– more shortform work. i like it when i don't have to commit to reading like 5 novels worth of story to get a complete, satisfying artistic experience.

– a wider range of artistic influences, i guess? many FVNs feel primarily influenced by other visual novels and fall back to the same premises, tropes, and character archetypes. intertextuality is good, but there's a whole world of art out there to be inspired by; don't limit yourself to any single medium, genre, or movement.

– thoughtful, interesting use of interactivity. a lot of recent FVNs seem to be embracing linearity, but i'm always there for all kinds of game-y elements if they're done well and serve the story being told.

– sharp, purposeful, distinctive, carefully edited prose. there are a lot of FVNs out there where the written word feels more like a form the story simply has to exist in than something the text is actively interested in being, if you know what i mean? i don't need every game i play to be perfectly written, but it's always so, so nice when you get a sense of the author loving working in their medium of choice.

– to balance out the last point: cool visual storytelling and formal experimentation. being primarily interested in images and what they can mean is an equally valid approach to making a visual novel, i'd say! they might be "novel", but they're also "visual".........