Kadokawa Gamesannounced on January 8thatLoveRhas been delayed. Initially scheduled to release on February 14 for PlayStation 4 in Japan, it will now launch on March 14. The delay is in order “to improveLoveR’s quality”.
As a reminder,LoveRis a dating simulator based on photography, with players being able to do photo shoots with girls.LoveRis the spiritual successor of thePhoto Kanoseries andReco Love, games byLoveR’sDirector Ichirou Sugiyama.LoveRis developed by Sugiyama’s current studio, Sweet One. The game’s biggest addition is the voice recognition feature usable during photo shoots to directly speak with the girls and ask for poses. According to Sugiyama, each girl inLoveRhas between 4000 and 5000 voiced lines in total.
To make up for the delay, all copies of the game will include a new costume as DLC, a white school swimsuit. you’re able to see at the start of the gallery below a screenshot featuring Lilia and Rinze wearing it.
Kadokawa Games also released new screenshots for the game a few days ago, detailing how dates play out in the game. you may ask out girls on dates on various occasions, one of which is after school. Some of the activities you can do on dates are free, like hanging out at the park, but actions such as buying gifts for the girl or going to the game center will cost money. Players will need to keep an eye on their finances and spend time at part-time jobs, like in most dating simulators.
Girls each have a “mutual love level”, which basically indicates how’s your relationship with them is progressing. This “mutual love level” will increase as you spend time with them and trigger events. While going on a date with a girl, you can end up encountering another girl you’re close with, making her angry. If this happens twice with the same girl, and if you didn’t raise her “mutual love level” between the two encounters, she’ll start ignoring the player.
The game has many discussions only available during dates, and some events only unlock once you’ve done a certain date with a girl. You can also take photos during dates.
The screenshots in the gallery below show a date event with Russo-Canadian-Japanese girl Kasumi Crista Ikuno. The player asks her if she wants to go home together, inviting her for an after-school date. Later, they end up encountering Lilia Takamura during the date, which makes her upset, as the player decided to go home with another girl instead of asking her. The gallery also includes screenshots of a photo session with Magical Yumina, the game’s virtual YouTuber based on Yumina, one of the girls in the game.LoveRhas a Free Photo Session mode, letting you take photos in any of the game’s environments with no restrictions like in the main story. However, in order to be able to select a girl in Free Photo Session mode, you’ll first need to become her boyfriend in one of your runs. Magical Yumina, however, isn’t in the main game and thus can be selected from the start.
Magical Yumina’s inclusion in the game and the jealousy system were already mentioned in aninterview of Sugiyama andLoveRArt Director Quin q9. It is a must-read as they shared many details on the game. They also touched upon many interesting subjects, such as how to develop dating simulators likeLoveRso that they’re appealing to female players as well. In another interview, Sugiyama also spoke aboutphotography culture in Japan.
LoveRis currently having a collaboration event with visual novel Nora, Princess, and Stray Cat 2, also known asNoratoto 2. Two costumes from the game will be included inLoveR. These costumes were decided by votes, which ended on December 31. The results should be announced soon. Meanwhile, you’re able to checkthe list of costumes and the game’s latest gameplay.Lastly, you can read check itspreorder bonuses here.
