Love Shore
- June 30, 2023
- Perfect Garbage
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"Love Shore" is a narrative-driven game set in a cyberpunk city where players uncover a mystery through interactive dialogue and decision-making. The game features diverse character relationships and explores themes of love, loss, and redemption in a gritty, neon-lit world. Players' choices affect the outcome of the story, offering multiple endings and paths. Please note that the game contains mature content and is recommended for mature audiences.
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Reviews
- The game features stunning artwork and character designs that enhance the overall experience.
- The story is engaging with multiple routes and endings, allowing for replayability and exploration of different character dynamics.
- The game successfully incorporates LGBTQ+ themes and offers players the option to experience the narrative without focusing on romance.
- Many routes feel rushed and underdeveloped, leading to abrupt endings that leave players unsatisfied.
- The writing suffers from inconsistencies, typos, and a lack of depth, making it feel hollow despite the intriguing worldbuilding.
- Technical issues, such as a confusing save system and bugs, detract from the overall gameplay experience.
- story116 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story has received mixed reviews, with many praising its intriguing premise and character variety, but criticizing its execution and pacing. Players feel that the narrative unfolds too quickly over a short time span, leading to rushed romances and underdeveloped characters, which diminishes emotional investment. While the art and writing are often highlighted as strong points, the overall consensus suggests that the story feels incomplete and could benefit from deeper exploration and expansion.
“The writing is so good, the setting and the plot sucked me in and the art is absolutely delectable.”
“The plot is so engaging and interesting, the characters have such deep and rich, unique stories that you're just dying to learn about, and every twist and turn you run into just feeds the endless curiosity this game sparks.”
“Beautiful graphics and music, great characters, and extremely compelling story - finished one route and can't wait to play the others.”
“While the premise is very intriguing, the delivery falls flat; the story per route is short, and the characters are so bland.”
“I was expecting a lot more writing and depth, and I'm curious as to what the word count for each route is, because it's incredibly short and felt rushed/unfinished, and each ending feels anticlimactic, unsatisfying, and even repetitive because you essentially get the same plot points regardless of whatever route you take.”
“The story in general covers a few days, which felt too rushed, especially for a love story.”
- music32 mentions
- 69 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many reviewers highlighting the soundtrack as a standout feature. While the art and music are described as gorgeous and fitting the theme, some players feel that the writing does not match the high standards set by the audio-visual elements. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's appeal, leaving players eager to explore more despite some narrative shortcomings.
“The demo left me practically starving for more, from the dynamic writing and the phenomenal soundtrack, to the promise of different romantic and platonic elements offered.”
“I bought the OST as soon as it was available - there are almost two hours of transcendental, unmooring deliciousness.”
“The music is incredible and the story gets so intense.”
“Sadly I'm disappointed: the art, music, and idea are amazing, but the outcome is underwhelming.”
“I understand flavor text is something that takes a lot of time to do (I'm a beta tester for a lot of text-based interactive fiction games), and we can't expect all visual novels to have customization levels on par with, for example, 'Our Life' or 'Scarlet Hollow', but I have played free indie games done by solo devs, with very unprofessional art and free music with more flavor text than this one, which says a lot.”
“The music was okay though; it fitted the theme and the sound effects were played out nicely.”
- graphics24 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their stunning art style and character designs, creating a beautiful aesthetic that enhances the overall experience. However, there are inconsistencies in the CG illustrations and sprite quality, with some lighting effects revealing noticeable flaws. While the visuals are captivating, they are occasionally undermined by a lack of cohesion in certain scenes, leading to mixed feelings about the overall graphical presentation.
“Art style is really stunning (especially the character designs), the story is pretty interesting and the romance is a nice mix of cuteness and hotness.”
“Beautiful graphics and music, great characters, and extremely compelling story - finished one route and can't wait to play the others.”
“Tldr: an interesting game, with lots of good concepts and characters, brilliant character design, atmospheric background music, and a good selection of artwork.”
“Graphically, the background art looks okay, but the sprites need work.”
“The artist probably needed to update the sprites to the new design, but the team at Perfect Garbage said 'it's fine as is!' The lighting effects (like a pink light being cast on the main character) show off jaggies on the sprite, which is incredibly noticeable compared to the rest of the graphics.”
“The art style for the CG illustrations is inconsistent, but this isn't something that bothers me with indie VNs, especially when the art is still super gorgeous.”
- stability8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, lag, and frustrating freezes that can last several minutes. The save system is particularly problematic, with glitches and a confusing slot management that complicates tracking progress and replaying for different endings. Overall, these stability concerns detract from the gaming experience.
“The game is buggy and laggy.”
“Freezes that take minutes to get unstuck (if they do at all) are the worst.”
“There are too many glitches with the save system, and it has design flaws that make replaying for different endings a total slog.”
- character development6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Reviewers express that while the game features rich lore and well-designed characters, the character development feels rushed due to the short duration of the routes, limiting the depth of romantic relationships and plot exploration. Despite this, the overall storytelling, pacing, and artistic elements are praised, leaving players eager to experience more content.
“I can't wait to explore more routes and am in awe of how wonderful the storytelling, pacing, music, environments, and character designs all are.”
“Tldr: an interesting game, with lots of good concepts and characters, brilliant character design, atmospheric background music, and a good selection of artwork.”
“Three hours isn't too short for a visual novel route necessary, but it is too short in my opinion when you've built up a world with so many characters and so much lore and the player is expecting to dig into that lore, develop a romantic relationship, and have some character development/plot all in the time span of a barely 2-hour long route.”
“Three hours isn't too short for a visual novel route, but it is too short in my opinion when you've built up a world with so many characters and so much lore. The player is expecting to dig into that lore, develop a romantic relationship, and have some character development and plot all in the time span of a barely 2-hour long route.”
- gameplay6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The gameplay is typical of a visual novel, enhanced by features like a smartphone for tracking messages and a scanner for gathering information about characters. However, it suffers from several design flaws, including text errors, inconvenient save mechanics, and inadequate development of the story and relationships.
“Gameplay is what you’d expect from a visual novel, with the exception of a few flavor pieces to add to the palette: your smartphone, which tracks text messages and your passive stats given by select dialogue choices, and your scanner built directly into your eyes, giving additional information on people you interact with around the city.”
“The gameplay is standard visual novel, but with some baffling design decisions.”
“There are quite a few issues that can mostly be attributed to text errors, unfriendly save mechanics, and poor execution of story/relationship buildup.”
“Gameplay is what you’d expect from a visual novel with the exception of a few flavor pieces to add to the palette: your smartphone, which tracks text messages and your passive stats given by select dialogue choices, and your scanner built directing into your eyes, giving additional information on people you interact with around the city.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate a strong sentiment that the game's monetization strategy leans towards cash grabs rather than delivering quality content. Players express hope that the developers will learn from past mistakes to improve future offerings.
“I hope they learn from their mistakes to create better quality games, as opposed to releasing a line of cash grabs.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its brilliant character design, atmospheric background music, and a strong selection of artwork, all of which contribute to an engaging and immersive experience.
“An interesting game with lots of good concepts and characters, brilliant character design, atmospheric background music, and a good selection of artwork.”
“The atmosphere is incredibly immersive, drawing you into the world and making every moment feel significant.”
“The combination of stunning visuals and haunting soundscapes creates an unforgettable atmosphere that keeps you engaged.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the game's engaging writing and captivating story, which, despite feeling somewhat short, is complemented by high replay value. The art and character design further enhance the overall experience, encouraging players to revisit the game.
“The writing is good and the story is interesting, even though it feels a bit short. However, I'm sure that the high replay value makes up for it, and the art and character design simply made me fall in love with this game.”
