It absolutely sucks when giant spacequakes are tearing up the whole planet. In situations like these, there simply isn’t an easy solution… unless there is an ordinary high school kid who can take magical girls on dates to calm them down. Yup, this is a game shaped by pure and unfiltered anime logic. And we love it.
Contrary to what it might seem, Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation isn’t just a quick afternoon distraction. Make sure you have your schedule cleared for a while and are in the mood for reading, since we are stepping into a heavy marathon of text.
The Daily Reading Routine
We read through 150 dating events and got very excited. They aren’t active events, though—well, not in the traditional sense. Most of the time, we will just be clicking through them. There is plenty of clicking. However, if you are into visual novels, chances are you will enjoy the world-building, the cute and charismatic characters, the chill, subtle music, and everything else in between.
Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation is a visual novel in the strictest sense. Instead of action, there is reading; instead of combat, there is even more reading. We simply read dialogue, listen to the Japanese voice cast, and watch 2D sprites blink at us. And that is just fine. Occasionally, we also stare at a static city map. We pick a character icon to hang out with for the afternoon, then we read. We pick another spot and read some more.
There are a lot of highly specific dialogue choices that we need to make. The game does a great job of keeping us interested. We really don’t want to guess wrong and get an abrupt bad ending, so reloading is key. It can become a bit tedious, though, since this is more than just one game. It actually bundles Rinne Utopia, Arusu Install, and the newer Rio Reincarnation chapter. We really weren’t kidding when we suggested clearing the schedule. This is a 40 to 50-hour commitment.
Rinne Utopia originally launched in Japan exclusively for the PlayStation 3 in 2013.
Rinne Utopia takes place right after season one, while Arusu Install occurs after season two.
Original light novel illustrator Tsunako provided the character designs and event artwork
To read or not to read?
As a classic visual novel, this collection will be primarily appreciated by fans of anime or light novels. Otherwise, the sheer wall of text might put us to sleep, regardless of how cute the visual style and the fully voiced library are.
ID Card
- Developer: Compile Heart / Sting
- Publisher: Idea Factory International
- Engine: Proprietary
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, PC (Steam)
- Release Date(s): June 18, 2019 (PS4 North America), July 23, 2019 (Steam)
- Genre: Visual Novel / Dating Sim
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