評論

• gamedeal user

  Oct 5, 2021

  [h1]Sexy vampires, nuff said![/h1] Now to fill in the review. But seriously, [b][i]Red Embrace[/i][/b] is a fine BL/yaoi visual novel even if it doesn't do anything really special. It's very short (for 3/4 routes) and as such works with compressed narrative and a pretty straightforward (if accelerated) romance, in that dark urban fantasy vein. But its strengths lie in very compelling atmosphere mostly weaved by stellar soundtrack and attractive visuals; and also in details, character interactions, sensual moments... How should I say; it's very sexy without having any explicit content what-so-ever. It takes place in a highly [b]urban setting[/b]: dim back alleys, shadowy clubs of San Francisco at night, hidden warehouse, run-down apartment and a seedy diner where our MC works a graveyard shift. Ideal for "predators, stalkers" and other things that go bump in the night, so perhaps running into a vampire isn't so strange after all (graveyard, get it?), but from that point on MC's life is changed forever. Meeting a tall brooding dude, then a sassy feisty brat, a sleazy businessman and a wild crazy punk - all throws him for a loop, face to face with San Fran's shady underbelly (where he can end up as someone's blood bag or a pet, because he's just that cute). https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2603761142 So, four love interests, two of them are [b]vampires[/b]. Here we have some familiar tropes from vampire fiction, at least one I'm familiar with. [i]Dominic[/i] and [i]Rex[/i], silent brooding loner, melancholic tortured soul who hates being a vampire and tries to hold onto his humanity; and a crazy, wild, proud punk-ish vamp who loves it, breathes it and is all into it - well, that's just like Angel and Spike from Buffy, or Bill and Eric from True Blood; [strike]oh how about Stefan and Damon from that trash show I don't even know why I watched[/strike]; and of course Louis and Lestat. Also, [i]Ash[/i], our protagonist, just happens to be a vampire magnet whose blood is like a premium wine, driving them wild; kinda like Sookie and her magic [strike]vagina[/strike] blood. There's also a 'discount Count Dracula', [i]Bishop[/i], an old-school top daddy vampire, the main villain who isn't a romance option much to the chagrin of many people. Personally, I found him a bit slimy and not enough in it to be more than one-note, but if his character was expanded, who knows... has potential (if you like fucked up 'romances'). And then we have two [b]humans[/b]: [i]Isaac[/i], a shady megane businessman with some extraordinary and questionable talents; and [i]Luka[/i], a 'newly' added route, a sassy femboy and a cute feisty tsundere; both with their own reasons for dealing with the underworld. Let's just say that a lot of these characters are not how they appear to be at first. Even though I wasn't too keen on Isaac, he's more than a sleazy punchable face. He wears a mask, and I don't just mean those shiny anime glasses, underneath which you can glimpse someone genuine... and lonely. Behind Dom's imposing stature and stone face is a kind, gentle soul, easily flustered, self-hating and also incredibly lonely. Rex may appear as a rabid dog at first, but is actually a goofy puppy (name checks out), just a lonely kid who wants a place to belong (hence loyalty to gangs and vampire clans). I see a theme here. Also a hint of something about how the darkness touches humans and vampires alike and changes them forever; you can't go back to how things were, you can't forget what you know even though you wish you remained ignorant. "We're stuck in a shadow from now on, separate from everything else... in our own little world of darkness" as Isaac said. Sadly, this is just touched upon, not really explored (I hope it is in [i]Red Embrace: Hollywood[/i]). Now I can try to dig deeper, scratch behind the surface (to pull it out of my ass), but my inner voice is telling me: "Drugoja, it's the sexy vampires, admit it! It's ok to be shallow sometimes." https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2616704075 Yes, let's talk about [b]romances[/b]. Routes are very short, but the romances still worked for me somehow even though they're kind of compressed. There's a sort of fast-forward after characters bond initially, but even like that, there's a sense that it all developed gradually. That's because all the work was laid down at the beginning. In that sense, I found that Dom's and Rex's routes fared better, while Isaac's and Luka's felt shorter and a bit rushed. Character interactions were generally quite fun especially with Rex. Writing isn't really that flashy, but it's effective and shines especially in intimate moments. Details are magnetic which is reflected in all the sensual close-ups: lips, necks, collarbones, eyes, hands - together with enticing descriptions, it all makes for some surprisingly gratifying and steamy scenes even though there's no sex shown (only implied). Honestly, I found it hotter than a lot of sex scenes... especially all the biting... and "shivering in his embrace." Seriously, that Rex biting scene is soooo good! This is all greatly helped by excellent [b]music[/b] which sets the mood just right. Dark trip-hop, slowly rolling and seductive, nicely captures the seedy, shadowy parts of the city at night, dangerous and alluring, especially the main theme. [b]Visually[/b], this is just eye candy: very attractive sprites (I... can't decide who's hotter, Dom or Rex - this needs a threesome route), a few atmospheric painted backgrounds and charged CGs emphasising romantic tension, but also that dark edge of bad ends. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2615735747 Since the story is squeezed and even feels like a rudimentary set-up for these moments, there to bring some more interest and replayability is a somewhat weird [b]choice system[/b]. There are some unlockable choices, lots of combinations for such a short playtime and two sets of MC's personality (blunt or charming); plus every character has two endings, good and bad. Basically, you need to play every route at least twice. I actually quite liked Ash's character regardless of which personality I played as, cause he's always sassy, it's just a difference of style. But there's one thing that absolutely annoyed me (and not only me). The achievement for reading all the text (I mean all, even the minute unimportant variations) is the stupidest thing ever and should be banned. When you pair it with limited save slots that don't remember the last position making me scroll every time I had to save/load - well, that's just cruel. The saving grace is the shortness of routes actually, so the skipping is lightning fast. Oh and also hot sexy vampires to distract me from being annoyed for too long. (Yes, I'm a simple woman!) So in the end, despite the irritation, I enjoyed this VN overall, which I would primarily recommend to BL/yaoi, but also to otome fans. It doesn't really do anything big, but it has a lot of charm. Although I [i]am[/i] expecting big things from the 'sequel'. [i]Hollywood[/i], here I come! [h3][quote]𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33853800/]𝐎𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐢[/url] 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐑𝐏𝐆 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40848670-Drugoja-In-The-Dreaming/]𝐃𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐨𝐣𝐚 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠[/url] 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬[/quote][/h3]
• gamedeal user

  Apr 2, 2018

  This is a great yaoi romance visual novel, despite being too short. [u]Romance Options[/u]: [b]Dominic[/b] -- Appears to be a stoic tough guy, but is actually a nice, emotional guy. He's very lonely and even reveals to be a bit suicidal. He's a vampire, but regrets being one. [b]Isaac[/b] -- Appears to be only looking out for himself and using the protagonist at first, but turns out to be like that because he was hurt so much and doesn't know how to trust people anymore. He's NOT a vampire, but is involved in the vampire underworld. [b]Rex[/b] -- Appears to be a really agressive a--hole at first, and I honestly thought I'd hate his route, but it turns out he's just trying to show off to his clan, whom he believes are the only people that care about him. It becomes rewarding to see a more sincere side of him. He's a vampire and seems to like being one. [u]Perks[/u]: [list] [*] Lovely artwork, quite attractive men. [*] No toxic relationships and any problematic behavior is remedied. (Not counting the bad ending with Bishop.) [*] Well-written narration and dialogue. [*] Elicits emotional/romantic feelings during sad or romantic scenes quite well. [*] A nice Extras section on the main menu, including the gallery and character profiles. [/list] [u]Complaints[/u]: [list] [*] Ridiculous achievement to see all text. Like, I get that the devs worked hard on the game and want all of their work seen, but it's really off-putting to miss an achievement simply from not reading a sentence or two. "Ain't nobody got time for that." [*] Everyone is white. No one has a single shade darker. "But their vampires" isn't an excuse. That's BS. [*] Luka's character was fairly pointless. Why not make him a romance option? [/list] Overall, I really enjoyed it, despite its flaws. I definitely recommend it to yaoi/romance VN fans.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 17, 2018

  This game is definitely filling a hole in the visual novel market! We definitely needed more LGBT visual novels, and this one really shines. It reads like an otoge mixed with an Anne Rice novel, gritty and romantic all at once. The MC's personality changes depending on your choices, and the love interests react accordingly. Some of the dialogue options are unlocked by certain personality traits, so I spent a lot of time replaying the routes and trying to unlock those options. The art is really amazing! I love all of the character designs, and the BGs were really helpful in setting the tone for each scene. I really looked forward to unlocking all of the CGs in the gallery! The LIs are memorable and easy to fall for, and their routes are genuinely well-written. There's no explicit content but it's plenty spicy, so maybe if you're coming off of something like DMMd you might be disappointed, but I really thought that the routes were engaging enough without that content. As for content, I played through all of the routes and choices at around 4.5 hours. Considering the price and the qualtiy of the game, I'd say this is a steal! I've played quite a few VNs that were more expensive than this one that didn't deliver on story or art, so I can easily recommend this one. This VN is definitely up there with works by sonnet009! Please, support this dev team, they're doing great work!
• gamedeal user

  May 6, 2018

  So I really enjoyed this game. It is however quite short, but I feel for the price it has enough content to still be a worthwhile purchase. I'll start off with the art. Artstyle is quite important to me when I look at buying VNs, I just can't quite seem to get into a game if the artstyle isn't all that appealing to me. I'm a fickle creature. Now I'll be honest and say I actually really like the art for this game, despite it changing styles between backgrounds, sprites and CGs! The CGs seem to be in a more bold and simple style whereas the sprites are softer and have that 'painted' effect about them (I'm no art person, I don't know how to word it!) and the backgrounds are messy and have a wide contrast of colours, which I loved- especially the contrast between the dark and gloomy city skyline and then a neon bright alleyway in another scene. The varying styles of art in the game might be off putting or unappealing to some, and I get that, but personally I like it so it's a plus for me :D The music is suitable for the theme of the game. One of the tracks in particular gave me some particularly nostalgic vtmb vibes, which I loved!! I was more than happy to have the background music playing, even if it did get a little repetitive, and I feel it helped create that dark and slightly seedy (probably not the right word to use, but it's the first thing that sprang to mind) atmosphere that I associate with vampire games- I like to think of the divide between those vamps living the decedant highlife and then the more unfortunate ones that have to scrape by to survive. Not that it's really relevent here. Anyway, so yeah the music is good and the art is good too. Now for the story. It's short, but still very much enjoyable. I absolutely love that different answers change the attitude and personality of the MC, and consequently the outcome of the story or route. If you want to be soft and sweet and generally accepting of the shit that goes down, then it's got you covered. If you want to shout and swear and threaten to punch people, then heck, it lets you take that route too. I love it! The characters themselves are the typical tropes that you get in these kind of games; you have the silent muscle-pig, the bratty youngster and the smooth talking specs guy. Even though we all know how these guys stories usually go, it was still enjoyable to read and share in the events that they go through. I just wish there was more! I could've quite happily read more chapters and made kick ass decisions, but I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with what I got. I do recommend this game, £3.99 is really not all that bad of a price.
• gamedeal user

  May 21, 2021

  I couldn't get into it. The choices were nice, but the writing style wasn't for me. I didn't feel any immersion, and the flow of the story seemed pushed towards endgame too fast. It felt... amateurish. Granted, I've also been playing Vampire the Masquerade and it's sibling games for better part of 20 years, so I guess this felt too cut and dry for me. --- Curator - [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/31929528-Toby%2527s-Gaming-Nook/]Toby's Gaming Nook[/url]
• gamedeal user

  Jul 31, 2020

  I wanted to like this, but the writing is bland and uninteresting. I didn't care about or relate to any characters, and didn't feel represented by the choices/main character's dialogue. I couldn't get into the game and had to stop playing. Would not recommend.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 28, 2023

  Dominics route was 100 minutes long. I did read the negative comments and was prepared for this but what I got was a rushed story that one could tell in 10 sentences. -Met the bad vampire clan -Got a bodyguard vampire friend -Went to a club, danced and invited him to a drink -One week later invited him to my apartment -Bad clan boss says 'become one of us or forget about your bf' -Dom and I ran away -the end. That's not even 7 sentences. It's not explained in any way what is so special about the "sweet" blood of the MC or what makes the two clans of San Francisco diffrent from Los Angeles (or any clan in fact). Disappointing. Hope I'll get a refund.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 19, 2022

  Minor spoilers ahead

  I first played a bit of this game on mobile years back, but didn’t really get into it for some reason. I found it here on steam and thought “why not give it another go?” and bought it. I’m so glad I did, because this game is really good. The background images are gorgeous! From lighting to color palate, the art is so beautiful. I like the CGs as well, they are very well drawn and convey the right emotions for their respective scenes. Every character is designed well and their personalities are all distinct and well rounded. The BGM is easy on the ears, fits the mood and doesn’t get annoying or distracting. The game works on a point system, where each choice effects your personality, and in turn, the ending you will get. Choices will get you either Charming/gentle or blunt/aggressive points, which is something I haven’t yet seen in a visual novel before so it’s pretty cool. As for the story line, I think it was a bit short and rushed, the relationship I mean. I mean I’m not sure, but do people throw their lives away for each other after knowing each other for barely 2 weeks? Another thing to note is how little backstory there is for the MC. Sure we know a few things about him but none of it ever gets explained. One last bad thing: I was a bit disappointed that the game fell into the stereotype of “big man must protect, small man is weak and must be protected”. I sort of saw it coming when I started playing Luka’s route; all of a sudden, the MC becomes all flirty and in control where usually he is in no control (and in need of protection) and is the one being flirted at. I bet if Luka wasn’t a twink the MC would be behaving how he usually does with the other guys: shy, bashful and in need of saving. I just don’t get why Luka doesn’t get to be just as sly/dangerous and tough as the rest of the guys. I don’t know if that made a lot of sense, as it’s a bit hard to explain. Other than that, the plot was a nice balance of angst, drama and romance. I definitely recommend even with its flaws.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 16, 2018

  I love the interactions between the MC and the characters. I also love how those interactions can change depending on the personality choices you made earlier on in the game.