In the last century, during the golden age of adventure games, one anti-hero stood out: Larry Laffer. Far from his fellow archaeologists, adventurers or detectives, Larry had only one quest: to nab as many chicks as possible! Thirty years later, we will see that nothing has changed… apart from the world around us. But before enjoying the adventure, you have to show your credentials and prove that you are of legal age. To do this, the game imposes a multiple-choice general culture questionnaire on us at the start of the game, adults being in theory the only ones who can know the references mentioned. This protection system has the good taste to pay homage to that of the first episodes of the saga, but it turns out to be much less relevant than at the time, since today any young person who knows how to use Google will be able to find the good answers. Once this step has been taken, we find ourselves at the controls of a Larry who is not sure where he is… or rather when he is!
Indeed, the seducer in the nerdy suit finds himself mysteriously propelled to the twenty-first century, when he belongs to the end of the 80s. We can also see a poster dating from 1987 (release date of the first game ) in the sets. But while an average person would inquire about the presence of the famous flying cars that we were promised for the year 2000, the incorrigible Larry seeks above all to know if there are now sex robots. The answer being negative, he is off to flirt with the only client of the bar in which he finds himself (for those who know the series: it is still Lefty's). But the latter seems captivated by a strange object, which the man of the 80s identifies as a "light box". Welcome to the age of smartphones, Larry! Very quickly our hero will have to get up to date, and learn to use Instacrap, Farcebook, Timber and other Unter. As for the PiPhone, it is manufactured by Prune Incorporated, headed by a certain Bill Jobs (initials BJ, if you know what I mean…). From then on, the scenario will essentially unfold around these technological innovations.
IT WILL MAKE LAFFER
Even if it is always treated in a light mode, the contrast between the modern world and a freshly arrived twentieth century Larry is interesting. And without necessarily being hilarious, the parody of the digital giants regularly gives a smile. But it is of course the references of a sexual nature that work best. After all, it is the hallmark of the series. The very raw dialogues and sometimes almost unhealthy situations may also disturb some players. But you have to take the game lightly, because that's how it was designed. Cacti and buildings have a phallic shape, the noise of a fly accompanies the opening of the main menu, the men are all sexually obsessed, the women are inevitably light (and sometimes lightly dressed), and the places represented prove to be conducive to low-end drag. Bar, gym and sex shop on the decline are thus in the game. Moreover, a little ashamed, the owner of the sex shop is obliged to open an underground supermarket in the back shop to be able to survive in the face of competition from the Internet. Humor always! All of these locations are represented through brightly colored 2D graphics, which do the job well.
But you have to take the game lightly, because that's how it was designed. Cacti and buildings have a phallic shape, the noise of a fly accompanies the opening of the main menu, the men are all sexually obsessed, the women are inevitably light (and sometimes lightly dressed), and the places represented prove to be conducive to low-end drag.
The soundtrack benefits from full dubbing (voices in English or German only, but the French subtitles have not been forgotten). And the gameplay, faithful to the principles of old-school point-and-click, is based on multiple-choice dialogues and multiple objects to pick up, use and combine. The only concession, welcome, to modernity comes from the command allowing to immediately indicate on the screen all the interactive zones. Pixel hunting is an activity that we gladly leave behind. On both consoles, the controls allow you to move Larry with the left stick and the cursor with the right stick. This double manipulation is a little disturbing, and despite the option to adjust the sensitivity, moving the cursor to the stick is not ideal. This is where the Switch version stands out, as it supports touch controls when playing in handheld mode. We then find the ease of use of a mouse. Let's finish by specifying that the end of the adventure unfortunately clearly lacks scope. But that does not prevent Wet Dreams Don't Dry from being the worthy heir to the first Leisure Suit Larry. And that is the main thing.
