Ask us here at Honey’s Anime what otome/yuri romance games existed in the west years back and we’d say only a handful. Thankfully, now in 2019, there are an exhausting amount of both indie made and triple A visual novels with yuri elements in there. An example of one is Nurse Love Syndrome, the focus of today’s review. While the series has had various titles released in Japan, Nurse Love Syndrome is the first to release in the west and came as a shock to yuri visual novel fans. Does Nurse Love Syndrome deliver a strong visual novel—VN for short—experience or does it falter to being yet another VN with yuri elements? We will be answering that question below with our full review of Nurse Love Syndrome for the PC!

Nurse Love Syndrome is a visual novel with drama, romance and comedy all in one package. Players assume the role of Kaori Sawai who has just graduated nursing school and is ready to help others like she was helped long ago. Players will need to guide Kaori through her nursing life as they endure struggles from dying patients and those who must be helped before it’s too late. Kaori will also enjoy a life with friends and fellow nurses as she meets new people and gets to know those around her. Nurse Love Syndrome blends various elements together to create a hospital tale that can—at times—feel almost overly real.

As a teen, Kaori Sawai nearly faced the final days of life after a terrible accident left her hospitalized. When Kaori recovered and was released, she knew what she wanted to do in life...become a nurse to help others. Now after years of grueling training and hardship, Kaori has finally landed her dream job of being a nurse at the same place she was sent to as a teen. However, is Kaori ready to endure the tough life that being a nurse brings or will she realize that the pains of nursing are too much for many to endure? Will Kaori meet a fellow nurse or staff member and fall in love or will her heart be consumed by work? Find out in Nurse Love Syndrome!

Nurse love Syndrome isn’t going to show you a new world of visual novels. We’ll begin by saying that right away. Being a VN means the typical gameplay themes the genre comes with. Read text, look at various CG images and occasionally making choices that alter the story’s numerous paths. However, that being said, Nurse Love Syndrome does something many visual novels can’t. Let us tell you what we mean as we review Nurse Love Syndrome for the PC!
As we mentioned above, Nurse Love Syndrome has you taking the role of Kaori who has just started her first day at the hospital that saved her life after a car accident long ago. Kaori will meet various characters from those staying at the hospital as patients and from the other nurses and staff that work there as well. Kaori will need to use her nursing skills—and maybe some other hidden talents—to bond with those around her and prove she can take the pressure that being a nurse has. Nurse Love Syndrome sounds like a movie or a TV series and that is actually one of its strongest elements.

Due to its nursing themes, Nurse Love Syndrome’s story is excellent. Kaori will bond with several different women over the course of the game’s dozen or so hours and it will change her tale in varying ways. Each route players can take is greatly altered not by just making choices in game but also by which girl Kaori aligns with. Each ending also in turn has different paths that split in the usual VN ways like the good ending, bad ending or normal route. This gives players a dizzying amount of paths to take while playing Nurse Love Syndrome which is perfect for those who love meaty VNs.

Visually and sound wise, Nurse Love Syndrome hits all the notes we look for. The numerous characters you’ll meet might have the usual anime tropes, but their personalities are what give life to Nurse Love Syndrome. Each character is given a different voice from well known voice actresses and add to that tone setting music—there’s a nice amount here to hear—you have yourself a visually strong and solid sounding visual novel. We do wish the characters had a few more static animations when they are just talking, but we feel that’s a minor issue overall.

If we had any issues with Nurse Love Syndrome—aside from the previously mentioned static images—it would be the translation for it. We know from personal experience that translating text heavy Japanese games is a nightmare, but Nurse Love Syndrome has quite a few of them. Sometimes these translations can be minor but then there are times where they are quite a bit more severe. It doesn’t ruin the overall experience for Nurse Love Syndrome, but it can be a break from immersion when you read a sentence and realize it has not one but two mistranslations or words missing.

Nurse Love Syndrome won’t change a gamer’s mind if they loathe visual novels, but for those who crave them like water, you’ll find Nurse Love Syndrome to be an excellent VN. With its strong TV-like story and mind boggling amount of paths to take for various endings, VN lovers will pour hours into Nurse Love Syndrome and still find more time to invest in endings missed. While real life nurses might laugh or remark on various elements both true and untrue in Nurse Love Syndrome, we know they’d also respect a game that shows the light and darkness that comes with the job. Yuri fans will equally enjoy Nurse Love Syndrome as it has a bevy of girls to choose from to match with Kaori. Despite a lot of translation errors and some overly used static images for ladies, Nurse Love Syndrome is a wonderful VN that shouldn’t be missed by fans of the genre or series.

Nurse Love Syndrome shows that VNs can have a multitude of themes all while being quite enjoyable. While Nurse Love Syndrome isn’t perfect, the experience is what matters most and it does an amazing job making you feel like a nurse even if it’s a bit anime orientated. Are you excited to play Nurse Love Syndrome? Comment below to let us know why or why not! For all your gaming review needs, keep stuck to our hive here at Honey’s Anime!