Neuronaut is a lewd visual novel about a man’s journey inside the bodies of other people.
At-a-glance
(Adult) Content?
Female-on-male sexual content.
Censorship?
No. Woot! Woot!
Hours of Game-play?
Three or four hours.
Modding Support?
No.
Patch Available?
Yes, activate in-game from “Settings”.
Gameplay
. . . in a nutshell
Consult my article on visual novels.
out the shell. . .
Player choices are few and far between, and choosing the wrong option will lead the player to an abrupt ending. The first two player choices have the capacity to instantly end the game.
Story
The English in this story isn’t the best. It’s written strangely, and chock full o’ run-on sentences. Either it wasn’t translated very well, or the writer needs to take another writing class. But I understood what was written, and there were few points in the story were I was lost.
Now let’s talk about the story!
Mark (or Marik) kicks off the story with page after page of lamentation. He feels discontent with his life, and his only friends are rustlings, or stray plastic bags which seem to cling to his legs. He feels disconnected from his body, as if his body simply goes through the motions of life. He regularly contemplates suicide. Based on how he describes himself (and the world), I think that it would be reasonable to infer that the protagonist suffers from a form of depression. Gee, some way to start a story.
. . . and I thought I was playing somethin’ lewd ‘n lighthearted.
On his way home, he meets a strange old man who sells him a pamphlet, Entering the Astral Plane. From the pamphlet, Mark learns how to separate his astral body from its physical shell. In other words, he is able to explore the world much like a ghost (or phantom), leaving his physical body behind. In his astral body he is able to possess other people. He can’t control them, but he can feel what they feel and see what they see. Mark gains an addiction to possessing others. He finds a certain high to feeling what others feel, and he spends his every free moment stalking everyone around him.
And then he’s struck by lightning and he dies.
Or, just his physical shell dies, and his astral form lives on. He becomes attached to another man’s body, a student named Max. Mark’s existence is based on Max’s emotions. When he experiences intense emotion, Mark “awakens” and becomes able to join with Max’s body. He has a special lady friend (named Lia), and many of his interactions with her suffice to bring Mark back. At first, he wants to leave Max’s body, and “jump” into Lia’s. However, he lacks the energy to do so. Eventually, he becomes accustomed to Max, seldom leaving his body even when he’s able to.
Turns out, Max is the man Mark wishes he was. Exciting, and outgoing.
During a beach date, Max and Lia are approached by a group of local boys. They’re arrogant, pompous jerks; but Lia likes them, and she begins to slip away from Max. So he decides to pursue some locals of his own, Annie and Tessa. His plan is to make Lia jealous, so that she’ll come back to him. They hit it off, and Mark learns that he is able to communicate with Max. Max winds up in a fight with Lia’s newfound boyfriend, and he fails miserably. He goes home, gets drunk, and hops inside a tub full o’ water.
Then he commits suicide. Oh. . .
Or, he meets up with his newfound lady friends at the beach. They have a blast, and the next day they hit the local dance club. Annie and Tessa grow fond of Max, taking turns kissing him on the lips with each encounter. Both of them appear to like him, but they make it clear that they aren’t willing to share him. They each take their turns dancing with Max. He awkwardly reciprocates.
It was awkard because he kept pokin’ them with a ragin’ boner.
The ladies agree that it’s time to leave, and Max is allowed to walk one of them home. Here, the story takes a drastic turn based on the player’s decision. Either Max pursues a relationship with Annie, or he pursues one with Tessa. Which lady you (the player) choose will dramatically change how the story unfolds.
Visuals
The user interface looks good, though it is the same as many visual novels I have played before. You can adjust audio and display settings at anytime. There’s a gallery which can be accessed from the main menu. The in-game interface allows you to save/load with ease, and it can be hidden (allowing to soak in scenes n’ CGs with greater appreciation).
The character portraits looked great! Nearly every character had a portrait, but I was dissapointed by their lack of animation. Most characters only had a single portrait, with a small selection of facial expressions. I loved the style of the artwork, and the CGs were well drawn. I found the backdrops to be hit or miss. They were generally well drawn, but they felt stock (and like the portraits, lacked variety).
The Goods
There are a handful of sexual scenes and CGs that you can encounter in-game. CGs can viewed from the “Gallery”, but scenes cannot be reviewed without using the save/load system. The scenes aren’t anything worth saving, however. They are brief, spending little time on saucy content. Sexy scenes are uncommon, separated by vast amounts of non-sexual content.
. . . expect female and male-on-female sexual intercourse.
Verdict
I recommend this game if you want to play a different visual novel, and don’t mind strange English or light adult scenes. If you’re not fond of adult content, you can disable most, if not all adult content from in-game. Pick up this title while it’s on sale, and give it a try.
