It should be readily apparent that my favorite kind of genre in the H-Game market revolves around horror. That’s not surprising, since the Japanese seem to mix the two of them so well and one example of that would have to be Alternate DiMansion Diary. Let me be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with this one. We’re introduced to a teenage girl who happens upon a pornographic magazine. As she considers pleasuring herself, the great Japanese sex gods catch wind of it and she ends up tumbling off a cliff into a strange wooded area with a large mansion. She walks around for a bit, then finally finds her way inside. Though after that, she’ll soon realize that she won’t be escaping anytime soon…
GAMEPLAY:
Alternate DiMansion Diary feels like it will be a survival horror adventure, like The Crooked Man, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Everything in the house wants to pleasure you, but it wants to scare the heck out of you at the same time. You never know what to expect from certain rooms like the guest house, the giant bar in the hallway looking over a pit, the spa room or the theater – but rest assured, nothing here is interested in harming our character and everything just wants to help her get off and have a good time doing it. Once you understand that, the sense of dread seems to wane as you work your way through the many puzzles strewn throughout the mansion. You’ll be wracking your brain on a couple of them, although others just require a little bit of out of the box thinking. I’ll admit that the colored ball puzzle was a bit like pulling teeth and a mathematic exercise that I wasn’t expecting in a game of this caliber, though the tile puzzles were far more entertaining and a bit less troublesome. As with puzzles, there are objects randomly strewn about the house as well that you will need for your quest. Obviously, locked doors, hidden passageways, keys under the carpet and all the familiar hallmarks of survival horror are here. Also, the look on the face of our main character at times shows that she’s not exactly too happy about all of these things at first. The game keeps up a horror atmosphere for an exceedingly long part of time, which all falls apart as soon as the main climax of the game is reached. As with most of these games, there is an exciting extra feature, which allows for a fun after story mode that I enjoyed quite a bit. As well as some extra h-scenes. Refreshingly, the h-scenes in this game are also performed using only the original sprites, something that needs to continue to be a part of this genre. Developers should not be outsourcing hentai artists to design certain scenes in the game that feel entirely out of place within it. This in my opinion, takes majorly from the game and the work that was put into it.
GRAPHICS:
That being said, the graphic quality here isn’t all that special, but it has a unique kind of charm compared to many of the other games that Kagura Games licenses. You’ll see what I mean when you compare the graphics and art style here with some of their more recent titles. Indeed, the developers are not using the standard sprites and tile sets, and they also crafted a lot of things especially for the game. However, the game’s graphical quality is not very detailed or polished and that might slightly turn off a few potential buyers.
STORY:
Alternate DiMansion Diary actually contains a story, which might shock you a little; but it’s definitely there. I will note the emphasis of the game playing up on the horror aspect and all of the sex scenes could have replaced by gore scenes or horrific chase moments (which actually do appear in some points of the game) where the main character is murdered instead of just the standard rape fantasy. The game has a surprising ending and an even more surprising epilogue that culminates in a final scene that no one ever saw coming. As you walk through the house, you’ll start to experience the horror-like atmosphere baked into it, which again is kinda rare for these games. It’s even a bit odd that the developers would focus so heavily on making the player and the character feel like they’re in a nightmare, when really it’s just one big wet dream.
SOUND:
Once again, the game plays up on the horror atmosphere with a relatively creepy soundtrack throughout. I honestly thought there might be scenes where the character would die. It is almost ridiculous how much this game plays up on the horror aspect, from the atmosphere to the music. None of the music is anything to write home about, but it fits the game well enough.
HENTAI/ADULT CONTENT:
What we have here is simply put, a game that wants to show players how to make a horrific, yet pleasurable experience. You may even feel some kind of way during these scenes as they are a bit more detailed than I might have expected. There’s a pleasure device underneath a table in the guest room, a water spirit that wants to have a good fondling session, a vibrating bar in the middle of a pit that she has to straddle across (and it’s pretty funny when you see the look on her face as she finds out just what is happening) and a futa doppleganger version of her that exists just beyond the mirror. Yeah, you see what I’m getting at here. It’s important to note that like SiniSistar, Alternate DiMansion Diary uses it’s own graphics for the hentai. We’re not shown various CGI scenes and all of the actions are showcased through the sprites and dialogue – which works and is commendable. I’m getting tired of doujin game creators outsourcing hentai art when they can just create it themselves, using their own sprites. Additionally, this game really doesn’t play up on gore elements, so there’s nothing too far out there when it comes to any of the H-scenes. We don’t have to worry about the character being murdered or dismembered throughout the game. It’s just not that kind of house.
CONCLUSION:
For a game that mostly consists of puzzles and H-scenes, Alternate DiMansion Diary really seemed to keep my attention. You can tell that while not much money went into this experience, a great deal of heart did – and I think the game is a good representation of that. Alternate DiMansion Diary had enough charm and intrigue for me to pick it up and play it all of the way through in one sitting, so that should be saying something considering that I mostly turn away games with the Kagura Games license due to their overuse of standard sprites and tile sets, not to mention their lack of originality. With Alternate DiMansion Diary though, this is simply not the case. You can pick up the game at MangaGamer for a fair price that seems reasonable for the amount of content it offers, including the after story. We’re affiliated with them, so go check out the link on the side bar.
FINAL RATING:
