Chrono Days Sim Date

I’ve played a few dating sims in my day, usually to pass the time on weekend mornings. Chrono Days is one of my favorites because it involves time travel and has a cool steampunk world you get to visit, but I have yet to complete it. I appreciate that it’s free to play online and that the main character wears black fingerless gloves just like I do in real life, so it’s an instant winner for me.

Here we go…

TOWN EXPLORATION, BOYFRIEND OPTIONS, AND CHEATS.

Main character Sabe is at school and catches up with Teddy, a childhood friend and a “rebel” because he doesn’t seem to study for tests and wears a cat sweatshirt over his school uniform. When Sabe mentions that the upcoming math test is going to be hard and she needs to study, Teddy calls her a nerd.

Teddy reminds me a bit of Donald from Magical Diary — kind of a little jerk to the girls he likes, and maybe not the brightest, but he’s probably got a secret good side to him. Unfortunately, I’m just not into his type.

Teddy takes Sabe to his brother Landon in the laboratory (okay, I always go for the ones in laboratories!!) to see Landon’s Time Jumper device:

Landon is reluctant to let Sabe or Teddy use it because it’s just a prototype, but eventually he caves. There’s a giant hole in the sky that lets people with the Time Jumper go back 100 years in time, but it will close in 30 days. Sabe puts on the Time Jumper wristwatch thingymajig…

…which starts sucking her back 100 years before she’s ready. And then boom, she lands in a train station circa 1911! Sabe tries to click back to our time period using the device, but it’s broken. Fortunately, there’s a super handsome man at the train station with awesome red hair and a Doctor Who-ish suit who says he’s a clockmaker, so maybe he can help fix it. (Yeah right…)

Nathan also says Sabe can sleep at his house while he works on the device. After literally kerplunking right onto the bed from exhaustion, Sabe has a dream that remembers the time she and Teddy were kids and made a silly promise to get married when they grew up. That’s cute but a little irrelevant considering Sabe seems perfectly grown up to me but Teddy is still an annoying man-boy.

In the morning, Nathan says he wasn’t able to fix the device. No big surprise there. He doesn’t even know how it works. But he can hook Sabe up with some kickass steampunk clothes so she fits into the time period. Sabe is worried she might be stuck in 1911 forever, but at least Nathan is nice enough to let her sleep at his house and look after her.

Now Sabe needs to work, because she needs to buy stuff. And we can explore the town! The first stop is the gentlemen’s goods store, where I can make some money. Working expends HP, though, so after making some dough Sabe needs to sleep to regain HP. A warning appears that there’s only 29 days until the Time Hole closes!!

So now let’s explore the town!

Hayes Mansion: This place is empty except for a piano which I can actually play (super cool — it has enough notes onscreen to play “Yankee Doodle”) and a glass case which seems to have a woman inside but she’s just a motionless shadow. Sabe thinks it might be a statue or doll or something. When I started playing this game once before, nothing ever happened with that case but maybe something will happen at the end?? (I have yet to finish this game…)

Gentlemen Goods: Where Sabe worked yesterday. The store owner is a weird-looking floating dude in a top hat who stole the tokens he’s selling. At least he’ll give Sabe a job even though it’s a store for gentlemen, apparently…

Train Station: OMG, when we go to the train station Sabe literally smacks into a boy! You know he’s going to be another love interest because that’s how these dating sims work! Everyone is fair game!!! This dude is totally emo-looking, but a 1911 edition. Very nice.

Sabe lends him a handkerchief because he’s bleeding. He promises to return it even though he’s catching a train right now. I guess he’ll be back…

Warehouse: There’s a little guy in the warehouse! Love interest #5! He is super cute… maybe not as handsome as Nathan but he has a boyish charm and kind of a cool outfit. I think it’s the goggles on his hat:

Sabe just wanders into this warehouse and says, “Um…. hi,” to the strange boy. He returns the hello… but that’s it. That’s the extent of the conversation. That’s how I am sometimes in real life something, so I like this guy already. When Sabe talks to him again, he asks what she’s doing here, and Sabe says she’s just looking around… to which he replies, “Whatever.” But their relationship is +10! This is the weirdest friendship/courtship ever. I guess it is a bit odd that Sabe is barging in on him here for no reason, so let’s avoid stalkerdom and go chat with handsome Nathan for a spell…

Nathan compliments how Sabe looks in the outfit that he bought for her. Then Sabe has to sleep in order to have enough HP to talk again. That is sooo realistic, right? MUST SLEEP IN ORDER TO TALK TO PEOPLE!

So our young heroine Sabe sleeps and has 28 days left until the Time Hole closes. Back to Nathan…

Okay, let’s keep talking to Nathan. I wish I could hear his voice, because personally the voice is everything for a guy in real life. It would be cool if these dating sims had some voices to include once in a while, but I know the perk for these is that they’re often free flash games, you can make them with the free visual novel Ren’Py software, etc.

Soooo Sabe says the strangest thing to Nathan, which is that good people die young and she hopes Nathan isn’t one of them. And then Nathan takes it as a compliment!! Maybe they’re going to make the best odd pair in steampunk world…

I notice that when Sabe has two conversation options, if she chooses the “wrong” one, a little sweat icon will appear over her head. The dude will answer and everything, but there are no +10 Relationship points. Then I have the option to click on the other dialogue choice the next time Sabe initiates conversation. So we still get the +10 Relationship points no matter what — we have to, to progress to a new conversation — but it costs more HP because every conversation is -10 HP. Soooo choosing the right option = you don’t waste HP (because it automatically moves on to the next conversation instead of forcing you to retry it to get the “right” response).

Okay, Day 4… let’s see if anybody’s at the train station:

Then to the warehouse we go to go bother bother to the mysterious guy with the airplane! He says my presence is distracting him!! Also, that he is fixing his plane. Lots of one-line conversations here… it’s going to be slow-going getting to know this dude, but honestly that’s fine with me. It’s just extremely awkward because he’s not even smiling or asking Sabe anything at all! Sabe isn’t doing so well either… but at least she’s asked him what he’s up to.

Anyway, please do check out Sabe’s kickass steampunk outfit!!!

This makes me want to do steampunk cosplay. Reminds me of Felicia Day’s steampunk photoshoot — that would be sooo ridiculously fun to do for a day!

Soooo to return to the story, Sabe is getting homesick. But she doesn’t hate it here. Nathan is nice and all. (She doesn’t mention the bleeding guy Emmett who stole her handkerchief or the mysterious warehouse dude, but that’s all right.)

Just as I think I’m going to get to explore the town some more, someone falls from the Time Hole in the sky… and it’s Teddy!!

And then Nathan shows up, being all friendly to Teddy. But Teddy whisks Sabe away and boom, we’re back to the present time! OMG, Teddy brings up the promise to get married, just out of the blue. He must have a real crush on Sabe, which explains why he rescued her and why he wanted to get her away from handsome Nathan.

Okay, so this is a tad awkward:

Okay, good. Teddy’s just like yeah whatever about it and apologizes if he was being awkward there. It’s cute, it’s just… Sabe can’t like a guy in a cat sweatshirt who calls her a nerd. It’s way too middle school. Whatever. Teddy gives Sabe the Time Jumper device so Landon doesn’t think he stole it.

Now it’s time to explore the town in today’s time period!! Hmm, so Hayes Mansion has been replaced by the high school. I wonder if that’s going to come up later… like the school will be haunted by that ghost lady or something. That would be awesome.

Reton High School: This is the hub for chatting with Teddy, who has dyed his hair blue. Sabe’s not going to talk to him right now, though. No point in wasting HP on a convo with a dude she doesn’t like. (I’m sorry, but HP is so valuable and we have less than a month to fall in love here! PRESSURE!!)

Library: Totally empty. Nothing to click on.

Laboratory: Ahhh, Landon is here. You should know I almost always go for the nerds in these dating sims. In Magical Diary, I went for the professor because he was the closest you could get. In RE: Alistair++ I totally went for Travis, the computer club president, even though he was all mean at the beginning. The professor was mean to me, too, but that’s how those romance start out… then you get to know them, and it turns out they have sick grandmas they’re taking care of or lost loves in their pasts and they’re really good-hearted people, they’re just a little shut off from others. I love that crap.

Okay, so let’s chat with Landon. He says he knew Teddy stole the Time Jumper device, but it’s all right. He says Sabe can keep it. I sense a lot of time traveling in her future… That’s about all we get out of Landon, though. That’s okay. As I just outlined, those lab coat types are always super hard to get to know but totally worth it in the end.

Reton Mall: Okay, I can work and stuff. Sabe’s already got $30, so she buys an Alix Plushie because they are adorablezzz. Also, can I just say that there is a teddy bear working the register?! This means that my boss is a teddy bear, that is kind of awesome.

The Emerald Apartment: This be where Sabe lives. She needs to sleep to get some HP restored. Then let’s check out the computer…

Ooh, cheats. I don’t know, guys. I’m going to use them. I know of one that gives you 2000 HP so you can enjoy lots of conversations without the time limit getting in the way… and without having to go sleep all the time. Let’s do that one just for kicks. (Just click on CHEATS and then type in pillshere if you want to do that, too.)

ALL RIGHT, now we can chat with everyone!!! Sabe has become SOCIAL BUTTERFLY with endless energy! How cute, in My Documents on the computer she has a picture of her with Teddy and Landon. They must have been good friends growing up. Only Landon is all off to the side and looking at Sabe and blushing in the picture. I think Landon secretly has a big crush on Sabe!!! Lab coats FTW!

Okay, if we click on Firecat to go online, we get the Reton Mall Online Store where a bunch of androids are being sold. Most are sold out, but there is one left in stock and it’s 50% off! Who can resist such a deal? It’s still $300, though. OMG, is this android going to be a love interest? That would be hilarious.

So, first things first… let’s use the 2000 HP to work like mad, make fat stacks, and buy a plastic boyfriend! I loves it. (I really, really hope that’s what happens.)

All right, the pills allow Sabe to do 10 days’ work in a single day. Now, back to the computer to check out this Al Series 02: Oz android description:

“A full functioning artificial intelligence robot! His synthetic fiber hair and silicon skin gives him the appearance of a real person. He can memorize faces, names, and all kinds of information. His advance chat software makes him a great companion to have around. Outfit and accessories included.”

LOLzzz. He doesn’t have the best star rating, but maybe that’s why he’s so cheap. BUY NOW! All right, he’s being shipped to Sabe and will arrive in a few days. In the meantime, let’s REVIEW BOYFRIEND OPTIONS, because this is serious business:

In the present time, we have…

Teddy: Blue hair. Cat sweatshirt. Doesn’t study. Kind of silly. Called Sabe a nerd. Also called his big brother Landon a nerd. Stole Time Jumper device from Landon to rescue Sabe from steampunk 1911. Super middle school-ish and not for me, but Sabe did promise to marry him back when they were kids and, I assume, best friends. Being best friends first is pretty cute.

Landon: Teddy’s big brother who works in a lab and wears a lab coat. Super smart. Kind of cold, but a nice guy. Calls Teddy Theodore because he’s very serious and thinks the nickname “Teddy” sounds a little silly.

???: Potential android boyfriend with silicon skin. Could end up being a dreamboat.

In steampunk land, we have…

Nathan: Clockmaker with awesome red hair and a great fashion sense. Very handsome. All-around gentleman, almost too nice but hey, it’s always cool when chivalry is not dead. Apparently lives alone… is he lonely, then?

Emmett: Nice guy. Stole Sabe’s handkerchief but promised to return it. Has a slightly emo look. Was bleeding profusely when Sabe first met him and seems to be an adorable klutz.

???: Um, I don’t know we even know this guy’s name, but… pilot in the warehouse. Very shy. Cool goggles. Trying to fix his airplane. Doesn’t like to talk much but really ups those Relationship points with the awkward two-line conversations that he and Sabe have. Could be fun to bother some more…

LET’S GET SERIOUS.

I think it’s time to time travel. This is what Sabe looks like when she’s time traveling:

Nathan is happy to see us again! Let’s use Sabe’s newfound HP to go on a date with him!!

It seems to be going well. Sabe can choose conversation, gift-giving, or a smooch to progress the date and see if Nathan’s mood improves. (Or maybe it’s just the mood of the date?) Ahhh I don’t have anything to give him, though! Except for the Alix Plushie, but I don’t think he’d like that. Sabe can only converse with him three times, at which point they hold hands… and then they have to do something else. Smooch doesn’t work either. This must mean the date needs to end. I think Sabe is freaking out, she keeps getting the sweat icon over her head.

That’s okay, let’s just chat with Nathan for a bit after the date is over. In conversation, he reveals that he’s not a very good cook, but of course Sabe doesn’t mind that. He also says a wizard used to live in the old Hayes Mansion, or something. (The words are cut off!) But Nathan confesses that before Sabe came along, life was pretty quiet and lonely. Awwww.

He really looks like the Doctor to me for some reason. If the Doctor had a new outfit and finally got to be a ginger and stuff. I don’t know, I’m just digging his look:

But now it is time to sleep and then… bother the pilot! OMG, he tells Sabe his name! She has to ask who he is, but at least he finally introduces himself:

Roland says he thinks Sabe is an alien because of her watch. (Um… wow.) She says it’s a time travel device, a story he actually buys just like Nathan did. The people here in 1911 are kind of crazy like that, I love it. At first, joking around with Roland doesn’t get us very far, but eventually he seems to catch on to Sabe’s jokes and loosens up a little. Also, he really, really believes in aliens.

All right, sleepy time. I want to go back to the present time period and see if a certain package has arrived… But nothing is here. So let’s chat with Landon in the laboratory. He seems to like it when Sabe needs help with school, because he says he can be her tutor. But when Sabe tries to give him a gift, he thinks it’s weird. And then this happens when Sabe asks him out on a date:

That’s okay! Maybe he’s not as free and easy as Nathan, and Sabe needs to woo him first. Hmm… but does this mean that Nathan is a player? That he goes on dates with anybody who asks him? Or maybe Nathan is just such a lonely clockmaker that he’s just really happy for Sabe’s company and falling for her fast. That might be a little too much, though…

Landon in the lab mentions a few other interesting things: 1.) his dad passed away, and apparently his dad and Teddy were tight, 2.) he’s working in the lab and supporting both Teddy and himself with his income, 3.) he doesn’t like it when Sabe is sarcastic about the economy, 4.) he’s not good with computers and appreciates it when Sabe says he’s old-fashioned. Cool.

SLEEP. Where is that absolute boyfriend?!

Until our package arrives, let’s return to steampunk land and see if anything’s happening at the train station. Nope.

Then I believe it is time to bother Roland the young pilot. He reveals some interesting things about himself. Apparently, he was on his way to buy his sister some medicine when his airplane crashed here, which is why he’s been here trying to fix it. He also gives Sabe a book that he doesn’t want. I think that’s sweet, though I regret to deduce that he must not be much of a reader, then.

Back to the present time. After making money working, Sabe purchases all the things in the shop to have a stash on hand. Then she buys everything a second time. (That HP cheat is amazing.) Now she has lots of gifts to hand out to people, and first on the list is Nathan back in 1911! I think I know exactly what he would like, being a clockmaker and all…

Okay, he won’t accept a gift in the house, but when Sabe takes him on a date, she’s able to give him a watch that she bought at the mall. I mean, it’s a watch from 100 years in the future, that’s the awesomest gift to get a clockmaker, right?! And he likes it!! Then he and Sabe chat and stuff. Smooching still doesn’t work, though. =(

SLEEP. Day 11… Sabe goes to the train station and runs into a familiar face: Emmett!!! And now his previously bleeding eye is bandaged! I like it, though. His eyes are very green which is very cool. He says he’s back to return Sabe’s handkerchief to her, because he promised he would. And now it looks like Sabe can return to this train station anytime to chat with him.

As Sabe chats with him, we learn that 1.) he’s a delivery guy, 2.) he falls down all the time, 3.) he tried to jump off a train to save Sabe’s handkerchief from blowing away in the wind, 4.) he thinks Sabe is super nice for helping him when he fell down, because nobody ever helps him when he falls down, and 5.) he totally believes Sabe when she says her watch is a time traveling device… just like everybody else in this town believes Sabe’s crazy story! This is one open-minded town.

SLEEP. Back to the present. No android. Sabe chats with Teddy and Landon for a bit. Teddy likes stupid TV shows and an old boy band. Meanwhile, Landon likes cats better than dogs, isn’t into sports, and used to be overweight. He also is the one who usually goes home and cooks dinner for himself and Teddy. It totally reminds me of RE: Alistair when Travis says he likes to cook and is taking care of his sick aunt (or something like that).

SLEEP. Day 13 and still no android, so let’s forget about the android for a while and get serious about somebody. Sabe has already been out with Nathan twice, but Landon seems more interesting. There’s also the pilot to consider. I’m going to eliminate Teddy as a love interest, and for this playthrough, Emmett’s just not quite my style…

Sabe returns to 1911 to chat with Roland, and when she says that she hopes she can’t change the future with her time traveling, she gets another +10 with Roland and the ability to give him gifts! Oooh, what would he like…?

Let us shop!! In the Gentlemen Goods store where Sabe occasionally works when she feels like it (if only work in real life were like that Franz Ferdinand song), she finds a compass that seems like just the thing. When she returns to the warehouse and gives it to Roland, he blushes and then… +30 Relationship!!! Something has to happen with this guy soon. He’s been opening up to Sabe about his sister and his airplane and he seems super cute.

As Sabe continues conversing with Roland, she learns that his airplane was passed down to him from his grandpa and his dad, and someday he wants to travel around the world in it. He also daydreams about what it would be like to fly to the moon and thinks it’s cool that, you know, that totally happened by Sabe’s time.

OMG, Roland buys Sabe a bouquet!! Seriously, it requires a lot of dialogue to get to this point, I wonder how it would work without the 2000 HP cheat??

Anyway, Sabe heads back to Nathan’s house to sleep and decides to chat with him for a minute. When he tells Sabe she always needs to take her baths before 8 PM when the water stops getting hot, she has the option of saying they can take baths together to save on water! And then Nathan declines! Wow. Nathan must be a true gentleman or just having a George Costanza “no thanks, I don’t want any coffee, it keeps me up” moment…

The next day, Sabe returns to the warehouse to check on Roland and discovers that he’s about to leave town! His plane is fixed and he’s ready to go home to his sister. Sabe invites herself along. Look at Roland in his goofy goggles:

At Roland’s house, his sister Eliza isn’t there to open the door. And then we find a gravestone with her name on it. Roland cries… sad moment. He doesn’t say much about it but wants to get going. He decides that without Eliza, he’d rather be in Reton (the town they were just in) than here, because if he stays here he’ll never see Sabe again. Awwww.

LET’S REVIEW BOYFRIEND OPTIONS:

In the present time:

Landon: Serious type, but he’s opening up to Sabe.

Mysterious android that the postman stole.

In steampunk 1911:

Roland: Super sweet. Just lost his sister and has no family left. Really likes Sabe, and they have had lots of time to build up a friendship before the romance which I love.

Nathan: The nice gentleman Sabe has been actively dating for the past two weeks. While the romance started off strong with dates right away, it seems Nathan’s personality is not growing at all.

Although Sabe likes Emmett, we’re eliminating him as a love interest. We’re also crossing off Teddy because meh.

TIME TO ROMANCE THE TOWN!

Sabe returns to the present time and chats with Landon for a bit to decide if he is a contender for her heart. OMG. Here’s what we learn: 1.) he’s scared of scary movies and doesn’t like Teddy watching so many of them, 2.) he wears contact lenses because he thinks glasses make him look like a nerd, like he was in high school (I sense he got teased a lot…), 3.) he won a lifetime supply of chapstick on the internet, and 4.) he still won’t go on a date with Sabe.

But I like Landon. You can tell he’s a late bloomer — someone who had a hard time in high school because he was overweight and wore glasses, but now he’s fit and handsome and his brains make him even more desirable. He’s still a little cold, but that’s to be expected with someone who has that social history.

SLEEP. When I wake up, there is a KNOCK ON THE DOOR!!!! It could only be one thing…

Oh wow. Now my room is no longer my own, because whenever I return to the Emerald Apartments, my robot Oz is there waiting to talk to me! When Sabe chats with him, she learns 1.) he can learn information from the web, 2.) he will recite a random fact of the day for Sabe, every day, 3.) he is interested in learning about human behavior, 4.) he likes to play computer games, and 5.) he runs on solar power, which is super sexy.

SLEEP. Sabe heads to the lab to see what Landon is up to and discovers him blushing and stuff. And then, I do not know how this happens, but Landon and Sabe topple over on top of each other. For no reason. But it gives Landon a chance to get personal:

Landon says he lost weight and started wearing contact lenses so Sabe would stop paying attention to Teddy and start paying attention to him. I have to wonder why he refused to go out on dates with Sabe when she asked him, then?? I guess he’s been shy. If he had a crush on Sabe all those years, he must have had a hard time accepting that it would be possible to go out with her; he had to change his mindset on that one.

Soooo Sabe can now go on dates with Landon! Let’s do it!

So cute. But it really just makes me want to see what a date is going to be like with Roland.

SLEEP. Back to steampunk world to date the adorable pilot:

All right, after dating Landon and Roland and finding them both perrrrfect, I shall eliminate Nathan from the pool. Not that Sabe doesn’t appreciate a gentleman clockmaker, but Nathan’s a tad formal and uptight for her.

After chatting a bit more with Roland, we get here:

Sabe has talked Roland into a stupor and they have nothing else to say to each other. Ohhhh but this means our romance is complete. =)

Back to the present time period to see what happens with Landon and Oz. First, Sabe goes to her room and chats with Oz, learning 1.) he likes the color orange, 2.) he likes the stickers that Sabe gives him. So much that he decorates her entire room with them:

A couple of days later, he wants to go on an excursion with Sabe. She really should have asked him to go outside earlier than this… so I don’t blame him for wanting to get out of her cramped bedroom. It’s no wonder he went half-mad and decorated her entire room in stickers.

When Sabe goes out with Oz, they run into another Oz robot! The other Oz says it is a Perfection Oz, so it’s better than Sabe’s Oz. This hurts Sabe’s Oz’s feelings. (Wow, this is confusing.) But Sabe assures Oz that he is irreplaceable, because no other Oz — not even an updated model — would remember all the things they did together and talked about. Awwww.

Sabe can now go on dates with Oz!! So hell yeah, they’re going on a date ASAP. It’s a little awkward, because of all places they go to a food court… and Oz can’t eat food. But they seem to enjoy themselves, as afterwards conversations lead to Oz saying that he wants to touch Sabe’s hair and stuff like that.

So okay. Oz is sweet. But I’m not sure if I’m liking this whole dating-a-robot thing. It definitely has a creepy edge to it. It doesn’t matter, though, because very soon we reach END OF DIALOGUE with Oz!! Sabe says that if Oz ever broke down, even if she got a new android, it would never be able to replace Oz and THE END.

Now there is one man left to intensely date, and that is Landon!!

OH GOD when I talk to Landon, he gives Sabe a sticker book! It is like my relationship with Oz has been reversed. Now Sabe must decorate Landon’s laboratory with stickers… After a couple more dates and some chatting about Landon being just as shy and awkward as ever…

I still have to wonder why Sabe wasn’t able to snog any of those guys, though?? Maybe that’s coming later… I hope so, because I’d like Sabe to choose her man now.

TIME TO CHOOSE SABE’S FUTURE…

After a few nights and hanging out with Emmett and Teddy for kicks, we see this warning:

With Sabe’s last day, she checks on Hayes Mansion but still nothing happens. She then checks on Roland, but there’s nothing new with him in conversation or on a date. That leaves her to face her big decision.

Now, both of Sabe’s other love interests (other than Roland) are in the present day… but my favorite guy in this game has been ROLAND THE PILOT!! Landon was a close second, but Roland’s weird alien fetish and goofy goggles win the day.

So Sabe sleeps in 1911, and the Time Hole closes. She’s now stuck in 1911 forever. It seems a very convenient way to break up with other boyfriends… like WOOPS, I guess I got stuck 100 years in the past, time to move on with our lives! (You can bet Landon’s going to work on that time travel device forever to get back to her, though…)

Sabe immediately goes to the warehouse to find Roland.

YESSSSS!!!!! The answer is yes. The game says I got the BEST ENDING possible with him and shows me the final scene with Sabe and Roland IN LOVESSSS and with a kid. Sabe got her awkward little sexy pilot!!! Also, she is wearing a nightie.

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

— Ashley

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