Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation lives in a weird limbo of good and bad. At the best of times the story has some extremely interesting story threads, but it also has a cast of bland, boring, largely forgettable and generic characters. Data A Live Reincarnation is a compilation trilogy of visual novels based on the anime of the same name.

Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation is a sci-fi harem (dating sim) where you play as Shido, a high schooler who has somehow been tasked with taken care of a myriad of cute teen girls. These girls (in the usual harem fashion) all fall in love with him. The unique aspect of these girls that ties them all together is that they are something called “Spirits” these spirits are beings with powers to control elements or have the raw strength of Superman. They are basically superheroes. Though if these girls become too emotionally unstable they will lose control of these powers and cause devastating “Skyquakes” that will endanger the human race.

To prevent these girls from having meltdowns it is up to Shido to go on dates with the girls constantly and take care of them as any good caretaker should. The dates that are presented here are nothing more than generic conversation and poorly written dialogue with scenarios that have been seen in 1000 forms of media before it. For example, Shido and his best friend who is, of course, jealous of Shido’s instant popularity with all these cute girls attempts to put on a brave face and tells scary stories, only to end up scaring himself in the process.

The biggest problem I have with Date A Live is not it’s bland soundtrack or worthless side characters, no, it is how truly forgettable this game is. As soon as I end my play session I immediately forget about the story and its’ characters. Yes, sometimes I found myself chuckling at some of these absurd scenarios the characters have found there way into, but unfortunately, nothing springs to mind if you asked me to point out a specific conversation with a character. Frankly, if you experienced one harem, sadly you have experienced the majority of them.

Date A Live is a quick read due to its low reading skill level; as it seems to be targeting a young teen demographic. The fan service is quite abundant here, from accidental panty shots to suggestive situations between Shido and his love interests. If fan service is your cup of tea then Date A Live is definitely for you, though I personally lost what appeal fan service used to have on me.

Now because this is a visual novel, the gameplay here is rather limited. After the main portion of the day which is normally spent in the school, you will be presented with some time management as you will only have two chances to spend with the main cast of girls. If you decided to hang out with some of the smaller characters you won’t lose any time at all. This creates an illusion of choice that doesn’t really affect anything in the long run except which character ending you get.

Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation is not worth your time if you are not already familiar with the story or characters. The game just thrusts you in the swing of things expecting you to already be familiar with the characters and their dynamics with one another. This creates a feeling of confusion and presents constant questions that are never answered. Date A Live Rio: Reincarnation is only recommended for fans of the anime and for anyone else you can stay far away.

A Playstation 4 review copy of Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation was provided by Idea Factory for this review.

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Date A Live Rio Reincarnation

$49.99 USD

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Occasionally Funny

Cons

• Bland Characters
• Poor writing
• Forgettable