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When it first came out, I took Can You Escape Love? as a cheap cash-cow ripoff game, the sort of things that algorithms generate and blarf out to fleece unsuspecting young children and get sweet sweet ad revenue. Something like Grand Theft SpidermanAmazing Strange Rope Police.
It's... well, I can safely say it's not that. It's very definitely patterned after Undertale, but the aesthetics and battle design are the only things they have in common. The same goes even harder for the sequels, Can You Escape Fate? and Can You Escape Heartbreak? which both settle into their own voice and feeling, while still somehow feeling like a connected series.
The plot of all three is relatively simple on the surface, and technically hits the same bullet points on all three.
It's the new year. The spirit of the old year - represented by that year's particular Zodiac Animal - is keeping you behind for whatever reason. Resolve that issue.
Whether you're being held against your will by a yandere who doesn't want to let go, are a victim of the someone's despair-fueled revenge, or what have you, the gameplay is simple, as well: bumblefuck around like an adventure game hero, solve the soup cans you need to solve, and get the hell out of last year and into next year. (Semi-relatedly, the soup cans tend to be a reminder of that year's memetic bullshit gone by - CYEL has Five Nights at Freddy's and JUST DO IT references, CYEF has social media/like comment and subscribe jokes, and CYEH openly has you dealing with a sentient fidget spinner. There's a fair amount of funy here, is what I'm saying. Get the hell out of last year.)
All of the zodiac animals are adorable (and/or psychotic) and I would fuck them (and/or get murdered by them). For those who are tallying.
All in all, not a bad use of an evening.
It's... well, I can safely say it's not that. It's very definitely patterned after Undertale, but the aesthetics and battle design are the only things they have in common. The same goes even harder for the sequels, Can You Escape Fate? and Can You Escape Heartbreak? which both settle into their own voice and feeling, while still somehow feeling like a connected series.
The plot of all three is relatively simple on the surface, and technically hits the same bullet points on all three.
It's the new year. The spirit of the old year - represented by that year's particular Zodiac Animal - is keeping you behind for whatever reason. Resolve that issue.
Whether you're being held against your will by a yandere who doesn't want to let go, are a victim of the someone's despair-fueled revenge, or what have you, the gameplay is simple, as well: bumblefuck around like an adventure game hero, solve the soup cans you need to solve, and get the hell out of last year and into next year. (Semi-relatedly, the soup cans tend to be a reminder of that year's memetic bullshit gone by - CYEL has Five Nights at Freddy's and JUST DO IT references, CYEF has social media/like comment and subscribe jokes, and CYEH openly has you dealing with a sentient fidget spinner. There's a fair amount of funy here, is what I'm saying. Get the hell out of last year.)
All of the zodiac animals are adorable (and/or psychotic) and I would fuck them (and/or get murdered by them). For those who are tallying.
All in all, not a bad use of an evening.
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Literally all CYEL had to do to exceed my expectations was not be a virus, and it ended up being... actually not bad! Maybe a bit of early-installment roughness in ways I wouldn't notice at the time but CYEF's improvements made a bit clearer in retrospect (AKA Etrian Odyssey syndrome) but certainly enjoyable. And then CYEF was great and somehow I became the official clan cheerleader for this particular "I know they look like a memey jank peddler but hear me out" dev.
Thank you for... uh, giving them a chance, I guess? I'm grateful and flattered that my aimless plugging actually caught on, and also (not gonna lie) more than a little relieved that you seemed to enjoy it once you were in.
And yes, all the zodiac animals are super would.