Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

The loss of Yoran 'Yorhel' Heling has site moderators working to figure out a preservation strategy

In 2007, Yoran Heling, better known as Yorhel, started The Visual Novel Database after finding insufficient information about Ever 17: The Out of Infinity online. It has since grown into one of the most comprehensive, longest-running resources in gaming history, archiving a genre that is simultaneously niche while extremely influential across the industry. Sadly, site moderators have announced that Heling passed away on March 17th.

“As many of you have already suspected, the VNDB.org has lost its founder and soul Yorhel,” wrote beliar. “He will be dearly missed by the moderation team and by the fans of visual novels. He was a great friend and a great boss.”

The breadth of the VNDB went well beyond release dates, titles, and sub-genres. Entries offer insights into staff, from programmers to voice cast, character breakdowns, average game lengths, commercial availability, and where a given game ranks among the community. They even list any tie-in materials, such as anime adaptations. It’s a lot of reference material for a genre rich in history and esoteric in nature.

Visual novels are a pillar of the video game industry. Many of the biggest studios today began selling their own VNs out of computer shops. Many of Hideo Kojima’s earliest projects on the road to Metal Gear Solid were influential VNs such as Policenauts, Snatcher, and Tokimeki Memorial.

While consistently popular in Japan, the international audience has grown considerably, with VNs being made and appreciated the world over; the Ace Attorney, Doki Doki Literature Club, and Danganronpa games are just a few examples. The accessibility of these games, and tool suites like Twine, has made VNs especially prevalent in indie games. Resources such as the VNDB are one reason why these games have made so many inroads.

With its founder’s passing, the remaining VNDB moderators are assessing the best way to preserve the site. “At the moment I can only say that we are working on certain channels to preserve the website,” wrote beliar, “but [we] cannot give much information today.”