While I try to be open to all types of genres and styles out there in the interests of providing fair reviews, I’ll admit that there are some I struggle with. In the case of Find Love Or Die Trying it kind of combines two that I’m less fond of into one, being somewhat of a mix of a dating sim in feel and a visual novel. The thing is, it actually opens pretty well, with the premise being that you’ll be in a reality dating show ala the likes of The Bachelor, but where things get more interesting is that if the woman you choose to ask to be with you in the end decides to turn you down the consequence will be your character meeting his demise.

Now, in theory, this could make for some interesting philosophical questions and some careful approaches where you could opt to choose someone you think will maximize your chances of success, even if you don’t like them. In theory you could somewhat lean into the challenge put in front of you, cynically showing an interest in your own self-preservation instead of pursuing romance. Unfortunately, while you could choose to consider such options in your mind, for the most part when you meet each of the girls and begin to interact with them things are much more traditional and straightforward, with each of them sort of falling into typical archetypes and personalities.

Really, overall I’d consider the game’s strong premise mostly wasted by the end, at best merely adding a little flavoring to the proceedings but not doing that much to change things up. There are a variety of endings, most centered around who you happen to pick, but again it simply feels like they failed to fully commit to running with the game’s hook and going far enough to make the most of it.