Valentine's Day Special

[Hikari.EXE]

Good morning (for most) everyone!

I come back to you with another Writer's Guild special, that's right!
I'm planning on writing a Valentine's Day article on February 14th, it'll mostly be about the origin of dating sims and other dating mechanics in games, so I ask the community: What was your first encounter with such mechanic in games? Are they good, or bad? and in colaboration with @Yousef 's thread, what is your ideal virtual date? (Man, Woman, anything in between)

Don't be shy, we don't judge (a lot), your opinion matters in this discourse!

 

[Clippy]

To answer the question - I think my first encounter with dating sims was True Love 95 but the bulk of dating sims that I played were old flash games like Ganguro Girl. I've always had a soft spot for the stat raising mechanics and planning around them to impress your girl of choice. I feel it's much more engaging than just skipping through text with an occasional dialogue choice like you do in a VN. That and having to make notes about girls' preferences and answers to their questions just made me that much more immersed in the games.

 

[flushy]

probably riviera, i dont even realize that game has some kind dating mechanic until the ending.

ideal virtual date is... um... idk
i prefer dating real non-gamer-human on real life, if that's possible

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Love Plus the japanese version. Tokimeki Memorial and Sakura Wars were the games i played after Love Plus. I prefer VN games then actual dating games tho. I do love a Dating sim were the AI is a bit more advance like in New Love Plus Plus if you bug the girls enough by sending to much text you get called a stalker and the game just ends there.

 

[DunkeyKong]

GTA games, like in 5 there's Ursula, Elisa and the others. And then San Andreas with the…y'know? "Hot coffee"?

But GTA 5 one is definitely the most memorable for me because it's quite wholesome (I'm happy for Franklin )

 

[Hikari.EXE]

ideal virtual date is... um... idk
i prefer dating real non-gamer-human on real life, if that's possible

Right, ofc. I made that last question more for fun, not an actual question since I know there are people that have engaged with dating mechanics and gotten dates with a character of thei liking. Still, thank you for your input.

 

[Insomnia_ig]

Good morning (for most) everyone!

I come back to you with another Writer's Guild special, that's right!
I'm planning on writing a Valentine's Day article on February 14th, it'll mostly be about the origin of dating sims and other dating mechanics in games, so I ask the community: What was your first encounter with such mechanic in games? Are they good, or bad? and in colaboration with @Yousef 's thread, what is your ideal virtual date? (Man, Woman, anything in between)

Don't be shy, we don't judge (a lot), your opinion matters in this discourse!

I guess Persona 5 was the first one if that counts but I do want to try dating sim games cause I'm pretty curious about them

 

[Cu-Neo]

I like the ones that have the dating aspect and also more things to do, Something like Rune Factory, Especifically 4 or also something like Riviera.

 

[Stingy Perry]

Thousand Arms, just play it and see what I mean.

 

[tenkai star]

Regardless of who you choose, eveyone knows Barret is the ultimate prize. He really makes you work for it

 

[Yousef]

But GTA 5 one is definitely the most memorable for me because it's quite wholesome (I'm happy for Franklin )
View attachment 16503

LOOOOOL this bitch was crazy I tel you

 

[Iracunda]

I went through some stuff a long time ago and made myself feel better by playing badly translated, dating sims, with crappy u.i's on my phone. Don't remember what I started with, all I can say is that phone visual novels/dating sims went WAAAAAY up in quality after Mystic Messenger. Love and Deepspace probably wouldn't exist without the success of that game imo.

 

[MasterEn]

i think tales of symphonia and ffx were the first times i was introduced to affection mechanics. or it might have been pokemon gold. one of those three.
pokemon makes affection mechanical and impersonal in nature and execution. the end result is what matters: getting to raise another squirtle from level 5 all over again.
ffx was supposed to have three endings, which would have made all of the decisions have more merit in the end. all you get is a few minor differences in some scenes in the finished product.
tales of symphonia is a weird one. the implied canon ending is lloyd and collette. i went with shenna my first run and raine for all subsequent runs. and it ultimately doesn't matter because of the sequel: the canon pairing is lloyd and raine.
affection is a weird mechanic to have in a game.

 

[Hikari.EXE]

pokemon makes affection mechanical and impersonal in nature and execution. the end result is what matters: getting to raise another squirtle from level 5 all over again.

I didn't know Pokemon Gold/Silver had these mechanics...

 

[MasterEn]

I didn't know Pokemon Gold/Silver had these mechanics...

well, they don't call it affection. it's call breeding in pokemon. and its just for the pokemon.

 

[Hikari.EXE]

well, they don't call it affection. it's call breeding in pokemon. and its just for the pokemon.

Oh right... Welp you can always bypass that with a Ditto to get the egg.

 

[Prism_Red]

Sakura Wars, and I became a huge fan ever since. I still play VN regularly to this day.

This is just a bit of a sad story from me, I played Love Plus translation through R4, I remember it clearly it was Sunday, 11th May 2014, we planned to meet at the shrine a day before.
Some old R4 flashcard has so called 'time bomb' that requires you to update the kernel, or turn back the system clock to before it expires.
So yeah, mine expired 10th may 2014. I turned back to 2008.
I have not opened the game since, she is stuck in the shrine for 17 years now.

 

[MasterEn]

Oh right... Welp you can always bypass that with a Ditto to get the egg.

i did. lots of times. i have no idea what my end goal was, but i did that quite a few times.
i don't care much for affection mechanics in games. they don't do much with it. kotor 1 has a romance option with bastila, but if you screw up once, it ends instantly.
inuyasha: secret of the cursed mask has a friendship mechanic that works decently. characters can learn tag attacks.
the first chapter of harvest moon: a wonderful life became instantly boring after you complete the goal of romancing one of the bachelorettes, you're just watching your character grow old and die with no real goal.
there's a few games out there that can use it, but it's hit or miss.

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

I haven't played many games with such features in them.