My love for romance, gothic elements and dark fantasy drew me to the world of Virche Evermore Epic: Lycoris along with the familiar comfort of Aksys Games and Idea Factory aesthetics. When I sat down to play, I knew what I was in for. However, my partner was a blank slate and started reading the introductory lines in a mocking voice – until he got to the part about catching a serial killer. He stopped in his tracks and his jaw dropped. For the first time in a while, he was speechless.
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“I thought it was a dating sim,” she stammered as she collected herself.
it was A dating sim, but much more than a romantic love story of a young girl falling in love with a tall anime boy. Sometimes it's hard, playing with the idea of revenge for several lifetimes, and destroying the essence of humanity. What happens to the soul when someone dies? If his consciousness is loaded into an artificial body and allowed to continue and make new memories, will that person be the same?
When you're cursed to die at 23, you don't have much time to build a legacy. Every day is important and throwing them away is unthinkable.
As my partner watched the narrative unfold, it reminded me of all the other ways that games incorporate darker elements of romance and magic to create truly harrowing experiences. For example, Stardew Valley lets you romance any eligible candidate, but if you want to be friends after a bitter divorce, you'll need to erase your ex's memory. If you have children with your wife and you no longer want them, you can ask a witch to turn them into pigeons.
Pigeons fly away, but dark and wary birds visit your farm afterwards. Almost as if your children are waiting for something to happen to you.
The world of Virche Evermore takes the familiar icons of the childhood friend, the sworn protector and several others and reimagines them. Some have chosen to live a short life and preserve their souls while others have sacrificed their physical bodies in spite of the curse. Those who choose to reincarnate are forced to live multiple lifetimes while uploading their memories, losing touch with humanity with each reset.
In my experience, it's rare that Sims so boldly mess with the concept of humanity. Even other otome games from Idea Factory are just about being human and loving. Oblivion: The Memoirs serves as a thrilling introduction to the endless limits of what someone will do to save someone they love – even driving themselves insane from torturing themselves for thousands of lifetimes only to fail time and time again.
Then there are mobile games that are gacha-based or episodic, leaving short yet sweet stories of romance in your mind until the next game arrives. We don't need to go into how many games I played in high school when I had nothing better to do than fall in love with every silver haired anime boy who said I wasn't like the other girls. We've come a long way since then, and it's only for the better.
Heroes are more than a self-insert for players to express themselves on. They have a character and history that drives them forward. With Virche Evermore, Ceres is quite literally death incarnate. Everyone around him dies in tragic accidents and people avoid him out of fear.
Well, everyone except the tall, dark and mysterious anime boys who all love her.
Side characters are no longer just a bit of flavor. Instead, they take on larger roles and actively influence the story. Gone are the days when a female protagonist has a female friend who she only sees once or twice while the romantic interest is busy. While many of Ceres' friends are male, there are other female characters who have detailed backstories and influence the outcome of the story. Even her non-romantic male friends are pillars of support without falling for her or looking out for her.
All of this is to say that romance is alive and well, especially when dealing with the realities of a life cut short and a terrible curse plaguing the country. Otome games can be hit or miss depending on how they're written, as they're all but visual novels at times. But they have come a long way since their early days of inclusion and unreality. This is doubly true for sequels that mostly contain epilogues or side stories that expand on the original.
Years ago, I would never have played a dating sim focused on a side story, and I didn't relish the idea of skipping the first game to go straight to the bonus features. Virche Evermore is more like the original narrative experience of Beyond: Two Souls, jumping across a timeline to give you pieces of the whole picture. I happily sit down with my crochet hooks and watch as my partner sits next to me, never quite sure what will happen next.
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