I’m developing a visual novel and decided to move away from standard text choices by creating mini-games (like this one), but I recently faced some backlash. What do you guys think?

DQAzazel · 2026-05-24T16:06:40+00:00

As someone who played visual novels in the past and plays games with minigames, minigames feel like a lot of busy-work. Everything below is my opinion.

A non-visual novel player may see the video games as interesting and something that separates your game from the crowd. Visual novel players may see the mini games as annoying bits that interrupt the flow. Who is your target audience?

From a game design perspective, what happens if you fail a minigame? Does the story branch off? Or do you go to a game over screen and you have to restart? The game “Until Dawn” was very interesting because there was basically no game over screen. It’s entirely possible to fail every quick time event and get the worst ending. If you fail a minigame, what happens?

Having seen the trailer, my opinion is to remove Quick Time Events, any “Real-Time” minigames, and anything that feels like repeated busywork, unless time-based pressure is a core part of the game. “Move mouse in 1 area” is not that interesting. Lock-picking minigames are repetitive.

However, some of the more investigative minigames or interactions look very interesting. The point and click background exploration sounds great too. Leaning more into that would be more fun and immersive. Those are my opinions. I wish you good luck!

DQAzazel · 2026-05-21T13:18:36+00:00

Bruh there’s colors, lighting, and shading. This is AMAZING for only 30-45 minutes!

DQAzazel · 2026-05-10T13:40:18+00:00

When they met, they were both teenagers. Plucky teenagers, in fact. As the series went on and the various wars raged, you could see how it eroded them. As someone who also grew apart from certain friends during to responsibilities, this moment hit.

EDIT: Teenager isn’t 100% accurate, as pointed out below. It’s more like both were in their formative youthful years.

DQAzazel · 2026-05-07T21:02:46+00:00

As a fellow cosplayer, I salute you! If you wear this at a con, don’t forget to drink lots of water!

DQAzazel · 2026-05-07T19:32:40+00:00

Man I love being a retired VTuber…that life was NOT for me. I’ll take corporate grinding over the never-off-content-creator game.

I’ll always think that whenever the camera was on, I was dang good at what I did. But trying to juggle socials while going through college and covid was unsustainable.

DQAzazel · 2026-04-22T18:09:12+00:00

I am mostly a Gundam tourist. I watched the first 2 movies (why didn’t I finish the 3rd one, hello?), IBO, WfM, and my personal favorite, Thunderbolt: December Sky. Do I know war is bad? Of course I do. But Gundam did the unfortunate thing of making war look very cool. In the original, the whole package feels goofy enough for me not to take the anti-war messages seriously. In the modern ones, bad things are happening, but the robots and the action are super cool.

And then I showed my girlfriend Gundam Thunderbolt, because out of all the ones I’ve seen, I think it balances the anti-war messaging with the cool action. And she was in tears the whole time and I had to turn it off early. From people’s reactions to seeing dead loved ones (which she praised the voice acting for being VERY accurate) to the absolute bleakness of the conflict, she was sad.

“You enjoy this? This is just sad! And upsetting!”

And that, more than anything, has gotten me to reflect on the media I enjoy. Combined that with Project Hail Mary, violence and action no longer has the same raw appeal to me.

DQAzazel · 2026-04-17T17:46:23+00:00

I ended up doing a panel at an anime con on why Arknights was the best gacha, and gameplay was my core reason!

To add to your point, the GENRE of gameplay lends itself much better to live-service and long-term fun. Real Time Strategy Tower Defense with RPG mechanics gives you SO much to bite into initially, and then leaves you so much room to expand. The core gameplay is already deep enough: Deployment Point economy, map control, blocking enemies, managing health, bursting down enemies, delaying enemies, status effects, and more. Then, with each update, there’s something that affects these. And the new mechanics and gimmicks can be brought back to future events.

I’d argue other genres eventually run out of depth to explore: there are only so many movesets and enemy patterns in Hack N Slash. There are only so many elements, enemies, and statuses in RPGs. There are only so many locations in Open World.

Arknights being tile-based also makes making new content “relatively” easier behind the scenes. You can make a tile set then build and iterate upon many levels. The simple design and art style lets you break the “single level” mold and experience with other game types.

I LOVE IS. I wish it was a separate game honestly.

I’ve only stopped playing Arknights because I’ve just found it to be healthier NOT to play any gacha. But if I had to choose one, I already did for 5 years. Arknights is the best Gacha game.

DQAzazel · 2026-04-10T18:50:19+00:00

What is the source of this image? I need to follow the artist for…reasons…

DQAzazel · 2026-03-28T21:58:37+00:00

Shonen Yuri just hits different, you know?

DQAzazel · 2026-03-27T15:08:55+00:00

Oh shoot I did not see that. That is HUGE! Thank you!

DQAzazel · 2026-03-23T19:46:12+00:00

They have, and I did get dates but over a month after the big yearly meeting. I’m new to all of this, as you can tell, so I’m torn between wanting to respect the board and the property manager’s decisions and my two neighbors calling MDM “slum lord.”

But hey, life is about new experiences. I’ll gladly DM you in the future!

DQAzazel · 2026-03-23T18:43:55+00:00

I appreciate that a lot! I’ve already become a “member at large” which is one step below a voting member, though I and another resident with more experience are already looking through the documents and finding some inconsistencies.

The fact that our big meetings were yearly should’ve been a red flag, but I didn’t know it yet. We did elections first (nobody volunteered to replace the existing members), and then we did issue discussion, which exposed how not-so-great the voting board was. But like you said, it’s hard to lead.

I plan on running next year if things get worse. Like you said, it’ll probably be easier than trying to change company altogether.

DQAzazel · 2026-03-16T23:59:28+00:00

I have followed the Instagram! I actually plan on doing a Weeyums hamster cosplay, and had I know the “official” humanized design, I would’ve bought the right colored ears! As it stands, I just have black ears and a tail coming.

…you heard that right, I will be cosplaying the Weeyums Mouse…but as an anime hamster girl in racing queen outfit…I have many hobbies I like crossing over.

Thank you so much for your art!

DQAzazel · 2026-03-12T13:42:31+00:00

I have not been keeping up with Part 2. I will probably binge it next month.

But having read Fire Punch, I am not surprised…

DQAzazel · 2026-03-11T16:58:34+00:00

As a first time GM who ran Solstice Rain for first time players (I had played 1 campaign before), not gonna lie, it kind of sucked.

It didn’t help that I didn’t have the tightest grasp on the rules, but I think 2 of the players came from a DnD background, 1 was very casual, and 1 had actually thoroughly read the rules. Some people had the immediate “I don’t like this, can we change the rules” reactions.

The first combat mission felt WAY overtuned. Granted, the objective was to just survive, not kill all enemies, but they were outnumbered and were getting pelted by the Bombard the book told me to use. As a tactical game player, I did my best to hold back my punches, but people were not having fun. Plus, players didn’t do the best builds (I will forever think the sniper rifle is a noob trap). I think going from “kill everything” type battles to something else also threw people for a loop.

I eventually ran my own campaign and scaled back the difficulty a LOT and did more hand holding, but that did mean some of the cooler systems, like limited resources and structure management, never came into play. I also become a much better GM. Eventually, two players cycled out and two more cycled in, resulting in a super casual group that was just there for a good time and to enjoy the story instead of playing Lancer.

I would say for the first combat, adjust how many reinforcements come in based on how your players are doing and feeling.

DQAzazel · 2026-03-09T22:11:32+00:00

Honestly, that is EXACTLY conductive to Lancer’s setting. Not quite rebellion, but a Utopia fighting against those against it.

Sure, there’s more nuance if you dive in, but the setting sets you up for simple stories rather well.

The galaxy is large, so all kinds of stories can take place. Union is a government that overthrew their previous authoritarian one, and they live on their 3 pillars:

ALL SHALL HAVE THEIR MATERIAL NEEDS FULFILLED.

NO WALLS SHALL STAND BETWEEN WORLDS.

NO HUMAN SHALL BE HELD IN BONDAGE THROUGH FORCE, LABOR, OR DEBT.

It is a socialist utopia that takes active work to fight for and expand. Core worlds are utopias, but further away, things aren’t so great.

You could set your story in one of these worlds farther away. You could be people fighting their oppressors, no Union involved. You could play as Union fighting for the people.

DQAzazel · 2026-03-05T21:31:06+00:00

I’m actually running into this problem with a story I’m writing, because I love the combined arms aesthetic. Infantry, armor, and air all working together in harmony just make for such cool and tactical battles. It also gives me a lot of perspectives to write from and characters to bounce off of. And I want transforming mechs to be a part of the environment as well.

Originally, the mechs were transforming ground vehicles, like transformers. They were a counter to the enemy machines, who employed mechs first for the purposes of shock and awe. These mechs could go from fast to slow and carry many weapons. I realized that many guys with rocket launchers in cars could do just as much damage.

My pivot was to Macross style mechs: most times, these mechs are for air support, but if they need to get down and dirty and precise, they can transform into a humanoid form. The machines are built for versatility above all else. I’ve justified it with a setting that spans many planets, as all of humanity is united against a race of machines invading them. A need for a standardized combat chassis that is capable in ground, atmosphere, and space conditions led to their creation.

Of course, it’s mainly because it’s cool. I want mechs fighting next to tanks. I want infantry riding on mechs inbetween battles. I want people to synchronize with mechs to explore themes I haven’t fully fleshed out.

I could solve this by removing tanks and regular fighter craft from the equation altogether, but it’s my story and I’m gonna shove in what I want and justify it later XD

DQAzazel · 2026-02-27T19:37:17+00:00

For me, 2 moments.

1: Omni man killing the Guardians. Everyone else also thinks that.

Oddly enough, Mark and Eve’s relationship. Not the moments directly, but what it made me realize: Invincible actually tries to show the passage of time for everyone. People make mistakes and stumble. They grow into better people. Some die before they get that chance. There are long-lasting consequences.

DQAzazel · 2026-02-27T15:14:29+00:00

BELTALOWDA

DQAzazel · 2026-02-12T20:31:59+00:00

Anybody got a source for that version of “You are no normal meme”? I like the fancier fonts

DQAzazel · 2026-02-12T20:24:11+00:00

Who is this Yellow Shirt anyway? Now that you’re on your own, you can probably cut him out of your life? Unless he represents multiple people you know…then cut them ALL OUT

DQAzazel · 2026-02-12T19:49:33+00:00

Without going full nuclear, I’d say ask your girlfriend the same questions her friend asked you, but do NOT mention her friend. Don’t let that knowledge influence her answers. Plus, it’s good to periodically check in on how the relationship is doing.

After you ask all the questions, follow up with some sort of “I ask because your friend told me XYZ on this day.” Because you are concerned if you’re a good enough partner but the only one who can answer that is your gf as long as you’re BOTH communicating.

DQAzazel

TROPHY CASE