Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyDate Everything
Team 17 / Sassy Chap Games
PC/ Steam
Date Everything is a sandbox dating simulator set in the comfort of your own home, featuring 100 fully voice acted datable characters! Let the romance flow between your bed, smoke alarm and…*checks notes* Overwhelming Sense of Existential Dread?
I don’t usually play dating simulators. In fact, I can’t remember ever playing one before, but when I heard about Date Everything I became intrigued with both the game and the concept. To be completely honest, it was the impressive cast of voice actors including Laura Bailey, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Robbie Daymond, Erika Ishii, Anjali Bhimani, Felicia Day, Eric Bauza and more bringing these characters to life that sold me on picking up a copy. So after playing the game for the last two weeks, here are my impressions of it.
Graphics
Date Everything is a first person point of view game so you are immersed in the environment and see everything that is around you as you move the camera. The graphics are not photorealistic and that works for the vibe and tone of a light, fun dating simulator. The visual fun of the game comes from the dynamic and beautifully detailed characters that you interact with once you unlock the assorted datable objects around your house. Each of the characters have a fun, interesting and unique look that is appropriate for the object they represent.
As far as interaction with the world of the game, you click onto objects either with or without the special glasses and they either move or not based on what they are. You can open and close drawers and interact with most objects, but you’re not going to be able to physically pick up your microwave or anything like that. The visuals are vibrant once you put the special glasses on and those visuals are what make you want to stay in that environment during gameplay.
Gameplay
Speaking of gameplay, Date Everything is a point and click style game. You move the character through the house with the keyboard and use the mouse buttons to either inspect or interact with objects in the room. When you put on the “Dateviators” you unlock the ability to unlock a limited number of objects during your day. The gameplay is pretty straightforward and that is one of the things that makes it work. The social interactions are the key to the enjoyment of the game and with over a hundred objects and characters to choose from, it’s hard to get bored as you become more immersed in the lives of these objects and grow closer to many of them.
Replay-Ability
The game offers more than just find and object/ date an object. The interactions with the characters opens branching narratives and mysteries that are often fun, sometimes annoying and overall entertaining. You find yourself getting involved in certain stories, uncovering mysteries including hidden rooms in your house and relationship entanglements that you feel obligated to pursue for good or ill. At the end of each day, you feel excited to complete it and move onto the next day to continue the story and evolve your relationship with the characters. The first time I played the game fully, I played the equivalent of two weeks in-game time the first night.
Date Everything
