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number days sim date (F/M, F/F, free, /browser/)

• overall: B. enjoyment: C.
• number days sim date is not only a step up from the previous games, it's also a refreshing step away. it plays, looks, and feels very different from a typical pacthesis sim date. the art direction has a carefully designed quality to it that helps make up for the still-glaring anatomy issues, the writing is fun and light-hearted, and with a bit more polish this game could be fantastic. the romance itself is poorly done, though, in part due to the games focus on friendship.
• plot: A. a girl (default name evelyn) finds herself trapped in an amusement park with 5 strangers, and an ominous text informs her when the mysterious "number" on her phone reaches zero her time will be up. if this already sounds like way more of an interesting story than is typical for pacthesis's game, it's because it absolutely is. the setting is introduced like a horror game, although it certainly isn't one, and for once it isn't just an excuse to get 6 hot YAs in a room together. this game actually tries to tell an interesting story. the premise may be relatively common, but it's common for a good reason. and there's nothing gimmicky about it, here. it's just a good setup for a good story.
• characters: B. i usually think most pacthesis characters are fairly middling, and i won't pretend that's any different here. they're alright. what i can say, though, is that they're consistently and carefully developed. the big focus on group events in this game really helps them out, as they all play well off of each other, and they act and react like a realistic and relatively normal group of friends. there are no bad characters, even the most boring one (bryce, just saying) is still well crafted and likable. the designs are also fairly good, though the non-arlo boys look a little samey, and evelyn is not only the absolute cutest pacthesis protagonist, but also the most well developed up to this point.
• writing: C. it's very casual for the majority of the game, but that's far from a flaw. the biggest focus is on friendship, which helps, as the writer is far better at that than romance. the humor is not always to my taste, but it's a light and silly game that's capable of setting that aside for the more emotional moments without experiencing any whiplash. it's fun. ...unfortunately, this is still meant to be a dating sim, and frankly the focus on light hearted group dynamics -- while nice -- does make the romance itself suffer. it's rushed, there's no way around it. while there is enough chemistry between the characters to believe they like evelyn, skipping straight to "true / eternal love" they way they do just... doesn't work. honestly, if it just treated the romances like a simple crush that they wanted to act on post-game, it'd be far better. as it is, the romance isn't believable.
• routes: spencer > lena > arlo > bryce > thane
• gameplay: B. unusually for a pacthesis game, this features both a "chapter select" and "free mode". that's not the only departure from the usual. pretty much the entire game is outside of the usual days series format. the game mostly consists of walking around and doing things that will raise or lower your number, aiming to keep it at a middling number (at least until the end). you can interact with the other characters when you find them, and this part is the typical talk/gift/date format -- though the dialogue is now randomized, and likely to repeat. overall it's a refreshing change of pace, and it means you'll constantly have to keep an eye on your number rather than speeding through flirting; if your number gets too high, after all, people will start vanishing. it's neat. my biggest complaint, however, is the map. it's confusing, nothing is labelled, and the arrows don't always go to places that make sense. the mini-map helps, except that the way the lines intersect are massively misleading. it's just not great map design.
• art: B. it can't be denied, pacthesis still doesn't know what a face looks like. she never will. but beyond that, honestly? the art in this is not that bad on a technical level. it's still wonky, it has its obvious flaws and anatomy issues, but they're embraced in a way that gives the impression it's a choice being made. the art direction in this game is fantastic. visually the game just looks very nice. the composition of CGs, the UI, the simpler style of the backgrounds -- it's just good, in a way none of the other games in the series are. this is genuinely top notch, and in my opinion is pretty good proof that if you're good enough at design it's ok if you don't actually know how to draw.

http://pacthesisgames.com/games/sim-dates/number-days-sim-date.html

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