PERSONA 5
5 Best Dating Games If You’re Sick of Tinder
Maintaining and fostering relationships is a core element in Persona 5’s gameplay, with closer bonds allowing you to craft stronger Personas and gain new abilities to use in battle. Some, like Morgana and Igor, level up on their own, while others have to be spurned on by the player themselves having you choose which people you want to dedicate your time to in various hangouts, study sessions, and even dates.
Unlike other previous entries in the Persona series, in Persona 5, you are only able to date women, and there are nine to choose from. Some are fellow high school students who might even join you and the Phantom Thieves in changing the hearts of corrupt adults, while others are adult women, happy date a charming highschool student.
Choosing who to date and following through by investing your time in the relationship is both satisfying and fun. Some are easier to pursue, say for example Ann who only requires your kindness to be at level 2 to fully max out her social link, while others like Makoto require more personal effort with a level three knowledge to even begin rank one of your relationship and max charm to get past rank six.
On top of it all, the characters in Persona 5 are engaging, unique, and memorable, with various differing opinions on who is actually the best romance option to pursue (hint: it’s totally Makoto). You can even try and romance more than one girl at a time, but be warned, you might stumble into a bit of trouble when a certain romantic holiday comes up.
DREAM DADDY: A DAD DATING SIMULATOR
5 Best Dating Games If You’re Sick of Tinder
Like most dating sims, Dream Daddy is pretty simple at its core: players craft a character and hold simple conversations with various romantic options while attempting to choose the best possible responses to get the other party to like you and hopefully, take things a little further.
But Dream Daddy stands out from the crowd with both its bold male-only homosexual romance options. It’s also colored by some absolutely top-notch writing, full of witty wordplay and hilarious puns. So much so, in fact, that it’s certain to have you coming back for multiple playthroughs to explore everything it has to offer.
Dream Daddy is published and developed by the popular YouTube group Game Grumps, and they’ve crafted seven gorgeous men with almost every personality type you could think of. Gothic-types, sporty-types, and the classic bad boy, there’s a personality to float everyone’s boat here.
Each of the seven dads have multiple endings, and the stories crafted for each romantic pursuit are a refreshing take on a genre that has become somewhat over-saturated as of late. If you’re looking for a new dating sim to try out, or are a newcomer to the genre in general, make sure to try our Dream Daddy for tons of father flirting fun.
MASS EFFECT
5 Best Dating Games If You’re Sick of Tinder
Mass Effect is an open-galaxy RPG with stacks of different quests, activities, and storylines to pursue. It’s also everybody’s favorite sci-fi dating sim. Ask any hardcore Mass Effect player and they’ll tell you: you’ll spend most of your time and effort trying to make sparks fly steamy human/alien relationships!
You can get into various different relationships in Mass Effect, depending upon the gender of the playable character and the sexuality of the NPCs. While Female Shepard can be lesbian, heterosexual, or bisexual in all of the first three games, Male Shepard could only pursue heterosexual relationships in the first two. There are, however, two gay romances in the third game. The most recent offering, Mass Effect: Andromeda, has more romances than ever with the new Sara and Scott Ryder protagonists. There are homosexual, heterosexual, and bisexual romances available for both genders throughout.
The Romance mechanics are pretty nuanced. First, the attraction phase, where you learn a romance is possible with a given character. Then there’s a courting phase in which you’ll try to woo your potential lover by saying and doing the right things to win their favor. If you succeed, you’ll be granted a series of scandalous cutscenes with various different alien species. What more could you want from a video game!
The core of Mass Effect’s success with romance lies in its variety of well-crafted characters with personalities so distinct its easy to tell them apart and try and learn what they like. The fact that they can vary so much in appearances is also super fun. One minute you will be chasing after a cute blonde and the next a long-headed alien with spikes jutting out of their head! It’s all in a day’s lovin’ in the universe of Mass Effect.
HARVEST MOON
5 Best Dating Games If You’re Sick of Tinder
The Harvest Moon series might be best known as a farming sim, but along with building your own farm, you’ll also be tasked with finding a husband/wife from various different bachelors/bachelorettes in neighboring towns and villages.
Romance is based on affections values, which is then usually attributed to different heart levels. Getting an NPC to various Heart Levels can trigger special events in-game, each specific to whoever it is you’re trying to court. Some Harvest Moon games even feature rivals who’ll try to steal your date!
As the series has progressed, the romance mechanics have become much deeper, requiring specific items or tasks to progress. In fact, Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar required you to date multiple NPCs before you could marry any specific one person.
Since it was so inspired by Harvest Moon, we’ll also give a nod to Stardew Valley: another farming simulator with plenty of romance options. In Stardew Valley you can pursue heterosexual or homosexual relationships with either gender playable-character, and each romantic option has their own specific personality and cut-scenes. Once you’ve sealed the deal, your new spouse will move into your place, and adorably, they’ll have their own room full of all their favorite things.
FALLOUT 4
5 Best Dating Games If You’re Sick of Tinder
Romancing in Fallout 4 can lead to some great perks if you’re a smooth enough operator.
Players are able to romance twelve different companions. These buddies are usually brought along as support during your quest to find your missing son, but if you get close enough to them, things can much more intimate.
By pouring skill points into your character’s charisma, the game will prompt you with special dialogue options, making it easier to court your companion. However, most relationships require you to know the person a bit beforehand, having you complete missions for that one person so they begin to trust you more.
Eventually, the flirt command will appear, and successfully flirting over time will lead to an off-screen “hangout” and likely some companion perks as well. As you hang with certain companions, certain actions have various effects on your relationship together. For example, MacCready loves when you pick locks, steal, or haggles but hates chem addictions and murder, while Danse hates mean actions towards members of the Brotherhood but loves crafting and modding.
Fallout 4 is unique in that your actions even while not engaging in a conversation with a companion can affect your romance abilities with them in the long run. You’ll constantly be aware of what actions impress and which cause upset, and it does well to mimic how one might act around a crush in real life. Not to mention, it really does make all the character interactions memorable and fun, with no two personalities ever feeling samey.
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