VN - Others - Completed - Hapymaher [Purple Software]

Hapymaher is not a very happy VN, in fact the negative emotions that are portrayed here amount to, regret, guilt, grief, sorrow and associates. There's a lot of casual content in Hapymaher, but when the proverbial substance hits the fan, it gets very serious, very fast. Let's say that you are a more sensitive individual, or that you lost someone dear to you recently. I'd recommend caution approaching hapymaher.

Positive:
- Really great OST. I'd put it in a top 10 best ever in a VN, alongside rewrite, umineko, rance X, and others (it was taken down from YouTube, sadly).
- Very powerful negative emotions. Imagine losing the thing you loved the most in the world. Now add that it was your fault. Finally, mix that with the inability to escape the notion, even in your dreams. That's part of hapymaher.
- Appealing heroines, and visually striking h-scenes. As far as "non-nukige" goes it's good porn, probably the best I remember seeing by Purple Software.
- One unique character in the form of Maia. Pretty much all characters in VN's share some recognizable archetype(s), but there are exceptions. Maia is not her own character, and simply exists to represent something that wasn't overcome, and is never coming back. It's hard to describe her without spoilers, but it's one of the best characters I remember seeing in a VN.
- Unique premise/setting. It's the usual "inside a dream, and then inside another dream", sure, and inception (the movie) exists, but there's more than enough twists to go around.

Negative:
- There's all kinds of unrelated "crap". It's not just the usual comedy, and slice of life, sometimes you can stop and think: Why is this scene happening now, what are these people talking about? If Hapymaher was a 20 hour VN, we could be looking at a masterpiece.

Score: Hapymaher is an 8/10, and a very good VN, that manages to touch upon some difficult subjects, with greater depth than what you normally see in all forms of entertainment. Remember my advice at the beginning, and get more info on the title, only people who don't know grief take it lightly.

Great VN. Art is high-quality and story is good. Pacing might be a little too slow but all those hours felt worthwhile. I had my ideas about how it will go in the true ending before playing the last couple of routes but it all turned out differently. And I liked it!
Sex scenes are quite arousing and enjoyable but this VN isn't full of them. Also, they are hidden behind long hours of reading so if you are looking for a quick fap, look elsewhere.
If you want to avoid spoilers, go Yayoi/Saki routes first, then Keiko, then Maia, and only then do Alice and true route. Alice route contains way too many true ending spoilers which might ruin your experience if you do her first. Conveniently, those spoilers become explanations if you do her last.

First of all its a Virtual Novel so not a lot of gameplay and if you just after FAP material it will be a grind to reach.

Having said that the story and artwork are awesome. Each path reveals a little more story and character depth and well worth avoiding true ending until all character paths followed.

Have seen a lot of complaints about some characters especially MC , if you don't read the story it may seem that way but if you actually follow story including pst revealed in character dialogue then everything makes a lot of sense. Finally remember you not just trying to sort out dreams from reality but character perspective distortion.