Date A Live is a series that is underrated as a visual novel and as a property. It has a colorful cast of characters, phenomenal artwork and designs, and even battle Shonen elements when it comes to these characters’ powers. Seeing that the Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation release was getting a sequel, Date A Live: Ren Dystopian, excited me!
Game Name: Date A Live: Ren Dystopia
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Developer(s): Idea Factory, Compile Heart, Sting
Publisher(s): Idea Factory International
Release Date: September 5th, 2024
Price: ?.??
Date A Live: Ren Dystopia starts at the end of Rio Reincarnation’s collection where Shido Itsuka has already managed to seal 11 characters’ powers. Shido Itsuka has a special ability to seal the powers of powerful spirits by making them fall in love with him and sealing that love with a kiss. Shido finds a container that has snakes on it. He can let any one of the 11 characters open the container. If they do they get access to three wishes from a strange individual known as Ren.
The Good
Right from the get-go in Date A Live: Ren Dystopia gives you a good reason to play the game, the artwork. These characters are so full of life in every scene they are in and the voice acting for each character is a real treat. It also lets you know what it’s about pretty early on since after the first day of school you instantly get to choose what route you want to go for. Each character gets three wishes from the container Shido finds and it helps you see exactly what everyone’s desire is all about. They range from wanting to have Shido for themself or to conquer the world.
Date A Live: Ren Dystopia has a glossary that also explains moments from the previous games to help give you some context for this world and these characters. It condenses it heavily but it still is enough to help you understand the previous games if you haven’t played them. This is a good compendium to have in case new players to the series pick this game up. I would still recommend playing through the collection in Rio Reincarnation though since it makes a lot of the moments and wishes more impactful.
Each route is pretty quick being able to finish in only about 30 minutes, this makes for a perfect experience on Steam Deck or ROG Ally. You can do a run or two and unlock the game’s artwork and sound gallery slowly. I would highly recommend that as you don’t want to speed run this game. Luckily I have had the game for about a month making it easy to do each thing in small bursts! It’s not that you will dislike doing multiple routes constantly but there are very similar plot beats in each route that it can feel repetitive going through routes right after another.
The Bad
Date A Live: Ren Dystopia can feel a bit too simple. Each route is small and can be accomplished pretty quickly. Even if you don’t get the ending for a route that you want, which for each character there are two endings, you can quickly do it over. I usually do quick saves before each choice, but I didn’t even bother with how few choices there are in each route. There are about three choices in each route and most of them make sense once you figure out the character and what they want. Ren even gives you guidance on what choice you should go for during the route when Shido meets her in each route.
Some routes matter more than others in Ren Dystopia and that can be a bit of a mixed bag. If you have a favorite character in the series, you have to hope that the route gives you the substance you want for that character. These characters are great and still, the same ones that you know and love in the Date A Live series, but they can feel lacking at times with their interactions with Shido. With only having about 30 minutes to an hour in a route, you don’t get many opportunities for character growth or arcs. Personally, that is fine, but in some routes, it gives you hardly any time with the character as sometimes the other characters can hog a different person’s route.
If you are already invested in these characters, you will love your time in the game and the return to the world of Date A Live. If you don’t know anything about these characters, sure you can learn about it in a compendium from the glossary but it doesn’t give you the experiences these characters have had in previous games to pull at your heartstrings. This feels like what is a fan disc that gives you more time in the world but won’t draw new eyes to it. I wouldn’t recommend this game to those who haven’t played the other games in the series or unless you have watched the anime.
The Verdict
Date A Live: Ren Dystopia is an easy recommendation for fans of the series. It gives you more time and experience in the world of Date A Live. You get to see what each person would want if they had any wish in the world. It also has phenomenal Japanese voice work and character art. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this game to people who haven’t played or interacted with the series in any way, shape, or form. I would however strongly suggest you grab Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation if you want to know why these characters are so beloved.
Date A Live: Ren Dystopia is coming out on September 5th, 2024 to PC.
Review Disclosure Statement: Date A Live: Ren Dystopia was provided to us by Idea Factory International for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.
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Summary
Date A Live: Ren Dystopia is a game that I personally enjoyed but can only recommend to fans of the series. This game doesn’t do anything particularly unique in the Visual Novel space. It will mainly be enjoyable to those who have played the previous games or have watched the series.
Pros
- Voice Acting is phenomenal
- Artwork is great and dynamic
- Short small bursts of gameplay make it one to keep going back to.
Cons
- Short Time with the Characters make some routes feel less substantial.
- If you haven’t played the previous games, certain moments won’t hit.
