Love Cult

I really wanted to like this game, but unfortunately it has a lot of issues. I was one of the Kickstarter backers for it, and thought it sounded really cool in premise, but in execution... not so much. The game suffers from a lot of poor writing right off the bat. It's clear the devs tried to use "in media res"--that is, getting into a scene as late as possible for storytelling purposes--but this was not done well and left me confused. It is entirely too text heavy (even by visual novel standards, which is saying a lot), and you're not really sure where to start or what's going on from the beginning of the game. There isn't even really a great introduction to let you get an idea of the world or the characters. You're just kind of clicking through the story hoping to pick up breadcrumbs of a concept, and it doesn't really come through enough to keep you interested. I typically love games like this, but this one fell fully flat for me, and the tie-in of being "inspired by Cult of the Lamb" was... well, almost impossible to see in action. Maybe I didn't play it long enough to see, but that's also the problem: I didn't WANT to keep playing it to find out. I will say, the art for this game is pretty, but I think most gamers would agree that graphics/presentation matters far less than actual game play, and this one just felt like a slog, unfortunately. Editing to add: Steam doesn't count this review toward the overall score because I used a key to access it on this platform, but I didn't receive this game for free. I paid for it through Kickstarter and was given the key code when the game came out and DID pay my own money for this game.

Not very good to put it bluntly. The text boxes appear all at once with no scroll which makes reading a bit of a chore, not bad but certainly didn't help. The Three Love Interests are a Tech CEO, a Seductress, and Well i would like to know the third one as he is what i bought this game for but because the events are random i never drew one of his cards and so i was forced into the Tech CEO route. The only distraction from the fact that i had no agency was the mini game which looped the same 5 questions and became a glorified cookie clicker, and the random lore drops that appeared whenever a buzz word showed up. EVERY. TIME. The 'banter' is fine just some dirty jokes and allusions to sex. who cares. I figured i would add some positives since this game wasn't all bad. The idea of random events is compelling for the main theme of love being fated and everyone eventually finding their kindred. The actual implementation of this was lacking but its a good idea that shows some promise. The music was. fine. but its only one track so don't get your hopes up. The CG's are charming enough. the random lore bits were fun, when the story wasn't tripping over itself with jargon. not worth the buy, and i even bought it on sale.

okay so i just finished zephyr's route and it was rlly sweet, but omfg this game is so confusing for no reason? maybe it's my own fault but I don't understand why you would only have lore drops in an optional tag to click on during the dialogue it pops up on- you can follow the lore semi reasonably but when things like the [spoiler] mc's mentor giving her her heart? [/spoiler] come up in a route without much preamble it doesn't really make for a fulfilling playthrough. the way you play is disjointed, where you play random parts of a character's prologue to ultimately get on a route, so you do lose vital plot points in each of them (i assume?). also, i haven't played cult of the lamb but i truly fail to see where this game takes inspiration aside from the "cult" aspect (which isn't even really a cult, like meridian's actions seem very reasonable and her "followers" don't exactly seem brainwashed- if anything nox babylon is the most cultlike and they're the antagonists lol) so I feel like that selling point is a bit disingenuous. however, I do really like the characters and the designs are really solid! the concept is super fun and intriguing and i do enjoy the way the love interests are written, I definitely want to play through all of them! I think this game has a lot of potential, but it just needs a couple more minutes in the oven, which sucks because I know it's a kickstarter game and you don't want to disappoint your backers. Love Cult would really benefit from an Arcana/Touchstarved style structure, IMO, where there's a prologue and you get to know all of the characters before selecting a route. It doesn't have to be exactly that, but I just don't think the game's structuring issues justifies buying it. Definitely play the demo beforehand! I know I said a lot of critiques, but I don't regret buying Love Cult at all. It outsells a lot of games by big studios, and I can't emphasize how much I do really like the characters and writing, it definitely outweighs a lot of the issues I have with the confusing story.

i was a backer for this, and the end product leaves a lot to be desired.

This was so much fun! Nochi studios absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one! It hit hard and the different combination of scenes was so SO good! I find that I don't even have a preference when it comes to the RO's they're all so fantastic and unique and each one in their own way made me cry. I loved it so much, thank you for making this game!

I would highly recommend Love Cult for anyone wanting a game that has an outstanding story! All of the characters, Meridian included, all bring their own charm to the game and definitely offer a wide range of different paths and gameplay! Out of all the Nochi Studios games I own and have played, Love Cult would easily be one of my top three favorites. As always, Nochi did an outstanding job with this game!

Such a slow introduction that I ended up zoning out on the first meetings of the other characters and went over the 2hrs for a refund. lol It is kinda boring even if the art seems nice it just doesn't overshadow how boring the plot and character intro's were