Touhou Visual Novels

[HartWurst]

Given how many Touhou fan manga there is, it's surprising that there's only 166 Touhou visual novels recorded on VNDB. Why do you guys think Touhou visual novels are so rare?

[CyberAngel]

"ONLY" 166?! Pray tell, what franchise has more than that? VNs aren't really a prolific genre in general.

[HartWurst]

"ONLY" 166?! Pray tell, what franchise has more than that? VNs aren't really a prolific genre in general.

Given the vast amounts of Touhou fanmanga and fangames, I would've assumed that Touhou fan visual novels would've past 200 at least. Especially given how many VNs were produced in the 2000s and early 2010s, which is around the time Touhou began to become popular

[WitheringFlowerCrown]

I will repeat CyberAngel's statement and implication that "Only" 166 is not exactly a little. Even the Fate/ series, which started as a Visual Novel, has less. Though you may be talking about the amount of Touhou Visual Novels compared to other genres of fangames, which makes much more sense. 166 compared to the who-knows-how-many other Touhou fangames is small, especially for how long Touhou has existed and how many Doujin circles are specifically around for Touhou.

But to answer your question, Touhou Visual Novels may be rare because most Touhou Fans and Fangames usually focus on other types of game genres. Danmaku (Touhou's home genre), RPGs, Rogue-lites, and even Card games/Tabletop games are common. It doesn't help that Visual Novels, as CyberAngel said, are not a prolific genre and there isn't much of a hook that one can bring. It's a shame, really.

[moons1de_]

I will repeat CyberAngel's statement and implication that "Only" 166 is not exactly a little.

I don't play visual novels other than series that were started by visual novels like Tsukihime or the Fate Series, but I have to ask... How long are visual novels usually? I could understand 166 is quite a lot but how many hours of content would even one of those 166 visual novels provide?

[HartWurst]

But to answer your question, Touhou Visual Novels may be rare because most Touhou Fans and Fangames usually focus on other types of game genres. Danmaku (Touhou's home genre), RPGs, Rogue-lites, and even Card games/Tabletop games are common. It doesn't help that Visual Novels, as CyberAngel said, are not a prolific genre and there isn't much of a hook that one can bring. It's a shame, really.

That makes enough sense, but it definitely is a shame. Most of the Touhou VNs I saw were all pretty short, so I hope that one day we get some large scale Touhou VN which makes them more popular. Kinda like how Sakuya Izayoi Gives you Advice and Dabs helped popularise similar VNS like Seiga Kaku uses her Amazing Taoist Arts and Gives you Life Advice. Though there hasn't been any big (as in length and production) VNs in a while, the only one really coming to mind is the Tsukihime remake, and that took over a decade.

[CyberAngel]

I don't play visual novels other than series that were started by visual novels like Tsukihime or the Fate Series, but I have to ask... How long are visual novels usually? I could understand 166 is quite a lot but how many hours of content would even one of those 166 visual novels provide?

Hours of reading, dozens for a decent one.

That said, yeah, it might not look like a big category compared to other Touhou fangames, but that's because VNs are a different beast. We're talking a serious novel volume level of writing, and quite an amount of artwork. A huge effort compared to your usual doujin manga. Other genres require a lot of work too, but VNs are all about lots of detailed writing, and few think of that when wanting to make a fangame.

[WitheringFlowerCrown]

That makes enough sense, but it definitely is a shame. Most of the Touhou VNs I saw were all pretty short, so I hope that one day we get some large scale Touhou VN which makes them more popular. Kinda like how Sakuya Izayoi Gives you Advice and Dabs helped popularise similar VNS like Seiga Kaku uses her Amazing Taoist Arts and Gives you Life Advice. Though there hasn't been any big (as in length and production) VNs in a while, the only one really coming to mind is the Tsukihime remake, and that took over a decade.

All of this is true.
Imagine: We could have lived in a world where "Eirin Gives you Medicine and Tells you Health Advice" or "Akyuu Gives you Historical Fun-facts and Writing Advice" exists, alas, it was not meant to be. Maybe it is in the Land of Fantasy.

And yes, large VNs haven't come out in a while. Once again, CyberAngel reads the situation perfectly. It requires a lot of writing expertise and art. An actual novel's worth. That's a lot of time and effort for anyone, let alone Doujin circles.

I don't play visual novels other than series that were started by visual novels like Tsukihime or the Fate Series, but I have to ask... How long are visual novels usually? I could understand 166 is quite a lot but how many hours of content would even one of those 166 visual novels provide?

Hours. Days sometimes. And this is for the more basic Visual Novels. For ones with extremely intricate alternative pathways and choices with obscure requirements, months.
166? It would probably take years to get through that backlog. Your Steam Library/Hard Drive would be bloated.

[CyberAngel]

To be fair, there probably are a bunch of short under-hour ones there, I've seen a few Touhou VNs like that.

[degradingwindow]

I will repeat CyberAngel's statement and implication that "Only" 166 is not exactly a little. Even the Fate/ series, which started as a Visual Novel, has less. Though you may be talking about the amount of Touhou Visual Novels compared to other genres of fangames, which makes much more sense. 166 compared to the who-knows-how-many other Touhou fangames is small, especially for how long Touhou has existed and how many Doujin circles are specifically around for Touhou.

But to answer your question, Touhou Visual Novels may be rare because most Touhou Fans and Fangames usually focus on other types of game genres. Danmaku (Touhou's home genre), RPGs, Rogue-lites, and even Card games/Tabletop games are common. It doesn't help that Visual Novels, as CyberAngel said, are not a prolific genre and there isn't much of a hook that one can bring. It's a shame, really.

I think this sums it up pretty well on why they aren't as popular. VNs are pretty niche as people prefer an action or adventure game rather than a more laid back chill game.

Another thing to note is that most of these aren't actually in English. Only 61 out of 166 VNs have a version in English, the rest are in Japanese. We westerners are really starved of Touhou content overall, There really aren't that many big name western Touhou fangames, we rely a lot on Japanese content that have fan translations into English (An underlying problem that I hope improves in the future).

There are probably many more Touhou VNs in Japan that we probably don't know about as a lot of them have fallen into obscurity or haven't been digitalised.

I've played a handful of Touhou VNs and I can assure you that 90% of the ones available in English fall into these two categories:
• The itch.io indie VNs which are normally really short, you can blast through one in like an hour but it isn't something that will really impact your life. A lot of them are jam games (especially the Touhou PrideJam) so don't get your hopes up on them feeling complete. But they're free so I can't complain.

• The DLsite VNs that have English Patches. Translation work on VNs is extensive and you really need passion for the game in order to go that far. If you want a deeper VN experience I recommend these.


It's a tough life being a Touhou yuri fan and having little access to yuri VNs outside of DLsite and short indie games.

[Branneg Xy]

This reminds me about the times I searched and come across https://vndb.org/v?q=touhou&sb=Search%21&ch=&f=&s=200  while searching https://vndb.org/v?q=touhou&sb=Search%21&ch=&f=&s=26w .

[Branneg Xy]

I think this sums it up pretty well on why they aren't as popular. VNs are pretty niche as people prefer an action or adventure game rather than a more laid back chill game.

Another thing to note is that most of these aren't actually in English. Only 61 out of 166 VNs have a version in English, the rest are in Japanese. We westerners are really starved of Touhou content overall, There really aren't that many big name western Touhou fangames, we rely a lot on Japanese content that have fan translations into English (An underlying problem that I hope improves in the future).

There are probably many more Touhou VNs in Japan that we probably don't know about as a lot of them have fallen into obscurity or haven't been digitalised.

I've played a handful of Touhou VNs and I can assure you that 90% of the ones available in English fall into these two categories:
• The itch.io indie VNs which are normally really short, you can blast through one in like an hour but it isn't something that will really impact your life. A lot of them are jam games (especially the Touhou PrideJam) so don't get your hopes up on them feeling complete. But they're free so I can't complain.

• The DLsite VNs that have English Patches. Translation work on VNs is extensive and you really need passion for the game in order to go that far. If you want a deeper VN experience I recommend these.


It's a tough life being a Touhou yuri fan and having little access to yuri VNs outside of DLsite and short indie games.

For https://itch.io/games/genre-visual-novel/tag-touhou  I am recommending these ones : https://luyuu.itch.io/the-little-rabbit-princess-and-the-house-of-eternity ; https://apricotwtf.itch.io/pirates-of-gensokyo +  https://rinzai-gigen.itch.io/pirates-of-gensokyo-the-quest-for-the-heart-of-alce-margatrod ; https://megapig9001.itch.io/touhou-dance-of-the-inverted-heart ; https://gimark.itch.io/vntouhou (Incomplete updates,at least the free ones there; (6$+) https://gimark.itch.io/vntouhou .

[SeroVich]

Maybe how about make a Touhou VN by ourselves? Sure, it might be tough, especially with an insane medium like Visual Novel; but the reward will be worth it.

[HartWurst]

Maybe how about make a Touhou VN by ourselves? Sure, it might be tough, especially with an insane medium like Visual Novel; but the reward will be worth it.

Sounds like a fun idea, and doesn't seem too impossible. Katawa Shoujo was made under similar circumstances after all, but here we won't have to make any new characters or anything. Where should we start though, the story or the engine?

[SeroVich]

Sounds like a fun idea, and doesn't seem too impossible. Katawa Shoujo was made under similar circumstances after all, but here we won't have to make any new characters or anything. Where should we start though, the story or the engine?

Maybe start off learning how the system works. THEN, we can make a good story relating to Touhou.

I think it is better to use Ren'Py, as it is beginner friendly.

[marumuju]

I've played around with Ren'Py for a bit, and it is indeed beginner friendly (I could do everything one would need for a game after a couple of hours worth of tinkering).

But that's because visual novels are inherently very simple games, since the main focus is on the story (well, it could also be the fanservice). Having the script, art and sound is the biggest problem. Actually, maybe not. Anyone can put something together. THE problem is having material that anyone would actually find reading-worthy.

[SeroVich]

Having the script, art and sound is the biggest problem. Actually, maybe not. Anyone can put something together. THE problem is having material that anyone would actually find reading-worthy.

Yeah, I think we have some people who could be artists, musicians and writers. And you're right, the problem we are in right now is to make a story that is actually worth the time of the reader.

Hopefully we will not be in the situation where the visual novel is in development hell or cancelled.

[Branneg Xy]

I've played around with Ren'Py for a bit, and it is indeed beginner friendly (I could do everything one would need for a game after a couple of hours worth of tinkering).

But that's because visual novels are inherently very simple games, since the main focus is on the story (well, it could also be the fanservice). Having the script, art and sound is the biggest problem. Actually, maybe not. Anyone can put something together. THE problem is having material that anyone would actually find reading-worthy.

Yeah, I think we have some people who could be artists, musicians and writers. And you're right, the problem we are in right now is to make a story that is actually worth the time of the reader.

Hopefully we will not be in the situation where the visual novel is in development hell or cancelled.

To help getting the inspiration started and with bases ... it may be of help of aid be pointing out,describing,analyzing,cross-checking,etc.  the preferred story themes,sub-themes,parts,links,etc. of one's own favourite and/or directly and/or indirectly recommended Touhou , Touhou-Crossover,Tuhou-Inspired relating to VN,CyoA Adventures and Quests,story or even VN-like segments in RPG games and so on