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

Version 1.08.1

When I saw a new game by PhillyGames I got really exited because Depraved Awakening was the game that got me into the adult games genre and especially adult VN.

So the story starts really strong and IMO this is the most important thing to nail to make people keep playing your game. It has some mystery, it looks really good and immerse you in the game instantly. I felt like I was watching a high budget production (especially with the random animations).
I want also to point that this game has a pretty nice world building, the city areas, the corporations, the different social classes, it all blends really well together which makes you even more immersed in the game and beyond just skimming through from a sex scene to a sex scene.

The characters at first seemed to me pretty generic. Yea, they had some personality but in the first hours of the game it felt to me that they were lacking some depth. But of-course after some more hours with them you got to know them better and maybe could relate more, but I think with a little bit better writing the developers could flesh out their personality faster and by that maybe made you hooked faster to their story.

The visuals are really lit! Not a bad word to say about them. The characters beautifully modeled, the atmosphere with the lighting were pristine.
Those random animations from time to time are so smooth and visually pleasing to look at. I think it was unique and add a lot to the game.
Sex animations were nice and the variety of the sex positions in most of the scenes was perfect.

I think this team is really talented and you can see how much passion and work went into it. I still can remember the dev's previous game even if played it several years ago and I can notice the improvement in all of the game aspects.

Good job!

WOW! I never cease to be amazed at this team's work. I am waiting for an update and played through here again. I love the characters, the art, and the animations. hopefully we'll get an update soon! The character development and back stories are outstanding.
*EDIT*SPOILER* THis story just keeps getting better! I loved the recent update. The chemistry between MC and the girls is palpable. I like the subtle teasing and even didn't mind the cliffhanger ending of this update. I do really wish Henry was still with us. the Bro humor between him and MC was really entertaining. they really acted like my friends when I was enlisted. just a really good story to go along with all the sex.

The story is excellent. It flows very well. The dialogues are well written for the most part, however, the dialogues during the intimate scenes could've been more "intimate". The renders are fantastic and I love the cyberpunk vibe of the game.

I did not intend for a long commentary for this one, but it may come to that. The work speaks for itself, and it is nothing short of superb. I am Johnny-come-lately to this one, but I am glad I did. This is the first review in which I have given a 5-star to, and it deserves a hell of a lot more.

The artwork is beautiful, the erotic scenes were both tasteful and well done as opposed to drenching the story and being a boring distraction (some other devs should take notes and learn from this), the storyline and writing is not only a bit nostalgic (I loved the various nods I saw in regards to several great movies), and incredibly well-written. I am not kidding when I say this was a novel I could NOT put down, and I am extremely anxious to turn the page in the next update.
Philly did a masterful job at creating the perfect setting and ambiance for this story, along with a very good music score to set the tone. It also appears we have similar taste in movies, so there may be a bias there. In fairness, the ONLY fault I will offer is some minor spelling and grammatical errors, but these tiny things pale in comparison to what he has created.

Good game with an excellent story and stunningly beautiful CG. The futuristic setting also is refreshing compared to similar games. My only real complaint is the dialogue is a bit lacking and the story can jump around a bit.

Excellent story, could be a movie. Maybe too many side characters that get brought back into the main storyline, which dilutes the main love interests, but the characters are all so different, and the MC can either be a romantic with some or after pure sex with others. The doc and rocker and magic girl are all wonderfully fleshed out characters despite having to share the space. The animations/scenes are magnificent. Great male side characters too

This is a masterpiece of a game. Excellent story, super sexy renders. Overall one of the best games I've ever played. An excellent mix of science fiction, sex, and violence.

If porn games had AAA publishers, Phillygames would be one them.

A high production quality and ambitious adult VN. Character art, animations, and environments are excellent.

There's an overarching damsel-in-distress plot in a cyberpunk setting. The story is good although the game could actually benefit from a full game studio to realize its vision, as sometimes it feels like the story jumps a bit skipping over transitions that would make it easier to follow. There's a variety of references and homages which are fun to spot, even though I'm sure I miss a lot of them.

Choices lead to significant variations in scenes and story, such as different characters accompanying the main character on a mission. Stats (some hidden) can lead to new scenes. Expect to play through several times and possibly use a guide to see everything.

There are several one-off sexual encounters, but also scenes and stats with main love interests. There's a variety from more romantic to more dominating.

Some significant animations actually just show off cool things in the world, rather than sex scenes, which make it clear this is more of an adult game than a porn game.

The battles are probably the worst part of the game (see Chapter 5). All the fighters look like hysterical little children, having no tactical thinking or battle experience.

Like Tex and Sonja, they wear casual clothes into battle, and they run into the room shooting automatic fire, one by one, so that the defender could take them out like practice targets. No flashbangs, no coordination, no using covers etc.

The MC does the same: lots of fuss and pointless drama (On the pedwalk, trying to run away? Brilliant idea, mwa-ha-ha...) instead of just using the person with super-powers when appropriate.

Other aspects of the game are not so bad. The characters are depicted with more emotional involvement than in "Depraved Awakening".

So it's interesting, not just flashy.

Girls are pretty, though some proportions (like breasts) are obviously deformed.

Considering the size of the game, attention to details and good choices management, it's 5 stars.

v1.08.1

Book 1 (Ch 1-7) is excellent.
Book 2 (Ch 8-14) is not.

The endings for a number of the girls are pretty poor, or nonexistent. The main narrative isn't bad, but if you're not on Gloria, Katie, Ellen, or Victoria's path, chances are very high you will be disappointed in the ending of this game. I am very appreciative for F95's existence as it saves me from buying games like this and wasting my money.

This game is excellent. And I mean, nevermind this is a porn game. This is the first time I’ve played one of these where I didn’t just click the dialogue away to get to the sex. In fact, it feels that the sex is a bit out of place and gratuitous. This reads as a AAA vide game plot, or a TV show.

Really wanted to like this game

Ladies and Gentz. This is much of the same as the previous game. A crap ton of hype but to my taste not much substance.

PROS
Awesome visuals and hscenes
Great Dialogue
Beautiful Models
Production quality
No grind
No bugs or glitches
Consistent update schedule

CONS
Takes itself too serious. Its a Porn game
Not interesting enough to prevent me from CTRL Skip
Same formula as the last game just in a different setting and even then it was basic and underwhelming
No significant sex scene yet to give it some replay or play value
No memorable scene or characters for that matter

Almost gave this game 2 stars but I have to be fair. The production, renders and animation demands this game at least 3 stars. This game suffers from the same illness as other games on this site. Fan boys and the like, like the renders and automatically forgive the flaws of the game. I'm still in the school of thought that a great porn game HAS to have great porn scenes. HOT scenes. Memorable scenes. This is an average at best porn game because it has average at best scenes. Not really into the whole Cyperpunk genre but at least its a different spin. A great porn game should also have memorable characters. Good buildup, teasing, exposition, and a fantastic payoff sex scene is how that is achieved. This, like the previous game, is really just a carbon copy of all the other boring games with none of the above, a ton of hype, and good looking "same-face" beauty queen models you'll fine in every other game. Its worth a playthrough and the dev is awesome but don't expect a lifechanging experience.

Visually stunning. This game has best graphic I've seen in VN so far. And I don't even mean characters only, but overall athmosphere, lightning, shading, backgrounds, everything. Really, hands down. Definitely worth playing.

Story is also very good. Waiting for the sequel, but I will not hold my breath.

I was not satisfied with some moments in game only, like certain characters just meet and they start having sex out of nowhere.

Easily one of the best VNs out there I would put it in the top 3 at least.
First off the graphics and animations are the best I’ve seen. Not just the lewd scene animations but the animations in game.
What I like most is the story, it’s almost like watching a movie and keeps you wanting to know more. The dev definitely stepped up from his first game and I can’t see where this goes.

One of the best VN I ever played . Great story, I'm genuinely interested in the story even without the lewed content. Outstanding and unique animation and renders. Those animations are custom made and you will not see any game that have animations of this quality. Dev is working hard and clearly a genius in lighting

Best adult game I've ever tried, fantastic story, amazing render quality and THE ANIMATIONS even better, the dev keeps updating it pretty quickly despite the quality of the product. Can't wait to see this game finished to see the complete masterpiece.

Outstanding game! I love the setting, the writing, and the models. I hope PhillyGames keeps working on this game because I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. Definitely one to watch, especially if you like sci-fi or cyberpunk settings.

Review for the version : v1.08.1

Full disclaimer : I jumped in this game after discovering & playing what became my favorite game on this forum, which made me much more critical of other games, since it's so good (can't name it, forum rules). I also jumped in not knowing anything about the game other than that it was pretty popular on the forum. I usually stick with games that have a few specific tags / fetishes, and this game has none of them, but I figured I'd give it a try anyway.

Graphics : 9.5/10
The visuals in this game are probably it's strong suit, especially on the animations side. City of Broken Dreamers has the best and longest animations I've seen in any VN. You can't play the game and deny the sheer amount of work that went into these animations, and I'm not talking about XXX scenes, I'm talking full blown plot-related action sequences. It's to the point where I think this game is using the wrong medium, and suffers from having a budget that's way too small. To me, this should be a movie, or a real AAA game. It certainly feels like it has that potential, visually, and it also feels like it's what the dev is trying to do, seeing the amount of focus around the non-sexual animations. Other than that, the models of the girls are all great, and every character feels visually unique.

Sound & Music : 7/10
The music in the game feels like it's somewhat futuristic, but it also feels cheap and average. I think I came across one song that I truly enjoyed listening to, the others were mostly for background ambience and never really helped conveying the emotions of the scene. Still, since so many VNs don't even bother using music, you can't fault the dev for at least trying here, using multiple titles.

I also don't recall any notable sound, to the point where I wonder if there was any. It doesn't bother me too much, though, since most sound libraries online are of extremely poor quality, and not having any sound is still much better than having shitty sounds, which can break the mood of a scene, in opposition to the music that will almost always at least add a little something to the scene.

Story : 8.5/10
This is the trickiest part, since City of Broken Dreamers is so different from most VNs. The game is mostly story-focused and the more you play, the thicker the story becomes. Once again, I feel like the game suffers from being a small scale project compared to AAA titles. The lore of the game seems diverse and deep, but you end up discovering it way too slowly. The same applies to most of the characters of the game, and even the MC. You end up navigating a story you barely understand, because much of it haven't been told to you yet. It wasn't before the last 2 chapters that I really felt hooked to the story. Once you're hooked, though, you really want to know what's gonna happen next, but I wanted to stop playing so many times before I reached that point; I simply kept going on out of respect for the dev, who visibly put a lot of love into this project, and for the community, that seems to love this game.

Gameplay : 6.5/10
This is the saddest part. City of Broken dreamer has one of the most polished interface I've ever seen in a VN, but that's it. It's a VN as straight as an arrow, without much on the interaction side. You have a few choices during the game, way too few, and it seems like none of them make a huge impact on the story, it's mostly about « Are you going to unlock this next scene or not », but once it's done, it's done, and everything will end up pretty much being the same in the end. I know that in most games, your choices rarely affect the main plot of the story, but they at least have to make you FEEL like they're important. In City of Broken dreamers, I never got the feeling that any of my choices were important; the VN is too linear from start to finish, so much that it's barely a « game » at all, it's mostly a linear VN.

So, in conclusion, I think this game, despite having this many fans, has only reached a fraction of it's potential. The renders are good, the animations are great, the story is great, the lore is great, but the storytelling is lacking, the pace of the game is off, the interactions are too far in between and the choices don't look like they carry as much weight as they should.

I still recommend you give it a try, though; because if the story can hook you faster than it hooked me, you're in for a nice ride.

Outstanding. I cannot give this game enough superlatives.
It really is amazingly well done.
The graphics are excellent, the story is huge and deep, the girls are stunning and there is a whole lot of fun to be had.
There is no grind and there is a really good story being told, which is captivating. I cannot wait to play the next episode.
Massive thanks to the dev for this, it's definitely one of my favourite games on this site.
Highly recommended. If you want a strong story with hot girls, plenty of sex and characters that make you care about what happens to them, not just the MC, then give this a run - you will not regret it.

This game has a very engaging plot, and all the characters have a surprised amount of character in them. Visuals are very good and the background music makes the setting very believable. Would recommend.