Thirsty Suitors combines turn-based combat, skateboarding, and cooking to create a unique experience centered around accepting past mistakes and repairing relationships. The game is developed by Outerloop Games, a studio known for their storytelling about underrepresented cultures, and published by Annapurna Interactive. While Thirsty Suitors may lack complexity in certain aspects, it compensates with its creativity, aesthetics, and emotionally-driven South Asian-inspired narrative.
The concept of Thirsty Suitors may seem like a combination of activities that wouldn’t blend well together and result in a disjointed experience. However, the game manages to organically integrate its combat, cooking, and skating mechanics into the storyline, seamlessly transitioning between them. These mechanics suit the protagonist, Jala, well. Although the combat is not overly challenging and the skating mechanics are not as in-depth as those in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, a diverse cast of compelling characters and a plethora of unique ideas help diminish these minor shortcomings.
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Thirsty Suitors follows the story of Jala, humorously described in the game as a “bisexual disaster.” After leaving her small hometown of Timber Hills three years ago to be with her partner Jennifer, Jala returns after being dumped in order to make amends. She is on bad terms with both her family and a group of vengeful exes, and is determined to embark on a reconciliation tour before her sister Aruni’s upcoming wedding. Among everyone she left behind, no one despises Jala more than Tyler, her on-again, off-again girlfriend whom she broke up with over a payphone as she left Timber Hills.
However, Tyler must put aside her differences with Jala when a mysterious new character named Soundie takes over their old hangout, Bearfoot Park, the local skate park. Soundie, always donning a bear costume, has been recruiting local youth for their skate punk cult, although their ultimate motivations remain unclear. This aspect of the game’s plot may not have the most satisfying resolution, but its eccentricity keeps it intriguing and it is arguably less prominent than Jala’s narrative-driven reconciliation goals.
2023-11-01 12:19:50
Post from screenrant.com
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