Ten Dates Review (𝔸𝕫𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕠𝕟⚕)
If you love FMV, as well as games where choices matter, you can't go wrong with this. What really, REALLY sets it apart is the acting. I've rarely seen such top-notch performances from an FMV title: a dating FMV could have seemed so forced but all 12 actors are excellent at making it feel natural and ad-libbed. Special shout out to the actress playing Misha, and the guy playing Bash... incredible depth and range to their performances (Bash's third date was genuinely quite emotional).
The dates themselves are short but not shallow: the characters are well rounded and, while they fit certain archetypes (brainy/brawny/bad etc), it means that your choices never seem arbitrary. This isn't a guessing game: for the most part, the choices you make will play out as you expect them to and it's possible to intuit what the best choice might be. That's not to say that you won't get some unexpected reactions to your choices... there are surprises, to be sure, which just adds to the "human"-ness of it all. People are unpredictable!
In gameplay terms, it overcomes the biggest FMV hurdle: you CAN skip dialogue if you've heard it before. This, plus a relationship screen, makes it really easy to track your past choices and try different paths without replaying huge parts of the game.