Me Chat

Well, I kept seeing ads for Me Chat and it doesn't look like Cheritz's The SSum is coming to English any time soon. So I thought I'd give it a go even though some of the ads look downright skeevy.

So...can this properly be called an otome? Hm, maybe not. Or a joseimuke? Possibly. It's very open as far as what profiles you get (male, female, whatever). Wait, let me start over. It's basically, like, fake Tinder? You start by doing a quickie profile of your MC/character/avatar by choosing some interests and a star sign. I'm not entirely sure whether or not the customisation makes a difference. It might. And then you can swipe left or right based on basically a single picture and a one sentence description. Is this what real dating apps are like? I honestly really don't know. 

The game is split between you chatting with them and selecting answers -- some of the time. Sometimes, you get just one response, others you can select. Sometimes they "like" your answers and you get points to raise your relationship. The other half is going on actual dates/meet ups...if you unlocked enough relationship points.

Like a lot of games, it looks to me like it would cost a ridiculous amount to unlock the "bonus" content -- basically, images, sound bites with voice acting, and extra story when you are on dates. Paying the gems to unlock these things also serves to bump your relationship score up. As you start off with 100 gems, I used some to see how things were, picking a random variety. They definitely push it as the non-gem options often come across as rude. Like, one choice was: "I was wondering about how we matched on MeChat..." with a cost of 10 gems OR "You're cute but kind of lazy with making yourself look hot" like WTF. Why would anyone say that? So it makes it hard to pick the free options.

However, I wouldn't say the stuff you unlock mostly seemed worth it. At least, not the images or the sound bites. I mean, it was interesting to hear the VAs and they seem okay. But each thing ranges from 4-20 something to unlock and that means gems can go very, very fast. And, weirdly, if you don't unlock the things, you can continue on with the chat as if you had. Meaning, dude sends you a picture but it's all blurred out unless you pay to see it. But you can still continue on with the chat as if you had, even though you're clueless as to what the picture was.

I gather that you can only get so many matches in a day--but I'm not sure what the number is. I'd hit 5 and then it said no more...but then I logged in again awhile later and could swipe right again. So I dunno. Maybe it's so many every hour or some unit of time?

Oh, and I forgot to mention that when your "romance bond" hits a new level, you earn a couple of gems. Like, 4. So not much.

Anyway, I swiped left on all of the obviously cringe-y ones and the ladies (as I wasn't in the mood). I'd say so far that you can't necessarily tell what one is going to be like based on the picture / one sentence description. For instance, I swiped right on Martin Dixon, who made it sound like he was some sort of charitable dude with a good moral centre...and he's going on like he's a former spy and...I don't trust him at all. He is very James Bond looking and he goes after you with this whole Rosencrantz and Guildenstern question attack but...eh, I dunno. I suspect he's more like a master thief. Or a wannabe master thief. [Scratch that -- he definitely is -- just did another chat with him and he admitted it right out].

Anyway, I did do a couple of the dates and I'll talk about one because I nearly literally ROFL. So. Meet Eddie. When you first swipe on him, all you know is he loves corgis. You soon learn that he's a dog trainer and is helping a friend rescue a bunch of corgis from a bad situation and he's being overrun by them at his house. He invites you over to help -- and, apparently, you LOVE puppies. 

The picture is what greets you at the door. Eddie and his...is that a cod piece, or are you just happy to see me, Eddie? 

Anyway, you spend a day with Eddie petting puppies and giving them baths and having to wander around in a bathrobe because of...puppy pee. It was kinda sweet but there was a definite underlying weirdness to it. The inner dialogue is even about how you're not sure if he's into you or what. I...just...I dunno. It was a little weird. And every time they showed his picture, I had to snort. It's SO ridiculous. 

So far, I'd say the saccharine sweetness of this match makes me feel like it's a false flag. There's something going on. Something underhanded. So I am intrigued, but I'm also not loving it? Trusting it? Or, is it actually what it appears and you've been friendzoned? I really don't know.

Besides Martin the dodgy thief and Eddie and his corgi army, I tried... 

Yong Ho, not realising he's apparently an Idol or something and invites you to come meet him and play poker...or something. And it seems really skeevy. Don't like him. He must be one of the main dudes, though, as he's front and centre in the picture at the top.

Patrick Rask, who's apparently a pizza delivery driver who once delivered a pizza to you and, yeah, is a bit pushy and if it was real life, I would be totally concerned that this guy knew where I lived. Don't trust him. Don't like his pizza flirting.

Rory Adams, a dancer who also teaches kids but calls you darling. Cringe. But, honestly, he seems pretty decent so far.

Skyler Morrison, a, uh...well, I'm not sure. He claims to be some kind of a Game Master and gives you prompts of a D&D-style adventure but it's...kinda goofy? And the MC doesn't seem totally into it (based on the response options).

So........app-wise. It's easy enough to use. You can watch some ads to earn free gems. Graphics are...well, not really my style. And is Eddie's crotch supposed to make me laugh? Probably not. But it definitely does. The only other date I did so far was with Yong Ho and to say his style was not mine is an understatement (not to mention the date -- I would have been running for the hills). I'm wondering...if I pick enough rude options, do they stop talking to you? How do you get rid of them? 

I suppose I'll play around with it for a while longer but I can't say that it has completely grabbed me since most of the options look...well, like the kind of assholes you'd actually find on Tinder. And this isn't the kind of game I'll actually spend money on (not with what I've seen so far). So I doubt if it will last long in my repertoire. Man. I wish Cheritz would just release the Ssum.

Edit: Update...I saw there was a way to "switch counterpart" so I tried that on Yong Ho and re-did the date. But, uh...it was exactly the same, just a dude with a different haircut/color called Seong On. Still wearing the same ridiculous outfit even. Same exact dialogue. So. Yeah. But there's also a "reset story" and "unmatch" and...I am just gonna unmatch out of that mess. I don't need to get annoyed at a bunch of poser boy band members. Though why have a reset story if the only difference seems to be their face?? I don't get it. Lazy.