Dating simulation games. I have played…more of these than I care to admit. And not the normal ones. No no no! Hatoful Boyfriend? Yes – I have bird-romanced. Later Daters? Octogenarians need love too! Panzermadels? Who am I to judge if a girl has treads that could crush my torso? But one series has always held a special place in my heart, and that is the Sucker for Love series. Now imagine my joy that I had the opportunity to play the most recent entry into this series – Sucker for Love: Crush Landing!

Sucker for Love: Crush Landing just dropped this Monday to PC gamers across the globe. From the mind of Akabaka (who we had a chance to interview earlier this year at PAX East), with publishing rights by Black Lantern Collective, this is the third entry into the Sucker for Love series. The first two titles, Sucker for Love: First Date (2022) and Sucker for Love: Date to Die For (2024), quickly became fan favorites. Why do you ask? Simply because of their dedication to two genres: dating sims…and Lovecraftian horror. Yes – Cthulhu, Hester, Nyarlathotep (or Auntie Nyan Nyan for the fans) – all are romanceable. And yes – there are consequences to those romances. Normally cosmic in nature and world-ending to all.

When Ukiyo Studios reached out for codes for Sucker for Love: Crush Landing, you can bet that I was immediately of the mindset of “Me, me, me!!!!”. If you cannot tell, I am a fan of this series. No…really…I am a fan.

But that being said – we here at Gamer Social Club always strive to ensure objective reviews when it comes to our work. And my review of Sucker for Love: Crush Landing will be no exception to that rule. So, without further ado – let’s get lost in a whirlwind romance with a cosmic beyond from the stars themselves.

The World & The Story

The World

Sucker for Love: Crush Landing takes place in downtown Tokyo in a non-descript time within the past ten to twenty years. While we have technology, it’s not…cutting edge. We have a simple landline phone in our home. A modest PC set-up (probably not running a 5090). And beyond that, we do not spend too much time outside of our apartment, as the entirety of the story’s narrative takes place in the settings of our apartment building in the city.

Sorry…the past thirty years. I feel old now…

The Story

Sucker for Love: Crush Landing, as we noted, takes place entirely in our (one of the top hosts in Tokyo) high-rise condo. While watching a beautiful shooting star in the sky with a client, Maria, we make a wish. Didn’t think that that wish involved the wall of our apartment getting blown out.

But this is no normal meteorite that has plunged into our home. No – this meteorite is…alive! Alive with the most innocent of beings – Hheily (yes, it’s a comet joke). Hheily, a seemingly multi-colored creature, reacts to the colors around her on our planet. However, she’s weak – and we need to keep her flame burning until she can sustain it on her own. And also until researchers our friend, Yuujin, contacted arrive to assess what…or who Hhailey is.

The last thing that I will touch on, with regards to story, is that Sucker for Love: Crush Landing follows the true “dating sim” path – there are multiple endings: some good, some bad (very bad, in our case) and some in-between. The key to each ending is our actions both with Hhailey…and others who might try to get near Hhailey.

The Gameplay

The Basics of Loving an Interstellar Babe

Sucker for Love: Crush Landing‘s core gameplay loop focuses around two things: dialogue choices and environmental interactions. These two domains are what will ultimately guide the story and whether you get to kiss the babe…or…not (leave the not to your imagination).

You have no idea how much joy that sequence above brought me.

If you can notice, the upper right-hand corner of our game screen contains a color meter, several colored stars, and three heart-shaped openings.

What do each of these…mean?

• The six colored stars
  • In order to keep Hhailey’s flame burning, we need to expose her flames to items (or…beings) of the same color palette. Here’s the catch though. The moment you expose Hhailey to a color, all other colors nearby of that same color become “overexposed”. So…you’ll need to plan accordingly.
• The color meter
  • Think of this as Hhailey’s lifeforce. If it’s full, her flames are strong and she’s have a smile (or as much smiling as a meteorite can do) on her face. If it’s low, she’ll look panicked. If it’s empty, Hhailey’s flame has gone out. Not foreboding at all.
• The three heart-shaped openings
  • The best way to explain these are the three “acts” of the gameplay loop.

Interlopers to Our Misunderstood Love

Throughout the gameplay loop, you will get bothered by outside influences. A lot. People will call you on the phone. Individuals we keep pestering you at your door. How is a man supposed to woo a celestial entity in these conditions?

Rest assured, these are the normal individuals that you will be pestered by in Act 1. They only get…stranger…as time goes by. However, you cannot answer every knock on your door or every phone call. Each action takes valuable time. Time that you don’t have. Time that Hhailey doesn’t have. So bear that in mind that answering the door/phone will drain the clock, as well as Hhailey’s flame strength. Plan accordingly.

Your Oddball Neighbor…

I live in an apartment. Have done so for many years (property outside of New York City is a premium that I cannot afford). We have all had that neighbor. The oddball. The weirdo. The creep. Sucker for Love: Crush Landing is no exception.

While we never get his name, I would be very hesitant to say that he works at the “konbini” down the road. Regardless…he is another “storyline” that we can opt to follow. While Hhailey requires items of different colors to keep herself lit, our shadowy neighbor requires normal household objects. Not that he’ll explain what he needs in a normal manner.

The more we provide to our friend-in-the-dark, the more…knowledge that we obtain. Whether our mind can handle it or not – well, that’s just an afterthought.

Many Endings to a Love Story…

The last piece of gameplay that we’ll touch upon is the facet of multiple endings. What we choose to do (or not do) in Sucker for Love: Crush Landing will dictate what ending we get. And while I only have one ending under my belt, you can bet that I will be seeking everyone of those endings out…in my own time.

Also, I definitely had an “aww” moment when those credits ran at my ending…

Now that I have run through the world and story of Sucker for Love: Crush Landing, along with the gameplay, let’s take a dive into what I loved and didn’t love in this title.

The Good

An Artistic Flair…to Die For

I am a child of 90’s anime. I grew up watching Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing, and Rurouni Kenshin. When I say that I absolutely adored this art style, know that it is coming from the formative mind of a younger Sean.

I even noted this to Akabaka during our interview earlier this year when I had a chance to try out this title’s demo. Capturing such an aesthetic and time of anime artistic style takes work and I applaud the team on their amazing work recreating such a vibe.

Amazing Voice-Over Cast

Hats off to the team and the cast of voice actors that lent their talent to this title. They all did amazing working truly managed to embody what sentiment that they were trying to get across. And the biggest accolades on this one go to Brianna Knickerbocker (Genshin Impact, Goddess of Victory: Nikke, Code Vein II), the voice behind our stellar princess, Hhailey.

Self-Aware Storytelling

I am a huge fan of games that are so self-aware, they may be looking at their own coding. Sucker for Love: Crush Landing is no exception. To the point where Hhailey has observed all of the actions we have taken during the course of our game.

It is also a game that, while poking fun at itself, is driven from a place of pure adoration and appreciation for the genre that it is. I believe that Akabaka posed the series as a “love letter to dating sims…and horror”. The game itself also crafts a story that goes beyond merely romancing someone and delves into questions about what ultimately brings meaning to our lives.

The Bad

So Much to Do…So Little Time….with our Beloved

I had very few complaints about Sucker for Love: Crush Landing. In fact, my only complaint is this – the time management aspect, coupled with the color puzzles. Many times, I felt more focused around the facets of the color-puzzle with Hhailey…then Hhailey herself. It did feel like a little bit of a deviation from the previous Sucker for Love titles. But at the end of the day, we all evolve and change: games are also no exception to this.

The Overall

What I love about the Sucker for Love series is that while they all have differing formats of gameplay loops, they’re all getting at the same core concept: why shouldn’t I romance this Lovecraftian horror…who happens to be very cute? I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Sucker for Love: Crush Landing and I sincerely hope that we continue to see more titles from Akabaka. The unique story-telling regarding existence and meaning of life, couched within a dating sim – need I say more? As I noted previously, my only petty complaint is not getting as much time with Hhailey as our other love interests from other Sucker for Love titles. But outside of that, this game’s landing crushed me…in a good way.

Sucker for Love: Crush Landing is available now on PC (Steam).

Gamer Social Club was provided an early-access code by Ukiyo Studios for the purposes of this review. This review was played on PC (Steam).