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the-gamer-guide · 1 year

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Top 15 Games Like Summertime Saga In 2023

Do you remember the captivating story of Summertime Saga? With its unique take on a high school-based narrative and witty characters, this game was one of the best entries in its genre. If you’ve already finished playing it and are looking for some similar experiences that offer slightly different adventure-filled stories, then look no further. We have curated a list of the top 15 games like Summertime Saga for gamers, who appreciate nonlinear story developments, fun characters, and rewarding achievements. Keep reading to explore all these exciting titles right away!

Top 15 Games Like Summertime Saga

If you're ready for a different kind of second-life experience, then Snow Daze: The Music of Winter is worth checking out. Unlike other simulation games like Waifu Academy and Melody, which offer more risque gameplay, Snow Games offers an enjoyable journey through the peaceful winter season while letting players express themselves musically. 1. Waifu Academy

In 2018, Irphaeus shook up the gaming world with Waifu Academy, a visual novel game now available on Steam and various other platforms. It invites its players to high school as a male protagonist, taking part in tales of romance between him and strikingly attractive female characters famously coined ‘waifus’ by anime fiends. You must navigate through different social situations while developing relationships with these virtual ladies to achieve educational goals- dating sims meets visual novels! The versatility of storylines offers multiple paths for completing this mature-rated experience; make sure you're ready before entering Waifu Academy! 2. Ladykiller in a Bind

Ladykiller in a Bind by Christine Love provides an immersive experience with its deep exploration of identity, gender roles, sexuality & relationships from a mature perspective. The player can choose to take on the role as either male or female and find themselves disguising their character for all sorts of interactions aboard this cruise ship set game. Not only is it up to them to win over others' affection but also confront tricky aspects such as power dynamics, control & complexity of consent - bestowing whoever plays the responsibility not just to have fun but think critically about it too! 3. Snow Daze

Snow Daze, the adult-themed visual novel game from Outbreak Games, has captured the attention of players around the world. Players take on a student role with their step-siblings during an exceptionally long snowstorm created for intense social and romantic challenges. Even though there are many games like Summertime Saga, Snow Daze stands out due to its immersive and engaging plot. With several story arcs available to explore and endings dependent upon choices made within each arc, this game offers unbeatable replay value as well as anime visuals tailored specifically to adults who seek graphic sexual content and nudity in gaming experiences. Perfectly suited for those looking to get lost in intriguing storylines through an interactive medium, Snow Daze is sure to make its mark among fans of visual novels! Must Read: Top 10 Games Like Fortnite In 2023 4. Sisterly Lust

"Sisterly Lust" is a steamy visual novel game that follows the story of an unexpected reunion between step-siblings. Developed and published by Perverteer in 2018, this adult content dating simulator features multiple endings depending on how you navigate through its risqué scenarios of romance and social interaction within your family home. With high re-playability value built into each play, "Sisterly Lust" promises players nights full of naughty drama! 5. Coming Out On Top

Get ready to take a deep dive into the diverse world of "Coming Out On Top", an adult-themed visual novel game from Obscurasoft. This groundbreaking title released in 2014 follows protagonist Mark Matthews as he journeys through life - navigating social and romantic struggles while also feeling his way through self-discovery when it comes to sexuality. The player is presented with various story paths and outcomes which evolve based on their choices; offering immense re-playability value all wrapped up within mature themes like sexual content & nudity that are intended only for adults. 6. Dreaming of Dana

Experience a heartfelt story of romance and discovery with "Dreaming of Dana", an adult-themed visual novel from Ptolemy Games. Released in 2017, the game follows Nathan, who returns to his hometown for his mother's wedding and unexpectedly finds himself reconnecting with childhood friend Dana - in more ways than one. On top of its engaging narrative that diversifies based on player choices, this title features mature content such as sexual themes and nudity intended only for adults. Whether you're looking for new love or lost memories - everything is possible when dreaming...of Dana. Must Read: Top 15 Games Like Skyrim In 2023 7. A Town Uncovered

Enter "Sunshine Bay," a quiet town with its fair share of secrets. As the player delves deeper into this mysterious world, they uncover dark and erotic revelations in an adult-themed visual novel game - Town Uncovered! Developed by indie studio Geeseki and released in 2017 on PC via Steam, players must use social interaction to navigate various romantic scenarios while unraveling their new home's hidden secrets. Experience mature content such as sexual themes or nudity within captivating storylines specially developed for adults – are you up for it? 8. Monster Prom

Ready to rev up your dating game? Enter "Monster Prom", the smash hit multiplayer rom-com sim that has players navigating a twisted high school world, where seemingly innocent prom dates are truly out of this world...literally! Developed by Beautiful Glitch and released in 2018 across various platforms including Steam, the game follows a student's three-week race against time to win over any one of an array of monstrous characters - from demon princesses to pun-loving ghosts. Experience vibrant visuals combined with witty dialogue and multiple paths through richly branching storylines for highly repayable date night adventures sure to delight fans everywhere - with or without friends alongside you as four-player support amps up fun competition style. 9. Amber’s Magic Shop

Step into a mystical world of romance, adventure, and fantasy with Amber's Magic Shop - the ultimate visual novel game developed by Winter Wolves. Play as heroine Amber who inherits her grandfather’s magical shop in search of true love and destiny! Guide baby steps towards success in managing this special store full of enchanting items crafted using your wand's powerful magic. Get to know all kinds of customers & other characters while you make choices that will shape not only their relationships but also their fate of yourself within the game's multiple endings... But beware; due to its explicit content, some scenes are designed for adults only, so choose wisely young mage! Fans have already embraced "Amber's Magic Shop" providing glowing reviews from many satisfied players worldwide! 10. Crusoe Had it Easy

Crusoe Had It Easy invites players to embark on an adventurous journey of survival, romance, and mystery! Take the role of Robinson Crusoe as you are stranded with a mysterious woman named Friday. Throughout your stay on this deserted island, you must bravely make decisions that may determine not only your fate of yourself but also your relationship with Friday. How will you interact? What tasks should be prioritized first - such as building a shelter or finding food? Be mindful, there may be more than one ending based on what choices are made along the way; don't forget that 'Crusoe Had It Easy' contains mature themes and is unsuitable for some audiences! 11. Harem Party

Enter the fascinating world of "Harem Party", a visual novel/dating sim game developed by the Japanese company Sekilala. This anime-style masterpiece will take you through an enthralling journey where, as the main protagonist, your choices and decisions matter. With multiple female characters each with unique personalities and storylines for you to interact within this mature content adventure - it is up to YOU who ends up being part of your harem at the end! Will you be able to find true love or have all hope dashed? What secrets from these exotic ladies await if their hearts are opened and won over? Take on this epic experience today only within Harem Party. 12. Dual Family

Step into a reality with two sides: the adult-oriented visual novel game, "Dual Family". You are given complete control to become both husband and wife in this domestic drama. Your decisions will determine how things unfold for their family as you navigate through multiple branching paths full of sexual content and other mature themes that take your story down unexpected roads toward one of its various endings. Although it has garnered mixed reviews due to its explicit nature, fans can't get enough - an audience eagerly awaiting wherever these choices may lead them! So if you're looking for something unique & risque, grab hold and find out what lies within Dual Family now available on PC platforms everywhere. 13. Mythic Manor

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of Mythic Manor, an anime-style adult visual novel game. You take on the role of a male protagonist who inherits his mysterious late grandfather's mansion and its inhabitant's ghosts, demons, and other mythical creatures. Your decisions will have powerful consequences as you explore branching paths with multiple endings throughout your journey. Uncover hidden secrets while managing this magical estate, customizing leveling systems that unlock exciting new scenes for deeper immersion into this enchanting realm - intended only for mature audiences due to explicit content, including sexual themes. 14. Taffy Tales

Take on the role of Nathan and become immersed in Taffy Tales, an adult-oriented visual novel game developed by UberPie. Return to your hometown after being away for several years, branching paths with multiple endings await as you interact with characters such as family members, friends, and other townspeople while making decisions that affect their story outcomes. Level up along the way unlocking new scenes and dialogue -but beware! This explicit content has not been rated lightly; it is intended only for mature audiences looking to explore more than just a typical 'kiddy' tale. Reviews? Mixed opinions from critics suggest caution should be exercised when playing this one. 15. Melody

Melody is a visual novel that is highly compelling and immersive. This narrative focuses on the journey of a young girl and her attempts to stay connected to her grandfather, affected by dementia. She must confront complex emotions as part of this arduous struggle, making it an emotionally resonant tale. The visual experience enhances the discussion of complex emotions, depicting each scene in stunning detail. Through interactive dialogue and fully formed characters, the game follows Melody on her journey of self-discovery and encourages players to consider the idea that memories can be stronger than physical reality.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, as you can see, there are plenty of great options for playing games similar to Summertime Saga. Some of these suggestions are comparable in terms of gameplay or story, while others take the same genre but offer a new twist. Whatever type of game you like to play, there is something compiled here on this list that will surely make your summer more enjoyable. Whether it’s a dreamy romance, exploration-building simulation, or a musical adventure, these top 15 games like Summertime Saga have got something for everyone. We hope this article on the top 15 games like Summertime Saga has inspired you to try something new. Read the full article

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ian-manachevitz-namesake · 4 years

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Just discovered Coming out on top and damn i love this game so much. I'm so emotionally attached to Mark, Penny, Alex and IAAAAAN!!

#hooked #coming out on top #Mark Mathews #Ian Manachevitz #Obscurasoft

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blkwhtrbbt · 5 years

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I’M DYING

The last screen of the Mark/Ian plotline in Coming Out On Top looks exactly like Wincest

#coming out on top #obscurasoft #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #supernatural #wincest #sam x dean

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soloragoldsun · 4 years

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Pride Month Recommendations- Days 9-18

No, I didn’t forget this! I just haven’t had the strength to do long-ass posts of this nature. Hopefully, things will be better when I switch shifts at the end of the month.

Anyway, I’m going to go through my Steam Library for this list...

9. Angels with Scaly Wings by Radical Phi is a dating sim/mystery/sci-fi game where you can romance a dragon. As you can probably imagine, it is an ideal game for me. You are an ambassador from a dying Earth who has been sent through a portal to a world populated by sentient dragons. There, you uncover a series of murders and get close to certain dragons while trying to save their world and yours. The characters are very in-depth with largely tragic backstories. Get ready for some feels. Your character is referred to by they/them pronouns, leaving their gender open to your interpretation. You can develop a relationship with all five dragons, regardless. It’s a wonderful game with great worldbuilding and incredible characters!

10. Coming Out on Top by Obscurasoft is a game that I willingly purchased TWICE. The first time was when it was still in development, which I almost never do. Even when it was incomplete, I got an amazing experience from it! When I lost access to my old email and the game came out on Steam, I bought the completed version. The premise is simple in theory: You are a college senior who has just come out as gay, and can romance one of several guys over the course of the game. What makes this game stand out is the likeable characters, the zany settings you can find yourself in, and the hilarious dialogue! Each romance is unique, and even the non-romanceable side characters are memorable. It has good sex scenes, if that’s what you’re into, and you can even customize things like facial hair on your character and the bachelors. There are even mini-dates you can go on if you don’t feel like playing a whole route. This game has it all, and you can easily get several hours of gameplay out of it. I mean, did I mention that I willingly paid for it TWICE?

11. Dragon Age: Origins by Bioware was a gamechanger for me, literally, as it heightened my standards when it came to games in general. To this day, it remains on my top five list of greatest games of all time. You play as a character who eventually becomes a Grey Warden, whose purpose is to defeat creatures known as Darkspawn and stop a Blight that is descending upon your homeland. How you go about that fight, who you choose as allies, and your overall actions in the world are up to you. You can play out one of several backstories for your character, customize your class, and, of course, romance one of four characters. Two of the romanceable characters, Leliana and Zevran, are bisexual. In later games, you get even more romance options, but I feel that Origins is the best game overall. I could play it again and again, and have done so several times. Also, it’s on Steam, which means you can buy it and all DLCs without dealing with the annoying Origin platform.

12. Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator by Game Grumps has been talked about so much, I almost feel like I don’t need to. I will anyway. It’s a game where you play as a single dad who moves into an area that, conveniently, also has a bunch of single dads. As the title suggests, you get to date the dads you meet over the course of the game. This game is awesome because, among other aspects, it’s super inclusive. You can decide whether your dadsona is trans or not, whether your daughter is adopted, whether your previous spouse was a man or woman... The characters themselves are wonderfully-developed and three-dimensional. There are also many Dad Jokes. Also, Damian is best dad.

13. Gone Home by Fullbright is another game that is often talked about in LGBTQ circles. It’s an exploration game where you return home to an empty house and learn by going through different rooms, reading letters, and finding items, the story of your character’s family, particularly your sister. I love games that force you to explore and work for the whole storyline, because it feels so much more fulfilling when it all plays out. Gone Home does this brilliantly! I will say that it’s a short game for the price, so I’d recommend waiting for a sale.

14. Life is Strange by DONTNOD Entertainment is one of the greatest games I have ever played, period. I will never be able to say enough good things about it. You play as Max Caulfield, a photographer who has recently moved back to her hometown to attend the prestigious Blackwell Academy. There, she reunites with her estranged best friend, Chloe Price, falls into a mystery surrounding a missing student, and learns that she has the ability to rewind time. It’s a game where choices in the first episode will impact what happens in the fifth. All of the characters are memorable. You will absolutely fall in love with Arcadia Bay and get sucked into the mystery surrounding it. I played this game over the course of three days when I first bought it, because I just couldn’t stop. It remains one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever had. As for LGBTQ aspects, both Max and Chloe are bisexual, and you can play Max as having feelings for Chloe and/or her friend Warren.

15. miraclr- Divine Dating Sim by Woodsy Studio is a fun little game about falling in love with an angel via group chat. Your character has been chosen to communicate with the seraphim (and Lucifer) concerning the implementation of the first miracle Earth has seen in ages. Most of the game involves chatting with the angels, deciding on a miracle, and entering private group chats to develop your relationship with the angels. You get to choose your pronouns, and Gabriel goes by they/them pronouns. I’ve only played one route, but it was pretty cute! The one annoying aspect is the fact that it’s modeled after a mobile game and sets chats for certain times. You can easily bypass that, however, by choosing to power through or rewind.

16. Nekojishi by Team Nekojishi is...a mixed bag, if I’m going to be honest. The likeability of the characters fluctuates a lot, and the True Ending had A LOT of issues for me. Still, I played the thing for nine whole hours! It’s a game about Liao, a college student and aspiring dancer whose third eye is suddenly opened, giving him the ability to see gods and spirits. Among these spirits are Guardian Tiger, a family guardian spirit who wants Liao to return to his family’s temple and use his abilities there, Clouded Leopard, who wants Liao to become a go-between for him and his worshipers, and Leopard Cat, who has possessed one of Liao’s classmates in order to convince him to create a temple for an earth god he’s connected to. Obviously, Liao isn’t so keen to abandon his own life in order to fulfill any of these wishes, but the spirits decide to remain by his side until he makes a choice. You can romance one or all of the characters, leading to different endings which, again, vary in quality. Still, the art and music are great, there are many tidbits on Taiwanese folklore, and it’s free! If you’re into gay beastmen and folklore, this is a good game to check out.

17. Night in the Woods by Infinite Fall is another game that played with my emotions. Like, it got so real, I needed to take frequent breaks during my first playthrough. You play as Mae Borowski, a college dropout returning to her hometown for reasons unknown to the player for most of the game. Falling into her former, aimless life, Mae reconnects with her friends while learning of the darker secrets of Possum Springs. Mae is pansexual, and two of her friends, Gregg and Angus, are in a relationship that is further explored if you choose to get closer to Gregg over the course of the game. This game delves into heavy subjects like depression, helplessness, the slow death of a town, and growing apart from the people you once knew.

18. I’m ending this list with a game everyone should know about: Stardew Valley by Concerned Ape. This is the peak of all farming simulation games! You play as a character who inherits a farm from their grandfather and moves there to escape their meaningless office job. Once there, you can develop your farm, fight monsters, explore, and befriend the townsfolk. Whether you play as a male or female, the romance options are all open. You can marry, have kids, and raise a family together. All of the characters have great events, but my favorite has to be my goth boi Sebastian.

Phew... Remind me not to let this go for nine days again. That took awhile... Anyway, I hope you find something you like. See you tomorrow!

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tiny-design · 6 years

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The choices the player can make in Coming Out on Top are divided neatly into two categories: character decisions and character behavior. The former determines which characters the player is interested in, and often indicates major plot turns. However, the latter determines how the player character acts in regards to their daily life (studying, exercising, who they spend their free time with, etc.), and often comes up at the end of a given week in game time. This allows the game to set up paths that the player is allowed to engage in, without the player feeling like they’re in complete control over what happens and when.

#coming out on top #obscurasoft #2014 #tiny design #game design

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thegigglingpoof-blog · 6 years

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Coming (about 5 times) Out On Top Review.

Well spank my ass and call me Georgina! This game had been sitting on my Steam wishlist since before it was even available on Steam and all I can say is WHY DIDN’T I BUY IT SOONER!? Coming out on top is the perfect mix of funny, smart and sexy. It made me laugh and on my first play through of the story it made me cum 5 times, and I didn’t even get any of the particularly sexy outcomes, choosing to play the game safe and sincere. Now I should say that the Steam version of the game is censored, but thankfully there is an official patch on the games website to uncensor it. (Link below) As for the story, I don’t want to spoil too much for any potential players out there but as with other dating sims there are different men to try and woo. Ranging from you’re best friend you’ve known for years to your upstairs neighbour who likes to host “Adult Parties” to your college lecturer (Which for the life of me I cant figure out how to get him to take me right there on his desk). There are a lot of different things to do in the game, from tutoring to save up money, studding to pass your exams, or breaking out “Bro Finder”, the in game version of grindr, to meet up with different guys for a bit of fun on the side of the main routes. And all these things contribute to shaping the over all story. Another great feature of the game is using the scroll wheel on your mouse to be able to rewind and make a different choice which is great if you're an achievement hunter and want to follow multiple routes to get specific achievements or, if you’re like me, and when faced with an option such as what would happen if I had sex for money, you want to explore all avenues to see the different outcomes. (Momma always said if you’re good at something, never do it for free) Another feature I want to mention, because I think it just adds so much to the game is in the options menu you are given options to chose body hair and facial hair not only for your character but for all available partners in game which just helps mould them to your fantasy, whether you want him, with a beard and a rug of curly hair upon his chest you can nuzzle into or you want him smooth and twink like. There is also the option to have yourself and/or partner use protection or not. And it’s little things like this which really make this game for me.

Overall the game just hit all the right notes for me, at times being sweet and other times being down right FILTHY. I was lucky enough to pick it up in the winter Steam sale, but if I had known before how good a game this was I would have been more than willing to have paid full price for it.

Coming Out Ontop was made by Obscurasoft and is available from: https://obscurasoft.com/ or on Steam

Patch Here: https://obscurasoft.com/sexynon-sexy-illustration-pack/

Demo Here: https://obscurasoft.com/demo-18-only/

#coming out on top #obscurasoft #steam #steam games #gay #gay game #lgbtq #lgbtq game #pc games #pc demo

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thecalimack · 7 years

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Ready for more #coot? #ComingOutOnTop offers you a multitude of men to date. Let’s date the totally hot professor next!

Remember to check out @TheCaliMack for more videos! http://youtube.com/c/TheCaliMack Check out the company @obscurasoft for more about the Game!

#thecalimack #obscurasoft #coot #coming out on top #professor davies #gaymes #gaymer #alex davies #hot professor #hot prof #walkthrough #let's play #lp #lets play #visual novel #english visual novel #dating sim #dating simulator

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adaptive--manipulator · 7 years

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This is probably the most half-decent drawing I’ve done for the past few years;; jed zhou makes me happy

#my art #obscurasoft #black and white #jed zhou #coming out on top #coot

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superqueerallstars · 7 years

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Coming Out On Top by @Obscurasoft.

#Super Queer All Stars #SQAS #Mark Matthews #Coming Out On Top #Obscurasoft #2014 #201X #PC #Mac #Gay #Visual Novel Week

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dudetor · 5 years

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“Growing up means learning what life is. When you're little, you have a set of ideals, standards, criteria, plans, outlooks, and you think that you have to sit around and wait for them to happen to you and then life will work. But life isn't like that, for anybody; you can't fall in love with a standard, you have to fall in love with a person. You can't live in a criteria, you have to live your life. You can't wait for your plans to materialize, because they may never materialize the way you think they will. You can't wait to watch your ideals and standards walk up to you, because you can't know what's yours until you have it. I always say, always take the first chance in case you never get a second one, but growing up takes that even one step further, growing up means that you have to hold on to what you have, when you have it, because what you have- that's yours- and all the ideals and criteria you have set in your head, those aren't yours, because those haven't happened to you.”

― C. JoyBell C.

IND. PRI. SEL. MARK MATTHEWS & BRAD MELNICK & IAN MANACHEVITZ of Obscurasoft’s Coming Out On Top Game

WRITTEN BY: Joey & Lee & Ben

#ₒᵣₗᵢₙ dₒₑₛₙ'ₜ ⱼᵤₛₜ ₗₑₜ ₐₙyₒₙₑ ᵢₙ yₒᵤ ₖₙₒw* ( promo )#ₘₐᵣₖ ₘₐₜₜₕₑwₛ ᵢₛ ₐ gₒₒd ₑₙₒᵤgₕ ₙₐₘₑ ᵢ gᵤₑₛₛ* ( self promo )

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pride-vns-blog · 6 years

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LGBTQ VN Week: Day One! (6/18)

Welcome to the first day of my LGBTQ visual novel recommendation week, in honor of Pride Month 2018! Every day from today (June 18th) to Sunday (June 24th), I’ll be talking about four visual novels with LGBTQ themes, characters, and/or creators that have stood out to me and explaining a little bit about why I like them! I also reached out to a handful of those VNs’ developers and talked with them about their work, so you’ll be seeing a casual interview tagged onto the end of every post, too. ✨

To kick things off today, I’m highlighting four visual novels that are practically bursting at the seams with personality, all in their own ways — Saturn’s WORST DATING SIM, Obscurasoft’s Coming Out On Top, Brianna Lei’s Butterfly Soup, and Madeleine’s Inverness Nights!

Hit the jump to read about watching Animal Planet with punks, beta-testing hookup apps, Mario fire alarms, and why it is that so many visual novels seem to use character archetypes.

One note before we get started! This list isn't meant to be reflective of "the objectively best LGBTQ visual novels" or anything like that, which I want to be ultra-clear about upfront. It's not a list of all the ones I've ever played, either. There are plenty of visual novels with LGBTQ characters/themes that have been recommended to me frequently — while I was working on this list and over the past couple years — that didn't make it onto this list because I couldn't afford to buy them, or because they just weren't for me when I did buy them, or because of a million other reasons.

To give an example of this in action: I barely have any originally-Japanese language visual novels on here, because the number of M/M ones that get translated is already so low and already nearly 100% commercial, and I'm way more inclined to pay for M/M than anything else. (Reason: I'm gay and I like looking at hot guys.) For the purposes of this list specifically, I've also cut out a fair few BL-marketed VNs — from both Western and Eastern developers — that skirt around the issue of whether or not the protagonist is gay/bi/etc awkwardly.

I also tried to limit myself to one VN per team, picking the ones I thought were best representative of their output and leaving space to mention other works of theirs that I'd liked, with the aim of keeping this list from being totally dominated by studios who'd put out a lot over a long period of time. And then personal taste for other genre and content details comes into play, so it cuts out even more from what's left! In the originally-Japanese BL category alone, that left me with a single nominee, which was... Well, you'll see!

Basically, I went over a lot of different options to settle onto a list that's ultimately only supposed to be things that I, personally, would recommend! And I don't want to recommend things I didn't enjoy, one way or another. Nobody wants to sit through multiple paragraphs of a slog where I'm trying to talk about a game I didn't actually like (or, in plenty of cases, a game I couldn't afford) without acknowledging that I didn't like it. To be totally honest, that sounds like it would suck to try and write.

So if your favorite LGBTQ visual novels aren't on here, but you want to give people an excuse to play them, I'd love to read anyone else's personal recommendation lists! I'm not a journalist or a reviewer and this isn't anything close to a formalized games review blog that I'm planning to update ever again; I'm just a VN dev who felt like sitting down and making a list of other LGBTQ VNs I liked one day, so I went and I did it. And I felt like giving those other devs a platform if I was going to talk about their work, so I took my own Patreon earnings to pay for as many as I could, then I went and did some interviews, too.

Thanks for sitting through (or skimming, as the case may be) that wall of text! Without further ado, let's talk WORST DATING SIM!

WORST DATING SIM (SATURN)

Itchio Tagline: “MRGRGR.” Genre(s): Slice of life, shitpost. Release Date: January 22nd, 2018. Content Warnings: Brief depiction of blood; violence.

Out of all the visual novels I’ll be covering over the next week, WORST DATING SIM is the only one I haven’t seen nearly all the content for, and not for a lack of trying! Saturn’s debut visual novel, a challenging conversational simulator where a punk named Etsuji decides to follow you home and hang out with you purely because he can, features a grand total of 69 ways you can get a GAME OVER. By and large, these endings come at the hands of your newfound friend (?), who’s got a temper and a sensitive streak a mile wide. If Etsuji doesn’t like what you’re saying, he’ll knock your lights out, and you’ll get booted back to the title screen.

The way WORST DATING SIM doubles down on this challenge is by intentionally removing Ren’Py’s default save feature — if you piss Etsuji off, you’re back at square one, period. You have to either somehow retain the information yourself or turn to someone else’s successful run for help, because it’s deliberately designed to be done in a single playthrough without reloading. Even a fair few jokes in the script, like “I’m sure in several alternate universes he’s punched my lights out, but so far I’m safe,” are dropped in to acknowledge the fact that beating WORST DATING SIM is more akin to powering through a run of Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. (But don’t worry, the Skip Text function is still there to help you out!)

As someone who does turn to guides frequently to find out what I’m missing on my third or fourth playthroughs of visual novels, I assumed from the start that at some point that I’d want to find a walkthrough in order to see any real endings. But the sheer charm of Etsuji’s responses and, to be completely frank, how much fun I was having just trying to scale Etsuji’s emotional mountain meant that I never really hit that point while playing. WORST DATING SIM’s distinct personality struck exactly the right chord in my brain that made me want to keep playing by myself, tunneling away at it persistently, and it made the ending(s!) feel all that much more rewarding.

WORST DATING SIM is available now for free on Itchio, and you can follow Saturn on his Itch.io or Twitter (NSFW) for updates on more potential WDS content or his other upcoming visual novels.

COMING OUT ON TOP (OBSCURASOFT)

Itchio Tagline: “The erotic comedy gay dating game that'll make [you] laugh, cry, and get a little boned up! Hot dudes included.” Genre(s): Comedy, romance. Release Date: December 10th, 2014. Content Warnings: Nudity; mentions of homophobia; sexual content; seriously there’s a lot of sex in this.

If you’ve played M/M dating sims in the English language sphere any time in the last five years, you’ve probably heard of Obscurasoft’s Coming Out On Top — drawing more from the Western tradition of porn by and for gay men than anything else, it tells the story of newly-out college senior Mark Matthews and his run-ins with hot guy after hot guy (after hot guy, after... you get the picture). With the help of his roommate Penny, he also takes on the hookup app scene and delves into a sea of bonus dates funded by Kickstarter backers, which were released steadily from January 2015 to December 2016.

Coming Out On Top’s steady stream of humor never goes so far as to be totally derailing from its focus on sexuality and Mark’s genuinely sincere approach to relationships, casual or otherwise; Obscurasoft manages to infuse the numerous sex scenes with enough awkwardness, humor, and personality that actually playing through them back-to-back feels less like a string of pinups and more like scenes Mark is actively involved in or growing from. As a character, especially one whose archetype has gotten a lot of mileage in gay porn since the dawn of mankind, it’d be narratively easy to let Mark remain a generally undefined slate for players to project themselves onto.

And while there is a degree of personalization, especially when it comes to how blatantly horned-up some of the dialogue is compared to other options the player can choose, Coming Out On Top is still very distinctly Mark’s story. His specific insecurities from years of being closeted don’t vanish as soon as he comes out, and hookups don’t always work out for him the way they might in ten minute long “first time” AVs. His grades still matter, and his friends still exist, and he’s still got his own sense of priorities the player can disregard (at their own fish-related peril) or see through on the slow climb to the end of his senior year.

Coming Out On Top is available now for $14.99 on Itch.io, and Obscurasoft’s website; to get early updates about what they’re working on next, you can follow their News & Updates blog or their Twitter.

BUTTERFLY SOUP (BRIANNA LEI)

Itchio Tagline: “Gay girls playing baseball and falling in love.” Genre(s): Comedy, slice of life. Release Date: September 16th, 2017. Content Warnings: Parental abuse; violence; racist language; homophobic language; ableist abuse and slurs.

The strength of Butterfly Soup’s personality, from beginning to end, is founded in its four point-of-view characters — kindhearted Diya, reckless Min, sharp Noelle, and carefree (?) Akarsha. As a group of ninth grade friends with different priorities and different reasons for joining their shared baseball team, which are as obvious as the hugely-varied color schemes of each girl’s clothes, they play off of one another easily. Lei uses her fair share of actual memes, but never ones that feel like the speaking character — usually Akarsha — wouldn’t say them, which holds true to the rest of Lei’s dialogue writing. It feels distinctly ninth grade without ever being mocking or trivializing the way everything is so extremely important all the time when you’re a ninth grader.

Part of that strength definitely comes from Lei’s willingness to lean on each character’s archetype and unpack it at the same time; Diya’s physical strength and sheer skill, combined with her reluctance to talk to strangers, could have easily seen her shoehorned into a much more detached character than she’s written as. Instead, she’s thoughtful, expressive, and deeply concerned with the people she cares about, even if she can’t always necessarily communicate that to them very well through her ever-present anxiety. Exactly how their own differences manifest and each of the three other girls’ reasons for being that way are slightly trending into spoiler territory, but I think Diya’s fellow main characters also each have their own similarly-smart tweaks on familiar archetypes that make their joke-filled banter all that much more personalized and memorable.

Although there’s a lot to love about the positive, hilarious moments in the protagonists’ everyday lives, one of the things that I think worked just as well narratively were the scenes that required all those content warnings up there. They're very much going to be a YMMV situation for different players, especially with my own caveat that my relationship to dysfunctional families is coming from white Irish ex-Catholicism rather than those two specific Asian cultures’ values — trying not to give any spoilers about which characters I’m referring to, here! — but in-text, they’re never situations without any future, because we can see that future where the group has each other, and they always have room in the moment to be angry, or upset, or hurt without the narrative itself punishing them for failing to be perfect. Instead, they get to play baseball and fall in love and set off fire alarms, and they do pretty okay.

Butterfly Soup is available now for free, and you can follow Brianna Lei on Itch.io, Twitter, or Tumblr to learn more about her upcoming work.

INVERNESS NIGHTS (MADELEINE)

Itchio Tagline: “Every relationship ends.” Genre(s): Historical fantasy, drama. Release Date: June 30th, 2017. Content Warnings: See Itch.io page.

There are a lot of things about Inverness Nights that worked for me in a way I don’t know that they would have in another visual novel — in particular, Tristram’s character is difficult in ways that pretty directly pertain to some of the content warnings linked above, and I was personally interested in seeing the text unpack that bit by bit. The eventual turn the story takes further on in your playtime, to try and phrase that in a way that isn’t super spoilery, was something I personally didn’t mind taking a little longer to get to.

Curious to hear what its developer Madeleine had to say about the story, their thoughts on character design, and what they’re up to next, I reached out to them for an interview!

IVAN: Thanks for having me, Madeleine! To get this conversation started, how would you sum up Inverness Nights to everyone reading this?

MADELEINE: Inverness Nights is a game about queer isolation and the importance of queer community outside of romantic relationships. Set in 18th c Scotland you play as Tristram Rose, an immortal gay man who has just broken up with his mortal boyfriend, and decide how he’ll cope with the loss as someone unable to tell the world around him that he’s magical and queer.

Sounds spot-on! And definitely a great summary of all the things that made it super appealing — to me, at least, haha. Before anything else, I want to note that it's been just about a year since you released Inverness Nights! Congratulations! How's the experience been, and what particular highlights or lowlights over the past year stand out to you?

It was good actually releasing a game, I enjoyed that part a lot! Aside from that, I really appreciated a couple of thoughtful reviews it got where people connected with it as a game where being queer is difficult, but not bleak. I think that because AAA games love tragic gay stories indie games can sometimes feel they need to be ultra-positive to balance that in the other direction, which is cool, but as someone who likes stories that’re more in-the-middle it was a gap I wanted to fill. There was a good reaction to that, albeit a quiet reaction. It’s a very ‘first game, niche game’ complaint but the lowlight would probably be that not many people played it — however, there are a lot of understandable reasons why it worked out that way so I’m not too hurt overall.

Haha, getting something finished and released is definitely a great feeling; I'm personally really glad you stepped in to fill that niche, as someone who likes things that are honest about their characters' pain without feeling exploitative or endlessly hopeless! In the fantastic (but spoiler-filled) Medium postmortem you wrote on your process, you say that "an important part of marketing visual novels is selling your characters"; the postmortem goes into that in fairly great detail, especially as it pertains to ensemble casts, but would you care to expand upon that observation in the scope of the visual novel genre (and how you're keeping it in mind for future projects) a little bit here?

People make fun of visual novels sometimes for their reliance on archetypes — you know, look up the average dating sim and you can probably tell in an instant who the bad boy is, who the smart girl is, so on — but when you’re selling a character driven game to people, you can’t give away the cast’s backstories and quirks up front or there’s nothing to play for, so you’ve got to find some sort of shorthand to suggest what an audience wants will be there, and that usually comes back to telling them which archetypes you’ve got. When I started Inverness Nights I kind of laughed at that reliance on archetypes and tried to do something different but I learnt the hard way why it’s important. At the moment I’m finishing a game called Catacomb Prince with my didn’t-quite-finish-it-for-a-jam group Skeleteam, and when our character artist Roxy was doing the designs I gave her very broad notes on who the cast were so they’d be more archetypical. Consequently we have a very recognisable cool girl/frat boy/petite NB slate of romance options that people’ve connected with waaay more easily and way faster than anyone did with the IN cast, which I think speaks to why it’s a sound approach.

I definitely agree in the importance of finding a good balance with archetypes; I've had people who've instantly bonded when I invoked "shy genius" or "lovestruck best friend", which ironically has given me a bit more of that freedom in telling their stories more uniquely! Could you shed a little light on what Catacomb Prince is, without too many spoilers, and what your storytelling influences for a visual novel like that have been?

Catacomb Prince is a Gothic comedy; you are Prince Vitali, trashy heir to a fantasy Renaissance kingdom, and you have woken up dead five years after a raging party. Your parents still expect you to inherit the throne despite your new skeletal appearance, but your kingdom’s laws require the King to be married. Find love, find your killer — or die again trying.

It’s mostly inspired by Animamundi: Dark Alchemist, which is an old kitschy BL VN about a guy named Georik taking up alchemy to make a new body for his decapitated (still living) sister while hiding his hobby from his friends. Animamundi has some very gloomy stuff happening but it’s so over-the-top about it that it loops around to being a very funny game, and I wanted more experiences like that in the world, so here we are. There’re also some aspects of other goofy Gothic stories in there, like Hammer Horror movies and EC Comics, though the romance aspect of it means it’s not all rib-ticklers all the time. We took care to make the love interests more than just fodder for jokes and/or horror. They’re complete, kissable people, with flesh and everything.

I am not doing a good job of easing up on the skeleton jokes but please believe me on that last point.

Glad to hear the love interests have skin! Not super fussed about that, personally, but I'm sure some players would have logistical concerns about things like skeleton-on-skeleton kissing. (I'd like to go on the record and say I'm pro-skeleton and extremely pro-skeleton puns, so I'm waiting with bated breath to get to play as your not-breathing protagonist.) Other than what we'll be seeing in Catacomb Prince, what kind of genres and themes are you interested in exploring more of in the future?

After Catacomb Prince I’m going to work on finishing an IF game I started last year called Captain Dracula, about being the last survivor on a submarine after your Captain reveals he’s Dracula. That’s also a comedy. I spent three years making Inverness Nights so taking a breather to make funny games for a while seemed like a good plan, and I’m really into classic horror, so I’ve gravitated in that direction with it. I’ve also got a regular no-pictures no-choices fantasy novel I’m several drafts through at the moment which I’ll hopefully be releasing later this year. Once those’re off my plate, I’m keen to try making either an 80 Days-style narrative travel game or a Clock Tower-style point-and-click horror for a change of pace. I want to do something that’s more about exploring a place; I do academic stuff as well as indie development and all my academic work has been on how we explore places in games, so it feels weird that I haven’t made anything that utilises my research.

It sounds like you've got a lot coming up! I'm looking forward to seeing how you can combine your academic studies with your fiction work, which already have such strong settings of place from the get-go. And last but not least, what LGBTQ visual novels from other developers would you like to recommend?

It's IF rather than a VN but I love Heart of the House by Nissa Campbell, which is a Gothic game about an exorcist trying to remove an evil presence from a Victorian manor house, and maybe also wooing some of its residents. It’s very atmospheric and you can be NB, two things I like a lot. With caveats I’m also really keen on Animamundi (like I mentioned earlier — fun, funny MLM but warning for violent horror elements and sexual abuse), and The House in Fata Morgana (a dark romance about a trans man trying to rescue his girlfriend from a cursed manor, there’s an extensive content warning list on its website). Lastly, on the lighter side, Butterfly Soup and The Duenkhy are both good VNs about queer people making friends :) probably play them when you need to smile after all the grimmer suggestions I’ve made.

Awesome — and thanks again for your time, Madeleine! It was a pleasure.

Inverness Nights is available now for $12 USD, and you can follow Madeleine on Twitter or Itch.io to keep up with all the skeleton romances and Dracula adventures they're setting their sights on next!

Thanks to everyone who read this far! Keep an eye on the Twitter thread or this blog for tomorrow’s post, where I’ll be talking about four more visual novels that I think do some crafty things with their creative design!

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thewoesofyaoi · 7 years

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"Obscura: Obscurasoft is a woman. Specifically, a dirty old woman who likes to write, draw and game-" alright time to log off

it all makes sense now... the overtly enthusiastic cishet girl roommate who brings you to a gay bar and interrogates you on whether you’re a gay virgin... the stealing your other roomie’s lube and dildo... the dialogue options only offering “sassy and mean” or “flirty”... the rape fantasy... the... jed... the coming out to your parents while riding a dildo... all the other stuff that we have yet to run into the next time we play

#also on a side note everyones dicks are giant we keep trying to do dick math and failing #Anonymous #ask

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kanashiba · 7 years

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I'm surprised straights made that dad game and the diversity with no patching/additions? Obscurasoft who?

Right? Like all the screenshots of it make it look really well done like... it’s not Bara fetish porn it’s just... a bunch of gay dads who are proud of their children and who make lots of dad jokes.

And yeah it’s such an amazingly diverse cast of dads. I’m actually super pumped for the game.

#Anonymous

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carrotplushblog · 7 years

Text

Coming Out on Top; Review

My Rating: ●●●●○

Buy it here: Obscurasoft

One of the first questions I asked myself after starting up Coming Out on Top is “do I want this to be realistic? Or do I want this to be easier?” Not in an existential way – I wasn’t hoping to live vicariously through a 2D rendering of a college boy (although a very cute and well done college boy) but in the way where I wonder whether I want to be able to build the story I want immediately or actually have to work for it. I think I went in hoping for a little bit of both; I was prepared to work for it but also wanted it to end my way even with the errors.

With that bias in mind the first thing I took from the game was that yes, I had to work for it, no, it was not going to turn out the way I wanted even though I chose what I thought would be the “correct” answer. This, of course, shows good narration skills. You’re playing as a college kid who came out – not everything is hunky dory and you’re trying to have fun, you’re not building your Jane Eyre novel. Still kind of bitter I didn’t get more than two cut scenes for my couple of choosing though (it was Brad; the athletic straight boy is pretty much the porno stereotype at its finest.) I appreciated the more realistic vibe of not getting what you want though because you never know in real life what makes you more appealing and what lets you score with certain people.

The game is good at a sense of realism because you get to face lots of different personalities and they don’t always make sense (sometimes it’s less like real life and more like you’re waddling through the season finale of Gossip Girl) but none of that takes away from the trickiness of the game. In real life you never know if you saying that one word got you rejected or you being in the right place at the right time ends up being the ticket to your happy ending.

I can honestly say the depth of the narrative is compelling in a way lots of interactive games just aren’t. You get to choose your ending and each path comes with its own surprises because you may think you have the ending you built your path around but instead a different love interest comes in and sweeps you away. It’s an interesting take to be able to switch love interests. Too often an independent interactive game makes you fail or win a specific path or get stuck on a specific pairing. Coming Out on Top lets you explore and switch interests at multiple points (it’s like cancelling on boy A because boy B showed up with that bouquet of flowers). Of course, you’re not given total control; you can’t go back and say sorry. But suppose in real life its best to move on anyway (no matter how many times you lament that life you could’ve had with the guy you met once).

The only bizarre thing about the plot is probably the week just before the graduation. No spoilers but you’ll definitely know what I mean when I say it was just plain bizarre. I can respect that last week in the game because it’s not so completely unrealistic but as a player I can’t help but laugh at the protagonist and tell him to stop being so silly.

The issues I had with the gameplay didn’t have to do with the narrative itself but the game’s functionality. In no way is this game bulky or difficult to navigate but there are definitely some awkward handles. The skip issue is one of the major buttons that can be improved for second play. The skip button fast forwards through the scenes so you can’t see anything (great for skipping the introduction for the billionth time) but not so great when you realize the fast forwarding continues until you encounter a move you haven’t made. If you choose a path you’ve already played previously the skip doesn’t pause after the interaction, it fast forwards as if you hadn’t stopped at all.

If you’re playing hoping to go over a scene it can be bothersome if you don’t notice how fast it’ll speed. Of course there are work arounds, playing with a keyboard instead of a mouse is a much simpler way to avoid skipping through the game by accident.

Another odd thing is the text itself. The art is amazing, cut scenes are really well done and the general game play is great but its very distracting to have a plain white bar at the top that stays the same size throughout the gameplay. It’s very…basic looking, especially surrounded by detailed rendering of characters and occasionally busy backgrounds. Perhaps the game would’ve looked better with more focused speech bubbles – similar to a comic rather than a giant blank space that hovers over top the players.

These, however, are small grievances and don’t take away from the game’s overall good qualities. Those being an engaging game with great art (essentials for an interactive game). Overall, Coming Out on Top is a great game for its genre (interactive game) and even better for its status as one of the few LGBT focused games with polished production values. A lot of LGBT videogames lack a look of completion – often focused on a rush job to flood the market rather than a project that feels complete and simply fun. Coming Out on Top is engaging though and it’s definitely worth the play. Hopefully it will open the door for more LGBT games to come out (pun intended) in a more engaging and difficult build. All the best parts of Coming Out on Top relies on its ability to run like straight interactive games but of course focused on LGBT values and relationships.

Would I recommend it? Yes, of course. Not just because it’s a LGBT game but because it’s simply fun and really well done. If you’re looking for an interactive game that goes beyond A-B and challenges you to play it again and again this is a game to try.

#Coming Out on Top #video game review #lgbt

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