The origins of the visual novel can be traced back to the mid-1970s – some say even the 1960s. Now, the term “interactive fiction” is defined as software (i.e., a video game) which has text input as its main interactive component. It’s crucial to know that, historically, interactive fiction has greatly influenced the modern visual novel. This newer genre in turn is defined as text-based video games that feature rich audiovisual elements and, in general, rely on a non-typing-based system of user input.
In this chapter we’ll look at several historical interactive fiction ...
