Date Night Bowling is a New Dating Game by Way Down Deep

For the record, I am a big fan of Way Down Deep and their dating sim releases over the last year like the socially distanced romance sim Romantic Distancing and the popular release Half Past Fate. I've been eyeing Date Night Bowling since I first saw it in an upcoming games roster. So when the opportunity to play it on Switch arose, I snagged it and slipped on some bowling shoes. Eww, digital ones! I jest. Anyway, what we've got here is a combination of a very pleasant to look at video game with plenty of replay value and a pretty darn decent bowling simulator for the Switch. It's about $8 right now on sale. I decided to play through a date and flip through the options, I'll tell you what I observed here. Overall, to begin with, it's a good game.

Continue ReadingDate Night Bowling is a New Dating Game by Way Down Deep

Raptor Boyfriend is A Game About Love Unlike Any Other

Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance is an ambitious and masterfully crafted visual novel/dating sim that takes place in small-town Ontario. With fun cryptid characters and absolutely stunning illustrations, its gameplay value is probably some of the best I've seen for this genre. I have been excited to play this for some time, as a general fan of visual novels and cryptid fantasy games. You don't have to worry about anxiety-driven creature interaction though, because this game is safe and accessible across diverse players. Shortly after the day began, I got started on this dive into the world of Ladle, Ontario. Scene one, which is what I played for you, took around roughly an hour. Some players on Steam had a playtime of over 20 hours! So, there is a lot of content here, and many different ways to play. Let's take a look!

Continue ReadingRaptor Boyfriend is A Game About Love Unlike Any Other

Half Past Fate is the Only Dating Sim I’ve Seen Attempt to Address Love During Lockdown

Half Past Fate: Romantic Distance is a visual novel about a dating during the pandemic. It was released February of 2021. The story revolves around a mutual interest involving a young man and his broken laptop named Stephen and a clerk at a computer repair shop named Robin. Soon after they meet, the city goes into lockdown because of the pandemic. They try to make it work using video dating for multiple months, and test the limits of distant relationships. The game has a very pleasing 2.5D pixel art aesthetic and a catchy chiptune soundtrack.

Continue ReadingHalf Past Fate is the Only Dating Sim I’ve Seen Attempt to Address Love During Lockdown

The Colorful Art is Must-See in the Visual Novel //TODO: Today

//TODO: today is a visual novel and dating sim. You'll follow the main character through a crisis involving life direction in the context of paying rent, becoming an artist, working in a bookstore, dating, and the help of a cute but invasive artificial intelligence named Joyce. The game takes advantage of bright pastel colors and hand-drawn art. It conveys a message of getting out of a rut as an adult and using a motivation to solve life's problems. The gameplay is a few hours and very interesting.

Continue ReadingThe Colorful Art is Must-See in the Visual Novel //TODO: Today

I Played the Cyberpunk VN Read Only Memories: NEURODIVE

Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER is an indie interactive fiction visual novel project currently set for release sometime next year. Play as ES88 a psychic therapist who recovers lost memories for clients using the help of an organic "neurodiver." You'll start as a hybrid client named Crow. Crow has a mysterious background but is trying to restore a memory that has been tampered with to recover a memory chip at the center of a secretive trade he took part in. The art direction in Read Only Memories is colorful and fresh.

Continue ReadingI Played the Cyberpunk VN Read Only Memories: NEURODIVE

A Cottage Story is a Hidden Gem & Terrific Little Visual Novel

A Cottage Story is an indie fantasy-style visual novel currently in development by indie developer LadyMeowsith on itch.IO. You'll play as Emory, or whichever moniker you choose. Your form is selectable as well. Your are a human/changeling grown up far away from humans. You live within a fantastic forest of goblins, satyrs, elves and maybe more. Meet characters and treat their ailments with a mastering of herbalism and healing skills from herbs found in the forest. Participate for story or personal fulfillment in this stylistic story/dating sim.

Continue ReadingA Cottage Story is a Hidden Gem & Terrific Little Visual Novel

Superstorm Melon Date is Weird & The Best

Superstorm Melon Date is a visual novel that takes place in a relatively near dystopic future. People live in shelters and return to the surface only periodically because climate change has plagued the earth with frequent superstorms that burden humanity. People have developed widespread allergies and only the rich can raise fully human children. Therefore, a hybrid species of half melon people have outnumbered humans because they have better immune systems. To tie it all together, the plot of the game is about you going on a date with a melon person listed on an internet dating website. A melon person named, Mel.

Continue ReadingSuperstorm Melon Date is Weird & The Best