Initially, when I encountered Date Everything, I felt wary due to a prevalent pattern in Western visual novels, which frequently exhibit elements of parody or irony that can verge towards arrogance or disregard, bordering on, at the very least, othering. Games such as Doki Doki Literature Club and numerous April Fools’ joke games where you date a muscular fast food mascot, for instance, employ a genre with deep roots and enduring popularity as a weapon to belittle the games themselves and those who create and enjoy them, which is disappointing. Given its premise of a visual novel featuring a user dating personified household appliances within an apartment, Date Everything seems to embody this dismissive attitude.
The positive aspect is that Date Everything displays sincerity, respect for its environment, inclusivity, humor, and an abundance of artistic skill. However, its quirky idea might be too excessive for such a game, and its inconsistent storytelling prevents it from fully realizing its potential. Despite this, there were some issues with its performance on the Switch. Fortunately, I managed to upgrade my console mid-review, which turned out to be beneficial since an unlocked frame rate made the game run more smoothly once I transferred the virtual game card to the new hardware.
Just like real life! Well, the “AI sucks” part
In the story “Date Everything”, you work for a large tech company that aims to replace most human roles with mediocre AI. Despite some legal hurdles, your job is on the line, leaving you in a state of limbo where you’re still receiving a paycheck while they find a way to terminate you officially. However, before you can fully absorb the disappointment, an unusual package arrives at your doorstep and an enigmatic individual contacts you via an unconventional platform (not Discord). The mystery person reveals that you’ve inherited a prototype Dateviator – a pair of sunglasses capable of transforming inanimate objects into sentient beings with their own personalities, histories, and lives. And, as if expected, you must go on dates with these newly created beings.
This game is set in a sandbox-style romantic visual novel where you explore your home, activate magical sunglasses, and fire heart-shaped laser beams at clutter to discover if they transform into charming characters or objects. The items include everyday household objects like doors, computers, toilets, laundry, holiday decorations, and even that unopened sex toy your coworker humorously gifted. Or perhaps you’ve already opened it? Each day, you have a limited number of laser shots to interact with up to 100 characters, some of whom are more like abstract ideas than physical objects. It resembles a more playful and less ironic version of Chuck Tingle’s storytelling.
Gotta [redacted] ’em all
Discovering each new character is the most exciting aspect of Date Everything, and it’s no secret that the creators have capitalized on this. The thrill of encountering a fresh character for the first time, appreciating their peculiar yet thoughtful design, listening to their amusing voices, and getting acquainted with their unique traits, is what makes the game stand out.
The makers have designed an in-game Pokedex-like system to track each character, update their profiles regularly, display their portraits clearly, and even highlight their voice actors’ names prominently in vibrant text. The voice acting community plays a significant role in Date Everything, as the development studio Sassy Chap Games is led by industry VO talent. Fans get to recognize their favorite voice artists and also discover new ones while enjoying the game.
As a gamer, I’ve found that Date Everything lacks the engaging tension I crave. While the dating is the main focus, the backdrop of job-related drama seems more like window dressing, not truly driving the narrative forward. The game offers an open-world format, giving me freedom to interact with characters at my own pace, but it feels more like a passenger’s role than an active participant. Despite having control over conversation tone, the dialogue lacks challenge or friction, making the experience feel less immersive.
It’s not supposed to be easy
In visual novels like this one, you’ll often find yourself navigating within constraints. The narrative unfolds as you interact with the characters, who play crucial roles in the story. Factors such as branching plotlines, schedules, character interactions, time limits, and other variables add an element of unpredictability to your relationships with these characters. Depending on the choices you make, you’ll find yourself progressing along specific paths or scenarios, known as “routes”. Without prior experience or a guide, it can be difficult to predict where these choices will lead you, especially if you aim to make genuine decisions rather than rushing through each romantic option.
In this game, you have control over everything, allowing you to target specific characters with your beams until their story reaches a point of Love, Friendship, or Enmity. The choices for these interactions are clear, and once completed, you can move on to the next character. Characters may possess personal issues or subplots, but overall the narrative depth is limited, particularly for individual characters. There’s more complexity in the plotline, and it does venture into some peculiar territories, but most of the gameplay revolves around enhancing your roster of potential romantic interests, boosting your stats for a future event, and essentially just enjoying the ride.
This game, while amusingly titled “Date Everything,” offers more than just humorous innuendos about dating a toaster. Instead, it delves deeper into crafting an engaging narrative filled with intriguing characters. The creators deserve recognition for their originality, as they’ve fully embraced their idea and managed to execute it without succumbing to the overused tropes found in many Western visual novels that often receive leniency despite questionable behavior.
I’d prefer the writing in this game to be a bit deeper, as it seems overly compact due to trying to fit a lot into a small space while using a sandbox-like structure. Visual novels often benefit from having boundaries that prevent them from being too player-focused, and Date Everything could have benefited from these limitations. However, despite its shortcomings, the game is adorable and entertaining, and each new character reveal delivers a dose of dopamine and humor. Sassy Chap’s first game is an impressive attempt, and more projects like this would be beneficial for visual novels overall.
The game “Date Everything” will be released on all platforms – PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch – starting June 17, 2025. For this review, we were given a Nintendo Switch code by the publisher.
Read More
2025-06-12 16:28