Dear Esther

So, here's an entirely different sort of "visual novel" - it's an experience that consists entirely of wandering around incredibly gorgeous detailed settings while hearing fragments of a story.

Is it a game? Well, there's been a lot of debate about that recently.

The story changes on repeated playthroughs, but as I understand it, which bits you get are random rather than the result of player choice. If you enjoy mood pieces and kinetic novels (and aren't wedded to anime style) you might find this interesting.