Visual novels or games that feature detailed stories accompanied by sprites and music have been a staple in Japan since the early 1990s. Ren’ai games or “dating sims” that revolve around branching story paths where you romance characters go back just as far. It has taken a long time for the genre to gain mainstream attention overseas but Western indie developers have been utilizing this wonderful storytelling medium with increasing visibility and Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is one of the most unique, charming examples in recent memory.

In Dream Daddy you play as a widower (who you name and create with a highly diverse “dadsona” character creator) that has recently moved to a new neighborhood with your teenage daughter, Amanda. Your character is a little nervous about socializing but your studly neighbors are friendly -- youth pastor Joseph welcomes you by bringing over a plate of cookies and an amusingly awkward exchange occurs when you both make social faux pax and he leaves, immediately knocks on the door again so that the two of you can re-introduce one another. This sets the tone for the very organic, realistic interactions a lot of the characters have. 

After that you have the option of going to different places and meeting some of the other dads. Jolly barbeque-loving Brian is at the dog park with his daughter Daisy and corgi Maxwell. After you accidentally gets hit with Brian’s frisbee and meet Maxwell (there is an amusing conversation option for the dog), you strike up a conversation with Brian about your daughters and get to experience the first of several hilarious mini-games revolving around trying to one-up each other with your daughters’ accomplishments.

Throughout the rest of your first two days you also meet the cool but adorably awkward music lover-cum-coffee shop proprietor Mat (whose menu revolves around music references; you and Amanda get to help him choose a music-related name for his new banana bread -- Right Said Banana Bread, Banana Bread Kennedys, or Grateful Banana Bread), “bad dad” Robert (who is drinking whiskey at the bar watching “the game” and with whom you can have a one night stand with), erudite, classy high school teacher Hugo, and the goth Victorian fashionista Damien (who you run into at Hot Topic/Spencer’s hybrid “Dead, Goth, and Beyond”).

From here on out you have the option of pursuing and/or befriending the carious dads in different situations. You learn more about them and their families at a neighborhood barbeque at Joseph’s house and can strike up conversations and eventually go on dates after connecting on “DadBook.”

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the various plots and backstories but I was very pleased with Dream Daddy. There’s a lot of heart and as well as some intrigue, drama, hilarious in-universe running gags (several of the characters are invested in reality TV series “Long Haul Ice Road Paranormal Ghost Truckers”) and touching family situations -- struggling to deal with rebellious kids acting out, trying to meet your increasingly independent daughter halfway, strained marriages, and coping with loss.

I had low expectations when it was initially announced, as I assumed it was going to be a joke. Although I quickly became intrigued as lead developers Vernon Shaw (of Game Grumps fame) and Leighton Grey released more information, it vastly exceeded my expectations in terms of the writing, characterization, and diversity.

It’s not without its flaws, as I did run into some minor bugs where the choice I selected had the opposite outcome and the story progressed. The mini-games aren’t always especially fun (some of the controls are iffy) but I definitely feel I got my $14.99 worth. I’ve seen some people object to the voice acting being very minimal vocalizations rather than fully voiced narration butI think it’s unreasonable to expect full voice acting for a game with such a low price tag -- there’s simply too much dialogue.

If you’ve never played a dating sim or visual novel, don’t let the medium scare you and don’t assume it’s going to be boring -- Dream Daddy is a fun, self-aware, and sweet story-telling experience with interesting gameplay elements. Give it a try.

-Laura Platypus

Dream Daddy is available on Steam for $14.99.

The GameStop Expo was held for a single day in Las Vegas this year, a chance for people to congregate, play new and upcoming games, and buy some things. It wasn't particularly huge, but offered a variety of games across multiple genres and platforms, with little wait time to play them. I got to try all sorts of games, and enjoyed most of them.

Here's a small gallery from the event, including a video of gameplay from the (personally) highly anticipated Monster Hunter World and shots of my great Ikea anime eye shirt, and catch our True 4K podcast on 9/7/2017 for more of my thoughts about the games I played!

With EVO's Friday and Saturday being mostly lighthearted days of competition and convention-like time with a few finals matches thrown in, Sunday Finals feels like a completely different event. Once again, the Sunday Finals graced the stage of the Mandalay Bay Events Center, with some of the matches being streamed on actual television. The atmosphere was electric, not unlike seeing a more traditional sporting event, and I could not be happier to be there in person.

The MBEC is a huge, daunting arena, capable of holding 12,000+ people. And sure, while the arena wasn't completely full, I'd easily put it at 75% capacity, no small feat considering 1) this is still an eSports tournament and 2) Sunday Finals were a separate ticket on top of the regular EVO pass. 8,000 attendees might not be DOTA2 Worlds numbers, but they're nothing to scoff at, especially with Disney XD televising the Smash 4 Finals, ESPN televising the Street Fighter V finals, and the various Twitch streams around the world. The finals for each game are set up as an almost double-bracketed affair of winners and losers, with the potential of someone coming up through the losers bracket to make it all the way to the grand finals and taking the prize, leading to interesting match ups and amazing fights.

I'll be upfront and honest with you all: I didn't catch near as much of the finals as I would have liked. The Injustice 2 finals started at 8 am, and plans with visiting friends took me away from the entirety of the Smash 4 finals. But you know, I'm okay with that. I got to see most of BlazBlue, a good chunk of Tekken, and the SFV finals, along with the various announcements that took place between games.

Announcements, you say? Sure. EVO's a good time for fighting game companies to make all sorts of announcements to a receptive crowd. One of the biggest announcements is Acr System Works' big old crossover fighting game BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, combining BlazBlue, Persona 4, Under Night In-Birth, and RWBY. Other announcements were more along the lines of upcoming character DLC for various games, along with a summer beta for Dissidia NT from Square-Enix.

Despite there being 5 games worth of finals throughout the day, the biggest was easily SFV. It had the most entries, the most money on the line, and the most Americans in the Street Fighter finals that we've seen in years. By the time the SFV finalists took stage, the finals had been going on for nearly 12 hours, but people were ready to cheer on their favorite fighters, or just watch the events unfold.

I won't bore you with a lot of the details about the various finals, but I do highly recommend you catch some of them on YouTube; there's very very good fighting game in there. I will say that I am proud of Punk Da God, representing the USA all the way to the grand finals, at the tender age of 18, and that he did very good. But sometimes youth falters under pressure, and to watch seasoned veteran Tokido finally take a grand finals, coming up from the losers' bracket, was stunning to watch. Plus, hearing the crowd yell "USA, USA" was a wonderfully weird thing to be in the middle of.
-Janette G

Check out the gallery and videos below! (Sorry for the audio quality, I was right up against the speakers)

The first 2 days of EVO this year were held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and to say it was big is kinda an understatement. EVO is great in that anyone willing to pay the attendance fee and the game specific tournament registration fee is welcome to compete. Thus, over 10,000 separate game tourney registrations occurred this year, and even accounting for crossover for some of the games, that's easily over 7,000 people, from more than 45 countries around the world, competing for cash and glory. And you don't have to compete to attend! There's a bit of a con going on as well during the first 2 days! The "convention" side of EVO isn't super big: just a small handful of panels, a few artist alley booths, some sponsors and dealers booths, and various free play setups. However, you won't be wanting for more to do. I managed to keep myself busy watching pools and upper level matches, playing games, watching side tourneys, and just general chitchat with other attendees.

Most of the first day is dedicated to the entry pools for the main game tourneys, and you could walk around the floor and watch them happen. As the day went on, quarter and semifinals started lining up, being shown on the bigger stages and streamed on Twitch. By Saturday, some of the games with smaller entry pools were already holding finals, and anyone in the room could watch and cheer.

Along with the main 9 games, loads of side tournaments were being held on the spot. Bandai Namco held an improptu Dragonball Fighter Z tourney, Square Enix had a Dissidia NT tourney, and AnimEVO had a whole slew of various tourneys ranging from old anime fighting games to Puyo Puyo Tetris. Austin Creed (aka Xavier Woods of WWE's The New Day) even held a Windjammers one late Friday night! There were also game previews from big companies, an indie showcase, and even a few cosplayers here and there.

The first two days of EVO are quite the blast. You don't even have to be huge into fighting games to have a good time there. People were super friendly, I saw competitors of all ages playing, and even entire families milling about, enjoying themselves. Everyone I talked to about their time at EVO seemed to have nothing but good things to say. EVO is honestly one of my favorite events to attend. It might not be huge in terms of things to do, but I've had fun every time, and watching competitors be respectful even in crushing defeat is always nice. Plus the idea that an relative unknown kid could take an entire tournament is good.
-Janette G

Check out the gallery and videos below!