But I Love You‘s premise is simple but effective: it takes the building blocks of most dating sims and extends them to a creepy, logical conclusion. You can watch the trailer for the Kickstarter above.
In BILY, you play as a young man who visits a town inhabited solely by girls who all want to date him. Although this might be flattering initially, things quickly take a turn for the horrifying, depending on your choices.
But I Love You may be reminiscent of Higurashi When They Cry at first glance, but Gorsha, the developer, says that the focus and themes of BILY are quite different, from what she knows of Higurashi.
Characters
The above art is of Allison, “the wallflower” (who is voiced by Jane Redd). She is one of the main love interests in the game. The others include Emma, your courteous host (who will be voiced by Gorsha herself); Ryanne, a playmate (Kira Buckland of Blue Exorcist, Dangan Ronpa 2); Leila, the fun junkie (Brittany Lauda of Queen’s Blade Rebellion, Huniepop, Heroes of Newerth); and Vivian, the perfectionist (Tamara Fritz). The protagonist will be voiced by Lucas Campbell.
The game has another three or four love interests which it will reveal after the Kickstarter is completed. A $750 tier allowed backers to create a love interest, and the $1,000 tier allowed a backer to create the antagonist; all the slots are gone, which means these characters will be revealed as they’re created.
Story
Initially beginning as a dating sim, But I Love You will take a turn into horror. Ultimately, says Gorsha, the story is less about romance—although players can play the game that way if they so wish—and more about the mystery of the town. Where is everybody else, and why are the girls still there?
The kickstarter has already reached six of its stretch goals. The game will now have limited voice-over work (“cut-scenes, giggles”, the description reads), unlockable scenes, gender options for the protagonist, and more endings. It currently needs more backers for special minigames, full voice acting, and in order to be translated into other languages. It has 20 days to reach those goals.
But I Love You seems promising, with the potential to be an entertaining story that plays with genre conventions. It’s already been greenlit on Steam. If you’re interested in backing the project on Kickstarter, you can do so here. If you have questions, they’re probably answered in the video below.
