HuniePop 2: Double Date isn’t meant to be a serious story, but it is a serious match-three puzzle game. The gameplay systems are strategic and punishing as they force players to play multiple rounds to gain currency for items that will make the girls strong enough to reach the ever-increasing goal. Evidently, threesomes are a marathon and not a sprint, but at least you’re trying to save the world, right? Wait, I might have forgotten why I was even on this island in the first place.
When it comes to the match 3 mechanic, HuniePop 2: Double Date is absolutely one of the best match 3 games out there. When it comes to story progression and character development, it’s a little lacking in comparison to its predecessor. Interested parties will still have plenty of fun on Inna de Poona, so no worries there — just don’t expect to foster any long-term relationships with the lovely ladies populating the place. Although, on a lust-filled island, you’re probably not looking for commitment anyway. For a good time, give HuniePop 2: Double Date a chance.
The player in huniepop 2 must collect enough fairy wings to awaken the entities, form a trio, and maybe avoid an age of premenstrual misery. Players will travel to an exotic island to play threesomes with girls in order to obtain these wings.
It could have, and should have, been so much more than just a bigger version of the original. The new characters would have been problematic in 2015, let alone 2021.
More challenging than the first, but not all in good ways. You're managing stamina bars, emotional baggage, in addition to the challenges of the previous game. It requires more focus with each move, so if you're looking to zone out, it might not be the game for you. Some dates can end with one wrong move.
I feel the art has improved, but a good deal of the new characters have unappealing designs and annoying personalities. The game knows this and probably thinks that their version of annoying is funny, but it really isn't. Maybe the joke's on us? I dunno. I certainly wasn't laughing.
I'd wait for a sale if you're interested in trying this.
HuniePop 2 is a game that I've been following the development of since day one. I absolutely loved the first HuniePop game, so as soon as the sequel was announced, I was super hyped. Now, my experience with the game was with it's v1.0.0 release, so some of my biggest critiques have been changed (like the stamina bar only refilling after a date), so keep that in mind. First of all, was the game as good as the first one? Well honestly, no. A lot of the game does feel like a step down. The characters, gameplay, and overall progression feel worse. Not that they're bad, just not as good as the first game. That's actually the best way I can sum up this game. It's good, just not AS good as the first one. The game's biggest sin, strangely enough, is the amount of changes that they added from the first game, like the baggage system, stamina meter, double dates, Hunie Seeds, etc. Some of it works and some of it doesn't, but most of it feels unnecessary. The first game nailed it. It was simple, sure, but it worked amazingly. Like they say, 'if it aint broke, don't fix it.' I'm not saying that the game should've been a carbon copy of the first one, but the double date system alone changes the dynamic of the gameplay enough that most of the new gameplay additions weren't really needed. The baggage system especially was the cause of most of my annoyance with the game. I really like the idea, but it wasn't done particularly well. Most of the baggage effects just add unnecessary frustration to the game. A lot of them are really punishing, too, like almost too punishing. I feel like it would've been a lot better if, in turn for the negative effects, something positive would happen as well. Some of the baggage effects in the game do this, but not very many. Off the top of my head, Nora has one that increases the amount of broken heart tokens that fall, but in turn, she's immune to all broken heart matches. I wish more of them were like that instead of *insert mild annoyance here*. Like I said, I like the idea, but it comes off as more annoying than anything. Something that I absolutely HATED was the stamina bar. Now, for the double date system, the stamina bar is necessary, and during dates I really like it. It adds a new challenge to the gameplay and I think it's done well there. My issue is that, outside of dates, the stamina bar works like how the hunger bar works in the first game. Unlike the first game, however, going into dates with low stamina is a HUGE disadvantage. In the first game, if you went into a date with low hunger, the worst thing that would happen was that you'd miss out on a few extra moves or sentiment. In this game, though, if you go in with low stamina, you'll only be able to get a few moves in before your date gets exhausted, so if you're unlucky enough to not get a stamina token match early on, you're screwed. This wouldn't be so bad, but talking to each of the girls before a date depletes their stamina, and the only way to get it back up is to feed them, similar to the first game. Unlike the first game, however, you're only allowed to feed them ONE item, or, if their stamina is already at zero, nothing. This makes it so that talking to the girls and learning more about their character, one of the best aspects of the first game, is almost NEVER a good idea because one, their stamina decreases with every conversation, and two, it's the only way to learn about their baggage, which as I already talked about, is super annoying 9 times out of 10. It would've been WAY better if they included a separate hunger bar in addition to the stamina bar, or made it so that you're not limited to just one food item and have conversations lower the stamina by less. Learning more about the characters through conversation was one of, if not THE best part of the first game, but in this one I'm always trying to avoid it because it directly affects the dates in a negative way, if not through the loss of stamina, then through the baggage effects. All of that being said, I still enjoyed the game quite a bit. The writing is top-notch, definitely on par with the first game, and the CGs are really well done too, although they're not as plentiful as they were in the first game. And as annoying as the baggage system can be, it does add quite a bit of strategy to the gameplay and really makes you think through every move. Overall, I enjoyed the game a lot, though it did feel a bit disappointing after the first game. I'll end with this. If you liked the first game, then you'll like this one too, plain and simple. If you didn't like the first game, though, I can't say that you'll like this one either.
This game has some issues.
If you played the first you know what you are getting into. If not its basically bejeweled crossed with a soft core visual novel.(in some regions you have to add an additional "steamy" file to the installation for nudity)
First issue is I cant recall if the first game was this racist but the game is filled with racist stereotypes. Insinuations of blacks on welfare, Violent Latina with a lot of brothers who steal and have done time, Dumb southern girl, etc. They also put in a trap to pander to this demographic yet tripped over more intolerant tropes along the way. Honestly for the target demographic that typically plays Visual novels like this Its a little surprising. I will be more surprised if this doesnt end up triggering "cancel culture"
Next, the double date system adds more mechanics to a system that really didn't need much more. Some of it welcome, a lot of it not. Overall the mechanical revamp is overall good but definitely not great.
On voice acting the established characters are still just as good as you remember. However most of the new characters hit real wrong. Also I understand reusing the same voice talent but its real glaring when some of the characters interact and have the same voice underneath. Many of the new characters are pretty grating too which is very disappointing.
Also it takes a ridiculous amount of system ram for a visual novel. While 4gb of ram use is not a lot for gaming any more, for a visual novel its outrageous.
All in all the game is still solid and enjoyable enough to burn through a day worth of typical visual novel fun, even if the puzzle part really doesn't benefit from the added complexity. Enjoyed it well enough, but ultimately it was a let down from the first in my honest opinion. 7/10
A really tragic follow up to what was a really fun little parody game. How do you take the match-3 gameplay and turn it into an abysmal chore? It doesn't help that the goofy little dating sim mechanic of the first is turned into some nasty incels wet dream, turning all of the characters into glorified sex objects. Understandably, the first wasn't exactly innocent of this, but it had a more grounded approach to characterizing the female partners. Hunipop 2 is like 'this girl likes to drink milk cuz it looks like cum! Hur hur!'. Absolute cringe fest, the fact that this is a parody doesn't protect you from the need to have interesting characters.
The first one was amazing and a lot of fun, this time they destroyed the fun with those extremely annoying bagage things and gifts system, you spend more time in the giftshop and trying to give the right things before each game instead of playing the game. the dialogue is good but this is a game i won't finish compared to the first one as it is a chore and too annoying to complete. Even that double dating thing is annoying having to switch characters after 1-2 plays is getting old very very quickly and is replaced by frustration when one loses their stamina (horrible idea). They should have sticked with the original concept, with more girls each having more levels, at least in the first one we played a game!
SummaryTake a trip to an exotic island paradise for a steamy new adventure in this long awaited sequel to the popular dating sim / puzzle game hybrid, HuniePop!