Dreambound

i’ve played this game several times to get some good ending but now, after all these hours i realize that there is no such thing as „good ending” in „Dreambound”. every single route is filled with grief, loss and pain. if you came here for a chill BL visual novel then you came to the wrong place, because here there is no way to fix things, alter the fate or get a golden ending which usually you can find in games like this. you can’t think how absolutely gut wrenching each scene in this game is. i think the reason this game is so heavy is because it constantly puts a very strong emphasis on what could have been. the „what ifs” are literally shoved into your face all the time, just to remind you the next minute that death is permanent and you can’t change the past. there are no good options here - you can either make everybody happy in a made up world or live with the scars in the real world. you can only change who dies and in what way, but sacrifices are always made. „Dreambound” puts you in noah’s shoes, forcing you to empathize with him and carry the guilt together. it’s deeply emotional and the characters are deeply flawed and complex which makes them very human. i don’t remember when was the last time a game made my throat clench like this.

I think this is probably my favorite of 2.5 studios games. The way Dreambound deals with grief and trauma is just amazing. It’s a heavy game; and I had to take breaks from time to time, but it’s incredibly well done. I also enjoyed how each route gave you more pieces to the full picture. It’s hard to pick a favorite because they were all so good! Definitely recommend