Sure, but I'd probably just get them on Desura anyway. :P

And I've voted for it. Can't remember when I did, but I have. I also have the game on disc, bought from the place I linked.

Every time I read you saying that I get upset, annoyed and particularly frustrated in that there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Other than promoting PC gaming in Japan by gifting GOG games to random Japanese people I randomly bump into, and that doesn't happen often.


On topic, I would like to change my previous opinion. While I have no strong opinion about VN being sold in GOG in general, I wouldn't mind specifically Japanese ones with full (Japanese) audio support. The last Japanese I randomly bumped into made me realize my Japanese language skills have taken an impressive dive for the worse, and I wouldn't mind to have some VNs here to help me fix that. I find VNs really helpful at practicing understanding and vocabulary as you can slowly advance sentence by sentence and repeat the ones you are unsure about as many times as you need.

While I strongly dislike the genre and have no intention of buying a Visual Novel, I really do not see why they wouldn't have a place here. They fit the GOG strategy of catering to relatively obscure tastes and niche markets, it would please the enthusiast by making hard to come by titles available and I'm sure there are many people who are potentially interested in but as of yet unaware of the genre.

So yeah, makes sense to me.

I think so. One of my favorite games on GOG (King of Dragon Pass) has a lot of VN elements. Some people might not see a market for VN here. But honestly if you were trying to pitch the idea of GOG 6 years ago people might have said “Who would want to by outdated games?” And as you can see quite a few people :)

To the Moon is essentially a VN and its done pretty well for itself (I thought it was so-so). Not as sure about Analogue though.

Well speak of the devil: http://www.destructoid.com/analogue-a-hate-story-gets-a-sequel-has-new-mechanics-250950.phtml
Yes, I would say that Analogue: A Hate Story is also essentially a VN and it looks like it's done really well for itself. I forgot about this one, but this is another one I'd like to see on the service - especially since it's already on Steam and lots of other services.

That's the sad thing, isn't it. Subpar western imitations like these are somewhat commercially successful but the far more polished products from abroad never get localized except by crazy fans on a pro bono basis. Unless they are "adult". Then it's business as usual.

That's probably the biggest shame, I think that's what drove me to write all that text in my OP - I hope eventually we'll see some of those polished products here on the service someday - but I doubt it'll happen any time soon. Maybe when/if ever attitudes change towards DRM and the VN respectively we'll see one or two pop up. Until then though, if you like the genre everyone should keep on spreading the word whenever/wherever it seems appropriate. Also note that those VNs that Aksys licensed recently are said to have done really well for them, so there is still hope.

I don't see why visual novel games shouldn't have a place on GOG. In fact, I hope that there comes a greater demand for them in the west, so we can get many of the better visual novels already out there localized. Personally, I'd pay well for a (clean) copy of Utawarerumono.

I've had my eye on this one for a while, wondering if I should just buy the boxed copy from them one of these days.

Ever 17 on gog would be like dream come true for me.
And there is many others VN that would fit here too.

Having played both Analogue, and the creator's older game Digital, I can say they are far from subpar. In fact I would rank them much higher than something like 999.

As for the OP: You're misrepresenting those games. Persona 4 Arena is a fighting game, so is BlazBlue, and the Ace Attorney games are point-and-click adventure games. Just because a game may have overlong cutscenes that does not make it a visual novel.

That being said, I have nothing against them being sold here on GOG and, like it's been pointed out, To The Moon is already here and that's a visual novel.

Those games I mentioned all have either have VN game modes or were evolved/made by those who started making games in the genre. With specific reference to Blazblue and Persona 4: Arena - they have VN-type game modes. When you play the story mode in both of those games, you are presented with reems of text accompanied by voice and are given options every now and then - these story modes are classic examples of what VNs are. Yes they are fighting games, but they also include an example of what most VNs are structured like.

As you've probably seen in other VNs, some of them do contain gameplay or some type of mini-game. Maybe it was not made clear in my OP, but these games are indicative of the visual novel type of gameplay in their story modes. I did not mean to say that they were visual novels.

Thanks for your opinion and the compliment! Deadly Premonition has some of the best shots for log-ins and stuff like this. *shameless plug*

Let GOG sell movies for all I care, as long as it expands the customer base and brings company more money.