Chinese Visual Novel: Feminist Wave with Chinese Characteristics
From web novels to visual novels, the add-on graphics and interactions make the players feel more in control and boost the immersive experience. Chinese visual novels are a heated trend of enjoying gameplay and reading at the same time. This post will lead you through the uniqueness of Chinese visual novel games and recommend a few sites for visual novel reading.📖
The start of otome games: the feminist wave in the 1990s
The Chinese visual novel has become increasingly popular among young girls. But where did they originate? Visual novel games also carry the name “otome”, which means “maiden”. Originating in Japan, visual novel games were developed as an effort to tap into the female game market.
It was in the late 1990s that the visual novel games were introduced into mainland China. However, as Liu pointed out, the introduction of Japanese otome games was in the form of pirated versions because of the legal importation difficulty of games in China at that time.
“The [the] spread of Japanese otome games was not legalized considering the copyright of these games and the way they were shared online by people who bought the original games and did the translations then uploaded to online places like otome forums.” (Liu, 12)
The year 2012 witnessed the rise of the mainstream of China-developed visual novel games. Instead of solely focusing on female romance, China game developers like 4399 and Chengguang (www.66rpg.com) combined the Chinese ancient culture, modern web novel culture, and romance, expanding the genre of visual novel games. Of late, there is also a new platform called Yiciyuan. Each platform has its signature visual novels.
In short, the trends in Japan and China both represent the turn of gaming industry to pay more and more attention to the female game market. What is different is how Chinese visual novels incorporate Chinese culture and other genres into visual novel games.
Genres of Chinese visual novel games
Liu mentions that at the start of the development, there were genres like ancient palaces, rivers and lakes, and potent boss. (13) It was an immediate success when the games fully match the players’ cultural identity and offer them dreams about the glorious past of ancient times.
Yet, different from otome games, visual novels also develop genres as rich as web novels. For example, by going through the categories of Chengguang, you can find categories like ancient, modern, celebrities, campus, “strike back”(逆袭), sweet love (甜宠), etc. Visual novel games become a new form of telling a variety of stories, no matter it’s a romance or a thriller.
Websites for Chinese visual novel games
As mentioned above, you can access Chinese visual novel games through these three websites:
- 4399: https://www.4399.com/
- Chengguang: https://www.66rpg.com/
- Yiciyuan: https://avg.163.com/
Each website has its signature visual novel games. You can play Development Plan of Empress and Development Plan of Emperor in 4399. As an empress, you will start your journey from being a princess, and cultivate yourself to be the future empress. As an emperor, you will need to govern your country from the very beginning. Both offer many romance choices, especially for the Development Plan of Emperor.
For Chengguang, I would recommend a modern-genre one called Strike Back: The Road to Stardom (逆袭之星途闪耀). It tells the story of how a celebrity assistant becomes a superstar. If you find it awkward to understand the settings of ancient China, a modern visual novel game would be a good start. This game also features multiple romance choices.
As for Yiciyuan, you should try out how to struggle your way to the top as an Emperor’s concubine. You will play the role of a concubine who is new to the palace in Melody of the Palace (深宫曲). Different from other ancient topic games, Melody of the Palace gives you the experience of loneliness and desperation of living with the Emperor and other concubines. Instead of fighting back, the game encourages you to actively plot and build up your authority in the palace.
Conclusion
Chinese visual novel games have their unique characteristics as they combine the Japanese otome games with Chinese web novel genres. In my opinion, they unleash the full potential of both otome games and web novels. The topics are more diverse and enriched with different settings and story styles such as ancient and modern settings, sweet love and tragic romance story styles.
Visual novel games are perfect options when you want to relax and enjoy some reading but still would like to have some freedom and control over the stories. This time, instead of letting the author steer the wheel, the players can finally try out all the different endings they want! 😤
Reference
Liu, Eva Y. “When feminist awareness clashes with romance in games: a feminist reception study of otome gamers in China.” Chinese Journal of Communication (2024): 1-17.
