Official Release Date: January 18, 2024
Developers:  Papergames, Infoldgames
Publishers:  Papergames, Infoldgames
Platforms: Mobile (Android, iOS)

✴(UPDATE) READ OTHER RELATED POSTS for LOVE AND DEEPSPACE

• Love and Deepspace: Rafayel’s Story Branch, Myths and Lore Analysis
• Love and Deepspace: Xavier’s Story Branch, Myths and Lore Analysis

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SYNOPSIS

In 2034, humanity received its first message from Deepspace.

Although the transmission remained shrouded in mystery, it ignited people’s curiosity to explore the universe and discover unknown civilizations. This is the origin of the epic tale known as the Deepspace Legend.

Yet with the arrival of this cosmic message, creatures called Wanderers appeared and attacked humans. Thus, the Deepspace Hunter was born.

Because of a childhood incident, you were determined to become a Deepspace Hunter. After graduating from college, you joined the Hunters Association and met many companions along the way—Xavier, a mysterious hunter, Rafayel, a passionate artist, and Zayne, a talented cardiac surgeon…

However, your seemingly normal life disappeared on that rainy night. Your childhood “nightmare” has reemerged…

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ART AND MUSIC

I was honestly kind of blown away by the 3D graphics in this game. I’m familiar with Paper Games/Infoldgames because of the Mr. Love series (🤭 Gavin simp here!), and while I wasn’t as deeply involved in the series anymore, I’ve managed to hoard a few of MLQC’s merch because they’re too beautiful to pass up😩 (their figures, plushies and artbooks especially, are divine).

Anyway, when I heard that the developers of MLQC and Shining Nikki were creating a next-gen 3D Otome Game, I was beyond ecstatic and pretty much expecting to be mind-blown by its visuals. As it turns out, my expectations were right on the money. Even after playing the CBT for six days straight, I’m still gobsmacked by the quality of the game! Tbh, saying how stunning Love and Deepspace is is an understatement.🤯

I was looking at the old Chinese trailer of Love and Deepspace from three years ago, and I noticed a massive difference not only in the 3D art but also in its CG animations. It’s incredibly improved now compared to back then. Yes, it’s been in development for that long, probably even longer. The faces aren’t stiff-looking anymore; the characters’ movements are incredibly fluid, the fine-tuning, and textures applied to the 3D models, has reached godtier level of polish. I’d even go so far as to say it’s up to par with big-name RPGs like Nier and FF7R in terms of graphics. It goes to show that the devs were truly working hard and putting their full efforts into this project.

The music was nothing short of impressive either. Given the game’s RPG-like elements, I particularly enjoyed the battle scene themes. Naturally, the sound effects were also striking in their execution.

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PROTAGONIST Customization

Another aspect of this game that’s a huge plus to me is the insane level of MC customization. Hairstyles, skin tones, makeup packs, eye shadows, lip tints…like, I have no words!

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VOICE ACTING

Just a disclaimer, I played the Closed Beta in English, as it was the only voice option available. I do believe (and hope) that other voice packs, particularly the Chinese and Japanese dubs, will be available once the game releases next year. The English voice cast remains undisclosed, so I’ll be posting the featured Japanese seiyuus below, as I normally do in my reviews.

Yusuke Kobayashi as ”Xavier” – Tomonari (Winter’s Wish Spirits of Edo), Hira (Dairoku), Byleth (FE Engage, 3H), Shinano Toushiro (Touken Ranbu), Suwon (Yona of the Dawn), Yuli Norbert (MidCin), Manai Tomoki (Sweet Clown)

Takuya Satou as “Zayne” – Genjuro (Winter’s Wish Spirits of Edo), Mitsutada Shokudaikiri (Touken Ranbu), Kazu (Variable Barricade), Masamune (Norn9), Kirei Rin (Jakou no Lyla), Tasuko Takato (A3!)

Shinnosuke Tachibana as “Rafayel” – Henri (Piofiore), Himeutsugi (Hana Awase), White Mask (Bad Apple Wars), Kousei (Ayakashi Koi Gikyoku), Rollan Crydelle (Jakou no Lyla), Koryuu Kagemitsu (Touken Ranbu)

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MAIN CHARACTERS

The game features three love interests: Xavier, Zayne, and Rafayel. During the Closed Beta, only up to chapter four of the story is revealed. These four chapters were enough to provide you certain introductions to these LIs, showcasing their personalities and quirks without revealing too much about their vital roles in the main story.

There are no individual LI routes. Similar to the Mr. Love series, it deviates from the traditional format of a console otome game, where each LI branches to its own story route from the common route. Instead, there is a single main storyline, and the majority of the LI-specific content, all centered around romance, is found in the date scenarios. These scenarios are unlocked by collecting ‘memories,’ which is part of the game’s gacha mechanics.

All of the LIs have their own story to tell, and you can pretty much get the gist of the mysterious atmosphere surrounding them by watching the character trailers posted on the game’s official website. Just head through this link, scroll down to the love interest section, and watch these short videos that introduce their characters.

**EDIT: If you want to get more backstories and delve-deeper into the main guys, you’ll need to read their stories from the “Anecdotes” section of the game, as I feel that these stories really added sooo much to their characters. I cannot stress this enough!

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NOTE: The content below will exclusively discuss my initial impressions of the characters upon meeting them in the first four chapters of the main storyline, along with their side stories (that I’ve managed to unlock through date scenarios and “memories”). Any potentially spoiler-y details regarding the plot or my personal theories will be enclosed in a spoiler drop-down, which you can choose to read or skip.

XAVIER

• soft sleepy boi
• loves sPiCy food 😏

AGE: Unknown
Job: Deepspace Hunter
EVOL: Light
Interview Video

Xavier is the first LI you’ll meet in the game. Just like the heroine, he’s also a deepspace hunter. He’s incredibly strong, agile, and an exceptionally skilled fighter. He crosses paths with the heroine multiple times during her missions. Xavier emerges as a curious and enigmatic character, appearing seemingly out of nowhere during Wanderer attacks, leaving the heroine suspicious of him.

ZAYNE

• Elsa ❄️
• dr. megane

AGE: 27
Job: Cardiac Surgeon
EVOL: Ice
Interview Video

Zayne serves as the Deputy Chief of Surgery in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Akso Hospital. Additionally, he is the appointed physician for the heroine during her work as a deepspace hunter. His stoic personality surprisingly won the hearts of many patients, earning him the title of Akso Hospital’s favorite doctor in Linkon City.

RAFAYEL

• fish husbando 😂
• #dramaqueen, needy af!

AGE: 24
Job: Artist
EVOL: Fire
Interview Video

Rafayel is a famous renowned artist in Linkon City. It is known for a fact that meeting him in person is deemed impossible, and when approached by the media or reporters for interviews, he’ll consistently offer creative excuses, like “his pet fish is having an ulcer”.😂 Rumors circulate that his paintings possess a mesmerizing effect on people, and his exhibits are exclusive, by invitation only, and only a select few are granted access to his galleries.

MC/YOU (Main Heroine)

The main character is technically YOU. The heroine doesn’t have a default name, so you have the freedom to choose any name for your character. You can customize her looks, appearance, as well as her voice. While all of this sounds more like it leans into the self-insert MC, she actually has her own personality, and it’s a feisty one! She also has her own surprisingly angsty backstory.😳

When I was playing the game, it didn’t feel to me as if I was self-inserting myself as the MC; it’s more like I was role-playing as her, which I feel is more intuitive for players like me who prefer not to self-insert. So if you’re worried about having to play as a cardboard cut-out heroine, you can rest easy knowing that the MC for Love and Deepspace is truly her own lovable character, that you can easily enjoy and relate to.

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SYSTEM AND GAMEPLAY

I won’t be covering the gameplay system and mechanics of Love and Deepspace in this written review, but I’ve created a video that explores most of the game’s features, including its battle system, side stories, and all of its miscellaneous elements. Feel free to check out the video below if you’re curious!

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A few things to note about this game, if you are new to mobile otome games:

➤It has gacha elements. Similar to Love and Producer, MLQC, and Tears of Themis, Love and Deepspace will have gacha elements! You pretty much can’t escape that! You collect and play the side stories, mainly the ones that contain the ‘spice’ and excessive romance, by unlocking the SR and SSR cards.

➤It has an RPG-like battle system. In the game, you’ll engage in battles against mobs alongside your LI. The higher-level cards you equip during battle modes, the more enhanced and powerful the damage your characters inflict on your mob enemies. That being said, you’ll need to enhance your cards to win battles within a specific time.

➤There will be in-game items you can choose to purchase to enhance your gameplay. While the game is generously free-to-play, there are optional items that you can acquire to make your gameplay smoother and speed up your leveling process, avoiding the need to excessively grind for materials & resources.

➤Cool and fun mini-games you can do with the LIs. There are so many cool and fun things to do! I was very impressed with some of these elements tbh and how much fun I’ve had while trying them all. Below are some of the mini-games that I’ve highly enjoyed. If you want to see how these elements are played out, please watch my video above

• Claw machine
• Kitty cards
• Photo Booth
• “By Your Side” Stories (side stories that play out like a drama CD, ASMR)
• Battle Training
• Video calls, text messaging, social media interactions with the LIs
• Anecdotes
• Desk customization and more!

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TRAILER

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OVERALL THOUGHTS SO FAR…

The Closed Beta Testing for Love and Deepspace ran for six days straight; that’s six beautiful days of bliss and no sleep for me! 🤓 No, I’m serious; I was so hooked that I really didn’t care for sleep. Coincidentally, I was also on a week of sick leave from work (don’t worry, I’m A-okay!), so I was blitzing through the game for hours on end & I have no regrets!

Fanservice Galore!

If you’re here, because you saw some of my viral tweets and you’ve been needing, unhingely wanting to know more about this game, then you have come to the right place!😂 The game definitely offered a LOT of steamy fanservice content and I think the age rating for this title should be at least 17+ instead of 12+. (cackles)😂 In any case, I feel like the hot, sexy 3D animation is what’s going to pull people in. That’s no doubt an obvious selling point, right? However, I do want to emphasize that the game actually has a PLOT, and a very compelling one at that. No, seriously. The fact that I was mowing down the storyline at the crack of dawn within 72 hours, 😂😳 eyes bloodshot, is proof in itself of how engrossed I was with the game’s intro so far. It was just my kind of jam! I couldn’t get enough of it, and I needed more. Getting both a captivating narrative and some good-ol’ fanservice on the side is undeniably a win-win!

The Battle System Made the Gameplay More Fun!

If you’re like me, who grew up playing RPGs, I definitely think you’d enjoy this game. Love and Deepspace’s battle system was comfortable and so much fun that it didn’t feel like I was grinding for resources. Of course, it doesn’t quite match up to your typical RPGs on Sony consoles; the battles are relatively easy to beat (there’s even an auto-mode that you can turn on, so you really don’t have to put in too much effort in combat if you’re not up for it). I do wish there was a difficulty mode to choose from though, but with the game only available on mobile, I’m not sure if key combos are even a thing on this platform?🤷‍♀️

Does it have Romance?

YES! Yes, it does! While the game doesn’t branch out into individual routes (for now, anyway), you get to experience the fluffy, steamy, and exceptionally good and organic romantic scenes in the side stories, specifically in the ‘date’ scenario section of the game. Additionally, all three love interests are definitely interested in the heroine in the main storyline. And before you say anything to the contrary, YES, this is an otome game. Just because it doesn’t play out like your conventional console otome games does not disqualify it as one.

In addition, the fanservice for this game is just… hooooboi! Let’s just say, the devs really know what they’re doing. 🥵

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In terms of introducing the LIs in the main storyline, honestly, from what I’ve played so far, all three were very interesting to me. The four chapters revealed during the closed beta provide a solid overview of their personalities. There’s the stoic Zayne, the mysterious Xavier, and the flirty and cheeky Rafayel. While on the surface, they exhibit traits that would immediately appeal to a player’s preferences, there’s certainly more depth to these guys than meets the eye, and that’s what I’ve appreciated about the game thus far. The LIs were introduced in a way that naturally tickles your curiosity, leaving you wanting to uncover more about them, including their secrets and backstories.

From the get-go, I was very much interested in Xavier, to the point that I tuned out the other two LIs during my first few days of playing this title. (So I guess it’s safe to say he’s my oshi for right now). However, after finishing the four available chapters and obtaining all the SSR cards that cover some of the LIs’ backstories, Rafayel really caught my attention to the fullest. His characterization, cheekiness, and how he always acts so needy and pouty made so much sense in the story. I’m just so happy to see a lot of depth in his character because, to me, this is what makes a love interest tick! I don’t usually like the flirty types, but when they’re coupled with one of the most interesting backstories, I am going to be all up in dat club yo!

**Edit: Now that I’m done reading all the “anecdotes” stories, I am back to my Xavier groove! LOL he is best boy! 😭

Zayne unfortunately, was my least favorite, and this is only because the main story (Chapter 1-4) revealed less about him. To add to that, his character became very intriguing, right at the point where the game left off on a cliffhanger.😭 I’m fairly certain he’ll have his moment though, but alas, January 18 seems so far away!😭

Do I recommend this game? YES.
Without a shadow of a doubt, I’m definitely encouraging everyone who has this game on their radar to pre-register now. This title is set to release on January 18, 2024, and pre-registering guarantees it will automatically download onto your phone. Doing so also grants you in-game rewards, and that’s something you don’t want to miss!

If you’re into RPGs and romance games, consider this my pre-thumbs up! Love and Deepspace provides the next-gen otome experience you don’t want to miss out on. It not only offers very high-quality 3D graphics which in itself is already a reason to play. But also, with the game’s captivating story, I’m pretty certain you’ll be easily pulled in, just as I was, right from the jump. Lastly, the main characters are just darlings! Do it for them! Do it for Xavier, Zayne, and Rafayel! They are definitely worth all of your time! 😘

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