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Short Reviews: Nirvana Pilot Yume

By: RJ (@rga_02)

• Nirvana Pilot Yume
• Developer - Dev9k
• Nintendo Switch

What happens when you combine a running game with a visual novel? You get Nirvana Pilot Yume - a self-described cure for your “80s sci-fi anime nostalgia.” But no self-respecting doctor would want to prescribe this.

Your character is named Mitur, a legendary racer who later disgraced himself causing the accidental death of his partner.

A few years later, he returned to the circuit as an instructor to Yume, looking to redeem himself from his dark past. Along the way, Mitur encounters a journalist (Eleanor), a scientist (Mai), and an edgy-looking antagonist straight out of a Newgrounds flash animation.

Mitur ends up to be a complete horndog - and depending on how you view the dialog, a predator as well. You have the option to romance Elanor, Mai, or Yume. Towards Mitur’s quest to seduce one of the three, you will also find yourself with some NSFW CG, if that is your thing.

The story leading up to Mitur’s climax is one of the worst I’ve seen recently. The dialog is filled with sexual innuendos to the brim to the point where you will just roll your eyes every time you advance. Like we get it bro, you are horny.

If you can ignore all of that, the pacing feels rushed and at times disjointed. The dialog choices you are presented with comes out of nowhere and feels unnatural.

Now as for the other part of the gameplay, the racing. As I said earlier, this plays out more like a runner. You help Yume reach the end by avoiding hitting a barrier or falling into the abyss.

However, it is easier said than done.

The gameplay is quite a mess. To avoid hitting or falling, you have to jump. But the input of your press doesn’t seem to match the actual jump itself. Sometimes it is either too much or too little.

Another way to avoid hitting a barrier is to turn, but the timing of the turn depends on pressing on the break which seems to work once in a blue moon.

There is an option to retry a course, but at the expense of you failing. As Yume’s eye out on the circuit, every time you fail your connection to her weakens. So when you restart your screen will be glitched out making the course harder.

Aesthetically, the game is right up the same ally as any other homage to the cyber/retro/[insert genre here]punk video game out there.

If there was a polite English term for kusoge, I would label this game as such. There are plenty of good runners out there of the better variety, and if you must, you can probably play a decent VN alongside