VN - Ren'Py - DreamLink [v0.2 Public] [Noctus Games]

DreamLink is a love letter to indie VNs.

That's what the game is. People will rave about the obvious similarities to a certain other game - of which there are several, from the opening scene's location to the overall theme and structure - but there's actually inspirations from several other games at play here (including the previous one by the same author of the obvious one, of course). I can trace down some other stuff that happened to other very popular games and their motifs.

The first VN of most people comes off as them choosing the VN simply as a medium to tell their story. This VN reads as someone who became infatuated with VNs, who really enjoyed them as a reader, and then decided to make his own to contribute. You can see where it takes its inspirations from, you can trace down common themes, places, and even poses, to not just the more obvious inspiration, but to some other games too. Some may say the game might just be a cashgrab, something trying to ride on the coattails of more popular games to simply try and make a quick buck off whatever is popular. If that's the case, then hey - at least the dev is hard at work, because overall, the game is good. The renders are not on the very high end but they're definitely good, the game has a decent soundtrack, and the story is interesting enough to keep me reading. Perhaps the truth might be more down the middle - the dev both likes VNs and decided to try to make money off them seeing how others have gotten success. Does it matter? The game gives off a really cozy feeling - a game that feels inspired by other games and doesn't really aim to steal their spotlight, but rather, to be its own thing with heavy inspiration from what the dev previously enjoyed.

Nonetheless, as enjoyable as DreamLink is, it's not without its flaws. The story feels like its moving a bit too quick in respects to the LIs; some HCGs have been coming too fast to the point that it feels like we're trying to pad the game out with them to keep people interested at the start, and it kinda diminishes the quality of some characters. And as much as some inspiration is good, there's definitely times when I could tell beat for beat where the story was going, and it started treading a bit too thinly the line between a copy and a love letter. The renders are good, but not great, and it can be a bit disjointing when looking at the girls and how they're described in text. While the writing is fine, the scene composition is a bit bland, and how the game flows from scene to scene can feel a bit "disjointed" or "episodic" at times. Furthermore, with how clearly it is inspired in other games, there's never any point where DreamLink does something that makes me go "ooh, that's new". It never surprises me. It never does something truly excellent, or go beyond the bounds of "generic done right" - it's not bad at all, but it's like a meal that was prepared by deviating minimally from the recipe. Enjoyable, sure. Memorable? Not quite yet. This isn't a huge negative, but it's what keeps the game from 5 stars.

Nonetheless, the writing is good during most of the time (apart from some flaws during HScenes specifically), the dialogue is amusing and light to read, and the game overall is very well polished. I hope that as the game progresses, it can carve its own place in our beloved indie VN list alongside the games that clearly inspired it to be created, and eventually, develops its own thing and its own style, as well as moving to get rid of its flaws and eases into a better progression of the story and of the characters.

Finally sat down and did my first playthrough on this.

First I want to say that this game is not a clone of that other game. It might be inspired by some elements, here and there, but at no point during my playthrough did I feel like I had been to any of those places before, or seen any of those faces.

Dreamlink has it all. Good dialogues, beautiful characters, a great interface and a super interesting story that reminds me of something (not just Inception, which the game references itself), but I can't put my finger on it. I'm thinking of Dark (the series) and Ripples here but I'm probably off the mark.

I am ESPECIALLY happy that I don't need a walkthrough mod or anything like that. The game tells you when you make the right choice and it also tells you whether you're on the girls' paths or not.

I also like that the story picks up rather quickly.

I can't wait for the characters to link their dreams and see what they come up with, and how that's going to become relevant to the story.

My only concern right now is the same I have for that other game - I hope that most sexual scenes will happen in the real world. But that's a personal thing.

I encourage everybody to give this a try. It's damn worth it.

Game is amazing graphics looks good, lis is not that bad either.
I really like the MC, MC is a total simp, a wimpy-ass MC, he's a weak ass too doesn't have a decent level of strength, when he was working out with not-Dalia, dat scene shows how much of a weak-ass MC is.
Dialogues is so nice, totally immature and dramatic dialogue, some scenes is too cringey like doesn't make sense at all, animation of characters is well done.
Music is good too, art is awesome, dev-kun have alot of potentials I believe he can make an excellent copy, really like the game, Good luck with your journey man!!!

Story 3/5
Story is meh and MC is shit, im getting so tierd of perveted MCs with a mindset of a 12 year old, constantly having to think how good every single girl looks and how great their tits are small or big no matter anything goes for a pervert right...its cringy and annoying and should be left for the players to deside what they think is hot or not.

MC is also a pervert and its out of your controle, your forced to watch the mother play with her self which is proberly the last thing i ever wanted to see personaly since im just not into her or big tits and dont like games the forces fetishes on you like this either.

Game talks about having choices due to the relationship system where you can close down a LIs path, but yet it forces shit on you anyway, no clue why devs think everyone is into every fetish, i find it a bit stupid and it would be so easy just adding a go away button so you dont have to watch stuff you dont want to.

As for main story im not really sure yet its a bit meh and not unique in anyway, you will have seen it all before so it really needs to up its game and start creating a unique and good story.

For content there really isent much to come for yet i would say wait quite a few more updates before playing it.

Girls 3/5
Well i do like HS2 and the girls look ok but the diversity in builds is pretty shitty, main focus is on big tit fetish which i personaly arent into in any way, and even Lucy whos a little smaller then everyone else still feels on the bigger side, so no smols at all.

Animations 3/5
Well its again nothing you havent seen before and its just average.

Music 3/5
Standard background stuff nothing special.

Choices 3/5
Cant say for sure if it works or not, game does claim that you can turn down a LIs path but theres just not enough content yet to test that out.

As it is right now its really just an avaerge game with little content so thats what i will rate it as for now, it can still become better or worse.

4/5 - Never quite does anything especially well.

The overall plot is kinda interesting - there's some weird magitech dream manipulation thing happening, and the MC is stuck in the middle of it.

Unfortunately, the scene-to-scene writing isn't that great. Characters spend a lot of time bringing each other up to speed and doing exposition dumps with minimal personality.

The models are pretty good, but the more you look at them the more you see flaws. The clearest example is how Hailey, the sporty girl, has stick-thin arms.

It also feels like the game is rushing to the sex too quickly in order to give the audience something to be distracted by. At the current rate, I'd expect the MC to be sleeping with the girls after like 5 in-game days. I'm dubious that the pacing will feel appropriate long-term.

Great solid game so far, interesting story potential. Girls are stunning (Abi with glasses )
Grammar isn't a tangled mess translated by Google which is a massive + in my book.
Really excited to see where this goes!

i gotta say, it is simple and intriguing to see a game that is back to the basics, what made these games good in the first place.
it is not focused on the naughty parts, but at the story itself. It revealed just enough to have my interest. I miss games like these and the only two complaints that i have, it is short and the MC doe's not have any negative regards to his relationships. It makes less human, but it is refreshing to have a game that has a positive energy to it. The game is new so i will keep looking forward to the new updates in the future, keep it up

really good, story is interesting and girls are super hot.. That Abi.. Wow. Want to see more of the world and more of the girls. Evertyone likeable so far and interested to see how it goes.
Still early phase so not too many scenes. just a lot of teasing. Hopefully people give this one a chance and fund it!

Writing this as of V0.2

Personally, I think this game is a little over-hated. Does it slightly resemble another title that we all love? Yea... a bit, especially at first. But as it starts to develop I think it'll differentiate more and more. Plus, it's not like this is just beginner shlock that's riding off of the coattails of other popular things. The character designs are pretty good, the renders and animations are solid, and overall it's a pretty well polished VN. I only really write reviews when I think something deserves more love and this is certainly that.

Maybe I'm done, maybe I'm not (stopped at the throne scene/ taking a break). This AVN was amazing. I really like the dream aspect of this game, and all the characters look insanely good.

The main character doesn't look like the standard Steve skin in MC, so that's a big plus.

I am looking forward to new materials, I have a feeling that this AVN will become one of the best IMO. I hope that you will continue this project and others forever (as long as you receive compensation, there are no slaves here).

I also can't believe I saw a meaningless essay about how your AVN might run into problems. Let the creator do his job, dude, this is just the first chapter. Introduction, there's a lot more to come. I'm talking about some bugs/problems here, and that's fine, but the bro just went crazy.

It's a pretty good first episode with a very cute image and great trainers. but it has great potential to be a great game in itself.



I would say that the biggest weakness of this first episode was the obscene scene with the masked girl at the throne, which was very general and harsh and did not have much development, especially if she is going to become one of the main characters in the future. I hope that the scenes with the other girls will be more elaborate, especially the animation, because it has such great renderings from the very beginning.



I also noticed a few typos, but nothing too serious. There's also an episode where the host and Hayley set a date, which doesn't make much sense, where she asks if Sunday is suitable and he confirms and then asks her if Sunday is suitable, so you might want to explore that.

Sci-fi? Check. Harem? Check. Decent variety of characters without too, too many? Check. Maybe I'm just a simple man to please but the story diverged/developed enough that I'm definitely excited for v0.3!

Game is great and the story is developing into something interesting with amazing renders and a step up from the first episode with a lot of stuff with 0.2. Keep it up and this game could be really awesome in the future.

At the end of the day, the biggest cardinal sin of this AVN isn't that it feels like a rip-off of better games that came before it, or that the character designs look same-y and hardly distinct from one another, or that said characters look like mannequins that move but barely had any facial movements or expressions that make them look creepy and unlife-like, or that the soundtrack is so forgettable you barely realize it's there.

No, this AVN's biggest sin is that it's boring. It's mostly setup with hardly any exciting or interesting moment to balance the tedious and bland dialogue and events that feel like uninspired rehashes from other slice-of-life AVNs. You know it's bad when you can basically skip through most of it and when you go back to reading far ahead you feel like you don't have to backtrack because you missed a noteworthy lore drop or character development scene.

Add to this are the lewds, which are just as uninteresting and lack that "tittilating" factor to get one interested in viewing them. I know it's early days, but early chapter lewds should make me anticipate future scenes with the LIs, not leave me bored that I don't see the point to continue.

Overall, it's a lackluster snoozefest with average (albeit competently shot) renders, and with the current version (0.2) it's best to avoid even when you're bored.

Very nice renders and models. The characters all look great. Overall, the presentation is really nice, plus the main plot is interesting so far. Although there are a few caveats...

The choices are not good, honestly. Mostly, they revolve around whether or not you will give a compliment to the girls. I think by far the worst choice you can make is whether or not you accompany Abigail on the campus tour, because if you don't, you lose her path. I just don't understand the purpose of that.

There are a few better ways to handle something like that. The simpler alternative is to not have a choice at all, but an even better one is to be able to reject, unlocking an alternative path without losing Abigail's path.

The same type of choice repeats itself throughout the game. It's actually really easy to lose the girl's paths. Just let us choose in the moment if we want to date the girl or not, no reason to lock players out of content just because they don't want to get involved with an LI.

The MC is not supposed to be a creep, because that's not how the game portrays him, but unfortunately he is. He stares like an idiot at every new girl and he will repeat it with the girls he know if they're wearing anything they haven't worn before. A comment or two is enough, don't go on a rant about how beautiful they are. No one is that much of a simp that they simp on a loop in their own thoughts. Well, I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but who wants to play someone like that, right?

Luckily, this is not unfixable. Chances to regain an LI's path could be given later on, but it remains to be seen if the dev will lock you out of her path forever or not.

Aside from that, pretty decent start. If we get more choices regarding the LIs and the dev gives us more leeway in how the MC acts, the game has the potential to be great.

My experience with this particular VN has been quite enjoyable, and I discern considerable potential within its framework. The characters have managed to capture my interest, and the unfolding story, though in its early stages, already exhibits a promising level of intrigue. Overall, my positive engagement with the characters and the evolving narrative encourages me to appreciate the distinctive qualities this VN brings to the table, setting it apart from its counterparts.

I honestly im a bit hesitant when i comes to these types of games. When i see this types of models something always rubs me the wrong way.

Thankfully, Dreamlink really surprised me. The renders are great and every character has interesting fasion and bodytypes which is not normal for these types of renders. I really liked the mother and the older sister.

I also enjoyed the small bios for the characters, more games need to showcase facts for the characters in the bios.

While the story barley started in the first update i could tell that it could go into something that i really thought was interesting or something that could ruin the game so this review might change.

I am only rating it four out of five because there is room for improvement. I enjoy the story a lot. A Little slow to get started but got interesting once I got to see some of where we are going. I do agree with others that there has been similar before at least so far.

MC look is kinda weird to me but nothing wrong just personal preference. The woman are very attractive in my opinion. I think by 0.3 I am going to be clawing at the walls for the next release if the pace buildup continue.s.

I think the MCs dick is kinda overdone. I have no issues with big dicks but it looks like it almost reaches his chest from an angle. Eh i am not going to remove a star for just that but it was seeming unbelievable in my opinion.

I am very much enjoy the story heavyness so please keep that up.

Sadly, this game is such a waste of potential. The renders are great, the posing, framing, lighting, animations as well. Clearly the dev knows what they're doing when it comes to HS2.
The problem is the story, which is just insanely lazy and absolutely nothing we've not seen before. Really hope this impoves in the future, because I would love to see this skill being used in something great and original.

Good Points
+ Art style looks kind of good, and girls/women look kind of hot.
+ We have animations with different angles for sex scenes and they are decent.
+ We had some real-life references like Lucy saying ''I'd much rather spend my time playing 'Certain Gate 3'' which is interesting.

Bad Points
- The story is interesting, but... It's quite similar to certain games we all know... And can't say I'm too happy with that, having a little bit more unique story would been better.
- The text being uncentered is quite annoying, makes reading the text hard, and forces you to look left side of the screen and back to the characters faces or scenes again every time, it should be or we should have this uncentered version as a extra option in the options menu.
- Existence of some cliches are very bad decision, why always these games have to have that one asshole who insults MC, fights with MC and treats girls like shit, and even assaults them sexually? That's a big -point, Hector shouldn't be in this game, his existence is annoying and not necessary at all.
- Faces of characters can use some work. Girls look fine from the front, but from the side look/profile, they look kind of weird with how their mouths, chin, and noses look, they can use some improvements for sure.
- Facial expressions can use some work currently they look kind of weird.
- There are some clipping issues here and there, nothing too serious, but would be better if we don't have them.
- Most of the action and sex scenes happening in ''dreams'' are a bummer.
- The game can use more detailed renders, considering where DEV took inspiration I don't think I need to point to an example to take, since the example is already taken, but the game is far beyond the level of an example game, so improvements would be good.
- Zenith Voss's design couldn't have done better, curently he doesn't give the vibe the game telling you about it, and even looks a bit too common-like.
- MC's dick looks ugly AF, it could use some changes...
- Lara could have used a little bit bigger tits, since she is one of our main cast, and she is the MILF, it would make a lot of sense and would fill that role perfectly.

For The End
Well, it's not a bad game, but there are a lot of things that need to be fixed and things that need improvement, since its first release, I'm going to give it a 3-stars rate and gotta hope DEV will fix the problems, and make the improvements needed, and make the game good enough to give even 5 stars rate.