The creators of the horror-themed visual novel, The Letter are looking to do something entirely different for their next project. Launched on Kickstarter, the dating sim Love Esquire hit its goal faster than the developer ever expected.
With 29 days to go before its campaign ends, YangYang Mobile is looking to go even further. The company has said that if it should continue to amass funds, it will be adding a ton of new features to a title that looks like it could stand out in what is becoming a very crowded genre.
The upcoming game will combine aspects of a traditional dating sim with an old school RPG. You’ll take on the role of a hapless squire who is just looking for love in the middle ages. If winning over one of five potential wives wasn’t going to be hard enough, all of the dating and romancing takes places just four months before a massive war is set to break out in your region.
Love Esquire launched on September 5 and was able to surpass its $10,000 goal in just 24 hours. The developers have mapped out what else they want to put in the game, and it certainly seems to be worth the while of anyone who considers themselves a connoisseur of the genre.
Love Esquire‘s Stretch Goals Could be a… Stretch
The stretch goal we’re most excited to see come to fruition is a full voice cast. The plot of the game is one that has the potential to be laugh out loud funny if done right. A step in the right direction would certainly have some of the main characters fleshed out with a voice to go with the name and animated face.
When you’re talking about mechanics that harken back to old-school RPGs, it helps to be able to follow through on that vision. The developers have said their other big stretch goal is going to be to ramp up those mechanics.
It should be pointed out, getting to their two big stretch goals isn’t going to be an easy task. To be fully voiced, the project is going to need to hit $60,000. To upgrade and revamp the RPG mechanics, it’s going to take $90,000.
As is the case with most Kickstarter projects, it’s hard to know what would happen should one of the goals be a “close but no cigar” situation. The developers aren’t locked into one thing or another taking precedence, though some of the costs of their features are likely prohibitive.
The good news is with the game hitting its baseline goal in a matter of hours; Love Esquire looks like it will be a reality one way or another. YangYang has set April of 2019 as the target release date. Those considering backing the project don’t have to go in blind. The developers have released a demo that can be played on the Mac, PC or Linux system. Keep in mind this demo is the very early stages and has been labeled as an Alpha. You can certainly get a taste, with the understanding things could and should change drastically in the final release.
