REVIEW : Leisure Suit Larry – Wet Dreams Dry Twice (XBOX Series X)
I was way into adventure games many years ago. While I still love them, I generally let go of the nostalgia that is generally linked with the genre — these days, in order to show legendary characters or constant references to the genre’s peak in the 90s I do not need my points of click. But it doesn’t imply that creators are ready to let go of adventure games. Wet Dreams Dry Twice is a good example. Leisure Suit Larry:
In the Land of the Lounge Lizards, the original Leisure Suit Larry (1987) had a mouse but a verb interface with a keyboard. There followed five further titles, all created by Al Lowe, a lover of double minds and jokes. The last part of the series was 1997’s Love for Sail with his direct involvement. The series has since turned to the left in forgotten minigames with the nephew of Larry and was swiftly abandoned.
A few years later, Larry returned with Wet Dreams Don’t Dry in 2018 to his point-and-click roots, and this review, Dry Twice is a direct follow-up. Although it is not obligatory to play WDDD, it does certainly assist to enjoy the narrative because both games are intimately linked.
In Dry Twice, Larry was left on a foreign Mexican island and forcing him to get married to a female he didn’t even encounter while remaining in love with Faith. Dry’s complot focuses twice around Larry’s desperate pursuit for Faith, while being caught by Lesbian cannibals in the same ludicrous circumstance.
As a classic, all the typical principles of the genre apply — players pick up all things that are not nailed down. They utilise objects that solve puzzles with/on all things and must exhaust every discussion imaginable in order to proceed. Death is only a brief setback and a player can restart immediately, depending on their Sierra origins. It is possible to die.
Most of the puzzles are OK, with only a few cases of what is usually called “moon logic” – puzzles with so strange answers that no normal person could resolve. Newer genre entries have (usually) tried to phase out this type of design, but in this case, it could be excusable as I feel Wet Dreams Dry Twice is aimed at ‘classic’ enthusiasts, supported by alluding to major entries such as The Secret of the Monkey Island and the Day of the Tentacle.
Most of the puzzles are OK, with only a few cases of what is usually called “moon logic” – puzzles with so strange answers that no normal person could resolve. Newer genre entries have (usually) tried to phase out this type of design, but in this case, it could be excusable as I feel Wet Dreams Dry Twice is aimed at ‘classic’ enthusiasts, supported by alluding to major entries such as The Secret of the Monkey Island and the Day of the Tentacle.
Much of the value depends on the storyline and storytelling, and players looking for risk styles from days old could be delighted here, as can many Adventure titles.
Larry is a lovely actor ripped straight from the 1980s and has much to learn about modern sensibilities, but he mostly remains free to say many doubles while trying his luck for every girl he encounters. On his smartphone, Larry also has artificial intelligence that tends to fuck in and punish him, making for funny discomfort. Sadly, most AI dialogues or other characters tend to last eternally, which would have been easier to bear if great jokes or character development had occurred.
There are at least three penis objects (along with a few vaginas) in each room to measure good measure in another effort at humour. I’ve been playing these for a while now, but I remember the classic Larry mood being a little more advanced than what you can see here. There are also other references to pop culture that are very antiquated now—remember Gangnam Style Korean musician Psy?
REVIEW : The Hand of Merlin (PC)
