Storyline > Gameplay

[Dr. Cringle]

Visual novels are good, and yes I think some are definitely worth a shot at reading... However, the medium has a certain stigma attached to it due in part to the dating sim stuff. Most publishers in the visual novel format won't publish anything else. Only some of the really creative, succesful writers can get away with breaking up the formula, and that stuff is usually only produced and published for Japan, in Japan. You may get lucky with some translation groups, though, if you find a visual novel your interested in.