This game is called a "Multi-Sight Adventure". Why?
There are 2 heroes, Albert and Makoto, who are involved in roughly the
same situations at "Desire". You can easily switch between scenarios.
Each scenario is closely connected. So, "Multi-sight adventure". "EVE
burst error" used this same system, although there you sometimes had
to do something to unlock further progress in the other scenario. But
otherwise the games are just multiple-choice text/graphic adventures.
Actually, this game has more than 2 scenarios, but describing it much
further would be a spoiler. Tina's story won't make complete sense
until you've seen at least the first 3 endings.
Game requirements are: Windows 9x, Pentium 100 (133 recommended),
24 MB RAM (32 recommended), 4x (6x) CD-ROM, Windows 9x-compatible
sound card, mouse, monitor and video card for 640*480*32k. This is a
little more than for "EVE burst error", but nothing really tough for
recent computers. Although intended for Windows 95 originally, I found
no trouble with playing the game under Windows 98SE or ME. NT 4.0 is
officially not supported, and I didn't test it (or NT 5.0, a.k.a.
Windows 2000 Pro).
When the first CD is inserted, a demo movie will be shown until you
right-click. That will get you to the "New Game / Load Game" screen.
If you have Autorun disabled, you have to press Alt-G to play, or
Alt-H to see the Help file. These options are also shown in Explorer
with some Japanese text still in there.
The Help file mentions there's Windows desktop background images on
Disc 2, 30 MB of .BMP files based on the game, found in the BONUS
folder. Only one of them is H. There's also a screensaver TINA.SCR in
there, but it just shows her running around and into Al.
Li Sun said:
A reporter went to a remote island to interview the research
scientists, which includes his girlfriend. On his first day there, he
met some girls and found a girl, Tina on the beach. He doesn't seem to
have much luck with his girlfriend, but does fine with other girls.
Tina seems to stick to him, when he let her. What's with this research
and who is Tina? First through the reporter's eyes, then his
girlfriend's and more, you will find out. Is that a gene, time and
space machine all in one?
(Li Sun provides a omake patch file on his site.)
You have to start playing as Albert. You can't choose Makoto when
starting a new game until around when Al finds Tina, I think. A "?"
also shows up then too, but can't be selected until you see both the
Albert and Makoto endings. At that point, you sit through the third
story on Disc 2, and finally another one that's just a long movie
that tries to tie up some loose ends. I'll point out only that it
actually creates one in the process, as there's a quick shot of Makoto
and a small boy who looks like he will grow up big and strong...
The opening movie will make almost no sense the first time you play,
until you end up as Al on a plane. Even then, you don't have access
to the game's real Option menu until after clicking through a bunch
of text and game credits. That's after Al puts away the newspaper with
an "EVE burst error" headline and picture on the back.
Right click to exit the OPTION, LOAD or SAVE menu.
The WAVE setting in the OPTION menu controls the Japanese voice for
other characters, and the sound in the movies. Late in the game, I
heard a number of "beep" noises that were probably audio cues left
in by mistake.
You usually can't minimize the game while it's running; sometimes the
"Minimize All"/"Show Desktop" command on the Taskbar works. I think
you can't use the Alt-Tab to switch while the game is in full-screen
mode.
I spotted several minor translation problems. But after hearing that
Himeya spent a lot more money on translations than JAST USA considers
necessary, I won't fault them too much. There were a few minor
continuity problems between Albert and Makoto when both of them were
present in the same location, but nothing significant to the story.
One howler that got past me several times was the opening movie text
that reads "a spiral of immorality"; quite appropriate for an H game,
but I think they meant "immortality".
While I usually don't find a problem with the plot and setting of
these games, "suspension of disbelief" and all that, when a game is
set in what appears to be roughly the present-day I take the gloves
off. But to avoid taking up too much space, I merely pose these
questions:
Why does the image of the whole island show facilities arranged in a
completely different way from the in-game map?
What kind of roads look paved at ground level, and like sand from the
air (that in-game map again)?
What use is a radar system that detects motionless objects up to 3
miles away? (In the radar trade, these are known as "clutter"; stuff
that isn't moving is no threat. And up to 300 miles is no big deal.)
Why doesn't such an important research facility have better security
than a ID badge at the lab door and a slutty receptionist? How about
some armed security guards?
By the way, the Lab building looks a lot like the Convention Center
in Anaheim, California to me! It's right across the street from
Disneyland...
Plants give off carbon dioxide, not "nitrogen oxide."
It's possible to feel like have gotten stuck, even though you really
aren't. Use ALL the possible commands, even if they appear silly,
until you're sure you've seen ALL the possible responses to them. Then
try out any new commands and exhaust those as well.
The game save data is found in your Windows 9X Registry, in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\C's ware\Desire95
or HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\C's ware\Desire95
There's really only one ending to this game, and no way to really go
wrong. I suspect that the "EXTRAS" are turned on by the "sysflag" key
in the Registry, but you should be able to just load up the file from
Li Sun's site if you're that desparate to see all the H without
playing the game.
This is the first H game that I've seen with:
-a bet/game involving math that you can usse on your friends,
-a rhyming sex scene,
-a sexy female character who dies before aanyone has sex with her
(at least it seems like this is the first ever).
Once you play the game all the way through, or install the omake
patch from Li Sun, you will see an EXTRA option at the New/Load
screen. It only works with Disc 2 though.
Pete's review:
"Desire" is 2 CDs full of stuff, who knows how much of that Japanese
voice and sampled music and little animated scenes. Essentially your
typical multiple-choice H adventure, with an interesting story and
sub-plots. Most of the characters are well-realized, but I wish
several of them had shown up more often. Good graphics, nothing great
about the music, and a pretty good translation; I spotted some
minor continuity problems switching between Al and Makoto. I don't
have a serious problem with there being only one ending and no replay
value, because I must have spent at least 12 hours playing. Although
I thought a lot of that was being forced to search the island over
and over. I'd be interested in finding out if "Desire" or "EVE burst
error" sold better, both outside and in Japan, as these two were
roughly equivalent in many respects.
