[h1]Beautiful Singing Boys recruiting…So, let the Squid Game begin, boy band edition![/h1]
Hanbyul is a young girl with a dream… She wishes to have the opportunity to be at the center of the spotlight with an audience enjoying her songs. Thing is… Life is never easy, and she will have to do everything within her power to overcome debts and also her grandma’s hospital bills, on top of that. So, in order to guarantee a good source of income covering all their needs. She decides to participate in a contest in which a boy band is looking for a new member to join their ranks, as a way of killing two birds with one stone.
The protagonist decides to crossdress as a boy to have a chance and win the cash offered in the aforementioned contest. Leading her into a living situation that could feel similar to the TV show called Big Brother… But the Korean edition.
You can choose between some options for your preferred disguise, three available for hairstyle and other three as per choosing an outfit of your liking. A little funny graphic issue I spotted before the game was patched, made me think: If you want to really disguise yourself as a boy, never forget about finding a way for your b00bs not to bounce around giving your disguise away!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3078678629
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3078678587
The plot most of the time is really easy to guess, with not so much of a plot twist to offer to the reader, and also the way of rushing the available routes as to try making you feel aware of them, feels, like, imposed and sometimes ridiculous, as the situation unfolding couldn’t be the worst timing ever for that to happen.
[spoiler]Her grandma is in a hard condition regarding her own health and the doctor is interested in asking for your number because he wants to take you out on a date… While what you wanted is a way to ensure that once the surgery costs are paid, the treatment for your closest relative will start and proceed as promised. And that’s only one of the examples you can encounter[/spoiler]
Her self-image can change a bit drastically sometimes… Going from having confidence in her own abilities to almost feeling like there’s no possible way she can do it. And that would be understandable, as it sometimes can happen in real life, but within minutes, changing her thinking so much is hard to empathize with.
There’s no skip button available nor a way to rewind the conversations or check the log, and given the fact there’s only one save slot available per walkthrough… You should be careful with your choices!
The background music in general, but more so the one trying to portray tension in the scenes unfolding ( the aforementioned, a bit excessive to be honest), can be cut out suddenly once the scene finishes… Which gained, more than once, one of my eyebrows rising at the abruptness.
One thing I would like to praise the game for, is the portrayal of the so-called Korean Wave or Hallyu, hard working conditions. Usually, all we see is glitter and not the pressure conditions the artists have to constantly endure… Even though within the game they touched the subject in a subtle way, it is good to see the problem being mentioned.
The romantic interests available:
[list]
[*]Cho Jin: The uptight guy who cannot keep up with his menacing attitude for long
[*]Chris: The easy-going guy who likes to cause mischief
[*]Haley: The supportive female option
[/list]
[h1]Things I would like to highlight:[/h1]
[list]
[*]Six languages available (Surprisingly, including Spanish, yeah you've read that right! But don’t expect the translations to be perfect. And that’s okay, it is more than the options we can usually choose from, in this genre)
[*]No way to hide the hud, so if you are planning to take screenshots, the text will linger there, hiding half of the art you wanted to capture as a memento.
[*]Character sprites have movement animations, and a more realistic art style!
[*] Well designed backgrounds
[*]Sometimes the menu freezes and you have to keep clicking around for it to react to your commands.
[*] The characters’ own opinions can change soon after having said something… It’s quite contradictory most of the time.
[*]Would be nice if the romance routes could be a bit slow-burn, but instead of that, the forced proximity suddenly burns in your face within five seconds after the love interests first appear. And the situations trying to give off vibes of a possible love triangle are far from being successfully intriguing.
[/list]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3078679372
P.S: Dynamite by BTS was spotted in the game trailer along with some other references within the game!
Copy provided by Sweet Dreams for review purposes.
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