Game Review: Matchmaker Agency

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam)

It's not often that full-on management simulation games fall into our laps here at A-to-J, but it's a genre we're always excited to see more of. Matchmaker Agency gives you the ability to take charge of the love lives of an infinite number of clients. It's developed by Niji Games and MelonCat, and published by Soft Source, and it's out now on the Nintendo Switch and PC. We're going to be taking a look at it on the Nintendo Switch today, and see if this game is something you'll want to pick up for yourselves. There's quite a lot to discuss here, so let's dive right in!

Matchmaker Agency places you into the role of yourself. You can of course name the main character anything you want, but I think the idea is that they're meant to be a representation of you. You are also able to name the titular matchmaking agency. Once names are settled on, the story begins. It seems that your family has been known for their matchmaking prowess for generations, but it's something that seems to have skipped a generation. Your grandparents were the last ones to run the agency, as your parents moved away with you when you were still young. It's now years later, and you're all grown up. Your grandparents unfortunately have recently passed away, and it's up to you to take up the family legacy. The once great agency lays in shambles, and you begin the long journey to get it back to good standing. You're not alone in these endeavors, as you have a familiar named Charles to help you out. Charles is a talking cat, and mostly acts as a tutorial. They're also the only other character you'll regularly interact with throughout the game, though the game does give you a bit of plot progression elsewhere. Most of the clients your agency deals with are generic NPCs, but some are unique and will unlock more features in the main game. There's also something like a villain to be had with your landlord, though they're not exactly pure evil. There really aren't too many details to discuss regarding the plot, but I'm impressed that the game delivers as good as a story as it does. Management sims don't always have well-written story modes, but this one isn't all that bad. Having said that, most people will be playing this for the management part of the equation, so let's move the discussion there next.

Discussing all aspects of Matchmaker Agency's gameplay is far beyond the scope of this review, but I'm going to do my best in giving an overview of what the game actually consists of. In case it's not obvious, your main goal here is to find the perfect matches for your clients. This does give you that ever-important feeling of accomplishment, but it also gives you the money you need to keep the doors open. That landlord I mentioned earlier might not be an all-around bad guy, but he's more than eager to come down on you hard if you miss a rent payment. Keeping clients satisfied is the name of the game, as they provide money for successful matches, and for being brought into the agency in the first place. Amassing a large roster of clients will become second nature later in the game, but can be a daunting task in the opening sections of the game. Each client will is important, and you'll have to do tasks like passing out fliers, running an ad on the radio or TV, or even getting a celebrity endorsement. Clients will flock to you relevant to the method of advertisement you chose to go with, but they'll also come in greater if you have a high reputation. Reputation is built and lost on the backs of clients, so you'll have to maintain a decently high one if you want to get all the perks it unlocks. Once you've built up an active list of clients, you can then start the matchmaking process. This is where the real fun begins, and where the game probably shines the most.

The first thing you're going to want to do when you get a new client is to learn what they're looking for in a partner. Each client has a file, and there will be information already filled in on said file when they join. These documents list their likes, dislikes, ideal partner, and even their sexual preferences. Missing info can either be ignored, or filled in by interviewing clients further. You're able to interview up to three clients each week by default, and it is possible for these interviews to fail. Most interactions in the game take place in a style reminiscent of visual novels, and the interviews give you dialogue choices that can make or break a conversation. You can always choose to sabotage a client's love life, though this might not be the best course to take early on. Either way, you can start matching clients up whenever you feel you're ready. This action is as simple as picking two clients whose profiles seem to match, and you can then pick a location for their first date. You'll only have a few options available to you at the start of the game, but you'll unlock more over time. These dates have several random events that occur during them, and you can affect the choices the clients make during these events. This may feel like something obvious for a management sim, but it's explained in universe as a special power that's available to you via your family's skill at matchmaking. These choices can make or break a date, though I found the "bad" choices to be quite obvious for the most part. You then get an update regarding how the couple hit it off, and you can either gain reputation and money if you made a match, or lose some rep if they didn't hit it off. Successfully paired clients then leave your roster, and you can begin the process again the following week.

While that basically is the entire gameplay loop, there's also a lot of little things that are worth mentioning. Each action takes up one game week, so it's best to carefully plan what you're going to be doing several weeks in advance. Clients don't like to sit around not being matched up, and an unhappy client can potentially hurt your reputation. There will be times where you simply don't have the right set of clients available, but that's why keeping a steady stream of them is important. It's also worth noting that you don't have to take on all potential clients, and this is something you'll want to do if you're getting too many men, or vice versa. There's also the plot-relevant clients that you'll want to match up as soon as possible. These characters not only have backstories that are interesting, but they often open up new gameplay options, or dating locations. There really is a lot to see in this game, most of which I simply don't have the time to explain. You can go on dates in several locations, give clients items to boost the chances of success, unlock skills that make choosing options in dates and interviews easier, and even spend your hard-earned money sprucing up the matchmaking agency itself. It's a surprisingly deep game that has a rather relaxing gameplay loop. I hesitate to use the word "cozy" to describe it, but I found myself losing hours to it simply way of how simple and fun it proved to be.

Though you can only play Matchmaker Agency's story mode at first, you do unlock a fully-featured free play mode too. Part of me wishes that this was unlocked from the get-go, but I can see why the developers would want to put players through a full tutorial first. Admittedly, the main game itself doesn't have many actual goals beyond paying off your rent, but I appreciated the additional laid-back vibes of the free play mode. Being able to set my own pace really opened up the game for me. I went for riskier choices in the matchmaking and date stages, and I even had fun sabotaging some couple too. It's a truly endless mode that is only limited by your own imagination. You can even create your own characters in this mode that you can then match up. Not only does this allow players to put a personal spin on things, but it also fixes the problems of randomization the game has. Despite the fact that the game will still give them random things to do and say, it does allow for players to create scenarios that mirror real life. Want to match up your friends, or see them go on absolutely nightmarish dates? You can do that, and more, right here! It truly is a blast to play, even though it isn't without its issues.

I may have mostly positive things to say about Matchmaker Agency, but there are a few negatives that I should point out now. First off is the game's localization or translation. Both Niji Games and MelonCat are based in Indonesia, so I can only assume that's why some of the game's dialogue feels a bit off at times. I never thought that it was anything game or immersion breaking, but there are plenty of spelling and grammar errors, or just odd wording in general. I'll admit that I found many of these issues to lead to humor rather than annoyance, but I can also see where some people might not be so forgiving. My next issue has to do with how the game handles randomization. I'm not sure if there's only a small pool of options to choose from, but the game sure odes repeat itself a lot. Not only will you see a lot of same events take place over and over again, but you'll often see characters with the same names keep joining your client roster. This would be bad enough on its own, but there's also the wonkiness that comes with randomly generating a characters appearance. I once had the same exact client name three times in my roster, with each of them looking more ridiculous than the next. I much rather the game had made a couple hundred fully designed characters than what we get here, as this issue did affect the fun I was having more than once. I tried to stay positive, but it can be a little hard when the game just feels like it's not even taking itself very seriously. I don't mean in the content either, I can't help but feel like this is some sort of mobile project that simply got ported over to reach a new market. I still think it's a decent enough game, but it's far from a polished experience.

Considering that I'm of the mind that at least part of this game was created with the mobile market in mind, it makes sense that I didn't find it all that impressive visually. The game is cute enough for what it is, but there isn't a whole lot to look at most of the time. Your agency is pretty bland, and many of the management gameplay sections are either a single still image, or a wall of text. It isn't an ugly game by any means, it just doesn't do much to stand out visually. Then there's the problems with client creation that I mentioned just a bit ago. What makes that entire thing all the worse is the fact that the story-related character designs are really good. Each of them are unique, and it's clear that they weren't created using the standard client generating tool. It's sad that you only get a handful of them, since the random ones don't hold up well in comparison. If I had to describe the graphics in a single word, I'd have to say that they feel uninspired. It also doesn't help that the music is only just okay too, as a good soundtrack would've really helped the overall presentation. The music does have something of a cozy vibe to it, but that's just about the only positive thing I can think to say on that topic. It's rather disappoint that the game couldn't stick the landing, but I still don't think it's all horrible, especially considering how small of a release this really is.

Even though there are a plenty of issues with Matchmaker Agency's gameplay and presentation, I can't deny the fact that I spent hours and hours playing the game up to this point. I got so involved with my most recent runs, that I realized I was accidentally putting off the review so that I could see every little thing the game has to offer. While there is something of an end to the Story Mode, this is a game that has near infinite possibilities in its free play mode. Seeing everything is a task that I'll probably never complete, and I'm fine with that. I know I knocked the game earlier for looking and feeling like a mobile release, but I also liked that I had it on my Nintendo Switch. This meant that I was able to play it in short bursts just about everywhere, and I suggest you pick up that version if you choose to get it. Not only is this a feature-rich game, but it also comes with a very reasonable price tag of $19.99. You really do get a lot of mileage out of your dollar here, and I see myself playing this long after I wrap up this review. Praise for the Switch release aside, I should mention that the PC release seems to have quite a few game-breaking bugs in it. I didn't experience any issues with the Switch version, but many reviews and posts on Steam call out several bugs that are reported on by several different users. My advice is to be wary of that version if you're at all interested, or simply to get the Switch version to avoid all that.

In case it's not obvious so far, I give Matchmaker Agency the fullest of recommendations. At the end of the day, this is simply too fun a game to ignore. Even some of the wonky elements, like poorly generated characters or mismatched date events, end up coming off as amusing rather than bad. It's a must-buy for simulation fans, or those who like casual, stat-heavy games. While I wouldn't go so far as to suggest that it's one of the best games I've played so far this year, I will say that it's most likely to stay in my gaming rotation the longest. This is a release that is sure to fly under your radar, so I suggest you grab it now so it doesn't pass you by. You don't even have to thank me on this one. See you all next time!

Check Out Matchmaker Agency on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/matchmaker-agency-switch/

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Story: A
Gameplay: B+
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: A

Overall: B+

Pros:
+ A fully-featured management simulation game that has a neat premise.
+ The plot is cute and funny, and who doesn't like a talking cat?
+ There's a randomness to just about every aspect of the game that keeps it feeling fresh and interesting long after you think you've seen everything.
+ The story-related clients all have unique designs and backstories that provide a nice contrast to the endless sea of randomly-generated clients.
+ The unlockable free play mode, and the character creator, adds an entirely new dimension to an already great game.
+ You can play this game practically forever, and the fact that it's priced at just $19.99 feels like a steal.

Cons:
- There are plenty of issues with grammar, spelling, and word usage that can take some out of the game.
- The random aspects of the game can sometimes create characters that look horrendous, or names that feel like they repeat dozens of times in a single session.
- If you're not a fan of RNG, then this might not be the game for you.
- At the end of the day, I can't help but think that this feels a bit like a mobile release just ported over to other platforms.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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The opening actually reminded me a lot of Stardew Valley.