An incredible example of creating a connection between player and character, I have never felt so genuinely for someone in a game as I have (repeatedly!) in Amagami.

Kadokawa goes a different route than the classic stat-based approach of dating sims like Tokimeki Memorial, removing the genre's addictive number crunching and detailed planning in favor for systems more emotional. Here, life is represented by a great web-like grid that grows and grows the more memories you make, but also acts as a perpetul reminder that you can't experience everything in life; you will have missed opportunities and regrets; you'll look forward to things only for them not to happen; as you make connections and old ones deepen, you'll lose others. It is nothing less than a mechanical metaphor for life in all its complexity. Looking back on it as you near the end, you see your past in its patterns, marvel with nostalgia at how much has happened without you even noticing it.

I could talk about the grid until I sound like some crazed conspiratorial weirdo (and I have....to myself, which doesn't help the image) but the real heart here is the characters. And what characters! Wonderful, multi-dimensional people who buck stereotypes. They are heightened, yes, but act with complexity and a sense of realism. They hide parts of themselves big and small; they have surprising interests and talk about the mundane or pointless; they laugh. And brought to life with writing that is quietly stunning in how effective it is, it takes only a very little amount of time before eyes darting to the side become the most romantically charged thing you've ever seen in a video game. There are so many moments here that should, by all accounts, be minor, pointless things, but instead are overwhelming.

A perfect fusion of gameplay and story. An all-time great example of how games don't have to be action-packed, mechanically complex, or even all that interactive. Amagami is a beautiful work of empathy and, I think, one of the greatest games ever made.

also this version has a bonus mahjong story mode so like, triple the points. 15 stars.

⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠿⠛⠛⠛⠋⠉⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉⠛⠻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠋⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿
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⣿⣿⣿⢏⣴⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⣿⣿
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⣿⣿⣿⠟⠻⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠶⢴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿
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⣿⣿⣷⢻⠄⠘⠛⠋⠛⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣧⠈⠉⠙⠛⠋⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
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⣿⣿⡿⠀⠴⢗⣠⣤⣴⡶⠶⠖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⡸⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⡀⢠⣾⣿⠏⠀⠠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠛⠉⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣧⠈⢹⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿
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⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠀⠀⠀⠙⣿⣿⡟⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠀⠁⠀⠀⠹⣿⠃⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠛⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢐⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠛⠉⠉⠁⠀⢻⣿⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠈⣿⣿⡿⠉⠛⠛⠛⠉⠉
⣿⡿⠋⠁⠀⠀⢀⣀⣠⡴⣸⣿⣇⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡿⠄⠙⠛⠀⣀⣠⣤⣤⠄