Help Me Date Your Dad! is simply excellent. It has a solid emotional core, good prose, quality art and an unique presentation style that manages to be visually engaging without being too complicated. However, this project is sadly marred by a single, but all encompassing problem.
Starting the game, readers may feel deceived by the title. We follow a protagonist in a complicated moment. Something out of her control but that she completely expected threatens a very important relationship in her life. With descriptions, narration, visuals and sound that solidify these emotions, players are put right into her shoes. But wait, there is a silver lining. She finds in someone a way not only to mend this relationship, but save everyone involved from regret. MC approaches that person and asks their help and then… silly music starts playing.
Help Me Date Your Dad! suffers from severe tonal issues. For most of the time, it offers this grounded drama that’s explored really well, but there are a couple of scenes that shift this mood completely with goofier dialogue, upbeat music and exaggerated reactions. The shift is harsh enough on the reader, but it also comes close to cheapening a particular relationship that’s pivotal to the whole story.
My belief is that the story could be approached either way (though I won’t deny my preference for the grounded drama), however the abruptness and frequency of this change really harms the project.
This is one of my favourite Novembears and it is high on that list, but the tonal issue is just too much to ignore.
I don't have much to say about this one, but I enjoyed! I thought the writing in particular was really solid, even if not a whole lot has happened yet I'm definitely curious for more.
I loved the edited BGs, I thought they perfectly fit the mood. The rest of the art was good, but there was a bit of a confusing contrast between the almost overly detailed sprites and the much more simple CGs.
While I enjoyed the piece, the overall tone was slightly confusing as well. The narration was very artsy and moody, but it was occasionally interrupted by some choices that felt straight out of a comedic anime. The two biggest culprit is the big fujoshi mission statement (accompanied by boss music) followed by the hilariously cartoony logo. I can't say I hated that part, but considering that in the current version that functionally is the current climax of the story, it being so disconnected from what happened before doesn't feel right. I guess it could work well when this is just a small part of a much bigger story.
A very solid start! The writing flows steadily, and the presentation is simply immaculate; in particular, I'd like to compliment the gorgeously rendered sprites and all the nice animations. If there's something to nitpick, the art direction does feel sort of all over the place – the sprites are an order of a magnitude less cartoony than everything surrounding them, especially the logo. I think you can sense the game's concept and tone shifting a little during development, as apparently happened.
Besides that, I guess I'd say the audio doesn't always have the same kind of pop as the visuals. For instance, the car scene feels like it could maybe use sound design physical enough to match the lively animation – how quiet the backing ambience track is kind of creates a dissonance between what you see and what you hear. Also, as with the visuals, some of the music may be just a little too high-energy for the largely serious tone the finished product ends up having.
These points represent comparatively slight problems in the big picture; I just don't really have that much to say about at the story at this point, since it felt like we just got through all the setup. It's a good read, though, looking forward to more!
Comments
Help Me Date Your Dad! is simply excellent. It has a solid emotional core, good prose, quality art and an unique presentation style that manages to be visually engaging without being too complicated. However, this project is sadly marred by a single, but all encompassing problem.
Starting the game, readers may feel deceived by the title. We follow a protagonist in a complicated moment. Something out of her control but that she completely expected threatens a very important relationship in her life. With descriptions, narration, visuals and sound that solidify these emotions, players are put right into her shoes. But wait, there is a silver lining. She finds in someone a way not only to mend this relationship, but save everyone involved from regret. MC approaches that person and asks their help and then… silly music starts playing.
Help Me Date Your Dad! suffers from severe tonal issues. For most of the time, it offers this grounded drama that’s explored really well, but there are a couple of scenes that shift this mood completely with goofier dialogue, upbeat music and exaggerated reactions. The shift is harsh enough on the reader, but it also comes close to cheapening a particular relationship that’s pivotal to the whole story.
My belief is that the story could be approached either way (though I won’t deny my preference for the grounded drama), however the abruptness and frequency of this change really harms the project.
This is one of my favourite Novembears and it is high on that list, but the tonal issue is just too much to ignore.
I don't have much to say about this one, but I enjoyed! I thought the writing in particular was really solid, even if not a whole lot has happened yet I'm definitely curious for more.
I loved the edited BGs, I thought they perfectly fit the mood. The rest of the art was good, but there was a bit of a confusing contrast between the almost overly detailed sprites and the much more simple CGs.
While I enjoyed the piece, the overall tone was slightly confusing as well. The narration was very artsy and moody, but it was occasionally interrupted by some choices that felt straight out of a comedic anime. The two biggest culprit is the big fujoshi mission statement (accompanied by boss music) followed by the hilariously cartoony logo. I can't say I hated that part, but considering that in the current version that functionally is the current climax of the story, it being so disconnected from what happened before doesn't feel right. I guess it could work well when this is just a small part of a much bigger story.
A very solid start! The writing flows steadily, and the presentation is simply immaculate; in particular, I'd like to compliment the gorgeously rendered sprites and all the nice animations. If there's something to nitpick, the art direction does feel sort of all over the place – the sprites are an order of a magnitude less cartoony than everything surrounding them, especially the logo. I think you can sense the game's concept and tone shifting a little during development, as apparently happened.
Besides that, I guess I'd say the audio doesn't always have the same kind of pop as the visuals. For instance, the car scene feels like it could maybe use sound design physical enough to match the lively animation – how quiet the backing ambience track is kind of creates a dissonance between what you see and what you hear. Also, as with the visuals, some of the music may be just a little too high-energy for the largely serious tone the finished product ends up having.
These points represent comparatively slight problems in the big picture; I just don't really have that much to say about at the story at this point, since it felt like we just got through all the setup. It's a good read, though, looking forward to more!
I’m sorry for my crimes.