Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-11-02 12:48 (JST)
Translated by. Ryuki Ishii

Publisher DreadXP announced Sucker for Love: First Date, a “Love”craftian date sim for PC (Steam). It is scheduled for release in December 2021.

Sucker for Love was originally released as part of Dread X Collection 2, a collection of indie games made in 10 days with a given theme of “Lovecrafting.” Apparently, the developer Akabaka is now expanding it into a full game.

In Sucker for Love: First Date, you play as a character obsessed with occult rituals, who manages to obtain the bright pink Necronomicon, the final item needed to perform a ritual that is supposed to “summon the eldritch horror that has been haunting your dreams.”

However, what came out of the ritual was a cute pink-haired, green-skinned, tentacle-mouthed girl named Ln’eta. “She agrees to a kiss, on the condition that you perform a few rituals from the book for her first.” For some reason, you now have the ability to understand everything written on the Necronomicon. It’s time to attempt dark sorcery and win Ln’eta’s love.

The game consists of three chapters filled with “laughs, screams, and tears.” According to the store description, “Every decision you make will significantly affect gameplay and determine which ending you arrive at.”

You can get a glimpse of the three Cthulhu-themed heroines, Ln’eta (Cthulhu), Estir (Hastur), and Nyanlathotep (Nyarlathotep) in the trailer above. Ln’eta seems like a sweet girl who will cheer you up when the rituals don’t go well. Estir is a noble Hastur-like girl who wears a yellow cloak and hides her face with a mask.

Nyanlathotep is a one-eyed Nyarlathotep-like girl wearing Egyptian-style attire. She has cat ears, which is in line with the wordplay of “Nyan”lathotep. Nyan is a word used to describe cat sounds in Japanese, similar to “meow.” She looks to be a mysterious type who sure talks like an outer god. All of the heroines are fully voiced and “dateable.”

The trailer also shows some text from the Necronomicon. One of the ritual preparations demands the enchanter to “Ensure all possible light has been snuffed from the room.” To be more specific, you have to “Draw your curtains,” “Turn off your bedside lamp,” and “Turn off your overhead lights” and then light redfire candles and put on the ritual necklace. When everything is ready, you chant the spell.

The game uses old-school Japanese anime-style visuals, but unfortunately, there is no mention of Japanese language support on the Steam store page at the moment. The trailer is made in an anime opening fashion, featuring a song with Japanese lyrics. Other texts used in the trailer are also in Japanese. However, there’s a little disclaimer saying, “No one helped me make this trailer and I don’t understand Japanese either.”

Although there’s a language barrier, the developer clearly has its own thing going with this J-anime-inspired date sim that is sure to bring a delightful experience.