Dead End Junction
773 · 2016 · Adventure, Indie, Visual Novel, Female Protagonist, Anime
PC
Positive90% · 30 📉 Recent reviews down 74%
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About Dead End Junction
Adventure. Gunslingers. Outlaws. Shoot-outs. War.
You’ll find none of those things in the one-horse town of Cow Stone Bell, as Jo will be the first to tell you. Raised by her slob of an uncle on the far edge of the Wild West, she suffers from endless boredom and longs for the action and excitement on display in the “dime novels” she spends so much time reading.
But after a letter arrives from the President addressed to her no-good and nowhere to be found father, fate conspires to give her exactly what she wished for—wrapped up in a journey that will take her further from home than she ever expected. Unfortunately, Jo is about to learn that a life of adventure may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
Being set primarily in an alternate universe version of the Wild West, Dead End Junction hits on themes relevant to the setting, such as treatment of the Native American population and the scars left by the Civil War (represented in-universe by the Fuuro and the Border War respectively); many of which are applicable to life in the world today.
The soundtrack is heavily influenced by music of the era as well, with a mix of original tunes and arrangements of classics like "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Home on the Range."
Dead End Junction was written and directed by Hidume, the sole member of 773, creator of the acclaimed Cherry Tree High series and fan of old Westerns like The Magnificent Seven and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Their sharp sense of humor is on full display here, though they do an excellent job proving they can write a serious story with this title as well.
Localized by the start-up publisher Culture Select, Dead End Junction is a kinetic novel that captures the aura of the Wild West while addressing social issues that are relevant to contemporary society.
You’ll find none of those things in the one-horse town of Cow Stone Bell, as Jo will be the first to tell you. Raised by her slob of an uncle on the far edge of the Wild West, she suffers from endless boredom and longs for the action and excitement on display in the “dime novels” she spends so much time reading.
But after a letter arrives from the President addressed to her no-good and nowhere to be found father, fate conspires to give her exactly what she wished for—wrapped up in a journey that will take her further from home than she ever expected. Unfortunately, Jo is about to learn that a life of adventure may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
Being set primarily in an alternate universe version of the Wild West, Dead End Junction hits on themes relevant to the setting, such as treatment of the Native American population and the scars left by the Civil War (represented in-universe by the Fuuro and the Border War respectively); many of which are applicable to life in the world today.
The soundtrack is heavily influenced by music of the era as well, with a mix of original tunes and arrangements of classics like "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Home on the Range."
Dead End Junction was written and directed by Hidume, the sole member of 773, creator of the acclaimed Cherry Tree High series and fan of old Westerns like The Magnificent Seven and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Their sharp sense of humor is on full display here, though they do an excellent job proving they can write a serious story with this title as well.
Localized by the start-up publisher Culture Select, Dead End Junction is a kinetic novel that captures the aura of the Wild West while addressing social issues that are relevant to contemporary society.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
✦ AI summary
Players praise the game's unique blend of fantasy and Western settings with stylish presentation, likable characters, and engaging pacing that avoids long exposition. However, common complaints center on the lack of save functionality forcing replays from chapter starts, repetitive button-mashing to advance dialogue, and a story that, while interesting in concept, becomes increasingly problematic as it progresses and ultimately ends on a cliffhanger that leaves players wanting a sequel rather than closure.
📙 This story perfectly combines the usual anime fantasy and light western with authentic references. The stylization of the narrative stands out, and although there could clearly have been more art scenes, devs did an excellent job with what was available, and good music only emphasizes the atmosphere. This is definitely not something you'll find in the vastness of VN's. Despite the slightly predictable plot, its structure retains your interest, since it's not always clear where the chars will go and what awaits them there. Lively change of scenes, no long monologues, emphasis on the right things. Of course, don't expect anything too shocking, this is just a comfortable adventure with likable characters. However, WE NEED A SEQUEL, this is one of those stories that ends at the beginning of another great adventure. If this is one of those games that's been on your wish list for a long, time has come, it's an enjoyable experience.2 found this helpful
fun, but leaves off on a cliff2 found this helpful
The reason for the thumbs down, is that there is NO option to save your progress in the read through. So every time you exit, you have to go back to the start of the chapter you were on. This makes it frustrating to read this digital comic strip. The story itself isn't bad. It's the repetitive button pressing to progress to the next speech bubble that makes it feel boring.
Just another typical story that was not that interesting made in a comic style art style.
For a few moments when I just started this game it felt like a hidden gem. However, as the story progresses quite a lot of major problems become apparent, and they negate almost all the good that there was in the story originally. Well, for instance, the setting in this VN is pretty unique. It is set in a fantasy world based on Wild West. Josette is a tomboyish "cowgirl" who lives in a small isolated town in a desert. The story is focused on Josette and her friends traveling across the world and confronting the Dark Knight, an evil god who transfers to her world from another and will bring great misfortunes with him. Well, on one hand, this VN has a lot of interesting ideas. The setting and the comic book-like presentation make it stand out among other VNs. It also has a lot of other little things that could make it a great VN: the characters have likable base personalities, the art style is fitting and reasonably good, and some ideas it brings are quite interesting. On the other hand, this VN is simply not done well enough to make it all work. The plot is full of cliches and overall goes nowhere; the pacing is completely off; the setting, in the end, is left largely unexplored; …
Cowboys, [spoiler] zombies [/spoiler] and [spoiler] dimension hopping. [/spoiler] Yeah...It's good!
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