The Dating Games: Episode 02: Rose of Winter

Love it! Abby and Ben are both supper funny and this game is surprisingly awesome.

@ksck26: Drew and Vinny are both video producers (not sure why you put that in quotes when talking about Abby, but I can take a guess) and they are in a ton of content, so I don't know where you got the idea that Abby is the only one to "force" themselves into content. Also, you bringing up the GOTY "debacle" (which is really just fans crying that their game didn't get picked while others did) as the reason for leaving already tells me what kind of fan you are, and I'm glad you are leaving the community. We don't need someone with your toxicity.

Those voices are pretty good. Abby should lean into that southern accent even more.

@ksck26: Man if a couple people making content on a video game website upsets you so much you might want to just chill a bit

It's okay to not like things, but it's not okay to make personal attacks towards team members just because you don't like the content they make

This post comes off as incredibly petty and dramatic

Edit: Also the GOTY cast was not a "debacle," GOTY casts are always a mess and the GB crew has admitted as much.

I know I already commented about how great this series is, but it truly is the gift that keeps on giving. I get to watch a great, entertaining video, then be just as entertained by all the delicate, salty duders in the comments. Thanks, Abby and Ben! <3

As someone who does play a decent amount of VNs/romance games, I am slightly disappointed that the selection seems to mainly be Hatoful (which I should say I think is legitimately funny and well written and not a “meme game”) + a lot of Western games. I totally recognize those are probably the most accessible, but I do think some of the Japanese/Korean ones that have been translated in the past few years are pretty great without much of a barrier to entry, though admittedly some are still only on PSP/Vita. In particular, it’s unfortunate that Code Realize’s PS4 port won’t hit till March, because I think that game’s excellent as both a “regular” VN (it has a really well structured episodic story that lets it lead into each character route in a satisfying way) and a romance game.

All that being said, both episodes have been pretty good so far! And I’m very, very happy that they’re going to play Butterfly Soup because that game is amazing. I just hope they keep trying more VNs after this.

@ilikepopcans: Are you having a stroke?

I wonder what the people who dislike the feature could do? Maybe stop watc-----nah, that's an insane idea, keep watching.

this is kinda dumb in the best way possible. my girlfriend is all about this series and excited to see what's next.

This is excellent :D

We need to get Danika on to provide voice talent next time there is a game with more than two characters!

I've enjoyed this feature, but I agree with the thought that playing VN games for an hour doesn't really give you any sort of idea of what the game is about or what it's like (this one excepted, as the story wrapped nicely). I'd rather they not play something like Doki Doki, for example, because the first few hours of that game are a real disservice to what the rest of that game is about, and if they were to start halfway through, it wouldn't mean anything. I really do wish they would've just picked something and played through it, but hopefully there will be more fun short games like this one.

wow this game got significantly hornier than I expected.

Great series. Great episode. Thank you.

A great idea for a series, I didn't think it would be but I'm glad I was wrong. I wonder how much money they make out of these interactive fiction games?

This seems cool - I liked it. I'm really not into these types of games, but this is a nice feature that diversifies the site's outreach. It's fine if you don't like it, but Giant Bomb has been putting out more content than ever before - and while you don't have to like very feature, I'm sure you can find something that strikes your fancy among the offerings. There are some super salty people out there desperate for someone to notice their displeasure - it's just the way anonymous internet works; and they will never be happy people anyway.

For example, I'm turned off by videos that feature Rorie, so I avoid most of them - but it doesn't detract from this still being my favorite site on the internet.

Offer explanations of the specific things making the feature less interesting, along with constructive criticism on how to remedy the issue?

@teo22: You're on a monthly subscription.

Great episode . Loved the voice acting and it seems like a really pleasant fun game.Really looking forward to the butterfly soup episode!

Great feature and funny to see people getting all upset about it, I'll be sure to double my enjoyment of it on their names.

I really enjoyed this. Thanks!

I was skeptical of the format at first, especially considering that VN's usually have a long buildup, but this has been pretty entertaining actually. Hope Abby tries different holiday themes. Gotta say though, good riddance to those being overly dramatic about their dislike for this.

I really hope if they continue this series they do VA-11 Hall-A. It's a decent and quick story with options giving multiple outcomes for the characters in the world. On top of that, it stays away from R-rated sex scenes which I'm guessing is something they're looking for in their VN's. If we could get a game that took multiple episodes, I'd love to see STEINS;GATE, but I don't think they're really going to be going for that with this.

So is this series just them reading the lines from visual novel dating games? Just to be clear, I'm not saying it's bad, I just have no interest in that, kinda like how I had no interest in the Metal Gear Scanlon series. It's hour and a half video and it's hard to jump around to see if anything else happens.

You got me ) I wasn't when I commented, just wanted to watch some old demo derbies with drew.

I wonder if they are going to play a VN that covers the subjects Dream Daddy supposedly introduced to the genre.

Oooh, I just spotted Reese from Hustle Cat in the banner for this feature! Of all the "western" VNs I've played, Hustle Cat is my favorite hands down. Hope they don't burn out before getting to it.

I haven't watched this yet, but I appreciate y'all branching out! :)

Video games.

@ksck26: lol

This one, I actually enjoyed! Not sure what it was about it. I would guess cause it was easier to follow just two characters.

They do the voices soooo well!

Really? I'd imagine the idea for this series came from them playing Dream Daddy last year.

I hated everything I saw about this game. I hope this is the low point of this series.

wow, i fell asleep 4 times getting through this vid but i actually quite liked it :D

This has some good music, some great little jokes and the voices are AWESOME.

Especially the idea of Ben's neighbors hearing this guy shout and make animal noises early in the morning is very appealing :D

Being able to see an entire route through was nice.

This was so fun! I loved it. Yall are such a great pair that play off each other well.