Love & Country: The First Mission

这里有好狗！！这里有好狗TTTTTTT

Love & Country is a mature and rich story and I enjoyed every moment of it. Characters felt like real, breathing people. Relationships felt genuine. Chemistry between MC and her chosen partner was [i]something[/i]. But I was also left with the impression that it's a linear story with four alternative series of events. Not an interactive fiction — something I'd expect from a similar VN. I'm by no means dissapointed, far from it, but I feel like this game has SO much potential and it could be so much more engaging if it gave us a semblance of agency. If we were allowed to shape Lillian at least a little into something we want. If we were allowed to choose what she'll do not just twice. Yes, especially in the end. I know why she chose to do what she did and I agree with her — that this is for the best, but I don't have to like it.

总结：只推荐非常喜欢画风+不在乎情感描写主要想看拉灯情节+比较能忍的玩家在促销期间购买。 本来打算为了画师给好评，写着写着一股气上了来还是决定给差评。客观评价的话制作其实不错，画风挺好看的，故事也很写得用心还专门搞了法语和德语（虽然我看不懂也不清楚是不是机翻），这个差评的原因比较主观：我非常反感一名LI。 女主的塑造和她的人设不匹配，而两个Li则各有各的抽象。整个游戏只有两次做选择的机会，也就是只有四条线路，从视觉小说的角度来看也选项也太少了，就算来几个不影响结局的flavor choice 也好过只有两个选择，个人觉得原价是不值得的。 有评价介绍了游戏故事背景我就不赘述，只说人物和主观感受。先说女主Lillian，她熟练掌握三门语言基础上还擅长获取情报，是个聪明人，不是毫无个人塑造的摄像头，但故事没有给她和人设相匹配的足够的高光，时而恋爱脑时而清醒，不像二十岁而像十几岁的高中生，只能说比手无缚鸡之力的日系乙女小白花强。 再说两个LI,先说Émile（封面上的黑发男），感觉制作组比较偏心他，比起女主可能更注重他的人设塑造：先是出场早比Anton多了一晚上的戏份，满足The First Girl Wins Trope，其次活人感强一些爱开玩笑，最后还加了点文盲但是自学英语+伪造护照的法式县城文学美强惨人设，感情戏用的套路还是经典的伪装情侣fake date 和欢喜冤家enemy to lover，属实buff 叠满了。然而此男在不必要的地方有过分的真实感，摘录一下角色原话“(对女主)我没想到我的妻子胸部这么小”“（当女主被醉酒男骚扰后反击）你不该对他这么粗鲁，他明天就要上战场了，poor guy”，太黑色幽默了在乙游里还要被迫看男男共情。我知道一战期间女性地位不高,男的就那副德行但都玩虚拟游戏了不给点尊重女性的情绪价值还是太拉跨了，如果galgame女主嘲笑男主被绿了或者共情男主前任，那游戏制作组早就被bro骂死了甚至被威胁人生安全了，我只是写个差评非常手下留情了。其次赛博烟人也是烟人啊啊啊啊，禁止给烟人赋魅！！！烟真的很臭烟人的嘴又臭又黄的属实恶心，尤其是酒吧剧情里Émile真是当女主面随地大小抽毫无自觉，女主是上辈子养比格了吧这么能忍，退一步说如果游戏给我一个能劝人灭烟的选项我都勉强当作者考虑周到了。顺带一提Émile设定上是比女主大三岁但实际行为上感觉应该反过来，尤其是无法理解俩人在敌国执行任务第二天要去救人了为什么当天晚上还喝醉酒，感觉女主也被猪队友影响导致降智。此男仅有的优点可能是个人线里拉灯情节比较多，还有在另一条女主和Anton纠缠的线里有一股爱而不得的败犬感。题外话Émile如果性转的话可能会观感好一点，有点任性小狗妹风味（是的我就是这样双标）。通了所有内容后有Émile视角的小故事，讲了他在酒吧和前女友吵架的事，对话中感觉两个人其实没有断干净，如果出第二部的话大概率会有Lilian和前女友修罗场，介意这点的可以提前避雷了。 至于Anton（金发男），相比较而言没什么可说，虽然是个好人但比较假人，结合故事背景和他的身份，他的一些行为过分善良了。其次因为出场较晚和女主的情感描写也有点快餐，感觉编剧想模仿《爱在黎明破晓前》三部曲搞火车聊天文学，但给人的观感是刚认识都没交心就一键加速到爱到海枯石烂死去活来的程度，看得人莫名其妙，结尾Lilian哭得很惨而屏幕前的我面无表情。 总而言之就是再也不玩Li只有男角色的dating sim了，同一个问题放女Li我能忍，放男Li身上就和地球online没区别了，忍不了一点。

I would recommend the game, it kept me intrigued and waiting to see what would happen next. The art style is lovely and the characters really captivated me. for me it was worth the $14 dollars. (Spoilers ahead!!) I really enjoyed the steamy moments, though i do wish they went all the way. I loved all the characters so much so that i was a little sad by the more realistic endings. I understand within the context of the story why the ending are that way, but one ending (for each Li) where things could have worked out would have made me love the game even more.

An amazing game! The art and writing are super solid, and there's plenty of intrigue! Highly recommended!

Sigh.....I can't get Anton out of my head! I'm head over heels! UGH! My only complaint is I wish there was more! I keep coming back just to reread his route! Great writing, great world-building, no happy endings but it's realistic! It leaves you with a lot to think about when you finish the game. 8.5/10 would recommend!

This game is perfect. But, I'll be honestly...I don't think it's an otome! It's a romantic spy thriller/drama, with emphasis on the drama. This is why I don't think it's an otome (spoilers for romance outcome): [spoiler]Lillian doesn't end up with anyone, because thematically, there's no way for any of them to end up together with their jobs/careers and with the current time period.[/spoiler] Plus, the binary choices in the game change the outcome/path of the story instead of progress Lillian's romantic connection with the guys - she does that on her own in the story! Nothing that we choose panders to the men, it instead decides which man is the one in the story more, and, to be honest, even if you choose to talk to Anton, [spoiler]he basically leaves partway through his own route and Emile returns to the spotlight.[/spoiler] I noted some reviews say the game prefers Emile, I would say that it doesn't. The game has its own plot and as Emile and Lillian must do the mission together, it's more likely that he will be there. Whole review: mild spoilers for character behaviour. Here's my ending preference: [spoiler]Anton 1 (go on the date), Emile 1 (Don't talk to Herbert in the Lobby), Emile 2 (Talk to Herbert), Anton 2 (don't go on the date)[/spoiler] They're not breaking any barriers by making you decide between tall blonde man with money and shorter dark haired scruffy man, but these men made a rich story. I think I'm enjoying historical romance, as I also loved Butterfly Poison, which was a romance set during WW1 in Tokyo (1918). There's so much content out there to allow the creators to build a realistic world, because they can research what the world WAS like back then and there's SO much information. I really liked the story - I do admit that it was a little simplistic and some parts require a suspension of disbelief, but it was fun to see how the story branches and ends. I would say that the paths DO cross over a little - I think of the game more in the shape of a paper lantern. Your initial choice branches your story into these different paths, but all the endings come back together and conclude in roughly the same way. [spoiler]In only one of the endings, Herbert survives, which goes to show how terrible and dangerous their mission was.[/spoiler] I do think the pacing was really great and the story unravels in a logical way; I really liked the twists and turns and felt genuine anxiety when it came to some of the key moments in the story. I also cried out in shock at times, laughed and was thoroughly invested in this game. Probably would've been better with friends. I also really loved the dialogue where the characters speak in their own languages, struggle with vocabular across languages and at times when they are tired/drunk/unable to express what they really mean. Those moments were so enriching and so reflective of real life (I have struggled expressing myself in my 2nd language when I'm exhausted and stressed). The devs have stated that the game was intended to be an introduction to four missions that Lillian does total - I hope this means that maybe there could be more diversity in the future, or that we might see Anton and Emile again. I ended the game on Emile's route, which was arguably the most soul crushing, but did have the best outcome plotwise, so I feel wounded. The art in this game is so lovely to look at; I do admit that there are some sprite moments where Emile and Anton have a little bit of sameface, but they are different in the CGs and the CG art is very consistent between shots/scenes. I think one of my favourite minor details is that in the kiss CGs, the character's nose pushes into the other one's cheek and causes an indent, or that when they kiss with tongue, you can see the CG change. (In a non perverted way) I really liked the attention to detail in the images. I also liked how the sprite outfits change when the character's are in disguise or partially undressed. It's more work to draw outfits but it was so appreciated to show the level of effort that went into the game. There are so many CGs also - and not all of them are about the leads, so I really liked seeing different scenes/art and seeing the skills of the developers reflected in the diversity of the shots. I did find it comedic that basically every chance they get, the characters are making out - it goes to show how amateurish they are and how physically drawn to each other they are that they can barely hold back. I will mention that my sole frustration in the game (IN A NOT PERVERTED WAY), is that [spoiler]none of the routes result in sex. Something or someone cockblocks them and the mood is ruined, or, in one good instance, they are too drunk to really have consensual sex. That's progressive.[/spoiler] I didn't expect all the overt displays of affection in the middle of the street but maybe I just don't know what life is like in Europe in the 1900s. As for quality of life - this game is amazing. There's a gallery to view all of the CGs in one long scrolling menu, you can replay the game from a choice you made and scroll to rewind dialogue. The skip/auto/text speeds can be adjusted as well. The game has many save slots but you don't really need them all. There's no voice acting but that's OK. The devs state the game takes about 8 hours, but it took me just over 6 with idling, as I saved at crucial choices and loaded from there. There are also two other POV short stories which were fun. I think this one is a must-play. It's amazing and I hope more games come in the future. This came out in 2024 and there aren't really many updates available for sequels. The devs are most active on Tumblr. Game development takes a long time, so maybe we'll see more info someday, but Love & Country was a great indie game; it was mature and exactly what I've been looking for. Give it a go.

A little voice in my head is saying I should take a moment to calm down after finishing the game before writing a review... To digest things and to write something coherent and grammatically correct. But I won't heed it. I loved this game since the demo came out. I always thought it would have been amazing to have a story rich game set in the early 1900s, so you already made a dream of mine come true, Guhuhu Games. Then you added the whole war and espionage setting to the mixture, which is worth a thousand points more. Other notable ingredients are: realistic and compelling characters (please, don't even get me started), beautiful illustrations, witty and funny dialogues, captivating and atmospheric music and a compelling and well-researched story. Combined all together, you get a fantastic game that will make you dream for a solid 7 hours (if you explore all the routes, which you should, because they are all worth it), after which you'll be left totally in love and wondering what to do with your life next. So, yes. I recommend it wholeheartedly. I must now go an find the best way to reach out for the developers and start begging for a sequel. (Quick edit now that I have digested everything: the only item in my list of cons is that, despite very important, there are very few actual choices in the game and it would be cool to see more)

10/10 Wow, nicely written....I would love to see more of this story, can't help I'm a clearly a sucker for a longer story and multiple endings....so here's to hoping there will be more!

Great game!! I hope you decide to do a sequel :)