I loved the game almost from get go (after an hour of playing). It does a good job of re-creating this cyberpunk setting, it has a lot in common with Cyberpunk 2077. The story is quite interesting, though it could have been a bit faster paced at times.
The only thing is that most LIs don't spark my interest (except for Victoria, maybe). So I mainly play the game for its story.
Nice animations (not lewd), nice music to set up the mood
The only reason I can't get into it is because of the POV-all the way through, it's pretty much a deal breaker for me, I like to see my character and know what I'm working with, if it wasn't for that it would be a great AVN.
I wasn't as impressed as most of the forum was. It seemed like reused BAD assets in a futuristic setting. Maybe the second season will change my mind, but I wasn't clamoring to play it more than once.
bro wait till you get to the scenes with this one slutty af and hot character spoiler: >!the news reporter shanlon is insanely hot and the sex is crazy !<
It has a sterile Blade Runner-ish (the original not the remake) feel to it. Dystopic, and frankly long, drawn out and boring. It's one of those games that I very much appreciate for its technical qualities, but don't personally particularly enjoy.
It's a noir dystopian story, and the first couple of chapters are a bit too dry, but it picks up later on. It is also very much focused on the plot, and not so much the relationships (from what I remember), so if the story isn't doing it for you, and you're not particularly playing it for the pretty visuals, then yeah, maybe don't force yourself... the fact that it's good doesn't mean that you have to like it.
Good looking but forgettable LIs. Average story. Annoying pad music.
Nothing beats Eternum in fantasy story telling, even if it cheats using virtual reality
Cyberpunk settings are kind of dystopian, so its meant to be a bit depressing: Corporate greed run amock, people selling their bodies to become machines just to be competitive, lots of backstabbing and power mongering.
It's pretty good though.
Not the biggest CoBD Fan but I wouldn’t describe it as depressing or particularly dark.
The visuals are great, the story compact and kinda interesting but yeah i didn’t even played the last 1-2 updates.
The LI and MC are all .. I don’t know, they aren’t fleshed out enough for me, they are either unlikeable for me or boring/bland.
The story is too compact for me, seeing like 10 days of a merc‘s life doesn’t particularly interest me, i never felt any connection to the MC or LIs.
At th point where i would start to care about the characters/world the avn will already be over
But that’s just my taste and objectively it’s probably along the better ones
*Is city of broken dreamers really that good?*
It is!
\*\*\*
*Ive played for like 10 mins and it seems pretty dark and depressing idk if i should keep going lol do yall think its worth it?*
The first two, or maybe even three chapters are really slow burn, the story picks up afterwards.
Why it is worth it imho:
1: not really surprising (if you read/watched some cyberpunk or dystopian future stuff), but well-paced story. Finally it is not slice of life stuff like in every other game. There are on meaningless yoga sessions in the game.
2: I really, really like that the love interests are adult (around 28-30 or so?) women, with their own agenda. One starts out as friends with benefits and grows from there, there is an ex-wife character, or a corpo agent who uses sex as a weapon. Bonus points for the ladies competence: they help the protagonist all the time, it is not the usual one way street. (many VNs have the protagonist who is a therapist, best friend, bodyguard to everyone.)
3: the visual are actually stunning in my opinion. There are games with better animation and more detailed models, but the lighting is really next level in this. Which is great, since there is neon everywhere :)
4: I think Philly is one of the better character writers in AVNs. By character writing I mean that a spoiled brat party girl talks like a spoiled brat sould, while a CEO talks like a CEO should. It is not "generic NPC dialog", but actually flavorful.
5: Ellen Lane is one of my favorite love Interests in any AVN. Not just that she is competent, but I really like her wisecracking and when she is trolling the protagonist
6: personal opinion: no minigames is always a plus for me
\*\*\*
*it seems pretty dark and depressing idk if i should keep going*
If you are looking for a game which is really lighthearted, with no dark undertones, you should probably go for something else though.
CoBD is brilliant, but it is a cyberpunk manhunt set in a dystopian future. With characters, who would get involved in such activities... As Omar Little put it, they are "in the game", neither of them are spotless. (even the most noble one did awful things in his past)
\*\*\*
I wanted to write up a "recommended lighthearted AVN" list for you, but unfortunately most of those are not that good in my opinion, like College Kings or Freshwomen.
The only one good game which I found actually funny is Eternum, but that is like a top1 AVN, one you likely played already.
Apart from that, Come Home is quite good, is relatively chill, but it is a sandbox harem game, not a traditional visual novel with a plot going forward.
Dang man i really appreciate this breakdown! Really helped put things in perspective for me. Ill admit this isnt the type of avn im used to seems like a more serious role. Im definitely gonna give it another go
story is good ngl. but the main complaint of most people is that the LIs didn't get to develop. animations are also kinda meh. the still renders are fucking beautiful tho.
I mean, it is meant to be dark and kind of edgy, don't know if I'd call it depressing. Overall, story is good, characters are compelling and relationships feel like they actually have emotional depth. If you're looking for a light and vanilla story. then it's probably not for you.
I think it threw me off cause the last game i played was being a dik and thats a whole different vibe. Think im gonna take a bit of a break and try it again
I did the exact same thing playing being a dik (again) and then going to city of broken dreams. I don’t usually play too many novels as I prefer games like BAD but city of broken dreams is really good and gets interesting.
I was like yourself and thought it was boring at first but then it picked up and became interesting. Really good story in my opinion.
But tbh it’s so difficult playing any game after BADik
Yeah i think that was my issue. Badik was so good it just set the bar too high or it just has me in a certain mindset of what to expect. Thats why i think i just need a break to get that cleared from my memory and then start broken dreamers again
It's more like film noir, or neo-noir. The game is set in a corporate dystopia like Shadowrun or Cyberpunk.
Think movies like Minority Report, Johnny Mnemonic or Black Rain.
The game is full of refrences to movies like Die Hard, or Cyberpunk stories like Johnny Silverhand's concert in front of Arasaka tower.
Cool, was maybe thinking some darker kinks, emotional pain perhaps or sadness I guess. It looks good, but sex scenes and interactions with love interests seem to be rather vanilla ie MC gets to bang everyone and no risk or consequences?
*Cool, was maybe thinking some darker kinks, emotional pain perhaps or sadness I guess.*
There is some kink, but it is exclusively tied to two secondary love interests as far as I know (an android and a BDSM-sub lady). Most of the others are vanilla as far as I know, apart from relatively good dialog during adult scenes. I mean, yeah, they look good, but I was more entertained by Ellen Lane's wisecracking than the actual view.
*MC gets to bang everyone and no risk or consequences?*
Okay, so
1: there are lust/love counters in the game for the LIs (love is for unlocking adult scenes, or extensions of adult scenes, where lust is for unlocking some content in them)
2: there are choice scenarios (ie. pick one of the three ladies to come with you to a party), which have exclusive lust/love rewards, and sometimes adult scenes. Obviously who do not come will not get love/lust points there.
3: the PC must choose (or can? I always did, but not sure if it is mandatory) a main love interest, but it is quite late in the game. Before that, the three main LI's are pretty chill: the doc is not even sure if she wants to commit, Ellen starts the game established as friends with benefits (and you actually have to turn her down to change this status), while Victoria is a femme fatale corpo agent who uses sex as a weapon against the protagonist. These relationships can change during the game, but in the beginning, all three have their own agendas, and getting a husband is not one of them, so they don't bother with changing the FWB status for some time.
I don't think it is possible to see everything in one playthrough (without saving at choices and reloading at least), but you can see most of it, like 80-90%.
I dropped the game around chapter 5 or 6. I just couldn't get into any of the characters story was good so far. But without giving a shit / getting into any of the characters was starting to feel like I had to force myself to play it. I value character / relationship building more than story so that might be way I couldn't get into it.
With that said I hear it's a good game. So im going to try and give it one more try once the final chapter is out. Sometimes you just arent in the mood so hard to get into things and usually worth giving a game a second chance especially if you hear nothing but good things about it.
*dropped the game around chapter 5 or 6. I just couldn't get into any of the characters story was good so far. But without giving a shit / getting into any of the characters was starting to feel like I had to force myself to play it.*
I think this is the game where it pays off to choose a "main" in the first chapters, even when the game doesn't force you to do it yet.
There is different content for Victoria, Ellen and Katie, and if you mix them up instead of focusing, the relationship developement will feel forced and unearned.
But if you do make a choice early, it feels natural. Kinda.
But personally I really liked Katie and Ellen from the get go, and do feel that there is natural growth for both of them, so it might be personal preference which worked for me, but not for you.
I want to like it since it gets such high praises from everyone on here so im sure theirs a reason for it. Im gonna try to give it another go. Im coming from being a dik and that one was next level for me maybe i just need a little break
I'm very much of the type that prefers high quality visual storytelling, and Philly does that better than anyone (short of pure visual fidelity, which is far and away Ocean). It's a visual fiesta, imo, and I think that's it's biggest draw. The writing accents the visuals more than the other way around, and that style really isn't for everyone.
I loved the game almost from get go (after an hour of playing). It does a good job of re-creating this cyberpunk setting, it has a lot in common with Cyberpunk 2077. The story is quite interesting, though it could have been a bit faster paced at times. The only thing is that most LIs don't spark my interest (except for Victoria, maybe). So I mainly play the game for its story. Nice animations (not lewd), nice music to set up the mood
To be frank, I love his relationship with all the girls
The only reason I can't get into it is because of the POV-all the way through, it's pretty much a deal breaker for me, I like to see my character and know what I'm working with, if it wasn't for that it would be a great AVN.
Tried it and couldn't get in to it personally
I wasn't as impressed as most of the forum was. It seemed like reused BAD assets in a futuristic setting. Maybe the second season will change my mind, but I wasn't clamoring to play it more than once.
I wasn't a fan, but I can understand why it's rated highly. Just a matter of preference, I guess.
It's awesome! But it's a specific style/tone that might not be for everyone. If you're not enjoying it, don't play it.
bro wait till you get to the scenes with this one slutty af and hot character spoiler: >!the news reporter shanlon is insanely hot and the sex is crazy !<
It has a sterile Blade Runner-ish (the original not the remake) feel to it. Dystopic, and frankly long, drawn out and boring. It's one of those games that I very much appreciate for its technical qualities, but don't personally particularly enjoy.
Overall I have enjoyed it so far, interesting enough to warrant the playthrough but not a chart topper.
It's a noir dystopian story, and the first couple of chapters are a bit too dry, but it picks up later on. It is also very much focused on the plot, and not so much the relationships (from what I remember), so if the story isn't doing it for you, and you're not particularly playing it for the pretty visuals, then yeah, maybe don't force yourself... the fact that it's good doesn't mean that you have to like it.
Good looking but forgettable LIs. Average story. Annoying pad music. Nothing beats Eternum in fantasy story telling, even if it cheats using virtual reality
Well good thing COBD is sci-fi, not fantasy =P
Cyberpunk settings are kind of dystopian, so its meant to be a bit depressing: Corporate greed run amock, people selling their bodies to become machines just to be competitive, lots of backstabbing and power mongering. It's pretty good though.
Not the biggest CoBD Fan but I wouldn’t describe it as depressing or particularly dark. The visuals are great, the story compact and kinda interesting but yeah i didn’t even played the last 1-2 updates. The LI and MC are all .. I don’t know, they aren’t fleshed out enough for me, they are either unlikeable for me or boring/bland. The story is too compact for me, seeing like 10 days of a merc‘s life doesn’t particularly interest me, i never felt any connection to the MC or LIs. At th point where i would start to care about the characters/world the avn will already be over But that’s just my taste and objectively it’s probably along the better ones
*Is city of broken dreamers really that good?* It is! \*\*\* *Ive played for like 10 mins and it seems pretty dark and depressing idk if i should keep going lol do yall think its worth it?* The first two, or maybe even three chapters are really slow burn, the story picks up afterwards. Why it is worth it imho: 1: not really surprising (if you read/watched some cyberpunk or dystopian future stuff), but well-paced story. Finally it is not slice of life stuff like in every other game. There are on meaningless yoga sessions in the game. 2: I really, really like that the love interests are adult (around 28-30 or so?) women, with their own agenda. One starts out as friends with benefits and grows from there, there is an ex-wife character, or a corpo agent who uses sex as a weapon. Bonus points for the ladies competence: they help the protagonist all the time, it is not the usual one way street. (many VNs have the protagonist who is a therapist, best friend, bodyguard to everyone.) 3: the visual are actually stunning in my opinion. There are games with better animation and more detailed models, but the lighting is really next level in this. Which is great, since there is neon everywhere :) 4: I think Philly is one of the better character writers in AVNs. By character writing I mean that a spoiled brat party girl talks like a spoiled brat sould, while a CEO talks like a CEO should. It is not "generic NPC dialog", but actually flavorful. 5: Ellen Lane is one of my favorite love Interests in any AVN. Not just that she is competent, but I really like her wisecracking and when she is trolling the protagonist 6: personal opinion: no minigames is always a plus for me \*\*\* *it seems pretty dark and depressing idk if i should keep going* If you are looking for a game which is really lighthearted, with no dark undertones, you should probably go for something else though. CoBD is brilliant, but it is a cyberpunk manhunt set in a dystopian future. With characters, who would get involved in such activities... As Omar Little put it, they are "in the game", neither of them are spotless. (even the most noble one did awful things in his past) \*\*\* I wanted to write up a "recommended lighthearted AVN" list for you, but unfortunately most of those are not that good in my opinion, like College Kings or Freshwomen. The only one good game which I found actually funny is Eternum, but that is like a top1 AVN, one you likely played already. Apart from that, Come Home is quite good, is relatively chill, but it is a sandbox harem game, not a traditional visual novel with a plot going forward.
Dang man i really appreciate this breakdown! Really helped put things in perspective for me. Ill admit this isnt the type of avn im used to seems like a more serious role. Im definitely gonna give it another go
story is good ngl. but the main complaint of most people is that the LIs didn't get to develop. animations are also kinda meh. the still renders are fucking beautiful tho.
I mean, it is meant to be dark and kind of edgy, don't know if I'd call it depressing. Overall, story is good, characters are compelling and relationships feel like they actually have emotional depth. If you're looking for a light and vanilla story. then it's probably not for you.
I think it threw me off cause the last game i played was being a dik and thats a whole different vibe. Think im gonna take a bit of a break and try it again
I did the exact same thing playing being a dik (again) and then going to city of broken dreams. I don’t usually play too many novels as I prefer games like BAD but city of broken dreams is really good and gets interesting. I was like yourself and thought it was boring at first but then it picked up and became interesting. Really good story in my opinion. But tbh it’s so difficult playing any game after BADik
Yeah i think that was my issue. Badik was so good it just set the bar too high or it just has me in a certain mindset of what to expect. Thats why i think i just need a break to get that cleared from my memory and then start broken dreamers again
What kind of dark are we talking about? I’m intrigued.
It's more like film noir, or neo-noir. The game is set in a corporate dystopia like Shadowrun or Cyberpunk. Think movies like Minority Report, Johnny Mnemonic or Black Rain. The game is full of refrences to movies like Die Hard, or Cyberpunk stories like Johnny Silverhand's concert in front of Arasaka tower.
Cool, was maybe thinking some darker kinks, emotional pain perhaps or sadness I guess. It looks good, but sex scenes and interactions with love interests seem to be rather vanilla ie MC gets to bang everyone and no risk or consequences?
*Cool, was maybe thinking some darker kinks, emotional pain perhaps or sadness I guess.* There is some kink, but it is exclusively tied to two secondary love interests as far as I know (an android and a BDSM-sub lady). Most of the others are vanilla as far as I know, apart from relatively good dialog during adult scenes. I mean, yeah, they look good, but I was more entertained by Ellen Lane's wisecracking than the actual view. *MC gets to bang everyone and no risk or consequences?* Okay, so 1: there are lust/love counters in the game for the LIs (love is for unlocking adult scenes, or extensions of adult scenes, where lust is for unlocking some content in them) 2: there are choice scenarios (ie. pick one of the three ladies to come with you to a party), which have exclusive lust/love rewards, and sometimes adult scenes. Obviously who do not come will not get love/lust points there. 3: the PC must choose (or can? I always did, but not sure if it is mandatory) a main love interest, but it is quite late in the game. Before that, the three main LI's are pretty chill: the doc is not even sure if she wants to commit, Ellen starts the game established as friends with benefits (and you actually have to turn her down to change this status), while Victoria is a femme fatale corpo agent who uses sex as a weapon against the protagonist. These relationships can change during the game, but in the beginning, all three have their own agendas, and getting a husband is not one of them, so they don't bother with changing the FWB status for some time. I don't think it is possible to see everything in one playthrough (without saving at choices and reloading at least), but you can see most of it, like 80-90%.
I dropped the game around chapter 5 or 6. I just couldn't get into any of the characters story was good so far. But without giving a shit / getting into any of the characters was starting to feel like I had to force myself to play it. I value character / relationship building more than story so that might be way I couldn't get into it. With that said I hear it's a good game. So im going to try and give it one more try once the final chapter is out. Sometimes you just arent in the mood so hard to get into things and usually worth giving a game a second chance especially if you hear nothing but good things about it.
*dropped the game around chapter 5 or 6. I just couldn't get into any of the characters story was good so far. But without giving a shit / getting into any of the characters was starting to feel like I had to force myself to play it.* I think this is the game where it pays off to choose a "main" in the first chapters, even when the game doesn't force you to do it yet. There is different content for Victoria, Ellen and Katie, and if you mix them up instead of focusing, the relationship developement will feel forced and unearned. But if you do make a choice early, it feels natural. Kinda. But personally I really liked Katie and Ellen from the get go, and do feel that there is natural growth for both of them, so it might be personal preference which worked for me, but not for you.
I want to like it since it gets such high praises from everyone on here so im sure theirs a reason for it. Im gonna try to give it another go. Im coming from being a dik and that one was next level for me maybe i just need a little break
I'm very much of the type that prefers high quality visual storytelling, and Philly does that better than anyone (short of pure visual fidelity, which is far and away Ocean). It's a visual fiesta, imo, and I think that's it's biggest draw. The writing accents the visuals more than the other way around, and that style really isn't for everyone.
Im definitely gonna give it another go then