After a rather brief introduction where a simplified, yet very charming (years of Tokimeki experience plus new presentation approaches do wonders), dating sim structured section plays out, the game reveals what is it really about. For once, the confession isn’t the end of the love story, but the beginning.

Which is a very interesting idea. Using the real time approach (because skip mode, apart from being clearly unintended, sucks) the game still has the charm from the introduction in a much more relaxed pace, but something begins to fail. The more you meet your girlfriend, the more you go out on dates, the more you touch her, the more you kiss her, the less you want to do any of that. Which is also even more interesting. It still carries the question, how does love work after that initial burst, after insecurities are dissipated and becomes part of the daily routine? There are many roads to explore, like to examine how the relationship develops into something more mature, or even to witness how the passion gets lost, the need to see each other fades away and becomes a dear memory of the past. But no, LovePlus is not really interested in that. At this point, your Tamagotchi girlfriend will always be at your loyal service, pretending she cares the same as the beginning, waiting eternally frozen at high school for you even long after you forget her. I just wish both sides could move on.

Let's begin by saying the obvious: I don't like dating sims. Part of it of course is the low tier anime-like writing, but mostly it's the concept and the systems built around it.

The game loop basically consists in choosing a couple activities to do each day, each one improving or decreasing certain stats (studying makes you intelligent, sports makes you athletic and so on) in order to impress the girl you like. Let's be real, who does that? Shouldn't you think more carefully about how you spend your high school time, thinking about yourself and your future instead of some random girl you just got to know? You could say that's just my bias because I know how the game works, but the truth is the game itself tells you which stats will make you be liked by each girl and at what point (more or less, and with more variables) a milestone will be reached. Which leads me to the second point: numbers.

Of course these games have to work with a bunch of numbered variables in order to make it feel engaging and somehow realistic, this is not black and white, but why do they need to be exposed to the player? Wouldn't it be more fun to get to know the girls and what they like with each interaction? Wouldn't it be much more special to start noticing certain things that make you think that you're in the right direction instead of the game telling you? Wouldn't it be beautiful to have the girl you like suddenly confess to you, knowing that all you've done in the game is be yourself and do what you thought was right?

The game's depiction of relationships as maths, as trophies, is something I absolutely hate, and as much as I want to love this game for its atmosphere, the light-hearted dialogues, the cute character design, its beautiful music and the overall charm it has, I just can't stand it.