What do you like or dislike about Visual Novels?
Does fully voiced NPCs enrich or take away from the game?
What about music and sound effects?
Opinions much appreciated 
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Sorry for the long post, but here I go.
Well for me when I play any VN novels the major factor is the art (Includes the background and Character Sprites), then music, then story, and then voice. What I like about VN games is that I don’t really need to imagine what the story is trying to tell me and I just read the conversations of the characters. It is rare for any VN games to describe the place or setting of a particular scene. Most will start with text of people talking to each other and you’ll see where they are. What I hate about VN games is that I get attracted to the cover of the game then after playing the game I’ll find the game bad then start regretting it and feel like I was conned to buy the game.
The VN games can have a voice actor/s or not it’s a bonus to have one, but if the voice acting is bad some just opt to turn it off. VN games don’t really need voice actor/s, but some implement them to make the game more enjoyable to immerse the player. If the VN game used a well-known voice actor/s then the possibility of the game selling is high because fans of that particular voice actor will buy the game just for the sake of hearing that person.
Most people will go for the attraction of the art because that is the appeal of visual novels. No one will look at the tittle of a VN and be happy about it; they will look at the cover. An unappealing art cover for the VN will probably sell less than a visually appealing art cover regardless of the synopsis on the cover. The VN games target is to get the attraction of the buyers by means of making the art appealing.
Music also plays a factor in this because if the music is dull then the player will get bored or start to hate the game even with attractive art. If the sound effects are not coordinated with the particular scene then that much worst. Imagine the scene is supposed to be someone getting shot and the sound effects were like broken glass instead of a gun sound, yeah that would really piss some people.
The story for any VN is a hit and miss, like the games here at CoG. However the difference is that if the VN game’s story is so bad, but the art is well done and the music is solid, and the voice acting is good; it can get away with having a horrible story.
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To me, the most important part of a VN is the story, closely followed by having meaningful choices. Good music isn’t required, but it is a huge bonus when its there(the music is part of the reason I love Katawa Shoujo so much). Also, I generally find voice acting to be distracting as its almost always terribly done, and good artwork is important for the character sprites, but for the background its just a bonus, something I’ll notice when I first start playing, then promptly ignore past that. Thats how I am with a game’s graphics in general, though. Important for the character, but don’t really care about them beyond that.
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@Hell_Satan I have nothing really to recommend, since I have no clue on what type of VN genre you’ll want to play. In regards to the game it is a straight-forward RPG made using the NScripter. The NScripter is a visual novel engine written by Naoki Takahashi. Not a free VN engine, but the game is categorized in both RPG and Visual Novel Game. That is what I know of it.
I’m not sure if it’s a breach of guidelines, but give people a heads up that it’s 18+. I wasn’t sure if it was flag worthy so I’m just playing it safe.
@TechDragon610 Huh? Not sure about it being a +18 game since I never played it before, but I do know the game mechanics, but I’ll just removed it then since I already answered that question. If you felt my post was flag gable then flag it.
it’s without a doubt adult content. The premise is the male protagonist has to fight female monsters who feed on a certain product that males produce while mating. nuff said. (hoping I could keep it PG by beating around the bush there.)
You know for me, it’s always the story first. I’ve played some visual novels with beautiful art, lovely music, and then the writing just… doesn’t make the cut. I get bored and I stop playing.
However, you have people who feel the same way about poor graphics or irritating music or voice acting. So your mileage may vary! I’m personally willing to forgive terrible art for gripping story. Irritating voice acting can be a dealbreaker, but that’s why you mute your speakers. 
I understand. All I said was he had to give an +18 heads up.
I buy VN games for their art not really caring about the story aspect of it. If the voice acting is good then I listen if bad I mute it permanently. Music must be tolerable or it’s mute as well.
Take note that this is an opinion from someone who has played both Japanese- and Western-developed visual novels since 2005.
Story matters most, and thus the writer bears the most responsibility to make the characters, the setting, and the plot really engaging. What good is a visual novel if it has pretty art, but the characters are forgettable and the plot is cookie-cutter?
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Your post reminds me of a game i brought in steam years ago. It was a clone of Gainax’s Princess Maker, but made using a VN engine like Ren.py .
I thought the art was great, but the story was a little rushed and bland. But since I was starved of Princess Maker esque games that were no erotic (not my cup of tea) it made me pleased.
ChoiceScript on the other hand, forces the author in focusing on the text. And since you have mostly to work with text only, you can focus better on the story than others aspects of a choice game.
My two pennies.