Ah 2020. You feel like a lifetime ago, with your panic buying and world gone crazy demeanour. Hard to believe it was only 3 years ago.
What a year!
I don’t know how you spent your lockdowns but for me, it was making Banana bread, that weird cold coffee recipe from Tick Tock and of course, video games. If it wasn’t for video games I think I would have genuinely lost my mind. I completed more games in that single year than in all the years that followed. It’s true! Before Lockdown my Gamerscore on my Xbox was sitting at 88,000, after lockdown, it was at 110,000. A few of the many games that kept me sane during this time and the lockdowns that followed in 2021 were FMV games from ‘Wales Interactive’. ‘The Complex’ being the first stand-out game of the genre from 2020 and the second being ‘Five Dates’.
Now whereas ‘The Complex’ was a more ‘higher budget’ and ‘cinematic’ production that happened to be about a virus and was released the same year as the Pandemic, ‘Five Dates’ was a more subtle game that won fans over with its heartfelt story that so many living through 2020 could connect to.
The Covid 19 Pandemic was an awful event that we all went through and which we are still feeling the repercussions of now. No matter how you spent lockdown whether alone or with family we all felt lonely and cut off from the rest of the world. It was an utter shock to the system. Something we could never of imagined to happen in our lifetime. ‘Five Dates’ was filmed and produced during these lockdowns. Like us, the main character of Vinny is locked away in his flat while the rest of the country is self-isolating. What ‘Five Dates’ does is pose the question of how you would go about dating during a lockdown, and this is through online dating and video messaging.
‘Five Dates’ embraced the pandemic in a good way, making us all see the good that came out of a bad situation by bringing people closer together even while further apart. This message made the game a huge success garnering a fan base who were dying for a sequel.
And here is ‘Ten Dates’
‘Ten Dates’ takes the original premise of ‘Five Dates’ and runs with it in a post-pandemic setting. Now that the lockdowns have lifted and life is getting back to somewhat of a normality, dating has resumed to its original ways.
Online dating is what the first game embraced as it is a solely online experience and not face-to-face which is what lockdown restricted us from doing. Now that we can see each other again ‘Ten Dates’ still utilises the online dating profile format but runs with speed dating as a different means of meeting someone. The whole idea of speed dating is short face-to-face interactions that allow you to be yourself and see if you’re compatible with your potential partner, having that less isolated experience.
So, what’s different from the first game?
For starters, you have the option to play as two different characters as either Ryan or Misha. The first game only lets you play as Vinny (again due to isolation). Depending on who you pick you have different dates to learn about and interact with. With Ryan, you have the choice of Kathleen, Toni, Brandy, Azalea and Derek. With Misha, you have the choice of Ty, Lucas, Jake, Bash and Hazel.
Like with ‘Five Dates’ you have the first second and third date. However with it being speed dating the first date for everyone takes place one after the other in the same location. Depending on your choices the first date can either go really well and lead to a second and potential third date or it can go horribly wrong and lead to some very awkward scenes.
And that’s what the gameplay in ‘Ten Dates’ is about.
Choices!
Like in any ‘Wales Interactive’ game, your choices help shape the story you play.
The game’s initial run time is a little over an hour but it doesn’t stop there. It draws you in that well with its story, dialogue and lovable cast of characters that you will be going through repeatedly. It has multiple different endings and scenes to uncover, so depending on the choices you make it will be a fresh playthrough each and every time. And that’s why I love these types of games and why I respect ‘Wales interactive’ so much.
Paul Raschid returns to the director’s chair having previously directed ‘Five Dates’ and ‘The Complex’. The love and care he brings to his work shines through every project he is a part of. I mentioned previously the main difference between ‘Five Dates’ and ‘Ten Dates’ being that you can play as different characters in the latter. This is reminiscent of Raschid’s most recent FMV project ‘The Gallery’ where you had the choice of playing as two different characters. Also in that game, you got to play in two different decades lending to a choice of playing two entirely different stories in one game. Now whereas ‘Ten Dates’ takes place in the same time frame playing as either characters, it is also two different stories in one game. This is a great gameplay mechanic but also a great direction from Raschid by pulling on previous projects to help create something different and exciting. As they say, ‘always borrow from the best’ and it’s even better when the best is your own work.
Cinematography wise like in any ‘Wales interactive’ game it’s always top-notch! The composition and lighting of shots in this game really complement to the feeling of being back out there in the world with medium and wide shots giving more breathing room, whereas the shots were more close up in ‘five dates’ to add to that sense of isolation. There are close-ups in ‘Ten Dates’ but they are used to reflect the intimacy and feelings of the characters in the latter stage of the game. The stand-out piece of the game though is the acting. Hats off to the two lead performances by Rosie Day (Prime Suspect 1973) and Charlie Maher (Conversations with friends). Their performances carry the story and help you connect with them and care about the decisions they make.
Overall ‘Ten Dates’ is a relatable, funny and extremely enjoyable game to play. It keeps the charm of ‘Five dates’ and builds on what came before to make it it’s own. With hours of replayability and loads of scenes and alternate endings to discover you will be coming back to ‘Ten Dates’ with a fresh smile on your face with each playthrough.
‘Ten Dates’ gets a well-deserved 10/10
‘Ten Dates’ is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, PS4, PS5, Switch, PC, Mac, IOS and Android. This review was based on a Xbox Series X playthrough.
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