We analyze the continuation of the modern adventures of the flirt Larry Laffer, a living story of adventure games. A cool game full of spicy humor
At the end of 2018, the long-suffering fans of the graphic adventure genre had some of the greatest joys in recent times. Surprisingly, without prior notice, we find a new installment of the legendary and long-awaited saga of adventure games Leisure Suit Larry, one of the great icons of the golden age of the genre. Despite the shocking physical changes of the protagonist, and an update of the somewhat stale and macho message of the series to leave these elements behind, Wet Dreams Don t Dry retained the charm of the saga and turned out to be a great graphic adventure that recovered what better of the classic flavor of the genre, for the good and to a lesser extent also for the bad, as we mentioned in his Reviews. The saga, which lasted between 1987 and 1996 (we tried to forget the unfortunate spin-offs of 2004 and 2009 …), returned to offer us one of the best modern graphic adventures, in a title that completely conquered us.
Two years later, and again taking us completely by surprise (we knew absolutely nothing about him until practically a month ago), the German studio CrazyBunch brings us the direct continuation of his first foray with our favorite flirt, this Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice , which we liked as much or more than its predecessor, despite, yes, offering a totally continuous proposal that almost nothing has changed or evolved with respect to that one. Starting immediately after the events of the previous title, we find ourselves again with a totally classic graphic adventure, aimed at an adult audience due to its continuous sexual references (although it never shows anything explicit), which overflows spicy and uploaded humor of tone and that offers us a charismatic protagonist who tries to leave behind all those archaic and out of place clichés that he suffered in the already distant 90s.
Despite being a direct continuation of Wet Dreams Don t Dry and starting immediately after the events of that one, it is not necessary to have played that title to enjoy it, although we strongly recommend that you do so if you have not tried it already, since it is of one of our favorite modern graphic adventures and it will allow you to better understand the title that concerns us today. Given how well the formula worked, CrazyBunch has hardly changed anything, to offer us a longer adventure than the previous one, but that is playable and visually similar to this. Few graphic adventures launched in recent years have left us with such a classic flavor as these two modern forays from good old Larry have, and the truth is that they are two games that we love. Of course, they are quite challenging and use that crazy logic that so many headaches originated in various exponents of the genre at the time.
Looking for love in various wrong places
The adventure starts immediately after the events of the previous installment. After disrupting the dark plans of the technology company Prune, Larry was about to finally win over Faith, an executive of the company. However, due to his clumsiness, he triggers an explosion, in which it appears that the lady of his love has perished. So we started with Mr. Laffer in the middle of Cancun with the prospect of marrying the daughter of an important local figure. However, while making the wedding preparations, her smartphone picks up hints that Faith might still be alive. Since the wedding was not something that he wanted too much (mainly because he was completely unaware of the woman he was going to marry), Larry decides to leave quickly and quickly in search of his beloved Fatih.
The adventures of our favorite flirt will take you to an archipelago of exotic tropical islands, a very attractive environment that differs completely from the urban environment of the previous installment. We liked this change a lot and it feels great to the story, since it also gives it a touch of mysticism that we loved. While searching for his beloved, Larry will run into a multitude of characters, each more colorful than the last, in an adventure that offers high doses of spicy and hooligan humor. In his adventures, Mr. Laffer will visit luxurious paradisiacal hotels, learn the local legends of the founding colonists of the islands, circumvent the deadly dangers of ominous ancient temples and even run into the KGB. The title continually offers us crazy and surreal moments, always keeping us in anticipation of the next madness with which it will surprise us.
Of course, as already mentioned, we are facing a title for adults. Although at no time does it present explicit content, the references and sexual elements completely season the development of the adventure, so it is not an appropriate title for the smallest of the house. The risque jokes, various elements of a sexual nature, and even several moments in which the characters become intimate with each other (always in a veiled way suggesting more than showing), leave us a title for an adult audience. Fortunately, that stale and macho message of the saga has been left behind, although to a certain extent it continues to underlie the personality of our protagonist, son of his time, but this will be criticized (usually by his faithful companion, the AI of her smartphone) and in general the role of the female gender is different with respect to the mere conquests or love interests that were in the classic stage of the series.
Using rubber chicken with pulley
At the playable level, the title is very clear about its cards. We are facing a graphic adventure of a lifetime. Its interface has been simplified, as it has been a general trend in modern times, but in the end the thing is to move our protagonist by clicking with the mouse where we want him to go, we start conversations choosing answers with different characters, and we look for objects to combine them or use them where necessary in an appropriate way. With the left mouse button we move Larry. When we hover over an element of the stage with which we can interact, its name will be highlighted. Pressing the right button will give us a description of it, and the left button includes all possible forms of interaction, from speaking to using. To avoid problems with interactive elements that are difficult to see with the naked eye, the dreaded and hated “pixel hunting”, we can press the mouse wheel so that these elements are highlighted on the screen. Simple and straightforward, and it works perfectly.
As a mark of distinction, Larry carries his mobile at all times, which has an artificial intelligence that will be his companion throughout the adventure and will counterpart Mr. Laffer’s out-of-tones. Located in the lower right corner of the screen, access to our smartphone allows us to access the inventory, and also a very useful list of “tasks” to perform, so that at all times we know what are the objectives to meet to progress in the adventure. Many of these tasks are subdivided, and as we have more information on how to progress with them, it will be added here, which is very useful. It will also allow us to access an exchange of opinions with our mobile terminal.
Among the news, we have a couple. On the one hand, at certain times, a plan of a contraption to be built will be shown on the mobile. This will have several parts that we will have to contribute, so we will have to drag the corresponding object from our inventory to the hole of each component based on a brief description. Once we fill all the gaps, we press the button to build object. But beware, if the items in our inventory are not adequate, the contraption will not be manufactured. It remains in our hands to decipher which element each is as each of the parts of what we want to manufacture. On the other hand, at a certain point in the game we will be able to move with our raft through the archipelago, through a map with coordinates accessible from the mobile.
What hasn’t changed too much is that “classic” difficulty that its predecessor boasted and which we will have to face again in this Wet Dreams Dry Twice. It is true that the convoluted logic puzzles are less than in the previous one, but we continue to find various situations whose resolution uses very fuzzy logic, having to make combinations of objects or posing situations that are difficult to see. There are even a couple of situations where we know exactly what to do, but we miss the key because we don’t do it in the twisted way that the person who programmed that puzzle came up with. In general, most of these puzzles are inventory, being their resolution dependent on using or combining the appropriate objects at the necessary point. We liked the attempt to add variety to those inventory puzzles, with a couple of sections of information inquiries where the weight falls on the conversations, and even a very twisted maze that we must overcome following complex instructions.
Another thing that we liked a lot is that development is generally relatively open, leaving us several tasks to accomplish simultaneously. Therefore, if we get stuck with a puzzle or do not know how to progress with a certain task, we can always go another way and not fall into the usual despair when we get stuck in a title of the genre. The truth is that it is not a simple graphic adventure, but it is quite satisfying and very entertaining. Fortunately, this time we have the translation of all its texts into Spanish from the very launch of the title. Although this translation is correct, it has a couple of things to polish, such as certain errors (translate “Suite” as “Suit” instead of “Room”) or untranslated sections or small errors, although it is very appreciated to have it exit and we applaud being able to enjoy it. The duration of the adventure is somewhat longer than in its immediate predecessor, around 15 hours, even more if we get stuck or indulge in excess with conversations or combinations of objects.
Attractive but continuous
Visually, the finish is exactly the same as its predecessor. Thus, the title boasts attractive cartoon-style graphics that are very attractive, using a color palette with pastel tones that suits it great. Without excessive fanfare, the game looks great and works beautifully on a visual level. The characters are very well detailed, and their animations, somewhat robotic, are more than enough. As we have already mentioned, the new exotic environment where the adventure takes place is a success, and it leaves us exuberant landscapes that are a pleasure to visit. Yes, it is true that, as in its predecessor, the title makes us go through the same scenarios several times, and we would have liked it to take us to visit some other environment instead of this repetition. In short, on a technical level the game is traced to its predecessor, and it complies and is attractive, although we miss some evolution or variation in its proposal, despite its attractiveness.
The sound section also fully complies. On the one hand, we have a good musical variety in its soundtrack, which also recovers several classic melodies of the saga with renewed vigor. Music accompanies the development of the adventure in a phenomenal way and knows how to be present when it is needed. But above all the dubbing work, in English, of all the characters in the adventure, has once again conquered us. Starting with the good old Larry, whose dubber knows how to highlight the character’s personality wonderfully, each and every one of the voices in the game fit perfectly with their respective characters, as it already happened in the previous chapter, since many of the aforementioned voices repeat. It’s nice to see a title of the genre with these production values and this care and affection in all its aspects.
CONCLUSION
Our favorite flirt has conquered us again. Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice is a fantastic classic-style graphic adventure that brings us back one of the most iconic characters of the genre’s golden age, and that maintains the phenomenal line of its 2018 predecessor. We are facing one of the titles modern genre that best evokes that classic era, with complex, varied puzzles and it is true that sometimes they do not use the most obvious logic, much less. Thus we have a complex and very challenging graphic adventure, of more than generous duration and with a great technical finish. All this seasoned with that particular spicy humor brand of the saga, full of references and sexual elements that are never fully explicit but that make it a title for adult audiences. And of course, with a Larry Laffer who is the undisputed king of the party, genius and figure as it could not be less. Essential if you like the genre, both Wet Dreams Don´t Dry and this continuation that concerns us are magnificent adventures that will make you enjoy and suffer in equal parts with their convoluted puzzles.
THE BEST
- Fantastic graphic adventure that recovers the best classic flavor of the genre.
- A development with several simultaneous tasks very well planned to reduce frustration if we get stuck.
- The sense of humor so spicy brand of the house.
- Duration more than generous, always keeping us entertained
- Good technical finish, very attractive on a visual level and great voice work.
WORST
- The logic of some of his puzzles is more than convoluted.
- Like its predecessor, it makes us go through the same scenarios several times.
Very good
A game with a remarkable finish that we will enjoy and remember. A good buy, highly recommended for lovers of the genre. It is well cared for at all levels.
