Played Character Route Order: Koujaku ◈ Noiz ◈ Clear ◈ Mink ◈ Ren ◈ Virus/Trip

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I've bet my butt that DRAMAtical Murder would NEVER release on Steam (don't do that if you are the main character in a Yaoi game for... obvious reasons), so being able to play the most popular title of its genre on this platform still feels surreal. Make sure to give yourself time to get a feel for it and to let everything sink in. You won't pick up on all the nuances scattered throughout the story and endings by rushing through it.

DMMD was the devil that dragged me into Yaoi hell, no other title was able to push it from its well-earned first place in my heart. It strikes a chord unlike most others. I've played this and the fan disk Re:Connect years ago, and I ventured into this without knowing what a wild ride I signed up for. How terribly naive that was! I didn't expect anything in particular but was blown away by the gradual shift in tone and overwhelmed by all the sensations that flowed through me. I'm dying to continue my second playthrough, fully prepared to let it tore the emotional wound back open. But does DMMD measure up to its hype? Definitely. It easily stands out with its complex world-building, excellent storyline, and multifaceted character cast.

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DMMD is a story-driven and character-centric VN set in a world of clashing opposites and takes place in Midorijima, a remote island that the Toue Corporation gained control over. The citizens of the Old Residential District and the luxury resort Platinum Jail are separated by a giant wall that divides both areas and further symbolizes the rift between them. Platinum Jail stands in stark contrast to the slum that is the Old Residential Restrict; void of luxury and stripped of law and order, flamboyant aesthetics collide with muddy colors and run-down alleys. This play of contrasts sets the tone for the rest of the game. The writing puts tension and the abundant usage of contrasts to marvelous use, while it's incredibly strong in its delivery and pacing.

Not only Toue and the yakuza make a living in the Old Residential District much harder on everyone, the competing Rib gangs and Rhyme teams are an additional threat. The members of Rib gangs, called Ribsteez, take pride in battling with their fists. Rhyme on the other hand makes you experience virtual combat in a safe environment by connecting your mind with the net. Measures are taken by a game master to prevent participants from getting physically harmed.

Our protagonist, Aoba Seragaki, is not part of any gang. He works in the Hum-Drum Junkshop, where he takes advantage of the alluring effect his voice has on some of his customers to sell more items than he normally would. Against all odds, Aoba enjoys his peaceful life there. That ought to change when unsettling incidents become more frequent. Rib gangs go missing, people get kidnapped, and no one knows who's responsible for that.

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After someone forces him into a Rhyme match, things only turn worse for him. What starts as an upbeat story slowly unravels into a convoluted narrative loaded with twists and turns. Forced to act, Aoba eventually has to face himself in order to protect the people dear to him... or to seal their fate, whether it leads to doom or salvation.

You can't discuss DMMD without mentioning the stellar OST and sound design. It utilizes each track to amplify the feel of action-packed scenes, fragile moments of serenity, or the sense of ominous dread without ever missing the mark.

But where it really shines is the engaging and expressive character cast. The voice actors brought these characters to life and turned them into believable, vulnerable human beings who really grew on me. There's loads of chemistry between Aoba and the LIs, the romantic tension between them grows in a steady slow way. Chaste moments of affection eventually fade into hot passion, never failing to set your heart aflutter.

Little did I know that the more emotionally invested I got in the characters, the more I was basically begging to dig my own grave, which leads me to the most remarkable and intense part... the endings.

Yaoi veterans know that nonconsensual acts are usually instrumentalized to serve dark, animalistic urges as a form of punishment for not picking the right choices. However, most of these choices are usually so non-causal that you can't blame the protagonist for the turn of events... but not with Aoba. For each bad ending, it's solely Aoba to blame. The writers didn't shy away from relentlessly attacking you, the reader, on a psychological level for messing up and leading all involved characters on a path of destruction. The endings, two in particular, really ruined me.

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The first two of them were more on the bittersweet side, and while they certainly affected me on an emotional level, they didn't prepare me for the fierce whiplash of emotions that ought to follow. The suffering they inflicted on my poor heart was in no way on par with the other bad endings and grew progressively worse.

The third bad ending? It f***ing broke me. Its intensity still haunts me and never ceases to linger in some corner of my mind. There's a cruel, wicked beauty in it that I find morbidly intriguing, depressing, and engrossing simultaneously. It resonated so deeply with me that I had a hard time forgetting that these are fictional characters, making it impossible to get some distance from them. I was so taken aback that I didn't even notice the tears running down my cheeks when the credits rolled. I felt so disconnected from reality and utterly hopeless while that damn ending theme played in the background. I couldn't take it. To agonize over a character's misery even long after finishing the story is what truly makes it captivating and exceptional to me.

The credits barely gave me enough time to finish bawling my eyes out. This damn game didn't give me any time to heal and didn't wait for my pain to subside. I was shocked and disturbed to my very core with the fifth ending. The ruthless portrayal of gore and nauseating sound design were torturous. Watching made me feel physically sick. The composer of the ending theme did a phenomenal job in getting the inner conflict and viciousness across. As for the remaining two bad endings, they weren't any easier to endure.

While you can certainly romanticize it, the symbolism behind most endings is heartbreaking. What hurts the most is to see the dramatic change in personality, how horridly they snap, and watching them fall into an abyss of anguish. My heart ached for them and felt like someone ripped it in two. But what really clung to me are the ending themes that bring forth a lot of emotions.

Thank god that there are also happy outcomes! They really served as an antidote for my wrecked nerves and saved me from reaching the point of near-fatality. They struck me as so affectionate, tender and sensual compared to the bad endings that they made me feel giddy and lighthearted. In the end, I got crushed by the weight of my own feelings, but it was totally worth it!

Played Character Route Order: Saji ◈ Harsi ◈ Vald ◈ Devi

Are you looking for a Yaoi game where every detail is revealed to your eyes? Then you should seriously consider trying this one out, however, if explicit ♥♥♥ scenes aren't your cup of tea, then this one is clearly not for you. To Trust an Incubus contains a lot of R18 content, thus you should only play this if no one can see you fangirling or hear your heavy breaths and squealing unless you want to worry the people around you. Yes fellow fangirls and fanboys, I'm looking at you! This Visual Novel offers plenty of moments for you to squeal, to gasp, and to show your lewdest smirk. You can enjoy all spicey situations uncensored even if the Patch/DLC is not available in your country. Just check this Announcement from the developers out.

I love Yaoi Visual Novels, I really do, and I'm so happy that we get all the uncensored R18 ones as well now. That is a huge enhancement and a blessing for Yaoi lovers. The ♥♥♥ scenes in To Trust an Incubus not only make the heart of every perverted Yaoi lover beat faster, but they also come en masse, the characters are coming en masse as well, just in case you were looking for that kind of information. Nothing is hidden here, you can see just everything. There are no cut-outs, no mosaics, and no positions that hide the explicit parts. Awesome, right? Right?! I prefer the uncensored version, even if the chibis from the censored version are really cute, though!

This is exactly the type of Yaoi game that you can use to torture your straight male friends who would never play such a game by themselves. Not that I would send them any CGs totally out of nowhere without asking or randomly while we are chatting, I'd NEVER do that! God, please tell me I'm not the only one doing this.

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Let's take a look at the story, shall we? Our protagonist is Kenta, a young man who volunteered to work in a lab where four Incubi from another dimension live at the moment. They arrived on earth with the help of a portal that was purposely built to get in contact with other life forms. You can probably imagine already what it means to have incubi in a game like this, so I don't think that I need to clarify that any further. Whatever you think it means, let me tell you that you're 100% right! Kenta is looking forward to meeting them as well as to his new job after he totally screwed everything up at his last workplace. Enviable, isn't he? I'd like to have four Incubi to choose from as well. Why doesn't happen anything like that in real life?

The narration is strongly linked to the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ scenes as ♥♥♥ plays a huge role plotwise. As we all know, it's not an easy task to successfully blend together straight smut and a solid story. That's why storytelling in such games is usually quite meager. Nonetheless, To Trust Incubus has managed quite well to integrate a minor yet sophisticated story, despite the focus being on smut. Personally, I don't care much about elaborate storytelling if it comes to smut, but I do appreciate it if it's well done.

Like in My Magical Demon Lover, the incubi desire to bond with humans. Y Press Games polished the bonding system here quite a bit though since they added more depth to it. Both the incubus and the human learn the language of their partner after bonding, furthermore, there is a notable difference between normal bonding and bonding with someone you are aligned to. Now, take a guess which lucky man is aligned to all four of them? Right, it's neither me nor you.

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My pervy heart yearned for some action if you catch my drift, and To Trust an Incubus managed to satiate my longing for more BxB intercourse quite well if that's even possible. Whatever it is you desire to see in a Yaoi Visual Novel, it's most likely to be granted, as long as guy gets eaten alive during intercourse is not one of them, because you won't find such obscene scenes here. Contrary to most Yaoi games, the ♥♥♥ here is always consensual and r*** scenes that are frequently used in your typical Yaoi don't occur here either. To Trust an Incubus breaks free from some tropes that are often represented in this genre and adds a few elements that you might haven't seen before.

Our protagonist and his lover are often in the situation that they are watching other characters doing it. Other characters, including the incubi you didn't choose, sleep with each other too, which adds a nice dynamic to the narration. Did I mention already that Kenta can also have a threesome, or watch other characters having a threesome? That's right, your eyes don't play tricks on you; a threesome! Not only one or two, no there are four in total! That's actually the first time I've ever seen this in a Yaoi VN except for the Virus/Trip route in Dramatical Murder. And let's be honest here; that one was hard to endure especially in Re:Connect. In two routes/endings, Kenta even has the opportunity to have a polyamorous relationship with two incubi. Admittedly, I liked the threesome route with Saji and Harsi a tad more than the one with Devi and Vald.

To Trust an Incubus comes with a ton of endings, including bad endings, but don't worry, these are rather funny than sad. The characters also share many heart-warming and sweet moments with each other, and even serious topics are taken up, be it insecurities about one's own sexuality or the long-term effects of mistreatment.

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The artwork is fantastic, despite several inconsistencies. Some CGs aren't as refined as others, some have slightly too thick or too thin contours, others don't really look professionally colored and some just look off, but that did not really bother me since there are so many other CGs that perfectly make up for that.

I struggled with the fact that the characters speak English at first. It felt weird because I'm used to listening to Japanese voice-over when it comes to this type of game, but that wasn't the only reason why it felt strange. A few moments are cringeworthy, but at the same time, they also give the whole game a unique touch. ♥♥♥ and comedy don't necessarily have to exclude each other, Y Press Games already proved that both aspects can harmonize splendidly together with My Magical Demon Lover. The English voice acting is not terrible, except for two or three characters that regrettably don't really have talented voice actors, but apart from Devi, those were just side characters, which only showed up near the end. In spite of everything, this is a petty complaint that can hardly be taken seriously, considering the mass of content you get for a moderate price.

To Trust an Incubus is definitely not a softcore Yaoi game and while the storyline might not be absolutely mind-blowing, the comedy elements blend splendidly together with the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ tension and ♥♥♥♥♥♥ scenes.