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Review of Being a DIK

SubjectBeing a DIK
ByHelpfulness: 4
Vote: 8
SkullfuckTzuyu on 2022-11-25
ReviewIncredible from a mechanics standpoint. No other game has this level of interaction and choice - it had me reading through social media feeds and smiling like an idiot about the banter between my DIK bros and Riona's flirty comments. There is also an imho excessive amount of gamey elements that negatively affect the immersion and story (I can earn money and skills that have value in the actual narrative by playing minigames on my phone, seriously???), but it can't tarnish how fantastically deep and branching this game is while making you genuinely fall in love with its girls.
4 points
#1 by Ileca
2022-11-25 at 10:36
< report >Are the seasons self-contained stories or will I be blueballed by the content? I.e. I don't like episodic VN, should I wait or can I read the first two seasons and not regret it?
#2 by SkullfuckTzuyu
2022-11-25 at 17:16
< report >There is an overarching plot, and usually some cliffhangers at the end of each episode, so you can really only view it as one big narrative - you will definitely not feel closure after just playing the first two seasons.

That said, I think they are long enough to give you a fantastic journey and then leave you excited waiting for more. I personally enjoy that, but there is also something to be said about the emotional investment: When you're thrown into this completely new world, learning about everyone as you go, making decisions on the spot while still having those strong 'early' feelings about characters, you will probably play in a more meaningful and immersive way that will make for a more memorable experience. If you have years of downtime between playing, by the time you come back you might be emotionally more distant and play more 'efficiently', just making the choices that will clearly get you your desired outcome, diminishing your own experience ("optimizing the fun out of the game").

If you have the discipline to wait, playing the full game in one go is surely the better option. Just be aware that it could be a long time until then. And I definitely wouldn't say you'll 'regret' playing the first two seasons now - it's a super fun experience in any case.Last modified on 2022-11-25 at 17:37
#3 by Ileca
2022-11-25 at 20:41
< report >12 to 126 hours of content (knowing I am on the slow side)... There is most likely way more content than time I am willing to invest in this game just to see what the most popular patreon 3D game is worth. Like always, it's a tradeoff. That's why I do not like episodic VN. :(
#4 by ravena
2022-11-25 at 23:05
< report >Knowing Patreon games, I doubt we will 'ever' see an ending to this game.
#5 by z3k3n
2022-11-28 at 03:43
< report >It is a patreon game, but it is also out on Steam. Also, it has MANY patrons on patreon meaning that the studio makes a LOT of money (at least compared to most patreon games), so it's more unlikely that they will disappoint their patrons, also they post content updates regularly, so you can see it being developed. Also, the game's creator did finish his previous game, so you can expect the same for this one, eventually (don't expect an ending for at least another 3 years I'd guess though)
#6 by ravena
2022-11-28 at 11:46
< report >I never questioned the quality of the game. It’s just that Patron funded games are incentivised to run for really long time, because if you finish it and start another games you risk that patrons won’t like the new one as much as the old one and you lose significant portion of your income. That’s why those novels always run for many many years.
#7 by z3k3n
2022-12-01 at 07:57
< report >Fair enough, and I think it may be true that it will run for a long time, but thinking about it, story-wise getting a full 4 years of college from this game would be insane and if done correctly, probably put it quite high in the best porn games of all time (which I already consider it to be), or even of the best VNs of all time.
#8 by cheekyman07
2022-12-01 at 10:30
< report >#7
Thats kind of a stretch, I cant see it being any more than 'pretty good' but maybe that's more a problem of a difference in taste and im not being objective enough about it.

Perhaps it's just from previous bad experiences of trying to read vn's in the past with this engine among others, and just patreon/itch related games in general being so poorly made or designed solely to milk money out of gullable people who have not read something actually good. They never get finished, or they are just abandoned. In the end its just had this effect on me where they all just look the same and I automatically just assume they are bad.

So my question, is this actually truly up to the same quality as other extremely good works out there? enough that it is a must read? or is it you love the game so much that you regard it so highly? It's difficult to know sometimes.

I'll admit it, I have a clear bias but I fully understand that im simply judging it from its cover and if it really is interesting thats great and ill try it in the future. You also did state that the author did infact complete a previous game as well.Last modified on 2022-12-01 at 10:35
#9 by plisken
2022-12-01 at 17:28
< report >#8 Yeah, this author completed a game called "Acting Lessons". It was well-received.

I get what you're saying, and you're right about the vast majority of the crap pumped out over on itch.io/patreon. However, there are some exceptions, like the aforementioned game, plus "Once in a Lifetime" and its sequel "Eternum", by Caribdis.

Those are entries worth checking out, as while they have plenty of content, the author doesn't seem interested in endlessly dragging them out to milk patreon subscribers dry. He set out to simply make something good and they don't overstay their welcome.
#10 by cheekyman07
2022-12-02 at 08:36
< report >Thanks for clarifying going to add those to my list
#11 by z3k3n
2022-12-08 at 05:18
< report >#10 I definitely have bias (as does everyone), but I'd say objectively the game is worth playing at least once.
The 2 that #9 mentioned are quite good as well, I've played them both completely (Eternum to the latest upudate since it's still releasing.) I have a list of what I consider to be "God-tier games" on itch.io link
and another list with all the games I'm actively playing on itch.io if you're interested.Last modified on 2022-12-08 at 05:19
#12 by itsnooa
2023-01-23 at 07:48
< report >Considering that the first two seasons have only really gone through a month at most, I highly doubt that we'll get the full four years without some huge time skips. Since the first two seasons have worked like a common route, the development has taken a hit since you suddenly have five character routes and the third season so far is only 33% complete. Depending on how long DrPinkCake makes these routes finishing the game could take anywhere from two to closer to ten years.