Disclaimer: This review contains heavy spoilers for the game. Do not read if you want to keep the plot a surprise.
Note: I had to trim this review due to limits, check guides for the rest.
Intro:
If you’re wondering why my playtime is so short, it’s because I first played through this game in its entirety on a console release and I bought it again here to support the developer. I also just want to say that I actually finished this game over a year ago, in October of 2023. The reason why I waited until now to review it is for very important reasons I’ll get into later on.
To start this, I have never written a review for a game on Steam, or even any game in general, before. Usually this is because I feel like my review or opinion on something doesn't really matter, due to so many other people writing reviews and expressing their thoughts in a way more articulate way better than I ever could. However, this beautiful, soulful, and humanistic masterpiece of interactive art has so few reviews and attention in general. It’s such a shame that a visual novel that broke original ground in topics such as realistic depictions of mental health and disabilities didn’t get more noticed by the larger playerbase, since getting an indie game out successfully is much harder, since more people can do it. And because of this criminally underrated status it currently has, I thought it would be an honor to finally break my review lurking and put my thoughts out into the world! I feel like my pure and honest recollection of my experience with this game would actually do some good, whether it’s for me or the amazingly kind developer, Borealis. Even though this game came out over three years ago, there’s never a wrong time to talk about something you love!
Overall Thoughts:
I first found Venus: Improbable Dream when I was browsing the PSN store one day and saw that it was discounted. I was bored and had some money, but nothing else to play. I’ve only played a handful of visual novels before and was looking for something very good that could emotionally affect me, as I was going through some hard times in my life at that point. I read the description and saw the positive ratings and was interested in the unique visual style. I was a little worried at first, as many games, particularly visual novels, tend to mess up portrayal of social anxiety and disabilities often. I’m also someone who has had social anxiety my entire life and still does. Being autistic and having depression coupled with it also made my life very difficult and few people understood, which led me to develop trust issues… Still, I didn’t see anything else that interested me, so I purchased the game and started playing right away.
When I started up the game, the music on the title screen made me feel nostalgic and interested, setting the mood for what was to come. The moment I actually started the story itself, the case study titlecard about hemangioma surprised me and immediately got my attention. I’ve actually never heard of hemangioma before playing this game, and I haven’t seen it represented anywhere else at all, much less uplifting and positively like this story. So, if you’re worried about it being handled poorly, I assure you that’s not the case. Borealis clearly did a lot of research and wanted to make these conditions portrayed positively and not stigmatized against, like so many other people sadly do. Kakeru’s hemangioma is painted with respect and empathy, yet not pity for being “messed up” like a lesser story would’ve done. And it’s eventually shown to be a strength and a part of who he is, not a monster like what he thought in his head.
Even to those that have never been through what Kakeru has, the game does a perfect job at showing his narration thoughts and getting to know him on a deep level. And it’s so, so, SO lovely to see a protagonist in a visual novel game that is an actual nice person that genuinely wants to do better. Many other visual novel games have stupid perverted jerks as main characters that are insufferable to know about. But Kakeru is the opposite, and a person I came to love so much, and was never once mad at him for making a mistake or suffering from his anxiety, it helps create empathy towards people who are struggling with their mental health. I’d say that the goal of this game is being achieved effectively!
And then there’s Haruka Fujiwara, who is a perfect companion and secondary protagonist to Kakeru. The buildup to her introduction was very well done, with the player becoming interested and feeling the same anxiety Kakeru feels when he first meets her. And the reveal that she’s blind is well done and doesn’t feel gratuitous or ableist. Much like Kakeru’s hemangioma, Haruka’s disability feels respectful and not treated as a pitiable weakness. The portrayal is positive and feels real. And again, Haruka’s blindness is not even her most dominant trait, her social anxiety that’s just like Kakeru’s is. Emphasizing these two characters’ shared anxiety is a brilliant move, as it makes them more than their disabilities and shows that they’re real people who are relatable and want to do well in life, despite their differences.
And now we get into the meat and the simple, yet very strong concept of what this plot mainly focuses on: the dynamic between Kakeru and Haruka’s struggles as they live their lives and prepare to step out into a public performance in their music club at the end of the school year. That’s what I think is the most impressive part of this game. The fact that the whole plot is not some big, grand adventure, but a very small-scale emotional story about two great people’s journey to gain more confidence is so touching and shows how good the writing quality is that the player roots for them and wants to see them succeed. And the game is much longer than I expected (about 25 hours for me), which is what surprised me the most. But none of it feels like wasted time, all the scenes feel very well thought out and they all develop the two main characters further and build up to the incredible climax. I mean, there’s not even a lot of characters/locations. Besides a few areas of the school and town, the characters’ houses and outside scenery is all where this takes place. That’s incredible and really effectively shows how small victories, like getting through a public performance, can feel world-alterling to those with anxiety and mental health struggles!
Conclusion:
If you read this far, you must really be interested in the game, if you haven’t already played it yourself. Of course, I would highly recommend it to literally anyone, especially people who like emotional stories and visual novels. If you’re unsure, I’d say give it a chance! The price is totally reasonable, considering how long it is. It’s very well made for a first time game, and I’d even argue its artistic merits, despite its low budget. And the story, music, and characters are so good that it’s worth it for that alone. It’ll provide you with so much entertainment and emotional value, and its replay value is even decent if you want to see all the endings/choices. So, I’d say go for it, make this more loved like it deserves to be! It’s a shame that so few people know about this game, as it’s much better than the trash that gets millions of ratings. I hope it one day gets more attention from others…
And lastly, I’m happy that I could finish writing this long review. Thanks to whoever actually reads all this, you’re a good person if you do so! This may not be much to some, but for me, it’s a huge victory and my own dream. I’ll definitely write more reviews for the rest of this developer's games, so stay tuned for that if you’re interested. My first review on here may not be objective, but it’s pure and heartfelt, which is what matters most! I took this small step, now I can keep going to achieve greater things… In conclusion, to all who are out there, may your improbable dreams become reality!
