I've been into anime and visual novels and whatnot for a good while now, but one corner of the otaku world I never dabbled in was "dating sims." For most of their history, they have been Japan-only games, and that includes the likes of Love Plus and its spiritual predecessors in the Tokimeki Memorial series. So I played a fan translation of Love Plus for the DS as a curiosity... In the end I'd have to say this sort of game isn't for me, but I can get what the appeal for it might be beyond what harsh and negative clickbait articles generally imply.

There are two "parts" to Love Plus, and two ways you can go about playing the second part -- but I'll get to that later. The first part of the game has you (a boy who transferred to a new high school) meeting three girls:

1. Nene -- the doting "big sister" type, who you work with part-time at a restaurant
2. Manaka -- the shy and cutesy "honor roll" type, who is in the tennis club with you
3. Rinko -- the prickly loner pipsqueak "tsundere," who you assist in the school library

It can not be emphasized enough just how cute all three of them are. They are very, very cute. And they will all give you the time of day! So a world of kind and loving people can be found in video games. All of their lines are voiced, and they are represented in 3D character models that look impressive for a DS game of that era. To be honest, even for 2021 I have to say all of their subtle movements and slight shifts in anime-style expressions are very well done. It's clear the Konami team behind this put a ton of care into it all.

Gameplay is simple. You choose how to spend your day, and if there's an event with one of the girls you'll read the dialogue, and occasionally choose a response to their questions. Spend lots of time with a girl and say nice things to her... and she'll love you! Very cool. Do this enough and you'll get to the second part of the game.

Because you see, the game doesn't end when you confess your love to each other. You and your virtual sweetheart get to continue day-to-day life in Love Plus as a couple, going on dates and whatnot. So there's quite a bit of content in this, should you find all of this engaging. You can speed through the days just like in the first part, or you can choose to play in "real time mode," which expects you to check in with your DS for a few minutes on a daily basis. (I suppose you can say it's like Animal Crossing, but with an anime waifu.) If you go this route, you will apparently get special events for holidays and birthdays and such. But on the flip side, if you neglect your DS for a few days, poor Nene, Manaka, or Rinko will be upset with you.

So all in all, it's definitely a different sort of game, and not nearly as much like a visual novel as I expected. Because you see, there isn't all that much of a story here. You talk to the girls, but it turns out they're just average people living normal lives. I personally didn't find any of it interesting... The girls are cute, but that only carries a game so far for me, lol. Perhaps what aggravated me the most about Love Plus though was... me, or rather the protagonist I played as. This boy, and I will try to say this in the nicest way possible, is dumber than a box of rocks. Every line of dialogue he spouts is so lame and stupid. After a while I couldn't help but imagine his responses being spoken in Big the Cat's voice. These girls deserve way better than "me" LOL.

So who would I recommend Love Plus to... I guess people who enjoy life sim type of things? Stuff like Princess Maker comes to mind, where you make selections and enjoy watching numbers go up. But Love Plus is much less about "winning" any kind of game, as much as just being an experience where you hang out with a video game character. Super niche? Definitely. We also have games where you just drive a truck delivering goods. They're not for everyone, but hey, it's something to do, probably just a way to decompress for a bit for most players. And what can I say? It felt nice to text "good night," and 0.3 seconds later the Love Plus girl responds, thanking me, telling me how sweet I am, and how she looks forward to spending more time with me tomorrow. It gets super repetitive and the illusion fades quickly, but for one brief moment at least, it felt nice.