G-Collections "DOR"
JAST USA
D.O. / JAST USA
1992 2006
Sometimes I stumble across a game that is interesting from a historical and aesthetic standpoint but is also kind of shitty. DOR here being a classic example. This visual novel does something I haven't seen elsewhere. It's structured like an anthology, with three disparate stories. A cutesy anime monster girl who fancies herself "the devil" serves as a host of sorts. It would have been cool if she introduced and summarized the stories, maybe with a funny quip or two, like the host of a Western horror anthology. But nope, she basically just says hi on what passes as a title screen, and then offers up a few additional CGs of herself in coquettish poses and outfits. What a wasted opportunity. It should be noted that while there was a DOR series in Japan, this release seems to be crafted solely for an English-speaking audience. It pulls two stories from the original DOR and one from DOR Part 2. I guess the tale about "getting busy" in a planetarium was deemed unsuitable for Western sensibilities. DOR was developed by D.O., who also made Family Project (which I rather like).
Okay, on to the stories. They all ostensibly star different protagonists, but it's really the same needlessly perverted Japanese man every single time. The first story, dubbed Kanako's Depression, involves a girl who shows up at the protagonist's apartment, claiming to be a vampire. She begs for blood (what else?) but this lecherous apartment-dweller forces her to perform a bizarre series of tasks (cleaning, then playing video games, then boning) to "earn" it. I was hoping I'd see a cool vampire transformation at the end, but nah. Story two is split into two "arcs" -- each about a young guy who calls some telephone dating line. Initially, he meets two ladies and the usual happens. Then, he reunites with a girl from his class he doesn't recognize because she changed her hairstyle and isn't wearing glasses (is this a 90s American teen comedy?). The third and final tale is both the most complex and shittiest. It's the only one where it's possible to hit a premature Game Over ending, very annoying. Here the setting flips to fantasy and the hero ends up being some knight who must save his girl buddy from a different girl bad guy. There's "tentacle" shit in this one for some reason. Bleak.
Lackluster stories aside, the mechanics are even worse. The game is entirely mouse-driven, no saves, no backlog. And there are choices to be made constantly. Most are totally meaningless, but the game requires virtually everything to be clicked and reclicked before things can progress. It gets old. The graphics are beautiful though. The DOR experience unfolds via a series of CGs, pretty anime girls crafted in that impeccable PC-98 style. There are even lip animations, despite the total absence of voice acting. Music is decent, though it often stops abruptly. There are "load times" here, as if the game was still running off floppies. And the "h-scenes" are oddly tame, save for a couple in the final scenario. The male characters are never even shown onscreen. But yeah, these short "pervert" VNs have always been among the worst. Can easily be skipped.
Rating: 2/5
Reviewed: 08/20/25