The first thing you have to realize is that the game hates you. The first few hours are so steep that the manual includes a spoiler-laden walkthrough! I avoided that and had absolutely no idea what to do, other than die a lot. It's a good thing that the game is interesting as all hell, because it actively seeks to keep you from enjoying it (at least, until you suss out what's going on.)

The kissing process has thus far been a very arcadey experience. You follow around somebody who is pissed until you see a split second when he or she is happy... and then you lip-strike. What makes things fun is that everybody has set patterns of where they are at certain times of the day. So you have to learn when they appear, watch the in-game clock, and then tail them in hopes of getting in a good smooch.

Successful kisses increase your life meter, which means you can go after bigger game, so to speak. Plus they pay you(!) And once your heart is strong enough - read: life meter long enough - then you can declare your love for Rhonda (I named her Rhonda) at the town's romantic hotspot, Lovers' Tree.

So far (I'm fairly early on), the chief reason for kissing has been to make money, because cash seems to be the grease that keeps the adventure moving. For example, I need to buy a magnifier from the pawn shop right now, and it costs over 800z. My kiss pay has ranged anywhere from 60z to 300z, so it's difficult to predict how long it could take to get there. Not to mention that you have to pay for train tickets to other parts of the map, and you have to keep re-buying your "name card" (100z) to give to townspeople in order to extract clues from them.

About all the dying. You start the game with a measly 4 hearts, but you look at all the weird-cute characters and the Love Conquers All plot and you think you're okay. Not so. Approach a pissed-off person? Dead. Walk around late at night and get shot by the cop? Dead. Pull poop out of a garbage can? Dead. Climb the jungle gym over at the playground?

Dead. Can't say they didn't warn you though. I love that the notice was posted by the "Local Jr. High Teachers."

It's just awful that the game would actively punish you for exploring. Particularly on the poop-in-a-trash-can thing, because you all but have to root through trash to find stuff to sell for money. A random search for items could kill you.

And killing you because you rode a kiddie slide? That's just mean.

Add to that a very old school saving system that only allows you to save when you find a bathroom, and you have the potential for a lot of forced do-overs. Can't say I'm a fan of that concept.

Once you get some kisses in, your life is upped, so the poop isn't as deadly as it used to be. But still, it's a crappy way to break in a new player.

I'm enjoying it. This alternative niche junk is precisely why I've been a PS2 fan.