Dear & Mine Demo

Being an artist is not an easy task, because unless you happen to do something that attracts everyone’s attention, it doesn’t really matter how talented you are, and there aren’t many jobs in the field. Whether it’s photography, painting or anything of the sort, it takes a long time to be recognized in your field, and this usually requires a lot of low-paying jobs or even volunteering.

Dear & Mine is a simple visual novel in which you play as a young man trying to make it as an artist, except that he’s not very lucky when it comes to landing a proper job. Things change for him once he gets hired at a local art gallery, where things start to come together. He also starts meeting a lot of interesting people that who just might help him find his purpose in life.

The man’s name is Kim, and his story starts when he leaves his small hometown to pursue a career in the art world. However, things remain pretty bleak even after two years or giving it his best, which is when he decides to give it one more month and return home if nothing happens. That is also when he gets hired by a local art gallery and starts making new acquaintances.

As it turns out, Kim is also interested in relationships with other men, so you need to be prepared for that, just in case you are not comfortable with the subject. Romance is a fairly important part of the game, since you have multiple routes to choose from and multiple partners you can pursue. The demo is obviously not very generous when it comes to content, but at least it provides you with a handful of choices.

Lastly, the graphics are not too impressive, especially when it comes to the backgrounds, which are basically regular pictures with a few Photoshop filters added on top. Thankfully, the characters are quite well-designed, even if most of the time they do not appear to be very realistic. It’s worth noting that the game was designed for a jam competition, so the developers did not have the luxury of time on their side.

In spite of the fact that it doesn’t bring anything new to the genre, Dear & Mine is quite enjoyable and engaging, mainly because you have a limited number of days to achieve your goals. The subject approached by the plot is pretty interesting.