Original Release: Alicesoft, PC-88 / MSX, 1989
Other Releases: PC (2003)
A small and experimental ero visual novel that has three separate scenarios.
DPS (PC, AliceSoft, 2003)
Where to Buy: Freeware – English translated version
Review by: Master-B
Alicesoft’s early output definitely skewed very “visual novel” in style, but usually had RPG or strategy elements to provide a strong enough dose of actual gameplay. DPS is the most straightforward visual novel of their catalog that I’ve seen yet, though it still clears the technical bar for being a game by having deaths and dead-end paths that force you to restart.
The concept kinda seems like a dumping ground for ideas that got cut from other games. The premise is that you, unseen protagonist, just got the hot new Dream Project Simulator which is some sort of lucid dreaming / VR system that will take you into realistic fantasies while you’re asleep. You’ve got three scenarios to try out: playing as a knight trying to lead a bratty princess out of danger, a perverted doctor doing checkups at some sort of girls’ school, or a scenario where you can play as either a closeted lesbian idol or her fangirl as they do the dance of seduction.
Unfortunately they’re all very trial-and-error with a lot of sudden “unhappy ends” and nothing to do but repeat the same tedious text menus over and over in trying again. The knight scenario is the closest to having actual gameplay, in that you get a limited number of steps to explore a cave and find a sword needed to fend off an inevitable monster attack. However, it seems to just be utterly random trial-and-error to find it and you have to repeat a lot of nonsense when you get it wrong. The other two scenarios are more straightforward “make the right choice during conversation” situations, but with a lot of pitfalls that can suddenly end things.
The thing about AliceSoft games is that, at least to me, the eroge aspect actually tended to be the weakest part of them. Secondary to the detailed game worlds, memorable characters, wild sense of humor and general punk-ass irreverence for everything. Little of that good stuff is here, this game plays it more straight as a set of eroge mini-novels with failure states and consequently suffers for it.
Links
Videos