jack1974 wrote:hi, sorry that you find the game flawed. What are the old classics you refer to?
Just to know, have you tried my other game Spirited Heart and if so, what's your opinion of it? trying to understand your point of view
Fair enough. I will rant for a bit on my perceived shortcoming in the game. No time for a proper review, but I'll put down some bulleting points.
1. There is no game.
How you chose to make a dating sim a game varies a bit, but there always is a game. There really is no game here, however. All there is, is what in RPG terms is called the fed-ex (or fetch) quest. The entire game is just go there, do something. A lot of it doesn't even make sense in the context of the business. I mean, seriously, this guy sends me to print a document for him? So, let me get this straight; instead of using your printer, you want me to take your file, go to my office, print the document and bring it back to you?
Now, in one respect this system works, in the sense of making me feel like I'm working as a secretary in an office. Or in other words doing mind-numbingly boring busy work.
2. You cannot lose the romances
This really blends into my first point. There really is no point in playing if you can't realistically lose the game. (and yes, I know you can get fired, but that's nothing to do with the romances.)
Most dating sims introduce stat points for the player character to build in order to shape a persona attractive to the potential romancee, as it were. This is one popular way of introducing gameplay to the genre. Another important part is interaction with the characters you are trying to romance. This game has none. Or rather, it has one simple question about what type you are, and no matter what you answer they say they were hoping you'd say that, which actually defeats the entire purpose of the romance in the first place. When your potential romances just adjust to whomever you are, there is no point in playing. (since you can't possibly lose) A lot of the fun inherent in dating sims is making out and nailing someone's personality, and then opting to either play them to show off that you've broken their personality, as it were, or speak your mind, and actually offend them.
3. I'm running out of time, so I'll just add whatever odds and ends I can think of here
Delay tactics:
For some incredibly stupid reason the game is trying to stop me from enjoying it. Point in case, when you get close to unraveling the mystery, you suddenly get called into a million meetings. It got bad enough for me that I got called in twice a day for a bit. Why? What possible purpose does it add to artificially lengthen the game with something boring. Especially when the gameplay in the first place is mind-numbingly boring already?
Money vs. Stress:
Well, I already covered why this doesn't work at all.
I guess that's all I can really rattle off on the spot. I'll think about, perhaps I can dig up more flaws. To cap it off, though, I must say I enjoyed the writing, much as I expected to. I actually came across the site for the rampant coyote blog and his post about upcoming indie rpgs he was looking forward to. So, in the process of buying Planet Stronghold I see that you have developed a new dating sim, a genre I enjoy quite a bit, and even better, it's written by the person that wrote digital: a love story, a game I absolutely loved and adored. So I add it my cart on a whim. So while the writing was good, it nowhere near justified the price tag, at least not for me, but you live and you learn, I guess.
edit: Forgot to address your other question. No, I have not played Spirited Hearts, but going by the screenshots and summary, it sounds very interesting. So does Flower Shop for that matter. As for the classics I dug out, they were respectively Pia Carrot he youkouso and bloody bride. Both great games, however, I chose them mostly because they're in English and my Japanese has gotten horribly rusty.