Coming Out On Top – Previewed

Coming Out On Top Previewed

By Marcus Estrada

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ack in early 2013, an incredibly pleasant surprise popped up on Kickstarter. Developer Obscurasoft shared their project with the world – a gay visual novel by the name of Coming Out On Top. Although some are quick to point out gaming as a very heterocentric community, this project helped disprove that notion. While the game only required $5,000 it ended up receiving nearly $40,000 by the funding period’s conclusion. That’s far more than the majority of “straight” visual novels and dating sims on Kickstarter or Indiegogo have received!

A lot of this likely had to do with the fact that a demo was available to all prospective funders. Although the demo was very much a work in progress, it showed tremendous progress. If you missed out on playing through the demo then I suggest you download it ASAP. The sampling of content is just that good.

The main character is college senior Mark Matthews who is about to reveal a secret he’s been hiding all his life. He comes out as gay to his two best friends who, thankfully, love and support him. Although he may have just outed himself, it doesn’t take long for Mark to get wound up in a whirlwind of possible relationships with various hunks. Playing through the demo only allows you to pursue one character, though.

The fellow in question is named Alex. You meet this handsome stranger in a bar, but he leaves in a hurry. Mark wonders if he’ll ever get the chance to see this guy again but soon finds out he will but not in a way he ever expected. As it turns out, Alex is – spoilers – a professor for the class you’ve just enrolled in! Sure, it might be entirely contrived but it is also a super juicy twist to the story. One can only hope there is much more like this in the full game.

Thanks to the writing, it is quite easy to fall into the story. Mark’s buddies Penny and Ian are both silly, wonderful people. Mark himself is imbued with personality thanks in part to dialogue decisions the player gets to choose from time to time. Although we only meet Alex, I’m hopeful that each of the other datable characters will be equally as intriguing. Unfortunately, if you’re not 18 or older you’d best hold off on playing. The demo includes adult content, as that is a component of the full game.

At the time the demo was originally created there was a lot left to be completed. Music, finished art, and even background art had yet to be designed. Coming Out On Top has progressed quite a ways this starting point as is evidenced by updates to the Kickstarter page. But even though the demo was unpolished it hardly detracts from the delectable characters and storytelling. That’s why having played through the demo makes me so impatient for its release. Check it out for yourself but don’t blame me if you end up with an incessant yearning for the final project too!

So, how did the game turn out?  Check out our Coming Out On Top review to find out!

[facebook][tweet][Google][pinterest][follow id=”Cliqist” size=”large” count=”true” ] [author image=”http://cliqist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/marcus.jpg”]Marcus is a fellow with a love for video games, horror, and Japanese food. When he’s not writing about games for a multitude of sites, he’s usually still playing one. One day when he became fed up with the way sites would ignore niche titles he decided to start his own site by the name of Pixel Pacas. Writing about video games is something he hopes to continue doing for many years to come.  Some of Marcus’s favorite games include Silent Hill 2, Killer7, and The Sims. [/author]