Pinocchia no Miru Yume (1999)

Developer: Takara
Platforms: PlayStation
Genres: Visual Novel

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A quiet, melancholic fairy-tale romance about desperation and longing that unfolds gently rather than dramatically.

bittersweetwistfulfairy talegentlemelancholicromanticslow-pacedmodest stakes

About

You can choose between a male and female protagonist, and play as a doll/puppet maker who's about to starve to death on Chirstmas Eve due to the inability to make a "pinocchia", a doll that looks and acts like a real human being (but isn't truly alive), and make enough money to feed yourself. As you slip into unconsciousness, you plead to any higher being that's listening to grant you a pinocchia, willing to give your life in exchange.... and wake up the next morning, with a "new-born" pinocchia in your hands.

Screenshots

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More by Takara

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.