VN - Ren'Py - Completed - City of Broken Dreamers [v1.15.0 Ch. 15] [PhillyGames]

Amazing game, very nice story, plenty of intrigue, a complicated protagonist and beautiful models. Big fan, what can I say, I will be following this author very closely. What else can you ask for in a VN?

The game already has hundreds of reviews so I doubt there's much I can say that hasn't already been said so I'll keep it brief. This is arguably the best looking game on the entire site, its premise and characters set it a part from the default thousands of 'not-cest' games that seem to get churned out with no end . I think this is the best 3D game on the entire site

With the game now completed, I think it's time to finally review it.

In general, this is one of the best AVN's out there. It has plenty of issues, but it is objectively a high-quality indie AVN. It has plenty of varied and interesting content and the renders are consistently decent, with later chapters bringing this level up quite a bit. The story and dialogue is competently executed, although a bit cookie-cutter at times. All in all, this game firmly cements itself as one of the best games on this website.

So why did I give it 4 stars rather than 5?

Frankly, the 2nd half of the game did not live up to the promises the first half made. The first half set up a bunch of characters, an interesting plot and was paced very well. The sex scenes were appropriately placed and didn't detract from the plot.

The 2nd half sort of lost it's way a bit. The dev seemed to lose his ability to combine both plot and porn in a satisfactory way. The plot sort of stalled as sex-scene after sex-scene was jammed into the game in a very hamfisted manner. I get that this is a porn game, but pacing still matters. Overall, while the visual fidelity improved in the 2nd half, the writing quality noticeably decreased.

Finally, the ending felt a bit disappointing (especially for Chandra/Abby fans). Despite taking a year to complete, it felt strangely rushed. Not just because some characters that got built up to be more important didn't receive an ending, but a lot of side-characters stories felt a bit unfulfilled as well. This is something that could be fixed with a dedicated epilogue down the line, but I have to agree with quite a few people in this thread and say I am disappointed (and not just because Chandra was my fav lol).

Overall, it would be disingenuous to rate this any lower than a 4, as this is a very high-quality avn, but I don't blame anyone for being disappointed with how things ended. I do hope there is some kind of epilogue at some point to flesh out the ending a bit better.

Well, obviously this game has great production values. Art and animations are great, but apart from that I really couldn't get into it.

The story is simple and unnecessarily convoluted. The characters are shallow, tropey and similar. Eventually the whole thing devolves into a string of non-sensical porn scenes, because if you are wounded, you have sex, right? If you are in lethal danger, you have sex. If you visit someone, you have sex. It's gratuitous and forgettable.

I guess that works for a majority of people, but I was actually hoping for something more meaningful than this from this Dev.

It's ok as a porn game, I guess, but don't expect anything more than that.

City of Broken Dreamers... when all started there was much promise for this game. A story that was compelling and interesting, a cast of characters that were iconic and well crafted, even a wonderous soundtrack that was fitting it many parts.

However, by the start of Book 2 (Post Henry), the story really fell apart. There was no draw, there wasn't anything compelling other than minor twists and turns and sub adventures for the occational side character to get pipe or some minor set of drama with the characters. Sure, one could say that Betty's heroics were 'grand' but there wasn't a real impact there. Not to mention that Chapters 13 and 14 should really have been put together and simply been one big chapter instead of split into two small chapters. The same, sadly, is true for the final chapter as well.

While certainly, your choices can influence what happens to your muscle wife, the conclusion of the story felt... uninspired, bland, almost as if Philly was complete bored and simply wanted to be done with this project. In short: Gloria pretty much goes BA, the Red Moon has a redemption arc, we get a couple of last one timer lays with certain people before we 'settle' with who we declared our love with, or not. And while some of the ending endearing, personally I did love Ellens, at the same time it didn't feel all that satisfying. Sure, we 'completed' our mission but it didn't feel like we truly accomplished anything.

Now, being the brutually honest guy I am, if I was to give this game out of 10, I'd give it a 5. Out for 5, I'd say it's a 2.5/5. Maybe a generous 3. While certainly the visuals, animations, music, characters are certainly well done, the story, which has such promise, sadly faltered and fumbled it's way to the end.

This game for me is masterpiece, beautiful unique models u hadn't seen them in any other game, Amazing and most realistic animation u can find on the site, and I love the anal sex, and u can fuck all girls in the ass and that is what made me love the game the most. Of course,
I will recommend this game to any lover of sex game, especially anal lovers, thank u for your hard work I hope for u happiness.

The real cyberpunk experience that we deserve!

Bright, enchanting, twisted story. I highly recommend it for the people that want to start exploring the field of Ren'Py visual novels.

Variety of plot, quality in lewd scenes, no technical problems, nice wallpapers for your PC - all your expectations from that type of game would come true.

I mean, of course, you cannot find a dainty language, the aesthetic of the game-world is kinda dark and tied up to neo-culture, typical cyber setting but more tied up to sex instincts.

To sum up, I really enjoyed it and I'm sure you'll do it too.

Story 4/5
Its pretty good but the plot isent really anything new, MC is a kind of bounty hunter that gets a job to collect a girl and changes hes mind to help her instend of turning her in, its a pretty standard plot really with a side of super powers.

It is a little annoying having huge ugly tits trown in your face all the time when you arent into it, seeing girls in shower where they could have been anywhere else, going into a whore house being forced to look at extremly big tits for a long time and its just constantly pushed in your face, girls are nude all the time its like they cant have clothes on for more then 2 mins at a time before they just have to show their tits..... stuff like that just lowers the value and make it feel more like a b-porn movie then a good game, its to bad dev dont belive more in him/her self to let the story run the game on its own without forcing kinks/fetish on everyone, could atleast give the choice to look at the bimbos or not, i lost count on how many times game turned me off from showing Victoria topless, its like shes to poor to own any clothes and shes the worst looking LI in the game in my eyes.

MC is pretty decent for once, he still has a huge fail with being the standard caveman that thinks huge saggy tits is the best thing in the world and due to that finds the person hot, even girls in the game has a big tit fetish which is just idiotic, why not make him behave like that with small tits as well.....it just feels stupid reading shit like that when you hate it as the player, so lost some points for that, it also feels stupid turning down a girl MC loves so much but atleast you can so thats something and most of the times he acts a bit more like a grown up so thats good.

I might have missed something in the story but at one point around chapter 11 MC goes to Victoria for help which makes 0 sense to me considering shes one of the main players on the bad guys side, why or how it changed to MC starting to trust her felt completly idiotic to me, maybe its due to not being on her route i dunno but it just feels so worng and made absolutly no sense.

But in any case MC is way to soft, hes supposed to be this hardcore bounty hunter with no issues of killing people and such, but the way he act is just way to soft and way to trusting, atleast hes friends tells him hes stupid as fuck but its just annoying you dont have a bit more controle over MC in that regard, in the start it was pretty fun playing MC since you could tell people to piss off and be mean, but later in game he just lost hes balls and backbone.

Girls 2/5
They look ok, i dident really find them all that hot but thats a matter of taste, as for diversity in builds there is a little bit but it is mostly aimed for players with big tit fetish, its to bad so many devs dosent aim to give something for everyones taste.

Animations 5/5
Really nice ones with multiple positions, good head movements and such so it dosent feel stiff so really good, the only time it fails big is virgin scenes theres almost no pain and 0 blood so it dosent really give the virgin vibe.

Music 3/5
Pretty averge stuff nothing with lyrics or anything.

Choices 5/5
You deside who to fuck or not which is how every game should be, if theres any real choices to change main story i have no idea but thats not so importen to me really.

Cant give it less then 4 stars but cant max it out since MC was a mixed bag of weirdness and wasent a fan of all the big tits constantly forced on you since i dont have that fetish, but the story is mostly good and the choices are perfect in the way of being able to controle who you fuck or not, so i still enjoyed this one.

First: This is probably the best looking AVN I have ever played, so ignore my rating if that is something very important to you.

But sadly that quality does not extend to any other aspect of the game.

- the story is meh. The premise is there, but it becomes so extremely, unnecessarily convoluted that I lost most interest by chapter 6 (still played through the rest)

- characters are interesting at first, but after a while you notice a pattern that ends up making them all very boring

- there is also no real character development. Revealing bits and pieces of a characters background to the reader is not development

- the author seems to be unable to write even a single likeable character. Everyone is just so frustrating to interact with.

- the worldbuilding, something that people have been raving about in these reviews, is pretty mediocre. Nothing that hasn't been done exactly the same many times before

- the LIs aren't done well at all. You never feel like you get close to any of the girls. There is no romance at all. None.

- the MC has very little character development. Which is kind of astonishing seeing as there are a lot of opportunities for it.

So yea, overall I could not enjoy this sadly. After the masterpiece that was Depraved Awakening this was a huge disappointment. Maybe not all the funds should have been put into the graphics?

Of all the erotic visual novel games I've played, this one definitely ranks in the top three, cyberpunk style gameplay, cool! There's an amazing storyline and the modeling is very sexy, it's definitely a perfect score in my mind, definitely a game that everyone should play!

Story: 5/5
Modeling: 5/5
Rendering: 5/5
Animation: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

Considering that this game already has 395 reviews with an average rating of about 4.5. I doubt that my review will be of much use. At this point, however, it's more about wanting to contribute my grain of salt, when it comes to promoting a creator like Philly Games.

I've followed this creator since the early days, when they had released a few updates for their first game, Depraved Awakening. Back then, that game was one of the first to raise the bar significantly for adult games, by making an engrossing game that happens to have adult content, as well.

With City of Broken Dreamers, Philly has continued to deliver high-quality content. This has been accomplished not only with way-above average renders and animations, but through immersive storytelling and well-developed characters as well.

The variety of options offered in the game also contribute to it being such a good one, since they actually have significant repercussions, when it comes to how the MC's personality changes, how they relate and interact with other characters and what your outcome is, at the end.

In this game, you play as a ghost, which is the term used in this universe to describe a type of bounty hunter hired by the powerful to clean up their pasts or handle an adversary. The story takes place at a point where our MC is tasked with finding a young woman (Gloria) with a very troubling upbringing and a power that she cannot entirely grasp / control. As the MC progresses with his mission, he deals with several internal conflicts where, depending on the route the player takes, can lead to the MC becoming an extremely corrupted individual, or finding some form of redemption in the company of the outcasts he meets. Although the story has undeniable CyberPunk and Blade Runner vibes, it has an independent story that allows the game to make a name of its own, borrowing mostly for aesthetic and atmospheric reasons. While playing it, you will be compelled to explore multiple routes, as most of the characters have an appeal of their own, and none of the routes seem to have been neglected. Although Victoria and Katie are very popular in this thread, my personal favorite is Gloria. Whether or not you have a favorite, however, you will still feel compelled to explore various routes and the outcomes they lead to, because of how good the game is.

Even though I write this as we wait for the final update of City of Broken Dreamers, I'm certain that it's delivery will not be an issue, as PhillyGames has proven to be extremely consistent when it comes to providing updates, being frank about any holdups or delays, and in delivering a substantial amount of content with each update that is consistent with the time spent on it.

CH.14

Amazing game, had a blast playing it. It really is on another level in terms of visuals and music. Rarely I play games like this on full screen with loud music settings, but I had to this time. Both graphic and music are amazing. Renders are great, there are hundreds of smooth animations that make this world more alive (like driving cars, trams etc) and music is how I expected it to be - matching what's happening in the game and I really liked few of the songs used, that wasn't a level of music that I would listen to it later on on YT but close - really good.

So, now girls. I loved them all. All beautiful, interesting, with great characters. All paths are worth playing, my main playthrough accepted all opportunities and this game is amazing that way, when you can have a favourite girl but still have fun with Chandra, Abby, Sasha, Shanlon etc. You have to choose your path around chapter 12 and you can do basically everything until this point, there is no bad blood with girls that you're not following and I love that this choice is so late in the game, because you don't have to play the game from the beginning just to be on a different path.

Story - great. I mean, we all read/watched better, but this is "just" a VN and I think that looking at this from this perspective - story is amazing, really engaging, making you want to play again, to read everything, not just CTRL through this stuff. Dialogues may be a bit longer but I think overally writing is on a superb level.

Ok, now thing that dissapointed me the most and that is sex scenes. This is obviously only my opinion, but you don't play a game like this for sex scenes alone. What I didn't like is how short they were, I know animations take a long, long time to render and every sex scene is really time consuming, but you can do it in other way - you can loop your animations and add a lot more text so that a sex scene takes 10 minutes, not 2 minutes. You should be describing everything what's happening on the screen, how these two people feel, spend time on their emotions, add additional renders (maybe taken from animations), add a lot more text. There are a lot of games that do it good, and it's fairly easy to change, so I hope that dev will do it in his next game.

5/5

This started out as a AAA game, but it is not finishing as a AAA unfortunately. Visually, this is a good game, it also has a interesting cyberpunk style theme. There is a lot of total content (less so in recent years), but its sum is unsatisfactory.

There is no build up in this game, instead of having stages of a story it goes from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds and never comes down. All except maybe one of the LI want to jump the MC immediately. Considering this game has hours of content it is just far to much. It is not interesting to have a plot that starts and tries to stay at the climax for almost the entirety of the story. Player choice is also pretty minimal. You are going to be stuck with the Gary Stu MC who is an emotionless mercenary that every girl seems to love for no reason.

Finally, the past 2+ years has yielded 3 small-ish chapters that has the story racing to the finish line. It has been disappointing to see how this one turned out after starting out with AAA potential.

I have had to edit this as it turned out my first impression was all wrong. This is a good game. It starts out all cliché with tough guys and slutty girls and quite custom sex scenes but within an hour of play you don't care about the sex anymore you just want to know how the story proceeds. Very nice.

Honestly, the story isn’t anything to write home about but DAYUM, this game looks good. So much so that it’d be hypocritical of me to rate it any lower just because it’s not stimulating… intellectually.

City of Broken Dreamers [v1.14.0 Ch. 14]

Pros:
+ High production value
+ Amazing renders and animation quality
+ Epic worldbuilding and storytelling
+ A strong plot and well driven narrative
+ Great story pacing with a lot of action
+ Some characters have good character development
+ Character interaction and conversations are well written
+ User interface is clean
+ Very immersive experience
+ Adult content fits in well with the story

Cons:
- Some character personalities feel one-dimensional


The game starts out as what most might think of as your typical cyberpunk setting. But even then, it does a good job of creating its own unique story and delivering details and background through a well-written narrative.

There's so much I could write about this game, but if you haven't checked it out yet, I feel you would be better off checking out the game than slogging through reviews.

The game is amazing and there's a little bit of something for everyone. Even if the cyberpunk setting may not be your cup of tea, it's still worth checking out for even a half an hour and who knows, you might be in for a pleasant surprise.

Overall Rating: 10/10

City of Broken Dreamers (Ch.14)

Just finished this behemoth of a game. Fucking Prime! In a Los Angeles that is beyond “Hotel California’, corruption is everywhere. Corporations exercise extreme prejudice and power struggles between countries are imminent. While working as a merc for corps, you figure out your life is just another liability. Until one job sets off events that change the face of the city forever. Be cautious of everyone. This world is out to get you.

STORY
First off - City of Broken Dreamers’ story is straightforward. Don’t expect an unusual story angle. With expectations limited, this game goes above and beyond to build a world complementing the Cyberpunk-ish Noir story. Memorable locations, in depth dialog and characters who interact. This is a full-blown rollercoaster ride from Philly Games, going way deeper than 2018’s Depraved Awakening.

In my 20+hr playthrough, about 95% of what CoBD has to offer was shown to me. From chase sequences to stealth missions, sultry dialog to heartfelt emotions - this game goes the distance. You start out as a merc, questioning what your role in Neo-Los Angeles will be. The Japanese have done a number on Americans and since, life has been different. There are citizens living with a disease - and because of it, they’re outlawed to different parts of the city. Corporations prey on the poor as the elite bask in power. It all seems plausible.

Along the way you will meet a questionable cast of agents and outlaws, either harming or helping your quest. It’s a set story mostly, but you get choices that do impact shallower levels of the game. Not every choice is labeled in a way that makes sense, which is frustrating - but you can reroll which does save you time. Just safe often. You will be able to lose out on characters along the way, so be wary of the danger you put those around you in.

The worldbuilding of this game is impeccable. Whether civvies are scolding Milchers, youngsters are yelling how fucking prime things are, the conflict between the Augments and the Red Moon or the futuristic way AI plays a part in your quest - the creator spent years building all these layers that help ground and enhance the main story. By the time you hit the end part of the story, you instantly recognize locations and phrases because of the consistency. There’s even a special dialect for one subset of inhabitants. That’s an amazing feat of worldbuilding.

Jake Murphy (MC) seems somewhat of a passive tool to me, but luckily there is character development throughout the chapters. People get scarred and those scars will show. It feels off that you spend chapters protecting someone who is ultimately stronger than you, until you realize it’s about building bridges over becoming stronger. Along the way people can get a change of heart and it definitely creates conflict for your mission. I would have liked even more sacrifice to give weight to the story, but by the final days people are so scarred it probably gets hard to write a story that contains it all.

Information is everywhere. You want to know about Ghosts? Why are Milchers frowned upon? Why news channels in this city are corrupt? Why AI and VR sextoys change the face of pleasure forever? How drugs are getting flooded into the city? All this narrative is secondary to the main story, but helps in selling the world and its characters. Side characters are somewhat hit and miss. Some are charismatic and great, others feel like a jukebox on repeat. Dig deep enough and you’ll find something for each character - even Glenn.

The MC might be the blandest part of the writing. He’s never really allowed to develop, often sacrificing his own growth to further others - unless it’s about sexual encounters. By the end he sounds tired, but a far more responsible human than the merc he was at the start. The main antagonist is pretty one-dimensional too, but luckily there are more than enough distractions to make this story interesting.

Storywise CoBD is amazing. Small support characters like Abby and Betty even come with their own backstories and it shows the dedication of the developer. There’s even a Glossary where you can read up on backstories if you don’t remember things as well. You will find a little story in every corner of this novel. Just figure out where to look for the answers you seek!


PRESENTATION
This game looks impressive. Characters have a doll-like look and it might seem cartoon-ish or anime-like at times, liking it is a matter of preference. The scenery looks as realistic as it could. Bright neon lights, sunny skylines, rain showers over characters, big explosions, futuristic cars - it looks larger than life. It might be the most impressive thing about this game.

You can often tell GDS-infected by their looks. Robots and augments usually lack human facial details. Apartments and clubs are styled appropriately and the supporting cast has so many wardrobe changes it borders a fashion show. Meanwhile we never really see the MC, who has one shoddy look and keeps it throughout the game mostly. This game is not about you, but about the world around you.

Sex scenes are often average in variety, but there are so many - especially near the end chapters. There’s about 10 sex scenes that are really memorable due to what happened in probably over 40 scenes. Animations are good enough for me and often look amazing together with the many renderings these scenes bring. There are definitely filler sex scenes, but some kinkier ones if you’re daring to step out of the beaten path.

Music! Usually sound is an afterthought, but this dev dedicated specific soundtracks for CoBD. It might be a bit repetitive after 15 hours, but it understands the ambiance of the city very well. Small sound design helps sell the action scenes without making it corny or too action-focused.

GAMEPLAY
Story choices let you collect points which in turn lock or unlock small story paths for people. It’s a visual novel and you’re in for the ride, but the way you approach the set pieces does give you a sense of individuality. You will get locked out of content with just one playthrough and because a playthrough became 20+hrs, it might become a chore replaying to see all scenes.

For completionists, there’s a scene and picture gallery - along with a picture puzzle game in some of the scenes. You look at certain scenes where the game tells you about a clue, you find it and you get a picture reward. It’s simple, but adds a layer to the investigative nature of the story.

OVERALL
It’s not finished as of yet, but you can tell how it all ends from here. City of Broken Dreamers is an outstanding visual novel and a feat in Noir Cyberpunk storytelling. It looks great, sounds the part and makes you feel a lot of things. If you can invest time to let the story build, you will get to know the interesting world this story basks in. A world that is begging for more stories because there’s just so much happening it is easy to get overloaded. Take your time and you will enjoy this giant of a game. Can’t wait for the final chapter to be released. I mean - this game has an intro movie. That alone tells you enough about the quality.

9/10, but making it 10/10 because of sheer length and passion of developer.

Renders 1000/10 : great renders created by the goat
Himself philly games
Great models Crafted with care

Animations 1000/10 : great animations that can
Make you get hard from seeing them

Story 10/10 great story which ends in a cliffhanger
In chapter, unfortunately it seems to be approaching
The end but as they say all good things
Must come to an end

Characters 10/10 great even the broken ones
Also I love mc who is a badass ghost

Length 10/10 between 20 to 30 hrs to chapter 14
Depends on how long you read

This game is great. I loved every minute of the story. The renders have some of the best lighting effects ever. There are also many paths to take which makes the game even more intriguing. There is a major cliff hanger at the end of the current version so be prepared.

With a cyberpunk aesthetic, of which I am a regular follower, this well-written and interesting story is worthy of being called a "novel" and could well be the script for a movie. The character design is of extremely high quality, with a variety of personalities and visual beauty like I have rarely seen.

As the story develops, several details emerge that describe the world of corporate conspiracies and social conflict typical of the cyberpunk style, adding depth and credibility to the interactions and dialogues between the protagonists. The choices made over the course of the story define the path (through a scoring system) that will lead to romance with one of the heroines, going through a variety of humorous, suspenseful, emotional or dramatic moments.

The erotic scenes are abundant and very well represented, they are very hot! (I really enjoyed Shanlon's and Victoria's scenes). Sometimes you want the animations during sex scenes to last longer. The quality of the renderings is excellent, true works of art.

I generally do not expect much from background music in adult games, but here the soundtrack is perfect with a selection of electronic music tracks and dark subgenres that fits very well in each scene and with the cyberpunk atmosphere of the game in general. My favorite songs are: "Burnin Star" by StrangeZero, "Cyber Twilight" by Hartwigmedia, "Visitors" by Linturaven, "Human Being" by Sublustris Nox, among others. The music fits so well with the scenes and some important moments of the game, adding emotion to them.

Summing up: The renders, The story, The charismatic and lovable characters, The music, all of superlative quality and together make this visual novel a true masterpiece. I have played until chapter 14 and I am looking forward to the outcome of this game of which I already consider myself a fan.