Last year, Press Y Games put out Dear Monster—a fantasy gay romance and one of our favorite gay games in 2023—and firmly cemented themselves as a top gay visual novel studio. When looking at their resume, one would think it’s been a long time coming: the studio has been pushing out and refining their craft with a staggering 11 games since 2018 prior to Dear Monster‘s release. It is, if steam reviews are anything to go by, also the company’s biggest hit since 2018’s To Trust an Incubus. All of this information is to demonstrate the sort of reputation Press Y has in the genre, and why the release and quality of Monster Lover: Balasque is so baffling.
It feels like Press Y Games designed Balasque and then called it a day.
Monster Lover: Balasque is supposed to be a visual novel dating sim about a man, nameable by the player, who accidentally summons a demon of vengeance after he’s been semi-enslaved by criminals. That summary, however, is a far more reasonable breakdown than the events that actually happen: the player character’s captives have apparently taken his father’s expensive possessions and is selling the experience of breaking them (in front of the character, mind you) as a sort of back alley rage room. Crying and screaming in front of the clients and begging for them to stop smashing his family’s possessions is supposed to be part of the experience people pay for, apparently. It is, like much of the writing and dialogue, very unintentionally silly.
RELATED: Dear Monster — Erotic Fantasy, Hot Guys, and Surprising Heart
A Novel Isn’t Much Without A Story
I’m not trying to argue that their previous fantasy hit, Dear Monster, is rooted in reality, but the wizard-full world of that game appears positively Asmovian in comparison to the high school drivel of Monster Lover: Balasque. In that game, Allen was a fully fleshed out character with believable problems and a distinct personality that made sense for where he was in life.
Every character in Monster Lover is flat and one dimensional, both in terms of story, motivation, and yes, in sex, too. This is supposed to be an erotic story between a wronged party and a force of vengeance that can swing the hammer the other way through unscrupulous means—there’s a lot to work with there from a narrative and moral standpoint, and Monster Lover: Balasque has no time for any of that character building or pacing nonsense. The nameable protagonist and Balasque are shoved together far too quickly, and nothing about either of them feels organic or earned.
Speaking of earned, you earn little for your time with this game. Where Dear Monster was practically bursting at the seams with personality and content, Monster Lover: Balasque’s characters have a painfully limited number of visuals to cycle through, and only a few CGs to unlock. This all could be hand-waved if the writing was there, but the melodrama and unrealistic contrivances do not make up, at all, for the lack of polish in the visuals, or the lack of overall content, erotic or otherwise.
Does Press Y Games Even Want You To Buy It?
Queer Romance and Horror have become well covered ground over the years for a lot of fascinating socio-political reasons, so much so that the blending of the two are something of a trope in and of themselves. Monster Lover: Balasque looked poised to do that, but it’s so rough around the edges in terms of content and presentation that it almost feels like Press Y Games has sent it out to die, just so that they can move on to the other big, more ambitious projects they’ve announced for this year.
If there is anything nice to say at all about Monster Lover: Balasque, its that Balasque himself is nice to look at it. Monster-fuckers will love him; he’s a terrifying, intimidating array of teeth and muscles and pecs. It is obvious that he was the first and most inspired thing created for this project, and its a shame that he simply wasn’t given a well scripted story to slash through. Hopefully, Balasque is the only demon cursed with the writing and direction from his game, and not a premonition of what’s to come from the other 2024 releases of Press Y Games.
One of those games, ironically enough, is Monster Lover 2, which was announced before Monster Lover: Balasque even came out. It features a new demon and a (better looking) protagonist seemingly completely unconnected to Balasque. Even the Monster Lover series seems ready to move on from this game as quickly as possible.
PROS
- Balaesque is as scary as his tits are huge.
CONS
- Completely impossible to sympathize with main character
- Awful dialogue and sub-par writing
- A flat and unpolished UI / presentation from a company that normally specializes in this area
- A shocking lack of content for the price tag
