Yup, it’s time to look at yet another visual novel! There are plenty of them coming out almost non-stop these days, especially on the Switch. Not every VN is equal however, and what you get can range drastically. From short and sweet titles like Jisei: The First Case to complex behemoths like the recent Robotics; Notes series or slice-of-life games like the recent and outstanding The Language of Love, visual novels definitely span the gamut.
Today we’re looking at Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~ from Mr. Tired Media and publisher Sekai Project. Sekai has brought a wide variety of visual novels to Western audiences and Undead Darlings is the latest. This isn’t a standard visual novel however. In addition to the usual text fare with some cheesecake and rampant hormones, there’s a fairly robust RPG component to this one. Within Undead Darlings, you’ll not only semi-romance a variety of undead girls, but you’ll also have to fight your way through some particularly nasty dungeons to make any real headway.
The core gameplay experience of Undead Darlings is a mixed bag because it starts out heavily in visual novel territory with a few dialogue choices, bonding points with various girls, and an annoyingly horny sidekick. There’s even some absolutely great voice acting in some of the parts, but it isn’t consistently used throughout the game. Once you get a little ways into the game things shift however, dropping into a first person dungeon system not entirely unlike the original Phantasy Star.
This RPG segment of Undead Darlings is much larger and more draining than you might expect. Anyone familiar with the original Persona, the Etrian Odyssey games, or Wizardy series will be familiar with the format. Explore, fight, and grind your way to the brink of death, come home, heal, and back out you go. That would be all right if the RPG sections of the game didn’t drag interminably. Invariably however, they tend to be stilted awkward affairs with violent, weird, and overpowered enemies that will ruin your gaming experience.
Aside from the overly time-consuming RPG segments, there are a couple of technical issues with Undead Darlings as well. The game suffers from some serious sound level issues, and manipulating the sound controls is a bit of a pain in the butt. Once you finally get it right, the sound still seems off too. The voice work is fine but the music and sound effects seem like a bit of a hot mess. The load times are fairly bad as well, but to be fair, once the game is loaded, you can traverse an entire level with no issues.
It’s obvious after spending some time with Undead Darlings that the focal point of the game should have been the visual novel and its campy romp into questionable zombie sexual territory. Unfortunately, there was far too much effort put into turning this into an unbalanced and sub-standard RPG, and one with some weird choices (such as degrading weapons that break and incredibly odd characters). The variety of girls to choose from (when you finally manage to get them all as it takes quite a while) is good and the interaction with the girls is light and fun, especially considering the dark thematic nature of the game. But unless you’re really into first person dungeon games of dubious quality, the overall feel of the RPG elements of Undead Darlings is weak. This is no Mary Skelter 2.
At $30, Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~ is a fairly pricey title. The writing is fun, but nothing to write home about, and the RPG sections of the game are very uneven and weird. Sure, you’re going to get a good 50 hours or so out of it if you’re tenacious and have the patience to actually get deep enough into the game, but even unlocking the 3rd girl takes at least four hours and many players will find themselves so let down by the first dungeon that even the fun and silly English voice acting won’t be enough to salvage the game. If you really absolutely feel the urge to romance some remarkably attractive zombie girls, feel free to pick up Undead Darlings, but for most players, either pass on this one or wait until it’s on deep discount on the eShop.
This review was based on a digital copy of Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~ provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and played equally well on both. Undead Darlings is also available for Playstation 4 and Windows on Steam.