Is it worth it? - Hanako Games

sayuri

#3 by sayuri - Jun 22 2010

I think Hanako might be a little biased, but...

I'll vouch that Date Warp is totally worth the money. It's better than Fatal Hearts, IMHO. After my first play-through, I actually wanted to obtained all the guys, which is rare for me. Everything was very well written and I squealed like a little girl for pretty much every confession

. If you are like me and play nonstop until you've seen every ending then the game will probably take you a good eight hours. So the game is about as long as Fatal Hearts, maybe a little shorter. Still, I've already replayed my favorite endings so I'm still getting some use out of it. I would buy it because, to me, Date Warp is second only to Yo Jin Bo in my otome game hierarchy.

/end gushing

lill_sweetty

#4 by lill_sweetty - Jun 23 2010

I wouldn't call it better than Fatal Hearts. There are less CGs, less complete endings, and less attractive art than Fatal Hearts in general - though much more consistent, because the artist is consistent for all the routes as far as I can tell, whereas the quality of Fatal Heart's art depended on which route you were on.

However, it's very long and well worth the price, especially if you play the first time carefully and don't skip too much in later routes. The storyline, while cliche at certain parts (what VN isn't?) and raised more interesting questions than explored, had good characterization and writing to go for it.

Only detractor would be that Date Warp, for its price, has no extras (is the CG gallery and ending list out yet?).

But if you liked Fatal Hearts and get the 30% discount offered in the secrets forum, there's no reason why you shouldn't get it.

hanako

#5 by hanako - Jun 23 2010

no extras (is the CG gallery and ending list out yet?).

The OP doesn't count as an extra?

The gallery and endings list has been out for quite a while for new customers and has been previously mentioned here and on the newsletter as an available update - if you want it, just send your receipt to support (or PM here if necessary but email is preferred) and I can send you a link for a new download.

Based on the sales so far, it seems likely that future games will be in the fewer CGs mold, because based on my experiences it doesn't seem possible for me to get that much art out of a single artist, and there have been so many complaints about games with artist mixing....

lill_sweetty

#6 by lill_sweetty - Jun 24 2010

The OP counts as a really awesome song that you don't actually need to purchase the game to enjoy, as it's on youtube and there's no jukebox in Date Warp (unless you added that in...). But it's a really awesome song.

Oh... okay. ^.^ I thought it was still in beta. But yes, so then there are extras - a CG gallery and an ending list. So Date Warp is now worth more.

Despite the fact that I understand you can not get too many CGs from one artist in a reasonable span of time, CGs are really what set VNs apart from interactive fiction. They cut from the monotony of text and fading poses. So I do judge a game on CG count. And sheer number aside, Date Warp was lacking in one crucial requirement: an ending CG. All the VNs I remember playing had ending CGs, and I was disappointed this one didn't. It's your reward! If you had that, I probably would not have had an issue with the CG count.

In the end, however, quality trumps quantity, and in Date Warp's case I found it lacked there. The background, the characters, paper dolls, were beautiful. Stunning. However, I much preferred the art of nearly every artist in Fatal Hearts over the CG artist of Date Warp. Perhaps it's a personal preference.

Anyway, I'm not dissuading you from buying, just pointing out some problems with Date Warp. I suggest you try out Fatal Hearts, see how you like it, try Date Warp's demo, see if its art and writing is to your tastes (its style is quite different from Fatal Hearts and though it seems like a mystery, it's really a steampunk locked room kind of plot, with a touch of fantasy), do the 35% deal to bring the price closer to Fatal Hearts, and then buy it.

hanako

#7 by hanako - Jun 24 2010

The jukebox came with the update - but it doesn't actually contain the theme song (just the background music) because the musician wants to be able to sell the MP3. So for THAT, you want youtube or waiting until it's available in the mp3 shops.

(I agree that ending graphics are very nice to have, but with the limits I was working under I felt it more important to illustrate those key moments in the story. There are some indie VNs with no CGs at all... But yes, your point is noted.)

FantasyFan

#8 by FantasyFan - Jun 26 2010

My two cents.

First of all, Fatal Hearts IS better. There's no question about that as far as I'm concerned. Fatal Hearts has better artwork, more puzzles, more story branches, overall it's better.

Having said that, if you take Date Warp on its own, it's a great game. Yes, it would be nice if there were different kinds of puzzles instead of just that one wire puzzle. Yes, I would prefer if the artwork filled the whole screen instead of being contained in a boarder. But the strength lies in the story and the characters. The characters are very well-developed, and you learn more about them as you play more times and make different choices. The story is nothing short of awesome and very, very gripping. You want to keep playing just to find out exactly what's going on.

I got it with the blogging discout, which I would recommend just to save a little money, but it's definitely worth buying.

Ayanni

#9 by Ayanni - Jul 13 2010

I played Date Warp and it is indeed very good and way longer than I expected, I hated Fatal Hearts after playing the demo, though, the story seemed too boring and the artwork was bad (DW's art is a lot better but far from perfect, specially in some of the CGs)...

Belladreams

#10 by Belladreams - Jul 28 2010

hanako:
The jukebox came with the update - but it doesn't actually contain the theme song (just the background music) because the musician wants to be able to sell the MP3. So for THAT, you want youtube or waiting until it's available in the mp3 shops.

(I agree that ending graphics are very nice to have, but with the limits I was working under I felt it more important to illustrate those key moments in the story. There are some indie VNs with no CGs at all... But yes, your point is noted.)

The opening song really is awsome and i wish you could connect it to the true ending part of the song.

Coolgamer

#11 by Coolgamer - Oct 15 2010

Given that I enjoyed Fatal Hearts, would this be another enjoyable game?

Or is this one more targeted to female gamers then Fatal Hearts was?

hanako

#12 by hanako - Oct 15 2010

In some ways it's less girly than Fatal Hearts, but it really depends on what you consider female-oriented.

The plot edges sci-fi instead of fantasy, the characters are a little bit older and correspondingly more worldly. The game is really more about plot than about romance - however, it goes into character-specific paths more clearly than Fatal Hearts does, and you will have to actively pursue the boys' endings in order to unlock the full plot. And there is no f/f content, which may disappoint some male players.

Play the demo, that's probably the best answer.

Vanille

#13 by Vanille - Oct 26 2010

lill_sweetty:
I wouldn't call it better than Fatal Hearts. There are less CGs, less complete endings, and less attractive art than Fatal Hearts in general - though much more consistent, because the artist is consistent for all the routes as far as I can tell, whereas the quality of Fatal Heart's art depended on which route you were on.

However, it's very long and well worth the price, especially if you play the first time carefully and don't skip too much in later routes. The storyline, while cliche at certain parts (what VN isn't?) and raised more interesting questions than explored, had good characterization and writing to go for it.

Only detractor would be that Date Warp, for its price, has no extras (is the CG gallery and ending list out yet?).

But if you liked Fatal Hearts and get the 30% discount offered in the secrets forum, there's no reason why you shouldn't get it.

I completely agree with you

Vanille

#14 by Vanille - Oct 26 2010

Ayanni:
I played Date Warp and it is indeed very good and way longer than I expected, I hated Fatal Hearts after playing the demo, though, the story seemed too boring and the artwork was bad (DW's art is a lot better but far from perfect, specially in some of the CGs)...

Not really, a lot of the artists in Fatal Hearts, were really good. Specially the
Bastien path

Coolgamer

#15 by Coolgamer - Nov 9 2010

I'll probably buy it when I can simply to support the creator.

Schizoid

#16 by Schizoid - Jun 7 2011

Gasp! I loved Fatal Hearts. p.q It was the first game that I downloaded from Hanako Games. I'm biased. Hehe.

Anyways, I thought that Date Warp was an AMAZING game, and it had a lot of replayability. You kind of have to play through it multiple times in order to get the best ending, so...yeah! :'D Money well-spent.

Badcopter

#17 by Badcopter - Jul 7 2011

This game is far more worth $20 than most other games in its genre. I regretted shelling out 20 dollars for Love and Order, I tried the demo of Remember Me and knew that I disliked the writing and wishy-washy characters enough that it wasn't worth the full version, but this game is both very good and enough of a timesink that I'd say go for it.

If you don't feel like spending money, though, I'd recommend RE:Alistair and Chrono Days. RE:Alistair also has a nerdy protagonist, likeable characters and a mystery, and Chrono Days has likeable characters and time travel. They're obviously shorter, less complex, and in the case of Chrono Days not as graphically nice, but they're my two favorite otome games after this one.