Review of doHna:doHna -Issho ni Warui Koto o Shiyou-
Subject | doHna:doHna -Issho ni Warui Koto o Shiyou- Dohna Dohna ~ Let's Do Bad Things Together |
By | Helpfulness: 1 Vote: 5killah-kheem on 2022-09-25 last updated on 2023-05-10 |
Review | I didn't think a visual novel of all things would end up being one of the worst examples of ludonarrative dissonance I've ever seen. This is the first Alicesoft game I've ever played, and I'm definitely impressed by their quality. I'm probably gonna check out some more of their games because of that. However, if this is indicative of how all of their games are written, then I really don't see why games like Rance are so beloved and rated so highly. It's clear that this game is going for a simple, breezy cyberpunk adventure with some fun, likeable characters, and on paper that's done really well. The visual style is fantastic, fitting the setting really well, and coupled with how much CG variety there is, as well as the battle animations, its one of the most visually appealing eroge I've seen (soundtrack is amazing too). The episodic structure, alongside the scenes you get when you choose to spend time with your party, makes for good pacing. I never felt like the story was dragging on or anything (there was only one instance where I had to stop and farm to level up my characters a bit, though that was probably due to me not playing the game very strategically). The plot itself is extremely simple and by the book, but it's like comfort food. Not the kind of thing that'll stick with you forever, but it's done stylishly. You even have your late game plot twist. The biggest problem with the game, however, is that the gimmick it chose to go for in regards to its ero elements totally undermines the kind of fun adventure vibe it's going for. How are you supposed to be rooting for your characters and hoping that they beat the big bad evil corporation when what you're doing is almost equally as fucked up. It feels like the H scenes and the main story scenes were taken out of different games. The characters barely address what they're doing, and whenever they do, they either treat it as casually as if they're talking about going to get dinner, or they give out some flimsy excuse about how "they've got no other choice". Yeah, no, I don't remember when human trafficking became the only profitable criminal activity in the world. And the way they justify it is by showing every random citizen in the story that's not in the middle of being raped, as twisted assholes who have no empathy for anyone else and only care about not being dragged away to the gulag. It makes the entire experience feel artificial, like none of these characters are actual characters but just excuses for porn, and pulled me out of every character moment or epic fight scene. And y'know, it's not like I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I've got no problem with including these kinds of fucked up fetishes in an eroge. I would have been alright with it if it just made me play as an awful person with no excuses attached, or if they axed on making the protagonists the good guys and had the villains be the ones doing the evil things. But this kind of wishy washy experience, where they have their cake and eat it too, just lowers the impact of everything. Well, despite all of my complaints, I don't regret playing Dohna Dohna. If nothing else, it was a very well made porn game. I just wish it could have been a bit more than that. |
1 point |