Dreambound

(If you saw the "BL" part of this game and were like "OOH! More BL! More romance with pretty bois! Just know... It wont be flowery... It wont be happy and it wont be overly romantic... It will be more like: Anguish... Painful... Intense and well... Morally challenging. Come on people, it's "Psychological/Dark" <-- XD. Just a heads up.) Uhwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa <-- That's the best I can do... Words... Okay we need... Coherent words. Right. *AHEM* Okay! I didn't expect this to be this freaking good. I am familiar with other works from Two and a Half Studios and I enjoy their fantasy/supernatural realms, but this one? This one was one hell of a thing! I will be upfront however... As with other works of Two and a Half Studios... I got stuck enjoying one and only one character... Haah! Just like with Cyne from Divine Seeker... I did Kaine's route and got the Good Ending... I now have trouble wanting to actually read the other two.................. XD.............................! YES. I WILL read them! I just need to calm down first. I think I inhaled this book for days...! The mystery was good. The pain was intense and feels... All those feels. T_T. I didn't want to read it and did at the same time... I had to!!!!!!! Also, all the routes come with their own mystery and hmm, hmm... I kinda have to go and figure out what's up with those other two. Eh. But for now... I am yet again at this same point once more... That same point where I go... How am I supposed to read/play anything else now?! Haaaaaaaaah! Damn it. Okay, good mystery/story/everything. If you couldn't tell from my review. Pfft! THANKS YOU!!! <3 <3 <3

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this game, and though I would overall still recommend it, I thought I would provide a more cynical review for people who might be on the fence and want to know what they're getting into. I'm trying to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, so any references to things that happen in the game will be as vague as I can manage! First, I just want to say that despite the criticisms I have, I still loved this game and enjoyed it quite a lot. The story has some issues and is certainly not perfect, but I had fun playing it and there were quite a few beautiful moments that made me genuinely emotional. The art is also stunning and super high quality, and it's clear that a lot of time and effort has been put into this game! Now with that out of the way, my issues: [*]Small inconsistencies or errors The game tends to make small errors, things like accidentally changing a side character's name or contradicting itself on minor story details. The main mechanic of the game, teleporting into others' dreams, is also employed with inconsistent rules. All of these aren't huge deals, but they happened more than a couple times and usually ended up confusing me or drawing me out of the story. [*]The puzzles are... kinda meh. There's only two in the whole game, and then it seems to just get forgotten. The first one is pretty decent, but the second one I would barely call a puzzle. I'd still recommend playing them because they have important story info, but just be aware that they're a fairly insignificant part of the game. [*]There's a little bit of melodrama Overall, I would say most of the story handles emotional moments in a fairly grounded way (and there are a LOT of them), but sometimes certain scenes or dialogues came off as overdramatic or unrealistic, which drew me out of the story a bit. [*]The romance aspect is kind of questionable Maybe I'm just a cynic, but I felt like some of the romance felt a bit forced, which lent itself to the melodrama mentioned above. Depending on the route, the MC catches feelings in a VERY short timeline, and honestly the chemistry is kind of lacking with most of them, so some of the things that the MC says/does feel weird and overdramatic for how short of a time he's known/had feelings for the characters. [*]The MC can be a bit insufferable. I'm not necessarily counting this one against the game, because it's more of a story choice and Noah (MC)'s actions make sense as a character, even if they can be kind of self-centered or rude. My only issue was that, while two out of the three routes were very active in their acknowledgement of Noah's shortcomings (making it a lot more bearable), the third barely acknowledged them at all. And since that one was the first route I played, it made Noah's rudeness and self-centeredness seem a lot less intentional and thus a lot more irritating to sit through. [*]Not all routes are created equal. Speaking of routes: that first route I played, I'd gotten on by accident, and was honestly pretty disappointing. It was missing a lot of the information and explanations that the other routes had, and left so many unresolved threads that it just felt unsatisfying. The themes also seemed the most shallow to me and didn't touch me all that deeply. I think getting this route first ended up skewing my perception of this game much more negatively than if I had played any of the other ones first, so just be warned that it's a possibility. (For those curious which route I'm referring to, it's [spoiler] Crow's [/spoiler].) [*]None of the routes have all the information Related to the point above, none of the routes individually clear up all of the questions that get raised. This is not actually a bad thing in my opinion, but it just means that you're still gonna finish each route with questions until you've played them all. However, I do have one actual complaint: there are certain times and routes where the game just kind of... forgets about a story thread that it dangled because it gets explored in another route. (e.g. instead of acknowledging the mystery but not answering it, it just... dangles the thread, and then never brings that mystery up again). Again, this happens the most in one certain route, but it just makes some aspects of the story feel unsatisfying and unresolved. Anyway, those are all the main opinions I can think of without giving spoilers! Again, I want to make it clear that overall I still enjoyed the story, but I just wanted to help people be aware that they might end up coming away from this story with more mixed feelings than some of the other reviewers. Basically, thank you for reading! I apologize for my long-windedness, but I hope this was helpful in some way :)

This game traumatized me in the best, most enjoyable and most beautiful way with top-notch writing, soundtrack, characters and art. 11 cried-out eyes out of 10

I wanted to like this, I did at the beginning. I liked the music and the story is interesting as well as the puzzle parts (they even allow you to basically cheat if you choose hint enough so no one should really complain there). The place where it fell apart for me and became boring was some of the dialogues were just too longwinded and some of the attachments felt inauthentic. Too many long stand-around dialogues and not much else. There was also tons of descriptors for the same feeling or mood during some of the introspection/narration that was just too long. The author must think readers can't possibly understand just how intense a feeling is without 10 metaphors. Sometimes felt like other characters were being either therapists, or unemotional. Just began to be too much text that I wanted to skip through as repetitive or not developing anything. I may still try to finish it though its lost my interest for now, may change.

This is a true emotional coaster :') I would love to recommend this game if you're into deep plot AND I noticed how each route is connected to one another after finishing all three main routes for this game. OKAY BUT AT FIRST I ACTUALLY COULDN'T PICK WHICH ROUTE TO DO FIRST (yes, I love all the three love interests). Let me be fr tho, I do feel bad for Kaine on having to put on with Noah FOR LITERAL YEARS AND DUDE WAS FINE BY IT??? [spoiler] yes I know he's murdering people but I guess love really blinds you that he turned yandere mode. [/spoiler]

I'm trying, I really am trying to finish this game. But every SINGLE PRESS, EVERY READ. Sends me to the corner of my room to cry. I've been taking tiny breaks before going back into the game, but I just end up thinking really hard. I haven't finished yet, but I've gotten far enough to leave this review. For something that I can relate to, it feels as if I'm reading my life through this visual novel, yet the story is so beautifully told, that it leaves my heart feeling hurt but in a bittersweet way. Almost feels like a weight lifted off my shoulder, no matter how many times it is making me tear up. I really enjoy how this story is written, and I hope anyone who buys this enjoys it as well.

The story in this visual novel is well-written and the art is beautiful. I can recommend this game, but before you buy it please read about the Trigger Warnings as this story is not for the light-hearted.

[i] DREAMBOUND [/i] Now that I've played Crow's and Ivan's routes, I feel like I can share my thoughts. This story centers on the theme of accepting things as they are, moving forward, and not staying trapped in the past—a beautiful take on personal growth. It really hit me in a way I didn’t expect. The narrative felt so real and grounded, and I could really connect with the characters and their journeys. As someone who experienced a ton of grief this past year, I felt great comfort in the narrative of accepting the past for what it is and learn to let go. PROS: Story: The narrative is so dang good. It’s heartfelt and deeply moving, with themes that will resonate with anyone who’s gone through personal growth or healing. Art: The artwork is gorgeous. Every scene is beautifully crafted, and it really brings the story to life. Soundtrack: The music fits the tone perfectly—emotional, uplifting, and memorable. It enhanced the experience in all the right ways. Puzzles: The inclusion of puzzles added a fun interactive element to the game. It was a nice change of pace and helped keep things engaging. CONS Puzzle Quantity: I really enjoyed the puzzles, but I wish there had been at least one more to add some extra variety to the experience. Puzzle Difficulty: Some of the puzzles could have been a bit more thought-out and challenging. They didn’t really push me to think too hard, which left me wanting a bit more from them. Dialogue/Grammar Issues: There were a few errors in the dialogue and grammar that pulled me out of the immersion a little bit. A bit more polish in this area would have made the experience even smoother. Story Pacing: While the story itself was fantastic, the pacing felt a bit uneven at times. Certain moments dragged on a little longer than necessary, while others felt a bit rushed, making it harder to stay fully engaged throughout. Overall this game gets a B+ from me. A heartfelt and slightly experimental entry in the land of visual novels that deserves recognition.

Loved that each route was actually different but also crossed each other. The concept was really interesting and the characters were distinctly different. I liked that there were not absolute good or evil personalities but human with legitimate faults and redeeming qualities.

Finished the game and don't know what to do with myself now. What a beautiful story about trauma and moving on. About finding joy again, and of course love and dreams. I can only recommend this. Noah is so beautifully realistic in how he lashes out - it's not pretty, but it is what it is. If you wanted to play Slow Damage but you don't deal well with all the gore this is the one for you.