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.

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.

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. :)

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!