My Lovely Wife

Having loved this team’s previous game, My Lovely Wife is a game that I was very excited to sink my teeth into. This is a dating sim style of game that has on one hand a love story about never ending love, but on the other hand, it is a dark and twisted story of obsession that can go too far. While it was those fantastic visuals that really sucked me into the game, I must admit it was the story and the writing that made me really take notice of what this game has to offer.

My Dear Wife

The protagonist of the game is a man called Jake. And as the game is called, My Lovely Wife, you know that Jake really did love his wife. Her sudden passing absolutely crushed him and he is not able to move past his grief. One day, Jake finds a strange letter that is from his wife and it tells him of a ritual type thing that he can do in order to bring her back so that they can be together again.

The Succubus Train

In order to bring his wife back, Jake will need to sacrifice a whole bunch of succubi to make a vessel for his wife’s soul. He has to summon in these sexy creatures, make them fall in love with him and then decide if he is going to sacrifice them or not! What I think is very clever in My Lovely Wife is that there are 20 different succubi that you can summon in and while you want to bring your wife back and are willing to betray them, sometimes it may be hard as you do build a connection with them.

The Art Of Deception

You may think that a game with a premise like My Lovely Wife has is going to be a visual novel type game. While there are certainly elements of that and dating sim style elements. There is also some management and a bit of alchemy creation style gameplay going on here too. I think that it is pretty interesting that they have mixed different styles of gameplay here to craft this adventure. The story alone is great, but with so much going on in the gameplay department, this really is a game that is going to keep your attention. There are two main endings for Jake, but there are also endings for each of the succubi as well so there is a lot to keep you coming back to things.

Tim Burton With A Jim Henson Twist

I fell in love with the art style in My Lovely Wife as soon as I saw the first trailer. It is like a gothic picture book and I get some major Tim Burton and even Jim Henson (specifically Labyrinth) vibes from the way that the game looks. It has this very classy hand drawn style to it and there is a lot of darkness here, especially with the design of some of the succubi. It is just an art style that really did click with me and the more I played the game, the more I enjoyed it. I loved it so much that I would be all for a company like Limited Run games making a physical version of this with an artbook!

Pros:

• This story is fantastic and told very well
• The story has a real darkness about it, but there is also a slither of hope in it
• The different succubi are all designed very well
• I was surprised at how much there was to the gameplay

Cons:

• The story may be a tad dark for some people
• This is the kind of game that I really wish would get a physical release as I would love to have it in my collection!