Lots of Decisions

One of my goals for Aurora’s Nightmare is to never let the player go for too long without having to make a choice of some kind.  Not all of those choices are especially important.  Sure some have far reaching consequences, but others only make minor changes to the scene.  But it keeps the player more actively involved in the progression.

I’ve played some visual novels where you can go for hours without a single choice.  Actually, I’ve played some where you only get to make a couple of choices throughout the entire game.  While I did still enjoy the stories in those visual novels, the lack of choices annoyed me.  If you’re going to all the trouble to make a visual novel, as opposed to a regular novel or a cartoon or something, you really should take advantage of their most unique element.  That’s one thing I think Type-Moon (creators of Fate/Stay Night) do especially well with many of their games.  And one I’m really trying to emulate.

So while I don’t think Aurora’s Nightmare will end up being as long and complex as something like Fate/Stay Night, it will feature a large number of decisions and branching paths for players to explore.