Ren'Py - Broken Dreams [v0.4.0] [Biggering]

I have to review for "saving" some good rating back before some guys judging that because it should be a VN, not "empty" Sandbox.

1. If you read those Patreon posts about Development, certainly the devs have many things on their mind to deploy, such as mini-games in 0.5 (already for Patreon), more areas. Moreover, some previews are about v0.5 Patreon, taken from Itch.io for sure, not 0.4 Free version. Just think about that, the environment could be more lively than v0.4 atm.

2. The theme of the game is "dark", I mean in story. So maybe atm nothing to do in Sandbox "environment", but I could treat it as the "pause" for each "movement" in game. If the game was just going forward without pausing, I swear I could be depressed at this pace.

3. The game has the way of approaching into "Harem" for the MC is very good. Most of games out there just like, the more the merrier. But this game, it will make you "think" and even anxious/sadness about into it, applied not only MC but every NPCs could be. This would make a lot of sense. However, Ik in the end, everyone wants fantasy so Harem is still the "must", with well-explained situation. So, depend on devs would do in the future.

4. I understand some guys called MC is weak. Ik and most of the games, I also seek for having good/god-like MC to fantasize. But for the one passed through tough time (nearly into depression), the worldbuilding in game is really good that I can empathize him and what he was sufferred and his anxiety when facing any "unexpected" events in life.

Facts: Anyone could have faced your own self-anxiety for at least a couple times in life (ignored this IF you're RICH AF), admit it!
I seek for more sympathy for the MC and understand the story of the game. It's like a present for me to look back what I was sufferred in the past.

P/s: Thank you devs! Keep it up your god job!

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.