Some VNs have no real choices and could hardly be called games. Others are deeply branched.
replyBy the 2010s many JRPGs such as the Hyperdimension Neptunia series and Danganronpa pretty much stole all the visual elements of visual novels and mashed them up with gameplay from other genres.
Danganronpa is a true "adventure game" (which is actually what Japanese VN developers call their VNs…). It's pretty faithful to its genre.
replyPhoenix Wright is the only one of those Westerners really know about.
By now the term "visual novel" got re-imported back into Japan so even Japanese creators have started using it for what they otherwise call "novel games" and VN-like "adventure games".
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