In the visual novel world, Fandiscs were DLC before DLC was actually a thing. If a title did well, companies would sometimes sell an almost but not quite sequel for the fans, with extra content that expands on the characters. Furthermore, Fandiscs for romance titles will generally include new character routes along with added epilogue stories so you can spend a little more time with your waifus.

After playing through Yumeutsutsu Re:Masters, I was, unfortunately, less than impressed with the series. Still, I was more than willing to jump into the Fandisc Yumeutsutsu Re:After to see if these characters could redeem themselves. Interestingly, publisher Degica and Kogado Studio were able to release this title simultaneously in Japanese and English, which is a hell of a rarity. However, the oddities don’t stop there, as somehow, I also ended up enjoying this cute piece of media quite a bit more than the main game.

Yumeutsutsu Re:After introduces us once again to Ai Otori, an employee at an indie game development company named Eureka software, who has romanced one of her female coworkers duringYumeutsutsu Re:Masters. You’ve got five different routes to travel through to see that budding girl’s love in action as it blooms even further, which are simply accessed from the episode menu. Each story is a totally new and separate series of events that, while referencing the original character’s endings, don’t lose out a whole lot from not knowing the circumstances of Re:Masters should you decide to skip playing that, for whatever reason.

Just like the original, Re:After is visually an extremely appealing game. It reuses backgrounds and portraits from the original, which were already detailed and pretty, so I didn’t mind. The title also contains a collection of new CGs that show some rather romantic moments during the character’s relationships.

I’d also like to point out that the options menu is well laid out, and the UI is positively charming with its partial transparent patterned window, along with the outline to denote the current viewpoint. This is translated exceptionally well into the character routes, which are pretty much built around it.

The stories within Re:After are incessantly cute. Some routes have exciting stakes and plot threads, but it’s not consistent as you may find the quality of them to be subpar, or outlandishly ridiculous. However, if you don’t care about realism, the routes find unique ways to flesh out the previously developed characters preventing them from feeling too stagnant.

This point is especially prevalent when directed at Ai, who I had a multitude of complaints about in the original game. I quite enjoyed her this time. Who knew characters were so much more enjoyable when they aren’t incompetent messes, thank god for development.

Players can make choices during dialogue, but don’t panic if you immediately freak out thinking about how this system worked in Re:Masters use of them. Yumeutsutsu Re:After simply throws a few into each route for a little bit of a variety injection and there’s only one that makes any real impact. Still, they don’t feel entirely as pointless as they did in the original since they’re just standard dialogue options that keep to the game’s cute and comical tone.

Yumeutsutsu Re:After is an exceptional Fandisc as it really improves on the shortcomings of its predecessor. There was a definite amount of attention put into the writing to develop these characters out further and expand on their relationships. Sure, these short yuri stories may only be composed by wholesome shenanigans and adorable illustrations, but Yumeutsutsu Re:After ended up being an enjoyable experience that’ll give you a pleasant 20 hours of reading time to sit back and relax to.