Thesis (BA Communication Arts) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, 2018

In the Philippines, the visual novel is fairly new and understudied. This study produced a visual novel using the aswang as its motif in exploring the medium?s potential as a communication tool among the youth. A visual novel is a multimedia that utilizes text, audio, and visual components to deliver a story. But what sets it apart from other storytelling medium is its decision points feature which allows the player, the person playing the game, to make choices that will affect how the story and in effect, making the player take part in co-creating the story of the visual novel. The aswang was chosen as the motif for the narrative due to its popularity among the intended audience. Experiential-Learning Theory and Media Equation Theory were used to guide the production of the medium?s narrative structure, game design, and character design. The script, background image, character sprites, CGs, user interface, and sound design were created. These elements were encoded using Ren?py, a popular engine to program the visual novel. With this, the production study is able to appropriately design the multimedia elements that created the visual novel Mia and communicated its story among the youth.