This review contains some plot spoilers
The Good:
Graphics:
City of Broken Dreamers is on par, in my view, with all the greatest and top ranked games on this site: BADIK, the controversial MILFY City, etc.. It's far superior in renders and animation to a few of my other favourites, such as Harem Hotel. While I haven't replayed Harem Hotel in multiple updates, I find myself loading this up on a near monthly basis to go out of my way with new saves and unlock additional galleries. I cannot stress this enough- I am a severe stickler (look at my other reviews,) and City of Broken Dreamers, made by one guy, is superior in its short (5-10 second) animations than the entire crew of Mass Effect Andromeda.
All of the women are unique in their own ways- the creator goes out of their way to make sure that while all the women have 'conventional' beauty they each have their own unique visible quirks and assets that make each encounter feel genuinely unique. This is very difficult to do, and the creator has pulled this off near-flawlessly.
There's a scene, I believe between chapters 3-4, or 4-5, where the song 'Burning Star' drops and there's a series of brief animations of characters reminiscing about the past and contemplating what to do in the future. It's a total 'load out and pump up' scene reminiscent of old action films, and it's a total banger. It got me pumped up in the same way loading up for a boss fight in a conventional Triple A game pumps me up. This is practically impossible to do in a game loaded up with sex and lewdness, and yet the developer pulled it off anyways. Extremely well done. You'll know the scene when it hits, and it stays with you.
Writing:
The writing is short. Conversations are a sentence or two, then a rebuttal or reply from the person you are conversing with, leading to another sentence or two, etc.. This allows conversations to be brief enough to convey the right plot information while also feeling organic. Lines that are conventionally cheesy are noted by either your MC or the character they are speaking to, and this occurs infrequently, which balances beautifully the line between 'hokey' and 'legitimate.' People say silly things when clothes start to fly off, and this largely is pulled off very well.
The main plot of the game is not necessarily unique, a powerful young girl who may or may not be the subject of megacorp experimentation needs to be hunted down and captured by you, the MC, a 'Ghost' who is a private contractor mercenary for hire. The game bounces between minor plots that take up the majority of each 'chapter,' which nearly always act as an impetus to forward the overall main plot. A lot of games get bogged down in minor plot points and forget where they were originally going, but the author here is clearly capable of this delicate balance between minor plots and major plots. You never feel as though you are working in circles.
This feels like a kinetic novella but it actually is not. I've run 3 different save games, a 'lust' 'score' and 'neutral plot focused' saves and while the differences between the three may not be totally obvious, there is more than enough incentive to replay and try different replies to gain either new lewd scenes or to garner additional plot information. This harkens me back to the oldschool RPG's of the past. While there's certainly not the same kind of variation you can get in Fallout 2, Planescape Torment, NeverwinterNights, etc.. This game feels as though any choice you make is the 'correct' one most of the time, but then going back to do the inverse of what you had done before can yield new dialogue, new cutscenes, new lewd scenes, etc.. It's truly a brilliant balancing act.
The Flow:
It's perfect. I never say those words together, but it really is. I find it just as good as any majorly popular game on this site, perhaps slightly better. Due to the tightness of the plot and trajectory of the story you never feel as though you are treading old ground. Very few repeat scenes even contain the same dialogue- there's always a quip by the MC or the MC's partner that states they had just had this scene and they are eager to do it again, which keeps switching between similar scenes somewhat fresh. It's very easy for the creator to just leave the original default dialogue, and thus taking the time to add separate vignettes of dialogue for the same animation scenes is something they did not have to do, yet did anyways- this demonstrates an obvious love and care for both their own material and for the audience's expectations, and should be commended.
The Bad:
A few of the 'riding' animations are awkward as hell. The developer clearly has some issues with what to do with a characters arms in some scenes, and the animation loop of 3-5 seconds only heightens this awkwardness.
And that's it for the bad.
Overall:
The writing is tight. It's a simple plot in the grand scheme of things, but this works to the game's benefit and not to its detriment. Each character's dialogue is as unique as their visual looks- each person acts and feels and 'sounds' as though they have their own concerns, motivations, desires, and this really lets you see past the 'game' and look at it more as a good story. It didn't make me sad like certain storylines in other games, and it didn't ever make me burst out laughing like other games, but as a serious cyberpunk story containing a plethora of different lewdness and fetishes/kinks it ticks every possible box I could ask for. This is my first 5 star review on the site. This game is an absolute banger, and there's no reason for you not to try it. The Dev 'learning as they go' is, in my view, very close to 'master' status for this type of game, and I look forward to all their future works and the continuation of this game. Nicely done.
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