After the English-speaking gaming world spent decades saying little more than "lol, Japan" at the concept of visual novels, the genre has finally grown enough in popularity for notable titles to frequently get global releases. But some of the most notable examples of the format came about long before that audience developed, and never really got their worldwide due. That's why I'm hoping the upcoming crossover between Banshee's Last Cry and Street Fighter 6 is going to open some doors.
Banshee's Last Cry originally launched for the Super Famicom – the Japanese equivalent of the Super NES – back in 1994. It's a horror-tinged murder-mystery, and helped popularize what developer Chunsoft called the "sound novel." You'd be hard-pressed to actually define the difference between SNs and VNs today, but the idea was that you'd have text-heavy game stories enhanced by atmospheric music and sound effects.
