VHS Romance is like that tasty fish dinner where you have to pick all of the bones out yourself to be able to fully enjoy it.

Introduction

It is rare for a game with as many implementation flaws as VHS Romance to earn a full review on the Otome Lovers’ website.  For it to achieve such shows that there must be something within the plethora of failings which stands out enough to still be worth the challenges of playing it through.  The good news is that yes, not only is that the case in point, but the aspect of this offering which provides the light in the darkness is the story itself.  I would urge you to keep this at the forefront of your mind as we detail the problems embedded within the game.

The Story

It is the year 1986.  Alex (whose name is changeable), the player character, is a 20 year old man who leaves the easy sanctuary of his parents home and drops out of the economics further education course that they had lovingly manoeuvred him into with a view to providing him financial security in adult life.

We join him where he has left home and arrived in a small town with a community where everybody knows one another.  Alex is not an economist. Never will be.  He’s the artistic type, and harbours dreams of becoming a filmmaker.

We join his travels as he arrives at the family run Sunset Video VHS rental store following a successful job application, where he meets the owner Veronica, a 38 year old divorced mother of two daughters, both of whom work in the shop, along with a backroom colleague Chloe who looks after the technical and computer sides of the business.  Along with these four ladies, there are a further two primary characters:  Sloane, the seeming image of controlled perfection who runs the beauty salon next door, and an old schoolfriend of Alex who he bumps into soon afterwards.  Tessa is a tomboy who grew up to be.. a tomboy!  She is heavily into skateboarding, and it’s just possible that there’s more to her than first appears.

At this stage, it would be easy to assume what type of story this is going to be.  The reader has the part of a young man, and there are six available women in the secondary roles?  Yes, certainly the story will open up into the possibility of a romantic attachment later on, but you would be drawing the wrong conclusions to assume that this is a typical man builds harem with selection of submissive women at his feet nonsense.  Far from it.

It quickly becomes clear to Alex that Sunset Video is in dire financial straits.  The powerful chain Video King has moved into premises nearby, and has quickly set about initiating a range of dirty tricks to try and oust the independent incumbents from the local competition.  Sunset Video’s own balance sheet hasn’t been helped by owner Veronica’s excessively kind heart being the persistent victim of a small number of customers abusing the system.

Anybody who lived through this period will find the big boys moving in and upsetting the balance thread strikes a chord with their own memories.  I certainly recall the British video chain “Blockbuster Video” moving into my home town, and the local video shop we had frequented closing down shortly afterwards.

The story feels quite substantial, and can clearly be broken down into two halves.  The first half revolves almost entirely around the battle of the small independent store to stay in business against the wealth, power and influence of the chain which seeks to clear them out and take over both the premises and their customer base.  During this section of the story, there will be some emotional ups and downs, during which time Alex will make decisions about which team member to assist, and whoever he chooses to spend most time with will lead to that lady asking to get to know him better.

Indecision, however, or failure to recognise when a choice is not in the best interests of the business, its staff or voluntary supporters, will see an early end when the store is forced to close its doors permanently.

I targeted this sole “bad end” first so that I’d be able to complete my game experience on a happier note, and it did feel like I had played through enough material to consider that a full visual novel in its own right.

However, success leads on to the pivotal decision of whether Alex wishes to become closer to one of his new acquaintances.  The decision is very clear, there is no realistic possibility of choosing incorrectly by accident.  Declining any recognition of personal feelings leads us on to a solo route for Alex, where, after receiving a gift from the rest of the team of a video camera as appreciation for his significant contribution to saving the store, we follow his efforts to create his first film and get recognition for it from both a regional festival and from his own parents after making a career choice in conflict with their own desires for his future.

The characters

Alex

As the lead (player) character, one would reasonably expect that this game was written with a mostly male audience in mind as it has an intended BxG romance dynamic.  While that may have been the intention, it isn’t necessarily the case. Forgive me as I give a female perspective.

First of all, Alex is beautiful.  See for yourself.

Not only is he feminine-eye candy, but he is also incredibly mature for his age, focused, determined, understanding and an excellent listener.  That may make him a stereotype, but also something of a dream catch.  The game does not feature so many player choices as to make you feel like you can play only as the lead man.  I found it just as easy to switch the narrative in my mind so that Alex became the chosen romance option.  And what made this such a simple task was…

Veronica

I resonated so hard with Veronica as a character.  She is wonderfully developed, so easy to identify with as the mature woman who has become “invisible” as a woman.  These days, she is the pillar of society, the reliable, kind professional who people know they can rely upon (and take advantage of her good heart).  But to Veronica herself, that vibrant, fun loving teenager who could turn heads without trying, is still in there – and the frustration of being seen as merely a past it divorcee is destroying her self perception.

She is one of the easiest visual novel characters to identify with and play as (even when that was not intended by the script) that I have ever come across.  I loved reading the story playing as her, and merely using Alex’s choices as a means to nudge him in the direction that I wanted him to go as my potential romantic partner.

Helen

The first of Veronica’s daughters, Helen is a goth girl who is seriously into her horror fiction, and looks after that part of the store.  This may make her highly stereotypical, especially as random supporting characters view her as a weirdo freak.  Her sharp tongue may just be a defensive mechanism however, and there is, of course, more than the veneer to her than we see at first.

I did feel that Helen’s story was shorter than the others. Whether it actually is or not doesn’t matter, but somehow I was left with the lingering feeling that her character arc could have dug a little deeper. I was never a goth in those days, but I was friends with several people who were, and I can categorically assert that the goth community has many of the nicest people you could possibly hope to meet. It would have been representative if we had seen the real heart behind this character, not merely her growth to recognise the substance beneath the external facade.

Lucy

As the other of Veronica’s daughters, Lucy, at a glance, is the polar opposite of her sister.  All sunshine and light to Helen’s external darkness.

I identified with her love of romcoms but otherwise found her character to be a little thin, even when being taken below the surface. She makes for a pleasant story, but one that is most easily digested as a third party looking in.

Sloane

The beauty parlour owner Sloane appears too perfect and in control to be true, and her route demonstrates how difficult it is for her to retain that appearance.

Of all of the possible romances, this one felt the most far fetched yet at the same time, also one of the most believable characters. Revealing the nagging self-doubt underneath brought out a person I could accept is based on someone real.

Tessa

Of course, there always has to be an old friend, right? Tessa is that character, but as with all of the others, instant attraction isn’t a thing. It takes time to build, and Tessa is an example of how all of the main players support one another even though they are not all employees of the store. This brings a feel good air to the whole story and makes every primary character supportable.

Chloe

Chloe sits in the back of the store when she’s not at college on her computing course, and is a bit of a genius at programming although her focus on this activity has left her wanting socially, and an easy target as a nerd who thinks she’s smarter than she really is for the local boys.  After all, it’s 1986, we can’t have a girl being smarter than the boys, can we?  Heaven forbid!

The romances

Ultimately, stripping away character individuality, each woman’s route carries the same underlying story.  Each of them has an internal vulnerability based on other people’s perception of her as a one dimensional being, and with support from Alex as her escort, she comes to accept herself as both valuable and valued for who she is.

The game is completely SFW, romance is clearly present but does not veer into anything risqué.

I felt varying responses to each woman’s story, most directly affected by how much I could identify with them.  If you feel any kind of recognition in yourself to any of the characters mentioned above, then there is a strong possibility that you will get a good deal of enjoyment – and some emotional feels – from the game.

The problems

If you have developed any interest in playing this game after reading this far, please bear in mind my comments at the top of this review.  Now, brace yourself.  There are a LOT of issues, but if you are determined enough, they will not stop you from being able to see the entire thing through.

• First of all, there is a really glaring error in the script for Veronica’s route, one that could, if you are so inclined, have you guffawing in mockery.  We learn that she was 19 years old in 1979 at the height of the disco craze, and still loves the scene now, 7 years later, when she is 38.
• I understand that prolonged stress can cause one to age prematurely, but this is surely world record breaking!  I have, nonetheless, assessed how this could have happened.  We know that Veronica is divorced – therefore, it could be that she needed a change of scenery following her divorce, and went to live on the planet Mercury for approximately four years, where a year lasts for just 88 days.  If this was the case, when she returned, she would have aged the appropriate number of years to be 38 in 1986.  Case closed.  I have resolved the confusion for you, dear reader, so that you don’t have to.  😂 But in all seriousness, forcing yourself to disregard this major slip is worth the effort.
• After winning a little victory against Video King, a lakeside scene appears with Veronica, irrespective of whichever woman the story tells you is there with you.  A similar issue occurs in the store after a power cut.

• During this scene, three identical narrative captions are repeated in quick succession.  It’s impossible not to notice, and this does negatively impact flow.
• The caption in the picture above is a perfect example of narrative overkill.  Several times in Alex’s thoughts (during the game I renamed the character Todd, hence this discrepancy) he repeats the same approximate assessment.  Once is enough, sometimes the repetition in certain scenes becomes rather grating.
• Some captions are excessively long so that the final line is either completely missing or half off the bottom of the screen.  It doesn’t matter if you’re full screen, windowed, taskbar present or hidden, the result is the same.

• The only way to read the hidden text when this happens is to move on and then access the history log. Sadly, this provides a further difficulty.

• The next caption when viewed in the log will be positioned directly over the hidden text from the previous one – even after pushing forward a little further, the misplacement remains the same after scrolling up. This doesn’t make it impossible to read, but it is awkward and a nuisance.
• In the individual routes for Sloane, Lucy and Chloe, there are a sequence of backdrops which do not load, with the result that the player gets a series of captions with no graphical accompaniment.

• Towards the end of Chloe’s route, there are 3 successive Ren’py failure screens which appear and interrupt the gameplay. I was able to select ignore on each occasion and continue the story, so this isn’t completely game-breaking, but is disappointing.

Perhaps the biggest red flag of all?

Many people will not touch this game for the single reason that all of the art is AI generated. And sadly, the impact and inconsistency of it will add weight to that stance.
Here’s a perfect example of the argument. Bearing in mind the character shots above, here is a version of Lucy and Helen together. They look like completely different characters.

• The extra body parts issue is also present on two occasions. Anybody need a hand?

• In generating a supporting character, the AI fails to identify the sex required. Apparently, Jennifer is a man.

There are also many more examples which stand to have you facepalming or shaking your head in disbelief.

In addition to the errors that AI art provides, it also enforces that “static” feeling to the characters – there are no expression changes to support their emotions, and backdrops often remain in place long after they do not match the text being displayed.

Summary

VHS Romance is the owner of a beautiful heart wrapped in the clothes of a hobo. There is a lot of peeling away the undesirable to find the attraction, but it IS there.

At no point after beginning the game did my desire to complete the whole thing wane. That meant a lot of jumping in to the history log to complete captions, a lot of disregarding backdrops that didn’t match, and far more than my fair share of ignoring other little failings throughout.

In spite of all of the unwelcome challenges the game throws at the reader, the story kept me engaged. The emotional pulls were perhaps more impactful during the business battle half of the story, but were not absent later. I had four occasions of being close to tears during my experience (plus a further couple of times when I could feel it starting to build); one of which required emergency sleeve-to-eyes action. That requires skilled storytelling, and it is certainly inside this game.

I cannot make a clear and forthright recommendation for a game that would cause many people more aggravation than their personal patience levels would tolerate, but I can recommend that for those fortunate enough to possess that combination of patience, determination and willingness to forgive a lone developer’s shortcomings in tackling a project large enough to require an experienced team; a story which will engage, delight, distress and ultimately leave you feeling uplifted at all the right moments.

I would love to believe that at some future point, the rights to this effort could be sold to a team capable of bringing this to its full potential, as that potential to be something quite special is certainly there.

And finally

A personal plea to whatever fates may exist…. if reincarnation turns out to be a real thing, could you please, please arrange it for me to come back as Veronica? This deal includes winning the thoughtful, caring, talented, mature, incredibly hot toyboy too, obviously. Thank you. 😉

Abridged review posted on Steam ➞

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