Leisure Suit Larry – Wet Dreams Don’t Dry | REVIEW

After making his grand return on PC last year, Larry Laffer has now returned to consoles for the first time since the ill-received Box Office Bust (which just so happens to be one of the worst games I’ve ever played). Fortunately, his latest escapade is both a return to form and his roots, with Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry sending players on a point-and-click adventure with the ultimate goal being to help Larry find love.

Sounds sweet, right? Well, if you’ve played a Leisure Suit Larry game before you’ll know that his adventures are typically a bit more seedy than romantic, but it’s what has made them so unique to begin with. The game is also a bit more self-aware this time too and a little bit less sexist, and it actually makes for a pretty enjoyable point-and-click experience.

Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry’s tale sees series protagonist and all-round lousy guy Larry Laffer ending up in the year 2018 after being kept in a strange laboratory since his early adventures. Of course, Larry is from the 80s, so his ideals and mannerisms aren’t quite up to snuff – it’s something that’s made apparent in some of his early (and sleazy) attempts at pulling some women.

That’s right: one thing hasn’t changed and that’s Larry’s desire to… uh-hum… ‘get laid’, and that’s what makes up the majority of the tale. Of course, it’s modern times, so that means you’ll be using ‘Timber’ (the game’s take on the online dating app Tinder) to interact with a myriad of women and men whilst adapting to modern culture. Sounds like Larry’s toughest endeavour yet, right?

A point-and-click adventure is nothing without entertaining characters and writing, and thankfully Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry delivers. Now don’t go expecting some overly clever script that’s full to the brim with wit – that just isn’t how the Leisure Suit Larry series works. Instead, it’s childish, outlandish, and even crude, but it’s incredibly self-aware of it and almost mocks itself because of it at times. This is a game full of strange stereotypes and clichés, but they all fit in perfectly within the world. It’s the interactions that these stereotypical characters share with Larry that make them most entertaining though, with the clash of style and cultures making for some interesting and genuinely humorous scenarios.

Of course, there are some naff jokes thrown in the mix too. The parodies of social media apps made me wince for example (I mean ‘Instacrap’? Come on…) whilst some jokes just fell flat and weren’t funny. There’s certainly more bad than good, but it’s almost like the game is too self-aware at times and tries to use that as a means of humour – it just doesn’t always work.

Despite the game being a lot more self-aware than in previous entries, it doesn’t play away from its sexist and depraved roots too much. That’s not a bad thing though, since it’s what the series was known for in the first place. What it does do though is show that it’s not trying to be titillating or controversial for the sake of it and accepts that how Larry acts and has acted previously isn’t the correct way to be. In fact, there’s even a moment in the game where Larry is made aware of this in a throwback to his golden years, so it shows that being a sleazebag isn’t the ‘goal’ of the game. It’s good stuff and a nice way to approach it without taking away from what made the series so unique to begin with.

Gameplay-wise, Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry offers exactly what you’d expect from a point-and-click adventure – a myriad of locations to explore, items to find, people to talk to, and puzzles to solve. It doesn’t change much up there and anyone who has played one of the classic Leisure Suit Larry games or just about any other point-and-click adventure will feel right at home.

Of course, it’s all well and good offering the same formula, but if the puzzles aren’t good then the game just wouldn’t be fun. Thankfully, Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry offers more good than bad, with the majority of the puzzles being clever in design and reasonable to solve. Sure, some of them would demand a bit of thought, but that satisfying ‘eureka’ moment where everything clicked is typically present.

However, there were some puzzles where the solution was just a little baffling in the end. As is the case with most point-and-click adventures I play, I had to resort to using every item I held with every object in the environment as a means to progress, and some of the solutions just felt a bit off and like an absolute stretch. It’s something that’s been present in all kind of point-and-click adventures, sure, but it just broke the pace of the game a bit to see that a solution was so obscure that I’d have never solved it through sheer thought alone. As mentioned though, there’s certainly more good than bad, so the sketchy puzzles shouldn’t hinder your enjoyment too much.

Point-and-click adventures can typically be easier to play with a mouse, but fortunately Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry feels good to control on both the Switch’s docked and handheld modes. Larry can move around freely with the directional stick whilst his actions are performed simply with button presses – there are a few menus to work through too, but it’s all easy enough. If you’re playing handheld you can even use the touchscreen to interact with the world, which in many cases is a lot more intuitive than actually using a mouse. Between both options it’ll be easy to find something that works best for you, though my personal recommendation would be to play on the handheld mode (if only so you don’t have to explain to anyone in the room about the sexual content on screen).

It also just so happens to look great on the Switch’s handheld mode too, with the visuals full of colour and very creative in design. The characters all look great, even if Larry has changed up his look yet again – at least the original voice actor is back on board to ensure he sounds just like you remember, though. Some of the other voice actors don’t give as strong a performance, but Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry’s overall visual and audio presentation is pretty good.

Developer: GameBunch
Publisher: Assemble Entertainment
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PC