Review: Sucker For Love: First Date

Game At A Glance:

• Release Date: January 20th, 2022
• Developer: Akabaka
• Publisher: DreadXP
• Genre(s): Visual Novel, Dating, Point and Click, Horror, Comedy
• Platform(s): Steam, Nintendo Switch
• Recommended if you Like: The idea of dating Cthulu, mixed with a cute anime girl.

Recently, while we were discussing what game we wanted to play next, Jay and I reached an interesting epiphany. There is a genre of games that we successfully complete more than basically any other. A genre that never gets put at the front of the line if we are asked what our favorite games often are. That genre is horror.

Is it that the games tend to be short? Is it that the themes hold our attention? Are we just letting our inner Addams show? I have no idea. I just know that, looking back on things we’ve played, this tends to be pretty consistent. And Sucker For Love: First Date did nothing to buck that trend. Is this Eldritch horror adventure worth dying for, or is it just another fake necronomicon? Let’s find out.

Story:

You are a young man who is obsessed with the occult. But you’re not after power, wealth, or fame. Instead, you’re fanboying over an Elder God that you’re convinced you have seen. And what you want is for her to use her tentacled mouth space to give you a big wet smooch.

The balancing act between comedy, lust, and horror was really well done here. Your character is an arguably unethical scumbag willing to sell out not only his own life, but the existence of life itself, in exchange for a kiss. But the game did a great job of showcasing his immorality without ever getting too gross or squicky with this aspect of its subject matter in any way that went past innuendo.

The various entities that your character interacts with are unique in both design and personality. The way that things are balanced, so that sometimes situations made me laugh and sometimes I was going “Oh, crap!”, made for an experience that kept me on my toes. I think Estir was my favorite of the three design wise, while the gameplay for Ln’etta was the kind of situation that I came into the game looking for and expecting.

Gameplay:

Sucker For Love: First date is a mix between a visual novel, a dating sim, and a point and click adventure. The storytelling structure and presentation is what one would expect from a classic visual novel experience, with pretty backgrounds and great sprite design to bring out the mood and atmosphere. Paired with solid writing that elevated the subject matter and kept Jay and I engaged.

The dating sim aspect is not particularly deep here. It’s more that this game is presented through a (twisted) romantic lens, which adds extra quirk and charm to everything going on. As with dating visual novels, there are multiple endings to collect that result in your character dealing with a variety of different outcomes.

Lastly, there is the point and click elements, and these make up the meat of how you actually interact with the game. The progression of difficulty here is something I found rather interesting, as someone who watched another person play. You can mess up quite a lot in Ln’etta’s chapter. If you mess up in Estir’s chapter, you’ll get a bad end but there are check points. But if you mess up in “Auntie Nyan Nyan”’s chapter, your nuked and have to start it over from scratch. That last bit may sound annoying, but given the context of the situation you are in, it does add to the atmosphere and mood, and it definitely heightens the experience.

Presentation:

I really loved the art design in this game. The gradual shift in how each Elder God’s necronomicon was designed was really fun, as was the fact that their designs can be altered as things happen throughout the game.

As I mentioned earlier, the character designs are stellar. There is good variety in how each of the key characters look, and they all have little details that makes taking your time and really paying attention worthwhile.

Each of the Elder Gods has her own unique voice, and it was nice being able to listen to a good chunk of the game’s dialog being voiced. Jay and I, as a pair who play a lot of games together on one screen, always appreciate the presence of good voice work since it reduces the amount that we need to read out loud. This game’s voice work wasn’t just convenient, though. It elevated the overall mood of the game, and each voice actor gave a great performance.

Purchase or Pass?

If you like Eldritch horror and are looking for something that is equal parts creepy and comedic, Sucker For Love: First Date comes highly recommended. That last chapter may be tricky for some people, but overall this is definitely a game with a distinct premise that it explored in all its beautiful, gory glory.