Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry preview: Do it for the Instacrap
A new Larry for a whole new audience.
Leisure Suit Larry has always been a staple of my PC gaming addiction. My parents did their best to keep it out of my hands as a child, of course, but that didn't stop me from asking what a leisure suit was, or why I couldn't play these specific games Dad had in his collection. The more my parents told me no, the more I wanted to play them. So when I finally did, I found them all charming and hilarious.
Unfortunately, in today's climate, it's not easy to release a game like this. When sex is treated like a dirty word, especially in games, and funny stereotypes and characters like the type that have always been shunned, treated as childish and "ignorant," and pushed out of the mainstream. The Larry games have fortunately found niche adult audiences over the years and have their loyal followings (including me), so I'm glad to see someone picking up the torch after all these years and running with it.
This particular vision of Larry finds the titular character transported from the crazy '80s atmosphere we know him from and suddenly whisked away to the 21st century. As interesting as that situation is, it actually isn't the sole focus of the game, or the story that's meant for players to unravel. Instead, it's about Larry adjusting with how culture has rapidly changed and progressed over the years, with much of its humor based on how clueless he truly is – even more so than before, since he doesn't even know his modern dating works now. There's a lot of things he doesn't know about, in fact, and that's the crux of the game.
Immediately upon hearing about this revival, I appreciated the fun nod to Swery's "D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die" series, which I imparted to CrazyBunch CEO Malte Schmidt as he readied the demo. It wasn't a playable demo, unfortunately, but I got plenty of opportunities to see the game in action. I certainly wanted to get my hands on it, however, as what was shown to me was a lush, colorful point-and-click adventure with plenty of familiar conventions, like interaction menus torn straight out of the pages of my favorite LucasArts games.
The demo I was shown revealed a vibrant and colorful world that introduced a newer, lankier Larry. Hardcore fans may take issue with Larry's redesign, but I found it a refreshing change to see him "stretched out" and given a bit of a modern makeover. He's actually somewhat cute, in an "oh, that's adorable" way! That nose is what does it, I think.
The demo begins with Larry waking up, confused, thinking whatever random woman he went to bed with has left him in the morning, but in truth he's been transported to the future. As he wanders around to get bearings, he finds himself in his favorite bar, Lefty's, which has also gone through a makeover. He doesn't realize how long he's been gone (and has been thought long dead) and slowly Lefty breaks the news to him: It's the future, for better or for worse.
Poor Larry is like a fish out of water, and that's where most of the game's explicit humor comes from. His first female interaction is with an "Instacrap"-obsessed woman who shows us the worst of social media and how it's transformed culture. Larry has no idea what the little "box" she has is (her smartphone) or what "Timber" is.
It's all very charming to see him so out of his element, but everything changes when he finds a prototype phone with Siri-like AI that asks him to return "her" to her owner, a hilarious Apple-like company ran by tech mogul Bill Jobs. Yes, that's "BJ" for short. And yes, of course his company headquarters is shaped like, well, genitalia. Complete with a fountain on top, which is undoubtedly the coup de grace. I appreciated the "apple" logo, which resembled a vagina more than anything, though. Larry gets his own phone to play around with in return for returning the prototype, which is how he ends up interacting with other women and progressing the narrative. I didn't get to see a lot of this in the demo, but there were some pretty fun jokes that reference modern apps we use every day, and I can't wait to see more where those came from.
My favorite part of the demo was a sex shop Larry trekked to at one point, though the dialogue hadn't been added in at that point of the game just yet. Inside were dildos and sex toys aplenty, with sperm-shaped door handles, a Where's Waldo willy, and a sign that read "cum inside." Every scene is so ridiculously colorful and vibrant, but this particular area really drove it all home.
Unfortunately, I didn't see as much of the game as I would have liked, but what I was privy to was 100 percent on point. I loved Larry's goofy dialogue, the side-splitting over-the-top adult humor, and the vapid stereotypical characters sprinkled throughout. It was refreshing to see a game unafraid to tackle these themes with this much candor while still remaining concerned with making a challenging adventure game riddled with puzzles and things to explore.
I had an excellent time with the demo, and I'm raring to go when Larry brings his adult-flavored adventure to PC on November 7. Bring on the awkward dates!
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replyBrittany Vincent posted a new article, Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry preview: Do it for the Instacrap
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The voice isn't the best, but the rest LOOKS ok. Wonder how it plays. I used to love those games.
