Hooked on You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim review: Cute but cowardly

That Dead by daylight Dating simulator cheekily titled Addicted to You, is an interesting paradox. This is a project that would exist in the form of an April Fool’s joke or Easter egg for most studios. but Dead by daylight has a notoriously thirsty fanbase, and developer Behavior has leaned into that, giving players a special game where they can meet their favorite infamous killers. The studio releases the developer Psyop Addicted to You: A dead by daylight dating sim.

The premise is simple: you wake up on an island surrounded by some of the sexiest killers around Dead by daylight, and instead of immediately peeling you off and hanging you from a hook, they want to play beach volleyball and make out. The player chooses which killer to spend time with, participates in beach activities coordinated by bumbling survivors Dwight and Claudette, and occasionally plays a mini-game. It’s the logical endgame of fandom’s horniness, and yet the writing is very serious and charming.

Image: Psyop/Behaviour

If the player is lucky and makes the right decisions, he can snuggle up to one of these deadly killers. If they are unlucky, they will be stabbed. The narrative also hints at something darker going on beneath the surface, almost as if this is just some sort of misery-making machine disguised in the happy vibes of a dating simulator. As a premise, that’s great. But I like the trick with a funny concept Addicted to You is that you actually have to deliver a complete product. This is where developer Psyop stumbles, constantly turning to the player to ask, “It’s not strange? A whole dating sim… about a horror game? WildTo the right?”

This is by no means a bad game; In fact, it’s surprisingly solid. if you a Dead by daylight Lore fan, it’s pretty sane to chat with these characters about their grisly backstories and morbid motivations. Once in a while, Addicted to You is hilarious – or downright terrifying. There’s a running gag about a nearby island a lot of cooler, more exclusive and – oh yes – has all of the game’s licensed characters from horror franchise slopes. The trickster also makes an appearance as a surprise guest, mentioning his NFT line. Then the game effortlessly morphs into portraying a spectral lighthouse pulling souls from other realities to hurl them to the unforgiving shores, or the trapper proving he is only capable of a possessive, controlling mimicry of love.

Too bad because Addicted to You has all these great features, but at the end of the day the game feels scared that you might wince. The characters don’t stop turning and ambushing after the camera. They say “wink, wink” out loud and then say how wild and unexpected it is that they say “wink, wink” instead of just winking. The narrator chides you for breaking the fourth wall too many times before cheerfully smashing it two scenes later to joke about why you should leave a good review for the game on Steam. Every time I fall into a groove the game stomps on my foot and asks me if I understand this whole premise is very silly right? understand the? Yes, Addicted to YouI do, please let me start getting crushed by the Slayer’s thighs again.

It just seems like Psyop is afraid of the player laughing at her and not With She. The narration focuses on precautionary reassurance that the developer knows this is a joke and isn’t taking it seriously, and yes, it is want wince quite a bit, if that was meant seriously is not. It’s all very unnecessary, and I’m kind of hoping that Behavior and Psyop take another hit at the dating sim genre without all the self-conscious narrative clutter – because the good is very Well.

Addicted to You: A Dating Sim Dead by Daylight is available on steam. The game was verified on PC using a download code provided by Behavior Interactive. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find For more information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy, click here.