On a technical level, it's pretty advanced for a 'visual novel' to the point where most people may not even call it one. In fact the genre Google gave it was 'Rhythm game' due to the band play moments. But that's not the majority of gameplay by far.
But I'm strange in how I define a 'visual novel', which is typically:
1) Story stands on its writing and could be easily translated into a book if the visual elements were translated into text.
2) Reading [voice acted or not] is the vast majority of gameplay (80%+).
Traditionally visual novels on a graphic level are more static and paper puppet like where you usually are the main character (1st person) looking at static images talking to you. The fact that they did more with it than that is very impressive, and quite rare.
It's kind of a percentage thing for me. For instance, I kind of consider Night in the Woods a visual novel that has heavy platforming elements. So it's a hybrid genre. Ironically, Night in the Woods also had band rhythm games sprinkled within.
On a technical level, it's pretty advanced for a 'visual novel' to the point where most people may not even call it one. In fact the genre Google gave it was 'Rhythm game' due to the band play moments. But that's not the majority of gameplay by far.
But I'm strange in how I define a 'visual novel', which is typically:
1) Story stands on its writing and could be easily translated into a book if the visual elements were translated into text.
2) Reading [voice acted or not] is the vast majority of gameplay (80%+).
Traditionally visual novels on a graphic level are more static and paper puppet like where you usually are the main character (1st person) looking at static images talking to you. The fact that they did more with it than that is very impressive, and quite rare.
It's kind of a percentage thing for me. For instance, I kind of consider Night in the Woods a visual novel that has heavy platforming elements. So it's a hybrid genre. Ironically, Night in the Woods also had band rhythm games sprinkled within.