ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area

This game will never get finished. Every character is so unlikable and the writing for them is not very good. It's also very buggy. Does not feel good to play at all.

so fkn sorry yall got review bombed oh my god

An awesome visual novel/ dating simulator. You just have to play through each character's intro to get to the next one, and it won't let you move on a route until you have achieved a good ending with your current character. Despite these hurdles, it's an intriguing game. Characters are real and flawed, a friendship is a successful outcome for many dynamics, gender is real-life levels of both simple and complicated, and racial and cultural dynamics are integrated in positive and appropriate ways. A very human game.

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I have yet to find time to pour a thorough enough review this game deserves, but until then: Here's one thing you can find in Validate, and spoilers for Butterfly Soup if you haven't already played it. One of my favorite elements both Validate and Butterfly Soup tackle is the racial compulsion to assimilate. Validate is not scared of telling you how. Without spoiling his route, you can find this in Malik's relationship with what his father did, followed with him regularly trying to mitigate with humor and navigate scrutiny in being a black rapper who is queer. Noelle in Butterfly Soup correlates this, but as an uptight Asian high schooler with infallible grades and whose mother lives vicariously through her. Inwards they both refuse to buckle down completely to their family's impulse to grovel the american dream. Both characters navigate this via choices in-game, and players watch them choose themselves in response. In this process, through people they meet, befriend and try to kiss in their routes (Malik's endings, Noelle with Akarsha) they find closure in themselves. I have yet to see games namely Visual Novels sample and highlight queer hardship and especially black trauma this thoroughly and explicitly. This game platforms culture that is undeniable and not hidden in implication, and to anyone looking to open their hearts reading this VN, they wont regret laughing with it. The game itself is not in traditional visual novel format: you pick a character and experience live events from their POV. Choices determine endings but aren't heavily staked for the routes you play and endings received like most VNs. Do not play this game if you want to feel comfortable, as a lot of Validate's prior complaints point back to missing its point: you will watch singles struggle in their areas. No, you shouldn't look at Malik, only play his route once and go "wow, this guy is really rough and I can't stomach how horrible he is, his misogyny is unbearable" without unpacking why. You're supposed to look at Malik, wonder "Wow, are black DL men this disastrous in the States?" and the answer is YES! THEY ARE! 🤣 Expand on what questions this raises and perspective this gives you. People come to this game wanting an otome or games led like soft romance with dark themes, then cry when the language of a black queer man dealing with internalized misogyny isn't softened and tailored to their comfort, when the black queer life was never comfortable or easy. Conformism is a tale as old as time and while a lot of this game's old reviews are well warranted especially with functions and bug fixes, I'm so exhausted seeing the need to conform and coddle operate behind their sentences. Instead now conformism attempts here with unique queer lives sampled unapologetically, and seeing it get whacked and whittled for not being sorry. Navigating discomfort is one of the most powerful abilities of VNs as a genre, i.e Muramasa would not have succeeded as well as it did without its ability to discomfort. This game is a good start, platforms a lot of niches in the VN scene with underdeveloped yet promising ideas, and ultimately needs to be played. With that said, the UI and reading functions need a lot of work and to be optimized. I found repeat errors of Rocky's sprite placement amongst other layout issues to name on the top of my head. Given its origins from an indie studio's first game in its history, this game works fine and is enjoyable, the devs should be proud of themselves. Functionally it's a 6 now versus its beta, with the devs' ongoing development, bug fixes and revised sprite artwork. Ahiri looks gorgeous and the artwork emote each characters and their antics adorably. Yet with Nekopara and other well known IPs with seamless UIs being available for $20, mechanically Validate needs a lot of work. It's existence is beautiful, however, and prompts long overdue conversations in the visual novel genre. When the player experiences discomfort, ask yourself why; In that research and reflection, I don't think players will regret what they discover. More reasonably an 7 overall with the above said. For what I got out of it, Validate writes like a 10 in what it's not scared to say and easily rests as one of my favorite VNs, but it needs to write more, it's a great sampler. I can't wait for the next volume and what more lenses they'll tackle. Both games show the queer individual ability to find love, and players will find how in their favorite routes. Honestly what stops this game from being a 10 is its bugs and what it needs to finish telling. To be loved is to be changed, and I think both games deliver an excellent job of communicating this with variations. Understanding why requires empathy and peace its ratebombers and review bombers won't let themselves have.

Disclaimer: Have only finished Inayas Route. Mostly done with Maliks I went into this game expecting more of a traditional visual novel style route sort of deal where we spend more time with the character we're playing as, as well as the potential love interests, with your choices determining what path you end up on. It is not like that all, but that isn't a bad thing in my opinion! It clicked for me when I realized you are experiencing someone else's story that's happening with or without your input, you are just getting a brief look into it. The way it works is that you pick a character and experience their encounter from their point of view. Your choices do determine your ending, but they are always 'do I lean into my flaws?' or 'do I try not to?'. Sometimes no matter which you pick things don't always work out, but it's always for reasons that feel real. It feels like a series of grounded interconnected short stories with realistically messy characters who don't always make the best choices, and you're mostly along for the ride. I do wish there was a little more music variation, but the music that is there is amazing. The cgs are really good too, I love the art and the writing. I can't speak on the cultural aspects of it, but it is really nice to see more grounded queer stories

These singles sure are struggling! If you let the game be what it is - a quirky story about personal growth and friendship - you will have a good time. If you're looking for a traditional romance simulator, you will be disappointed. It is a sweet, sometimes angsty game with a gorgeous art style, enjoy it for what it is. I'm very happy with it, I'm sure I will replay it at some point.

Vamos la! geralmente eu faço um resumo das sinopse dos jogos que eu jogo, mas esse jogo aki não joguei tempo suficiente para conhecer todos os personagens pq achei bem ruim. Nesse jogo voce tem varios protagonista mas eu não consegui gostar nenhum pouco da ''primeira rota'' que joguei o jogo claramente da para perceber que se preocupa mais em espalhar uma mensagem doque ser um bom jogo em si, as escolhas não importa, seus gosto não importa, e muito menos oque voce ta pensando com varias mensagem como ''voce se sente nervoso com tal coisa acontecendo'' sendo que se EU estou jogando e fazendo escolhas eu consigo decidir por mim mesmo se estou nervoso ou não certo? mas não é assim que esse jogo pensa ele tem que narrar e ditar cada coisa que acontece ou voce sente para voce se moldar ao jogo não o jogo a voce. sinceramente esse jogo parece que nada é contada de uma forma natural. bem não consegui gostar nenhum pouco do jogo e isso que não joguei tanto mas é o tipo de jogo que da para perceber que não melhora fora que é um dos jogos que é um visual novel com mais bugs que ja vi.

Game is a big ol scam. Don't buy anything that only offers you 10% of what it promised 4 years later.

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