Leisure Suit Larry – Wet Dreams Dry Twice Review (PS4) – Hard To Swallow

Guess who’s back….back again..Larry’s back…oh god, really? The Finger Guns review of Leisure Suit Larry – Wet Dreams Dry Twice.

I was so ready to rip this damn game to shreds. I had never played a Leisure Suit Larry game before I was thrown this one to review and for good reason. I never had any interest whatsoever in subjecting myself to their particular brand of ‘humour’. I knew the point of them; misogynistic asshole creeps on women whilst making wanking jokes and gameplay is sidelined for all of the above. That’s not for me, and I can’t imagine ever being a player of video games with any kind of excitement that a new Leisure Suit Larry game is on the horizon and I thought that I knew exactly what I was getting into. I just wanted it to be over and done with before it even began.

How utterly foolish of me. Godammit, I’m just gonna say it. Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice is a good game. 

Look, we all know why the series has been so successful-ish in the past. What Wet Dreams Dry Twice does, rather cleverly, is hold up a mirror to what’s come before it and imaginatively realise that Larry is very much a product of a bygone era. A full blown Leisure Suit experience simply wouldn’t cut it in 2021, and the developers CrazyBunch have seemingly realised that for the series to grow up, Larry has to do exactly the same. 

The point-and-click nature of the series remains very much in place, and is all the better for it. Whilst it’s still a little odd for me to play through the genre with a controller, the controls have been mapped out particularly well for this new console release. Being able to see everything available to click on within each area is a bonus, and saves aimlessly gliding around each location looking for somewhere to investigate. Having the ability to search through everything you need in a location in a matter of minutes certainly keeps the pace of the game relatively smooth.

Wet Dreams Dry Twice is a direct sequel to 2018’s fairly lackluster – by all accounts – Wet Dreams Don’t Dry and finds Larry deeply in love with a woman named Faith who he believes he’s killed in an unfortunate apartment explosion, all the while stranded on an island and forced into a marriage with a woman he’s never met. Throughout the early stages of the game you’ll discover Larry is also learning more about the 21st century through his PiPhone’s AI assistant, facepalming whenever he makes a crude joke and educating him on gender and mental health.

Honestly, this was a shock. Our own Sean had mentioned that LSL had gone ‘woke’, and was worried that it was taking the piss out of those who bare the label. Frankly, the game embraces its ‘wokeness’, encouraging Larry to better himself, his treatment of women and gauge a better understanding of the new world that’s left him behind. I certainly was not prepared for this angle and it made the entire experience far easier to settle into.

Yes, there are still moments of Larry being Larry, but thankfully the ‘eyeroll’ of his AI assistant following each outburst – and her rather hilarious reaction to Larry discovering he has a camera on his phone and immediately using it to take dick pics – balances out the idiocy, as the character is exactly there to do. 

And that is only exaggerated by the fact that I had to use my brain to play WDDT. The puzzles are well designed (barring a single puzzle that I for the absolute life of me couldn’t work out and even after I had to look it up I still didn’t understand how I was ever meant to come to that conclusion on my own), and feel traditional for the genre. A neat Day of the Tentacle reference I noticed was welcome. 

There’s a fair amount of character in WDDT, with early NPC’s such as El-Ray – the father of your mysterious wife-to-be) making an impression and catching up players who may not have played the original at the very beginning of the game. Larry’s pursuit of his beloved Faith centres the game well and despite El-Ray’s rather dramatic objections to Larry’s concerns of the wedding (‘you either marry my daughter or I kill you’), he’s a good presence to have around as you’re finding your feet.

And the charm of the game – which I still can’t  believe I’m writing in a Leisure Suit Larry review – is backed up by the visuals, which are vibrant, full of colour and animated well. The hand-drawn 2D backgrounds are pretty, though you’ll absolutely notice the obvious genitalia hidden(?) in for good measure. Hey, they’re still getting there. 

Yeah, there’s still a way to go. I called Wet Dreams Dry Twice a ‘good’ game at the top of this review. And it is. But it’s not a great game. There’s not an awful lot here that I will consider memorable, barring the script’s valiant attempt to turn Larry into a better person (despite his flirting with every single woman he comes across despite being in love with a woman he fears dead?). The dialogue is acutely run-of-the-mill and I didn’t laugh throughout my playthrough of the game. Whenever Larry reverts to his old ways it’s more ‘oh, fucks sake’ than ‘hahaha old man being dirty is funny lol’. It just isn’t funny and despite LSL as a series teetering on the edge of developing a moral compass, that the game still falls into these traps makes the work feel superfluous.

What exactly is Leisure Suit Larry wanting to be?

As the world becomes even more progressive you’d imagine the franchise may just fall by the wayside. There’s plenty to like about WDDT, but I didn’t particularly love any of it. There’s a certain level of sophistication you’ll never find here and perhaps that’s a good thing? The game evidently knows its audience and the 9/10 rating on Steam this game proudly boasts is testament to that. 

It’s an enjoyable if by-the-numbers experience that I’ll never go back to and within a week I’ll probably forget I ever played it. For now, I’m impressed Leisure Suit Larry is taking some strides. I definitely didn’t hate it and there appears to be some life left in the old perv yet.

….yay?

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A decent enough sequel with plenty of work still to do, Wet Dreams Dry Twice sees Larry learning about the modern world and his place in it, whilst longing for the love of his life. To say I’m surprised I didn’t despise every second is an understatement, though there’s not quite enough under Larry’s bed sheets to warrant a return visit.

Leisure Suit Larry Wet Dreams Dry Twice is available now on PS4 (reviewed on PS5), Xbox, PC, Macintosh and Nintendo Switch.

Developer: CrazyBunch
Publisher: Assemble Entertainment

Disclaimer: In order to complete this preview, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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