I’ll never pass up an opportunity to play with Tohka. She is, of course, the very best of best girls, there’s no saying otherwise (unless you want to be wrong) and I won’t hear anything else of it. The point is that Date A Live: Ren Dystopia is an opportunity to spend some more time with her. And the others, I guess. But mostly Tohka.
For those that aren’t familiar with Date A Live, this was, originally, a series of light novels written by Kōshi Tachibana and, notably, illustrated by Tsunako – the same woman who brought Neptunia and the girls to life in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series. It has since become a fairly major property thanks to the anime, manga, multitude of figures, and visual novels, which have been developed by Idea Factory (as in Tsunako’s employer for the longest time).
As you can probably guess given the various people involved, Date A Live is that kind of anime property. It is, essentially, a harem story, with a single male character surrounded by all kinds of pretty girls. There is a reason for it, though! All of these girls are enormously powerful spirits and if they end up too agitated they’ll go nuclear and end the world. Our protagonist needs to keep them calm, and only he has the ability to do so, through the power of his kiss.
Kiss the girls, save the world. It’s a difficult job, I guess.
Anyhow, while that idea is as simple as it sounds, the execution of this odd mix of romance, humour, fan service, science fiction and slice of life is extended out over many volumes of light novels. Ren Dystopia here isn’t even close to the start of the story, and if you are new to Date A Live, you’re much better off playing through the other games first. You’ve got to know who Tohka is to really appreciate what she brings to the story, after all.
Once you’ve done your homework and are fully brushed up on your Tohka lore, you’ll find that Ren Dystopia plays much like the other Date A Live games: it’s a fairly straightforward visual novel with nicely animated (and, of course, very pretty sprites). You’ll be making several key decisions along the way and that will influence the endings that you get. Otherwise, though, you’re just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.
One thing that I did notice is that either I’ve become desensitised, or the fan service in Ren Dystopia has been dialled back a little. It’s still there in parts, with strategically designed costumes that are revealing – this game isn’t going on the wholesome lists any time soon – however, I distinctly remember Rio Reincarnation having key art CGs that had a more outrageous approach to the fan service. Not that this matters to the quality of the game, of course. The writing has the same quality and it’s often very funny about it. It’s just noteworthy to see the direction where this series continues to evolve.
What you do need to be aware of is that you’re not going to draw any particular deep-and-meaningful themes out of this chapter. It’s designed to be light and bubbly and in the almost too-brief journey to each major ending that is what you’re going to get from it. The comedy is fun the romance is the kind of pure wish fulfillment stuff that you’d expect from the genre. Characters are developed well within their respective roles, and the translation is a good one.
It’s just not essential, not by any means and a bit has changed in the visual novel space since Rio Reincarnation wreviewas released back in 2019. This is genre that has seen a real explosion of quality and there are more than a few games that do fan service with depth, or comedy with purpose. I know that Ren Dystopia is actually an older game that has just finally been localised into English, but it’s not quite the standout experience I would have found it to be back in 2019. Back then a VN was a somewhat rare treat. Today I’m reviewing them weekly. I played Fate Stay/Night and this back-to-back, and sadly only one of the two has a narrative that I’ll remember years into the future.
That being said I don’t want to take away anything from this game. Tsunako’s art is, as always, gorgeous. The game’s a joy to play and hard to put down. It introduces some new (great) characters to the fiction while also giving me more time with Tohka. None of this is something to complain about. And the fact that it has finally been localised now suggests that perhaps, just perhaps, Idea Factory isn’t done with the series yet.
