The only dating sim I’ve played is DDLC and it’s the peak of the genre

Subverting expectations is about as old as those expectations have existed but it became a really prominent thing in recent times, about early 2010s I’d say, or at least it has in genres and things I’m interested in.

Generally I think it’s pretty cool to subvert expectations big time but this new wave of media that flips expectations on their head has come with a whole new type of person who exclusively consumes said media that subverts expectations without really knowing what those expectations are in the first place, to the detriment of those genres and speeding up the downfall of society. We all saw the YouTube essays or the people posting in social media about how Doki Doki Literature Club was the best dating sim or the most interesting one and whatnot but did those people play any other dating sims?

It’s the same thing that happened to mahō shōjos with Madoka but with the notable difference that animes are a million times harder to make than a visual novel so there’s not a flood of “umm mahō shōjo but it’s evil >:) and there’s horror and people DIE :O” visual novels and more specifically dating sims as they’re the most affected don’t have this privilege, anyone can and WILL make the Genderbent Abraham Lincoln dating sim.

Parody fanimes do exist and while someone making a mahō shōjo parody without having seen any isn’t completely out of the question, most people in that community actually watch the type of anime they’re imitating/parodying. The best parodies that come to mind are ones that actually have love for what they’re parodying, and while loving the source material isn’t a requirement for making a good parody (sometimes things are just bad and making fun of them is funny) you have to at least KNOW what it’s like before you talk smack.

Undertale has a similar premise of subverting expectations but its effects on society are slightly different and more positive, for one you don’t really need to have played many RPGs or even more than one to understand Undertale’s subversion of expectations, you know that in videogames you kill without thinking, Undertale makes you think about those kills, as a result of Undertale’s success people didn’t start making RPGs where you think before killing, instead it mostly just boosted the existing community of quirky EarthBound inspired RPGs.

Howeverrrrr one of the things that people took note of from Undertale directly was its meta aspects, oh lord save me from the meta. It’s actually kind of sad that this is what people decided to copy from it as it contributes to this whole thing of “I can’t consume media unless things are lampshaded, they break the fourth wall, and it’s self aware” (wow I practically said the same thing thrice, erm, awkward 😅 well, that just happened).

This whole theme of breaking the game that DDLC did as well has become almost annoying at this point. And I say almost because there’s still games and other media that do it crazy good and I love it. But most of the time I don’t love it and it’s not crazy good, it tends to feel like it’s there as a replacement for actually interesting storytelling, a cheap gag or whatever, comparable to jumpscares in place of well made horror. Jumpscares can be used to boost a game’s horror, and the meta stuff can be used to make a story more interesting, but they’re not there to replace those elements. Save for the outliers but those are not the norm. I never played Five Nights at Freddy’s or Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion but from what I know they’re good games despite being only about jumpscares, with Spooky’s even being a parody. Outliers, not the norm.

A lot of it comes down to the fact that Doki Doki Literature Club was based on the dating sims that precede it while the new wave of dating sims are based on Doki Doki Literature Club and it feels rancid, there’s no love and there’s no passion, it’s pure raw hatred for Tokimeki Memorial ’cause your mom was playing it instead of feeding you. Come say to my motherfucking face that DDLC is so special and unique unlike those other boring dating sims that you haven’t played, I motherfucking dare you.

People are absolutely still making genuine games/dating sims/whatever other media, the good stuff that comes from the heart but that’s not what gets pushed to the main stream so people aren’t being made aware of it, even when you’re actively looking for it you might have some trouble finding it.

Is all of it bad? No, in fact ironic/parody visual novels or dating sims have existed for a long time, Hatoful Boyfriend is an all time classic that existed alongside the more genuine stuff, it’s pretty much a balancing act, it’s okay to play something that pokes fun at the genre, but if you don’t know the genre what fun is there? It’s like pointing a finger at someone and laughing when you don’t know what they’re like or what they’re going through. But if you’ve played the real stuff and then you play one of these gag games you can truly get it. YEAH BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND.

It’s too sad that the genre is largely not taken seriously in the west, now as the clearly superior person that you are by the fact that you’re reading this you might think “But I take it seriously and I know some games!” but the average person only knows the popular “Date Objects Lol xD” or the iconic “Date Our Food Mascot and Plz Buy Our Food Irl.” On the other hand the otome scene is still alive and well, I’m not quite sure how it’s doing in the English speaking world but I do know it’s pretty popular in East Asia and Latin America. There’s various popular titles like Love And Deepspace, Mystic Messenger, and…

NOOOOOOOOOOO.
(Note: My Horse Prince is probably really good, I haven’t actually played it.)

The three main pieces of media I brought up are some of my favorites, Undertale is my favorite RPG and pretty high up there as one of my favorite games overall, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is just shy of making my top 5 just because I watch too much anime so there’s some stuff above it, and the star of the show Doki Doki Literature Club is my favorite visual novel ever. But I have genuine love for the genres they represent, which is how I can enjoy them to the fullest. Basically it’s not “Play 5 VNs before you can play DDLC” it’s “Instead of talking smack about dating sims consider playing some first and you’ll probably enjoy DDLC better.”

I just want people to be more genuine, be free from judgement, play a dating sim because you want to date an anime girl, no shame in that. uwu