Update Two Hundred and Ninety-Six: 30 March 2019
Pub Encounter
176 hours playtime, ~10 hrs actual, 15 of 15 achievements
7.5/10
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
So earlier this week I decided that it was probably a good idea for me to make local copies of all the reviews I’ve written—there’s a ton of them, at least ten of them are worthwhile enough to maybe use somewhere else, it’s just good business practice, etc. So I took an episode of Critical Role to go back through and just save all my posts as txt files.
And, my friends, my compatriots, I really don’t know how the fuck to count. I fucked up the numbering on my reviews AT LEAST six times, several of which involved me fucking up once, then later fucking up in the opposite direction so it ended up evening out. I ended being two whole reviews ahead of where my count was! Everything is up to date now, though! And with me saving reviews as I do them, I’ll hopefully not fuck up the numbering again. Anyway—
Pub Encounter—or Dandy Shot, as it was originally called, which I think suits it better—is a Dogenzaka Lab otome game where you’re a young woman who gets to date an array of attractive older men. I’ve played a lot of Dogenzaka otomes, and, you know? I think this one has been by far the best.
Okay, hear me out. I know it’s a low bar to clear—these games aren’t really prize winners—and I know I’m coming at this with a heavy bias, heavier than usual. I do like me some older fellas AND ALSO I would die to have a Yakuza dating sim (THE MARKET IS THERE, SEGA!!!) and this is almost enough where I can squint and pretend.
But, also, the translation has improved a HUGE amount from the first couple I’ve played. Is it perfect? No - and there’s like one section in the start of one of the routes that was just as bad as before, but overall I was astonished at how much more nuanced the writing was. It’s an improvement that I appreciated.
One other thing that I was surprised at how it was improved was the power dynamics between the MC and the gentlemen you date—more often than not, YOU’RE the chaser, and the MC stands up for herself and even kind of pushes the love interests (not as much as I’d like, of course, but still)! It’s a noticeable shift from the general stupid simpering ooooh-noooo-saaaave-meeeeee MCs we get, and I appreciated it. Despite the age difference, the MC bends the love interests more than the opposite.
The routes are just… I don’t know. Fun! They’re melodramatic, yes, and goofy sometimes, yes, and there’s still a lot of Standard Otome Romance Bullshit that I roll my eyes about, but I liked the routes, in particular Yorihisa and Soichiro’s.
I’ve heard a LOT of bad things about this VN, from friends and people I admire alike, so that probably augmented my expectations in the right way, enough for me to enjoy it. And I honestly did enjoy it.
So… you know? I think it’s going on my Visual Novel Masterlist.
I struggled with that decision for a while - I was about halfway through the game when I started thinking about it. I was enjoying it, but it wasn’t GOOD, right? It’s so EMBARRASSING, right? … but then I have fucking Everlasting Summer on that list, and that one’s kind of dopey, too. Same with If My Heart Had Wings. There’s a broader tolerance for trashy stuff for men, but trashy stuff for girls is seen as EXTRA low, EXTRA embarrassing. So, fuck it. It’s the best Dogenzaka to date, and there’s no accounting of objectivity or taste up in this bitch anyway. The men are hot and cute and sensitive and treat you well and god damn it sometimes that dream is what you need.
Next up: Breaking with tradition, I’m not consulting RNGesus for this one. An old pal of mine and I are gonna book club -
See you soon!
God, a Yakuza dating sim would be the best.
RIGHT? The only bad thing about it would there would be too many routes or we’d have to miss out on dateable dudes.
if I had to PICK the seven routes I’d want in the game it’d probably be taken up by most of the protags (so, Kiryu n Majima n Akiyama n Saejima) plus Ryuji and Mine. Bonus would be Kazama and Tachibana. Gag route would be Shimano.
But could you imagine? It’d be incredible.
RIGHT? The only bad thing about it would there would be too many routes or we’d have to miss out on dateable dudes.
if I had to PICK the seven routes I’d want in the game it’d probably be taken up by most of the protags (so, Kiryu n Majima n Akiyama n Saejima) plus Ryuji and Mine. Bonus would be Kazama and Tachibana. Gag route would be Shimano.
But could you imagine? It’d be incredible.
if you’re into anime you should check RISTORANTE PARADISO like yesterday… okay it’s not about dating but it’s really really pretty with old men as the main characters, we need more of this
Oh I agree Pub Encounter is one of the best from them. I played most of their games when I was reading them on my phone so when they started bringing them to pc I just had to buy it. Just in the last sale I brought the complete bundle. While I haven’t played them all I do remember reading Pub Encounter so I remember its one of the better of the lot and as you said the MC is more of a chaser then the typical lets break this girl into loving us by basically raping her while at the same time not! Plus you also don’t have the typical young adults to choose from but actual mature older men
It’s LOVELY! There’s almost NONE of that weird shit! It’s awesome!
I also like how so many of them were actually honestly vulnerable, which is fuckin A+ choice as hell.
I’m really glad the first comment is validating bc I’ve definitely seen (and I understand) a lot of ‘this is awful’ from people and I was kind of expecting pushback. Which, u kno, it’s fair, but also: s’my list. So thank you!