The Butterfly Dreams

[h1]When you discover that there's much more to the VR world...[/h1] [h2]Introduction[/h2] [i]The Butterfly Dreams[/i] is a kinetic, psychological mystery visual novel developed and published by Ave Q Production. You're Thomas, and you've been invited to an exclusive event in which its host, Brian, boasts that virtual reality will be taken to a whole new level, thanks to Fantasia, the newest VR gaming apparatus. Along with yourself, there are several other participants, such as Renata (a renowned children's book author) and Sean (a pro-gamer). All the participants are invited to create their own worlds with this technology, and most do so eagerly. Despite that Fantasia will probably be beneficial, one or more of the participants may have more nefarious schemes. What worlds will be created, and can you uncover the truth? As for the gameplay, the story is linear, despite that choices are presented throughout the story. Choices slightly change the story's flavor text, depending on who Thomas interacts with. While no CGs or voice acting is present, there is a great soundtrack. Also, a few Steam achievements are present, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited". [h2]Review[/h2] I remember that this visual novel initially caught my interest after reading the store page description. After all, I enjoy a good mystery and the element of VR adds a great twist. The dev was very kind to send over a review key, and I finally got around to checking out this game. ^^ [h3]Story and Writing[/h3] The beginning of the story is quite exciting, with Brian, the event's host, boasting about how Fantasia will change the world. Despite that he's the creator, he only appears at the beginning and end of the story. It's really more about Thomas, the main character, and the other participants. There's a great cast of personalities, ranging from the distrusting neuroscientist Juan to the sweet, kind-hearted children's author Renata. Their interactions are interesting to witness, and after getting to know the characters and observing their interactions with one another, I could tell that one or two were definitely not to be trusted. As for Thomas, he's the only one whose profession isn't stated, but that ends up being a major twist, without going into major spoiler territory. I enjoyed the story's exciting climax as well as its resolution although it may leave more questions than answers, especially upon replaying the story from beginning to end. With the writing, I found it paced fairly well. I didn't notice any typos or grammatical errors. The only criticism I'd make is how a lot of the choices don't affect the direction of the story since it all leads to the same result. If it weren't for that one achievement which requires to choose the same option early on, I'd say that choices aren't really necessary. Since I brought up achievements, they are all obtainable, but it'll require two full playthroughs to get them. Thankfully, you can use the skip read text function to speed things along. [h3]Art and Music[/h3] As for the art, it has a beautiful style, with the backgrounds feeling realistic while the sprites having a lovely hand-drawn vibe. The colors have just the right amount of contrast. I wish there had been CGs, but they're more like icing on the cake, so I guess it can be necessary, depending on the person. XD https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3738837392 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3738837686 In regards to the music, there's a nice variety to the soundtracks. They're all instrumental, and they immerse you into the VR world and later, into the mystery part of the story. No voice acting is present, but it's not necessary to enjoy the game. [h2]Conclusion[/h2] Would I recommend [i]The Butterfly Dreams[/i]? If you're looking for a short, mystery visual novel and you like being surprised with a couple of big twists, then it's worth checking out. For the asking price, it's a fair deal, but you can wait for a sale. Finally, I'd like to take the time to thank Ave Q Production for the review key. I'm happy that I finally got around to this story, and I enjoyed those ending twists. It'd be great to have a sequel to this story, a spin-off, or even a new story. ^^ [quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]

A short but delightful mystery visual novel. The gameplay is simple and not long but the game is well polished with perky characters that you would love. It has great art, suitable BGM choice, great pacing and a very well written world-building and characters. The base story is quite linear but there are several hidden motifs and hints of the plot that you could find and hypothesise which will be paid off on the big reveal giving a nice and satisfying finish. I would love to see the sequel and how they expand each characters further. Worth the price tag.

[h1]Negatives[/h1] ✧ Layna isn't as smart as she thinks ✧ Juan needs to never become my neurologist ✧ Disappointed in Sean [h1]Positives[/h1] ✧ I'm my own favorite character ✧ Aaron dances to the background music ✧ Interesting cast of characters ✧ Short, but to the point ✧ Interesting VR concept ✧ Renata is the only sane one [table] [tr] [th]For more games like this...[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Check out [url=https://tgexp.com/]The Gaming Experience[/url] website[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Watch our [url=https://www.youtube.com/@notnowmom]Review/Podcast channel[/url][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Follow our [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/notnowmom]Curator Group[/url][/td] [/tr] [/table]

This was a fun experience with an intriguing ending :)