izigame.me

I really liked this game. I watched someone play a bit of it on YT just before it was released and added it to my wishlist the same day as it felt very fantasy Kitty Powers Matchmaker. The demo was good and it was clear they had a number of plans for the game as a whole, even taking some criticism on a feature that could be taken as offensive to certain people and changing it up! I was genuinely impressed at that response.
However. When I actually got into the game, it felt really lackluster. It still felt unfinished, with parts still being deemed "untested" (the endless mode) and like it was just on the edge of starting to really get good. The match making aspect is the only thing to really do in the game. Which would be fine, if it wasn't so painfully repetitive and almost feel inconsequential most times. I'd have perfect match couples divorce and could never get a perfect 100% match by the third date scene even if I answered all the questions right. I didn't feel like I could really develop character's skills well or grow fondness for most of them because I had too much going--always seemingly putting out a relationship fire even when it didn't make sense. I'd have more people than jobs or generally unbalanced resources and it just never seemed to find a moment of balance. Not once.
A feature I was most looking forward to was the dynasty management portion but that almost felt like an after thought with no substance. The whole game, after a playthrough and a half (the first "half" having been restarted because I didn't understand some mechanics at first until I was a number of years forward because the game didn't explain it) I felt like I had seen the whole game. Interpersonal relationships meant nothing. Perfect match couples meant nothing. The management didn't mean a whole lot either. I really really wanted it to be fun and replayable, but it really just isn't for me. It feels like a glorified phone game at this point, or a project that had a lot of heart that producers came through and sucked the soul out of.
The worst part of it all is the fact it HAS potential. But the devs have said they won't be releasing any further updates on it because they didn't receive the response for it they wanted to. It had been out for less than a year and they already dumped it in the trash. I get that a company need to put their assets into things that make them money, but that choice felt premature considering the time and resources they had already put into it. With a bit more effort they could have pushed to make this a really good game and potential IP for future things. But instead they're going to charge you $23USD for a game that is best described as "meh".