In order to be more realistic and instructional, dating video games should be roguelikes. There should be thousands of females within a certain age range you can date. However every detail about them could be randomly generated. To make it realistic the point of the game should be less how you finesse each date or meeting and more about finding the randomly generated NPC that is most compatible with your player character.

I guess roguelikes usually being really difficult will also help the realism.

You stand before a beautifull woman in a dress.
She asks:"does this make me look fat?"
Chose your answer carefully . .

Screaming and running away is not an inappropriate reaction.

Dating sims would be so much more fun if every interaction included a 'Run' option

Could always toss in some black widows/succubi/alien impostors.

Thai ladyboys?

You might or might not want to run from those...



You might or might not want to run from those... But you probably will.

I'm not sure how that adds to realism. People get together despite incompatibilities all the time, based on how one party or the other, or both, "finesse" the relationship.

Only if you include the option of canning your dead animal companion, and serving it at a later date:)

And the tourist class gives you a gold credit-card, and a camera...