ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area

ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area is a visual novel about thirteen young adults trying to navigate the day-to-day struggle in Jercy City.  Published and Developed by Veritable Joy Studios.  This game is set for an August 2022 release.  

I’ve never seen a visual novel with a cast like this before.  Diverse not only in their looks, and ethnicities but also in their preferences.  The Struggling Singles, come in all shapes, shades, and sizes.  With both LGTBQ-friendly and hetero-normative options. They got a little something for everybody. 

Something else that I noticed off-rip, was how pretty the artwork is.  The character designs are hella charming and I’m here for all of it.  The best part, as far as I’m concerned, is that the Sprites look and feel like real people. – someone from around the way.  A person you might actually bump into at the local supermarket or chicken spot.  I wanted to play strictly off the strength of that.

Yo, something else that really spoke to me was the writing. More, specifically the dialog.  I love how the characters talked like – me (using AAVE).  Without it feeling forced like it does most times in these scenarios. Because it’s not coming from actual practitioners of the lingo.  But instead by people who wanna mimic the lingo.  Even though the issue is kind of common,  this wasn’t the case with ValiDate at all. The dialog is solid.  I’m looking forward to seeing how they spice it up a bit more. 

Can we talk about ValiDate tagline for a minute?

And how “Struggling singles in your area.” was spot on? It’s accurate and clever as fuck.  When they said they were struggling,  the devs weren’t playing. I took it to mean strictly with dating woes but ya girl was wrong. They meant struggling in literally everything!!!  Baby Mama drama, a job you hate, social anxiety, family pressure, and learning how to show up for yourself. All of that! ValiDate has layers.  

I’m excited to see where the routes will take us.  Hopefully to more humor, relatable situations, and an overall run ride.  If I’m being honest,  I feel like we may even find ourselves in some darker situations. I’d be okay with that because the best stories come with emotions on all spectrums.  Just as long as the dips serve to progress the story.  Trauma is okay in fiction when serves a purpose.  

What playable characters are you most looking forward to?

Bigs.  Black Boy Joy.  How often do you actually see characters like him as a romantic lead? You don’t.  Because of that I really want all the best for him. Bigger frame people can be sexy too.  So I’m excited to see how things play out.  Who are his romanceable options and all that! 

I’m also looking forward to playing Inaya and Malik’s routes.  A Boundcloud Rapper and Internet influencer. These two seem like their stories are going to be the most outrageous or at the very least most relatable. So bring on the shenanigans.  I’m ready! 

I also can’t help but wonder, if friendship routes will be an option.  I get that the romance stuff is the tea.  But being able to keep things platonic could open up more variety.  I like the idea of not being penalized for opting not to be thirsty. 

Cheers, to Validate.  

Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation and Xbox, Itch.io

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