Sucker for Love: Date to Die For is the midpoint of a deliberate trilogy that grew out of solo dev Akabaka’s submission to Dread X Assortment 2 again in 2020. The theme of the second lockdown sport jam overseen by indie horror writer DreadXP was “Lovecrafting”, which Akabaka ran with to create a relationship sim the place you romance anime-esque waifus who’re additionally eldritch goddesses impressed by deities described within the Cthulhu Mythos. The purpose was to create a horror relationship sim the place the romanceable monsters have been attractive and terrifying in equal measure, pulling no punches when it got here to demonstrating the dreadful and sometimes disgusting issues a human must do to catch the romantic attentions of an incomprehensible cosmic being.
This irresistible idea shortly led to a three-game deal between Akabaka and DreadXP, starting with Sucker for Love: First Date, an enlargement on the unique one-shot launched in 2022. The second sport, Date to Die For, is technically a prequel to First Date reasonably than a sequel; I say “technically” as a result of timeline chronology would not have an enormous quantity of significance in reality-warping cosmic horror tales, and the truth that it undoubtedly takes place earlier than its predecessor is simply revealed off-handedly close to the top.
Familiarity with the primary sport is much from obligatory to get pleasure from this one, though taking part in them in launch order will furnish you with some helpful context about characters and mechanics from the unique which might be riffed on in Date to Die For. Nevertheless, the prequel focuses on an nearly totally new solid, with cameos from returning characters stored pretty low-key — a sensible selection, on condition that Date to Die For has the potential for wider enchantment than its predecessor, which was lauded within the area of interest circles of horror relationship sim followers however by no means actually broke out past that.
Sucker for Love: Date to Die For is not essentially a greater sport than the primary, however it’s a extra polished expertise. A lot of the publicity surrounding it has performed into its ’90s anime inspirations, turning the stylistic thrives as much as 11 to make the nostalgic homage stand out higher than ever — very important in a market that is oversaturated with relationship sims sporting inventory anime-esque visuals. There’s even a touch at a meta-narrative in the best way chapter choice is framed as you sorting by VHS tapes of episodes 1, 2, 999, and 1000 of a long-running present (with episode 1000 clearly a much-loved bootleg copy). This ties neatly again into the narrative, too, serving to to convey the vanity that an epic if usually repetitive story — once more, basic ’90s anime — has taken place in-universe, regardless of the comparatively quick real-world time you may spend taking part in the sport.
It additionally exists, regardless of the shared universe and premise, in a subtly completely different style to the unique: I’d describe Date to Die For as a survival horror sport with a relationship mechanic, reasonably than a relationship sim with survival horror components. Whereas the unique sport took a flip for true survival solely in its comparatively quick ultimate chapter, Date to Die For is persistently a survival horror expertise kind of all through, which is particularly spectacular on condition that that is nonetheless a visible novel with some mechanics taken from the easier finish of point-and-click journey video games.
However for all that Date to Die For strives to be one thing greater than a repeat of the unique — and maybe to distance the collection from a number of the baggage that comes from being pigeonholed as a “relationship sim” alongside the best way — it would not really feel like a rejection of First Date in any means. Sucker for Love has all the time been a darkish comedy, and with the discharge of a second full-length sport, the collection is ready to flip a few of that lampooning of relationship sim tropes again by itself earlier entry as effectively.
I am most impressed with the inclusion of an asexual protagonist this time round — how usually do you see that in any sport, not to mention a relationship sim? Stardust’s asexuality is mainly handled as a superpower in a world falling to spoil beneath the affect of cosmic lust, and sarcastically it is her skill to maintain a transparent head within the presence of supernaturally-amplified temptation that strengthens the romantic bond between her and Rhok’zan, a fertility goddess imprisoned by her human followers.
It is a surprisingly candy love story of opposites attracting, however whereas a comedy of manners performs out because of the frequent mismatch of their libidos, you’ll be able to’t assist however agree with Stardust’s view that flirtation ought to most likely be taking a backseat whereas they’re being pursued by murderous cultists. The most effective half, although, is that — for all it capabilities as a plot level — Stardust’s sexuality is handled with sensitivity and intelligence in addition to good humour. The sport even contains an choice to put a cease to any interplay that turns into too sexually suggestive for the participant’s consolation, including to the general impression that this can be a sport meant to be satisfying for a-spec folks as a lot as being about one.
Talking of accommodating all kinds of consolation ranges among the many participant base, there’s additionally a function that permits you to obtain a warning earlier than bounce scares. There are fairly a couple of of them, however I discovered these momentary jolts of alarm paled compared to the constant sense of dread I skilled because of the primary new mechanic launched this time round: the necessity to manually click-and-drag to open each door — and thus react appropriately to something that is likely to be behind it. It is a easy and efficient means of constructing stress as you repeatedly navigate across the sport’s confined setting of an eerily deserted household residence, and whereas maybe not wholly authentic, that is absolutely the primary time I’ve seen it finished inside the constraints of a visible novel.
I completed Date to Die For in six hours, wherein time I noticed all main outcomes to each route (based on the useful checkpoint tracker within the load menu). Like most DreadXP titles, this can be a sport that does not outstay its welcome; and, additionally like most DreadXP titles, it left me wanting extra in a mostly-good means. Most plot factors weren’t lingered on, leaving me to work out the significance of the sport’s occasions to the general collection lore in my very own time; however all the pieces I wanted to know was in there and nothing felt rushed — with the only real exception of the 2 ultimate endings accessed within the post-credits epilogue. Neither of those fairly glad me as a lot because the pre-credit-roll finale, and to be trustworthy I might’ve finished with out the closure they tried to inject into an ending that was appropriately open-ended.
Sucker for Love: Date to Die For would not do something fully groundbreaking, however it’s maybe the most effective examples on the market of the factor it is doing, and it could be a disgrace to see it buried within the avalanche of relationship sims of admittedly variable high quality out there on Steam. It is a fashionable and well-written visible novel that finds the stability between horror story and love story, whereas managing to keep up each all through. However there’s extra to admire. It is also a tremendous instance of how a black comedy relationship sim can concurrently be an irreverent car to admire the property of well-endowed anime girls and an inclusive expertise that not solely makes gamers not sometimes included within the style really feel welcome, however gracefully and authentically centres an underserved perspective.
Sucker for Love: Date to Die For was reviewed on PC with a code offered by the writer. It releases right now, April twenty third, on PC by way of Steam.