Does it bother you that most VNs only give you two options when making choices?

[lst]

I've thought about this sometimes. I wish there were three or even four options.
Update: If you want to, check out post #19 for more details on what I mean.

 

[nyao]

It definitely does bother me since I play a wide variety of games and heavily enjoy flavour text, so it's boring when the majority of options boil down to yes or no—sometimes those exact words (ㆆ_ㆆ)

 

[Meringue]

I think I already struggle enough trying to pick the right option even when there's only two choices @ ~ @

 

[satory]

In Over Requiemz most choices have 3 options, but they are not relevant to endings. Often many choices = many branching path = more money on production, and games are not cheap as they are

On the other hand, sometimes among two choices there is not a single good one, so I understand you completely

 

[Altorese]

welp for me it's certainly better when there's more than just two choices. However, most choices only affect the ending and a couple of phrases right after the selection, so it doesn't bother me much when there's only two choices. what really annoys me is when this two choices are limited to yes or no options, especially when you choose "no" and it turned out to be "yes" anyway…

 

[Syntaxcha]

There are some games where I am bothered by it but most of the time, I do play for the story and plot so choices are not much of an issue for me, they usually only have three anyway.

 

[ninnikuryona]

not at all! if anything, im more than satisfied with kinetic vns. also, i only play with guides anyway, so its not like i should be bothered by this stuff anyway ww
just like meringue, i personally struggle with choices in games, because im deathly afraid of picking something wrong and messing up my entire route LOL i dont want the sexy png to hate me for my dumb choices=(

that said, if there are "flavour" choices, id prefer them to actually be flavourful. not like genshins "and then you said..." "...this shit", which are technically two different choices, but lead to the exact same response. if thats the case, why even give me a choice? just make a kinetic novel!!

 

[lam1305]

I use guide when playing otome game so choices don't bother me. Most choice in otome game only affect the route and ending, the story or dialogue will not have much changes so I think the number of option doesn't bother.

 

[xxzxc]

I wish there were more provocative choices. The most exciting choice I've ever seen in an otome game was "rejecting LI's confession." You rarely see that kind of choice in current otome games.

Also, sometimes I want to scold LI for his rude behavior. I'd like more choices that resonate with the player's feelings like that. Rather than that, if you can only choose safe options... it would be easier to play if they weren't there at all.

 

[AmnesiaArya]

For me, it's not even about being limited to two choices—it's the lack of an attack button that kills me. Some of these male leads and side characters say things that make me genuinely want to throw hands. Like Yi from The Mirror Phase: Illusionary City, most of the MLs in Hanayaka Nari, Waga Ichizoku, or Hugo from Virche Evermore (just my personal take, no offense to their fans!).

 

[KHUNAA]

I never really noticed that before. I'm usually just focused on the plot. That said, I guess having more choices could mean more branching paths and content to explore?

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

I don't really mind less choices. I'd say I prefer it to games that offer a bunch of options that don't do anything... feels a bit lazy, like the developers are just padding the play time with minimal flavor text

I play with guides, so I guess I don't really pay too much attention to the choices. However I do prefer when the correct choice is not as obvious and a bit more ambiguous, it's more fun that way ;)

 

[Pizizi]

I like it when the game has at least 4 options. Because then it's easier to control the routes; if there are fewer, it bothers me, unless they are choices made after a route has already been defined or if they are significant choices.

On the other hand, having too many choices makes it difficult for me to control the route, especially if all the options are very good; I'm tempted to create routes and my save slot becomes a mess. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

 

[Moonblink]

I guess it depends on the story and the choices themselves/outcomes. i don't mind if the limited choices are because of the branching and that every different choice has a different outcome at some point. but if it's only 2 choices with both having no effect then it gets boring

 

[Ryuji_Shiryu]

Yes and no. It really depends on the narrative of the story for me. But for the most part, I've only played games where choices split into 2 or 3 choices, so I've gotten used to this kind of thing.

 

[crisalt]

not really. I feel like most games don't have a lot of good branching in the story (except for endings and dead ends), and just adding more options wouldn't change that

 

[LapisWhale]

I always use a guide so it's not a problem :v also, if the choice is kind of nonsense then the less of it the better =)))

 

[Eir]

Not really, two options is usually enough as long as they actually lead to different outcomes. The number of choices matters less to me than whether they actually do anything ( '• ω • `)

 

[lst]

I've read the comments so far, and I'd like to elaborate further. I prefer playing without guides, at least for the first few runs, because it's more fun that way for me. So, I'd like more choices that actually lead to longer, substantially different scenes, more branching paths, and more endings (3 or 4 instead of the usual "good ending" and "bad ending"), rather than just minor dialogue changes here and there. I'm aware that the save slots might become a mess, but that's a price I'm willing to pay for more story variety. ~(￣▽￣)~*

 

[Lady otome]

As long as those two options actually matter to the narrative and change something, then no, it doesn't bother me.

What does bother me is when the game throws twenty fake choices at me just to maintain the illusion of it, meanwhile every option leads to the exact same thing anyway.

 

[dungans]

Not really, to be honest.
Two options are usually enough to guide you toward a good ending, a bad ending, or a specific route flag — especially if you're playing with a guide like I do.
As long as the choices are meaningful and affect the outcome, I'm fine with just two. Quality over quantity!

 

[yueop]

Actually, because I play games while following a guide, it doesn't matter to me whether there are many choices or few.
Of course, I have sometimes chosen options other than the ones in the guide just to see the characters' reactions.

 

[nekoky]

Yes, it does bother me. Having only two choices in most visual novels often feels too restrictive. Real life decisions are rarely just binary, and in a story driven genre like otome, I want more nuance and variety in how I respond to situations. Two options tend to force the player into an obvious good or bad path, which can make the gameplay feel shallow.

 

[aoisora( ◕ H ◕)]

It's quite a dilemma for me as well. Sometimes neither of the options is ideal, which makes the decision really difficult.

 

[arson194835798]

There are quite a few that I've played with more than two choices (mostly mobile VN games), but only two options doesn't bother me.

At the end of the day, except for critical choices, you only really get either affection from different character or no affection at all, and some difference in dialogue, before the game goes back onto track.