Sunday, April 12, 2020

Pipe Dream Demo Review

Polished Demo Release: March 27, 2020

A visual novel dating sim that follows the protagonist Robin as she enters college and finds friendship, love...and hopefully herself.

I don't remember where but I saw a post about this game and decided to give it a try. Pipe Dream is a slice-of-life Indie otome game developed by Notome Games. The game follows the adventures of Robin (CV: Melissa Dorsey), a college freshman who runs away from home to pursue a life where she can finally make her own decisions.

Read more below for my thoughts on characters and the demo in general. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ (Click to enlarge any images.)



Characters

Avalon "Ava" (CV: Carol Anne Day)

Robin's ride or die bestie that provides a getaway vehicle from her manipulative mom. Ava is an aspiring psychology major and matchmaking enthusiast, and is a freshman like Robin. She's also the one to encourage Robin to meet more people.

I love their banter and how comfortable they are with each other and I can't wait for the oh my god they were roommates trope between them. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) There were a lot of great moments with Ava, but I wish there were more solo moments with her too in this demo!

One of many A+ moments with Ava

Gary (CV: Lucas Gilbertson)

That line I'm wHEEZING
Aka, that blue haired guy that always calls Robin interesting things like "Fairy" (even though he's the one that looks like a fairy haha). Gary is an eccentric guy and an aspiring forensic scientist.

The first interaction with him is the classic trope of save the girl from some impending object about to hit her. Bonus points if it actually wasn't going to.. like this guy lmao. To quote our lovely Robin: He was saving her from  "The [bicycle] that was a full two feet to the left of me?" 😂

I love his heterochromia btw. He's got some hilarious lines and tends to be the comic relief in most situations, although he's surprisingly sensitive about his hair color. Probably the kind of guy to hide all his problems behind a smile...
Bonus: A cutie

Elliot (CV: Brett Bauer)
Side note: The settings button doesn't actually work during this scene
Elliot is an aspiring veterinarian with a side interest in Greek mythology (Damn... literally me in high school lmao), introduced when Robin follows the noise of a cat in a box and finds him there. Robins decides to smuggle the cat into her dorm room, and offers Elliot the chance to drop by anytime since he seems to really like the cat too. And if you decide to channel Ava's energy, Robin adds with a wink "Or if you just want to see me" 😉

The two go to donate plasma together but he runs out from his examination room. Scared of needles perhaps? Robin later runs into him at the school festival, and he helps in naming the cat Nyx.

I love meganes and I also love characters that have a dash of awkwardness to them so.. will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for him haha.

Cain (CV: Tom Aglio)
THE SHOUJO FLOWERS THO
A seriously sleep-deprived but peppy waiter at the local retro diner with ridiculous food names, like Ooey-Gooey Moo-Moo Chew Deluxe (aka a cheeseburger). Cain is a super senior on his 6th year since he only takes 2 classes a semester, I'm assuming due to his jobs. He immediately pings Robin and Ava as freshman since they've got that enthusiasm that hasn't faded yet (I remember those days lmaoo). They all chit-chat for a bit before Cain has to return to his shift, but Ava later notices that Cain wrote his number on the back of Robin's receipt hoho~


John (CV: Griffin Puatu)
Gotta have that classic wipe off the sweat intro
John is your classic lovable jock that enjoys a bit of reading on the side and is also a freshman. He helps Robin put away equipment after gym class but shuts down when they accidentally collide. Perhaps he doesn't like physical contact? Or maybe he's just nervous around girls.

Surprisingly the two rendezvous again at a book club, although they get assigned to hanging posters rather than discussing books. Depending on your choices, your last interaction with him can be either the book club or later in the infirmary when he accidentally knocked Robin out by kicking a soccer ball at her head LOL.

Akio (CV: Belsheber Rusape)
LMAO
Akio is the hoity-toity and sometimes polite library guy. He's an art student that apparently has a lot of family money but doesn't like to talk about it much. He can be really abrasive when dealing with others but it's not that bad once you understand his thought process.

Robin's first interaction with him is when he grabs a book she can't reach... and then continues to add to his mountain of books to check out. (As I'm typing this I have my own mountain of books I have checked out so... relatable lmao) He's a character that will definitely need a little more TLC than most. Also, I love his dark nail polish.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

System
This demo has a lot of mechanics you'd find in a classic VN. It's a mostly simple and intuitive navigation that might require just a little bit of playing around. 

The auto text speed is nice, and can be further adjusted too. You can also step back/rewind to recent lines, except for at cgs. The fast forward is also wonderful and a lifesaver. I also like the cute transition symbols between the time of day.

I wish there was a way to hide text box because I love looking at art, and I hope the final ver will have an easily accessible backlog too.

Music/Voice
The soundtrack for this game is pretty cute, and I love the music box theme in title screen. It's peaceful with a touch of nostalgia, and I could honestly just zone out listening to it. One of the composers is Christopher Escalante (who I remember also composed and voiced for another indie otome, Seduce Me)

This game has partial voice acting, particularly during CGs and during scenes that would probably raise a character's affection. I love the way everyone was voiced (Robin included), and it paired lovely with the writing to bring even more characterization to them! I'm not familiar with any of the VAs, but some of them have nice credits behind them, so check them out.

Art
Overall, very cute art! There were some sprites I preferred over the cgs, or vice versa, but nothing that detracted me from the game. Adorable chibis of some of the cast were scattered on the menu screens, and I hope more will pop up later.

Cuties
Overall
I don't really play a lot of indie otomes, but I really enjoyed this demo and I'm excited to see where this game will go in the future! Classic tropes were presented in a fun way, and I love all the dialogue in general. I also don't get a chance to play a lot of college-setting otoges, so this was a nice change of pace. Playing this game also made me feel slightly called out because a lot of stuff was so relatable haha. 

I definitely love Robin as an MC and can't wait to see how she grows now that she's in an environment where she can be herself. I'm also curious what kind of stuff she was smuggling away from her mom's office...

My favorites so far would have to be Ava and Elliot, and maybe a tiny bit of Cain. It's so easy to get invested in these characters.

Overall this was just so much fun to play and was the perfect length for a demo. I especially loved how all the events could branch off during the carnival, and getting each combination was amusing. (*´艸`*)

I'll definitely be keeping this game on my radar and would definitely recommend giving this demo a try.

Until next time! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑✧


Bonus: An accurate comic about Ava and Akio

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