Title: Purrfect Date
Available On: PC
Developer:Â Bae Team
Publisher: Bossa Studios
Genre: Indie game
Official Site: Purrfect
Release Date: Friday, December 15, 2017
Where To Buy It: Steam
Purrfect Date is not for everyone, and sadly, it was not for me. I felt that the game sucked any fun out of dating simulation games, and cats, which I am a lover of both. It really was disappointing. I would love to give this higher if the game was interesting, but it really was not. The game had a great idea of being a fun, quirky simulation game, yet it just could not reach that far.
In Purrfect Date, players are sent to a cat island to do research on the cats nearby, however, strange things have been happening on the island and the friendly cats are worried. On your first night, you get bit by a wildcat causing you to have an infection that turns you into a cat over time. Sadly, there is nothing you can do about it. Your player now understands the local cats and with that, you get to research an antidote.
The first thing that made it dull was the little interaction players can make in the game. I had no choice in how to proceed and I may have just read a Goosebumps story because that would have had more interaction with how my story played out. The only interaction that players get to use is to choose what order to do research, romance, or integrate. This was limited. If anything it was ridiculous how much you could not do. I felt like I was reading a novel rather than playing a game as I might as well have just clicked an arrow to read all the text. There was so much text it was overdone. I am not surprised to see that the script contains over 120,000 words, as it sure felt like it. I am not surprised that on the website, it claims that there are more words to this than Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I ended up skipping most of the dialogue as it was unnecessary to the storyline and boring.I could only choose two cats to date per character and it frustrated me how little I can choose and learn about each cat with my first character. I had no way of choosing not to do a certain thing and this game would be hugely more appealing if there was more choice to decide the fate of who I date.
It surprises me that Purrfect Date has eighteen alternative endings when there was not much you can change the storyline. It confused me how some of the storylines are ‘hidden’, when in fact, it is super easy to unlock this dialogue. This game is more like a novel with pictures than a book and it is not a bad thing, it is quite an interesting take on it, but it needs to be more engaging to really stand-out as a dating game. I would advise to take this game slowly and not all at once as it can become a bit overwhelming. The actual story idea is actually interesting as you are eager to complete the antidote. I wanted to help the cats and I became attached to certain ones. I was disappointed to find that no matter what, the first character I chose does not stay with you and will turn into a cat. So, if I played this game again, I would choose a character I did not want to save.
I understand that this was aimed to be a light-hearted fun game, but it just felt like a task. I just wanted to rush to the end because it lacked any sense of fun. Although, I respect that a young couple, Oliver Hindle and Ruby-Mae Roberts, created this game based on their relationship made me enjoy it a bit more. (Especially since their favorite TV show is Lost). But this does not take away that I did not enjoy playing the game.
Even though I personally would not pick up this game again, many people have enjoyed the different paced game because of the sweet nature of it. On steam, many reviews that are posted are mostly positive. You can see why the artwork to this is really beautiful and some of the puns used are hilarious. I know a lot of people who love to read would enjoy this immensely. So, if you love to read and enjoy cats and fancy a change of pace from PUBG, then go ahead and get it because it would be up your street.
Verdict: Not an interacting dating simulation game as I imagined, it is more classed as a novel. Needs a little work, however, many others would enjoy it for the dialogue is funny and sweet, but not relevant to the story. A mix-bag of a game.
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