MyMMO demon Cortyn has found another game that caters to very strange fantasies. But that is exactly what makes this game so grand.
You know I like crazy games. Give me absurd dating games. Give me creepy psycho horror. Accordingly, I was already looking forward to the second part of the “Sucker for Love” series, which now finally had its release on Steam. After all, I loved the first part and sacrificed the entire humanity for a kiss from a tentacle goddess there.
But you know what? Before I go into more detail, I’ll just let the trailer speak for itself. Then you’ll already have a rough idea of how the rabbit (or the goat) runs:
The story begins simply:
The protagonist’s small hometown, which we only get to know as “Stardust”, has deteriorated significantly in recent years. Many residents have moved away, and now only so few people live there that the bus doesn’t even stop there anymore. However, rumors circulate about the place. The remaining inhabitants are said to have glowing eyes at night. Moreover, thrill-seeking tourists frequently disappear from the streets and are never seen again.
Stardust wants to visit her family, from whom she received a letter. But as soon as she enters the town, strange incidents begin. The “letter” is just a restaurant bill, and Stardust keeps having bizarre visions. When she is then approached on the street by a woman with glowing eyes and sees the many missing person posters in the background, she panics and flees into her family’s old house.
The house is dilapidated, strange plants are sprouting from the ground, and in her room, there is a large ritual circle. When Stardust picks up the strange book and repeats the words of the ritual, she conjures a terrible, dark creature: a wavering, shadowy figure with numerous greedy mouths and the head of a goat.
Soon after, it turns out: This is Rhok’zan, the embodiment of a cosmic deity. When she learns that Stardust wants to break the curse of this place, she is immediately thrilled with her and takes on a friendlier form. Because Rhok’zan is herself a prisoner. Her cult of the “Thousand Children” has summoned her and her forest to this world. It spreads uncontrollably, until eventually, the whole world is consumed. At least, if we don’t prevent that.
The whole thing is based – sometimes alarmingly detailed – on the great “C’thulhu” mythos of author H.P. Lovecraft. Within this world, there are many ancient gods who wander through the cosmos and whose existence is worshipped by cults.
The goat lady Rhok’zan is modeled quite exactly after Shub-Niggurath, also known as “The Black Goat of the Woods”, “The Goat with a Thousand Young”, the “All-Mother”, or the “Mighty Mother”.
In this game, Rhok’zan is not only a cosmic, terrifying monster – but also our love interest, because she is very fascinated by us, and since she is a twisted form of a fertility goddess that evokes greed and desire in all sacrifices, we too will succumb to her sooner or later.
Of course, there are also a few other potential “love interests” – but I don’t want to reveal too much about that for now.
The gameplay is a mix of point & click and puzzle tasks, as various conditions often need to be met to correctly complete a ritual. At its core, however, are the dialogues and how they are affected by one’s own actions.
Humor that hits because it is just absurd
If I had to list everything I love about the humor of Sucker for Love: Date to Die for, we’d probably still be here tomorrow. Therefore, I want to limit that to a few anecdotal scenes from the game to showcase the variety.
At the beginning, Rhok’zan wants to grant us special powers that her cult has also received – so that we have a chance to stand up against the overpowering cultists at all. The problem: That can’t happen because she, as a mother goddess, can only grant powers to those who have already had children or those for whom that prospect seems likely.
So we have to take the detour and perform another ritual from the book to summon the “perfect partner”. No sooner do we perform the summoning than our perfect partner appears before us: Rhok’zan, who has been teleported exactly 5 meters away. While our heroine struggles for excuses, I can only grin broadly in front of the PC.
But the dialogues in the game are also wonderfully absurd. If you want, you can ask Rhok’zan what exactly she is. The conversation goes something like this:
“This goat form is just one of my avatars. My true form is the entire forest.”
“So you’re actually just an old tree?”
“A sexy tree.”
“A birch?”
“More sexy.”
“A willow?”
“Even more sexy.”
“A cedar?”
“A cedar? That’s crazy. Less sexy.”
I hadn’t given much thought to the sex appeal of trees before. I do that more often now.
Other parts of the humor are hidden in the pages of the book. For the ritual “Delightful Feast”, I need to acquire the following items:
- Meat from a living being that died in the black forest.
- Milk from the black goat.
- A vessel filled to the brim with liquid life.
The cultists have written little notes on the necessary objects, such as with the milk:
“Store-bought milk with 2% fat is apparently fine too, it’s in the fridge.”
That definitely saves me from a weird conversation with Rhok’zan.
Even with the “vessel filled with liquid life”, a cultist remarked:
“BLOOD! They mean BLOOD! Please use blood from now on!”, closely followed by a small scribbled “Sorry”.
Yes, I’m not going to explain that joke to you now.
Horror that Lovecraft would be proud of
But it’s not just the humor that is grand, but also the horror elements. These are actually elements that are difficult to combine, but in Sucker for Love: Date to Die for, it works just as well as in its predecessor.
In one moment, you’re flirting with Rhok’zan, and in the next moment, you’re already summoning really creepy creatures for her that are supposed to collect blood and body parts from enemies, and you have to dodge them yourself.
While navigating through the house, you have to slowly pull open each door and quickly close it again if there is a creature in the next room. Because a glance into the eyes of these monsters leads to instant death. Even if the mechanics are actually quite simple, the music and atmosphere contribute to making the scenes extremely eerie.
At the same time, the Lovecraft universe always plays with themes of madness and delusions, and that is also wonderfully portrayed in the game. Every now and then, one manages to look briefly through the veil of one’s own madness and realize that one’s own body has changed – and one maybe is not as healthy as one thinks.
On the positive side: If you have a problem with jump scares, you can turn on an option that warns you before each jump scare. Of course, this removes some shocking moments from the game, but it makes it more accessible for a broader group who may not be able to handle too many shock elements.
Small flaws spoil the fun (for now)
However, there are two small negative points. The first is that the game has sometimes stutters and framerate drops even on a solid PC, which really shouldn’t be the case in a horror dating sim that basically consists only of “moving images”. But maybe a patch will resolve this soon, after all, Sucker for Love: Date to Die for was just released a few days ago.
The second negative point is that the interface sometimes covers up some information, as you can also see in the screenshots. The heart display with the “Smooch!” symbol sometimes overlaps with parts of the book pages, which seems poorly thought out and is annoying. But that too should be fixed by a patch soon.
And now please excuse me, I need to summon a disturbingly attractive goat-forest-tentacle goddess again:
Rhok’zan Selva Oscura Tharanak ya mgep uaaahgof’n ya.
