izigame.me

I felt mixed about what kind of review I was going to give this game, and then a final straw happened. TLDR is that I don't review because the game is overly grindy and I honestly feel disrespected as a player. So, on to the details.
The game starts with a dude living with roommates and blah blah in a new city. 'The goal of the game is to grind so you can play hide the poker with all the girls. I have about 14 hours in and I've only completed one girl although two more are almost done.. In order to build relationships you must meet the girls over and over again at various points of the story. So, what's the grinding like?
The grinding: Once you progress, you need to find the new grind points to "build a relationship". The MC is devious when convenient for the story to move forward and an idiot when the game wants you to grind, grind, grind some more. The daily grinds are annoying when they become repetitive due to no (or extremely) little variance in the outcomes each time, but the worst part is how the weekend locks things down too. Not only that, but you have to select which weekend event you will do each weekend as most are in conflict. Additionally, the stores have things you won't use (and so you blow money unnecessarily, which is a resource to progress some things), and other elements will be missing. I just ran into one for a date to finish closing the deal with a girl, but I was blocked by needing to purchase a tux. This tux was not available before. I purchased it, and then the date is now blocked because I had already asked, found out the requirements, and couldn't ask again in the time window. This wasn't the only time but it might be the last time.
The story and/or relationship: What? There are girl. Their personalities don't feel that different in term of their voice. Veronica is into some BDSM, sorta but the game doesn't really commit to this kink. Not in any rewarding way. I suppose that can bring me to the reward.
The "rewards" lack passion, build-up, or emotional connection and feel like two or three frames that are repeated as you click to move the text forward. The grind takes away from any connection the game might have because how emotional can you be when you repeat the same phrase five times only to have that scene suddenly end with a 2-5 frame hide the snake in the mouth?
So why was Veronica my breaking point? Probably because I thought I was over this mountain, and then suddenly, they tossed a boulder in my path. I was also annoyed that as you move forward the achievement they give you is "grindmaster" because they KNOW how grindy their game is and i feel like it's just mocking.
The game costs $20 (luckily I purchased it cheaper) and the content, when you remove the grind, is extremely lacking. The rewards are lazy, and the emotional connection and build-up are almost non-existent. The only reason to play the game is if you have a grind fetish. Seriously, that's it. Their other game is exactly like this and I stopped playing that one too. While I don't mind a little grin and resource build-up, there are good and bad ways to address this. With zero to a couple of word changes variation of the interactions, no story-driven transition to various grind points, and crud for rewards, this game isn't good for anything else but grind.
So, purchase this if you have a grind fetish, and I can recommend it. If you want connection, story, fun rewards, and happy memories from a great game, do not reach for this game. Just run past GO, and don't look back because otherwise, you will saddle yourself in the jail of grinding. Personally, this game, with its last additional grind that would make me go ANOTHER WEEK, was the straw on the "no man. F-no" recommendation for this game.