Cafe Rouge: Chapter One

Author: Farway Studios
Availability: Free, Online/Browser
Format: Visual Novel, Cooking Game
Genre: Supernatural
Rating: Teen
My Scores: (Writing: 3, Art: 4, Gameplay: 1)

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

Summary:

In Cafe Rouge, you are Isis Black, an ordinary teenager with a rare condition that makes you pass out at the merest scent of blood.  You've been granted a job interview at a restaurant called the Rouge Cafe, but there's something not normal about this place.

Review:

The Writing:

This opening chapter was short, but set the stage well enough.  The writing overall was okay, though I felt it wasn't as strong as the art.  Also, I was a little confused by a segment in which Isis aims a kick below her (male) friend's belt, "accidentally" hits the only possible target that would be below the belt, and apologizes despite being really "only half sorry".  It's apparently not a case of playing a sociopathic character, since the boy himself also laughs it off.  Now, I don't know how much something like that would actually hurt, so it's possible that this is the more realistic reaction.  Still..."accidentally"?

The Art:

The art is beautiful, especially considering the limitations of most flash games.  The music is well chosen: during the introductory movie, it perfectly captures the sense of a French cafe full of spooky secrets and possible romance, and the background music during the game proper is soothing to listen to.  There are a couple of annoying sound-effects; mainly the sound when you run the cursor over the menu buttons, and that sharp, high-pitched screeching sound that plays when the game starts.  There's also an irritating alarm-clock, but, well, alarm-clocks are *supposed* to be irritating.  Aside from this, the game has lovely backgrounds, well-done characters, and generally creates a good audio-visual experience.

The Gameplay:

I waffled over whether it was right to give such a low score here, but ultimately, I gave it a 1 for committing the same sin as Fatal Hearts: If you fail the mini-games, you can't proceed.  What makes it a little worse is the fact that although the tea-making game is broken down into several levels, failing at the end takes you all the way back to square one.  I realize that the mini-games are meant to be part of the game-play, much like how they were in Outsmart, but I point out that in Outsmart, is was still possible to finish the game even if you couldn't do the mini-games; you might not have gotten the best ending, but you could still crawl to the finish line.  Then there's Festival Days, which also uses a cooking mini-game to put you in the shoes of a girl who, like Isis, is supposed to have some kitchen skills; but again, although there are benefits to succeeding, the games are not mandatory (and also, not *timed*).

My open plea to authors of these games is: Please give us the option to skip the puzzle.  Maybe there can be a standard ending that we'll get if we do everything right *but* the puzzles, so that we have incentive to try for the gold.  Or maybe, after the second or third try (and I really wouldn't go farther than three, personally), just give us the option to skip it and pretend our character won anyway.  This might seem like cheating, but for some of us, seeing the rest of the story is more important than how well we can drag a mouse along an invisible line in under ten seconds.  Some players are easily frustrated, and will completely lose interest in the story if they have to try the same challenge over and over and over again with no sign of being rescued from their doomed predicament.  I know.  I'm one of them.

Lastly, I find it interesting how the game tries to let you "walk" to the character's destinations, but I don't think it's pulled off very well, here.  It's not always terribly clear what the arrows are supposed to lead you toward, and there's a snag in one of the exits where going forward takes you to the school, and backing up from the school takes you home instead of back to where you were.  Of course, there's no penalty for getting completely lost, and it's a short enough map that you probably won't stay lost for long, anyway.  It's a neat little bit of immersion, but I felt that there should be more things to explore if we're going to be allowed to wander.


TLDR:

To sum it up, Cafe Rouge is a nice enough game if you have the patience and/or skill for timed mini-games.  The art and music are lovely, with only a couple of brief sound effects that are annoying to the ear and soon passed.  The writing is okay, and the story is pretty interesting.  Overall, it's worth checking out.

As usual, this is all just my opinion; feel free to serve up your own in the comments. :)

Outsmart

Authors: Stellar (concept), Hipon (code), Clea Leshlick (Music/Sound), Lazcht and Kodoktua (Graphics)
Availability: Free, Online/Browser
Format: Management Sim
Genre: Humor
Rating: E
My Scores: (Writing: 3.5, Art: 5, Gameplay: 3)

Found at http://keygames.com/ or http://www.kongregate.com/

Summary:

In Outsmart, you are Anneite.  You and your slacker fiance Robme have been given an ultimatum by his parents: the two of you have two months to raise $50,000 dollars and get married.  Otherwise, get out!

Review:

Writing:

The first interesting thing that stands out to me is the fact that this is a relationship-based game that already has you in a relationship, and a stable one at that.  The story isn't about finding love or losing it.  Rather, it's about the two of you getting enough financial independence to be kicked out of the nest.  It's a very contemporary theme, since we live in an age where more and more adults (at least in the U.S) are still living with their parents, whether because of a lack of available jobs or because of a lack of work-related ambition.  In the case of Robme, it's the latter.

At first I thought that this was either going to be the story of a nice girl being saddled with a mooching loser in the name of "Twu Wuv", or the story of a girl becoming disillusioned and kicking her boyfriend out on his rear.  I was pleasantly surprised as the story of Anneite and Robme unfolded and showed that, no, this was not a lop-sided relationship.  Robme may be lazy, but he's not ungrateful; and Anneite may be more ambitious, but that doesn't necessarily translate to "female role model".

The English is off, here.  For a while, I thought maybe it was an intentional reference to poorly-dubbed anime, but I get the impression that English just isn't the writer's first language.  Still, it's a humorous game, and the story is pretty cute.

Art:

The art and graphics are professional quality.  The art suggests anime or something similar, although the characters are definitely more wonky than pretty, as in Castle Chase.  Also, I find it hilarious that Robme's mother is apparently a gun-toting robot.

Gameplay:

They say that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, and I find that to be remarkably true for this game.

On the one hand, it seems to be utterly dependent on mini-games:  your maximum stats are determined by each stat's level, which can only be raised by beating a mini-game.  You get most of your money from "special events", which are mini-games.  Furthermore, all of these are fast-paced timed games, which I usually loathe particularly.  To make matters worse, the game seems to have memory issues that cause it to run slower and slower as you play, so that moving the cursor feels like trying to move a large, flopping fish onto a target by pushing/pulling it across a greased floor.

Fortunately, the lag problem is solvable by saving the game and refreshing the screen, so it isn't impossible to play (Although I recommend trying this early in the game, just to make sure you won't lose your progress).  As for the mini-games...well...I had fun.  Much to my surprise and bewilderment, I actually had fun.  Granted, I still maintain my position that mini-games should not be required for success; If I wanted to play arcade-style games, I would not google sims.  But somehow, the pesky little things seemed to own the place here; they seemed almost part of the structure, as it were, and I found myself having more fun than I felt I should have been having.

More importantly, I was impressed by how the stats complemented each-other in this game.  Having high intelligence unlocks more efficient ways to boost your charm; having more charm enables you to better raise your love, and love is what enables you to force your boyfriend to work harder, thus earning more money.  It's downright beautiful how it all works.

TLDR:

Outsmart is a pretty unique sim that takes the idea of relationship-based games in a completely different direction than what one might expect.  The story is very contemporary in a way that's both sad and hilarious.  It's heavy on the mini-games and has lag issues, but despite this, it's actually very fun.

Of course, this is just what I think, and you may think I'm absolutely full of it.  Feel free to state your opinions in the comments. 

Kaleidoscope Dating Sim 2

Author: Bomee, Mayuiki and Kyo
Availability: Free, Online/Browser
Format: Dating Sim
Genre: Supernatural
Rating: PG
My Scores: (Writing: 2.5, Art: 5, Gameplay: 2.5) out of 5

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

Summary:

In Kaleidoscope Dating Sim 2, a gender-flipped sequel to Kaleidoscope Dating Sim, you are Soffie.  Once fond of singing, you became mute at the age of five and thus started retreating into a dream-world in your head.  One day, a fortune-teller gave you a magic potion.  You drank it, and now you've found yourself in the dream world!  You have 30 days to find a soul-mate here. If you succeed, you'll return to reality with your voice back.  If you fail, you'll become a dream soul and be trapped here forever.

Review:

Writing:

I wasn't too sure what score to give this at first.  On the one hand, I certainly can't accuse the writing of being too sparse on details.  Also, the characters are sufficiently different from each other in terms of personalities and "voice", which is important in a dating sim.  You'd be able to tell Gabe from Cero even if you couldn't see who was talking.  (Fun fact: Cero, winnable here, is also the protagonist of the prequel to this game).

The plot itself is a bit baroque, but whether this is a good thing or a bad thing may simply be a matter of taste.  There are a lot of different elements cobbled together, both in the intro and, to a lesser extent, in the love-interests' story-lines.  To someone like me, it can seem a bit overly much.  Unlike Winter Dance Sim Date, though, these odd bits aren't merely blurted and forgotten; they get brought up again in dialogue, and overall, it's hard to point out anything as completely irrelevant.  If anything, I'd say this game tries to cram a novel's worth of plot and characterization into something the size of a short story, and the result is that bits are sticking out every which way.  Of course, this style may have as many fans as it does detractors, and I've graded according to my own personal taste.

Art:

The art in this game is amazing!  There's something very life-like about the characters.  The expressions are subtle and nuanced, and there's a bit of animation that breathes further life into them with blinking and facial twitches.  Also, the backgrounds are nice, and the music is gentle and ambient.

Gameplay:

Mini-games again.  Urgh.  At first, I though "Oh, good!  All the mini-games have been neatly swept into a corner so I don't have to bother with them."  Well, that is not true.  Unlike many dating sims with currency involved, there is no job mechanism in Kaleidoscope 2.  The closest you can get is picking mushrooms in the forest to sell, but you are only allowed to do so once per day.  This means that you will have to play the mini-games.

And you will have to play the mini-games, because this game puts a really high emphasis on buying presents. In order to get the best ending for a character, you have to buy ALL of the types of presents that they like.  Each character has, I think, five gifts that you'll need to purchase for them, and the shop has about eighteen items to choose from.  While a couple of items can be intuited (I was able to figure out who would have a need for spray-paint, and it's a fair assumption that the articles of women's clothing are for one character in particular), the rest are found by trial and error (or by looking up a useful walkthrough on DeviantArt).  As with Re: Allistair, it's a bit frustrating in that you need to buy certain items but are not given enough clues on what to buy.  It'd be nice if there were hints dropped in dialogue or something.

Also, I am not a fan of the soul doors.  In most dating sims that I've seen, you're given a choice of locations to visit, and generally, there's one person who is always at that location.  Usually, these locations are "dressed up" somehow: it's the person's home, or their workplace, or a place they visit often.  It's woven into the story.  In Kaleidoscope 2, however, the notion of "Go Here to Visit X" is completely reduced to just that.  "Okay," the game says, "Do you want the person behind Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3?"  For all the details that went into the intro, this whole bit with the doors just seems too bald.

So why did I not give the gameplay a 1?  Because for all its mini-gaming faults, this is actually a very well-balanced dating sim.  The 30 day time-limit is neither overly long nor overly short for all the things you have to do. This also seems to be the first dating sim I've played where the dialog, gifts and dating all matter.  You do need the gifts in order to get the best ending, but in order to reach any kind of ending with the characters at all, you have to build up the relationship enough to be able to choose them.  You can't just spam one interaction until the game ends.  Also, if you're fond of the mini-games, it's fairly easy to win enough money to try the spaghetti-at-the-wall method of gift-buying; so that balances out, too.  It's just a shame, then, that I really do not like having to play stupid mini-games.

TLDR:

This game is interesting.  It's very well-balanced, but could probably benefit from a job activity that isn't limited to one turn per day.  The story, in my opinion, tries to do too much at once, but some may actually find this a plus.  The art is definitely the best component of the whole game, and I give it a standing ovation.

So what do you think?  Is this game a sweet dream or a nightmare?  Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments.

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: ???

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.

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.

Kingdom Days Sim Date

Author: Pacthesis

Availability: Free, Online/browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Everyone

My Scores: (Writing: 3.5, Art: 4.8, Gameplay: 3.5)

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

Summary:

In Kingdom Days Sim Date, you are Rose. You used to live in an orphanage, until one day you met a strange boy who revealed that you're the long-lost daughter of the king and queen, and he himself is your servant. Sometime after this, though, war forces you to flee from your castle and take shelter with a king who will only allow you to stay if you marry him at the end of a month. Will you go through with it, or will you find a future with someone else?

Review:

Once again, I found myself waffling over the numbers, so take them with a grain of salt. I may have to change my rating system again.

The Writing:

At first, I thought the whole bit with the orphanage was superfluous. Since the premise essentially boils down to "You are a princess", it didn't make sense to have such a long introduction sequence catering to the "Orphan has royal parents" fantasy, which probably hasn't been relevant since the 1800's. However, while this background doesn't have much bearing on the game in general, it becomes absolutely crucial for one character's path. Even so, it probably could have been handled differently - either introduced more subtly, or made more relevant to different parts of the game - so that it doesn't seem like a massive weight pressing down on the game with just one character path acting as a load-bearing pillar. Other than this, the game has Pacthesis' usual interweaving plot threads, attention to detail, and odd humor, all of which I've come to love.

The Art:

I almost gave this a 5. Almost. Had the art for some scenes been just a liiiiittle bit tighter, it would have been perfect; as it was, it was impressive. From the use of monochrome in the beginning, to the animation during the escape, to the detail of Rose and Lewis being spattered with mud as they run through the woods, it's clear that a lot of effort was put into this. The characters and scenery are lovely, expressions and wardrobe change quite a bit, and overall, I am just very impressed.

The Gameplay:

THE STATS DO SOMETHING! Finally, a Dating Sim where the stats actually do something: Charm is required in order to go on dates, Wisdom is required to work the better job, and Magic is used to unlock the cheat codes. Granted, the system is not above criticism, but it is a huge step up from the mostly decorative stats in Pacthesis' other games.

Like Idol Days, there is one hidden character who must be unlocked, and one character who shows up at the half-way point, meaning you have less time to complete his path. The game is also nice enough to tell you when you've completed each path. Also, there are no pesky minigames! Hooray!

Unfortunately, the endings are less satisfying once you realize that the *relationship points* mean nothing. Oh Pacthesis, why did you give me ice cream and take away my cake? The mechanics of the game appear to be rigged so that when you progress to a certain point in a character's path, you invite them to your wedding, which means that they show up at the church and can thus be selected for an ending. While this may seem a perfectly acceptable way to do things, there are two characters (The king and your servant) who will *always* show up at the church, regardless of your relationship with them. This means that you can pretty much approach a person you've had nothing to do with all month and say "OMG I love you! Let's get married and live happily ever after!" Compare this to Idol Days and Wonderland Days, where all of the characters show up to wish you well and only the one(s) you have a high enough relationship with will cart you off into the sunset. Since Kingdom Days is entirely dependent on the dialogue path/church mechanic, there's no purpose to the gifts or dating, and no sense of accomplishment when you "win" either the king or Lewis.

TLDR:

To sum it all up, it's pretty clear that Pacthesis keeps getting better and better at making these games. There are some new things being tried out here, some of which work and some of which don't. The writing isn't perfect, but it's nice; the art is impressive and shows a lot of attention and effort. I'm not a fan of the game's method of handling relationships, but it plays all right, and generally makes for a lovely and relaxing way of passing an afternoon.

As always: This is just my own opinion, based on my own experiences and biases. Feel free to share yours. :)

Idol Days Sim Date

Author: Pacthesis

Availability: Free, Online/browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Musical Fiction

Rating: PG

My Scores: (Writing: 3.5 Art: 4.5 Gameplay: 3) out of 5

Found at http://www.deviantart.com/ and/or http://www.java-gaming.com/

Summary:

In Idol Days Sim Date, you are Lexie, a teenage girl who moved to the city with dreams of playing the guitar in a band. Through sheer luck, you happen to run right into a member of a local band whose guitarist just left, and they have a big concert coming up in 30 days.

Review:

The Writing:

The story is pretty unashamed wish-fulfilment; after all, who among us hasn't dreamed of playing in a band? And Lexie pretty much walks right into a sweet gig without even having to audition. It's one of those setups where you can hear the suspension of disbelief snapping, but don't care because "Rock Band! YAY!" Also, once again, I adore the sense of cohesion and unity that Pacthesis puts in her games by giving each character a piece of a larger story. If any would-be dating sim authors are out there taking notes, circle that part and underline it three times; it really improves the feel of the game.

That being said, there were some bits of the writing that I didn't personally care for. For one thing, the secret character seems a little bit *too* wish-fulfilly. I return a celebrity's wallet, and all of a sudden he's constantly gushing about how awesome I am? Maybe others would find that to be wonderful escapism, but I just found it to be strange and a little nauseating.

Also, you might notice that I rated this game E 10+ (Edit: Changed to PG because of html issues). The author herself declares it to be an all-ages game, but I gave it the more conservative ranking because of one character's interrupted attempt at suicide (described in text, but not shown). Apparently, it's very easy for an author to think of suicide (attempted or successful) as a shorthand way of saying "This character is very sad and/or had his feelings very hurt." While I'm reluctant to call it poor taste, it is an immature view; unrealistic without the counterbalance of wish-fulfillment (rare fetishes aside, unless I'm really missing something here). Suicide tends to be the result of very deep problems, either mental illness or a life so bleak and pain-filled that normal coping mechanisms no longer work. Figure, the human aversion to killing is very strong, and the aversion to dying even more so. This is why true suicidal thinking is considered a medical emergency. The game, however, doesn't treat it as anything more significant than wearing black and reciting bad poetry, which bugs me, and Pacthesis certainly isn't the only one to do so, which bothers me. Perhaps we should have a "Suicide Awareness Week" in schools?

Art:

The art is very decent, with some nice effects. Once again, it's anime style, so haters beware. The concert at the end has...um...an attempt at animation, which I feel was more to the game's detriment than its betterment. The musicians just kind of stand there, looking blankly off into the distance, while their hands move a little. Also, having dealt with silent characters all this time, it felt very weird for one character to suddenly sing in a voice that sounded nothing like I'd imagined him having. Fortunately, this music video is skippable, but it still makes me wince a little thinking about it.

Game-play:

The game-play is about on par with the other dating sims on this blog. The time management is a bit tighter than in Festival Days, there's no cheating via food items (that I could figure out, anyway). There are a few bugs, though, such as missing dialog in the dating scenes for a few of the characters. Also, the second workplace does not function, which means the stats are entirely unnecessary. (Fortunately, it is entirely possible to get by with only the first workplace, which makes this bug fairly unintrusive.) Guitar skill makes a slight difference, as your band-mates' praise after the concert will change depending on whether this stat is high or not, but it otherwise doesn't do much. The music video is the same, the romantic ending is the same, and even if your skill is 0, it's impossible to fail the concert.

TLDR:

In short, this is a cute game. It's not realistic at all, but that's okay. It has its bugs, but it's still playable. There are a couple things that annoyed me, such as the suicide plotline and that music video, both of which I feel the game would be better without. But again, all of this is my own opinion, and you may well tell me to stuff it and stop talking out of my hat. You can state your own opinion in the comments.

Grace's Diary

Author: Hima (with art/animation by Piti)
Availability: Free, Online/browser
Format:Visual Novel/Point and Click

Genre: Edutainment
Rating: Teen
My Score: 5 out of 5

Found at www.jenniferann.org

Summary:
Grace's Diary is a bit different from the other games discussed on this blog. This time, you're not trying to hook up with somebody. Instead, you have a friend who is in an abusive relationship, and you have to persuade her to get out. You're about to call her, but in order to have worthwhile things to say, you first have to look around the room for objects that trigger relevant memories about her boyfriend.

Review:

This is the first game to get a perfect 5 on this site, and I'm not just being swayed by the fact that it's made to support a good cause.

The writing is natural and human. The actions, reactions, and dialog of Grace and the others ring true, which makes sense considering all the research that must have gone into the game's making. The end, which is to say, the good ending, is not clean and happy as it might be in an after-school special; your friend may find the strength to leave her boyfriend, but feelings do not vanish. More surprisingly, the boyfriend's apparently heartfelt pleading at the end keeps him from being a flat out-and-out villain. He may be an abuser, but he's still a human being. The end result of all this is that you come away with much to think about.

The visuals are intriguing. The entire game is made to look like it's taking place in the pages of a notebook; speaking characters appear on opposite pages, etc. It also gives everything a sketchy, "drawn" look, in keeping with the theme. The overall effect is quite beautiful, in my opinion.

Finally, I must tip my hat to the creative gameplay design. Unlike most visual novels, this game is an unusual, possibly unique hybrid with the point-and-click genre. You find the objects hidden in Grace's room, thus providing the necessary replies for the dialog-tree to come. From what I can tell, there seem to only really be 2 endings: Success or Failure. However, this doesn't mean that it ends with an abrupt "You win/lose" message. As I mentioned before, the dialog reactions are very natural, and they lead smoothly to the relevant epilogue.

What's most impressive about this game is that it's short. It manages to pack a very beautiful and satisfying experience into a small space. So, even without considering the noble message about teen dating abuse, this is a game I must tip my hat to.

Moonlight Dating Sim

Author: Bomee

Availability: Free, Online/browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Supernatural

Rating: Teen

My Score: 3.5 out of 5



Found at www.Newgrounds.com OR www.Nummyz.com



Summary:

In Moonlight Dating Sim, you play Jenna Moonlight, a half-vampire witch. Vampires have taken over the world, led by their Blood Prince, and it's up to you to kill him. Or join him. Or help him. There's quite a few directions you can go with it, really.



Review:

I think I need an additional genre to apply to this game, since "Dating Sim" doesn't seem to cover all the aspects of it. There's a bit of action, as you have the option to try to kill people in addition to trying to date them. Overall, it's a neat change of pace from the usual dating sim fare, and one that I can appreciate.



The tone is kind of dark and haunting, and I like the backgrounds. As with bomee's other games, there is a sense of unpolishedness about it; however, it's not as bad as some games I could mention (*cough* DatingSimAcademy *cough*). It definitely gets high marks for being interesting and unusual, as it's more than just choosing a suitor (although there is that).



So what do you pick? Hang out with the vampire hunters, or become a vampire queen? >:)

My Cup Of Tea II: Twins

And The Girl Game Review is back, as promised, with two reviews, starting with this one! (second will be up later tonight)

Author: Bomee
Availability: Free, Online/browser
Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Romance
Rating: Teen
My Score: 3 out of 5

Found at www.NewGrounds.com, www.Nummyz.com, or www.DeviantArt.com

Summary:
My Cup of Tea II lets you play as Ari or, in the later version of the game, her twin brother Garrick. You're going away in 50 days, and this is your last chance to find love in your old town before you leave it.

Review:
Despite the name, My Cup of Tea II doesn't seem to have a lot to do with the first game. It does, however, have the author's usual fare of cuteness and occasional fourth-wall breaking. The art is fairly standard for the author's other games, though the characters seem to be taller and thinner. I kind of wish she'd quit drawing everyone with the mouse, but maybe that's just me.

It's more enjoyable than the first game, in my opinion, and definitely much more complicated. There are more suitors, more things to explore, and at least one large easter egg. A couple of components don't seem to make much sense, though; for instance, the game seems to suggest that you have to keep the dog fed and pass a test in class. These actions, while they take up HP and money, don't really seem to serve a purpose, but since I've yet to get a decent end, I may be wrong. :p

Dating Sim Academy

Author: Bomee

Availability: Free, Online/Browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Teen

My Score: 1 out of 5

Found at www.NewGrounds.com OR www.Nummyz.com

Summary:

In Dating Sim Academy, You play Air, a flat-chested girl from Earth who somehow finds herself in the magical “Purra Land”. Purra Land is populated by Purras, spirits with human and animal features (Think Catgirls). In 50 days, you will get a chance to make a wish under the starry moon – provided you have found True Love, of course.

Review:

I didn’t really care for the art at all. The best parts of it were okay, and the worst bits were practically doodles. While it could have been worse, I just wasn’t very impressed with it. The main redeeming qualities of the art were the special effects: Blinking and movement in the characters, sparkles, and other little details. However, they’re like ketchup on a dry meatloaf: it helps, but only to a point. Interestingly, at least one of the reviews on Newgrounds praised the artwork, so maybe I’m just spoiled. Feel free to discuss your opinion in the comments.

As for the writing; the plot is fairly obviously an “Excuse Plot”. I can respect that; sometimes you just want to dive into a fantasy and don’t need to spend an hour learning why the scenario is possible and how it all came to be and so on. It’s MAGIC! Bam! Now on with the show. Players who are looking for something more deep and involved, though, will be left out in the cold.

While I can forgive the lack of a complex plot, the fact that the characters aren’t very complex bothers me. In a dating sim, the characters are pretty much the main reason you’re here; you expect them to either look good or be interesting. Since the art isn’t very mind-blowing, it falls to the writing to give the characters interesting personalities that make you care about them. However, the writing here falls flat too.

The worst crime committed, though, is the ambiguity. Very frequently, the presented dialog options will seem equally valid, and in some cases will even be synonymous with each other! However, only one will be correct, and it’s effectively a stab in the dark to figure out which. Once you’ve made your selection, the character will give a stock phrase that translates to either “right” or “wrong”, and you have to spend another 10 hp on conversation to get anything meaningful, even if it’s supposed to be a reaction to what you just said. Also irritating, though for a different reason, is the tendency of a conversation segment to have Only One Possible Response; the equivalent of just clicking “Next.” I feel these moments rob the player of the experience, which is already at a premium.

Finally, there’s the game play. The game will tell you that 50 days is a short time; I disagree. In 50 days, I was pretty much able to max out 3 out of the 4 characters, and that was taking into account the HP wasted on wrong answers and playing the shell mini-game. This game has fewer options than other dating games, since the Give Gift option only tells you what to bring on your date (which is the last thing you’ll be doing in the game). So basically, that just leaves you with Talk. The most interesting part of the gameplay is the shell mini-game, and coming from me, this should tell you something. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait all 50 days; once you set things up for a date with a character, you can end the game early.

My final complaint is the teasing. In the mini-game, there is a promise that gaining a certain amount of points will earn you a secret, with the suggestion being that it’s something naughty. The suggestion is a lie. Now don’t get me wrong; I am perfectly fine with games and authors that refuse to cross over into Adult territory. I approve of this. But teasing can make the player frustrated and annoyed in the best circumstances; making the player work for a false promise is simply mean.

I realize I’ve been awfully harsh with this game. Others seem to have enjoyed it, and I grant that it’s basically a light bit of fluff. However, I personally found it to be boring, as well as the worst girl-oriented dating sim I’ve played to date (pun not intended). Still, try it yourself and see what you think, and if you find you like it, feel free to tell me to stuff it.

Festival Days Sim Date

Author: Pacthesis
Availability: Free, Online/Browser
Format: Dating Sim

Genre: School Romance
Rating: Teen
My Score: 3 out of 5

Found at www.NewGrounds.com or www.DeviantArt.com

Summary:
In Festival Days Sim Date, you play a high-school girl who loves to cook and dreams of working in a restaurant. The school's culture festival is in 30 days, and rumor has it that the festival can make a couple's relationship last forever. So, time to find a boyfriend!

Review:

The art is anime style, so anime-haters beware. That being said, it isn't as good as the art in Pacthesis' later work Wonderland Days. While there are some nice special effects and decent backgrounds, the people themselves just look wrong. Necks are far off to the side, chests don't quite line up... Some may be able to look past this, but I find it a little distracting.

The setup is a little cliche, but at the same time kind of charming. One of the game's strongest points is the way the characters' threads touch each other; for example, one of the characters is dating an extra in the game, and when you get to the point where they break up, her dialog changes. There's only a little of this, mind you, but I think it's a nice touch. My main complaint, though, is that the game commits the same sin as Dating Sim Academy in having generic "Right/Wrong" responses to conversation options, instead of any specific and meaningful reactions. I realize that doing it that way is a lot more work for the creator, but I think it's worth the effort to tell the player "This is wrong because X" instead of just "This is wrong"; it enhances the game experience on many levels.

The gameplay follows the standard format of other dating-sims listed on this blog; find a guy, talk, give gift, date. You have the option to change your name and choose an astrological sign which determines your starting stats (Contrary to what you are told in the intro, Luck has nothing to do with finding a mate. Its sole purpose seems to be unlocking the bonus feature after the game.), and there are a few cheats and surprises in a couple of the locations.

There is one minigame: the cooking minigame. I actually find it to be quite tolerable, partly because it is not timed as I had first feared, and partly because it's not strictly essential to the game (although it *is* essential for one character's path). It does, however, affect the game to a good degree: Success rewards you with skill to get a better job, and food items which can be eaten for HP, given as gifts, or used to advance the game in certain ways. Failure drains your HP. All in all, I find it to be more than fair. If anything, this minigame is very easy to exploit; making bento costs 25 HP, but eating it gives you 50. Lather, rinse, repeat and you can theoretically max out every single suitor in a day.

So to summarize, this game is cute, charming, and very relaxing to play. The minigame is not stress-inducing. While there are a few elements that could be improved, it's still a nice way to kill an afternoon. :)

Other Age

Author: Zeiva

Availability: Free, Online/Browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Everyone

My Score: 3 out of 5

Found at: www.DeviantArt.com

Summary:

Other Age casts you as a princess in some kind of magical, faraway kingdom. It's your sixteenth birthday, and tradition dictates that it's now time for you to find a suitor. To help you with this, Chancellor Nitarou has created the Luv Luv Nitarou Deluxe!!!

Review:

First of all, let me say that the art in this game is absolutely gorgeous. It has a strong anime/manga influence, which may please some and repel others. Even so, the level of detail and quality is mind blowing; the characters and backgrounds are beautifully drawn, the title screen has little lights that gently float across it, and heck, even the buttons and the loading screen are cute! To top it off, the player avatar is animated, and some of the characters even blink! Truly, the art alone makes this game worth a play-through.

The writing itself is fair. Like My Cup of Tea, the author has based the game on characters from her other original works (In this case, her other games). The premise has a nice sense of fantasy to it, and there is also a bit of humor and occasional fourth-wall breaking. Where it begins to lose points is the English.

Go ahead and call me a Grammar Nazi; maybe I am. But, from early on I got the feeling that English is not Zeiva's first language. Oh, it's readable, don't worry about that; but little things like missing "the"s or s's, and words or phrases that just aren't quite right somehow, make it a bit awkward and disrupt the game's spell.

Also, while I appreciate the author's use of original characters, I feel it could be somehow handled better. If, like me, you play Other Age without first playing Zeiva's other games, then you'll spend much of the game barely knowing these characters at all. Since the format of this game doesn't really allow for relationship-building as much as the others, the suitors tend to remain nearly perfect strangers. There is an epilogue for each character that gives a nice sense of who they are, but personally, I think there needs to be a bit more build-up beforehand. You may disagree.

The one thing that truly sinks the game's score, though, is the game-play itself. All you need to know about the game-play can be summed up thusly: The game itself is free. The Strategy Guide costs money.

Other Age doesn't follow the typical Dating-Sim format; it's basically half personality quiz and half mini-game. This in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, my hatred of minigames aside. However, this game is - to borrow the phrase - Nintendo Hard. First, you must input a certain pattern of answers into the Luv Luv Nitarou Deluxe in order to get a certain suitor (and most of the combinations result in an individual that must be gotten rid of). Then, you must say the right things to persuade him to date you, and then choose a dating location out of 5 possible sites. Only 1 site will interest him, and you only have 2 chances to guess correctly. Finally, each dating site is a minigame, which of course must be won or you shall end in failure.

My main complaint is that most of the answers in this game are too unintuitive. I'm fairly certain that I've gotten the same character after feeding conflicting data into the machine on other playthroughs, and often it takes multiple playthroughs just to figure out what to say to a person and where to take them. Worse still, any single mistake made at any point will end the game and force you to start from the beginning. With few exceptions, the game is both unreasonable and unmerciful.

So what's the verdict, then? I think Other Age is both frustrating and somehow addictive. Its sense of beauty overrides the often frustrating gameplay. Frankly, I'm surprised that I didn't end up scoring it much higher, and once you play it, you may end up deciding that I've been too harsh in some of my judgements.

My Cup of Tea

AKA The Love Dating Sim for Girls

Author: Kathleen Lieu

Availability: Free, Online/Browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Summer Romance

Rating: Everyone

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Found At: http://www.nummyz.com/

Summary:

In My Cup of Tea, you play as 17 year old Sara Biea Affen. As the game itself states, "17 yr old Sara thinks she is silly and plain... Will Sara get a honey before the end of summer and the start of senior year? You have 30 days to help her!"

Review:

Let's start with the art: My Cup of Tea is supposedly drawn entirely with a mouse. Drawing with a mouse, a teacher once told me, is like drawing with a bar of soap. As such, the art in My Cup of Tea takes a hit. There's an unpolished, unprofessional look to it; however, it also possesses a certain charm and cuteness. Personally, I get a kick out of the chicken that appears when she sleeps. Also, bonus points for having the "sleeping Sarah" art change after certain amounts of days have gone by; it helps give the game a sense of motion, although admittedly, it's kind of odd to see Sarah thinking "Boys, Boys, Boys!" when in the process of working the lesbian option.

As for the writing: Apparently, the characters from the game are based on the author's own original stories. Given that many dating sims on the internet are simply built around seducing a popular Anime character (Naruto Dating Sim, I'm looking at you), it's refreshing to see such a high dose of originality. That said, there's a certain level of flatness to the characters; 3 out of the 4 suitors basically boil down to The Surfer, The Bisexual Guy, and The Lesbian Option. There are a few bits of trivia - a sister's name here, a favorite book there - but there's some substance lacking. I blame the sparseness of the dialogue, which brings us to...

The Game Play: My Cup of Tea has a simplicity to it, which is good for people new to the genre. Best of all - and I could kiss the author for this - NO MINIGAMES!!! Though, actually, that may not be *entirely* accurate; there are some points in the game where you can play dress-up. However, it's avoidable (you have to actively choose to do it), has no impact on game-play, and I actually find it an amusing diversion. So kudos for that.

While the game is simple, though, it also gets repetetive to the point of being frustrating. The dialogue is very sparse, and characters will repeat themselves several times, which makes it hard to peg exactly where you stand with this person. There's no real indicator for when the relationship is complete, so unless you know what numbers to watch for on the XP, you could quit too soon and miss that character's best ending.

Other frustrating bits are the gift system and the quizzes (called Impress so-and-so). Each suitor has a list of three gifts you can offer them, but they will only like two of them. This creates an unpleasant surprise when you finally earn enough for something expensive, only to have your gift rebuffed. As for the quizzes; there's a reason I prefer clickable multiple-choice options to having to type into a box. When you have to type and submit, too much can go wrong. I must have typed every possible permutation of the surfer's band name - with a The, without a The, spelled right, spelled wrong - and it never took. To this day, I still don't know what answer it wanted, or if it was just broken.

So, when all is said and done, I give My Cup of Tea a 2.5. Word on the net is that this is the author's first dating sim, and if that's true, it's a very good first attempt. However, I find it to be a mediocre game over all. It's a cute way to pass the time, but once you finish, you may or may not wish to replay; which is a shame, since replay value is what puts dating sims and other multi-ending games over the other genres. But even so, it's still worth checking out at least once. And who knows? You might just find that it's your cup of tea. ;)

Wonderland Days Sim Date

Author: Pacthesis

Availability: Free, Online/Browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Fantasy / Literature

Rating: Everyone

My Score: 4 out of 5



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



Summary:

In Wonderland Days Sim Date, You play as Alice, who may or may not be the original Alice of Wonderland fame. It's implied in one ending that the book by Lewis Carroll is a separate entity. Anyway, It's your birthday, and when your cute childhood friend goes to fetch your present, you end up following a rabbit down a hole and landing in Wonderland. It turns out the hole is a portal that only opens once a month, so you're basically stuck chilling in a beautiful setting surrounded by cute characters until the big dance at the end of the month. Oh woe is you. ;)



Review:

Of all the dating sims I've ever played, this is the best by a far cry. The art is clean and excellent by internet standards, and I'm in love with how Pacthesis handled the writing. Other than "You must find a date in x days", the game contains an overarching storyline of which each character holds a piece. One character will tell you more about what's going on and how you got there, but even he doesn't know everything about this little world.



The game deviates a lot from the book, which may strike you as either a good thing or a bad thing. The characters are given new back-stories and, in some cases such as the March Hare and the Tweedle twins, different genders. (The girls are only extras, by the way; there is no lesbian option.) Personalities are also tweaked according to the genre, but not, in my opinion, too far fetched. There's a lot less madness in this version of Wonderland, but it keeps a lovely sense of fantasy.



My biggest complaint about the game is the Gemini mini-game. Mini-games in general tend to drive me nuts. In this one, you have to dig through a pile of crap looking for a given object. It's not like those Eye-Spy games; you have to *MOVE* all the other items aside in order to uncover the quest object. It's tedious, frustrating, and thankfully not mandatory. It's basically a "job" game to give you 10 gold, but you can earn almost that same amount through Street Performing. Performing is also a minigame, but it's a lot less clicking and grumbling; you basically just choose which act to do for your audience and if you choose right, they tip you. The answers never change, so you can easily memorize the pattern to maximize your earnings.



In short, this is probably the best free, online example of the genre you can find. It adheres to the basic formula, but the writing keeps it from becoming tedious. The worst minigame is avoidable, and there are suprises to be had if you're willing to click around a bit. Also, it's really hard to lose this game. Even if you fail to court any of the Wonderland cast properly, you can still go to bed and wake up with a final chance at finding true love. Not a bad deal, all things considered!