Christine Love’s sci-fi visual novel Analogue: A Hate Story was a hallmark of great video game writing and storytelling, and now it’s getting a sequel in the form of Hate Plus, which releases on August 19th.
Released in 2012 for PC and Mac, Analogue put you in the shoes (or boots, or whatever astronauts wear) of an investigator sent into the far reaches of space, to a derelict Mugunghwa spaceship where your goal is to hack into the console and discover – with the assistance of charming AI – what happened to the families who once populated the ship. This is achieved through reading dozens of crew logs and conversing with the two AIs who know the answers you’re looking for. You discover that the ship’s occupants had all died after a horribly oppressive patriarchal philosophy takes root. It’s at once fascinating and disgusting.
Hate Plus takes place directly after the events of the first game, when you’re on your way back to Earth. With the help of the AI you met in Analogue, you’re now combing through log after log uncovering the sordid series of events leading up to the widespread implementation of that regressive, gender-based system of oppression.
The ability to import saved games from Analogue to resume your specific story is available in Hate Plus, but people new to the series don’t necessarily have to play the first game, either. As explained on the official website:
A sequel to Analogue: A Hate Story that tells a whole new hate story of its own.Analogue players can pick up where their finished save files left off, and new players can start fresh in Hate Plus.
Hate Plus will be arriving August 19th with a free demo for those new to the series or to visual novel games in general, but will also be available directly for $10. Here’s the strangely sunny trailer, check it out and let us know what you think.