Ladykiller in a Bind review

Game Info
Box Art N/A
Platform Win, Mac, Linux
Publisher Love Conquers All Games
Developer Love Conquers All Games
Release Date Oct 10, 2016

Even the biggest prude can find something to love about Ladykiller in a Bind.

I’m inclined to include myself in that camp, having recoiled my way through most of this erotic visual novel’s game-selling sex scenes. But a game this naked — in terms of its purpose and, uh, bodies — challenged me to reconsider what a mature game is.

Many players may pick up Ladykiller in a Bind for its brazen presentation of queer sexuality. But developer Love Conquers All Games wasn’t content to just string some scenes together to contextualize the lengthy bedroom scenes. For a game about finding bliss in the bedroom, it's during the daytime hours where Ladykiller in a Bind explores the most interesting themes. A lively dialogue system offers fun for even the more prudish (like me), but this erotic visual novel is ultimately about making tough choices — and that's where things become frustratingly restrictive.

Ed's note: Ladykiller in a Bind features a number of scenes with graphic sexual content and/or nudity. Screens in this review have been made "safe for work" accordingly.

You need to use your powers of manipulation to win a $5 million prize and a whole bunch of hook-ups

When I met the player character (I named her Allegra, but she’s the Beast by default), she’s tied up on an off-shore platform, where her scheming twin brother is holding her hostage. Soon, at her brother's behest, the Beast recounts the events of the past seven days that have brought her to this suspicious moment.

Although they’re fraternal, 18-year-old twins, the Beast and her brother (henceforth called A Grandiose Machiavellian Piece of Shit, the name I borrowed for him from his sister’s excellent introduction) look exactly the same. Combined with her propensity for all things tomboyish, the Beast is recruited by A Grandiose Machiavellian Piece of Shit to swap places with him on his senior class cruise, where two things are about to take place: a whole lot of debauchery and a game with incredibly high stakes. Although both the player and the Beast are mostly in the dark about the intentions behind this switcheroo, it quickly becomes clear that we needed to use the powers of manipulation to win the most votes, guaranteeing the Beast a $5 million prize and a whole bunch of hook-ups.

ladykiller review screen 1

It’s a smart design choice to hang the bulk of the narrative around this game, as it gives Ladykiller in a Bind an easy core mechanic. Each of the senior class trip’s seven days, which brings the game back toward the present day, is divided into three scenes. I could choose between a limited number of options to decide which characters they’re going to attempt to eke out votes from. Helpfully, these options are defined by their difficulty, the maximum number of votes up for grabs and the likelihood that the classmate I was chatting up will catch on to the fact that the Beast is not who (s)he seems.

Conversations also play out in a more interesting manner than many other choice-based, dialogue-heavy games. Ladykiller in a Bind features a dynamic system of responses that float up and away when they no longer make sense in a given conversation; responses are also clearly labeled by how much damage they could do to the Beast’s standings if taken the wrong way, as well as the tone they’ll communicate. I was never unexpectedly dinged for my anxious silence, unable to decide if I wanted to sound cruel, confident or flirty.

But Ladykiller in a Bind doesn’t encourage players to be fearless. The entire goal is, instead, to be ruthless. Why would I enter into a challenging conversation that would nab me few votes and high levels of suspicion when my second option was a guaranteed success? Because of this, I missed out on getting to know some of the Beast’s classmates that I really, really liked talking to in other scenes. As nice as it was to have foresight about my choices, this system ended up feeling limiting and linear as a result of my pragmatism. Perhaps that's the trade-off for prioritizing winning the game over getting to know the other characters, but I wished that I could have it both ways.

ladykiller review screen 2

Unlike other games where I hew closely to one path of choices, Ladykiller in a Bind did give me some leeway to try on different hats. This makes the all-important dialogue scenes feel far more natural; every single teen in this game is an absolute asshole, even if they’re very good at hiding that. It was fun to bask in that dickishness, as terrible as that may sound, and I had no problem telling one girl with a crush on me that I was really, really into her … only to then say it was never going to work out between us after we made out.

That made me feel awful, because these characters are so well drawn that I wanted to hear everything they had to say. It was frustrating that the day structures were so rigid, the options for characters to woo so minuscule, because I desperately wanted more time to hang with the bi-curious basketball bro and the Beast’s hopeless romantic roommate. Although they’re introduced and easily reduced to teen film archetypes, the things that come out of the cast’s mouths are often hilarious and surprising.

A lot of that stems from the game’s overtly progressive nature, with some 18-year-olds sounding wise beyond their years as they call each other out for being insensitive to another's gender or sexual identity and similar indignities. For every time the Beast admonishes someone less "woke" for using the phrase "no homo," however, is a silly joke about Pokémon, Drake or Final Fantasy for levity.

That levity is a welcome thing, because the game invariably gets hot and heavy as the days turn to nights. This is where the easily scandalized will start furiously hitting their spacebars to advance, but it’s important to mention that the sex scenes are just as well-written as the tamer ones. Here, however, things get even more restrictive, as the Beast can only bed one of two girls — or, heck, both on alternating nights if she so chooses.

ladykiller review screen 3

Ladykiller in a Bind, as its name suggests, is caught up in BDSM culture, and while my knowledge of its workings is admittedly limited, this seems like a much more elegant portrayal than, say, Fifty Shades of Grey. I became acquainted through both the dominant and submissive ends of that spectrum through the nighttime segments, and both paths feel completely organic within the overarching plot. This is a game about manipulating everyone around you to get them to do your bidding, after all; the BDSM aspects fit perfectly into that.

I was kind of surprised by how sexually advanced these horny teens are, but then again, they’re all wealthy and power-hungry. (It also helps that at least one major character experiences her seeming sexual awakening throughout the storyline, which should help those whose high school days weren’t quite oversexed sexy time sex romps ease into this part of the story.) That’s an area where the otherwise fantastic writing could stand to do a bit better: exploring just how privileged these private school kids are, to be able to engage in this subculture without fear of retribution. I was usually left to read between the lines in that regard, but it is irksome that a game so open-minded about sex and gender rarely touched on the classism — and racism — inherent within this system. The invisibility of race’s intersection with the narrative was especially frustrating, considering there’s just one person of color in the cast … and she’s the maid.

Perhaps Ladykiller in a Bind doesn’t go further down these important avenues because, by the game’s conclusion, it feels as though it was rushing toward an end. Since the sex doesn’t advance the narrative in the same way the more truncated afternoon scenes do, it began to feel like a diversion. When day seven rolled around, I still had a host of questions about why the Beast was doing what she was doing, why the motivating game was even happening and what secrets the expanded set of characters were withholding. I never found answers for these, as Ladykiller in a Bind ends in in an abrupt and disappointing fashion.

Wrap Up:

Ladykiller in a Bind is fascinating and titillating, if ultimately unsatisfying

No one can take away the time I spent having fun with the Beast’s high school friends, as brief as it ended up being in comparison to her sexual adventures. If only I’d had more time to bombard them with my flirty quips, out-of-character real talk and blunt cruelty. It’s great to play through a game so sex-positive, but with little payoff for these character-driven scenes both simple and sexy, I came away from Ladykiller in a Bind feeling as unsatisfied as someone on one of those lonelier mornings.

Ladykiller in a Bind was reviewed using a pre-release downloadable Mac copy provided by Love Conquers All Games. You can find additional information about Polygon's ethics policy here.

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