Story of Seasons
The Story of Seasons games let you forge relationships with characters in each title. You can give villagers you interact with regularly gifts to improve your standing with them, earn Love and Friendship Points and eventually find that you've made lifelong friends or you've met your future spouse (yes, you can get married.) It's an important part of the game to find favorite gifts for each villager, whether that means finding their favorite flower, offering them fresh produce, or offering them a precious gem or resource. You could argue that the games are about farming, of course, but half the fun lies in trying to figure out how to make villagers like you enough so that you can eventually pop the question, and that involves a lot of trial and error gift giving.
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Venus Vacation/Scarlet
Hanging out with the girls of Dead or Alive is the name of the game in Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 — and many of the franchise’s previous entries, too. You can purchase a wide variety of gifts that you can give your favorite character, from Ayane to Kasumi and everyone in between. But there's no guaranteeing they're going to like it. There are plenty of shops around New Zack Island to shop for the perfect gift, though, and you can put a smile on each girl's face if you end up finding something they've been wanting, or at least something you think they'll enjoy, from food items to weapons, jewels, and other rarities. It can feel a bit hit-or-miss when you try to figure out what each character likes, but that’s kind of the fun of it, too. You certainly don’t know how most people will react to gifts IRL, either!
Persona 5 Royal
Persona 5 Royal is a whole lot more than impeccably stylish characters pulling off crazy heart heists. It's also an effective dating sim in many aspects, whether you're looking to cement friendships or start a new relationship. Potential partners are "confidants" that you can pursue romance or friendship with and they can all accept a variety of gifts to improve their level of friendship or affection. These include everything from cakes, bouquets, and lipsticks to alarm clocks, postcards, and pencil cases. It's the closest real-life analogue in terms of gaming, since you're giving realistic items and forging real relationships with these characters over time — it feels that way, anyway, because the cast of Persona 5 Royal are so well-written. Gift-giving feels like a natural part of the "getting to know you" process instead of something you feel obligated to do and that's what's so pleasant about it.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
The world of Danganronpa is an austere one, but that doesn't mean you don't have time to give gifts. In this universe, they're called "presents," and you collect most of them seemingly at random from MonoMono Machine gacha setups. You can then give them out to your fellow students during Free Time phases of the game. While not 100 percent necessary to progress in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, they do offer great ways to speed up the events you can eventually unlock with the characters you're stuck playing the murderous Monobear's game with. Plus, it’s always hilarious to give random pairs of underwear to characters that it certainly didn’t come from.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Throughout the Monastery in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, you'll find a wide variety of items tucked away. These can range from books, paint sets, flowers, and just about everything you can think of. While some of them need to be returned to their rightful owners, others can be given as gifts to the various students. Giving out presents to your students can increase the rate that your bonds increase, which means you'll see new Support Ranks in battle sooner, in addition to better motivation for characters you head into major fights with. This is an important part of readying students for battle, especially during the earlier part of the game. So you can not only share gifts with your favorite students (which you know is Dimitri), but you’re getting some killer battle experience out of it, too.
Photo courtesy of Marvelous Inc.