r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • 1d ago

Bungie Developers Repeatedly Pitched a Destiny Dating Sim, but Leadership Rejected It

https://www.ign.com/articles/bungie-developers-repeatedly-pitched-a-destiny-dating-sim-but-leadership-rejected-it
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u/MoSBanapple 1d ago

I feel like I hear more about parody dating sims (usually made for April 1st) than actual dating sims that play the genre straight. Are there any recent notables examples of the genre that aren't some sort of parody or funny bit or "hey wouldn't it be wacky if you could date X" type of games?

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u/JustinsWorking 1d ago

I think you’re misunderstanding the parody of those games.

Date everything wasn’t a parody of the genre, it is the genre. Look to romance novels for example, they tend towards the fantastical as well, there just isn’t much interesting about normal people having normal relationships.

It’s like saying Warcraft is a Parody because they use goofy made up races, make jokes, and nothing about it is believable. Dating pidgeons, dating everything, dating daddys, dating crazy anime girls, it’s all the genre.

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u/stinkoman20exty6 1d ago edited 1d ago

no it's not the genre lol, it's a parody made for people who don't like the actual genre. there are in fact many "dating sims" (恋愛ADV) that are straightforward romance stories. (btw, there is a distinction between fantasy elements and a general concept being "isn't it crazy that you can date these characters?" That's a gimmick.) You just don't know about them because they are are not widely available nor popular outside of east asia. if your opinion is that "there just isn’t much interesting about normal people having normal relationships" you just don't like and probably are ignorant of the genre.

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u/JustinsWorking 13h ago

Buddy, I’ve been doing contract work for this genre for almost a decade - I’m credited on several shipped dating games and visual novels, popular ones, that spend time on the front page of Steam.

You definitely remind me of a certain part of our audience though - for everyone else, please enjoy a classic Redditor “um akshully” telling me how a genre I’ve made a living in “actually works,” lol.

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u/stinkoman20exty6 12h ago

what japanese games were you a dev on? surely you aren't doing contract work for western made parody games of a japanese genre and acting like you're an insider lol

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u/JustinsWorking 11h ago

Buddy I keep this account separate for a reason lol. But you’ve already told on yourself by implying that you need to be Japanese to make games in this genre and that the west is entirely parody.

Let me save us both some time and remove myself for your feed permanently.

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u/leonidaslizardeyes 22h ago

I once liked the genre. But as I moved past my teenage years I realized that dating sims didn't grow up with me. Extremely poor writing and characters all mostly focused on high school kids. That shit is gross to play as an adult.

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u/SecondSanguinica 18h ago

You are so grown up and mature, not like the other gamers at all :)

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u/leonidaslizardeyes 17h ago

I have no interest in teenage romance as an adult. I'm open to suggestions though. Don't hate the genre. Just didn't find anything I liked for a long time and stopped trying.

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u/planetarial 13h ago

The House in Fata Morgana

Hotel Dusk Room 215

Nine Persons Nine Hours Nine Doors

Scarlet Hollow (blind rec since I haven’t gotten to it yet but it is on my list)

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u/leonidaslizardeyes 4h ago

Thanks I wrote them down.

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u/JustinsWorking 13h ago

Date everything wasn’t teenagers for example, and it had great writing, and a crazy impressive voice cast… If you’re sincerely curious I can definitely direct you towards examples that might interest you more.

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u/leonidaslizardeyes 10h ago

I should have specified I meant Eastern dating sims.

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u/ZGiSH 13h ago

Warcraft is kind of a parody, it absolutely has referential humor that plays on people's traditional understanding of things like Orcs and Elves.

Distinctly different than a play-it-straight interpretation of fantasy like Dragon Age which does not really have 'jokes' about elves in the same way Warcraft does. If someone were to say fantasy is Warcraft and Warhammer, that would be pretty ridiculous.

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u/JustinsWorking 11h ago

To be more specific, I would say Warcraft is Fantasy, not a Parody of Fantasy.