Nocturnal Illusion (PC) (1997)
Developer: Excellents

Review by Faididi and Co.

The ultimate wet dream

Story: Above Average

Shin'ichi must be the luckiest guy ever. After being caught in a storm out in the woods and suffering a hard bump to the head, he wakes up within a quaint, well-kept mansion in a dream-like realm. Escape seems impossible, because a strange force prevents anyone from climbing past the front gates or the tall outer hedge walls. However, the plumbing and the electricity work just fine, food and other necessities for a comfortable life are magically delivered to the main door every morning, and the rest of the mansion's inhabitants are attractive maidens who have also arrived by mysterious means.

Sweet as this limbo may be, our hero wants to find a way back home, and in the process he'll befriend and help his fellow residents, who include various school-age girls, a shy maid, a spirited journalist, the enigmatic mistress of the house, and cute ghosts who are centuries old but still possess jail-bait bodies thanks to wonderful fantasy anime conventions. While not straying far from the usual harem formula, the story strikes an impressive note with its surreal setting and its poignant, monoaware-style writing that makes two or three of the heroines deeply memorable.

Gameplay: Average

Unfortunately, Excellents' Nocturnal Illusion is very basic in terms of interactivity, even among hentai text adventures. Although Shin'ichi can wander freely about the mansion and its outer grounds, the story progresses along only a single track until just before the finale. Once there, no more than a measly two choices will determine the ending, so the game is essentially a book that lets the reader pick from several concluding chapters.

Controls: Excellent

At least the controls leave no room for complaint. Typical menus still play a large role in Shin'ichi's interactions, but his general movements across the areas are handled via an intuitive map interface, which lends Nocturnal Illusion a more graphic adventure-like feel. The options, especially the image galleries, are also neatly organized.

Graphics: Excellent

The visuals look gorgeous, the appealing characters being beautifully drawn over the pretty backgrounds. Too bad the English version of the game censors two of the heroines' sex scenes (by simply blacking them out). The reason why is their supposedly underage appearances, nevermind that several of the other heroines are technically younger.

Audio: Average

The music, if not too memorable, adequately highlights the dreamy, mysterious atmosphere of the game. Having more variety would've helped, though, because all of the standard scenes share a single tune.

Overall: Average

Nocturnal Illusion features lovely characters and graphics, but it barely qualifies as a game due to its dearth of real choices, which are paltry even for a hentai text adventure. This is worth checking out only for those who appreciate an elegant story above everything else.