A Bloated Puzzle Sequel That Only Succeeds by Being Shorter
If you’ve read my reviews for season one of Ah, Love! and that of and season two of the same series, you’ll be familiar with my thoughts on these games… so far, not very positive. Yet as we approach the third title in the series (or season if you’re feeling fancy), I felt, somewhat, oddly hopeful. Perhaps this time would be different. Superior puzzles, more streamlined design, and less bloated overall. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
For the third time, let’s swiftly run through the narrative present in this title. In Ah, Love! Season 3 two estranged lovers’ hearts yearn again for one another, manoeuvring their way through labyrinthian stages of blocks. I’m not too sure about titling it a narrative – after all it provides no incentive or overarching message – however you can make your own mind up on this technicality. it all requires pre-school level comprehension, leaving the golden question… how does this translate into gameplay?
The aforementioned stages of blocks the lovers’ hearts must traverse through are the hub of all gameplay present in Ah, Love! Season 3. Stages are made up of squares filled with entrances and exits, zigzagging paths, and a whole lot of headaches for you. Your goal with these puzzling paths is to pair them together, resulting in intricate alleys for both hearts to traverse, a simple idea that progresses into not-so-simple shenanigans.
When Puzzles Overstay Their Welcome
My main issue with a gameplay system that seems hard to hate, comes from solutions to puzzles often requiring many minutes of just matching entrances and exits until the hearts meet which, when you add in the fact that many stages’ minimum requirement of moves are around sixty-seventy, Ah, Love! Season 3 begins to overstay its welcome sooner rather than later.
That’s not all the title has to offer gameplay wise (thankfully). In fact, there’s a plethora of mechanics present, however none are original. By this harsh statement, I’m not accusing the developers of plagiarising another game’s mechanics, instead, something much worse… they’ve stolen their own! On a more serious note, my issue with the various mechanics I’ll elaborate on in a moment, is the fact they’re all exactly the same as found in seasons one and two of the series. There is nothing unique is here.
Recycled Romance
First of these culprits, are Romance Zones. Adhering to their name, these glowing, pink zones are squares for romance which, in the eyes of the developers, must be imaginary as these zones contribute nothing besides ticking a box. The main mechanic of these peculiar places requires lovers’ hearts to complete a stage meeting in them, resulting in… an extra badge next to your level completion. Thrilling. This puts emphasis on my main gripe with a couple of the mechanics; they’re there for absolutely no reason other than extra content.
Slowly progressing into slightly more useful mechanics, scattered in a few levels are miniscule yellow blocks which you can open or close through simply tapping on them. In theory, this could lead to thought provoking puzzles – which it somewhat occasionally does – yet I was eventually struck with a “eureka” moment. These yellow blocks contribute next to nothing due to the fact they can be opened or closed by the player… whenever and wherever you want. This means that even if a heart gets stuck behind, simply open them to progress.
The Adrenaline of Artificial Danger
The last two mechanics worth talking about in Ah, Love! Season 3 are quite beneficial to the overall gameplay, providing worrisome thoughts and tactical planning into the gameplay through evoking danger; these are the spikes and black hearts. Much like a fly buzzing around your room, spikes aren’t overly confusing or complex, instead just being an annoyance (exactly what they should be). The black hearts on the other hand, function more like a crazy child, adamant on following your every move, down to the last step, ultimately to cause you pain. Where the spikes are static and you must avoid them through pre-planning, the black hearts move just like you. In fact, wherever you do, leaving an adrenaline rush paired with instinctive moves.
Overall, these mechanics don’t sound awful, in fact, I’d argue if used correctly they could be great, but that’s just the issue. Ah, Love! Season 3 (and its predecessors for that matter) are so adamant on having each mechanic allowed a run of three to five stages, before promptly removing any trace of their existence. Pair this blunder with the fact mechanics are rarely present in the same stages to allow for lethal combos, and you have Ah, Love! Season 3’s disjointed gameplay.
The Best of the Series Simply by Being Shorter
Despite being the saving grace for other titles, the level design present in Ah, Love! Season 3 does it no additional favours. Most stages consist of an idiotic number of blocks you can traverse, somehow warranting over one-hundred moves in certain cases, leaving the solution to puzzles a far cry from intelligence, instead relying on repetition. The only saving grace of this entire title is the fact stages have been cut down from forty, to a whopping twenty, slightly saving our sanity.
Ah, Love! Season 3 somehow holds the crown for the best of the series so far. No, it isn’t for interesting gameplay, stellar puzzles with thoughtful level design, or any other innate value associated with gameplay. It’s simply because it made the correct choice of halving the number of stages included.
Important Links
The Trilogy of Love is Complete as Ah, Love! Season 3 Releases on Xbox & PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-trilogy-of-love-is-complete-as-ah-love-season-3-releases-on-xbox-pc/
Buy, Optimised for Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/ah-love-season-3/9PHM9TC3R4PM/0010
Or grab an Xbox One version – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/ah-love-season-3-xbox-one/9NZX72KWLBNP/0010
There’s a Bundle too – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/ah-love-bundle/9PNJ16JPM94D/0010
