Renai Bakudan PC Review

Visual novels are an interesting way to spend some time. Part way between a novel and a game they provide the potential for a more engaging reading experience than simple text. Renai Bakudan certainly scores highly on the engaging element.

The basic premise is that you are Juri Kido, you’ve just been released from prison and invited to move to a small coastal town by your best friend. It is not until you arrive at this town that you realise just what sort of an area this is… it is home to a massive red light district and the biggest, hottest, weirdest love hotel in the world… Hotel Bakudan. You quickly meet seven beautiful ladies and land a job at Hotel Bakudan… clearly your luck has started changing for the better.

Those seven ladies represent seven different story paths. You can choose to pursue your ghost hunting BFF, a charming P.I., a gorgeous mother, a cool as ice vigilante, a yakuza queen, an aloof heiress or a melancholy hostess. Each story provides a good bit of change from the next… my first run through was pursuing the BFF and it actually had some really sweet moments. I then tried one of the more “raunchy” characters and indeed… it did not disappoint.

The main “gameplay” is essentially clicking for the next bit of story… but every now and then you do actually have some choices to make. The main one is when you are working at Hotel Bakudan… whilst on shift you will greet a number of different customers and it’s your job to listen to what they are saying and match them with the appropriate themed room. Do well and you may just get a reward for your skills. It’s a nice little way to break up the main story and make you feel a bit more involved/engaged with it all.

Visually it is quite lovely, it is however a bit weird seeing people supposedly traveling in a car, facing towards the back seat and seemingly being “in/on” the front seat? For the most part the visuals are fine and for those who like a bit of risque imagery… there are indeed explicit visuals for each of the characters you can pursue (that can be viewed again later in the extras menu). The audio is nice enough with a pleasant background soundtrack providing something nice to listen to while you read.

In terms of value… if you like visual novels, you should get a lot out of Renai Bakudan. Not only do you get 7 main story arcs… you can also collect a number of erotic books (35 to be more precise)

Final Thoughts?

I was actually quite surprised by just how sweet some of the interactions and stories are. As mentioned, the story with your BFF is quite engaging and seems lovely and innocent. But for those who like a bit more danger or adventure in their stories… there are options for that as well. If visual novels are your thing… definitely check out Renai Bakudan (but only if you don’t mind some “Adult” content).