Can Twine make visual novels?

Yes, Twine can make visual novels, though it is not purpose-built for them the way Ren'Py is. Because Twine outputs HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can add background images, character sprites, music, and styled text to create a visual-novel feel, especially using the SugarCube story format for more control. Some creators do exactly this and ship polished results. The trade-off is that you build the presentation layer yourself, whereas Ren'Py provides visual-novel features like character positioning, transitions, and a script format out of the box. So if visuals and voice are central, a dedicated tool may save time; if you want branching text with some added art, Twine handles it well. For pure branching stories, a node builder is another route.