Love and Deepspace Review

The Best Delulu You Wanna Be

Love and Deepspace, an otome sci-fi RPG, has something that I haven’t much seen in any other visual novels, the title provides an interactive gaming experience where players can interact with one of the three male leads. Love and Deepspace also offers major RPG elements, explored through the player’s avatar as a hunter within a sci-fi dating simulation.

Now, one might wonder what comprises this romantic gameplay. Promising a “profound immersion,” the developers of the game have tried to revolutionize the otome genre by mixing in combative RPG elements. Love and Deepspace is aimed largely at a female audience and engages the players in romantic gameplay.

The player’s character exists as a Deepspace Hunter from the Hunter’s Association. The RPG storyline is nothing new, in fact, it might be considered a bit generic. There are elements of combat because the main character is a Hunter who hunts deep galactic aliens called Wanderers.  One of the three male leads is also a Hunter, and the other two leads interact through various storylines set within the game world. Each male lead has a special elemental ability known as Evol which can help the player (AKA you) in battle.

So, What’s the New Part?

Now onto the good parts. The best thing in the game’s favor are the immersive graphics. From a technical point of view, the music is on point, but the visual elements of the game are amazing. The graphical attention to detail is top-notch considering it is a mobile game. The storyline is immersive and vast. The chapters explore a lot of sub-plots and as you explore the game, you realize how deeply the story goes.

The narrative unfolds unusually for a visual novel. It feels more like you are in your own personal bubble of a romantic Asian drama, with the male partner of your choice. There are many romantic conversations and gestures, yes gestures, that you can opt for. What’s unique about this, as far as being an interactive visual novel, is the fact that you can interact physically with the male characters. You can touch them and move around them, exactly like you would in real life, and this sort of gameplay has led to a huge fan following online. Suffice to say, there is mildly raunchy stuff going on, but it is tasteful and aligned with the overall gaming experience. The aim has been to provide an RPG experience that female players can relate to. I think that’s because usually otome visual novels are very bland in terms of interactions. They are typically rendered with dialogues in CYOA type games. Love and Deepspace has tried to change that.

Interact… React… and Interact Some More

Players receive messages from your favorite male lead, and there are photocards that you create with him. Also, as the story progresses, you can save memories. Love and Deepspace has the gacha system called Wishes.  Players can make wishes to unlock their prospective suitor’s memories. You can make either 1 wish or 10 wishes at a time. These memories are somewhat like a different variant of the male leads. There are a number of stars assigned to memories, based on their qualities. More stars mean a stronger memory. These memories help to navigate different stages of the story.

Love Is in the Details

Love and Deepspace has tried to replicate real-life romantic dating norms (if not clichés) which allow players to have a full-fledged romantic journey  engaging with RPG combat.

What was very interesting was the fact that I could even let the game scan my face to try to match my appearance to my characters as accurately as possible. I didn’t opt for that avatar in the end, but I think it will suit many players’ preferences. You can also scan QR codes containing uploaded facial data. You can also fine-tune even the smallest of aspects: eyelashes, makeup and even the pitch of your avatar’s voice. Now, that is interactiveness at its peak.

The fight scenes and storyline are good enough but fail to provide anything innovative, which isn’t so bad. The very fact an otome game includes combat mechanics is intriguing, though. Usually, when we think of visual novel, we don’t allocate much focus on graphics. However, Love and Deepspace offers up such an immersive experience that makes for one of the most impressive looking RPG games I have played on a mobile device. What’s more, the game is aimed at women. There are multiple narrative tangents within Love and Deepspace, and there is a proper universe to explore where you can romance three different male characters with three different storylines. Within these storylines, there are multiple lores and subsections. The only thing connecting these three male characters is the player’s persona. That link is one of the major plots within the storyline and might be a spoiler, so I don’t want to give it away.