REVIEW: Love Is All Around is an extremely well-produced dating sim
Can you feel it?
“And it don’t take money, don’t take fame
Don’t need no credit card to ride this train
It’s strong and it’s sudden, it can be cruel sometimes
But it might just save your life
That’s the power of love”
Just like Huey Lewis and the News said it in “Back to the Future”, the power of love is a curious thing – and that’s just what Gu Yi, the main character of “Love Is All Around,” gets to experience in a very fun and extremely well-produced FMV dating sim, full of secrets, great acting, and engaging events.
Li Yunsi is one of the first characters you meet.
Gu Yi has recently gotten into debt and has moved to a different city in China in order to start saving money and pay his debtor. However, while working odd jobs, he soon realizes that he needs no money or fame to ride the love train and meets a wonderful and diverse group of girls – one of whom may even become the love of his life. As you get to know them, you make different choices that lead to various paths to (hopefully) fully connect with one of the girls.
Xiao Lu was, from the start, the main character I wanted to follow. I was surprised when I unlocked a different ending first!
In fact, the cast is so varied that anyone playing may find the right personality for them. We first meet the partygoer magazine editor Zheng Ziyan, the level headed curator Li Yunsi, and the hard-working college student Xiao Lu. As you progress though the story, circumstances soon add three more bachelorettes to the mix: the rich and spoiled childhood friend Shen Huixin, the proud single-mother Lin Yueqin, and the independent businesswoman Zhong Zhen. Getting to know their dreams, fears, and vulnerabilities makes the story extremely engaging, especially because no character is unidimensional and without growth throughout the game.
The good girl wants to break in?
Their interactions are very realistic, for the most part, but even the over-the-top moments just add a layer of fun and smiles that complements every storyline in a harmonious fashion. The characters are so well-written and the production values are so high, that even when you have settled for a girl and want to follow her route, you will stumble upon hidden traits from other cast members. You will then feel the need to get to know them better and look forward to another round, now choosing a different girl to interact with.
When new girls, like Shen Huixin, entered the fray, it made interactions more complex.
I have to confess that I am a completionist, but only for games that truly hook me. In Love Is All Around I wanted to get every interaction, every achievement, and every ending. I have refused to read a guide since I am still excited to try one more run in order to find every little detail I’ve missed. Thankfully, the game will tell you which endings or achievements you are missing and every chapter has a ’completion percentage’ that tells you if you have unlocked every scene. You can always skip previously seen moments, so aiming for multiple runs is very user friendly.
Who will you choose?
By the end of the game, both the girls and Gu Yi will get to experience how strong, sudden, and cruel love can be. At the same time, they will all experience how love may save their lives in so many different ways. We get to see how love can save characters from pain, dullness, hypocrisy, emptiness, loneliness, abuse, monotony, and more. The game is both fun and deep, silly and serious, extremely real and so over-the-top, and it is commendable how they manage to walk the line between such contradictory feelings with so much elegance and style.
So many different endings.
The game presents its story through FMV (full motion video) and the production values are so high that it feels that we are watching an interactive drama. The camera work is great, the lighting is spot on, the sound is right, and the locales are so varied that you rarely see scenes at the same place unless it makes sense for story reasons. You travel from museums to restaurants, from high-end departments to small shared-rooms, from classy art galleries to creepy parks, or from very rich business offices to simple yet beautiful seaside roads. The passion and quality put on display is evident from every corner and clearly every member of the production team was aiming to make this game a success.
I also, honestly, have no idea!
Summary
The Nintendo Switch has been home for wonderful FMV games and a couple of great dating sims. Now, Love Is All Around may take gold for me as the best produced FMV dating sim in the console. With fun and realistic characters and interactions, a great variety of locations, a huge number of events and secrets, and a plethora of diverse love stories, this game is a must-have for fans of the genre. You will be engaged from beginning to end, seeing at every moment how great is the power of love.
