Merits of the dating sim genre

Well, I write about what’s on my mind, and since I’ve been playing a dating sim a lot, guess what’s on my mind?

What is a dating sim? The best way to describe it would be an RPG without all the violence. Instead of leveling up stats like attack and defense, you level up stuff like intelligence and charisma (although being buff is helpful, it’s not nearly as important) and the goal is (usually) not to save the world, but instead win the affection (well, some NC-17 versions exist, but I don’t really play those) of some (or all, for the pimp machines out there) person in the game. While this is not as action oriented as a lot of games out there, it plays quite similarly to the talking portions of games from Bioware (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate, e.t.c.) or like the non combat portions of Persona 3 or 4. It should be noted that a well crafted game in the genre should top sitting around and chatting in those games, because you usually can’t take out a longsword and bash some skulls in because you’re bored. If you feel that desire in most dating sims, that’s a strong sign that game isn’t very good.

Anyways, there are a lot of things that make the genre unique. Most importantly, it’s the blend of anime and video game elements into a unique experience. While the story telling is similar in style to an anime, the video game elements allow a bit of interactivity, preventing the mind from stagnating and just letting the screen do all the talking (not that I object to that, that is what makes anime fun) while not being too demanding on the reflexes.

This makes the genre great for non gamers as well as beginning games, as the play style does not actively demand knowledge of how to play video games or tons of technical ability, as many video games do (Alright, I’ll admit, I remember learning to play video games as well as I remember learning to walk, but some n00b gamers I’ve met have trouble with some of the most basic things…) meaning that a new person can pick one up and know what their doing quite quickly. Most of them require the reading ability and comprehension of an online chat room anyway.

This is not to say that advanced games cannot have fun with the genre. I know that although I’ve survived some of the most hardcore games and told tales about them, the lack of difficulty doesn’t bother me.  This is due to the anime esque aspects, which take focus away from the gameplay which might not be very challenging. From this perspective, the genre becomes more like an anime you have some control over.

Well, if you’re interested, this site has a link to download a lot of freeware to try the genre out. If you want to commit to something, professional companies work on games with higher production values. I wanted to write at one point (Well, it was going to be less of a dating sim, and more of a Captain Kirk sim) but am actually being a beta tester for one at the moment… Pretty fun, I posted a review HERE.

Note: Ren’nai is just the Japanese word for visual novel, dating sim, or whatever. I feel that the English terms suffice and are easier for my tongue to pronounce.

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School Days: The big review (HEY, this anime was based on a dating sim, even though it was a sadistic dating sim that seemed to enjoy giving the player horrible endings where people kill each other horribly)

Do skills learned in dating sims transfer to real life?

<-Previous Fan Letter: Being the male lead in a slapstick comedy is painful

Dear BryAnime,

Hello, I’m about 15 and about to get into some serious dating, but I feel nervous. I’ve been practicing my skills a lot with some Ren’nai games that I torrented (hey, they aren’t allowed to sell those to minors, lol.) and I’m pretty sure I know what to do.

Hypothetically, I’m supposed to go up to the girl in order to buy her presents until her affection towards me increases to a point to where I can ask her out. At this point, all I have to do is be nice, and that’s not hard, since all the options I need to say appear right in front of me, and it’s always obvious which one needs to be said. This means I should have no difficulty winning them over at all!

But this doesn’t explain why I’m so nervous about asking out this girl who sits next to me in class. I mean, it should be obvious what to say, right? Because whenever I talk to her, I choke up. I’ve tried hitting the gym a few times in order to increase my attractiveness stat, but it hasn’t seemed to have helped. Do you think there’s a condition I have to fulfill before I’m able to talk to her?

Thanks,

Ren’nai addict

Dear Ren’nai addict

Well, from your letter, it’s really obvious that you’ve been sitting in front of your computer playing porn games way too much. Could you at least spend your time going to a dating advice forum or something? There you can meet people with actual EXPERIENCE or something. This is because in reality, it is in fact you who seem to lack exp, as you seem to assume that actual options are going to appear that make sense. The harsh reality of it is that it takes practice to know exactly what to say.

What’s that? What do I suggest? I dunno, try option 3 (see above pic.)

Sincerely,

BryAnime

NEXT LETTER: I'm stuck in a love triangle with myself

Get Featured in a fan letter! Email you're problems to DarthSomebody@yahoo.com, or post it in the comments section, and I just might respond to you!

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Shira Oka Second Chances REVIEW

Shira Oka: Second Chances: REVIEW

<- You remember your first time you woke up about 5 years in the past with an Angel sitting next to your bed? Yeah, I was pretty freaked out about that too...

Demo for this game can be downloaded HERE. I’m trying to get the torrent hosted from my comp as I write this.

Oh yeah, Mac users should be happy to know the game is just as readily available for Mac as it is for PC!

Oh what’s that? The game isn’t out yet? It just so happens that I’ve acquired a beta version of the game through some rather… interesting… means (Okay, fine, I just applied to become a tester, and I’ve been helping test it for about two weeks now) While they are still ironing kinks out of game and debating mechanical issues such as balance and stuff, the project is, for the most part, functioning properly. They creators are really trying to avoid creating a project like Morrowind (love that game to death but GAH, the bugs) where even the most casual of players wind up tripping into game breaking bugs.

While I haven’t quite done everything in the game yet, I have clocked in a good chunk of time, and have managed to get a couple of the endings, first for Alice:

Clearly, I’m so American that it seeps through to my in- game avatar. IN AMERICA!

And the second time I got Rena’s ending

I actually found her ending to be much better, since the main puts in more effort towards his goals in that one. What's really interesting is the stark contrast between my predictions on what girls I would like, and who wound up liking me.

It appears that no matter how hard I try, Yui doesn’t seem to notice me. Jerk. At least Alice and Rena appreciate me XP

Anyways, let’s discuss the actual gameplay. The majority of the mechanics have been revealed in the demo… you work on your stats while events occur that make use of those stats. You then use these abilities to interact with the world, whether using your awesome mathematical skills to become an expert mechanic, or using your physique comparable to Zeus himself to defend your school’s honor. Like stated in the demo review, imagine Persona 4 without all that violence.It should be noted that after you manage to learn all of the actions to level up your skills, things get more interesting since the game loses some of the downtime the demo possessed.

What I really like about this stat layout is that focusing on different things tends to cause events to unfold very differently. While this game has a very large cast of characters, working on different stats causes different ones to notice you, giving a different perspective on the game, greatly increasing replay value. Also, it should be noted that stats are actually very difficult to balance, unlike games like Persona 3 / 4, where by endgame everything was maxed out. In this game, I find myself having to dump a couple of stats in order to keep up the ones I want. This means that each playthrough will wind up going very differently. Furthermore, these differences will keep you on your feet during future playthroughs, preventing you from just allowing yourself to stagnate.

Oh yes, the plot. You’re a guy who managed to be a total failure in life, who has been sent back in time back to the beginning of high school in order to start over, which leads you on a more enlightened set of adventures. However, what the demo DOESN’T tell you is [sorry, posting this part violates my non-disclosure agreement. Oh well. ] … and then… yeah. This left me exited to check out another ending.

Should you buy the game? It’s not out yet, silly. But sure, go for it. The replay value is exceedingly high, and most of the game is very interesting, and a lot of it is incredibly multi-faceted. You can really screw around and have fun learning more about the cast of characters, jerking them around, getting to know them, and whatever you want. Lots of the subplots are really interesting, and some you won’t even notice until a second time through or so. So you get a lot of bang for your buck, assuming you can’t afford to buy too many video games (like me, *sigh*) you’ll definitely get your money’s worth out of the game. Also, it isn’t very heavy on system requirements, and most computers should be able to handle it, even if you’re a Mac user. It’s every gamer with a budget’s dream!

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Project Profile: Shira Oka: Second Chances
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Related Links:
Okashi Studio's website
Shira Oka on Facebook
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Shira Oka: Second Chances demo review

 Today I'm going to discuss the gaming demo available HERE

Alright, I reported on the dating sim project Shira Oka: Second Chances about a month or so ago, and it has been brought to my attention that the studio has released a demo of the game. Due to this, it felt logical to do a follow up on what has been released, since it does show that progress has been made. Besides, I haven’t been giving dating sims as much attention on this site as I should, since they are pretty popular among the Otaku community.

Anyhoo, the actual game. The demo starts with the game’s introduction, showing our character who’s managed to screw up as much as a 30 year old at age 20. Alas, due to being age 20, he still has vivid recollections of what he thinks he should have done during high school. During a hangover, he manages to wind up seeing a bunch of delusions, until he winds up in bed feeling a bit better with an angel standing before him…

Anyway, she explains that you’ve been sent BACK IN TIME to your first year of high school. She then helps you generate stats and character quirks, and then explains a few of the buttons and things you can do to get the game going. This game operates like Persona 4, except without the going inside the TV and killing shadows part.

What? Haven’t played Persona 4? I know, it’s not a very popular game. The gameplay in Shira Oka plays from a first person perspective, and you just decide what the character you generated does when a crossroad comes up, such as how to blow time, (options include working out, socializing, studying, and getting more sleep) or what to say to people.  I made sure to have my character work out until he was the Greco-Roman ideal, then work on his skills with the various women at the school. Who cares about studying, this game advertises doing high school differently! Unfortunately, in the demo there were almost no options to be flirtatious, which is a major crime in a dating sim.

The plot in the demo doesn’t have many twists and turns, aside from the mandatory cliffhanger ending. You wake up in a high schooler’s body, get your exposition, and meet the various people in the school. Or at least most the girls. There’s only like one guy in the whole school, who has the delusion all the girls belong to him, when they clearly belong to me and my rank 9 in sportsmanship.

The girl that seemed to attract my attention the most during the demo was Aya, (upper left) who happened to talk the most. This resulted in the miraculous effect of me remembering her name.

The other girl that caught my attention was Yuki (right)

Oh wait, sorry, wrong picture, I meant Yui (lower left)

Who happens to be the school shy person.

Alas, one thing that I realized at the end of this was…Where’s your parents? I assume their overseas with every other high school anime’s parents but still, they didn’t even give us a lampshade in this one. I did manage to find the game fun, and the demo managed to last about an hour or so. Hopefully, the full game will beat out the dating sim aspects in Persona 4, since this game does not have you kill time by going into a television and killing monsters.

While no release has been announced, due to the relative bug-free nature of the demo, and relative polished off look, it can’t be too far off. I’m ambiguously exited about it.

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Project profile: Shira Oka: Second Chances

<-Previous Artist: Tsuranga

Today’s project is Shira Oka: Second Chances by Okashi studios

Demo is available now HERE  review HERE

With the school semester being out for summer, I’ve been finding it much harder to network with artists in the area. Fortunately while I was cleaning out my email box, I ran across a studio that was working a project that has not been released yet, hence making them the perfect subject for my next project to feature.

Okashi Studios is a small group of programmers and weeaboos based in San Fransisco working on a big beefy dating sim project named “Shira Oka: Second Chances” They have going at it for a few years, ever since I first ran into their booth at AX 2006 (four years now? Yeesh) Anyways, Shira Oka is a dating sim about a failure of a person who gets a chance to relive high school. While that tells little about the actual scenarios that will be encountered, it lays the basis for the games attitude. The most important thing about a dating sim is the characters and scenarios that run it, and I’m here to talk about the previews that have been released.

To start, we have the preview that was shown at previous conventions

This shows a bit of the characters and the plot, but little on the scenarios presented.

Now then, because I don’t feel like writing about everybody I’m going to write which characters appeal to which of my fetishes and why.

Alright, after watching disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, shy moe- blobs managed to appeal to me again. Let’s not forget that scarves make everybody, male or female, obviously much more attractive. Never underestimate how much sexier a scarf can make a person.

Next we have the Genji girl

Everybody who doesn’t like Genji girls has never talked to a real girl. Easily exited people actually do things, making them more interesting, leading to better dates. Also, this person appears at the town introduction here

After this we have the mechanic, Innou Suzu

Wasn’t very interesting until I read the word Motorcycle. Motorcycles make everybody sexier by about 50% I certainly hope we get to see her on a Motorcycle, mmmhmm.

Now then, I normally don’t play dating sims, but instead prefer my dating sim along with some ass kicking, like shown in the best game ever, Persona 4. Alas, your average RPG doesn’t focus on these aspects very much, and the great Persona 4 only has it in there as an optional side thing. On another note, while many western based RPG’s such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic include some romance based side plot, but that can easily be skipped. If one wants to get some decent dating sim action, and not just a side note, they need to get a game dedicated to it.

Although I had assumed that the project was either dead or already finished, it does appear to still be in progress. Perhaps they should hire me to go down there and show my awesome C++ skillz and help them finish their project. I have been meaning to program my own dating sim, one of these days. Alas, it is actually closer to completion. Perhaps I will pay these people a visit while I’m at Anime Expo 2010, as they may have some promotional goodies.

While the characters manage to fill most of the dating sim essentials; don’t really matter for much without the scenarios. I’ll need to see that before I can give a full opinion on the project. HOWEVER, I am moderately intrigued to see how an American made dating sim placed in Japan turns out. Will it be good, or will it reek of Weeaboo? Who knows, and only one way to find out.

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Next Artist: ArionHawk

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