On the surface this games world comes across as a cute cyberpunk aesthetic, with it’s bright colors and beautiful character designs that pull you in thinking you will have a cute adventure with some strange but harmless characters, but there is something darker peaking out from just below the surface. Behind the cute designs of the city and characters there is a corrupt and dangerous city where though things seem calm enough there is most certainly something sinister going on. This is the introduction we are given to the world of Midorijima in the demo for JAST USA’s upcoming English release of Dramatical Murder.
In this upcoming game you play as Aoba a young man who seems to be at a point in his life where he has calmed down from the crazy days of his youth and has settled almost comfortably into the responsible life as an adult. He works hard at his job, he spends time with his friends and he lives with his grandma, but his life is not as perfect as it seems. Rumors around his home town of people losing their minds in a game known as Rhyme is only the beginning of his adventure and there is also the mystery of the headaches that constantly plague him.
The demo gives you just enough of the story to hint that there is something more going on but leaves the mystery open and also gives a few introductions to important characters to the story. I did however through my own playthrough notice a few grammar errors in the translation the most obvious of which being the one below and I hope the team behind the game can fix these before the games full release.
My own playthrough of the demo has only left me more excited to play the full game once it releases later this month! You can order a physical copy from J-list here or pre-order a digital copy through Steam and Steam is where I downloaded the demo.
Yaoi Playground 