![coming out on top dating sim coming out on top dating sim](https://gameplay.tips/uploads/posts/2017-10/1508268725_4.jpg)
Mark doesn’t go through many of the typical post-closet struggles.Ĭhunks of the game are, to an extent, set in what I guess I’d call Porn World. While some of it is merely amusing, I found myself frequently laughing out loud, and that just isn’t something video games typically do to me.ĬOOT isn’t too concerned with the ins and outs of college or the more difficult parts of being newly-out. Most of the dialog and internal narration are heavily jokey, and the majority of those jokes land. When I first started playing it, I was taken aback by just how good it was. The game’s coolest trick is clever writing brimming with wry wit. However, he turns out to be a somewhat specific character with a particular sense of humor, and the game wisely makes sure we see his face throughout the game, which does a great job of punctuating the humor. Mark is a curious protagonist because, by all rights, he should be a cypher, as we’re making most of his decisions for him. There’s also some clever placement of dialog balloons drawing our eyes to characters’ facial expressions when we’re reading their dialog. We see a lot of different facial expressions and some different body language, which are well-deployed in conjunction with the dialog to give us a sense of the different characters. The game’s characters are only semi-animated, as this game was created on a relatively small (albeit Kickstarted) budget. He’s in alarmingly close proximity to his hunky, periodically-half-dressed roommate. Lots of gay men didn’t get to start our dating lives until well after our straight peers, and maybe didn’t start our romantic lives until after college, so there’s an inherent fantasy in taking on the role of Mark, who’s young, hot, single, and out in a college brimming with eligible guys. The narrative setup is kind of brilliant it’s one of those ideas that seems obvious in retrospect. Everything unfolds via text, dialog balloons, and expressive character art. Whether or not that happens, and what becomes of his friendships, depends on the choices the player makes. He’s hoping to date someone, or at least get laid. As with that film, there’s a lot more going on under the hood of this thing, although titillation certainly makes up a good chunk of the goal of this game.Ĭoming Out on Top is a sex comedy that casts you as Mark Meadows, a college senior who comes out to his roommates in the game’s opening minutes. Not unlike Paris 05:59, COOT has straight-up pornographic elements. Now that I’ve played Yearning, I feel like I have context I didn’t have before for COOT’s strengths and weaknesses.
#COMING OUT ON TOP DATING SIM SERIES#
After I finished COOT, I tried a series of other visual novels (Dream Daddy**, Break Chance Memento, and Starfighter: Eclipse), which mostly reinforced my opinion that COOT had, in fact, been really, really good. I imagine that if I had started writing about this game before I played Yearning, this article would have read differently. I went in with few expectations, and was quickly impressed by its snappy writing, charming characters, and joyfully-randy tone. When I first encountered it, I was unfamiliar with the game’s genre(s), although elements of those genres pop up in triple-A franchises like Mass Effect (dating sim) and Persona (visual novel.) Coming Out on Top is a much smaller affair, with only a few creators involved, principally Obscura.* I knew little about it other than that it was a “gay dating sim” – whatever that meant – featuring some cute dudes. I intend to share my thoughts about it, but before I do so, I want to talk about another game: Obscurasoft’s Coming Out on Top. Much of my entertainment time over the past week or so has been spent on Yearning: A Gay Story, a visual novel/dating sim that was released a few weeks ago.
![coming out on top dating sim coming out on top dating sim](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DR4uw2kxm_o/maxresdefault.jpg)
My film festival experiences aren’t the only queer media that surprised me by being something that didn’t know I’d wanted.