Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~

[h1]Review with accompanying screenshots and video at Sinical Network[/h1] https://www.sinicalanimenetwork.com/post/reflections-~dreams-and-reality~-review [i]Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~[/i] is an otome fantasy romance visual novel with yuri options. It features a female protagonist, Reina, who is born with a magical talent to see into the future and find cures to various magical curses, earning her the reputation of a Magic Mirror. This places a tremendous strain on her, leading her to be held captive by a noble family before escaping and taking refuge in an abandoned mansion with her loyal werecat friend Solmaris. However, it won't be long before a number of people, animal folk and shapeshifters find out about her hiding place, and they approach her to ask for help in a cure for their magical afflictions. [h1]Plot[/h1] There are 9 romance options altogether with 20 different endings (Blanc, Cara, Leo, Peony, Ronah, Sol, Special, Thiria, Wynn). There is a published community guide to help players reach all endings and obtain all the achievements. Although I generally like the story and most of the characters, the plot is the weakest aspect of this visual novel. There are significant gaps in the story such as the bounty hunters being sent to recapture Reina, but they hardly make an appearance or get a brief mention except in a few specific character routes. Also, after entering a character's route, nearly all the other romanceable characters disappear from the story entirely with little or no interaction between them except for a few routes. This makes the story feel rushed and underdeveloped, reducing the quality of the story. Thankfully, most of the routes are very short, especially since there are only 8 save slots compared to the total number of routes and endings in the game. [h1]Artwork[/h1] As with [i]Reine Works's[/i] other titles, the artwork is the main highlight. Most of the CGs and new character sprites are visually appealing and bring out the light-hearted tones in the game. My only complaint is that some of the Steam achievements didn't show the character portraits, which might have raised the appeal of this game otherwise. The artbook in the DLC contains the character sprites of all the characters in the old and new versions, the CGs, and background art in the game. [h1]Audio[/h1] The background music is a bit limited and borders on being repetitive, but they are generally pleasant and match the fantasy setting. My favourite soundtracks are [i]Theme song, Happy[/i] and [i]Romance[/i] that really bring out the romance and fantasy themes in the story. The partial voice acting leaves a bit to be desired with the same lines being repeated at different parts of the story, but at least the difference between the voiced lines and the text in script are not too large. [h1]Overall thoughts[/h1] After spending over 4 hours to reach all endings and obtain all achievements, I feel that [i]Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~[/i] is a decent visual novel with a number of shortcomings, but given that the good endings and CGs feel satisfying, and the developer has revised the price to be more proportional to the playing time, I can recommend this game and the deluxe goodies DLC when they are discounted to an attractive price. I also hope this game will have normal Steam profile features and can qualify for trading cards in future. [h1]Visual novel, JRPG, Anime Steam group - Join the group and consider following the group's curator list for more reviews or otome romance games with at least one good ending[/h1] http://steamcommunity.com/groups/vnislife

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this game from the publisher for my curator, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32080131/]Games for Hopeless Romantics[/url]. I wanted to like this game, I really did, but I just couldn't get into it. Part of the basic premise is kind of silly--these people just barge in and not only does the protagonist let them all stay, but she decides to help one of them despite the pain it causes her to use her magic? Huh? There are nine routes in the game, and it suffers a lot from "quantity over quality"; none of the routes are given the attention they need to make them satisfying to read. Half of them could be cut without losing much of substance. By the last few routes, I was just waiting for the game to be over. The voice acting is alright, although I don't really care for the "grunt" style of partial VA. You'll probably end up having to turn the volume down on them--not because of the voice acting itself, but because there's no separate volume slider for voices, and the sound effects are extremely loud compared to the rest of the game. I wear headphones, so I didn't appreciate a simple plate breaking trying to blow out my eardrums. The music is okay, if forgettable. On the plus side, there's some very nice art in the game, especially the gorgeous backgrounds. The default set of sprites is "meh" (and the CGs using the same style fall into the uncanny valley at times), but the alternate sprites are much more expressive and fit the backgrounds better. Overall, I can't really recommend the game unless you get it free or cheap, or you've exhausted every other decent romance game.

I went back and forth on how to rate this one. Steam really should have a neutral-feeling or “conflicted” option for reviews. I didn’t hate this game, but I just can’t give it a good recommendation. [u]Positives[/u] • Decent sprites and CGs, great background art. Two sprite types, as well. • Adjustments for text: font, size, and color. Making it more accessible to those with dyslexia or other issues. • Story has shapeshifters: werecat, werewolf, dragonkin, and mermaid. • Routes that were actually interesting: Sol (unlocks after everyone else’s routes), Blanc, and Sho. • Queer representation via four female romance options for a female protagonist. • Several endings, including hidden/special ones. Bad endings aren’t actually bad. It’s more like while the good endings are “happy,” the bad endings are “content,” if that makes sense. The bad endings don’t make you feel terrible and nothing actually unfortunate happens to the characters. [u]Negatives[/u] • Several typos. • Most routes are boring and lack substance. The characters are often so underdeveloped that you don’t really care about what happens to them. • The protagonist is mediocre. I don’t get why any of these people develop feelings for her. • The first part of the story is poorly explained. How did so many people happen to find her at the same time when they all came from different places? Why does she let them invade and stay in her house? It just doesn’t make much sense; it’s unrealistic. • One of the bad endings isn’t bad at all??? [spoiler]Blanc and Sol “share” the protagonist in a poly setting sort of thing.[/spoiler] They all look like they’re having fun, so … why is this considered bad or somehow not as good as the “good ending”? Truthfully, it’s one of my favorite endings. • The only dark-skinned person is Sol. Lack of diversity, and no, fantasy races don’t count. There are, like, 10 different characters in this story and they couldn’t possibly spare some darker shades? 1/10 is an [i]abysmal[/i] score. Tokenism doesn’t actually count as representation, ffs. • Gender binary. Again, there are so many characters and not one of them is genderqueer. The character Sho be creating portals as easily as he makes breakfast, but genderqueer people are just too far-fetched. It has a lot of potential and I can tell a lot of work was put into it, but as it is now, I just can’t recommend it.

It's a cute game. I mean, it's nothing groundbreaking, and, to be honest, most of the routes are rather short, but regardless, I found it enjoyable. There were many different Love interests of both genders, ranging from Tsundere Werewolf to... Flirty Elsa (I'm not kidding.) It also has partial voice acting, which I understand some people don't really like, but I, as an avid Fire Emblem player, didn't really mind all that much. But yeah, if you're looking for a mostly lighthearted VN with bad endings which really aren't that bad, and with extra fluffy good endings, this is probably the game for you.

If I were to describe Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~ in three words, it would be short, cute, and light-hearted. [h1] Art and Sound [/h1] The sprites, backgrounds, and CGs were nice. About half of the CGs were chibis. The amount of chibi CGs each character has varies, but they generally range from one to four. Everyone except Solmaris and Peony was limited to one regular CG per ending. The music was pleasant but could get a little repetitive. The partial voice acting was a nice touch. It helped when trying to imagine what the characters sounded like. [h1] Plot [/h1] The plot was really interesting in the beginning, but it quickly dropped off from there. Almost all of the characters go to the MC in the first place because they need her powers to help solve their problems. However, the storyline is more focused on Reina and her love interests getting to know one another and forming a relationship rather than her position as the Magic Mirror and solving the love interests' problems. [h1] Characters [/h1] Most of the love interests were likable. Their interactions with Reina were sweet, enjoyable, and at times funny. Reina herself was a pretty good MC. There were only a few times where I found her reactions to be a bit frustrating, but it was especially noticeable in Peony's, Blanc's, and Solmaris's routes. List of the routes from favorite to least favorite: Wynn > Leo > Sho > Thiria > Cara > Solmaris > Blanc > Ronah > Peony [h1] Final Impressions [/h1] Reflections was entertaining, though I found that it lacks depth. The plot and character relationships felt in need of more development. The conflicts were resolved easily, and sometimes the romance (more so Ronah's than anyone else's) seemed to progress too quickly. A few aspects of the story also felt as if they needed more explanation. It took me two hours to go through the common route and another two to finish each character's route. Individually, the routes are short, but the time adds up since there are nine of them. All that said, I still had a good time playing it. If you're looking for a relaxing otome, this may be a good one to pick up. [b] Overall Rating: 3/5 [/b]

There are NINE LOVE INTERESTS. Main Character has a power that leads people to call her the Magic Mirror. She shows you your true self. However, it seems to at best, give her a headache, at worse, put her in a coma for three days so... she's not interested in using it. There is a first layer of love interests. If you send them all packing, which you can't until your second play through, then you get to the second level of love interests. Then do one of those and you get the Secret Love interest. Music was good, I especially liked the song that played during the epilogue when you got a good ending. The art was pretty, but the men were anime-boy slender, sometimes that worked, but the outfits for the were-animals seemed a bit off. Leo- He actually needed your magic powers for a good reason. it was standard fluff, doesn't mean I didn't like it. Frankly, the writer REALLY NAILED what a crush feels like. As a woman who has intensely crushed many a time, the writer was really speaking my language. I also prefer the endings where you don't ditch your friend Sol. Blanq- Doesn't need your magic powers at all. I liked his good ending, but I liked the "bad" polyamorous ending even more because I'm poly and I love seeing that in media. Sol- I guess Sol never needs your powers Wynn- He needed your powers for a good reason too. I kinda hate when the love interests actually need the MC, it makes me feel guilty for not picking them to help them. He's a sort of tsundere. Sho is a jerk that really doesn't redeem himself. I will say right here that I'm like 99% heterosexual before stating the following about the female love interests. Ronah is a non consensual grabby kissy brat. maybe she needs your powers for a good cause but I'm not finding out because I hate non consent. Cara was the most boring route I tried. I did not bother with Thyria as being too loud and angry. Peony-She's a weirdy and I was just done by this point, so I didn't do her route either. Flaws: Since I just read most of all this in the same 5 hours, the writer definitely lost track of whether MC liked tea, hated tea with a passion, hated ALL bitter things, but liked coffee. it was such a weird detail to not keep up with. Additionally, I wish there had been friendship paths. If I could have helped Queen Ronah with her Kingdom while NOT kissing her, I probably would have. Also, I am left with a lot of lore questions: What is a mermaid contract? how does a mermaid get one, then continue getting them? why does it give them legs, or do they get to specify what they get? what are they giving in return? Are there all types of were creatures? how did the same woman give birth to a were dragon AND a were wolf? Is this a common happening, does the mom just have to be human and bang a random magical animal? or did the fathers need to already be were creatures? how does this work? Random mentions of children just "getting magic"... is this totally random? somewhat genetic? one got magic at 8, the other at like 12- is it a puberty thing? like, tell me *grump face* anyway, I enjoyed my time and I recommend it. It is not plot or lore heavy.

Love this game, only played through twice at time of this review, and as always first time around was a "bad" end. But honestly it wasnt horrible and i wasnt left feeling surprised it turned out that way or even worse, confused as to why. Was easily able to figure out where i had gone wrong and nail it the 2nd go around. The characters are all interesting, the art style is simple and clean but still lovely for all that. There's little in the way of voice acting, and i found what little there was of it annoying at times. But the music was calming and enjoyable so i didnt turn the volume off. The romances are of the innocent first love types, without anything that would trigger an adult or mature only rating. This is sweet fluff, think Cinderella. While there are alot of unhappy dark things mentioned, its all in the past once the game gets truelly started. My only negative, is not really a negative per se in that its clearly "on the box" label wise. And thats simply that the game only allows you to play as the female protagonist. As there is a male character along side you from start to finish, it would have been nothing to simply allow a choice in the beginning, swap the roles and play the whole story through with little to change but some pronouns. I still find myself scratching my head trying to figure out why Yuri is awesome, Furry is that fringe element everyone is secretly into but doesnt want to admit, but writting in a bxb relationship immediately requires it to be a different game altogether, ie not this game. So Im sure this game will get mentioned in all the rainbow coalition game reviews, but I just feel the need to point out that its not the whole rainbow, just the "colors" of it that are more acceptable to the non coalition crowd.

This is a solid 7/10 for me. It has a good, solid story with a lot of romantic options to choose from. Each romantic option is good and well developed, though I would prefer it if we received more of said development before choosing that character's route as it is difficult to decide which character to pursue without having the development to really know who they are as a character. Also, even though each route has at least one "bad" ending, I would consider only two of the endings as not being some degree of good. One of those two "bad" endings does feel truly bad while the other feels more neutral. All of the other "bad" endings still feel nice and feel like they have the potential to become good endings in the future within the story. Otherwise, my only other complaints are grammar nitpicks here and there, but even in those instances it is still easy to tell what is being said.

Качество - фанфик. Тут даже двух часов ждать не нужно ради рефанда. Героиня имеет какую-то супер силу, из-за которой ее использовали в детстве. Она сбежала со своим котом-оборотнем и живет в лесу. Неожиданно почти десяток потенциальных любовных интересов со всего мира в один и тот же час находят ее в лесу, желая ее помощи и остаются жить с ней, пока она не выберет, кому помочь... Хах! Ну конечно! Просто нет слов... Ну а в целом, учитывая что игра на 10 часов. и любовных интересов тут 9 по 2 концовки на каждого, плюс сначала идет коммон рут... в общем вряд ли тут что-то стоящее по контенту. Количество превыше качества и все такое. Из плюсов: Графика для такого "фанфика" неплоха. Один чел в обзоре пожаловался что в игре с 9 ЛИ все белые и нет никого небинарного... занесем это в плюс! Цена минимальная

confusing to navigate the walkthrough, but good story