Lust Theory Season 2 PC Review

Who wouldn't want to go back and fix the riddles like Bill Murray did when he tried to win Andie MacDowell over? Many of us experienced something similar in Lust Theory Season 1 when our protagonist repeatedly had to deal with the same day. It didn't end badly for him there, but one problem with remembering the past fondly is that it makes it harder to see flaws. Inceton Games decides to take this further, and hence comes the Lust Theory Season 2. The time loop is only a mere theory. Its rabbit hole goes way deeper than you could predict.

Warning! Before you read any further, this game is intended only for ADULTS since it contains various sexually graphic and suggestive elements that may upset some users.

Lust Theory is a point-and-click interactive fiction visual novel series for those unfamiliar with the series, where you interact by clicking on items, exploring places, and having conversations with other characters, etc. While the story unfolds before your eyes, you get to decide about its future or choose an ending of your choice. The advancement of the game takes place over the course of days, with each day being broken up into five distinct phases, and one of the aspects of the story's progression is that there is a particular plot of the narrative that must be completed with a choice to be made every hour. If you're unable to finish the given task in that specific period of time, you have to wait for the day to repeat again to do it again.

 

In Lust Theory Season 2, you take the role of the same protagonist as the first season. Same as before, you live in a house with three other ladies Megan, Jessica, and Elizabeth. You lead a life that isn't all that extraordinary, where you start your day by going to school, studying for college, playing video games, and watching television. Then suddenly, Friday arrived, just when you began to believe that things couldn't possibly get much stranger. The same day began to repeat itself, and then it kept repeating, and eventually, it just kept repeating. Until, of course, when you wake up in Season 2, your life has taken an unexpected turn, and all of a sudden, things aren't how they used to be. The day isn't repeating anymore.

As Season 2 directly takes on from where the first season ended, you, as the protagonist, are in a heap of trouble due to the many decisions you took to take advantage of all the characters. Now that the time isn't repeating anymore, you are to face the consequences, which involve pretty much all the main characters, especially a part of the narrative involving Megan, Zoe, Ellie, and the other involving Nicole.

There are parts where you also need to sort things out with Jessica and Elizabeth. Since the story isn't linear, you need to make the correct choice to get to the end of the quest with each of these characters. Luckily, however, once you sort out the mess, things go as they were before. The day starts to repeat. Once it does, the drill remains the same. You explore different opportunities each day with different characters and then reach the correct outcome on any of the repeating days.

 

In terms of gameplay, there have been no major changes if you've played the first season. The game's initial objective is to have intimate encounters with all of the females he comes across until the player realizes that he must instead create chemistry with these other individuals, dig for details, and do things that are either impossible to perform effectively on the first try or involve lengthy reversing. The majority of the visual novels available on Steam in this day and age have gameplay that consists of the player seeking to socialize with their loved ones, and this game is no exception. You get a variety of new story bits that offer you an edge while engaging in daily encounters with other characters if you keep repeating the same day over and over again.

When it comes to the gameplay, the game is played in a manner that is similar to that of a free-roaming visual novel, and you will be required to make some challenging choices. To avoid spoilers, the main narrative is broken into two major phases in which there are 16 Active main quests, 8 in the first part and 8 in the second. Each quest involves the eight main characters of the game Megan, Jessica, Elizabeth, Zoe, Ellie, Nicole, Sophie, and Amy. Each of these quests requires you to make decisions about how they end.

Even though the consequences are somewhat predetermined, there's the correct path you need to follow; otherwise, the day will continue repeating. Some quests cross paths with other quests, and finishing them will only let you progress. Some subquests don't show up at the quest bar, but you need to make the right choice or make repeated choices to get past them. Interestingly, few sub-quests initiate in the first phase of the story, but you can only finish them in the second phase when the game takes a different direction.

 

Since each quest needs you to do numerous activities to move the narrative forward with each female, you must follow the clues to finish each story and then use the phone's guidance feature in the display's top left corner. These quests lead to around fifty distinct possibilities, including 20 hidden events. In this game, in contrast to the vast majority of others, it is pretty simple to go ahead or backward in time to any particular day, travel to any given location, or choose from a range of different conversation options.

Because the story goes in many different ways after the first half an hour or so, it is strongly recommended that you make use of the save points provided unless you choose to go back to the location or circumstance from which you wish to begin the game again. If you, however, delete Season 1 and begin playing Season 2 from scratch, you will find that the game flows much more smoothly. Speaking of locations, you can now travel to a few more new locations despite the map being the same as the previous game.

As you've guessed already, new locations bring up new characters. Yes, Lust Theory Season 2 introduces new plots involving characters such as Amy, Ellie's mom Angelina and also takes Chloe's (Jessica's friend) involvement much further. Your buddy Taylor too, has a role to play here and there. Apart from them, a few more characters have short roles to play to push the narrative ahead. Even though they mostly play the role of supporting characters, there are decisions to make for each of them if you wish to see the end of all the alternative endings.

 

Besides these new characters, a new perspective has also been introduced. If you have bonus content unlocked, you'll be able to press the newly introduced button when it appears. And each time you do, the camera will change angles and add some flair. The infamous red button still remains, and it appeared to show more often in season 2.

There is a considerable amount of material, far more than in the first season. The developers deserve praise for all of the suggestive situations. This game now contains more intimate scenes, and they are portrayed nicely, and players have a wide variety of options to choose from. The conversation between the characters is also a primary emphasis of the game. Conversations are well-written in the literal sense of syntax and substance, but the attempt to be quippy but insightful is painfully clear throughout the writing.

The sheer amount of conversation devoted to the many situations you're in depends on the choices made for each plot. Suppose reading isn't one of your strongest fortes. In that case, you can always keep clicking randomly to select any option until you come to a conclusion, and then scroll back again to select a different option to find a different outcome.

Once the animation triggers, they are divided into 3-4 phases with a different setup that can go up to 6 phases depending on the character. Well, they aren't motion-captured, but improvements have been made. There's still room for improvement, but considering the price of the game and its development budget, you shouldn't expect any drastic change soon. Yet, compared to the games under this sub-genre, the animations are quite decent. Character designs have improved too. They look more polished than in the previous chapter, especially the newly introduced characters.

 

Sadly, very little voice acting has been added to the game, and the narrative is becoming mired with these unique occurrences, which are sometimes difficult to follow. Inceton Games has confirmed that within the next few months, the complete version with voice-over will be made available, along with other language translations. Hopefully, with the full voice-over, the game will be much more enjoyable to play.

The first season came to a close with several cliffhangers and unresolved plots, while Lust Theory Season 2 makes good progress with all of them. And there's more. They obviously point the game's direction toward Season 3. While we already got to deal with something new in Season 2, you can only wonder what the next season will bring into play. I'll suggest more interactive gameplay mechanisms, such as solving complicated puzzles or simulations where you need to gather funds to buy items or even a scavenger hunt of some sort to avoid the monotony of lengthy conversations of the point-and-click genre. Other than that, it's a fun game to play, and you will enjoy it if such visual novels are your cup of tea.