Upcoming Demo: Love Life! REM Cycle's Setting and Themes

I think I'm as close to ready to start sharing this as I'm going to get (fun fact - I actually started working on this before L/L or RH), so here's the title for my third demo project:

 

Before I get any further - Love Life's protagonist is trans. She is female, but has yet to undergo bottom surgery. If you have strong negative feelings about this, I recommend you stop reading now. I'm making games, not political statements, but I will not tolerate bigotry.

 

First, REM Cycle is going to be different than the demos for Love/Loss and Redemption Harem in that it serves as a prequel rather than what is effectively the opening sequence. The main character (who can't be renamed in the demo, but will be re-nameable in the main game) starts REM Cycle and the main game in completely different mental states. REM Cycle won't be necessary to play, but does provide some extra context, serving as the catalyst for the way the MC acts in the main game.

The entire game will take place within an all-girl cram school's campus. The cram school is post-secondary education that isn't quite college (meaning that all of the characters are over 18, but there's a uniform policy) meant to provide its students with the skill and knowledge necessary to proceed with their education at their college of choice. The classes themselves will play a fairly small role in the story, but do have a gameplay purpose in raising your stats rather than your stats being raised through combat. The horror side of things will take place in a twisted version of the campus, with some places looking like a familiar (if less friendly) version of the original, and other places becoming alien, non-euclidean nightmares.

There's a theme of duality throughout Love Life. I called it a survival horror dating sim, but those are two separate pieces that affect each other rather than a single cohesive whole. During the day, you have classes, can talk with the other girls to try to either woo or seduce them, or find other activities to improve your stats. At night, there are monsters to hide from and the consequences of your actions are made manifest. This theme is intended to follow through the setting, the mechanics, the main character, even the title itself (being both what the game is about - the MC's love life - and a suggestion to love the life you have).

REM Cycle will be a little different from the main game, though these aspects should still come through. Rather than a hard and fast day/night cycle, REM Cycle will exist in a loop, placing you somewhere between the "reality" of the day and the "dream" of the night. You'll still have a pair of love interests to chase after, but first the MC will need to come to terms with a few things.

Lastly, I'm hoping to create REM Cycle in such a way that the save will properly carry over to the main game. My demos so far are rather ambiguous in this regard; Arrival can carry over to MnM, but it shouldn't or it causes bugs. Love/Loss might be able to carry forward, but there are a few things in place that might change and make that impossible. Redemption Harem is likely to undergo some pretty serious adjustments if/when it hits full release, so people who don't want to replay the start should be able to bring the save forward, but it might upset a few things. REM Cycle saves should work without issue in the main game. Hopefully.