Are you very lonely and you want to experience non-linear gameplay while meeting the woman or man of your dreams? Brush up on your dating skills by playing a dating simulation.
The most common objective of dating sims is to date (duh), usually choosing from among several characters, and to achieve a romantic relationship. Most people outside of Japan never got a chance to try these games because there never seemed to be a market for it.
Dating Sims are more commonly associated with H-games or hentai (porn) games. It's mostly marketed towards men. The only few H-games that appeal to women are of the Yaoi or male to male genre like the game Enzai . Enzai has very graphic sex and torture scenes between men and isn't for the faint of heart. Prepare for an emotional scarring if you ever play that one.
Not many dating sims have been translated to English but companies such as JAST USA and Peach Princess have been translating more and more dating sims for the past few years.
H-games have much controversy because some game features include incest, rape, bondage, torture and homosexual relationships. The characters are supposedly over the age of 18 but they don't look a day over 12 unless they take their clothes off. These games have also been considered sexist because of the typical female submissive character.
Not all games are pornographic in nature, the very popular Tokimeki Memorial series have a more innocent game purpose. You try harder to make the opposite sex fall in love with you instead of trying to go to bed with you. The game usually ends with the person confessing their love with an “I Love You”. Aw.
Tokimeki Memorial has a title directed towards girls. Tokimeki Memorial: Girls Side and Tokimemki Memorial: Second stage. Contrary to popular belief there are many other dating sims that are targeted towards girls including the Angelique series and McKenzie & Co just to name a few.
There are elements in western game that could be considered a dating sim. Take a look at that Maxis game The Sims, you make sims fall in love, have relationships, go on dates and even get married. We've been slowly accepting these kind of games to fit our western taste for years.
There are more online gaming stores stocking English translated dating sims including Play-Asia and J-list. It's less censored than its Japanese equivalent, so proceed at your own risk.
