lovebyte.exe

Not the Best, Not the Worst. if it were possible, i would leave a neutral rating for this game because its not terrible, but i am leaning more towards 'not recommended' for a few reasons. i found the concept of this game to be interesting and decided to give it a try the day early access released. the prologue was VERY slow that it couldnt hold my attention span enough to make it past it. usually i spend hours and hours on a game before i lose interest. im sure the story picks up after the prologue, but if i cant make it through the prologue and introduction, i dont think i would really enjoy the rest of the game. the dialogue options are very one dimensional, and while i understand its a little bit of comedy, i wish the dialogue options werent just thirsty, sarcastic, or a random third option. the thirsty options are very prevalent while playing through the intro and that just wasnt really my vibe. i do wish there were more interactive pieces with the chat instead of just clicking random pop-ups on the screen and more choice dialogue. at points it felt more like an interactive visual novel than a dating sim (not that theyre necessarily bad) characters were intriguing, just wish there were more dialogue options and versatility with conversations with them.

I am really enjoying this game so far. Some of the responses even got some chuckles out of me. I like giving sparky responses vs cliech nice responses. Some of the characters interest me. So they are played through until the last day where it automatically stops. Cannot wait for the updates so I can learn their stories. I dont care for ALL the characters. But thats just personally me. Not everyone is going to like everyone. But I like more than half, so good so far. I even enjoy the mini games in between. Checking emails, downloading things but trying to not give you a virus. You really have to read what your doing so you dont mess up. I like that. Its something to do on the side and not super easy. It took me a while to understand all the mechanics. Maybe a little more tutorial on the beginning, because even I was confused the first hour or so. But then I got the hang of it. Responses are not obvious. A couple times I didnt get a route with anyone because I said something wrong. Again, I like that. It adds to the challenge and shows responses are not brain dead obvious routes. I really hope for updates soon. I wanna learn more about these characters! ^_^

[i]Quickly closes tab[/i] What was I watching? O-oh, i-it was my Kamioshi Nochi Studios' latest game... Lovebyte.exe. Are you familiar with vtubers? Stream culture? Anything like that? Well - until this game, me neither! The main character is a 20-something student/wage slave and their favourite kamioshi (if you are a kpop fan, this is equivalent to "ult bias") has suddenly dropped streaming with no announcement, The community fears graduation (a term used across multiple fandoms to mean quitting) and so the MC joins a private Biscord group for fans of streamers called Channel Aqua, where they can talk to others who understand the pain of their oshis feeling sad, stressed or under pressure. However, something becomes clear to the main character - that there may be some streamers posting in the chat themselves. Lovebyte's early access edition takes place across roughly 18 days, with chats happening in both the main channels and in individual DMs. There are six characters to meet, all with different personality traits, who oshi different vtubers (interestingly enough, no one else oshis Equinox) and all have their own life struggles. Some of these are apparent sooner than others. Days are spaced in small blocks to move the narrative along. You'll experience the first 3 days and day 0 successively and then there'll be skips which progress you further. You should set your expectation for this game that you won't be leaving the computer and all activities will take place offscreen - they'll just be referenced in the DMs. The Biscord interface takes inspiration from [i]other[/i] social media and allows you to set a username, profile picture, name colour and select your pronouns. From there, you see the messages pop up at your preferred speed and can change between windows/programs to undertake various tasks. You can also customise your computer screen with stickers, quotes and wallpapers. Of course, for me, it's never been anyone but Calais Evergreen. I'm an Everribbit! You can also change the auto-text speed to simulate a more natural chat speed, but this also functions as a "skip to next choice" if you turn on max speed. Unfortunately there's no way of skipping streams but they are optional tasks to complete to end the day. Your emails are the main way so far to earn money and they can be used to buy superchats in the member streams - these are randomised and sometimes you may not make any money. Be cautious of accepting anything that sounds too good to be true as a failstate exists from falling prey to too many scams lol. I personally loved this game and did not expect to fall for it so hard. Nochi Studios is so creative and their ideas really lean into the struggles of modern life. You can learn so much about a niche interest through this game and how People On The Internet speak. I loved all of the characters and I really enjoyed the differences in their stories; it's not so much that you can find Ye Olde Otome Tropes in this game, but that the characters feel quite fleshed out even in the brief time that we get to know them - I know so much probably happens off screen, so the romantic development may not feel like it's there, but our MC is a person with a life requiring them to leave the house and an excessive amount of time in the screen interface probably wouldn't be that enjoyable to play through. Only a little suspension of disbelief is required to buy that someone will parasocially attach to a person they're spilling their heart out to online, and IMO it believably moves from "I am interested" to "I have a crush". They aren't out there saying they love them immediately. There are so many moments in this game that made me cackle out loud and I found parts of it relatable. I felt upset for MC when they were experiencing criticism of their oshi, combined with the lack of communication from the management team. The Biscord raids, too! I have clear preferences when it comes to the characters and so my personal ranking would be [spoiler]Frog > Dolphin > WizardPit > Mink MochiBerry/Solo Lightracer > Pochima[/spoiler] While I don't have anything against any specific characters, [spoiler]I felt like Mink could be someone I knew and Pochima didn't really draw me in. I also wasn't particularly taken by Solo's route - he feels a bit too young for me but I really liked his rawness when it came to his personal struggles.[/spoiler] Undoubtedly, it's the charisma and the relatability of the other routes that made me interested; particularly [spoiler]I am excited to see where the story goes for WizardPit and Dolphin Daddy because there seems to be the potential for lots of drama. If you select specific dialogue for DD, he tells you he changed the code on his door and I want to know whether he sees MC as a hookup or something more! And WP probably has Trauma which I want to unpack. I assume Frog's conflict will come from his family trauma and I really want to see how MC reacts to that [/spoiler] as I've felt their dialogue is kind of immature and chronically-online-y with the inability to speak deeply on something real. I'm excited to see what art comes later in the game, the direction the developers take the story in as they implement it and the eventual conclusion of Lovebyte.exe. Immediate must buy for fans of internet culture and chatsims, and an amazing addition to an otome library.

The game is amazing, I adore the art and style (I'm a sucker for chat sims), not to mentions the dialogue is silly and funny. The characters are lovable (well mostly, I got beef with one even if I do love his annoying character). I complete all current routes - still got some clips etc I still haven't gotten but plan to work on when I replay my favourites. But its so fun and can't wait to see more content be added and how the 1.0 will be when it's released!

OMG I CANNOT PUT THIS GAME DOWN. I spent all of yesterday unlocking all of the routes. The story is written so well and so immersive. It really takes me back to the old days when I watched NijiEN. The game really does a good job will making it feel like your in a discord server and that the Vtubers could LITERALLY be anyone. I had a lot of fun theorizing early on who could've been who. The minigames are nice and fuel my ADHD brain while reading chat and also finding other things to do and work towards besides romancing the love interests. I like that I'm not just sitting there reading the whole time and that there's other interactive elements. The character interactions are really interesting and fun, as well as the streams. I found myself laughing and being very invested as if this was an actual fandom I was a part of. I will say, I wish there was a bit more handholding in the beginning to show you around the interface and what certain buttons or assets do. I had no idea about the failure bar or what caused it to go up until I fell for phishing scams (which wasn't explained to you). I also got a bit stuck on the 2nd day, because I didn't know how to progress to the next day. I really enjoyed all of the Li's story and they all have their own unique perks. There were a few missing texts in both Wizardpits routes and DolphinDaddy's, as well as missing voice lines. I also think a portion of the voice acting would benefit from a redo as there were a lot of times where the VA's were stumbling over their lines and it was difficult to follow. Even though this is early access, it was very apparent to me some Li's routes were a lot more fleshed out than others (even just for demo content). Wizardpit's had a lot more interactions and calls compared to the others which felt very disproportionate. I also think it would be really nice if we, the player, didn't have to wait on the Li's to make the first move every time (I know in some cases it's sort of implied, but its the action of doing it myself). Like, if there were options to DM them first or call first just like in Mystic Messenger. I do wish there were more ways to make money in the game since it seems its pretty rng based on which emails you get, so for the majority of my playthroughs, I wasn't able to send supas. Oh, and also if there was a skip button for the cutscenes (cuz sometimes I get stuck in them and just have to sit through it till they're over). It'd also be nice if there was an option to replay your calls with them. But these are just small nitpicks. I think overall as the game stands now, its very strong and has a lot of potential especially in its uncompleted state. It's still very much enjoyable to play and doesn't feel empty (which a lot of other early access games I've played feel like). I usually only go for one Li in any otome game I play, but the fact I've spent almost 10 hrs on the game and still find equal enjoyment romancing all of the characters is a very good sign. I'm excited to see how the stories are fleshed out more, if the others make cameos in other characters routes or if the Vtuber know who is who in the servers... Keep up the good work~! <3 10/10 would recommend <3

Ahh i love how flirty we can be with the LIs and they're all so charming and cute. I can't wait to see the rest of the routes once they're finished. I had to find out who was who in the biscord so i nonstopped played this all day. The voice calls are my favorite <3 This game definitely fills the parasocial desire I have for my actual oshis lol

i loved this game through and through. it was absolutely incredible the storyline the art everything about it was beautifully done.