A lovecraftian horror game with the added twist of a dating simulator – intriguing right? When Sucker for Love: First Date was first introduced to me, I was skeptical on how it would work. However, while playing it, I became ridiculously addicted.
PLOT
The entire concept, on the surface, is to perform a series of dangerous rituals in order to receive smooches from an eldritch god. When an odd, pink Necronomicon appears at your door instead of the typical one you’d expect, your desire to place a smooch on the…tentacles?…of your beloved are all that matter. A threatening cthulu-like girl is all you have your eyes set on – at least, until the other gods come tempting you for your loyalty. But it’s all for the smooches, so how far is too far, is entirely up to you.
However, it’s also filled with a vast amount of gore, so be wary of that when going into this.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay style is a simple point-and-click. The necronomicon of your choosing will provide instructions, and all you have to do is follow them. Step outside, into another room, wash your face, grab your turtle. While there’s not much at all in terms of environment, it almost feels unnecessary as the settings these events take place in are the last priority.
While the choices you make aren’t entirely in your control, a good amount of the important decisions are. I wasn’t entirely happy with some of the responses my character made, but they did seem irrelevant in the long run. However, because there were choices that had consequences, I had a good time trying things in different ways, going back to make different decisions, and creating hilarious encounters.
PROS
A huge benefit to this style of game is how as you’re playing through a part, especially in a replay, you’re able to fast-forward through dialogue you’ve already heard. This is a feature that needs to be implemented everywhere, as it doesn’t feel like a chore to go redo something.
The gods are also voiced, and while flamboyant, they’re perfectly suited. Hearing a god flirt with you as imminent death and world destruction is pressing at the back of your mind is a great dynamic that I never thought I needed to hear.
CONS
While some bugs had been reported early after release, the creators were quick to issue an update that seemingly fixed most of these problems. I played through all three chapters numerous times, always trying to go back and finish a tree that I noticed was incomplete, and I only ran into one bug a couple of times – every so often, when a transition screen would occur, the voice would continue to speak before the character even graced the screen. However, this was such a minor thing that never affected the gameplay.
VERDICT
For the price of $10.99 USD on Steam, I find Sucker for Love: First Date to be a fun buy if you’re willing to give it a chance. I’d recommend it just for the hilarious dialogue alone, one of my favorite moments being an argument over the definition of marriage.
Overall a charming, addicting game that makes you want to find every twist and turn.
