It’s official: I am no longer an h-game virgin.
Thanks to a care package from the lovely people at J-list.com, I’ve joined the ranks of hentai game players. Hand-drawn genitals? Unlikely but sexy situations? Button-bursting breasts? Check, check, and check.
Unfortunately, it seems the world of h-games is cruel to Mac users. Alas, my old PC laptop didn’t come with me to France, but I was able to install and play through two of the four J-list titles before high-tailing it out of the country.
The first, A Drug That Makes You Dream, might not have been the best choice to start with. J-list’s Peter Payne tells me the writer is super well-known in Japan, and that the dramatic story has made players cry. Personally, I found it dense as a brick–the first five hours or so I could sit through, that is.
For those unfamiliar with h-game gameplay (like me, up until a few weeks ago) it’s mostly a series of still frames with text that scrolls across the bottom. Every so often, the player gets the chance to choice a course of action–”Follow her to the roof,” for example, or “Do her”. For the most part though, the players role is just to click through the scrolling text and watch the story go by.
Now, I’m all for story. I’d be the first to argue that pornography in general would be a whole lot hotter with a better sense of plot and character development. But the pacing and the level of narrative details in A Drug That Makes You Dream… It’s like wading through mud–except even more frustrating, because you know that on the other end of that mud there’s supposed to be something sexy.
The story is about a teenage boy facing the mundaneness of contemporary life–and growing up through his sexual encounters. It’s hard not to identify with him, at least: he’s bored, and so is the player. Do we really need to read two hours of mundane details about his mundane life before he even cops his first feel? Maybe if the story were more unique or more compelling… but as it stands, it’s not even a cock tease.
The sex scenes, however, are a different story. As a first-time player, I’m not used to the h-game level of detail that gets put into such a romp. There’s something refreshing about the amount of writing dedicated to each part of the sex act. How does it feel? How does it sound? How does it look? What noise does she make when you do it? There’s no piece of info left unturned.
I suppose A Drug That Makes You Dream raises a lot of questions I’m not ready to tackle yet–like “Are h-games just about sex, or also about emotion?” and “Shouldn’t h-games be art?” For now, I’m happy sticking with the basics, like, “Does it get me hot?”
October 4th, 2007 at 6:27 am
It sounds like reading hentai would be a lot more fun than playing it.
October 4th, 2007 at 11:38 am
The trouble is that even the reading can be immensely slow. As for the pictures, most of the time they’re just backdrop. Though it’s interesting, when you’re in a sex scene, the backdrop only changes a few times. Still, as the sexual action progresses, you start to see how that one image takes on lots of meanings: She’s looking surprised because you just whipped it out, she’s looking surprised with pleasure, she’s looking surprising because you just came inside her. Very versatile…
October 5th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
It goes back to an earlier article of yours regarding sex in games (I’m pretty sure it was yours): that when you stop and just look at the 4 to 5 frames of animation with people moving back and forth (or speed it up) it’s all rather silly.
I reviewed a couple of Peach Princess games ages ago (Snow Drop and Tokemeki Check-in). The latter had something like 10 different girls you could get it on with in different capacities (from consentual to full on blood virgin rape), but the former had suggestions of brother-sister sex that I mentioned in the review as being kind of creepy-vile. The media contact guy got annoyed with that.
Most porn just isn’t my bag because every time someone says “Hey, John, check it out”, it’s always something lame. But then again, if I want to see naked bits I just ask my wife.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I’ve continuely tried to find a hentai game thats good, I don’t think they exist. They can barely be defined as a game even.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:10 am
See, i have to disagree though. I suppose I am a bit more emotional or something, but This game REALLY tugged at every emotional string I’ve got with Aeka’s story. I think it brought me to tears….maybe 2 or 3 times. Saikano (the anime) did that….twice in teh entire series at the most.
I’ll have to see how the rest of the game plays out, but so far, the emotional involvment in this game is quite high to me.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I completely disagree, this is one of the best games I have ever played the art, story, characters, and even soundtrack are all good, go play it along with Kana Little Sister, Cresendo, and Seasons of Sakura if your looking for good H-games beyond random sex scenes
A Drug That Makes You Dream: extremely highly recomended
January 17th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
You’re totally entitled to think the game is good. Remember, I’m not a regular h-game player, so it might just be a general aversion to the pace, set-up, etc.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Its like watching a cartoon but the different is you’re one of the character. And its fun and really the same as watching cartoon. hehehe