Have you ever had too much to drink one night and woken up to discover that you remembered nothing of what happened? Well, that’s what happens to the main character, Yeonwoo, in Love Too Easily, an interactive Korean drama game, and no, that’s not a phrase I ever expected to type. However, Love Too Easily leans into the power of its cuteness to create a charming mystery romance that players and Yeonwoo have to solve in order to get her a happy ending.
Plot Ahoy!
Love Too Easily opens with Yeonwoo out with members of her group, including three young men, and she overindulges a bit on Soju. The scene flashes to the next morning, when Yeonwoo wakes up fully dressed with a hazy memory of the night before and someone else’s phone. What she does remember is that she kissed someone, and boy, this has to be one of the five greatest kisses since the invention of the kiss because that sense memory sends Yeonwoo, and by extension, the player on a hunt to recreate what happened in that pub with her fellow group members.
Review Notes
Despite the simplistic set up, Love Too Easily manages to be engaging. Gameplay alternates between movie-style cut scenes in which you click on your response and dialogue choices, and the animated minigames that recall the flash games we all used to play instead of paying attention in class. Love Too Easily really does give you the feel of determining the story in a K-drama—embracing all of the tropes that dominate the genre.
The acting feels pretty solid, though the audio is exclusively in Korean, meaning that I’m basing my assessment off of the subtitles and body language. For the most part the subtitles are clear and well done, though some of them don’t quite flow as well as one might hope. The minigames are cute and engaging, replete with details about Yeonwoo’s personality.
Early on, you get to choose her outfit and do her makeup, which is kind of fun. Like most interactive movie titles, the gameplay isn’t going to be the main thrust of Love Too Easily; you’re really playing to tease out Yeonwoo’s adventure, focusing on story more than the minigames. However, alternating between the two is a nice touch.
Love Too Easily offers multiple endings, which means that it doesn’t fall into the trap too many such romance titles do, that of signaling what the end game pairing is from the beginning. It offers multiple endings, which give it longevity and replayability. However, you can finish out at least one pairing in an hour or two, which makes Love Too Easily a decent, light title to play should you need a break that amounts to the equivalent of cotton candy for your brain.
TLDR
I have to admit that I generally prefer my K-dramas with a touch of magic—The King: Eternal Monarch springs to mind. However, Love Too Easily is a cute, quick title that can definitely scratch your Korean drama romance itch.
Love Too Easily retails for $14.29 this weekend on Steam, and there is also a demo if you want to try it out.
Stray Thoughts From Behind the Keyboard
- I have to admit, after Thanksgiving, this is exactly the kind of relaxing gameplay I needed.
- There’s a skincare and makeup focused minigame. Because of course there is.
- Yeonwoo is a disaster heroine. She gets trapped inside a bar. It’s kind of hilarious.
- The subtitles do feature the occasional typographical error, but it’s really not enough to make them incomprehensible.
- Everyone looks to be wearing the same shade of coral lipstick on my screen; it’s a little strange.
- Love Too Easily ends with a literal puzzle. That’s a bit on the nose.
- You can fail to guess, by the way, but Yeonwoo still ends up with hope.