Written By: JP Developer: Love Conquers All Games Platforms: PC, Mac and Linux Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Political Thriller Release Date: Aug. 19, 2013 Official Website | Well it’s been a year. A full year since Christine Love broke into my office, tied me to a chair and made me play Analogue: A Hate Story. I didn’t want to my friends; really! It was all done by force and any concurrent fandom is clearly Stockholm syndrome. I’m just glad I have a Y chromosome…mainly because I’d make an incredibly ugly chick. But also because my respect and admiration for young Miss Love could be construed in a way that would make my rock solid defense of Stockholm syndrome suspect. …not working on anyone huh? Yeah I kinda figured. Along with being on my Most Wanted EVNs of 2013 list, Analogue: A Hate Story also won my EVN of the Year for 2012. I said in January that the game didn’t have an easy task in front of it, as it couldn’t mirror its predecessor, but at the same time if Love tried to do the same things she did in Analogue, then it would falter. What we get in Hate Plus not only executes its own story well, it brings the overarching tale to a mostly peaceful end. |
Story
However, strip away what appeals to a progressive sensibility and what you have is an old political system too bloated from years of complacency and graft to correctly manage society and an upcoming generation so riled by idealism and their own hormones that the ship should’ve suffered a syphilis epidemic YEARS ago. I’m sorry. I promised I would wait but I am not the wild child of my family: not even close. Pretty much everything I enjoy I can read, watch or play in front of other family members regardless of age. I have been visiting my Grandmother the past few weeks and helping her with some things due to some back issues she’s been having and was playing Hate Plus in the kitchen while she watched the evening news.
I HAD TO TAKE MY LAPTOP AND LEAVE THE ROOM BECAUSE OF THIS GAME. I’m not saying its tasteless pornography because it isn’t. I mean, if it was I wouldn’t even be doing this review because I have a very strict policy on that sort of thing. But, to those of you who maintain some sense of sensibility there are explicit scenes in Hate Plus. And the game pointing out how much these people banged doesn’t help the fact that halfway through one block I literally couldn’t read it. I’m sorry, I know I try and be open-minded but I really, REALLY don’t want to think about THIS PRAT NAKED. That’s the curse of a good writer you see. A good writer can use words as paint and create a vivid picture in your mind and the picture…God that picture.
Whhhhhhhyyyyy Christine? Even the Cyanide Tea crew wasn’t this cruel with Shuuki! Speaking of, I literally tweeted a wish for Mimi and Shuuki to have a fight to the death…the original intent didn’t survive longer than a second…thanks guys.
I know it seems like I’m harping on it, but it’s actually a really important plot point because societal evolution is more like a pendulum. The Mugunghwa before the Renewal is Weimar Germany and anyone who knows about the musical Cabaret can back me on this one. You can only saturate yourself in pleasure and sloth for so long until you get sick of it and, glorification of the past stops being odd. Then all you need is someone in the right place to say something along the lines of, ‘Remember when marriage was important and children were valued? And we actually believed in something more than just our own gratification? Remember those simpler, honorable times?’ Revolutions have started over less and in Hate Plus it proves to be the driving force of the subtle destruction of the open society we start with. It is a dramatic fall that is told with a thousand pin pricks: whether it’s just easier for married, heterosexual couples to live on their own or if a tax break for having kids is eventually read as, ‘Women are better off at home as Mothers’.
That is what really sells the game to me: it feels like it not only has happened, but it can still happen. Every society is fragile and vulnerable to an ambitious, devoted few. The game held to that fact and gave us a story to show just how simple it really is. But that’s also where Hate Plus trips. Analogue is, ultimately, a story about Hyun-ae. While we get a broader sense of the world to paint an overarching theme, the emotional haymakers come through Hyun-ae’s story. So when they connect, they leave us on the floor.
In Hate Plus, it’s a story about the Mugunghwa. While we get an explanation about *Mute’s past, it isn’t really her story per se because the emotional hooks come in with the rest of the cast: Jin-a and Ae-Jeong, So-yi, Seo-yeong and even Oh Eun-a (which is amazing considering her character). But it’s through the lens of history, which makes it more of an intellectual pursuit. Which is fine for me: I’m all for more fiction that works your brain. But without that impact, you’ll be shocked to find yourself on your feet at the end of the game.
As for our lovely AIs, I did enjoy *Mute’s story. Hyun-ae’s banter was fun and anything that takes cake seriously is okay in my book. But because the story is focused on Old Mute’s downfall, it’s hard to walk away without feeling that, in the end Old Mute’s fate was of its own doing. It's just like the rest of the game really: a great intellectual pursuit, but my sympathies only went so far.
The plot of Hate Plus is equal parts political thriller and Shakespearean tragedy. As a student of history, I can verify that this is well researched and faithful to how any society can become destructive and despotic. It has brilliant moments and ultimately, when you put it away, you'll be a bit wiser for it. What more can you ask for? Coffee? Fine, someone get the douche in the back a coffee.
Remember A Simpler, Honorable Time?
Presentation & Gameplay
The biggest improvements have been to Gameplay. DOS commands are out and everything has been streamlined with the system for reading logs and communicating with your AI partner working hand in hand. She will make her comments and add things at the end if necessary as you scroll along. Also there is a very unique system where the names in the logs are always highlighted. As you read the logs, the AI will keep a cliff notes bio of that character for you to reference whenever you wish: which I thought was an excellent idea and used frequently. You can also change your AI outfit from a simple menu now which adds some variety.
Also there's an interesting choice mechanic where the AI emotes her potential reaction to your choices as your hover over them with the mouse. It does take away a little of the mystery of trying to make the right choices, but it is funny to see the difference in their personalities so starkly laid out.
The one thing I honestly didn’t like and did impact the game for me was the real-time wait. Basically, once you’ve downloaded a certain amount of text blocs the game will stop, you will be allowed to save and you won’t be able to start back up for at least twelve hours. There is a way around this, but honestly the fact that it was implemented at all is problematic for me. Because I wanted to get this review up, I did what I had to do. But if I was just a guy who stumbled onto Analogue last year (OBVIOUSLY after reading my review of that title), saw there was a sequel and bought it, the last thing I would want to have is the game telling me when I could play it.
It just takes power away from the player in the name of a gimmick. And while I can appreciate the implementation of a real-time system that can have great use in visual novels made in the immediate future, as of right now I just don’t believe it was necessary. I think it’ll only turn off the mildly interested who could be hooked by this story and leave it for the hardcore fans. And considering there’s only one way to get this title, it’s honestly just baffling.
...Someone's Jelly...Now Excuse Me While I Punch Myself For That Line
Replay Value
Overall
It isn’t its predecessor, but I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my hateful days any other way.
Final Score
9/10 | + Solid Story That Wraps Up Analogue While Presenting It's Own Narrative + Interesting and Complex Characters - The 'Rest' Gimmick Wore Thin |