Note: My review will reflect both on the base game and the DLC, Romance Completionist Pack.

Date Z is a romance visual novel developed by Mass Creation and published by We Dig Games. You take on the role of a male student who has just transferred to a new high school. However, there is a twist. The school is about to have a zombie outbreak in about a week. So how do you avoid being turned into a zombie? The answer is simple - Get one of four (?) eligible female students to fall for you. Still, there's way more to the story, but I'll stop here to avoid going into spoiler territory.

In regards to the gameplay, there are multiple choices presented. As the unnamed MC, there are four romance options: Patty (the sheriff's daughter), Vivica (the smart student who's into RPGs), Alicia (the athletic tomboy), and Bao (the investigative journalist). The choices you make can either raise or lower affection with the female students. Also, certain choices can raise the students' investigative skills (indicated by the magnifying glass). Each student has two possible romance endings, depending on whether or not her investigative skill has been raised to the max in addition to her affection points. There's a feature in the game where you can rewind time a bit to go back to a previous choice option in case you'd rather go with another option. Also, a timeline keeping track of the days and unlocked scenes is present. Lots of CGs are shown although no CG gallery from which to view them is available. In addition, there are lots of Steam achievements, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".

Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll get to my thoughts. I played this game a little before the actual release date. However, due to the bugs that were present until the latest update, I wasn't able to get a review out until now. Anyway, first, I'll talk about the story. I enjoyed the story premise, specifically the part about the upcoming zombie apocalypse. It isn't a new concept, of course. Various media (movies, TV shows, games) have it as a recurring theme. However, Date Z puts a fun twist to it by making you fall for one of four students. I should note, though, that I did play the complete game, so I got access to all the routes. However, if you have just the base game, you'll only have access to Patty's and Oriana's routes. I'll get back to this point in a bit, though. As I mentioned, I liked the story premise and just the story itself. Although there is impending danger (even if the MC doesn't realize it), there's plenty of humorous moments along the way. As for the four (well, I guess it's technically five) romance options, they all have varying personalities. Patty comes off as sweet and wholesome, while Alicia comes off more as rough and tomboyish. Personally, I liked Vivica the most, as I tend to be into intelligent characters (and she enjoys games). As for how the story ends in the true route (which is unlocked after you've obtained all possible endings for the romance options), it can be a bit of a mixed bag. Personally, I don't mind it, as it leaves off on an exciting cliffhanger. However, for those who want the story to be resolved, that probably will not happen (unless the devs decide to make a sequel someday).

In regards to the writing, I found it paced fairly well. There is some slice-of-life as you get to spend time with the romance options and other students and staff on campus. However, there are plenty of exciting and hot romance moments as well as humorous ones. I hardly noticed any typos or grammatical errors.

As for the gameplay, it ran well on my gaming laptop. I mentioned earlier that I was delayed in getting a review out, and that was because certain bugs were present in which some side scenes or whatnot wouldn't unlock, which made obtaining a few Steam achievements impossible. However, these bugs have been patched, and as of the time of this review, all of the achievements are obtainable. Now, there has been some criticism about the base game not being complete because you don't have access to Vivica's, Alicia's, or Bao's routes. If they weren't tied with Steam achievements or important to understand the full situation behind the circumstances that lead to the zombie apocalypse, then it wouldn't be a major deal. However, I think that the criticism is fair since you really don't get the whole picture with just the base game. It's kind of like how only getting certain bits of information from one party and making a judgment based on it wouldn't be a fair assessment. Thus, purchasing both the base game and romance completionist pack can feel pricey. Hopefully, the criticism is something that the developers will take into account if they plan to make more visual novels.

With the art, I like how it's in this comic book style. The sprites and backgrounds are drawn and colored well, and you really do feel like you're in high school but with a deadly twist. The CGs are done well, too, but no CG gallery is present, which is unfortunate since I like to view all the CGs I obtained.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342078938

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342079514

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342080054

Regarding the music, there's plenty of track variety. While some tracks have that adrenaline rush feeling going on, others clearly have that humorous moment. There's no voice acting, which I would have liked since I have guesses as to how the MC and the female students would sound. XD

Overall, would I recommend Date Z? If you enjoy visual novels, like hot romance options (although you'll need to get the completionist pack if you want to experience them all), and enjoy the concept of the zombie apocalypse with plenty of humorous moments, then you should take a look at Date Z. It might be a bit pricey if you want to experience all of the content, so I'd suggest waiting for a sale. However, I did enjoy the story very much, and with the fixed bugs, more people will check it out.

Finally, I want to give a thank you to We Dig Games for the review key. It was fun getting to experience being a high school student having to survive a zombie apocalypse, and I'm just thankful that it's very unlikely to happen in real life. XD

For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow The Introverted Gamer, prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^

[b]Note:[/b] My review will reflect both on the base game and the DLC, Romance Completionist Pack. [i]Date Z[/i] is a romance visual novel developed by Mass Creation and published by We Dig Games. You take on the role of a male student who has just transferred to a new high school. However, there is a twist. The school is about to have a zombie outbreak in about a week. So how do you avoid being turned into a zombie? The answer is simple - Get one of four (?) eligible female students to fall for you. Still, there's way more to the story, but I'll stop here to avoid going into spoiler territory. In regards to the gameplay, there are multiple choices presented. As the unnamed MC, there are four romance options: Patty (the sheriff's daughter), Vivica (the smart student who's into RPGs), Alicia (the athletic tomboy), and Bao (the investigative journalist). The choices you make can either raise or lower affection with the female students. Also, certain choices can raise the students' investigative skills (indicated by the magnifying glass). Each student has two possible romance endings, depending on whether or not her investigative skill has been raised to the max in addition to her affection points. There's a feature in the game where you can rewind time a bit to go back to a previous choice option in case you'd rather go with another option. Also, a timeline keeping track of the days and unlocked scenes is present. Lots of CGs are shown although no CG gallery from which to view them is available. In addition, there are lots of Steam achievements, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game". Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll get to my thoughts. I played this game a little before the actual release date. However, due to the bugs that were present until the latest update, I wasn't able to get a review out until now. Anyway, first, I'll talk about the story. I enjoyed the story premise, specifically the part about the upcoming zombie apocalypse. It isn't a new concept, of course. Various media (movies, TV shows, games) have it as a recurring theme. However, [i]Date Z[/i] puts a fun twist to it by making you fall for one of four students. I should note, though, that I did play the complete game, so I got access to all the routes. However, if you have just the base game, you'll only have access to Patty's and Oriana's routes. I'll get back to this point in a bit, though. As I mentioned, I liked the story premise and just the story itself. Although there is impending danger (even if the MC doesn't realize it), there's plenty of humorous moments along the way. As for the four (well, I guess it's technically five) romance options, they all have varying personalities. Patty comes off as sweet and wholesome, while Alicia comes off more as rough and tomboyish. Personally, I liked Vivica the most, as I tend to be into intelligent characters (and she enjoys games). As for how the story ends in the true route (which is unlocked after you've obtained all possible endings for the romance options), it can be a bit of a mixed bag. Personally, I don't mind it, as it leaves off on an exciting cliffhanger. However, for those who want the story to be resolved, that probably will not happen (unless the devs decide to make a sequel someday). In regards to the writing, I found it paced fairly well. There is some slice-of-life as you get to spend time with the romance options and other students and staff on campus. However, there are plenty of exciting and hot romance moments as well as humorous ones. I hardly noticed any typos or grammatical errors. As for the gameplay, it ran well on my gaming laptop. I mentioned earlier that I was delayed in getting a review out, and that was because certain bugs were present in which some side scenes or whatnot wouldn't unlock, which made obtaining a few Steam achievements impossible. However, these bugs have been patched, and as of the time of this review, all of the achievements are obtainable. Now, there has been some criticism about the base game not being complete because you don't have access to Vivica's, Alicia's, or Bao's routes. If they weren't tied with Steam achievements or important to understand the full situation behind the circumstances that lead to the zombie apocalypse, then it wouldn't be a major deal. However, I think that the criticism is fair since you really don't get the whole picture with just the base game. It's kind of like how only getting certain bits of information from one party and making a judgment based on it wouldn't be a fair assessment. Thus, purchasing both the base game and romance completionist pack can feel pricey. Hopefully, the criticism is something that the developers will take into account if they plan to make more visual novels. With the art, I like how it's in this comic book style. The sprites and backgrounds are drawn and colored well, and you really do feel like you're in high school but with a deadly twist. The CGs are done well, too, but no CG gallery is present, which is unfortunate since I like to view all the CGs I obtained. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342078938 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342079514 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342080054 Regarding the music, there's plenty of track variety. While some tracks have that adrenaline rush feeling going on, others clearly have that humorous moment. There's no voice acting, which I would have liked since I have guesses as to how the MC and the female students would sound. XD Overall, would I recommend [i]Date Z[/i]? If you enjoy visual novels, like hot romance options (although you'll need to get the completionist pack if you want to experience them all), and enjoy the concept of the zombie apocalypse with plenty of humorous moments, then you should take a look at [i]Date Z[/i]. It might be a bit pricey if you want to experience all of the content, so I'd suggest waiting for a sale. However, I did enjoy the story very much, and with the fixed bugs, more people will check it out. Finally, I want to give a thank you to We Dig Games for the review key. It was fun getting to experience being a high school student having to survive a zombie apocalypse, and I'm just thankful that it's very unlikely to happen in real life. XD [quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]