Outerloop Games‘ action-adventure Thirsty Suitors showed off more of its electrifying visuals and South Asian-inspired influences in a new trailer, which confirms the game will launch on November 2.
Initially revealed in 2021, hero Jala heads home to Timber Hills following a “brutal breakup” and must get to grips with the rhythms of the small town and histories that she thought she’d left behind here.
Through skating at the local park, cooking, and turn-based battles with former paramours, Jala will “handle her demanding parents, reconcile with her exes, and mend broken friendships in time for her sister’s wedding.”
That’s a tall task, though Thirsty Suitors has had no trouble hyping up its medley of genres and mechanics. In NME‘s hands-off preview, we saw shades of Persona and Scott Pilgrim, particularly in the literal transformation of ex Sergio from self-satisfied Lothario to dithery dude searching for his dad’s approval in his battle with Jala.
While the developer concedes that the game is about dating, it isn’t necessarily a dating game as “there are no winners in a psychodrama battle with your third-grade boyfriend”. The player is able to ask Sergio out, but it’s obvious that Jala’s return is the first step in her journey to determine who she is and what’s next for her in a tumultuous moment in her life.
“We want all sorts of players to play our game, but it’s almost like we’re inviting them into our home — take off your shoes at the door, come be a guest, we’re inviting you into our culture,” said narrative designer Meghna Jayanth in our Boss Level interview last year.
Thirsty Suitors will launch on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch on November 2.
Besides Thirsty Suitors, another genre-defying appearance in the Annapurna Interactive Showcase was Bounty Star, set in the “post-post-apocalyptic” Southwestern United States.