After coming off the highs of yuri love from it's remake sister game, Nurse Love Syndrome, I was honestly surprised by Addictions common route. While the majority of Nurse Love Syndrome was about the main protag learning all the ropes of becoming a nurse and giving plenty of information on medical care and the like, Addiction has next to nothing of that. In fact, most of Addiction's common route is more akin to school social dynamics and learning about the MC's past.

While Kaede's route doesn't bother with learning about the past, the other three main routes are very interconnected with each other, as Sayaka, Itsuki, and Nao all interact within each others routes and you learn one or two given things within that route that the other routes don't share. Addiction is also more outlandish with it's story having more violence, abuse, and morbidness than the first one did, all while lending well to the themes the story and how routes go.

Asuka as a main character is far more interesting, aggressive, and dynamic compared to the likes of Kaori. While I do think that the main protag is a better fit compared to the previous game, the capture targets are slightly less interesting and lesser amount comparatively. While Syndrome sported 6 capture targets and a more robust common route and story, Addiction feels like it's missing some content and only has 4 lovers to chose from. Thankfully both games all have unique capture targets, and there doesn't feel like there is much overlap, as well as Addiction sporting a stronger ensemble.

Nao being Asuka's sister gives the story a more taboo vibe, but oddly enough doesn't play it up to the point that it's off putting or make a point that they're not sisters, as the game reinforces this notion throughout. Sayaka is the princess type that has a bit more mystery to her than it seems, and certainly feels like the one that you are led to more throughout the game as the common route supports it, but it honestly doesn't feel like it's the "real canon" ending. Itsuki is the cool type that messes with Asuka the most, but hides so much of herself and what she is doing that she can often feel more like a mystery than a person. And lastly, Kaede is apart of the teacher/student lovers pairing, and is surprisingly more aggressive and wholesome compared to the rest of the routes.

For the most part, Addiction can feel more like a mystery than a love story, much like Syndrome felt more like a drama, but through it's cast of characters and common route it provides for a very enjoyable experience with a few shocking endings.

Reviewed on Apr 16, 2021


Comments