Polymorphous Perversity
Despite being intimately familiar with Christine Love's work, I find myself unable to give a definite answer as to whether I consider her to be a good writer. Her work is full of heady ideas and there is little doubt as to it being the result of a curious and intelligent mind, however their presentation has often left me struggling to get an emotional hold on them. It is conceivable that this is a question of experience; that I lack the necessary awareness and understanding of the social and cultural spheres she inhabits, but there is an other-worldliness to her characters that whilst intriguing, leaves me derelict in terms of being able to identify with them. Being transgender myself I would have hoped there would be slightly more common ground beyond our love of fancy outfits, but until Ladykiller in a Bind I've only ever been able to respect her work, rather than openly embrace it as something I enjoy or touched upon my own heart.
That is not to say that the game entirely reverses this trend; much of the dialogue in Ladykiller remains unnatural to me, however this aspect is mitigated far more successfully through both the straightforward structure and jovial tone in which events play out. The art style is nice and bright, with music that matches the setting and tone of each scene, adding to it rather than distracting from it. Aesthetically it's all very approachable and the layout and UI elements are all clear and user-friendly. The title gives a pretty clear indication as to its overall seriousness and once the preposterous setup of you cross-dressing as your brother on a 7 day cruise is revealed, it's quite easy to look past any perceived lack of naturalism as you start to ease into all the nonsense and enjoy all the silly jokes and references.
I say a perceived lack of naturalism as what really makes Ladykiller stand out is in the emotional insights that permeate the experience. It's a subversive piece of work, where the bright art, music, and ridiculousness of it all goes to mask a much more thoughtful and detailed look at some of the unique ways in which relationships can operate and interact with each other.
There is a palpable tension here that wasn't as strong in Love's previous work. The fact that you are hiding your identity does a nice job in forcing you to be more conscious of what you say. That you are interacting with characters that you've only just met, but who know “you” in a more significant way, makes for an entertaining spectacle. It's fun, goofy and awkward, but ultimately engaging as the personality clashes and hidden agendas keep you guessing as to where everything is headed. Doubts over verisimilitude aside, the writing is charming and often funny, being very much aware of the different dimensions of current internet culture and taking some agreeable joy in taking the piss out of it. There's also some fantastic squabbles where anyone who's a sibling would be hard pressed not to find something of value in.
Each day is divided into sections where you must choose who to spend them with. Dialogue options will come and go in accordance with their relevance to the conversation at the time and it adds to the tension as injecting hastily or waiting too long can have consequences. Additionally the variety of potential response is impressive enough to generate a desire to play through multiple times--especially with a limited amount of time where you are forced to pick between characters and perhaps reveal something about yourself. Will you pick the shy stalker or the voluptuous swimmer as your companion for your trip? It's all quite silly and fun, but each character has an agreeably nuanced personality beyond their appearance and most obvious personality traits.
As you develop your relationships with your classmates, various and ever increasingly erotic situations can develop. It is in these scenes where the game is at its strongest. In other hands these could quite easily have been tasteless and cringe-worthy, but it is here of all places where I was most able to identify and relate to the emotions at work. It is almost certainly a case of being specific to my own personal circumstances and so certainly will not apply to everyone, but with a history of being bullied at school and having to hide so much of myself for so long, the emotions tied to letting your guard down, to exposing yourself and your vulnerabilities are very raw for me. So when these emotions and ideas start to play out between characters, when they are revealed and discussed, it was at that moment when I knew “that is me, that is who I am”.
Therein lies the essence which gave Ladykiller its unique power over me; that it not only knew the quite specific emotions and thoughts I held, but that it knew where to take them; where my own mind had always wanted them to go. The level of nuance and exactness was uncanny, the writing capturing the moment so perfectly. It reminded me, comforted me in the knowledge that I'm not alone in some of my most intimate thoughts and feelings.
However it is hard to shake the impression that such connections will be far from universal, as such there is little to offer in terms of a more general appeal beyond the idea of the basic premise, where more specific enjoyment will be highly subjective. There are scenes capable of causing offence and some may well be put off by its more transgressive moments, but I must admit to enjoying the lack of prudishness in a time of growing social conservatism.
That said, there is a somewhat indulgent air to proceedings. Everyone is good looking, everyone has lovely clothes, and the opulent surroundings of the ship are a long way away from the quotidian existence most of us share. Escapism is very much what's on offer, but with an emotional depth that betrays its first impressions. Being able to live out my own longing to be the submissive in a loving bdsm relationship was so beautiful, yet coloured with the melancholy in how it touched upon the very tender and painful emotions that drive that desire within me. Ladykiller in a Bind is such a queer experience; it's at once complete fantasy and yet at times bracingly real. Somewhat reminiscent of Stjepan Sejic's Sunstone series; silliness and seriousness in a sweet if unorthodox relationship.