My Sunshine

Author: YavMamemo

Availability: Free, Online/Browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Summer Romance

Rating: Everyone

My Scores: (Writing: 3, Art: 3.5, GamePlay: 2.5)

Found at http://www.girlsandgamez.com/ OR http://www.deviantart.com/

Summary:

In My Sunshine, you are Alice. After four years of being separated from your best childhood friend, You have come to Sunshine Harbor to reconnect. Your friend has invited you to a party she is throwing in 30 days, but since it's a couples' costume party, you'll need to find a date!

Review:

Writing:

This game is definitely meant to be light-hearted fluff. There's no major, epic drama going on here. However, the characters knowing and talking about each other still gives this piece a very nice sense of consistency, giving the sense that this is a world and not just a series of unrelated characters and locations. You're in your old town for the summer, meeting up with familiar faces and some new ones, and the game does a good job of getting that across.

I sort of like how the author tried to weave the game instructions into the dialog, having Alexa tell you about the party instead of just sticking a note to the player in front of the game. It's a neat idea, but I don't think it was pulled off all that well; so much of what was said sounded a little bit like "As You Know", though maybe that's just the result of many hours wasted on TVTropes affecting my mind. Regardless, some of the opening dialog just didn't seem quite natural.

Art:

Speaking of not seeming quite natural, I'm not quite sure how I feel about the art in this game. It seems to be well done, but the style -- Western, slightly 3D with soft outlines-- just seems a little bit uncanny-valley to me. Maybe it's just the result of getting so acclimated to anime/manga style art in most of these games; I don't know. All I know is that it looks fairly well done, but something about it put me off when I first saw it.

Gameplay:

I hate mini-games. Did I mention that I hate mini-games? I do. So here's my reactions when I discovered:

1) Working a job requires earning points on a mini-game.

Me: *groan*.

2)Playing the minigame requires switching from the mouse to the keyboard

Me: "Say wha--?!"

3)After all that, the minigame doesn't even work anyway.

Me: "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

4) #1-3 is true for every. single. job.

Me: ............ (Response omitted)

Yes, this game is broken. What makes the working-bug worse is that unlocking one of the boys requires a swimsuit, which requires money. However, the reason I didn't give the gameplay a 1 is that, despite this bug, the game is still playable; it's relatively easy to find a cheat that will give you $1000, and the other two boys are still available regardless.

EDIT: Apparently, other people are able to play the mini-games just fine. I'll have to see if there's a problem with my computer. In the meantime, an extra half point has been awarded in good faith.

One other thing that annoyed me is that sleeping forces you to wait for 10 seconds before continuing the game. There is a star-moving-around sticker-type thing that you can do while waiting, but I find it to be pointless and not very fun, and having to wait 10 seconds every single time you progress through a day -- for 30 days -- just seems like cruelty.

TLDR:

This game isn't very deep, but it doesn't need to be. It's light and fluffy, but still cohesive and tells a story. It has its flaws, and a major part of the game itself is broken, but regardless, it's still playable, and a fun way to waste an afternoon.

Of course, this is all just my opinion. Feel free to spout your own in the comments. ^_^

Perfect Date

Author: Unknown

Availability: Free, Online/Browser

Format: Dress-Up Game

Genre: Modern Romance

Rating: Everyone

My Scores: (Writing: 2, Art: 3, Gameplay: 3)

Found at http://www.play181.com/ OR http://www.games2win.com/en/

Summary:

In Perfect Date, you are expecting a gentleman caller to come over for dinner. Everything about this evening must be arranged perfectly in order to win his love.

Review:

Writing:

I hate the premise of this game. Let me just make that clear from the get-go. I concede a 2 to the writing score, because it has an adequately written plot (for a dress-up game) and synopses for the datable guys, but as a modern woman with feminist leanings, I am angered by the ideas this game puts forward and would like to simply give it a 0.

As a hopeless romantic, I can understand the desire to dress up all pretty and make dinner for a guy you like. I can understand wanting everything to be "just so". I get that. But the game makes it clear that failure to do these things will not only sway whether the relationship advances, but whether he realizes that you're even interested in him in the first place!

Men, if a woman invited you to her house for a candle-lit dinner, would you spend the evening wondering if she was interested in you romantically? Would you assume that, because she didn't wear your favorite color that night, that she must be completely repulsed by you? True, men have a reputation for being dense (particularly where matters of the heart are concerned), but this is just stupid.

It suggests an extreme level of shallowness, which is what I find frightening. It suggests that a girl has to be "on" all the time---not even: it suggests that a woman has to cater to her man's every whim and fancy just to be noticed. Is that not a dangerous message to send to young girls? "Do everything he likes, the way he likes it, or he won't love you."

...And who wallpapers their house for a dinner date?!

Art:

The art is so-so. It's definitely Western in design, and sort of reminds me of those E-Surance commercials. It seems to be of a professional quality--smooth, clean, okay proportions, etc.-- although it doesn't really seem to have a lot of life in it. Also, the girl and her dates seem to be drawn in two different styles, which is a bit odd. Overall, I give it a resounding "Meh."

Gameplay:

Most dress-up games are more like toys than games. Perfect Date does get points for actually having win/lose conditions. There isn't much challenge once you take into account the little red bar that fills up further when you choose a correct item, and some levels have more than one "correct" selection, which gives you a little more choice. There is also a little mini-game involving heating up dinner in the microwave; but be careful not to burn it, Ladies, since no man wants a girlfriend who can't cook!

TLDR:

Admittedly, this game has a lot more substance than most dress-up games do; it has a plot, some flavor text for the guys, and winnability. It's not just a paper doll. Unfortunately, the insane shallowness in the premise makes me lose all respect for this game, and I find myself wondering what is wrong with Western society that this is the only girl-oriented dating game I could find that isn't based on something Japanese.

But then, this is just my opinion. Maybe you'll think I'm over-reacting, and that I shouldn't get so worked up over a light piece of fluff. Or maybe you'll want to see this game tossed into the deepest, darkest pits of the internet. Feel free to speak your mind in the comments.

Love and Order

Author: ? (Seriously, why is it so hard to find credits for these things? If this were my game, I'd want my name all over it!)
Availability: Demo/$19.99 Full Version, Download
Format: Management Sim / Dating Sim
Genre: Mystery / Workplace Romance
Rating: Teen
My Scores: (Writing: 4, Art: 4.9, Gameplay: 4) out of 5

Found at http://www.otomegames.com or http://www.winterwolves.com/

Summary:

In Love and Order, you are Dana Larose, a young woman who just started work as a secretary for the understaffed Crown Attorney's office in a small district in Montreal. In addition to your demanding job and cute coworkers, there's a very mysterious case file that draws your attention.

Review:

Writing:

Right away, I found things to love in this game. It's set in Canada, which is a nice and original change from the usual settings (see other reviews for more ranting on the subject), and enough flavor is given that this actually seems like "Canada" and not "Japan with a name-change". So hooray for that! Also, I liked the little rip-off of the "Law & Order" intro. It was silly, but I liked it.

The game proper made me feel like I was actually in an attorney's office. Granted, I know very little about law and how law offices actually work, so take that assessment with a grain of salt. Still, it was more than enough for my Suspension of Disbelief to work with. What's more, I found it hilarious and, in a way, realistic how the cases your office was handling weren't glamorous cases like "The People vs. Bob 'The Decapitator' McKiller" or "The People vs. Bob McWronglyAccusedForMurderButNobodyBelievesHimNotEvenHisMother". Instead, your office handles cases like "Man accused of harassing chickens." Ladies and gentlemen, the legal system at work.

Art:

The art here is very good and well drawn, though maybe the border lines around two of the boys' hair could use a little cleaning up. The "Change location" screen contains a map that's justified in-game, which I thought was a very nice touch. Also, you can change outfits, which is somewhere between nice and pointless.

Gameplay:

Having only played the demo, I'm reluctant to give an official score on the gameplay, but what I've seen so far impresses me. You can request assignments, and sometimes opportunities for new assignments will be given to you. Doing more tasks means getting more money, but it also means more stress which can mean screwing up and failing the task altogether. It's very well balanced, I think.

The one thing that concerns me is the replay value. From what I can tell, the mystery seems pretty straight forward and linear, which means once that's solved, it probably won't need to be solved again. As for the love angle, there are four suitors, and their paths also seem pretty linear. I don't know how many endings are possible, but from here, the possibilities look fairly small. This wouldn't be a problem if the game were freeware, but since it's a commercial game, this is a very serious point to consider: Is a game you only play 4-6 times worth spending $20 on? For some people, the answer might be "Sure, why not?", but for people more like myself, a game has to be something more than just a fleeting experience in order to make me part with my hard-earned money. With Love and Order, I don't know if it can do that for me.

TLDR:

Love and Order is interesting and very well put together. It's one of the better games I've played, and I can completely understand and agree with the authors deciding to make money off of it. It's a high-quality game. What I don't know is if the apparently limited replay value is worth the price they're asking. Of course, it might just be that I'm cheap.

As usual, this is all my own opinion; you might think this game is worth a thousand dollars, or you might feel it needs to be burned and its creators fed to wolverines. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section, free of charge. ;)

Chrono Days Sim Date

Author: Pacthesis

Availability: Free, Online/browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Sci Fi

Rating: Teen

My Scores: (Writing: 4, Art: 4.8, Gameplay: 5) out of 5

Found at http://www.deviantart.com/ or http://www.newgrounds.com/

Summary:

In Chrono Days Sim Date, you are Saige. A hole has appeared in the sky, leading 100 years into the past, and your friend's brother has invented a device to let you jump through it. What--or who--will you discover?

Review:

Writing:

One thing that impresses me about the setup is the fact that, in this game, at least three characters are candidates for "The Canonical Love Interest". Generally, in these sorts of games, either all of the suitors are equal, or one is considered "canon". Here, though, out of eight possible love interests, you have one childhood friend with a marriage promise, one long-time acquaintance with an obvious (and possibly mutual) crush, and one kind but lonely stranger who takes you into his home. The game hasn't started, and already, feelings are on the line. Let the shipping begin!

The characters themselves are well written and interesting, and it's quite easy to develop an emotional attachment to them. What's more, the cut-scenes go a long way toward developing the characters and sense of story. I'm not saying that every Dating Sim should have cut-scenes throughout, but they are something to consider and are used to very good effect here.

The time-travel concept is interesting, but the game obviously doesn't take itself too seriously here. Apparently, there is only a 100 year span between The Old West and a Jestsons-like future with AI Robots and time travel. The approach here is almost child-like, actually, with little or no attempt at basing the setting on any real or recognizable history. What's more, everyone Saige meets in the past seems pretty open-minded about her being a time-traveler from the future.

Art:

The art and animation here are exquisite. However, I wouldn't dare to call it perfect. There are a couple points where characters are, according to the context of the scene, supposed to be bending or moving somehow, but the animation consists of tilting a static figure back and forth, making the characters seem like blocks of wood. This is especially odd in light of the other cut-scene pictures and animations in the game which have the characters in different poses. In other words, it could have been done differently, in a way that didn't look so clunky. Personally, I think one or two still drawings would've had a much better effect; sometimes a simple technique used well is more effective than a fancy technique used poorly.

Also, I had to take off part of a point for the music in one scene. You may call me pedantic, if you like, and I probably am. Still, it bothered me that a clearly tragic scene - with a beautiful job on the tears, I might add - was scored with the same cheerful background music as other parts of the game. Again, since the soundtrack does change in places, this is not excusable as something the creator "simply couldn't do".

Gameplay:

This game blew me away. I feel like, for the first time, I've seen what Dating Sims have the potential to be, and it is more astounding than I could have ever expected.

This game uses its concepts. The time travel plot isn't merely a premise that introduces you to a dating sim scenario and then leaves until the epilogue; it comes back. The cut-scenes move the story along, and characters are introduced at different points, keeping it moving. You end up being able to shift between two wildly different settings at a whim, and are able to bring objects from one time into another in order to impress the locals.

Best of all for a time travel game, you can actually influence the future a little by your actions in the past. A man is going to another city. He arrives, settles down, gets married and has children, and one of his descendants returns to the old town and meets you. OR: A man is going to another city, but he remembers he made a promise to a strange girl he met before leaving.... And suddenly history is changed. It's beautiful. It's what a time-travel plot should be.

What's more, there are multiple unlockable characters, some more difficult to attain than others, giving a nice bit of challenge for those who seek it without alienating those who don't.

TLDR:

This game is a Must Play. It's not infallible, but it shows the heights Dating Sims can reach, while leaving room for others to go even higher. It's very rich in story, uses its premise beautifully, and does more with this medium than I had come to expect. Whether you're a DS fanatic or just a casual game player, I highly recommend this one.

Of course, this is all my opinion, and I'm not infallible either. You might decide it's not worthy of all my hype. Feel free to state your own opinions in the comments.

2nd Teen Story: Xmas

Author: Nyu
Availability: Free, Download
Format: Visual Novel
Genre: Romance (with some Horror/Mystery)
Rating: Teen
My Scores: (Writing: 2.5, Art: 3, Gameplay: 3)

Found at --Apparently, this game has been taken down from its original locations.  If anyone has any information, please share.

Summary:

In Xmas, you are Nguyet Ly. It's the night of December 24th, and you currently have no plans for Christmas. What will you do? And will you find love while doing it?

Review:

Writing:

In my last Nyu Review, I lamented the general lack of information surrounding our protagonist. In Xmas, though, that problem is finally solved; our girl has a name, and she definitely lives in Vietnam. For a game of this type, that is the perfect amount of flavor.

The English is still imperfect and peppered with anime smilies, but it's readable. Also, the story contains actual dialog this time, so hooray! There were still parts where the dialog was cut in favor of a summary, but as these mostly boiled down to recounting what would surely be a long story, it's more excusable.

As for the story itself, it had its share of strengths and weaknesses; but for what it's worth, I actually found myself caring about the characters, and as that is the primary goal of any author, kudos must be awarded. There were parts that caused me to laugh out loud; for example, the fact that Nyuget basically prevents a guy from killing himself by beating him up. That has got to be the most unorthodox suicide prevention method I've ever heard of.

The santa-murderer plot was an interesting change of mood, and possibly genre, taking us from a light-hearted romance into a dark murder mystery with possible supernatural overtones. It almost seemed like it shouldn't be part of this game; the tone is just that contrasting, although it keeps the motif of meeting and hanging out with a cute boy. I actually think it should be extrapolated into a game of its own; it's creepy, interesting, and I would love to see more of it.

Art:

The art is much better than in the first game. I like the style; it has a few elements vaguely reminiscent of manga, but it's longer and thinner, with a bit of sketchiness about it. I really like it. I'm also crazy about the art in the menu and option screens; Nyu seems to have pulled out all of the stops.

The photo-backgrounds are also less annoying. They help establish the setting further, giving us the sense that, yes, we are in Vietnam. They're also interspersed with black-and-white drawings. Personally, I think the lack of color in the drawings makes for a more intense contrast with the full-color photographs and keeps in step with the rough, informal feel of the rest of the game's artwork, but your opinion may differ.

There were a couple points where the anime-esque expressions creeped me out, though. The eyes and mouth would suddenly get too big, too white, and stare out from a body that simply did not match the superimposed face. It was...disturbing.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is simple; there are only two choices in each menu, and choosing incorrectly may loop you back around to someone else's path as a sort of second chance. It doesn't drag like the last game did, though I admit that the change in mechanics compared to the last game did initially feel like a step backward to me. It seems to work, though.

TLDR:

I like this game. While it has room for further improvement, it's a definite step up from Lolipop Love. The mechanics are simpler than the first game, but this allows more story to exist in what would otherwise have been empty space. Overall, it's short and compact, but still satisfying. The Santa murder path was an incongruous yet fascinating change of pace, and I hope the author does something more with it.

Once again, of course, this is all one girl's opinion. Your experience may well differ, so feel free to share in the comments section.

1st Teen Story: Lollipop Love

Author: Nyu
Availability: Free, Download
Format: Dating Sim (Stat-Based)
Genre: School Romance
Rating: Teen
My Scores: (Writing: 2, Art: 2.5, Gameplay: 2)

Found at Lemma Soft Forums

Summary:

In 1st Teen Story: Lollipop Love, you are a teenage Vietnamese girl attending school. You've never had a boyfriend before, but now, that's about to change. You have three guys to choose from.

Review:

Writing:

First of all, let me say that my interest perked up when I learned that the protagonist is Vietnamese. This is something you don't see everyday in dating sims; the usual nationalities for characters in this genre tend to be Japanese, American, Unspecified-but-similar-to-either-Japanese-or-American, and Fantasy-Land-ian. Having our protagonist be Vietnamese, then, is a welcome break.

...Or at least, it would be. Much to my disappointment, we get no cultural flavor outside of a few names; and even there, the protagonist herself appears to have no name at all. If the narrator didn't specify that she was Vietnamese, we could just as easily have filed this under one of the "Standard Dating Sim Nationalities" mentioned above (well, except for possibly the fourth one). Now, I'm not saying the game has to take us on a field trip to Hanoi, but a little bit more identity would be nice. For one thing, I don't know if this game is actually set in Vietnam, or if the character is ethnically Vietnamese but living in another country. Either scenario would have its own impact on the character. It brings me back to my complaint about Winter Dance Sim Date: If you have an unusual setup or character hook, don't just blurt it and ignore it; take it and run with it.

As for more legitimate complaints, the English here is horrible, hard to read, and often vaguely reminiscent of internet chatspeak. While that can be excused by the author being young and/or not a native English speaker, the one thing not remotely excusable is the complete lack of actual, quoted dialog. Instead of seeing what characters have to say, we are instead given the information second-hand, kind of like this:

"He said that he liked my top so I thanked him and he said I was welcome." (Not an Excerpt)

That's basically how the dialog is conveyed. Not only do I find it annoying, but it also short-changes the reader. What exactly did that person say? This can reveal so much about their character! To keep with this hypothetical example, there are many ways our "he" could have expressed his liking of the top:

1. "Um...hey, uh...*blush*...that's a....that's a nice, um, shirt you're wearing."

2. "Hey. Cool top."

3. "Fair maiden, the colors of the cloth that girds thy bosom brings out the wondrous hue of thy eyes and strikes my heart with rapture at thy beauty!"

See? One sentiment, three different personalities. This is why exact quotes are important in character-driven works such as dating sims. And if the lines in the game are exact quotes, then why are there no quotation marks? Is it really so much to ask?

Art:

Once again, I found myself with a non-uniform opinion of the art. I like that it has a paint and colored-pencil look to it; there's a sweet, bright, and informal quality to much of the artwork, and I love the cute little icons that appear when you try to quit from the game. However, the characters' proportions are very off, and they tend to look downright odd to me. Granted, drawing people is hard (oh, how it's hard), and there seems to be some stylization going on here but...well, I'm sorry, I just think it looks off. After much waffling, I ended up giving it a slightly lower score on the basis that the backgrounds are obviously photos run through a Photoshop filter. Yes, I'm aware that game creators often use this technique, but my complaint is that I can tell.

Gameplay:

If you make a dating sim or visual novel, please don't ever make the first sentence "What should I say?". When I first started playing, I thought the game had glitched and I was about to be confronted with dialog options for a conversation I knew nothing about! Fortunately, that was not the case, though it did make for a startling/irritating first impression.

My next major impression here was "Holy Cow, it's the Renpy DSE Engine!" I don't know how many of you are familiar with renpy; it's the game-making program most associated with LemmaSoft Forums (which many of these reviews link to, you may notice). Since its main purpose is actually for making visual novels, a framework was specially constructed for making dating sims: Renpy DSE. I didn't know what to make of this discovery. While the game's underlying structure was baldly obvious (to me, anyway), even introducing a character in a way that echoed the DSE's sample game, there ought to be no shame in using a tool (I've been working with this one myself, in fact), and there clearly was some tweaking done. Still, it was an odd feeling, like that moment when Santa Clause enters the room and you immediately notice he's wearing your dad's belt buckle.

Aside from that, I found the game to be rather slow and drawn out, and engaging in social/intellectual type activities causes the conflicting stat to drop by a ludicrous amount. Going out one time after school causes my IQ to drop several points? Why? Is the park near a noxious chemical plant or something?

TLDR:

The game looks cute, but I found it to be dull and a bit frustrating, both in the gameplay and the writing. It's okay for a first try at game-making, but I wouldn't exactly recommend it to all of my friends. Of course, all this is just my opinion, and you may think that I'm completely off my rocker.

Feel free to discuss your thoughts in the comments.

Winter Dance Sim-Date

Author: Solstiyce
Availability: Free, Online/Browser
Format: Dating Sim
Genre: School Romance
Rating: Teen
My Scores: (Writing: 2, Art: 2.9, Gameplay: 2)

Found at http://www.newgrounds.com/

Summary:

In Winter Dance Sim Date, you are Lily. You and your friend Fiero attend a boarding school called Summer College, but when the school mysteriously burns down, its sister school Winter College agrees to board the students. Also, you are invited to Winter College's school dance at the end of the month! Yay!

Review:

Writing:

The writing here makes for a good study of what works for a story and what doesn't. Many people don't quite grasp how difficult writing actually is. Even if you learn what parts go into a good story, making those parts work together is crucial.

In this story, Lily lives with foster parents while her biological parents live overseas. I don't know if this is something that's representative of the author's life and therefore something that Solstyce deemed mundane enough to just mention off-hand (similar to saying "So I was staying at my Dad's for the weekend..."), or if it was a deliberate attempt to give the character unique traits. If the latter, then this is indeed a valid "good writing" technique; the unusual family situation certainly captures my attention. Except...this unusual situation then has no bearing on anything else in the game. It doesn't affect anything. It's thus the equivalent of going to get your taxes done and seeing that the accountant is inexplicably wearing a large fruit hat. What should have been interesting instead becomes distracting and irrelevant.

In general, there seems to be a large disconnect between the story that apparently exists in the author's mind, and the story that plays out in the game. Many of the dialog options refer to information that the player was never made privy to. For example: in one dialog path, you tell a boy that you've been having nightmares since the fire. What nightmares? The time period in which this supposedly happened is covered by the gameplay, and yet we never see any nightmares. The only reason they exist is because we tell the boy they exist. Likewise, there are many bits of personal trivia that we choose to share despite having no clue if we're making the character lie or tell the truth.

That's the problem right there: by not having the necessary information before-hand, the player isn't able to make a true choice. If I have to pick between "Say you like apples" or "Say you like oranges", the choice is only meaningful if I already know that my character hates apples and is an orange-devouring fiend. In that context, choosing to say I like apples is a deliberate lie, and the outcome should reflect that. However, if I have no clue what my character's fruit preference is, then my choice is nothing more than a blind stab in the dark, and it thus becomes unfair when the NPC chews me out for lying. After all: from my end, it was an honest mistake.

Art:

I keep wanting to do away with the decimal scores and just have nice, clean intergers wherein '1' is awful, '2' is "I didn't care for it", '3' is okay, '4' is good/great, and '5' is mind-blowingly awesome. Unfortunately, this nice, clean numerical system makes no account for the artistic inconsistencies within a single game. So many of the games on this blog will have something beautifully rendered here and then something poorly drawn there, and then I end up averaging it out and coming up with cockamamie scores like 2.9.

Ranting aside, I wasn't terribly impressed with how the characters themselves were drawn. However, for the most part, the props and buildings seem nice and cleanly drawn, and the more muted coloring scheme is a welcome break from the look of the other flash games I've reviewed. It's clear that effort was put in, but its also clear that more learning is needed.

Gameplay:

What is the point of the classes, really? On the one hand, it's nice that the jobs require certain stats in order to work them. On the other hand, it is entirely possible to get through this game without ever working once; or going on a single date, for that matter. Even if I decided to work all the jobs, there's still the do-nothing "wealth" stat. Did I miss something? What the heck is "wealth" for, why is there a class for it, and why does this class actually cost me money?

TLDR:

To sum it all up, the game has quite a few decent elements, but the whole of it just doesn't quite hit the mark for me. It could definitely use some improvement in all areas. Still, it is pretty cute, and doesn't enrage me the way some of these works do. Also, it gets points for having a setting that isn't America/Japan/Fantasialandia, although for the life of me, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be Brittain or Austrailia. Still, it does something different, and that's a good thing.

Rose Destiny 2 Dating Sim

Author: Chickslovegames

Availability: Free, Online/browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Fantasy, School Romance

Rating: Teen

My Scores: (Writing: 2, Art: 2, Gameplay: 2) out of 5

Found at http://www.newgrounds.com/

Summary:

In Rose Destiny 2, the sequel to Rose Destiny Dating Sim, you are still Rose. This time, your father has gone away and "forgotten" to take you and Adrain. But no worries; he has arranged for you to stay at an all-boys school for demons while he finishes "errands".

Review:

Writing:

Wait...someone please tell me that the main character's last name isn't supposed to be Destiny...*sigh*.

Possible names aside, this game is a lot more cleaned up than its predecessor. Adrian's name is consistent, and we get more hints about what the heck is going on in this world. I actually found myself becoming interested in the suggested story.

In my review of the first game, I pointed out the oddness of a father wanting his daughter to find a boyfriend. In Rose Destiny 2, however, his motivation seems to be along the lines of wanting his daughter to marry into comfort. Much more plausible. Furthermore, I find it intriguing that they are broke and constantly moving while her father tries to wheel and deal. It makes me think exciting things are happening in the grand scheme.

That said, this game is still not perfect. For one thing, the spelling is horrible, and I want to fly into a violent rage every time someone discusses the prospect of "Marridge". M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E! Admittedly, I'm the last person who should be griping about spelling (For years, my attempts at "Scissors" caused pointing and laughing, and even now I still balk), but if *I* can tell that a lot of words are misspelled, then it's time to start using a dictionary.

Also, and this applies to both this game and the prequel, I feel that Adrian should be explained a little earlier on. If he is supposed to be the main character's adopted brother, then this information should be made fairly clear to the player at the beginning, as it is information that the main character knows. That's always a problem when it crops up in writing; how to convey to the audience information that the character already knows and thus has no practical reason to discuss. I think in this case, though, a few words in the intro would have covered it.

Finally, while there are some interesting possible plot threads, questions are not satisfactorily answered and too few explanations are given, leading me to wonder if there actually *is* a plot or if the author is just pulling things out of a hat (to use a polite form of the expression).

Art:

I still don't like the art, but at least it doesn't cause physical pain to look at, as in the first game. I can't put my finger on exactly what makes it better, but at least that awful font from the main page is replaced by something prettier, and that eye-straining "notebook style" intro is out. There also seems to be more in the way of backgrounds, and the characters aren't as short and squat as they were in the previous installment.

Also, it's time for me to adress a peeve that many artists are guilty of: If your character has hair covering an eye, we should not be able to see that eye. I think Aurelius from Frozen Essence has this problem, and I forget where else I've seen it, but it looks wrong and annoys me to no end. It's like the character had no eyes, combed their hair down, and then glued eyes onto their face. It's creepy, artists; please stop doing it.

Gameplay:

Most of the bugs from the first game are gone, although there are still a couple, such as the fact that choosing "Date" for someone you can't date yet results in repeating the first dialog with that character.

Speaking of dialog, though, let us REJOICE, for the dialog tree has been improved with relevant responses to your choices! Now, when you choose poorly, the character will tell you why this response was inappropriate....sort of. While some of the responses cause me to see the logic at work, others just serve to highlight the arbitrary nature of some of the branches. To give a made-up example:

Choice: "I like pudding" vs. "I like Mustard"

You select: "I like Pudding."

Hottie Responds: "Yay! Me too."

...Nothing happens. Next turn:

You Select: "I like Mustard"

Hottie Responds: "OMG I love mustard too! It is my favorite condiment! <3" (+10 EXP)

Game Progresses.

So....Okay. Now that's out of the way, there was one thing I forgot to mention in the last review, and that's the 10 gold rent charged in both of these games. I actually find it to be an interesting mechanic; it forces you to pay attention to something other than the Talk button, and with some extrapolation and tweaking, could make for a nice balance sim.

TLDR:

To Sum It All Up, we get more story and better flow in this game, though too much is still left hanging. The art is more tolerable, but still needs some improvement. Also, the gameplay is much improved, but still a little buggy. The game and its author show much potential, though, and I think that if a third installment were to come out, I would be interested in playing it.

Do you agree?

Rose Destiny Dating Sim

Author: Chickslovegames
Availability: Free, Online/browser
Format: Dating Sim
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: Teen
My Scores: (Writing: 1, Art: 1, Gameplay: 1) out of 5

Found at http://www.newgrounds.com/

Summary:

In Rose Destiny Dating Sim, you, your father, and your brother have all moved to a new kingdom. Your father wants you to find a boyfriend, preferably in time for the ball.

Review:

Writing:

Notice how I didn't use any names in that summary. The dialog in the game doesn't make it very clear who's who and what's going on. Generally, you can figure out the boys' names by checking the stats sheet immediately after talking to one of them, but this brings up a hilarious inconsistency with the brother; throughout the game, your brother is referred to as Adrian, but the stats sheet lists him as Alex. This makes me think of a scene from a Cheech and Chong movie: "Dude, you never told me your name was Alex!" As for our "shy" but totally-willing-to-break-into-people's-houses-and-start-bossing-them-around protagonist, I think her name is supposed to be Rose, but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

As you can guess, I don't much care for the writing, but there are a couple places where I must give credit. One thing that impressed me is that one character has an attempted female-on-male rape in his backstory, and it is treated as something to be taken seriously. Often in fiction, and real life, the concept of women sexually attacking men is either not addressed, downplayed, or laughed off. We assume that women are too weak, or that men only respond when they want to, and neither of these assumptions are true; but because of them, a serious crime will often go unreported or unbelieved. As women, I think it's time we took responsibility and acknowledged the heinous things we are capable of.

Soap boxing aside, there was one other interesting bit that warrants half a point: The fact that Rose's father wants her to find a boyfriend. This is unusual, as parents generally either don't want their children dating (as the game mentions), or they want their children married off (mainly for status and/or money). Why this obsession with Rose finding a boyfriend as opposed to a husband, then? What does he have to gain? This would be very interesting if I didn't think it was merely an excuse for the dating sim setup, but if the author ever wants to do some serious retooling, she has the material for an intriguing story.

Art:

The art here is harsh, and also a bit confusing. The first time I played this game, I didn't see the "leave" option in the corner and thus couldn't figure out how to exit the house. Also, the intro to the game is hard on the eye and thus difficult to read.

Gameplay:

This game is broken. Choosing to work takes away hp more than once (after you click the button, and after it tells you how much you earned), and choosing to date someone who is not yet datable also results in a glitch. Also, it is possible (and easy) to end the day with -10 hp.

This game also commits the sin of having two nearly identical responses to pick from, one of which is wrong. Furthermore, the game won't tell you why it's wrong. Often, it feels like the author has written a script, and the point of the game is to guess what my exact lines are.

One more issue I have is with the lesbian in the market place. Some games have gay options; others don't, and that's fine. But why have a lesbian character, build up how much she's madly in love with you, give her Talk and Date buttons, and then have it come out that she's not actually an available character? Friends, when it comes to things like sex scenes and gay options, let us remember the words of Yoda: "Do or Do Not, there is no Tease."

TLDR:

In short, I found this game difficult to play and enjoy. In many ways, it reminded me of Dating Sim Academy, and has some of the same flaws. Still, as much as I hate both of them, I'm certain that every game has its audience. As long as there are redeeming qualities in a piece, there will be someone who can appreciate them; and when a piece has no such qualities, there will be someone who can enjoy it ironically. Alas, that someone is not me, but maybe it can be you. Feel free to say what you think.

<3

Author: Mole-Chan

Availability: Free, Download

Format: Visual Novel

Genre: Sci-fi / Workplace Romance

Rating: Teen

My Scores: (Writing: 2.5, Art: 3.5, Gameplay: 2.5)

Found at http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/

Summary:

In <3 , you are a computer named Ime. Your owner has abandoned you, and so you find yourself working at a facility that traps computer viruses. The latest threat going around is the <3 virus, which causes AIs to fall in love!

Review:

Writing:

For some reason, I was expecting a completely different story when I downloaded this. Ah, well. Suffice to say, the <3 virus is basically just a McGuffin that gives you an excuse to get close to people.

I had a hard time getting into the story, personally. The characters and situations felt a bit under-developed; not flat, mind you, but like we weren't given all the necessary data about them, which made it harder to care. There were too many loose ends and unanswered questions. Why was Ime abandoned? What's going on with Vaquita's owner? Who broke in and why? WHY SMASH THE MONITORS?

I'm also not clear on the exact nature of these computer people. The concept seems to be similar to Chobits, where a "personal computer" is basically an android, with laptops and hand-helds corresponding to tinier androids. The computers in <3 , however, seem to be much more human than machine, and I don't just mean in the romantic "Robots can feel!" sense. These "computers" go out for dinner and eat fast food. They get tired, sleep in beds, and have issues with privacy and "funny business", just like humans. Why? Why do they behave like organic life-forms, instead of charging up, running as long as they have access to electricity, and just powering down in a corner when they run out of juice? This is not answered. For the record, robot-girl Ping from MegaTokyo eats food, but this is explained in the strip: It's a necessary function for a Dating Game accessory to have (since dating usually involves eating), and she is able to internally process sugar into electricity. <3 doesn't address the issue at all, unless I missed something crucial; so I'm left with the impression that Ime is just an ordinary girl with amnesia and a CD slot.

Art:

The art is anime/manga style. It has some strong points, but the score ends up being pulled down by one stupid detail: female anatomy. The women in this game look like they have oranges glued under their necks, near their armpits. It's jarring. You may scoff, but I find it very distracting, and thus it sinks the art score like a rock.

Gameplay:

While quite a few games have a gay/lesbian option, this is the first one I identify as being both GxB and GxG. There are four people you can end the game with, and it's an even split between the boys and the girls. Granted, one girl's ending is platonic, but this is balanced out by one guy's path being so short that it almost feels like a non-standard Game Over.

That guy's path really annoyed me. It was so short, that I barely learned anything about him at all. His ending has Ime comment about him "finally wanting something for himself", but at that point, he hadn't really done anything to establish his character, let alone mark him as being selfless. It was only on other characters' paths that I got to see a glimpse of what the author was talking about. This goes back to what I was saying about the writing; the story doesn't give us all the information we need about the characters.

Also, the game didn't really feel very cohesive to me. There were little inconsistencies, like the fact that one character dies when you don't revisit them, even though visiting them just shows them being saved by someone else. Oh, and this supposedly non-dangerous computer virus will kill you if you don't choose a character's path. All in all, it just didn't line up quite right.

TLDR:

To make a long post short, I was disappointed with <3 . It left too much unexplained; I had a hard time getting into the story and characters, and the boobs on the women seriously need to drop down a few inches (middle of the rib-cage should be about right). Also, while the game's name is fairly clever, its similarity to an incomplete HTML tag caused me to lose half of my saved draft of this post, and that makes me angry. (Edit: Much thanks to my friend Anna for telling me how to get the < / > symbols up.)

Of course, that's just me. You might decide that you like, love it, and/or want some more of it; or maybe you hate this game and think that I wasn't harsh enough on it. Feel free to point this out in the comments!

Secret Santa

Author: Eternal Dreams

Availability: Free, Download

Format: Visual Novel

Genre: School Romance (If that's not a genre, it should be.)

Rating: Everyone

My Scores: (Writing: 2.5, Art: 2.5, Gameplay: 2.5)

Found at http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/ OR http://eternaldreamswonderland.blogspot.com/

Summary:

In Secret Santa, you are [Insert Name Here]. Your school has a Secret Santa program, and you've been assigned to get a gift for a boy you have a crush on. Perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to win his heart?

Review:

Once again, we have a proclaimed First Attempt at game-making, and once again, I try not to let that color my ratings, although it is a nice first try.

Writing:

Proof-read, authors, proof-read! Is that so much to ask? The English here isn't as bad as in some of the games I've reviewed; I get the impression that the author is a native English speaker, albeit fairly young (I could be wrong on both counts, though). While it's comprehensible, there are still enough spelling/grammar problems to make my inner grammar nazi cringe.

The story itself is simple and cute, and captures the feelings of young kids experiencing puppy love in a way that feels mostly honest, and only a little bit wish-fulfilly in terms of Haruta's* character. I like the fact that winning him over doesn't result in him instantly falling head over heels for you with hearts and flowers and ponies; instead, he just agrees to give you a chance. Just a chance. It's a small step that grows into something more, in a way that's plausible and beautiful.

*At this point, I must ask, since it's crossed my mind many times: Why do all of these games give the characters Japanese names, regardless of where they're set? I've been chalking it up to the fact that the visual novel/dating sim formats originated in Japan, but it still doesn't make much sense. If any authors/game makers are reading this, I challenge you: Make a game with no Japanese names in it. Maybe have some ordinary Georges, Bills, or Harrys (Harries?), or heck, use names from another country like France or Mexico. For extra hilarity, have the game be set in Japan.

Art:

Well, the art isn't exactly Disney quality, but I don't mind it too much. Yes, it's wonky and out of proportion in ways that reaffirm my "Young author" conclusion, but it's also bright and cute. The over-all effect reminds me of Bomee's My Cup of Tea. Also, the music is nice.

Gameplay:

I'm not quite sure what to make of the gameplay. It's certainly not perfect, but I can't exactly peg what's wrong. Perhaps the best way to describe it is that while a good multi-ending game encourages replaying, this game pretty much requires it. On the first, cold play-through, the options (with few exceptions) seem to amount to "Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3?" You have no idea what's behind any of these doors; why any choice would be better than another. Of course, once you've seen the consequences of your actions and gotten a feel for the characters, the correct options suddenly become a lot more obvious.

TLDR:

Like I said, this was a good first try. Over all, it strikes me as a fairly middling game; it has its flaws, but it's still cute and worth playing.

That's my opinion. What do you think?