VN - Ren'Py - Dreamland [v0.5.0p] [Dokiden]

I don't usually write reviews but felt the need to since it's currently the only VN that gets me genuinely excited for updates. The motion techniques used here are really immersive and unique. It's a beautiful game with wonderful views.

The story is interesting and easy to get into. Never felt the need to skip dialogue, unlike the sea of bland and uninspired games. Things actually happen in each episode, and while the plot relies on incredible odds and characters can sometimes make stupid decisions, it makes for a compelling narrative.

Good mix of likeable and unlikeable characters. Is it realistic? No thankfully, we already have real life for that. Overall, it's a solid game that other developers should learn from - 5 stars.

I don’t usually write reviews for VNs, especially when my opinion about them isn’t positive. After all, I don’t want to feel like my negative opinion might affect someone’s work—a work that, regardless of its quality, I assume had one or more people behind it putting in effort, time, money, and passion to make it as good as possible.

But “Dreamland” made me break that rule for one very simple reason: I have absolutely no idea how this thing has an average rating above 1 star, or how there are 5-star reviews claiming it’s one of the best VNs on F95, or that the characters are “complex.”

Pros:

• Good renders. Especially the models. Though honestly, the LIs are beautiful, sure, but there’s nothing spectacularly unique about them—just more of what we’ve already seen dozens of times in other VNs.

Cons:

• Literally everything else.

From now on, I'm going to use the same pathing and narrative order the dev uses for the story, so hold on tight because here comes a shitty, chaotic, nonsensical review for a shitty, chaotic, nonsensical AVN.

The LIs. Oh boy, the LIs. It’s like they were lobotomized before the story even started.

There’s your so-called best friend who suddenly becomes your worst enemy because the girl you literally just met is flirting with you instead of him. Goodbye, years of friendship. Then there’s his absurd backstory about his ex and the missing girls, which so far has zero explanation, but I’m sure it’ll turn into some Scooby-Doo-level plot twist like: “Oh reader, it wasn’t what it seemed haha, he didn’t actually kill her—he was just covering up that she ran off with her lesbian girlfriend haha oh and by the way, farts and beans.”

The humor in this VN can be summed up as: “haha farts omg so funny haha fart haha fart joke hahaha.” Literally the humor level of a 7-year-old.
And honestly, as someone playing an AVN (emphasis on Adult Visual Novel), if you’re trying to stay invested a story as bad as this one—which requires keeping a certain level of horniness—there’s no bigger turn-off than “fart fart fart.”

Then there’s your other best friend, who for some reason decides to jerk you off (you, a lifelong friend with whom she’s never had a single sexual interaction) along with a girl you all just met, who initially she hated because she refused to give her a ride—just to get your attention. But if you reject her? Suddenly she hates you.

First scene: The MC is on a video call with some porn actress or model (I don’t even remember clearly) because apparently he won a giveaway during lockdown. I don’t know what country the dev went through the pandemic in, but I guess raffling off stuff like that was normal there (WTF).

And then your other best friend, the girl who’s had a crush on you for years. She spends FIVE F***ING MONTHS planning a trip just to confess her feelings, arranges a romantic starlit date, kisses you for the first time, is about to lose her virginity to you, tells you she loves you, and officially becomes your girlfriend… and then decides to vanish without telling anyone, leaving behind all her clothes and the only bag containing her ID and money—just to throw a party at a house you were already planning to go to in a few hours. And she’s surprised to see you there?! WHERE THE HELL DID SHE THINK WE’D BE, IF THAT’S LITERALLY THE HOUSE WE WERE STAYING AT FOR THE VACATION, YOU ABSOLUTE MORON?!

Then there are the two girls you just met—classic AVN clichés. Within five minutes, one’s grinding on you in a car full of people with no underwear, and the other’s jerking you off by the lake with your best friend. Lots of “freedom,” “casual sex,” “letting go and living wild in Dreamland”… until one of them, a day after meeting you, decides she wants to be in a serious relationship. Oh, and then she finds your best friend in the woods with pictures of a missing girl from five years ago. He tells her some story (we don’t know what), she believes him, and decides to keep it a secret from you—even though you’re supposedly a couple now. Makes perfect sense.

The story starts off somewhat interesting, with a lot of old-school slasher movie vibes. Promising. From there, though, it completely falls apart. It makes absolutely no sense. None whatsoever. It’s so nonsensical that I genuinely can’t understand how someone writing it could believe it made any sense. I’m honestly starting to think the whole thing was written by ChatGPT.

And then there’s the redhead from the forest, who’s there with her dad and brother. You just met her, and she invites you to go alone with her into a forest where girls disappeared years ago (totally logical and safe, of course). You talk for like five minutes, about nothing remotely interesting, and suddenly you’ve got a date with her the next day—where she ends up giving you what’s probably her first kiss.

There are so many, many more things this AVN does sooooo bad, like the random jumps back in time or slowing the readers reading rythm just because, but I don't even have the mental strenght to invest more of my time into explaining how shitty this shit was.

TL;DR: Playing this made me want to shoot myself in the balls. I didn’t have many brain cells left before starting, but I’m pretty sure my IQ got cut in half after finishing it.

excellent renders, interesting but not fleshed out premise, overall provides a very satisfying and sexy journey.
I would say ignore the constant negative revies of some of the other more impassioned commerntors about story it's sti;; a hell of a lot better than most out there.

The longer this one goes, the worse it gets.

AVN started out hot with great looking renders and promise. Its turned into a direct to DVD style horror movie with endless/needless twists and turns that accomplish nothing of value but make you hate everyone and hope the serial killer gets them all

Updates are too shrot for how long they take IMO.

WARNING SPOILERS

That being said the best part of this AVN is the amazing renders and the lewd scenes especially Lea/Danielle BUT the "dream" sequence with SUmmer was stupid, and we didn;t get to see Round II with Daniele after the club. Poor choices.

Concept had promise for 4 MAYBE the elusive 5 stars, but we're no where near that pipe dream anymore.

The character modeling and animation quality are far superior to other games I’ve played. Well done — this game is truly excellent. The characters’ faces are impressively detailed and expressive, which really want us to find the women sexy and love them. On top of that, the story is both interesting and intriguing, keeping you hooked from the start. Overall, it’s an outstanding game in this genre.

Review for Dreamland v. 0.5.0

I’ll start by saying that the renders are quite nice — visually, the game looks good. That said, I really wish the characters’ lips moved (not animated just be ajar while they are speaking) when they talk. Watching people have full conversations with closed mouths just looks odd and breaks immersion. Unfortunately, that’s about the only positive thing I can say about this game.

The story is... rough. Really rough. It feels forced from start to finish, with events that don’t progress naturally or make much sense. For example, if you come face-to-face with a potential serial killer who knows where you’re staying, why wouldn’t you leave immediately? And why convince your female friend to stay when her instinct to get out is clearly the right one? None of it adds up.

By this point, there isn’t a single likeable character in the cast — except maybe Summer. Everyone else is either an asshole or outright unhinged. It has all the signs of a story that’s going to dump every answer at the very end in some Scooby-Doo-style reveal.

Then there are the secrets — endless secrets. After three years of development, that’s pretty much all there is. The plot hasn’t gone anywhere meaningful, and it’s honestly disappointing. Updates are small and infrequent, and typically when updates are that small, they come out more regularly. My prediction? This game gets abandoned before it ever delivers any real payoff.

Final verdict: skip this one. It’s not worth the time investment unless things drastically change.

Finally someone flipped the stereotypes and made the vapid blonde and country bumpkin redhead the smartest characters. Too bad it's because they're the least irrational and insane ones while MC and everyone else are seemingly on drugs the entire time, because almost none of their actions make sense or even have logical follow-through from what they're experiencing. Just unlock the gallery and fap if the nice renders, because the novel part of this is just not good.

Very easy to review. Soulless VN with extremely trashy women well-rendered, so if that's your thing, go for it.

To me, aesthetically trashy women come in two basic forms:
1) glam (fake face, fake lips, fake hair, fake eyebrows, fake eyelashes, fake tits, fake fingernails, etc.)
2) punk (facial piercings, tattoos, half-shaved heads, unnatural hair colors, etc.)

What makes this game remarkable is, not only the full commitment to these two aesthetics, but the combination of them. If soulless glam punks are your thing, definitely give it a go.

This game has fallen from grace for me BIG TIME.

The updates are wayyyyyyyy too short to justify the development time (imho).

Some of the girls barely get any content. And my god, the writing has downgraded so much. Our cast of characters has become so stupid and unlikeable.

The best friend is the worst best friend of all time. Just because he didn't get his girl (a girl that he follows/likes from social media, which was a one-sided affection from him, btw). Boohoo, and just because she shows interest in MC. F the friendship we had, right? He lures MC out while MC and she are about to have sex, then he knocks him out, leaving MC outside in the cold. The next day we continue to ride with him because he's the only one with the car. What???? Hope he dies slowly and miserably.

One of the LIs sticks out for him while she's dating the MC…. Promising to keep MC's best friend's secrets from the MC… WTF??? You're his girl now??? MC might not know, but I DO! What a turn-off!

Another one of the LIs who's supposed to be this sweetheart nice, shy girl. Who's been waiting for this moment and is using the trip to get closer and confess her feelings to the MC, so they can be a couple. Right after they confessed/acknowledged that they are now a couple. She just randomly leaves (leaving her best friend/boyfriend behind, btw, while they're panicking looking for her)… just for them to find her later, and she's living a double life hosting a party. WTF is going on??? Another turn-off.

The other three LIs aren't too bad… they're actually ok/normal/decent.... for now.

I have been a patron since Feb 2023, and I'm not going to lie. I'm so disappointed at the game and where we are with it at the moment. I thought it was beautiful (visually), and it had so much potential at the beginning. But now, oof, it is tough to continue supporting it and look at it now.

I'm slowly starting to lose faith in the game and its development (it's just too long for so little content/playtime). It's what? 20 minutes per release?

Maybe if Doki updated every 1 to 2 months? I would be more accepting/forgiving of it. But, nah, Doki takes MONTHS.

Now I am an understanding and patient person. I could wait forever. Life happens, and it goes on. And I'm a supporter of many Devs. So I can easily find something else to occupy my time while I'm waiting.

But I just want to see a "little more bang" for my bucks, "more meat" to sink my teeth into on the updates.

I'm not going to abandon the game yet... but I have lowered my monthly pledge to the lowest and am waiting and seeing.

Doki… STEP UP, BROTHER. I'm on my last leg with you. We've got to get moving with the story. And for F-sake. Make everyone smart and enjoyable again, man. No more stupid/fake pretentious people.

Edited
Also, I haven't played the new update (v0.5.0) , yet. Only up to v0.4.0

I really liked this game, but the updates are taking too long. Also, in the last update, it seemed like one drama bomb after another exploded, giving you no time to react. The game has so much potential, which is why I'm giving it a plus point, and I hope I can see it finished (not rushed like many other games).

The renders are amazing and pacing is just right. The LIs in this game are ****** hot and makes you wanna check out all routes. I love the whole campy vibe and I am excited for future updates! I recommend this game based on the scenes alone.

This game is certified GOAT !! The story is not like any other game in f95zone it's very refreshing .The girls are hot and also the male mc is very attractive make resonable why every girls wanna fu*k him hehe. Can't wait for next chapter.

its just unfortunately really shallow as a vn.
Its at best a wallpaper/render galore, everything else is just incredibly below average. I mean your 'best friend' who loved you her whole life took one night to switch lanes after getting rejected or ignored.

Nothing is paced properly, its either you fuck on sight or wait for some transition to happen. Literally your friend and the stranger you guys meet decided to give you a handjob together after knowing each other for 1 car ride. Even by porn writing standards how does that work?

Apart from that this game took years to update and it still isn't the size of some VN's opening chapter

alright, so I kinda started this one on steam but deciden not to buy DLCs and just 'buckle up me hearties' this one.

That was a good decision in hindsight.

The premise was intriguing, the title girl was kinda cute, the synopsis was also mildly interesting.

but in the end - what a letdown

don't get me wrong, I still like the visual side, the models are cute and sexy, renders are decent - all of that somewhere between B-tier and A-tier (lighting and posing feel weird, thus not an S-tier).

but boy oh boy, this game crashes and burns in terms of character development, plot development and general pacing of the story.

Secondary characters are necessary to paint your story with the shades and colours that make your main plot points shine! Secondary characters are something you need to pay attention to.

Here, we have a case of side characters who do weird and nonsensical things - they do not obey logic and some cause-and-effect stuff, they do shit just because.

MC is not great too, lacks agency and some common sense.
Pacing of the story is extremely weird - inconsistent, incoherent, lacks direction.

Fart jokes are terrible, like holy fuck. It could've been beautiful...

2/5, one star for Lea model, another star for all other pretty renders
now I have more pretty wallpapers.

I really wanted to like Dreamland but it really isn't good.
Tried it a couple of times but this time was the last.

The writing isn't that good that your capable of telling story like twin peaks with twists and turns and still keeping the reader interested. Sorry but this just is not good enough for that intricate story.
Or if it´s more of splatter a la 90s horror its just not paced right.

Damn some times this game is so good rendered and the transitions are so damn on point and still they take forever. Sometimes the text speed slows down to a crawl by design and there is no way past it.

The Models are somewhat repetitive but still above average and that is completely fine for a VN.

It gets pretty quick tedious with all time jumping and the subpar explaining of what when and where in the story the reader is at that point.
This is one of the major reasons I'm giving this up.
Almost no one here on F95 are actually that good a writer that they can pull off a story with multiple time jumps and keeping the story alive don't know why they keep trying.

0.4.0 and that's it this wont become any better and the only thing saving it would be complete rewrite and I don't see that happening.
Renders are sometime better than top 1% here of games but that is mostly because of transition and effects are really well done.
If you make a VN don't hinder players from clicking the story forward in their pace just a suggestion.

This may be one of the best games on the site . I get that having so many different paths and options can be a bit confusing and annoying for some , as well as making the story a little complicated however i think its great and gives the game a lot of replaybility . Also the plot and characters are very interesting and multidimensional with the player constantly asking what their motives and plans are and its not clear who is good and who is bad. Most importantly though the characters and sex scenes are incredible and the game is really well made .

The premise is honestly fantastic and set up really well, I enjoy the B-grade horror flick, it's fun! It also helps that the visuals are great and all the girls are very attractive. There's also branching paths that actually make a difference, which is pretty interesting.

However, the big issue really comes out that the longer the story goes on, the worst the writing gets. The first big hit is the fact that every girl is automatically into you, to a ridiculous degree. In the second chapter you get the chance to have a sexual act with 1 of 3 women (only one is actual sex). This, somehow, has each of them decide that they're actually in a relationship with you now. No joke, each of them go "you're mine now, we're in a relationship". Keep in mind that for two of them, you have known them for ONE DAY. You have been on NO DATES with ANY of the women. They just act in such a ridiculous way that you just can't enjoy the story. What's worse is that two of them literally DESCRIBE Dreamland as being about "free love" where you have sex with random people, and yet they'll also claim you at the first chance they get?? It's genuinely so insane. This paired with the dialogue that progressively gets less and less human, just makes it a slog the longer it goes.

Hopefully it gets better, but I just kinda lost all enjoyment when I had to deal with how unrealistic every single situation was.

Must be protected for footlovers, good renders+models, and the non-complicated gameplay. The main girls are all baddies in their own right and I hope I get to see this game to the end so please suppor this creator!

Renders, animations, girls are just chefs kiss. Strong HNG so far.

My problem is probably with MC, hes not the most interesting dude and kinda boring.

Im just playing this for the girls and the lewds, that shit is top tier. Writing is meh

#1. The story is horrible.

#2. The writing is real bad.

#3. The jokes are not funny at all.

#4. Very annoying unskippable transitions.

#5. Characters look okay but could be a lot better.

#6. Forced dirty foot jobs. (the dev has a big foot fetish)

#7. Don't know why, but the sex scenes feel boring.