Well if you’re locked out of hustling, it means you have to go out and get your talent some supplies. While you’re at it, get some levels for your crew. This is where hunting comes into play, and you better give it a bit more thought before it overwhelms you like hustling does. For you see, the combat scaling can be pretty brutal. If you slack off, it will force you to backtrack to the last dungeon to get a couple more levels. Sure, you can progress if you’ve got the right number of items. However, you’re going to run out and then you’ll really be depending on hustling to be able to progress. So previously, I was getting psychologically messed up by the story. Now, the gameplay is kicking me while I’m down. However, do you want to know something? It feels amazing.
In a day and age where some feel that games are getting easier to appease a bigger crowd, Dohna Dohna exhibits an amazing amount of challenge. The balancing act with doing just enough hustles to get your crew by to do some grinding, is so good. This is where quality of life features like the fast forward really benefit the player, as it makes you feel like you’re not slogging through it all. This, on top of the day requirements for an achievement, really keeps players on their toes in terms of looking into how to personally ramp things up. Even if I hit a wall in the mid-game, it doesn’t demoralize you as much as it would because of this. As wild as it sounds, it’s easy to plan out your moves, build a very impressive roster and get smooth access to a phenomenal story.
All of this and I still haven’t discussed other things like how amazing the art is. Now obviously, due to the nature of ad revenue, I can’t plaster this entire piece with the lewd CGs, but if I could I’d do it in a heartbeat. The sprite art is phenomenal, and their animations can be so pleasing to the eyes and mind, especially when you land a killing blow. But the heavy hitter in the art department definitely has to be within the erotica. The amount of detail towards facial distinctions on certain parts of the scene and the liquids allow for clearer interpretation and understanding of just how much is really going on here. That, coupled with phenomenal translation work on the part of Shiravune, not just here but as a whole, feels as good to read. Especially with the more outside-the-box scenarios.
However, what’s a good game without a good soundtrack? The electronic based sounds of Dohna Dohna are very addicting to listen to. From my own personal experience, ever since the game launched, I’ve been listening to the opening theme song and battle themes over a hundred times at the time of writing. I will continue to do so even after I go through several follow-up playthroughs to get all the endings. So just when I thought I could escape this game, it remains attached to me even after I close it for good. If that ever happens at least. The tracks for love-making, either the calm or aggressive versions, are also great listens. This is important since these types of scenes are everywhere. On the subject of sound, the voice acting, to the surprise of nobody at this point, is outstanding. The emotional range for every character is otherworldly.
If you’ve read to this point, you can probably guess what the final rating will be. I don’t have any major negatives to bring up. The dark story featuring a bunch of scenarios that merit trigger warnings, can be disturbing for some. However, they’re necessary to get to the brutality of the world in the picture. There are also concerns for whether the game would just be too difficult to get into. Don’t worry about this, the story of Dohna Dohna doesn’t have a time limit. Take your time with it, because denying yourself this kind of narrative experience would be a tremendous mistake. This is a tremendous game that nobody expected to be able to play this year and it’s worth your penny. Shiravune outdid themselves and I hope they feel rewarded for it. Just like I hope you’ll feel rewarded for trying this game out.
Dohna Dohna is an exceptionally chaotic work of art that can only be described as a masterpiece. A beautifully dark story, combined with the most colorful cast of characters I’ve ever seen, all while featuring a challenge for both your psyche and your skill. It’s all I could ever ask for. I’ve spent around 52 hours on the game at the time of review. I will look to spend several more after. Dohna Dohna is available exclusively on Johren for $49.99,and it’s worth every penny. Pick up the game today, and if you played through it already, let us know what you think. Lastly, my tier list of girls: Porno > Kikuchiyo > Shion > Medico > Antenna > Mistress > ALyCE > Kirakira.
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Game provided by publisher for review purposes.
