Lifted Dreams

Being young and unaware of where your life is going is a pretty common thing, although most youngsters learn what they want from life before it’s too late. Whether it’s education, love or a job, almost everyone has a tough decision to make at one point in their early twenties, and sometimes the effects of this decisions have reverberations throughout their entire life.

Lifted Dreams is a casual visual novel in which you get to hear the story of three people as they interact with each other and change themselves in the process. Granted, it’s not the most touching story out there, but you can easily relate with at least one of the characters if you are young yourself. You can also make a few decisions and replay the experience multiple times.

In essence, the story revolves around a boy by the name of Jeff, who’s an aspiring artist trying to make a name for himself in the field. The other two characters are his love interests, namely Faye and Chelsea. They also have dreams and separate personalities, which means that it’s up to you to choose one of them as Jeff’s partner, or even replay the game to see both options in action.

The game’s biggest flaw is the fact that it’s a bit too short, not to mention way too simple to really make you think. There are too few characters and too little intrigue in the beginning to get people interested in the story. Not only that, but the characters are pretty empty and shaky as well, given the fact that their whole lives, plus motivations and beliefs are explained in a few paragraphs.

On the other hand, you at least get to marvel at a couple of wonderful backgrounds and paintings, which is great if you enjoy art and the anime style in particular. The character design is typical for the aforementioned style, but that shouldn’t be a problem if you know what you’re getting into. On top of it all, every line is voice acted, and there’s a soundtrack playing in the background as well.

All things considered, Lifted Dreams may not change your life with its story, but it can brighten your day if you are feeling particularly down. The artwork is very sharp, which is always great news in a visual novel.