“Nicole” Game Review: A Dating Sim Full of Mystery

Can Nicole avoid becoming the next victim?

Nicole, Nicole… For a game advertised as kind of a mystery thriller, I was expecting a well-grounded protagonist, someone serious and intelligent with a good head on her shoulders. Instead, we get… Nicole. But even though she was kind of vapid and air-headed at times, I actually kind of liked her. She’s endearing and emotionally strong when it’s important, like when she has to tell the guys to get over themselves or when she decides to face the abductor head-on instead of letting him scare her.

Like the titular character, the game was not what I expected, but I liked it nonetheless. As other reviews have mentioned, it takes a long time for it to get going, but once you know what you’re doing, the annoying introductory phase goes by in a flash. I was worried about the stat-raising component because I tend to fail miserably at that (which is why I’ve avoided Winter Wolves’ other otome games thus far), but in this one you can set the difficulty and you only have to raise two stats to get both endings for each character – Clues and a main stat for whatever guy you’re going after. I’m not sure what the difficulty setting changes exactly, but on Easy mode, even with my fail time-management skills, I found it easy to get my main stat and Clues maxed out at least a month before the end of the game, with plenty of money to spare for gifts and stuff. So it ended up not being too bad at all.

I will say that if you’re looking for a mystery game where you get to play detective and piece together all the clues, this probably isn’t the game for you. It’s the kind of game where you can still get a good ending by skipping the mystery portion altogether, which tells you a lot – basically, the mystery is only a subplot, not the main storyline. The main story is about a girl trying to get through her first semester of college and meeting a bunch of cute boys (and girls) in the process, and of course each boy has their own little subplot. That’s not to say the story isn’t good, it just relies heavily on the everyday interactions between the characters – which is perfectly fine, because the interactions are awesome. They are what really makes this game fun to play.

That’s my basic, spoiler-free assessment of Nicole. And for those who have played the game and want to hear what I thought about it, read on.

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead!

So, I went for Jeff first… which, in hindsight, was not the best idea. But from the trailer, he looked like the most mature one, and I knew I probably wasn’t interested in Kurt (I avoid the flirty jock type like the plague) or Darren (sorry, I tend to avoid the shy type, too, because they’re too hard to talk to). Boy, was I wrong! Not only was I wrong about Kurt and Darren (after playing through the “common route” part once, I actually came to really like them both), but of course, I was completely and utterly wrong about Jeff.

Here’s the breakdown of my reaction to Jeff’s route:

Introduction scene: “Oh look, he’s the prince type, all smart and handsome and kind and perfect… Hmm, but he’s a pharmacology major and is acting suspicious about it? Uh oh, I bet he has something to do with the whole abductions thing.”

Second scene: “Aww, with the way he gets all upset about being called perfect, I bet his ‘troubled backstory’ has something to do with not measuring up and all that. Poor guy…”

Discovering his ‘true self’: “Umm…wait. Wait a second. He’s actually the creepy, egocentric mad scientist type? Umm….well….okay, I guess I can roll with that. He’s still sexy and smart, right? Not to mention he looks hella fine in a suit. Yeah, okay, I can still do this.”

Potion motive revealed: “Oh, so that’s why he was acting so suspicious. Well, what harm can come from making a weird potion, right? It’s not like it’s going to actually work, not with that ridiculous ingredient list. Maybe he’s not involved in the abductions after all. I mean, he’s kind of pathetic if he thinks he can make people like him by mixing up a potion like that… That doesn’t seem like the kind of evil mastermind who abducts and drugs young women.”

Arboretum scene: “Awwwwww, so cute! He’s starting to care about me~ I wonder if he realizes it yet?”

Potion fails: “*in a Nicole voice* Like duh, of course it didn’t work, you weirdo. Wait, wait, don’t get depressed! Nuuuuuuuu, don’t be like that, you’re making me sad. … … Woah there, no need to get violent! Umm, I’m not sure whether to be scared or turned on right now… Wait, no, please don’t wallow in your self-loathing! Nuuu, the feels…”

Afterward: “Aww, my poor baby… I just want to hug you and make everything better~ I really, really hope you’re not involved in the abductions because I don’t think my heart could take it. You’re not, right? I’m just being paranoid, RIGHT?!”

Normal Ending: “aslkfljflk; so cute~!!!!! You’re just too awkward and adorable, I can’t take it! And of course, with as much as you love me, there’s no way you’d ever want to hurt me, so there’s no way you’re involved in the abductions. I’m sorry for ever suspecting you, baby! I’m sure that when the abductor does come for me, you’ll be there to protect me just like the sweet and adorable boyfriend you are~”

Special Ending: “………..Damn it, I freaking knew it. WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME, JEFF? I HATE YOU SO MUCH. I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGA- D’awwwwww, but look at us all cute and holding hands and stuff… You know, three years doesn’t sound that bad. IT’S OKAY, MY PRECIOUS BABY, I’LL WAIT FOR YOU~ <333”

…And then after 15 minutes of wallowing in feels, I went and did Ted’s route to see how the ending is actually supposed to go when you don’t fall for the bad guy like an idiot. I can’t decide which one I liked better. I really liked Ted’s and Nicole’s chemistry together, and I definitely liked Ted more as a person (you know, because he’s not a psychopath who drugs and abducts women to perform experiments on them…), but is it terrible to say that I was more interested in Ted’s father during his route? Poor kid, he probably gets that a lot.

Yep, that about sums up my experience with Nicole. If I do another route, it’ll be Darren’s next. I’m not sure I’ll ever do Kurt’s…I do appreciate his interactions with Nicole, but I just have a hard time seeing it. Darren seems like he’d be really interesting to get to know, though, and he’s a lot like myself. I like the idea of getting him to open up more and be more like his online self because that’s what I’d like someone to someday do for me (too bad I’m not nearly as cute as Darren is). I also have to admit that I’m a little interested in the female romance version. I don’t generally do the GxG routes, but Bethany (the library assistant in Jeff’s route) was just too cute.

Feel free to comment or discuss the game with me. I would love to hear your opinions!

Originally posted December 30, 2013 on Tumblr.