LOVELY×CATION 2 Made Players Unlock Adult CGs Through Gameplay
A discussion about AI’s impact on Japan’s gaming industry recently brought an unexpected blast from the past: an interesting detail about an old adult visual novel!
Long before AI started changing the way games are made, eroge developers were already dealing with issues surrounding content distribution and how players experienced their games.
One interesting example is LOVELY×CATION 2, an adult visual novel developed by hibiki works and released in 2013.
LOVELY×CATION 2 Required Players to Play the Game to Unlock Certain Adult CGs
Unlike a traditional visual novel focused mainly on reading and making choices, this game also features relationship simulation mechanics.
Players need to visit different locations, take part in activities, improve their stats, and obtain items that influence their relationships with the characters.
And those choices have consequences! Certain stats and items are required to unlock additional scenes and adult CGs.
A review published in 2013 already pointed out that collecting every image could be quite challenging, since some of them required players to meet specific conditions during gameplay.
But Why Make These Scenes So Difficult to Unlock?
That’s where a discussion on X comes in.
One of the people who joined the discussion said they had worked in the eroge industry around 15 years ago. They looked back on all the work that went into these productions, from illustrators and scenario writers to background artists, voice actors, and directors.
However, after all that effort, some people would simply share complete save files or extract CGs directly from the game’s files.
They explained that, in response to this situation, they started making games where players actually had to play through them to understand certain situations and get the full experience.
They also pointed out that this was already a concern around 15 years ago, long before AI became widespread.
Another industry professional, an illustrator who also worked in game development, said they were shocked to discover that the number of copies sold didn’t match the number of save files circulating online. To them, this revealed just how widespread piracy had become.
It’s important to point out that they never confirmed LOVELY×CATION 2 was specifically developed as a response to piracy. Still, the game does feature mechanics that make certain rewards dependent on the player’s progress.
And that’s an interesting piece of eroge history: while we’re now discussing how AI could change game development, some Japanese developers were already trying to find ways to preserve the value of actually playing their games.