Dinner Date Review by sickofnotsleeping

Games
News
News Categories
Reviews
Game Genres
- Action
- Adventure
- Casual
- Dungeon Crawler
- Early Access
- Fighting
- Free to Play
- Shooter
- Simulation
- Sports
- Stealth
- Strategy
- Survival
- Tower Defense
Questions & Answers
Game Genres
- Action
- Adventure
- Casual
- Dungeon Crawler
- Early Access
- Fighting
- Free to Play
- Shooter
- Simulation
- Sports
- Stealth
- Strategy
- Survival
- Tower Defense
Community

Dinner Date Review

This is a user submitted review by sickofnotsleeping on Feb. 21, 2014, 4:04 p.m.

First, a disclaimer, I am reviewing this game from the perspective of what it was trying to achieve. It is not a traditional game in the sense that you do not make choices that matter, and it is therefore more like a short animated film in which the audience is able to play a (very) minor participatory role. If I were rating Dinner Date with normal video game conventions in mind, it would have received a much lower score.

7.0Story/Setting

This game is all about the story, though it isn't a story per se. It's about an ordinary guy waiting for his date to show up at his apartment and all of the thoughts that roll through his mind as he waits.

7.0Psychological
Though the player is able to manipulate the protagonist to some extent, i.e. drinking a glass of wine or looking up at the clock, this mainly seems to be a way of keeping the player occupied while we listen to his thoughts.
It was interesting to listen to the protagonist's mental state deteriorate as a he drinks wine and watches the chance of his date showing up diminish with every tick of he clock.
He starts out as a decent guy, nervous and excited about the possibilities forthcoming. As the night drags on and he realizes his date, Mika, probably isn't showing up, he becomes intoxicated and begins objectifying her as someone he wants to "shag." He then begins to make her out in his mind to be flighty and possibly promiscuous, and even stoops to generalizing about ethnicity as though these qualities might explain her failure to show up.
Colleagues from work and his friend, Jerry, also crop up often in his mind and he seems to place a great deal of importance on the latter's opinion of just about everything.

Conclusion

Overall, Dinner Date is interesting if you aren't looking for an actual game. It succeeds in showcasing an interesting psychological profile and demonstrating the effects that alcohol can have on the psyche. As a female, I was torn between feeling sorry for the protagonist and being repelled by his need to demean his no-show date (and other women) in order to preserve his obviously fragile ego. Dinner Date is very short and won't appeal to the vast majority of gamers, I'm afraid. The player isn't even really a player, but an observer whose only decisions involve deciding how much bread to stuff down the guy's gullet as he expounds upon his woes.

6.0 Overall Score

Articles Recommended For You

News

0 Comments

Developer Spotlight: Sean Hogan

Soundtracks can be one of the largest components of a game that the player takes with them after they complete it. Those songs can remind us of the things we experienced while playing, and they're all such wonderful memories.

News

7 Comments

Don't Starve Together Closed Beta

Klei Entertainment is now accepting closed beta applications for their highly anticipated multiplayer update to Don't Starve: Don't Starve Together. Sign up today for your chance to get access!

News

0 Comments

Never Alone: A story of a cold journey at the top of the world

Never Alone is a game inspired by a story told by the Iñupiat, the natives of Alaska. The story is about a girl and her fox that must travel through dangerous lands in order to stop an endless blizzard that threatens the lives of their people.

Dinner Date