Recommendation/Review. In case anyone is wondering.
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[header]HuniePop[/header]
Let's face it, you've heard of this game. And you already know what's it about, right? Well, I'm just here to clarify the facts so all the:
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shit doesn't get to you. Interested? Awesome. Let's get this show on the road then.
As everyone knows, [size=medium]this game is a NSFW twist on the match three genre[/size]. And you know what? This twist does work. It's got all the appeal of any other proper game of the genre (important!), but this time, you can for sure say that it's... rewarding.
As soon as you launch the game for the first time, you're greeted by an unknown girl in the bar. Things happen, chit chat, you get to know that the character you play as is a total virgin that never even had the balls to talk to a girl. Soon after, upon coming home, you discover that the girl you met is actually a love fairy who's there to help your character get laid. She shows you the ropes, explains how the game works and... that's it. You're free to go, speak with whoever you want, or just date everyone without a care in the world.
For the most part, the game will use the following screen for you to move around.
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From there you can do pretty much everything this game offers. On the top right you see two numbers, one green and one pink. They are respectively called Munie and Hunie. Munie is gotten exclusively from dates and is used to buy presents for the girls, but how about Hunie? Well, you get it by talking to girls or buying them presents. You can then use the Hunie to upgrade the traits, but I'll talk about it later.
Talking to girls is, surprisingly, completely unnecessary (as one of the achievements encourages you to try), but it does give you a fair bit of Hunie. For the most part, you ask the girl something about herself, she'll answer, wash, rinse, repeat. Occasionally, though, the girl will ask you about something that she once told you, which adds a bit more realism to the mechanics. And, of course, rewards you with a bigger amount of Hunie.
Apart from that, the major role in the game is played out during the dates. Once you ask a girl out, you two go to a generic dating spot and... a game of match three begins. On the standard 8x7 board there will appear 8 types of gems, and your task is to match them so you fill in the Affection meter below within 20 moves. If you succeed, a girl will be one step closer to you, if you lose, though... she'll simply laugh at you. The gem types you'll see on the board consist of 4 regular ones and 4 special ones. The regular ones are called Sexuality, Talent, Flirtation and Romance. Each girl will have the one type she likes the most and the one she likes the least, so you'd do wise to match mostly the ones she'd love. Apart from that, you'll see Passion (matching those will increase passion level, which in turn will make you get more points from regular matches), Joy (match them for extra move), Broken Hearts (which deplete your Affection meter) and Sentiment. If you bought a girl some presents she loved, you'll be able to use date gifts that require Sentiment to use. Now, this sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, let's just safely assume that some can play it brainlessly and still succeed, but at some points the game will surprise you with its need of tactical sense. To get all the achievements, you'll need to plan out your whole run beforehand and then prepare for each date properly just to get to another one. Challenging, indeed. But nonetheless rewarding.
Traits play a rather major role in this game as well. Upgrading them will cause you to get more points for each regular type match or different various perks on other types, so getting Hunie is the way to go - since each date will have a higher and higher Affection goal.
After each successful date, the girl you dated will send you a picture - starting out slowly and innocent, spicing it up with each step closer. Finally, after the fourth date, she'll imply to come over and... another game of match three will start! This time, however, your goal is much easier. Simply match the tokens as fast as you can. Once you do, you'll be rewarded by another set of CG, proving once and for all that your character indeed had sex with the girl. And get the girl's underwear.
The idea behind the game is good, the CGs are well-drawn and everything is great, but how about the sound aspect? Generic tunes playing in the background are pretty cool and don't disturb your ear, but they do have a small issue with looping. The girls' voices, however, are pretty much where it's at. At first, hearing a girl might sound awkward, given the English dubbing, but after a while, once you realize that the girl is pure comedy, you'll get to enjoy hearing them again. Not to mention some of the sentences the girls say, which are, indeed, hilarious.
Replay value? Well, it all depends. Like any other match three game, it can get boring after a while, especially if you've finished the game and have no incentive to keep on doing it, other than the ever-increasing challenge.
Personal notes: I really enjoyed the game. For the 10 bucks I had a real blast once, and recently got to relive this all anew with the achievement run. This game is extremely fun to play and can get addictive, but it's all over sometime.
Steam
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