Random Reviews Chapter-12: Dear Red (Dear Red)

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE IMAGES USED IN THIS POST

Unlike most of my reviews, I'm not going to spoil the game. I've played this game about a year or two ago, but I'm writing this review now. The reason is the game stumped me and made me question my ability to review stuff. Though reviews tend to be subjective, this one is, in my opinion, subjective even by review standards. I've stalled long enough. Let's get this over with.


Dear Red is a visual novel made in the RPG Maker VX Ace engine. It's kinda like Charon's games but done more skillfully. The story is about a girl named Red who is going to kill a man who has wronged her.

The story is handled masterfully and paints everything in varying shades of grey. There aren't any black or white personalities here. Among the characters, Red is probably the one that comes closest to black. But since she's the protagonist and the player character, her personality varies depending on what choices you make.

Speaking of decisions, there are many endings in the game and if I'm not mistaken, each decision is important to get a ending. Though in my opinion, the Ren'Py engine is the go to engine for making visual novels if you literally, have no budget, this game uses the RPG Maker VX Ace engine to it's advantage. It uses the RPG nature of the engine to trigger some endings depending on how quickly you act. It also uses to the engines graphical capabilities to enhance immersion.

The music, if you can call it that, fits well with the game's atmosphere and further enhances immersion.

I honestly can't find any actual 'problems' with the game and if I had to nitpick, I can say that the game it too short. I don't really like to complain about game length if the pacing is done right and the pacing here is okay.

So why did such a game stump me? It's because, even though this doesn't have any flaw that I can find, it's still, to me, a bad game. I say this because this game just wasn't fun to play. It bored me more than any other game I had played. In my opinion, you can have a game that is 100% free from all flaws, but if it isn't fun to play, it belongs in the trash. The main life of a game or any media of entertainment is how fun or enjoyable it is. It has to be entertaining. Why do you think it's called "entertainment" media?

I honestly don't know why it wasn't fun. Charon's games have flaws as far as the eye can see but at least they're fun to play. They're so bad that they're good. In that context, I'd say this game is so good it's bad.

Now, don't let this review discourage you from playing the game. I couldn't name any flaws with the game besides the "I don't like it argument". I don't rally have the right to call it bad based on my own personal likes or dislikes. So give it a try.

For now, I rate this 35/100

I can taste the dislikes already.

Thanks for reading!