Broken Dreams

Fully expected this to be just another usual eroge with mildly interesting story and a bunch of sex scenes, ended up getting psychological horror and life lessons instead. Very good writing, I'll be following this

Would realistically give this like a 4.5 instead of a 4 but no half stars sadge. The writing of this game is superb, its a little bit wordy at times and I find myself skipping some of the overbearing sections where the MC just cant stop yapping almost as if hes recapping stuff from not even a minute prior. However, it all becomes worth it in the end, it also slowly starts to make sense WHY he does that, and what its achieving, though as the reader it can be quite painful to deal with. That being said, this game definitely will hit most people in the feels, I def had some moments where I was practically tear jerked. Once you go into the actual meat and potatos of the Natsumi arc its so god damn sad and wholesome. I applaud whenever a story can actually make me feel something that I find on here because ngl I am actually invested in the plot of alot of these. I do wish point and click sections were just cut out entirely, the mingames are fine but the transitioning via point and click feels purely non-essential to anything. It's not like a dating sim, its not like a sandbox, its not like a free-roam. It's just cosmetic point and click really. Just going from one objective to the next, sometimes with VERY long periods before the next as the story goes on autopilot for a period. Hscenes are decent, you get some flavor and some slight control over the loops with different positions, angles and speed. Personally not a big fan of that either, rather it just play out in a sequence on its own but thats neither here nor there anyway. I personally dont even include it in my scoring nor animations. In which the animations are good for the most part too. LI's are adorable, I love the teacher, some of the side chars are even cool. Was nice to mix them in as to not rush anything with the main LI's. There is a good bit of jumpscares/disturbing/horror themes to this tho, be warned. It's nothing thats gonna give you nightmares, esp since dev is pretty fair with the 'obvious' placements, you can pretty much predict when they'll happen which is a nice touch rather than trying to give some poor gooner a heart attack. Overall yeah I really enjoy this one, 4.5 for sure in terms of quality/writing. My only worry is that its been over 3 years and it doesnt seem that far along storywise.

Decent novel. Quite kinetic rather than a VN with meaningful choices but thats OK. Story: 4/5 - Feels like I've taken drugs for some parts. A decent story but a little confusing (if you play you'll know what I mean) Characters: 5/5 - So far so good. Not got any complaints really, each girl seems different from the other, I do wish a little that we have more content with the girls to flesh out their stories but thats for the future I assume if author doesn't axe this. The girls all seem to have their own struggles, and don't worry, the MC isn't some angelic savior, it seems to be that even though the MC tries to help, the struggles need more than the usual magical fix (being dicked down, for example in other games). Sex scenes: Pretty good. Very few in numbers but good in quality. Wish for more but at the same time I like that the game isn't a fuckfest. Gameplay: 3/5 - It is fairly annoying, can't lie. In gameplay I include both the story aspect as well as the sandbox aspect. And the story aspect (so certain scenes and how they include you clicking parts in the scene to get some result, like the horror scenes, are decent) carries most of the gameplay aspect. The actual sandbox? Shockingly awful. Sorry but why do I need to click so many things to see a scene in the same place I was just at? Here's the average gameplay; Morning -> Click Map -> Go School -> Click your office -> scene occurs that's less than 30 seconds long -> Click map -> Home -> Up the stairs -> Bedroom -> Sleep -> Morning -> Click Map -> School -> and the same thing over and over again. Why? Just what's the reason for this? I get that there have to be multiple days as we can't just have the entire thing play out within a week, but the dev could've 100% done this better. Even making a ''next day'' button where you can just click it from the map screen would improve this game a ton. It almost feels like your time is being disrespected the first 30 minutes of the game because the story is being held back by the god-awful system, and the lack of content in the sandbox map itself doesn't help the case at all (you get to interact with one girl but the interactions never change, it's the same 10 total interactions). Now that my rant is done about the god-awful first 30 minutes, at least that part improves later on when there's longer scenes and the repetitive aspect dies down a lot. Which is why the gameplay gets a 3/5 (maybe undeservingly), the dev seems to have improved in that aspect. Overall game: Improvement seen in the latter part of the game, I wish the dev would go back to the early bits of the game and save new players from terror, but otherwise, the game is pretty decent, not a game for people who like to jerkoff throughout, more for people who actually want to play a ''game''. And whilst the gameplay aspect is truly annoying, I'll give it a 5/5 because I believe the dev can improve that easily and it would change my opinion of the gameplay dramatically. And towards the end (of this update) the game is pretty interesting, the dev should keep it up. Can't wait for more, hope updates are big in size. Don't be discouraged to play this if you're seeing the extremely low rated reviews, you'll miss out.

Not the game I'm most interested in, but I have to interfere with all those unfavorable scores. It's work in progress. 0.5 content lacks player agency save for one or two situations. These systems are promised to be reworked by the dev, and he gave the preview of the new systems on Discord. Now, to the main thing. The plot demands the MC to be indecisive to a certain point. It was irritating for him not to take action - but, in the end, he's not the player, he has some quirks of his own. And, barring the lack of agency, the story so far is top notch and extremely engaging (thanks, Biggering, I started 0.51 late evening and went to sleep at 6 AM). I just hope we won't wait for 0.6 much longer, because this is exhausting. The animations are great, though some more conversational engagement would improve them. Otherwise, it's a very promising game with some flaws that I'm sure will be fixed in time.

I have to be honest, I was drawn in by the screenshots of this game; I thought it was going to be different from what I actually found... Basically a visual novel, a fake sandbox—you have no real choices (and even if there are, they barely affect the story). It’s one of those games with tons of filler text. At a certain point, all I did was skip everything, and even then, the only thing I saw was the shower scene (nothing decent—it’s in the screenshots). The game consists of: sleeping, going to school (event), coming home to sleep, going to school (event), coming home to sleep... and so on in a loop; rarely does anything change... I don’t recommend the game unless you like getting bored...

Story is pretty decently written. Just as others mentioned, it is a sandbox that literally has no element of free roaming nor interaction with any npc whatsoever. Many bashes it over that alone, but be mind that the game doesn't have obnoxious location/map navigation, so it doesn't hurt that much. And yes, it actually more of a VN, a linear path with very less nor impacful choices. The scenes... yes are very few (given it is only still 2 chapters), and the scenes style are similar with MY HENTAI FANTASY game, which you are able to tap certain part of the heroine's body, change position, change sex speed (which changes animation, and not just simply increasing frame rate) which is pretty nice, but... During the scenes, it mostly is just void, no dialogue whatsoever (it has moan sfx though), so it's pretty much just like seeing a bunch of animations with no feelings. Hopefully the dev would be a bit nitpicky about such small details yet important. Overall, arts animation, model are average/pretty decent, story is pretty good.

One of the most captivating slow burn stories I've seen on here. It's really slow to get to any sexual content, but it makes you care for the story first. The mystery of what's happening to the mc is interesting, though begins to feel a little too ignored and needs some development by the end of 0.4. But while it's not continuing with solving the mystery, it like I said makes you actually care for the characters. It's also a beautiful game. It's very much not a sandbox and is extremely linear, but I much prefer that over the open ended slop sandboxes. It's very narratively driven and an open sandbox wouldn't be a good medium for that.

Pretty linear for a game with a sandbox. Not much to do in between continuing the story. Could benefit from side stories and world building. But the story is where this really shines. Can't wait to see where this will go.

The author has a fundamental misunderstanding of the genre, if you want to make a sandbox game, put things in the sandbox. Seriously, this is the most empty sandbox game I have ever played, it would be better if this was a VN straight up, the sandbox parts weaken the game. The story itself is fine, and I am assuming this is to help build the MC up into a good person through character development, he is such a loser, such a weenie, and such a horrible person to play that it physically hurts me to read his mental dialogue. This is not a 1-star game though, the models are good and obviously, there was some thought put into the story, it really is just heavily weighed down by how terrible the sandbox and the MC are, I think you'd have a lot more happy players if you just got rid of the sandbox mechanic.

This game is great. The story is great, interesting, the characters are interesting. If you want quick fap material this isn't for you, I went two hours without seeing a single nipple, and I love it. The first nude scene is not supposed to be erotic, and it isn't. This is the first time a horror sequence in a RenPy game actually made me tense. The artistic direction in some of the scenes is astounding, even if in the end it's just koikatsu graphics. The only drawback is the sandbox. The game is just a visual novel with very minor insignificant choices (and that is okay!) but having to travel home and press "SLEEP" five times in a row because for the next event happens on saturday isn't very fun. But there is no grind or the kind of shit you usually see with sandbox games. Overall, really recommend.

This is a VN. There are no real choices, and making choices just skips certain scenes but has no impact on the story. There is no content and the story makes no sense. This really feels like it was being made a child. Normal adults do not get blackout drunk every night. Normal adults do not speak to each other the way these characters do. This is not how jobs work. This is not how health insurance works. But more importantly, why would you ever put a sandbox into an on-rails VN? There is literally only one place to go and one time to go there in all instances. Actually that's not entirely true, frequently there are NO places to go - you spend over half this game napping to advance the time.

It is not a sandbox, all the places are empty, and the story is totally linear, there is nothing to do other than find where the dialogue continues, graphically it is fine, but as long as there is nothing to do anywhere, it really is a waste of time

I have mixed feelings on this one. The story is interesting, the dark theme, etc. The writing is good, the artwork OK, but it isn't labeled as a VN, which it should really be. There is very little sexual content so far, and the one scene was added in 0.4 It's too much of a VN to be enjoyable for me, as I'm not not into VNs and that much clicking.

Came for the art style, stayed and watched for the feels and story. Was not expecting a psychological thriller/horror segment and visualization of mental illnesses, but they are done very well. Will be heading to patreon to support this.

Great game that focuses around the mental health of people though with the spin that mental health issues for some at least is seemingly something supernatural where an evil entity seemingly haunts certain ppl until they take their own life. The MC in turn is a psychologist who eventually seems to awaken the power of a dreamer that is able to go into the dreams of others and protect them from the evil entity and perhaps in the future confront it. For now there are no sex scenes, far as I could find in the v0.3 of the game but there is a story here that is very interesting with an added element of horror and mystery. The only downside so far is that there isn't much to do in the game outside of the main story so it might as well have been a VN instead of a sandbox there also isn't a quick way to forward time/days outside of the bed in the MC's room + the fact that you can't quick travel inside of the MC's house at the moment it can be a bit annoying and a nice QoL would be of course fast traveling in the house like in the school and a way to move time outside of the bedroom.

Review for v0.3 It's a bit hard to describe the things this game does in word form. Honestly the overview does not do it justice. Broken Dreams is an interesting blend of mysterious/supernatural and horror mixed with the sort of sappy emotional feelings you'd expect in a game about being a psychologist for college students. It's a slow burn for sure. We play as a very flawed MC. The psychologist role, in the beginning, is purely in name only. The MC is lazy, lacks empathy, is an asshole, etc etc. Queue getting smacked by a car, some esoteric mysterious beings, and perhaps strange powers into a sort of wake up call. But even then, not quite. It has yet to receive an in-game explanation, but the MC starts to have what seems to be facets of his personality leak out and take control of him. Responding and acting in a ways according to those facets. It's strange, but intriguing enough at the same time. On top of that, he has to start actually doing his job as a psychologist when said troubled college students start showing up at his office. Suffice to say, the game feels pretty unique from the usual despite some common themes. It's also pretty easy to tell a lot more work and care is going into this than the average. The girls are super cute, the environments look great, and there's a nice and chill background soundtrack as well. The reason for the missing star is mainly due to the sandbox element, mostly because it's serving zero purpose so far. As of this version, the game is completely linear. What do you do with the sandbox? Travel around to trigger those linear events and skip time. I have no doubt the dev has some future plans to expand on it, but as of now it just gets in the way and breaks flow. To further expand on that, something I realized this game is missing is small details. A fair amount of events feel as though they end very abruptly by just dropping you back into the sandbox. In a way, it feels like cutting corners even if it's not the intention. It's a bit hard to put into words, but It's missing those mundane moments that sort of build character if that makes any sense. Besides that though, the game feels pretty solid. The writing is working for me, though I do wish the MC had more baseline confidence. He's a bit too whiney for me. I also think some of the plot elements aren't explained very well, mostly about the MC's background and how he ended up where he is now. I have zero problems with the girls though, they're pretty captivating so far. Definitely one to keep an eye on. I hope to see something be done with the sandbox soon or I'd start to question why it's even a thing. I do like sandbox when done right, so hopefully it turns out nice.

Review for v0.2 There is a lot to say about this game that I can not put in to words. Something about the story, the characters, the graphics. All of it is really nice. It is short, but you can feel everything resonating very well. Pros: -Great graphics -An interesting story -personalities of Characters are really good -great Music Cons: -Not really a con, but a lack of sexual content. Mostly lewd scenes. -It is short, but has potential to be longer Game has lots potential. Looking forward to seeing more from creator.

Broken Dreams is a game where the developer seems to have put a lot of effort into every piece of the game, from selecting music, to the art to the styling of each of the character. The story is also gives me enough intrigue to pull me in and want me to keep reading. Although there is no porn as of yet in the game, the quality is all but there, I highly recommend to keep an eye on this game as I'm sure it's gonna be a popular one in the future if the momentum keeps up. minor gripe though, I don't see the point of an open sandbox world if the story is gonna be linear but I assume this is just because early days and this will soon rectify.

Very intriguing start to what looks to be an emotionally charged game. The graphics are very pleasing and the character models are all quite nice for a Koikatsu project. There is no real lewd content yet but that's fine as the story is still getting its footing. The sandbox element is not annoying but it is very bare bones as of now with very little to do, and it's not actually useful for driving the narrative yet. It could use a skip time button, at the very least, because without it you're pretty much constantly sleeping in bed to get to the next event. Speaking of events, it is nice that the game tells you exactly where you need to go to progress, and the events themselves have all been interesting so far. There is still a lot of mystery as to what the hell is going on in the story, but I like where it's headed. I wish the MC would be a little more assertive, and a lot more psychologically intelligent though. I realize that he's young and admittedly unqualified for his position, but he should have at least some level of deeper understanding or appreciation for the traumas and complexes that are being shown all around him. I imagine that side of him will manifest more as the story goes on though. Overall, giving it 5 stars because this is obviously a project that is being taken serious by the dev and he clearly has a story to tell that isn't merely a copycat of the games from which he took inspiration from.