This review was delayed for the silliest of reasons. I actually purchased HuniePop 2: Double Date and installed the “uncensored” patch on a Sunday with the hopes of getting a review out by the regular I’ll Review Anything schedule. I would need some time to play it and figure out the ins and outs (that’s what she said) of the gameplay and, like with the first HuniePop, I knew I would just need a few days to get a few hours under my belt to get a deep understanding of how to play it. Well, things were going according to plan. I played HuniePop 2 and managed to wrap my head around the entire “double date” system.

That took maybe one good gameplay session. I could’ve wrote up a quick review about it… but I just wanted to play one more game. And another. And another. Before I knew it, I’m already a couple of days past the deadline. I’m actually forcing myself to write this up so I can finally review it after being delayed for this long. I have to power through writing this because I really want to get back to playing! That should give you a good understanding of how good HuniePop 2: Double Date is.

HuniePop 2: Double Date plays almost exactly like the first game but with a few added twists to keep things interesting. It’s still this hyper addictive Match-3 puzzle game mixed with dating sim elements and some adult/hentai scenes for some added spice. While the dating sim and adult/hentai portions are relatively the same, the team at HuniePot put in some new gameplay mechanics into the Match-3 system that makes it much more hectic than the first game.

The general Match-3 format is followed for the most part. You score Affection points by matching three or more tokens in a row or column and you try to reach the required amount of Affection before you run out of turns. You can match Heart (Passion) tokens to add a score multiplier to your matches for each girl and matching Teardrop (Sentiment) tokens will allow you to give gifts to your dates. Matching the Broken Heart tokens will make them mad at you for a set amount of time so try to avoid doing that, okay? But it’s not that simple in HuniePop 2 because, as the name suggests (sorta), you’re dating two women at the same time!

Even though both girls will contribute to your overall score, some girls will give you more (or less) points depending on which tokens you match. Also, you can’t just concentrate on one girl during the entire date as they have their own stamina meter. Performing too many actions with one of them will deplete it and they’ll be out temporarily. So, basically, during the Match-3 “date” game, you’ll need to ration each girl’s stamina meters and match the most appropriate tokens to get the most amount of points, making each game a nice little balancing act of planning out what to do right at the moment and in the future.

Having to balance between both girls and managing their stamina meter as well as taking note as to which girl’s favorite token to get the most points and also trying to ensure both girls have high enough Affection so that you’re not just relying on one girl can be hectic. But, honestly, that’s a good chuck as to why HuniePop 2 is so fun! The only thing I don’t enjoy about the new stamina mechanic is how “big” moves, like matching four or more tokens drains more stamina. It’s almost like the game is congratulating you for finding the match with the points but also punishing you by making the game just a little harder. Mechanically, it does make sense since it’s actually easy to find four matches but it is annoying when the girl who’d benefit the most from the match doesn’t have enough stamina to use it.

Another huge change with the Match-3 portion is the introduction of Baggage each girl has. Baggage basically adds a detrimental effect per girl. This could range from actually being helpful, like the Passion and Broken Heart tokens have the reverse affect on a girl, pretty benign if you’re careful, such as a girl not accepting gifts if they don’t have the right amount of Passion tokens, to the positively devastating, like draining the Affection meter if you try focusing on the other girl! I like the idea of the Baggage system as it another thing to juggle while you’re doing the Match-3 thing. I just wish it was a little more balanced in terms on how good and bad they get. You can still mitigate the affects of each girl’s Baggage or make the game easier by giving them Gifts but it can also be difficult to do that if you don’t pre-lock the correct gift for her.

Now, while the Match-3 gameplay is fun, I do have to talk about the dating and adult sim embedded in HuniePop 2. It’s almost feels unnecessary. Giving gifts before the date proper does help with the Match-3 and it also levels up your relationship with her. Talking to the girls before the date will might give you some extra money to buy gifts and also add to the number of moves you can do but at the cost of a girl’s stamina. But there are no real pros nor cons regarding how you treat them, which is how the first game was like but I did wish the HuniePot team made the dating sim feel more necessary to the outcome of each date.

HuniePop 2: Double Date is also an, ahem, adult game, especially if you get the Uncensored version. The Uncensored version is basically just a patch you can download from the HuniePop 2 website after getting the game from Steam, GOG or whatnot. So you don’t need to search around regarding who carries the Uncensored version, okay? It’s nothing really major as it just adds more nasty images after you complete the three-way with the girls. Getting the patch and installing it isn’t necessary but, hey, it’s free, right?

Probably the thing I love the most about HuniePop 2 is how polished the presentation is. The first game was already great in this aspect and HuniePop 2 follows suit. The anime art style works incredibly well and the voice acting is, once again, virtually flawless. I still think Jaclyn Aimee’s Kyu is one of the most perfectly casted voice actresses ever! She has this way of just delivering Kyu’s lines with the right amount of snarkiness and hornyness that’s never overbearing. It certainly helps that Kyu gets all of the best lines once again.

That’s not to say that the other girls are bad, though. They’re just not in the upper echelon that Kyu resides. There are only a couple of returning girls from the first HuniePop, that being Jessie, the aging MILF pornstar, and Lola, the sexy flight stewardess with a fashion design business on the side. I kind of wish some of the other girls, like Tiffany, Jessie’s more innocent daughter and Audrey, the stuck up college student. They’re basically archetypes anyway and do have suitable replacements here. There’s Ashley, the model-slash-rock chick, Lilian, the goth chick, Lailani, the more naive masseuse of the hotel and Abia, the sexually repressed airport security girl, among others. Honestly, I like all of the girls and all of them are voice acted very, very well. But some, like Sarah/Suki, the very loud and annoying weeb, can be a little too much. Then again, based on one of her Baggage effects, that’s supposed to be intentional.

As far as I know, there are a total of twelve girls and you’re supposed to mix and match them into pairs and eventually sleep with them. The weird thing is that the game will match them automatically and they’ll simply get along with each other, which, in my mind, doesn’t make sense at times. I can sort of get why the designer Lola would be so interested with Zoey’s irreverent fashion sense. But some pairings, like the tough-as-nails Nora and the annoying Sarah/Suki. Maybe if there was a sequence where you had to bring the pair together, it would feel more natural instead of feeling incredibly forced.

Oddly enough, the most disappointing part of HuniePop 2: Double Date isn’t how barebones the dating sim is or some characters being lame. The weakest thing about the game is the weird final boss. Even though HuniePop 2 is supposed to be this epic tale of couple of ancient gods with incredible PMS who are about to wake up and it’s up to our hapless hero to satisfy them to save the galaxy from them, the final encounter is anything but. It’s just you going through a gauntlet of the girls you’ve met who are under the ancient gods’ mind control powers. I really wish it was just you against the god chicks instead of basically a palette swap.

However, if that’s my biggest complaint with HuniePop 2: Double Date, that’s more of a nitpick than an actual issue. Like the first HuniePop, the second game is still this addictive Match-3 puzzle game with a dating sim tacked on. It’s still incredibly enjoyable and funny. I guess if you don’t like any raunchy elements to your games, you should avoid HuniePop 2. But if you like some really sweet and satisfying puzzle action with a lot of really dumb and sexy humor, this game is definitely right up your alley.

Have you tried playing HuniePop 2: Double Date? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!