{H} Opinions on "A drug that makes you dream"

[Matt_D]

mmm it's been a while - I got distracted by a piece of tinfoil a few months back lol.

-=== WARNING WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS ===-
But nothing like "and this happend then and these characters did that O.o
-=== WARNING WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS ===-


So I've played through two paths Aeka and Nekoko

I have to say the Aeka path was intence, and I loved it - really good piece of emotional gameplay. Good story about bullying, loneliness and the likes. And man it made me angry lol, and happy.

The Nekoko path was meh, although it ended in an interesting way, and quite sweet. But it felt alot like "errmmm we need a path, lets stick it in"

So far what I've achieved of the student president path seems really samey but I'm not sure yet, there may be a worthwhile story in there.

The art work is good, and the scenes are interesting enough to keep you clicking, although I did get a bit of the old rsi lol. The enter key is your friend.

The story is very kinetic to be honest, with the correct answers plainly obvious and you really have to actively persue the bad endings (except perhaps the path I havn't finished yet) I read slow so I got a good 8ish hours out of the Aeka path, and seen as it shares very little with the other two paths there's still another 8 or so hours on that side too.

Intro video is (as we have come to expect from non hardcore H games) awsome, sure I've seen better but this was good.

It wasn't a "sad" game like Kana or some of the Ever17 ends, but the Aeka path made me well up from time to time and it made me ANGRY, it also had llots of lovely heart warming times.

So on the strength of that path alone I'd recommend it as one of the better H-Titles I've seen in a while.

[DaFool]

Still waiting on the shipment of this game But yeah this will be played immediately as soon as it arrives. I'm really glad in the direction that Peach Princess is going in licensing less hardcore titles.

[Matt_D]

I've got to agree with you there. I really can't wait to see what else they're going to bring out.

[Enerccio]

Okay I finished this game and my few points:

a) Akea path is best, I can't tell anything against it
b) Mizuki path is boring long, but ending is sweet
c) Nekoko is pretty good at the beginning but later it get serious and all stuff, but ending is good too.

So overall I like all paths but Aeka was best.

DaFool: I laughed pretty hard on some scenes with his sister who should be 18 XDDD (like is 12 most)

[Matt_D]

lol those were funny, I love that they kept trying to say all the characters were 20. Now that was funny. However we learn to ignore these things.

O there were a few misspellings. Not many though.

Mizuki path does feel like it's going to be boring lol.

But the Aeka path storms through and is an awsome gaming experiance/

[Ignosco]

Hopefully this will be made available as a download edition - I'd rather not try and import it through the post into Australia...

From http://www.oflc.gov.au/special.html?n=386&p=164

What are objectionable goods?

Regulation 4A(1A) of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 defines ‘objectionable goods’ as goods that:

(c) in relation to a computer game – are unsuitable for a person under 18 to see or play;

[Enerccio]

Ahh, that sucks.... I wonder why they made this stupid rating system in Australia?

[GLACIER]

The Nekoko path was meh, although it ended in an interesting way, and quite sweet. But it felt alot like "errmmm we need a path, lets stick it in"

Well, the three paths have completely different story focuses:

Aeka = melodrama
Mizuki = sex
Nekoko = humor/character antics

From my perspective, Aeka's path has the melodrama that many people may look for. However, it's also the shortest and worst written (horrendously sloppy script throughout the second half despite a strong start. That said, bullying is a very hard subject to write about) of the three.

I'd say that Nekoko's scenario is probably the most consistent in terms of pacing and script quality (Mizuki's route is also well-paced up until the end of the hotel event). Nonetheless, it's fairly slow and unambitious when it comes to plot development, only becoming serious at the end.

So far what I've achieved of the student president path seems really samey but I'm not sure yet, there may be a worthwhile story in there.

The best way to describe Yume Miru Kusuri would be:

a) good story/conflict setup
b) bad or non-existent conflict resolution

Aeka = badly developed in general, with the writers seemingly unsure of where to take the story beyond the excellent setup. It's a mishmash of bullying and bonding (often with very forced and awkward dialogue, which is not the case for the other scenarios) scenes. Once a boiling point has been reached, the solution is to.......quit school?!

Mizuki = problem solves itself thanks to pregnancy (??), with her love for the protagonist being an impetus.

Nekoko = drug bust, quick resolution to get help (thanks to her love for the protagonist)

For a game, this is certainly acceptable. We don't play these things for insightful social commentary, strong moral messages, or realistic problem solving (I guess a doujin work like Narcissu might be an exception. Planetarian also attempts to be more thought provoking). However, it's somewhat ironic that the writers poke fun at typical bishoujo games when this one shares many of the same quirks. Yume Miru Kusuri has a different skin (subjects more relevant to real life, slightly less exaggerated character archetypes) than, say, Kanon or Wind. Nonetheless, it's hardly any more meaningful or realistic.

[Ignosco]

Without meaning to derail the thread:

Ahh, that sucks.... I wonder why they made this stupid rating system in Australia?

The censorship laws are quite restrictive here in general, with anything that might offend a 'reasonable adult' (whatever that is supposed to mean) being refused classification.

With computer games, I guess they assumed that it was mainly children who played them... so MA 15+ (cannot be seen/purchased if you are under 15 unless accompanied by a parent/guardian) is the highest rating given to a computer game.

Unfortunately, these laws are very unlikely to get changed now...

[Matt_D]

yeah the laws here are a bit grey at the moment (UK)

On the realism and commentary front I agree, but fortunatly I feel those are things best left out of a good yarn.

hmm I have to say that the Aeka resolution was the only sensible resolution I could come to given

That it was made clear that
1: the teachers were useless.
2: the class was made of followers - I mean the actions of the two aquintances you had in the class highlights that. They'd never turn on the class leader
3: the antagonist wasn't going to stop under any normal situation.
4: your character wasn't going to walk into the class with a metal rod and smash the blond haired guy in the face with it a few times a day and inform him that he was your pet dog.

I think given that setup there were only maybe 4 resolutions
a: protagonists killed/badly injured so they don't return to school.
b: the antagonists are killed/badly injured so they can't return to school.
c: the protagonists leave school.

I suppose there could be a "the antagonists leave school" but that would require 1 or 2 not to be true.

I was far happier with the resolution you got then the two you almost got.

If they'd of actually raped Aeka I may of thrown my pc out of the window in anger and sulked for the rest of the month lol

another thing as meladramatic as it may have been I found myself caring about the resolution to Aeka's story (and believe you me it was hard going down the other path becouse of it.) And I more or less had that connection after the very first scene.

As to the poking of fun, hmmm I thought it was poking a bit of fun at itself on purpose - but you never know what with translations and all.

One thing that did bug me was pictures not matching text

After the violent scene on the roof where Aeka gets punched her sprite appears perfectly fine. o.O

Such things bug me. I however didn't fid much that annoyed me about the writing, although I did skip the H-scenes for the most part. However I suppose by then I was so engrossed in Aeka that I could subconciously ignore alot of the faults. I'm hardly going to go through it a second time to find them

But still I enjoyed the path, as melodramatic as Aekas path may have been it left me quite satisfied, so did Nekoko.

Man if only they'd sub Kanon.

[Ignosco]

Well... after playing the demo I'm rather ambivalent about the game... just a few thoughts:

Writing: It reads fairly well, and the translation seems to be well done - but a few strange things stand out, such as the heavy use of similes, some of which are rather bizarre... there's also really odd dialogue, for example the students in the bread queue... The self-deprecating H-game references were great though ... Strangely, I never really felt emotionally engaged by any of the demo ...

Music: A lot of it seems really out of place (eg jaunty upbeat tune when Aeka is getting pushed around in the bread line, Nekoko's theme).

Aya: She doesn't really seem to add anything to the main themes of the game - including a step-sister just seems to provide someone else for the protagonist to hit on and fantasise about... and as Enerccio mentioned, she looks 12 at most... actually, Nekoko also looks about 12...

Art: I love it... it's very beautiful and surreal.

I guess though Yume Miru Kusuri wasn't really what I was expecting after having read the descriptions of it - I imagined a much bleaker/dystopic game... and maybe the above thoughts are coming across a bit negatively because of my preconceptions... I know the full version will be better than the demo, and I've heard in the last few days that there will be an R 18+ rating introduced for computer games in Australia, which encompasses H-games, so it shouldn't be too long until I can legally purchase it.

[DaFool]

And coincidentally, right after the demo is made available, my parcel arrives.

What's funny is that it was ripped open and resealed with masking tape bearing the labels "Inspected by Philippine Customs... Do not Accept if Seal is Broken." (Ugh...there wouldn't be tape there if you hadn't ripped it open lol.)

In the shipment was also a copy of Ever17 (Finally I have the box copy of what is probably the definitive 'introductory title' to introduce visual novels to new fans! Although KID couldn't be helped at this point anymore), Figures of Happiness (the only other commercially translated game I've heard good reviews about which I am still wanting to play.), and Piece of Wonder (yay for doujin!). No doubt I have Hirameki to thank for providing the 'all-ages anime cover' (I shudder what would have happened had I ordered Horny Bunnies instead. Like when I used to go to Barnes and Noble and stack my Playboy in between issues of intellectual magazines before heading towards the counter )

In any case I probably have among the longest-playing visual novels in front of me. I should probably play in bits and pieces so I won't get distracted in finishing Nettestadt Troll. Not to mention there just went half of my month's salary...

[Hyperbeast]

Well I got the game shortly after its english release and I found Aeka's path to be my favourite, although to disagree with GLACIER, I thought the start was pretty boring, and as such I left that one until last, and then when I finished I was pretty much just thinking "well... I should have played that one first."
The first conversation with Aeka was just weird. I mean, talking about people needing blankets?
I ended up going with Kirimiya, and only getting the bad ending, then doing Nekoko's route, and then Aeka's route and then went back and looked up a guide to get Kirimiya's good ending.
Kirimiya's route I didn't really like... For the first half I was just bored with it and then after "that point" I just couldn't take it very seriously. Then the ending just seemed rushed...
Nekoko's route was just weird... It was funny, but other than the obvious drugs are bad, I couldn't see what point it was trying to get across. I was happy with the ending, although....

You would think the characters would at least be wearing different clothes after... Was it three years? Not to mention that Kouhei's little sister still lacked.... Femenine qualities.

Aeka's route when I finally got around to it was kind of awkward, but once you got on to the route and Kouhei became subject too, that's when I started to love the route. Not because of THAT, mind you, but because it managed to be so believeable and yet still so powerful.

The scene on the rooftop near the end is probably one of the only times a game has actually made me hate a character that much. I was also quite pleased with the ending: and I think it is more rational than continuing to go to school when they would then be in even more danger.

Also to do with Aeka's path, what you see happen to Aeka in that route compared to the other routes helps to emphasize that people don't care or just don't think about what's going on. In Aeka's route you can see that it's much worse, and as another example, while I didn't think Antoinette *is that how you spell it?* was that bad in the other routes, in Aeka's route I absolutely hated her.

As for the sex scenes, I mostly just skimmed past them in this game, sometimes checking to see if anything of meaning was said. While tame compared to some visual novels, I thought that most of the sex scenes were just pointless in this and cheapened the game..

As a closer: Tsubaki is awesome.

[papillon]

I played part of the demo - only part, as after a while I didn't feel that playing any more was likely to change my opinion.

My opinion, basically, was that the writing seemed pretty good and the story kind of interesting but the main character was kind of an ass. This is a common problem with me and h-games, the default presented male viewpoint often grates on me. I get over it when I have a better sense of the PC as a character and not as my avatar, so usually by the end of a game I've forgiven it.

It reads 'better' than a lot of games, but I don't feel compelled to go and get it, either. (For that matter, I have never yet played Crescendo.) I may get around to it eventually.

I suppose from the demo, I feel bad for Aeka, but I'm not sure I want to pair her up with this PC!

[Enerccio]

I suppose from the demo, I feel bad for Aeka, but I'm not sure I want to pair her up with this PC!

Wrong, she is the best pick