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Looking back on Wales Interactive’s Five Dates in 2023, more than two years after its debut, reveals a fascinating glimpse into what life was like during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a game that leans heavily into the idea that the dating world has migrated online, forcing singletons to conduct awkward interview-style conversations with potential suitors. We certainly enjoyed it for what it was back in 2020, but we’d perhaps argue that it’s aged better as a sort of historical artefact; a brief portal into a world that most of us would quite happily forget.
Its sequel, Ten Dates, isn’t afforded the same novelty. While the pandemic marches on across the globe, many countries have taken to treating the virus as endemic, thus returning to some semblance of normality (whatever that looks like these days). With this in mind, Ten Dates is very much a traditional affair; a game that puts its focus squarely on face-to-face interactions within typical social settings. It’s undoubtedly missing the “novelty” of remote interactions that made the first game so unique, but the focus on real-life conversations makes for a more enjoyable experience all round.
In case the title doesn’t spell it out for you, Ten Dates doubles the amount of dates you’ll be going on compared to the first game. It stars Misha and Ryan, two millennials who embark on a speed dating event in search of that special in-person connection. Each character will go on five initial dates each, four of which with a member of the opposite sex, with the remaining date taking place with someone of the same sex. Pretty straightforward stuff, then.
Ten Dates follows a pretty similar structure to the first game. After choosing your character, you’ll create an online persona, complete with a profile picture, interests, occupation, and star sign. These choices then filter into the conversations you’ll be having later down the line. For example, if you choose arts and crafts as a hobby for Ryan, he’ll be completely clued up on the concept of NFTs when the subject is raised later, but if you opt for something like travel, he’ll have absolutely no idea what the heck an NFT is (he’s probably better off that way). It’s subtle stuff, but it’s nice that your initial choices actually have a tangible impact on your experience.
Once you’re done creating your persona, you’ll embark on your initial five dates, all of which naturally occur within the same environment thanks to the speed dating event. The cast of characters you’ll meet here are reasonably diverse, each displaying their own unique personality and quirks, including Azalea, who creates her own cocktails and studies astrology, Hazel, whose loyalty to her peers came at the expense of her own freedom, and Ty, an arrogant motorcyclist with more jewellery than manners. There are many others besides these three, and we genuinely enjoyed interacting with each and every character.
Of course, the idea of is you need to whittle your options down until you’re left with one final date with the man or woman of your choosing. This is done by navigating your way through a series of dialogue choices, and what you choose will contribute to a successful or unsuccessful date. There are some scenarios where what you should say in order to cultivate a successful date may seem obvious, but the game regularly throws curveballs at you to derail your progress. This is frustrating in the moment, but we admit that this feels quite true to life; you never really know exactly how a stranger might react to what you say or do.
That said, the vast majority of the interactions you’ll experience are pretty straightforward from start to finish. If there’s someone from those initial five dates that you’re completely set on, it’s pretty easy to manipulate the conversation to go exactly how you want, and chances are you’ll be sat back down with them on a third date with no real fuss. It’s not a dealbreaker, by any means, but the experience isn’t particularly challenging in that regard.
One disappointing thing we do need to mention, however, is related to performance. Being an FMV title, there are no issues when it comes to visuals or frame rate, but there were multiple occasions when we would make a dialogue choice and then the game would still go through every possible outcome one after the other until they’ve all been exhausted. It’s a weird glitch and one we hope gets resolved pretty quickly, because it can add dozens of minutes onto your playtime.
All in all, though, Ten Dates feels like a pretty significant improvement on the first game. In a smart move, Wales Interactive has gone for the “more is better” approach with the sequel, and the wider cast of characters help create a more enjoyable experience. Props go to the actors, too, who all embody their characters wonderfully with no duds in the mix. We do wish that there was a bit more depth to the conversations to instil more of a challenge, but if you’re after a breezy FMV experience, you’re unlikely to go wrong with this one.
Conclusion
Ten Dates is a solid improvement over its predecessor, proving that more is indeed better in some cases. The addition of an extra protagonist, along with the five extra suitors that this naturally brings with it, makes for a more diverse cast of characters and a deeper overall experience for the player. Some of the conversations are a bit lacking in depth and challenge, and the game is currently bogged down by a pretty severe glitch that cycles all conversation scenarios, but Ten Dates is otherwise a fun, relaxing experience that’s easy to recommend for fans of the first game.