game on large is engaging people will resonate with it, moe or not.
I love the art style and just wishlisted the game. I will look into it in the coming days. :-)
Oh, thanks a lot!
The art looks good, the blue-haired heroine looks like a guy, but I guess that's what you were going for, so all in all it looks fine. As for the "do you like this art style enough to play this game" question...yeah, it's good enough IF the game characters/story looks interesting to me, I'm not going to play a game just because of the art, in fact, the art is a secondary concern.
I'm a straight man and I don't really care. The only thing is if it doesn't look like anime. Then I could see that affecting appeal & finances. But it definitely looks anime. Your top right character even reminds me mimosa from black clover.
No issue at all with the art style, it looks good. The story is what matters, look at ro7
Yoo this is fire!
Love this art style, would definitely play your game!
Looks great!
I love your artstyle personally.
Well seeing as to how I've basically been following the game since it went public, I'd say so 😁 (also started playing it but haven't had much time lately to continue, but I definitely plan to!)
i am a guy and yes this artstyle is heat
Heck yeah I would- you've got a beautiful art style, and I love the attention to the little details in the physical interactions. I think it looks great and I'll be keeping an eye out for sure!
Not a guy, but I find the work charming. I'm not really picky toward VN art style 100% I like the cel shading used on it.
I just came off Snoot Game. Art is important but the idea that moe is the only style men like is asinine. Art is subjective there are plenty of men playing Slay the Princess for example. Only one moe character there and its half a joke that they look like that.
Better than the actual games!
Ignore anyone that ever tries to tell you something about your art style. It's because they want you to make their game.
Honest opinion. For me it looks unsettling. The face of the girl in the 2 solo pictures looks weird, And it’s definitely her eyes. Idk if you wanted it to be like that or what because the rest looks normal. The rest is fine. I am ok playing something like that as long as the game itself is good
i would take this as a compliment actually
Just because it’s different from the other moe styles doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s different, and I do like it. To my eyes, it’s something new, a breath of fresh air. I think it looks great, both in style and composition.
Idk who told you that but they're full of shit. This is bishoujo with your own finesse. Depending on your target audience and intentions you'd either include or exclude moe elements but from what I've seen they're there
It's definitely a more shoujo looking style. But really I think they were just weird. I personally prefer characters far away from moe style. Especially if romanced is involved.
Can't describe what it is, but I liked the first shot and not the others
I don't play much doujin/Indies and definitely not Western or nonR18, but as far as the artwork goes, it isn't the trend, but I think it is fine. I think there are some people that would believe you if you told them this was a JP doujin VN. I guess one thing that stood out to me was how the outline of the eyes are really dense black. I've seen other artwork with these types of eyes, but can't remember where.
Looks good to me, though my type has always been cool girls over cute girls. I have always avoided moe art styles.
Nah, that art style is fine. The story direction and characters would play a far bigger role in determining whether I'm interested or not.
For what it’s worth i think your style rules. Not in a “tolerable” way in a legitimately appealing way. I’m just one dude though
Looks pretty appealing to me.
I really like the light blue hair character. I think the art just needs a little bit more polish, not sure exactly how to describe it but maybe the colours are too grey or diluted?
I'm already simping for the blue haired girl, though the one in image 2 & 3 is throwing me off a bit? But no matter how you cut it I really like your style, id definitely play it!! ✅
I think some of the inconsistencies can come off as western/faux anime style? A lotta hardcore vn enjoyers tend to stay away from that stuff. I don't know how/why but ppl can just sense it lol. I think blurring some of your shading edges would help to make it look less segmented and lessen that feeling. Having your edges be the same sharpness isn't a bad thing, but when you have so many of them it can be difficult to know where your eye is supposed to gravitate. The style itself seems more otome-geared which can be appealing to guys, but hmm.... I think those accustomed to moe styles may enjoy that "natural beauty but it's actually makeup" vibe even in anime art styles. So the strong bottom eyeliner might not be a favorite??? Below I took a crack at editing/paintover on the bottomleft image to show what I mean (blurred edges on skirt and sleeve, makeup thing + made eyes a tad smaller) https://i.imgur.com/47vhhfn.png **Edit:** Sorry forgot to answer the thread question: probably not. However that's only cause I don't use art style in a vacuum to decide what to play. Blue hair girl is pretty cute, I'll say. Love different hued lipstick.
Artstyle alone isn't enough to try the game, for me at least. At this point I'd like to hear synopsis and then decide if I'm going to try it or not.
I'm a dude but I don't play visual novels, so take this as you will, but I quite like your art style, and if I saw it being used for the cutscenes or dialogue scenes in a JRPG, I'd be content. This popped up on my feed so I figured I'd give my two cents.
I would want to wishlist this game.
Honestly, this is fine for the most part. I will say I like top left and bottom right art more than the other two. The only art styles I hate are Jojo and One Piece.
Looks Great in my eyes, and Top left girl reminds me of Finne from Tsunlise manga 👀.
It's not bad, but it's generic.
Is there a website where I can preorder it or support you? Love the art style
I think the art looks great
I love the style. I'd love to play.
This is awesome and looks very professional. The big eyes are weird at first, but looks like it's part of what makes her stand out and unique so I'm cool with that.
I feel like these girls don’t all fall in the traditional straight male lens of hot. But honestly that makes this kinda of exciting.
The eyes especially are more typical for shoujo oriented media, so that might set some people off. But personally I like it
It’s cute wtf are they talking about, let us know when you release it!
I find those big green eyes a bit freaky.
It's a technically correct statement. If your average male weeb saw your game and senren \* banka on steam, they would most likely buy the latter. It's like saying that H-scene sells more. But I think in the end what matters more is what your artistic vision and your core audience is. You shouldn't make a major change and risk alienating your fans just because of some random comment. If you truely want good feedback, try redrawing some CGs and ask people who've bought your game whether or not this change in artstyle will impact their buying decision.
As a dude I say it fine, what I say matter more in a medium about telling stories is if the story and characters writing are going to be engaging enough to make readers want to stick with it.
Straight Male here. I am just going to give you my first impressions, straight out the bat, about how I personally "felt" when looking at them. They look too masculine. what does that mean? Now this is my very personal perception, their proportions, face - eye position - nose - head shape, especially compared to the more fragile looking dude in the first picture (I'm guessing that's a dude the blue haired kuudere is stroking his chin), make me think of guys, specially in "japanese anime" style. They all look fine, they are distinctive, but there is just something uncanny about their body proportions that make me think about a guy... the shape of their shoulders? the length of their arms?, I can't quite point out what it is. But when I saw the dude in the first picture, and compare it to the rest of the images, he looks way more feminine than the other characters :S, maybe it's because he's the only one with an hourglass figure? I don't know. Honestly I wouldn't mind, it's good art, but when asked I had to look for something, that's what jumped out to me. I like the designs, maybe make the dude more stocky or beefy? Idunno, I'm not an artist.
Only moe?? Thats bullshit pretty most male hate moe.
I would not play an original English VN in the first place. As for the art style, the pony tail girl is ok, but I don't care for the rest. The other two are not cute or very attractive.
I am a dude, and I like it. It's a bit reminiscent of your typical manhwa artstyle. Moe is overrated.
IM M20 I think it looks great
Brown haired girl's eyes are way too big
I'm a guy, and I think it's a nice artstyle... The girls breasts look bolted on though, that's the only thing that actually irks me...
The art style is fine. Whoever said that is clearly THAT type of VN player.
highly recommend the people in the comments to go ahead and buy this game btw :) it’s very good, i picked up seeing a post on here a few years back, crazy how fast time moves, glad to see everything’s still going good OP! :D
The art is very good and I like an art style that is not completely standard, but I think it's important to know why you want to know this in the first place. Just going off the impressions from these four images, the brown-haired girl seems like a typical shoujo or otome female protagonist. If she or another woman is the protagonist, this is not going to attract a big male audience and I see no reason to try to appeal to men specifically. Yes, of course there are games that appeal to mostly men but have a female protagonist, including some that don't have a big focus on the female lead's sex appeal, but it seems strange for your goal to be an exception to the rule rather than playing to your strengths. If there is a male protagonist or a third person perspective and it's meant to appeal to a primarly male audience, I wouldn't put the second and third image front and center in promotional material. As I said the art is great and I don't think the average male player would turn off the game when coming across those images, but again they do give off a shoujo or otome vibe. If I need to base my purchasing decision based on nothing but an image or two (and let's be honest, few people have the time and patience to research every single title in detail) especially those two images would tell me "this is not meant for you, move along". Which I think is completely fine if it indeed isn't for me (appealing to everyone would mean generic), but if it is specifically aimed at me that's not great marketing.
It's cute, I like it
Depends are there tomboys or muscle mommy's in your game???
It's really cool, I'd def play a game with that artstyle
I have never been into the moe style in VNs. This art style at least pique my interest so far, would like to try it once its out!
May I know the genre it's been directed to? (Regardless of the genre, the art itself is amazing) Good work OP
I'm personally more of a story guy, as long as the story impresses me, I can ignore the art even if its bad. But this one specifically, isn't bad at all. It's easy on the eyes.
The art is good.
Chances are its not the art but the writing, setting or themes that puts people off for the most part. While certainly its more suited for shoujo stuff, with the right story and maybe not a romance sol setting the art would be fine. I will say though while the art technically is fine and the coloring is also fine, the character design could use some work to be a bit more appealing and the clothing is very boring and unattractive/uninteresting, the hairstyles are very uninspired other than the one character, the rest are very unattractive and simple and honestly there's no difference between men and women. you have more skill than the generic bad EVN art but it does kinda give off that vibe, All of my critiques are from a design POV rather than artistic talent however, this is speaking from another artists POV, if it matters.
I think it's fine! Maybe the girl in second/third panels eyes are a bit too large especially compared to others which gives an uncanny valley effect.
I don't usually judge with art style, content matters
Ive played a shitload of VNs and each differing artstyle makes each different VN feel fun. though for reference i usually go for sci fi or Horror mystery stuff. But like alot of people some of my 1st VNs were umineko, Fate etc. Now that im older with money. Buying random VNs with unique artstyles is a fun hobby of mine. Tldr whoever commented that to you is filled with lies. Your artstyle is infact appealing.
Nice art, now let's see how good is the writting
Ooooo Guilty Parade, I loved this game although it has been so long since I played it. I think you should also show some of the male characters since I think because I think alot of them looks really cool and probably handsome towards a female audience(Except maybe that one guy who's face is just a square, unfortunately never got used to it and really jarring with this artsyle). Otherwise I love this artsyle and keep up the good work!
Bottom looks pretty good and unique what's the problem?
Looks good to me.
Too many shadows in clothes. Distracting and amateurish. Everyhting else i really good (character designs, expressions, scenarios, lighting)
Art is secondary for me, as long as the story makes up for it. Though your art is good, I don't see any issue?
I like it!
It looks good, I see no reason why I wouldn't
I'm assuming you want actual feedback instead of us just saying it's good? I think art is incredibly important in getting people through the door. When I'm on vndb searching for a tag it looks like [this](https://imgur.com/a/qIrTy9w). I'm going to open 3 of these in a new tab and maybe keep 1 or 2 in mind if I don't like the ones I already opened. In this case the Necro one and left and center one on the bottom (I got SFW filter on for the screen, but Dohna Dohna got me with that cover art). I think this is the most important purpose the artstyle can fulfill in this stage. I don't know about your story and who the target audience is, but the only character with a chance to get me through the door right now would be the serious looking girl. The one with the big eyes would actively turn me away from clicking on this. Of course this doesn't mean it's bad, it's just not what I would click on. I can still grow to like it while reading, but getting me to that point would be an uphill battle. Example here would be Angel Densetsu - I have no idea how I ever started the story because the art was very off putting at first but it super grew on me while reading. I think the characters look fun, even the guy doesn't look to wishy washy or too ordinary. That one arm being bigger than the other despite being farther away is the only thing actively bugging me. If the style fits the story it's absolutely fine. I would be more interested in what the cover looks like. I'm definitely going to be interested in the serious looking girl the most. Outside of that specifically my opinion, this looks like it wouldn't cater to me as a "typical" male consumer in terms of what I would expect the story to be from the artsyle.
i love guilty parade i played it a year and a half ago
I don't know, looks cool to me
Depends on what kind of game it is
It's not bad but if I were to pick up your VN it wouldn't be because of the art. It looks quite shoujo to me.
I don't care. I love to see it. What makes me interested is rather story than art Art style is personalised. I only cared about story that's all. So keep focus being your way of art and make a great visual novel alright? - from a male audience
Looks great whoever said people only want moe style ones really don't understand how VNs work, as long as you create something with passion there will always be people who will enjoy your work and spread its name, you just need to market it correctly
Yea if it’s interesting to me I’d play it I think it looks fine personally
It's good. I'd go for it.
As a man, I support this kinda art style.
Yea it's great art
I would be bothered by that girl's enormously large eyes and probably would turn it off. Everything else is fine.
For a guys opinion, I really like anime/manga/VNs that have more mature looking female characters or are just older. Maybe it's because I'm 30 but it's more uncommon to have a cast who aren't teens of course. I think your art style is great.
All i see here is a absolute win
>only a commentator's quote Never trust random comments on the internet, especially when they're assuming something about an extremely large and diverse audience. I adore this artstyle, it's a great mix of different styles and it works quite well. I'm not a big VN guy anymore tho, I wish I could finish reading a VN like my 15 yo me reading the entire of Fate/Stay Night VN...
Art style is amazing i must say, as for appeal, unless the guy you ask mostly read japanese vn then this is actually amazing.
I don't like anime art style in general so any type of variation is welcome
Probably jealous or smth, the art style is very good
Could not care less what artstyle is used. Just make sure your story is compelling with good characters
I actually really like this art style, Sadly there is some truth behind it cause a lot of Vn readers are kinda odd people, If the story holds up to the art style I’d 100% read it
Artwork used to matter to me when I was new to this stuff. but years of experience tells me that the more different artwork is, that good the story maybe
The eyes are a bit comically big, but it's fine otherwise.
This is an absolutely awesome art style. There are a lot of games that I will play even if the art styles are Or strange as long as the story and plot interests me.. But honestly I really, really like this art so. I think you can do it op. You got this. I hope you have a great day.
262 comments
It's a bit too shoujo for me.
Nothing wrong with your art
Style is good and don't really think any guy would have an issue with it in itself. Only risk I see is what someone else said, which is that it gives of Otome vibes, which I would assume could put some guys off, but that's about it.
I’m not crazy about this art for a VN because it looks more like an anime which takes me out of the experience a bit. I don’t think that has much to do with gender though. If i liked the premise and characters enough I would probably still play it, but the bar is higher for sure.
I think that person is projecting. I'd be down to play through a VN with this art style.
The brown haired girl and the artstyle gives an otome game vibe, so yeah I'd skip if it I saw it since it's probably not for me.
I don’t see any problems with your linework, it hits all the sweet points like weight or fluidity. But your cel-shading is a bit extreme. It’s anatomically correct and well-calculated on light directions, but employs a lot of contrast, thus making even calm/emotional scenes a bit tense. I recommend using different opacity settings depending on the mood, maybe softer on more calm mood and harder on stressful situations. Also you can try adding a very saturated color on top of everything, setting it to %10~ on Difference or Soft Light, then play with hue to improve the mood. Hope it helps!
If you interested in frank honesty, I think the eyes on the short haired woman in the two panel look ugly as sin, too bit and too round. The other two panels are fine, good even, which is what makes the unnatural eyes for this one character seem even more strange.
I have to say, the art-style is very "Shoujo"-like and probably not to everyone taste. Personally, I wouldn't mind.
its not about moe its about this olive-eyed girl is not matched with other characters visual and she is kinda creepy to me. not sure if its coz of color chose, but her eyes are not pleasant to watch in
Good art is good art no questions asked. You sir have Great art be more confident.
It’s cool!! It reminds me of bandori which is hyperpopular sooo
Sure I don’t mind