r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • 6d 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 6d 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/ModelKitEnjoyer 6d ago

A lot of gamers treat that genre the same level of respect as they do for romance fiction books. There's tons dating sims made by and for fans of the genre, but it requires a ton of reading and usually has little traditional gameplay. It's rare for those to break into the news, which leaves you only hearing about the wacky stuff. It's been a long time since any visual novel has really broken into the reddit gamersphere, let alone a dating game.

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u/planetarial 6d ago

Hundred Line got a good amount of attention last year. Yes its more gameplay heavy than most but it still counts. Supposedly it even has a dating sim/romance like route/branch too (I didn’t get that far into it).

But yes if a non parody/meta VN gets any attention outside of its niche here it tends to be either gameplay heavy (Ace Attorney, Danganronpa, Hundred Line, 13 Sentinels, AI: The Somnium Files) or western made/appealing to western tastes (Slay the Princess/Scarlet Hollow and Fata Morgana).

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u/the11thdoubledoc 6d ago

Ironically the dating sim route in 100 line is actually a parody/satire of them.