Visual novel

A visual novel (Japanese: ビジュアルノベル, Hepburn: bijuaru noberu), often abbreviated as VN, is a digital fiction game originating from Japan. It is often a game with a branching narrative that can be navigated through making certain decisions. Many (but not all) visual novels will often be structured in such a way that the main goal is to enter the routes of major heroines/heroes, often for romantic or sexual reasons. However, visual novels are diverse and possess a wide range of structures and goals, and may possess only some or even none of these elements, such as with kinetic novels.

Visual novels commonly feature static character images that are moved around on backgrounds, with narrative text and dialogue overlaid these images and accompanied by sounds and music. The format in which text is displayed on the screen can be ADV, NVL, or a mix of both.