3RRSS Tokimeki

Tokimeki Memorial: Forever With You (here after Tokimemo) is one of
the most enjoyable import experiences one can have on the Saturn. I
know what you're thinking, A dating sim? But there's tons of those on
the Saturn. And what's this? It's not an adult game? Why would
someone play a date sim that doesn't even have nudity or other
sexually suggestive things? The answer is simple. Tokimemo is one of
the most addictive games I have ever played. I haven't felt such a drive
to finish a game in one sitting since Harvest Moon hit the SNES. After a
short time playing this game you get in the zone---the Tokimemo-zone.
Few videogames can have such a captivating hold over the player, and
because of this, Tokimemo is a winner

All right, so here's the story. You play a guy going into his freshman
year of high school. You will join clubs and meet many people. But of
course, a girlfriend would be awesome. That is the goal of Tokimemo,
to get a girlfriend. However, you can date and have fun with many girls,
you can't just spend all your time with one lady. This is one of the
important strategies of the game. There are 12 different girls to hook
up with. Very simple, but the girls themselves are all marvelous.

Shiori, the cute red head mascot of the game, is just the beginning of
the girls. You've got the nerdy Mio, the artsy Ayako, and, of course, the
swimming sensation Nozomi. The only problem I had was hair color.
There's like 3 green-haired girls, 3 blue-haired girls, etc. Sure, they are
different shades of the color, but it can be confusing at first. So simple
story and good cast, how's it play?

Yes, now this is fun. You can do so much in the game, and you need to
do a lot to raise your stats. The girls won't like you if your stats suck
(stats are in categories like art, appearance, fitness, things like that).
So obviously, Nozomi the sporty girl won't run with you if your fitness
stat sucks. So how do you raise them? You opt to select different
things from the menu in your room. You can work, read, sleep, comb
your hair, talk to your buddies, join school clubs, and more. These
different events affect your stats in different ways. Combing your hair
ups the appearance stat, but when your hair gets tangled in the comb,
the stress stat goes up. If the stress stat gets too high then you will
get sick and have to rest in bed for a few weeks. It sucks.

But the school clubs do not suck. This is where you will meet many
different ladies. Lots of clubs, swimming, basketball, band, art, soccer,
tennis, and so on. And you can switch clubs every so often and get a
taste of different activities to meet new people. It's just really cool
that also while in something like that band, you also have recitals
every so often, and it shows the characters all playing their
instruments. Very nice touch.

However, since it's school it's not all fun and games. There are final
exams and mid-terms. If you're not smart, you'll find yourself at the
bottom of the class. Think those nerdy girls will want to date an idiot?
Also, near the end of the game, you have to take entrance exams for
college, so study up, otherwise, you may not end up in the same
college as the girl you are going after and that may affect the
outcome.

So, now that I've told you all about how to meet girls and the stat
building and studying, how do you court the girls? Lucky you, you're
best friend just happens to have their phone numbers. After you meet
a girl you call your buddy; he can tell you how those girls feel about
you and then you can call those girls to set up dates. There are a ton
of places you can have dates at, and they change based on the
season. From the zoo, the park, the beach, the pool, shopping, a
museum, the library and more, to concerts, wrestling matches, the
game center, skiing, and oh so much more. Lots of places to go to, so
it never gets old.

If I just call the girl I like and go to some place, and say something
good, is that it? Far from it. There are things called "bombs" in the
game. See, you can't just focus on one girl. The others want to be your
friend too. So you have to make time for all the girls you meet. Their
love meter for you is a series of happy face icons. If a bomb appears
next to it, watch out! Call that lady and arrange a date. All of the girls
like different places and things, so don't take the quiet Shiori to a
wrestling match, she likes the zoo. Got it?

On March 1st, 1998, you will be able to meet your love under the
legendary tree, and she will confess her love for you. To make this
happen you have to have her love meter at the highest stage, which
doesn't take too long to do for some girls if you know what you're
doing. But before then there are so many events to look out for. The
Christmas Eve party, New Year's festivals, Valentine 's Day and school
track events. There are also the girls' birthdays to watch out for and
you have to try and pick a good gift that matches her personality. Can
you see now that there is just so much in this game?

I like the simple graphics in this game. Cute cut scenes for building
stats, and nice pictures of the girls when dating them. The
backgrounds are pretty solid 2D pictures and the girls have different
clothes and expressions as time goes by. There isn't a lot of cg though.
Each girl only has a handful of cg pictures, most of which are season
specific. They look nice, I just wish there was more. But, the girls look
great, so I guess it was a good first effort. Nothing really saucier then
bathing suits, although I love the hidden school CG where you can
peek into one of three windows because you see shadows taking a
shower. Sometimes you get an empty bathroom, sometimes you get
muscle-men, but I got to see this little anime girl in a skimpy towel, and
that was pretty hot. Wow.

The girls have voice-overs and they all sound nice. Nozomi sounded a
little manly, but I think that was because she was the standard tomboy
character. All the other voices I heard seemed to match the
characters. The music isn't very memorable. There was nothing wrong
with it though. The library had some tight music though. It sounded like
a Zelda or Final Fantasy theme. The opening and closing songs are
pretty good, but again nothing special.

Replay? Well, 12 girls will help that. It takes roughly 4-5 hours to finish
one game, and because the game is so much fun, you get in that
Tokimemo-zone. Where you just can't stop playing. There is a poor
omake mode also that can be unlocked. It's nothing but the voice
actresses talking about the characters (you have to get a good ending
with that girl to hear her voice actress talk), and you can re-watch the
endings. You can also replay some of the mini-games you've beaten,
like the ones for the school track games. Would have loved to see CG
galleries or a sound test, but oh well.

IMPORT WARNING: With so much emphasis on conversation, it will
definitely be a plus to know some Japanese. However, you can also
read how the girl reacts to what you say through her varying facial
expressions Knowing some basic kanji like "movie" or "zoo" might also
help when deciding on where to go for dates. It's very easy to play this
game though, and there are very good walkthroughs online to help you
in dating these women. Using a walkthrough I was able to get Nozomi
on my first try very easily.

I must say that the game comes in a very nice package. It comes in a
white slipcase that holds the disk case and an oversized manual. Then,
mine also came with two memory card stickers and 12 cards with the
girls on them. Little bonuses like these are always a plus.

So, I have this game where you comb your hair and go to scary movies
with girls, and for some reason it is one of the must addicting
experiences ever. Keeping girls happy, trying to get good grades, and
making sure to get good rest, is just a very engaging balancing act.
There's just so much to see and do in Tokimemo that it truly is one of
the greats.

Review by: Orochi Sonic