Upcoming Demo: Love/Loss's Setting and Main Character

Since it's fairly close to done and the first thing besides MnM I'll be releasing, let's talk about Love/Loss.

Love/Loss is an urban fantasy romance story about finding hope in the wake of tragedy. The setting isn't too dissimilar from what you'd expect from typical urban fantasy, with a magic system (as well as a number of plot points) inspired by an anime called Loveless.

I won't get too deep into the magic system here since there's a book in-game for the curious to read, but the general idea is that people are able to draw magical power from interpersonal relationships. For the average person, this might make you stronger, smarter, or tougher. For some people, you might be able to light a campfire without tools or charge your phone without plugging it in. If you're lucky, you might be able to fight fires, handle power lines, or otherwise save lives with your bare hands. The truly extraordinary, literally one in a million, are geniuses, war heroes, and modern day wizards, capable of truly miraculous feats.

This is referred to in-setting as a Pairing. Pairings describe in general terms the sort of relationship you draw your power from. Rather than "romantic relationships" or "platonic relationships," examples of these Pairings are Single Paired (where you gain magic from a single, mutual, monogamous relationship), Open Paired (where you gain magic from fleeting, momentary relationships), and True Paired (only gaining magic from nurturing a relationship with your soulmate). These relationships are generally romantic, but can be platonic, familial, or purely sexual; it varies from person to person. There are six types of Pairings in total, along with hybrid Pairings and a handful of unrecognized theoretical Pairings.

 

The main character is a woman who, along with her fiancee, left everything behind to try to build something for themselves in a new city, away from the judgement and stigma of their homes. She is True Paired, her relationship with her one true love allowing her to manifest the elements of fire, ice, and lightning in fantastically destructive ways. 

The story begins several months following a car accident that took the main character's fiancee from her, with a chance encounter revealing one impossible truth after the next, calling into question everything she thought she knew about herself.

If you're not interested in the lesbian relationship, the demo does include an option to play as a male main character, and if I do carry this forward into the main game, there will be alternate renders and scenes to accommodate this option. But that's a full release that's rather far off into the future. For now, look forward to this demo becoming available exclusively to my Patrons sometime in August.