Thank you Aksys Games for sending us a review code!

Despera Drops takes place in the future in Rome where Mika Amamine (you can rename her) is a foreign exchange student.  Mika is originally from Japan and has inherited her mother’s ability to read people’s minds when she touches their hand.  She keeps her ability a secret and always wears gloves to repress her powers.  One evening Mika heads over to a restaurant to meet her classmate for dinner.  Instead of her friend waiting for her, it’s a very wealthy and influential man who asks Mika to use her powers on him to jar his memory.  As she assists him, he is murdered in front of her.  To make matters worse, Mika is blamed for the crime and arrested.  She then finds herself locked up in a prisoner transport van with six other criminals.

While traveling to an unknown location, the van stops in the middle of the road and explodes shortly after the prisoners leave the vehicle.  They are still chained together and Mika feels bad about the drivers who lost their lives as they barely escaped death themselves.

The group manages to find a vacant house with tools that allow them to clip the chains from their shackles, but the cuffs are electronic and need a special tool to remove them.  Though they can move freely, they are quickly discovered by locals and authorities alike as their faces are plastered all over the news.   

The group will get to know each other and Mika is conflicted about how to feel about the prisoners as she sees them as humans and not just criminals.  As they flee from place to place, money and food is in short supply and the group has to commit various crimes to survive.  Mika joins in and feels bad about it and tries to keep track of their transgressions to repay those they wronged someday.  

Like other visual novels, Mika can respond to situations and her reactions will influence her relationship with others in the group.  Some of the decisions including choosing who to ride on the motorcycle with, or who to have tag along for running errands.

Here’s a breakdown of her companions:
Ash – A quiet guy with a stern appearance.  He has a short temper and is charged with aggravated assault.
Camu – He seems harmless and loves his anime/manga, however he’s an expert bomb maker.  He comes from a wealthy family and blew up his father’s mansion.
Gib – The oldest in the group and he is an excellent sniper.  He’s been arrested for possessing illegal firearms.
Hamiel – He initially introduces himself as Frank Casanova, but later discloses his true identity.  Hamiel is a smooth talker and a great con man.     
Ramie – A nimble pickpocket and thief extraordinaire.  He can pick most locks with ease, but can’t remove the electronic handcuffs that they’re all wearing in the beginning of the game.   
Sally – Very girly in appearance and calls Mika their bestie.  Sally is a renowned hacker and is fast at bypassing most security measures in place.  

Despera Drops is an otome (reverse harem) visual novel which means that your female character can pursue romance with all of the characters mentioned above.  In total, there are seven routes, but the true ending/route can only be played after the other six are completed (in any order).  Each character has good and bad ending possibilities.    If you want to unlock all of the artwork, you’ll have to experience both outcomes.

The bad endings often involve death with suicide being a possible cause.  Throughout the game you’ll be outrunning hitmen and be engaging in violence that’s usually self-defense.  Injuries are vividly described and blood is sometimes shown.   Language is pretty earthy with all the words but the F-bomb dropped.  The Lord’s name is used in vain throughout the game.  Some of the characters are Christian while others are atheist.  The existence of heaven and hell is a topic of discussion in one of the routes.  

Many of the routes end in marriage and intimacy is eluded to after the fact.  Some of the routes end with nothing more than a kiss while a couple of them elude that there may have been sex outside of marriage.  Other than kissing, nothing more is shown.  

To get money the group does go to unlicensed casinos.  Trespassing is unavoidable and stealing is a common theme as well.  Some of the characters drink alcohol and/or smoke.  

I really enjoyed the concept behind Despera Drops.  I could relate with the character by not wanting to steal and to clear their name.  If it wasn’t for the Sally route I would wholeheartedly recommend this game.  Spoiler below:

Despite the odd route, there’s a lot to like in Despera Drops.  The Japanese voice acting is well done and I like how each character has their own theme music.  The character development is really well done and each character has a unique background and personality.  Some of the backgrounds are not pleasant as one of the characters was abused as a child and always wears concealing clothes that hide their numerous scars.  

The artwork is well done and I like how the characters' facial expressions change to fit their mood and dialogue.  There are numerous backdrops for the various cities across Europe that this group will travel to while escaping law enforcement and other shady organizations.  

I have spent over thirty hours playing through the different routes.  There are online walkthroughs available to help you get all of the good and bad endings.  Though you can usually tell right away who likes your responses by colorful animated feathers appearing in the corner of the screen.  There is also a chart where you can go back and answer questions differently if needed.  Numerous save slots are available and the autosaves are plentiful.  I only experienced one game crash, outside of that it ran well.  Overall, I enjoyed my time in Despera Drops and believe that you’ll definitely get your money’s worth.  If it wasn’t for the gender-bending route this game would be perfect.