LogFAQs > #938936053

Some are and some aren't, I would say. But even the ones that aren't are obviously using the general medium and presentation of video games to convey their stories.

Japan has actually always had a pretty clear distinction between these. Over there, "Visual Novel" typically refers to a story with minimal interaction - just choices - or even no interaction at all. Stuff that has actual gameplay, puzzle solving or other heavy kinds of interaction like Steins;Gate, Ace Attorney, Danganronpa, Utawarerumono etc etc etc are known as "Adventure Games."

For some reason, everywhere else in the world except the place where most of these games come from, we just use "visual novel" as a catch-all and lump all these pretty different experiences into the same basket.

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