When speaking about Thirsty Suitors, comparisons will inevitably be made to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
In spite of everything, the brand new journey title from Falcon Age developer Outerloop Video games and writer Annapurna Interactive shares the same premise and magnificence with Canadian Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel collection. In Thirsty Suitors, you play as a younger queer girl named Jala who has to face off in opposition to her exes in gloriously over-the-top battles. Sound acquainted? That’s definitely a part of the attraction, however what actually shocked me about Thirsty Suitor was what was happening beneath that acquainted setup — specifically, among the most great illustration and celebration of tradition that I’ve ever seen in gaming.
As a result of whereas we’ve (slowly) seen extra South Asian characters pop up within the likes of By no means Have I Ever, Bridgerton and Ms. Marvel, there are fewer still in games. As somebody who’s half-Indo-Guyanese but primarily grew up with his white family, I haven’t typically gotten to immerse myself in Brown tradition and share it with these round me. By taking part in Thirsty Suitors, although, I acquired to expertise an actual style of that, and it was a very wondrous factor.
That every one begins with Jala, the 20-something youngest daughter of an Indian Tamil mom and Sri Lankan Sinhalese father. She’s a splendidly well-realized and likable protagonist. Her complete arc within the recreation revolves round returning to her small Seattle hometown after a foul breakup to make peace with each her exes and her household. On this manner, Thirsty Suitors roots her story in commendable motivations whereas additionally exploring all the methods wherein she’s a believably flawed human being.
We see this via conversations along with her mother and father, who genuinely take care of her however wrestle to grasp her questionable life selections. We see this via her sister, who feels betrayed by Jala working off along with her companion and is protecting her distance. We see this via her impressively various lineup of exes, who vary from a muscly Filipino and plus-sized Indian to a non-binary African and Indian trans girl. Race and sexuality play an essential function in every of those characters’ tales — resembling how one of many exes struggles along with her Indian household accepting her as a lesbian — however these aren’t the only issues that outline them.
Actually, there’s an unmistakable pleasure to Thirsty Suitors. This isn’t a recreation solely concerning the challenges of being a minority — it celebrates the happiness and freedom that come from embracing one’s identification. Whether or not it’s Jala listening to her humorous dad reminisce about his rebellious childhood whereas making aasmi (a deep-fried Sri Lankan snack), dancing with the native bartender or simply skating round city sporting vibrant outfits, Thirsty Suitors persistently introduced a smile to my face.
It additionally helps that Thirsty Suitors is simply plain humorous. The sport captures the zany tone of one thing like Scott Pilgrim whereas including a beautiful assortment of playful South Asian jokes. The Narrator, an imaginary model of Jala’s sister who doubles as her self-critical unconscious, gives every kind of completely pleasant commentary all through the roughly eight-hour story. In a single occasion, when Jala surprisingly manages to get a chuckle out of her steely mom, the Narrator remarks, “It was 30 p.c candy and 70 p.c terrifying. Which is kinda the complete Brown auntie vibe.” Elsewhere, throughout an encounter with one in every of Jala’s exes, the Narrator notes that “Like most South Asian males, all it takes to destroy Sergio’s ego is a single phrase from his mother.”
This layered but humourous methodology of storytelling extends to Thirsty Suitors‘ core fight. When Jala meets one in every of her exes or different “Suitors” (together with, funnily sufficient, random folks despatched by her matchmaking grandmother), you’ll enter a form of psychodrama that performs out like traditional turn-based RPG battles. From right here, you possibly can carry out primary assaults to chip away HP or expend “Willpower” (WP) to make use of particular strikes like Taunts or Abilities. Taunts function Thirsty Suitors‘ model of elemental weaknesses and let Jala flirt, diss or showboat to weaken the enemy with varied debuffs. Abilities, in the meantime, embody flashy over-the-top assaults involving flips, yo-yo twirls, basketball dunks and even summons. Hilariously, the primary of those contains none apart from Jala’s mom, who enters the stage in a towering type to disapprovingly crush the opponent along with her chapaal (slipper).
Admittedly, fight is fairly primary, and it’s tied to an equally rudimentary levelling system, resulting in pretty simple fights on the entire. Actually, I reached the ultimate boss with an abundance of healing and enemy debuff gadgets that I by no means wanted. Given the distinctive material, although, it was a clever option to streamline the “RPG” mechanics to open up Thirsty Suitors to those that are much less aware of video games and are simply searching for a surprisingly considerate South Asian story. Plus, Outerloop makes up for the mechanical simplicity by injecting every battle with a wholesome dose of dialogue selections, letting you form Jala’s character just a little bit whereas additionally additional unpacking her relationship drama. Finally, I can’t assist however adore how the framework of a turn-based RPG really doubles as a visible illustration of individuals speaking via their emotions in an excellent marriage between gameplay and narrative.
That’s additionally to not say that Thirsty Suitors is devoid of any problem. In each the small fundamental city hub and a devoted skate park, you’ll discover a slew of non-obligatory minigames that really flesh out the deceptively deep skating system. Attempting (and failing) a number of of them made me actually recognize the “simple to be taught, tough to grasp” nature of the skateboarding. Among the cooking minigames, which have you ever cooking every kind of luxurious Tamil dishes, also can get a bit difficult with their fast-paced quick-time occasions. I’d completely suggest doing all of them, although, as they flesh out Jala’s relationship along with her mother and father in notably compelling methods.
The one space wherein Thirsty Suitors falls brief is a subplot involving a cult of hooligans on the skate park. Jala helps examine what the group is planning in an try and reconcile with Tyler, a journalist and The One Ex To Rule Them All. Sadly, it’s a fairly boring story, notably since Jala lacks any private connection to the thriller itself, and it had me desirous to rapidly get to the following ex or household scene.
If something, although, that’s a testomony to how nicely every part else in Thirsty Suitors works. By specializing in South Asian folks and tradition, Outerloop has created an completely engrossing — and eminently relatable — recreation that’s in contrast to something I’ve ever performed. It’s a totally joyous, inclusive and simply plain entertaining expertise that’s rapidly develop into one in every of my favorite video games of the yr.
Thirsty Suitors will launch on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox consoles (plus Sport Move), Nintendo Swap and PC on November 2nd.
Picture credit score: Annapurna Interactive
