My Pseudo Review / Feedback (for what it's worth)

[tbm1986]

The graphics were cute and the voice acting was very good for the most part. The puzzles were a bit too literal sometimes and overused item combination (more a Monkey Island / Hector Badge of Carnage thing than a LSL thing). The moving from one location to another didn't take many clicks. The interface was a little clunky and hotspots were too close together sometimes. The music fits and is smooth. They even remixed the intro in a Modern Jazz style, which is what the leisure suit goes with best. Nice touch. There were no bugs from what I could see. The game was of suitable length. The whole experience was pretty seemless (nothing seemed out of place). It has replayability for me because I didn't get all the Instacrap scenes or any easter eggs.

I did have a good few chuckles at the humour. Larry was sort of as I remember him, sort of not. There was plenty of character development (a first for the Larry games and a pleasant surprise). He, Lefty and the game grew on me but it was a shock at first. I found myself resonating with Larry far too much with being alienated in the tech world of today, thinking about sex too quickly/much and being more of a selfless gentleman now than days/games gone by. The lack of sex despite the effort also rang too true.

Lefty was not the landlord I remember but that said, it was very comforting to have him around to guide Larry through the messed up modern world. Richard, Bea and the Prune store guys too, but to a lesser extent. The supporting cast was well balanced. I did not like interactions with the gym guy, though. It would have been nice to be able to have a storyline with the pawn stall owner once her stock had been sold and have the Native American used in more puzzles. Considering how stunning Lemma's flaming hot Strat was, I get the feeling that more was planned but it got cut. What happened to her after the Hell's Pawn event, anyway? (Edit: reply from dev states she is on tour)

The hippy bar was barely used after early game (the downstairs/back wasn't used at all, despite the hint by the art) and all the gym usage was mid to late game. I had hoped the lighthouse and beachside park would have been used too but this wasn't a big deal.

Despite it not really feeling like a Laffer game at first, I still enjoyed it. Like I said, it grew on me. It was like Larry's rite of passage. (I would have thought that would happen from his relationships with Eve, the tribe girl and Patti but go figure.) I would have enjoyed it more if there were was more nudity but then LSL7 and MCL did spoil me.

This is clearly a game made by a small indie company who love 80s & 90s adventure games as much as I do and are worried about pushing the boat out with being too risque and in so being, alienating their core audience to some degree. I do understand why. They had [s]ladies on your team[/s] authorities they needed to keep sweet and the media/society are not keen on men enjoying sleaze these days. Let's be honest: there are many who will pan the game without trying it simply because of what Larry represents for them. In that regard, I think the designers only really saved themselves from [s]a backlash from their own team members[/s] the bureaucracy of having their game (or a version of it) X-rated.

Was it worth what I paid for it? Yes. I think 8/10 is fair. Would I buy any DLC for the game? Almost definitely. Would I buy a sequel? Yes. Would I buy game of a different IP from them? I'm open to the possibility.

[Noody]

Of course I can't really speak for the guys, but I can assure you that the female team members were not the reason that there is no explicite nudity. I would have been more than happy do draw naked sexy girls! From an artist's point of view there is little more appealing, than drawing naked women. xD

[tbm1986]

That's good to know. In that case, I take that bit back and say either the direction was too cautious or not intending to cater for that element.

[tbm1986]

So is anything else planned for this well polished game or is it considered finished?

[AssembleGames-Whitman]

Well it is an adventure with a full story that was now told. So - at this moment - we do not plan any DLC (which is not really common for point & click adventures). But as the James Bond line, Never say never again...

[Noody]

Thanks! I completely hear you. Who knows, maybe if we get to make another Larry game, we will have more nudity!

It might not be completely naked, because Social Media is a pain in the butt, when showing nipples, but I did a Fanart for Nari a while ago, that is a little more erotic: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnjKNiThVQ-/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=17ktesi2fkc6v

As you maybe can tell, Nari was my favourite character to design and I always loved the twist. :'D (I also was partly responsible for how things turned out with her and Larry, if ya know what I mean - I try to stay spoiler free here. ;))

[Awesomaurice]

Ahoi tbm1996. Thanks for the very detailed and fair feedback. As one of the writers and puzzle designers I am very happy to see how you feel about the game.
Since we are peeking behind the curtains here, I want to get back to some topics you raised:
1) What exactly didn't you like about the Gym Guy? (just asking to write better characters in the future that are more fun to interact with)
2) As for usage of characters it is always really hard in terms of budget and time to have enough spotlight for everyone. I can assure you that there is a document, where we outlined "Where are they now"s for ALL characters that appear in the game, just in case we might have the chance to visit them again.
3) There is a dialouge in the game that gives you an idea what happened to Lemma. She was actually booked for a tour and is driving through he country right now, banging heads and rocking out with her **** out.

Additionally I can only stress what Noody said: The girls were pushing way more for nudity than anyone else on the team, but with releasing in so many territories and also given the current climate when went down the teasing, yet still explicit way. (Actually: Here in Germany nudity is far less a problem for games than in the US)
And let's just say, that each datable character has been built naked and then "dressed"....

[Valiento]

I actually love the fact that the characters were given development and more interaction than simply be 'goals' like they were in previous games. It's improvement in adventure game genre in general....

[tbm1986]

@Noody That's a great pic. Your idea for the final scene was imaginative and was pulled off well. I did laugh but I also felt sorry for Larry.

I'm beginning to think I was being unfair. The writing, art and music were all spot on and on par with gaming greats much larger in team and budget.

I was also being ignorant about the VG regulation in the US and elsewhere. I went to Germany when I was 14 (back in 2000) and the top shelf of every Zeitungskiosk und Supermarkt haben die Brueste aus an der Jacke (if you know what I mean). I'm sure you did your homework more than I did.

@Awesomaurice Thank you to you as well for reading my pseudo review and asking for more clarification on my feedback. It means a lot to fans that their opinions are in the mix for in-house improvement.

1) The Gym Guy didn't have many lines for conversation and spoke to Larry upon entering and leaving, where Larry would pause until the dialogue was over. Because of the puzzle design the way it was, often the gym was used for one interaction at a time, meaning the player could get irritated very quickly at the timewasting. The same applies with having to manually use the keycard every time Larry used the lift in the Prune building. In other games, like with keys, it would be automatic upon clicking the door after the first use of the key/keycard (although I realise this is not the case in LSL7 with the TMT scorecard slots).

2) Sorry, I am vaguely aware that there are things like investor capital, loans, overdrafts, staff wages and predicted sales to factor in that the player usually has no sight of. For the record, I thought the balance of depth and time for almost all characters was spot on.

3) Yes, I'm an idiot. Sorry again. I've been to quite a few gigs and festivals in my time, so should have guessed that Lemma would be on tour, even if I missed the dialogue.

If you were to release any concept art etc. as a DLC, then I would definitely buy it if it had a reasonable price tag on. Things like Instacrap clips of the busty lawyer's parachuting, the camgirl's cumshow and Lemma doing a Courtney Love (getting her boobs out at Woodstock) in concert come to mind. Maybe even the pawn girl giving up her bra for Larry's vintage threads. Sorry for the suggestions being dominated by boobs. I do appreciate the other attributes too but there's not as much of an excuse to have them as game outtakes.

Let me also say that the writing for the final two settings was an extremely pleasant, refreshing surprise. As is a company brave enough to give the Laffer franchise a spin. Well done and thank you so much!

[AssembleGames-Whitman]

Thanks very much! :)

[Zombine3D]

Yep, love it. I really hope you guys are boing to be make a longer, thicker, meatyer, juicyer and uncut sequel that goes all the way.

[tbm1986]

Something tells me they have little stomach for everything an Adults Only ESRB rating would entail but I hope I'm wrong.

[Zombine3D]

Originally posted by tbm1986:

Something tells me they have little stomach for everything an Adults Only ESRB rating would entail but I hope I'm wrong.

I wonder if the Japanese could make a LSL type game, with weird otaku in jokes and all...

[tbm1986]

I have updated the review because I want people to know how I currently feel rather than just after completing for the first time. I had been too harsh.

[Gao Li]

Originally posted by Noody:

Thanks! I completely hear you. Who knows, maybe if we get to make another Larry game, we will have more nudity!

It might not be completely naked, because Social Media is a pain in the butt, when showing nipples, but I did a Fanart for Nari a while ago, that is a little more erotic: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnjKNiThVQ-/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=17ktesi2fkc6v

As you maybe can tell, Nari was my favourite character to design and I always loved the twist. :'D (I also was partly responsible for how things turned out with her and Larry, if ya know what I mean - I try to stay spoiler free here. ;))

Sorry for reviving this old post, would it be okay with you if I linked to that image's URL in my review on my blog? I told Falko Loffler that I really loved Nari's writing in the game and that her design was awesome and that I really want her to be in the sequel, even if only as a cameo. So he explained to me how Maurice Alain approached the character. I really love the art style in the entire game, but she was definitely my favorite character.

[Noody]

Originally posted by Gao Li:

Originally posted by Noody:

As you maybe can tell, Nari was my favourite character to design and I always loved the twist. :'D (I also was partly responsible for how things turned out with her and Larry, if ya know what I mean - I try to stay spoiler free here. ;))

Sorry for reviving this old post, would it be okay with you if I linked to that image's URL in my review on my blog? I told Falko Loffler that I really loved Nari's writing in the game and that her design was awesome and that I really want her to be in the sequel, even if only as a cameo. So he explained to me how Maurice Alain approached the character. I really love the art style in the entire game, but she was definitely my favorite character.

Sure! Go ahead! I'd love to see her in a sequel as well! :)