The demo of Sucker for Love: Crush Landing is the gentle reminder I needed that dating an eldritch god wouldn't be straightforward, actually

I love an obscure dating simulator, so you can safely assume the ritual performing, eldritch abomination courting experience of Sucker for Love is dear to me. I spent hours on end flirting with L'neta in the first game, and more time than I like to admit running through the house in an attempt to satisfy Rhok'zan in the second.

But while I was met with a lot of failed dates and had my soul consumed by horrors in more ways than one, there's something about the characters that keeps you coming back. Which also applies to the demo of the series' newest game: Sucker for Love: Crush Landing.

As is the way with each of these games, you're given a pretty hefty introduction to the protagonist and the setting. This time around, we take on the role of a host, accompanying a "date" home. However, as we go to return to the club after dropping them off, a meteorite crashes into our apartment building.

Rather than causing the entire place to burst into flames and destroy everything in our possession, it just sort of glows gently in the middle of the room. After a phone call with a friend, who conveniently knows a bunch of researchers from the local university to send your way, you get to start making the decisions that impact your dating journey.

The first option you're given is how to interact with the meteorite, which can be done by either touching it with your hand or with "something else". I'll save you the decision, you need to touch it with your hand to "unlock" the datable character, otherwise your courting will conclude early: using "something else" will result in your entire body being turned to ash.

I learned this the hard way.

Once you've sacrificed your hand though, you'll meet Hheily—a shapeshifting, somewhat human character who serves as this game's love interest, and is as charming as the other games' romantic interests, despite the fact she can't communicate with the protagonist as seamlessly and seems a bit confused as to what's going on.

After a brief introduction, Hheily quickly slinks back into her meteorite form while you wait for any sort of assistance to arrive (which takes 10 real-life minutes, marked by a timer at the top of the screen), and in the meantime you're tasked with keeping the glow of her meteorite alive. This means using the items around your apartment to fuel the fire, which sounds easy enough. There are plenty of items in your fridge, freezer, and on top of counters to use. But, another element of challenge is added through the fact you need to feed Hheily specific colours before you can really progress in the demo.

Luckily, you've got some conveniently coloured items around your house, like purple grapes, red gifts, a green plant, and some blue crawfish. But the second Hheily consumes what you give her, you won't be able to feed her any other items of that colour, significantly reducing the items you can use later down the line.

I was brazen enough to think I could just throw whatever I had in whatever order into the fire, especially since it's basically the beginning. I was quickly shown that this isn't the case, and you actually need to put a bit of thought into what you're doing.

As you frantically rush around the apartment deciding which items you're willing to part ways with, you're met with intermittent knocking at your front door too. After all, the entire city saw the meteorite crash into your specific apartment so it's no surprise people want to come and have a look. Some of these interactions can be helpful, such as a girl named Flora who offers to get you some coloured flowers to feed the flame, which is definitely an interaction worth savouring as it can help you gather any missing colours from your list. However, some of these interactions are also unsavoury, such as a man who tries to scam you. But, you've always got the option to slam the door in their face, which I particularly enjoyed.

Between answering the door and keeping the flame alive, Sucker for Love: Crush Landing already feels like a more hands-on addition to the series. I was impressed with A Date to Die For's implementation of an entire house to run around, rather than being limited to just the apartment of the first game. However, even though the demo has only shown in and around the apartment, the mechanics of the game itself are already more engaging, and offer a lot more to balance outside of the actual dating to keep you well and truly on your toes.

Just as you start to get into the groove of things and overcome the colossal task of tracking down at least one item of each colour, the demo wraps up. With no release date yet, who knows when we'll be able to continue our dating endeavours with Hheily. I guarantee by the time the game does release though, I will have discovered every negative ending the demo has to offer, given how I spent most of my time already.