Lucy Got Problems

Genre: Visual Novel

Players: 1

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Review:

Lucy Got Problems is a Visual Novel and “Ecchi” game released in 2018 on PC and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2023. In this game, players take the role of the titular Lucy, a succubus recalling to her dark priestess overlord the details of her mission, which sent her from the bowels of hell to an elven forest to… um… well, she wasn’t really paying attention to that part. Yeah, she went on a mission with no idea just what it was she was supposed to accomplish.

See, Lucy is an absolute airhead, easily distracted, and prone to daydreams, with said daydreams usually about all sorts of kinky fantasies involving everyone from the priestess, the elves, to even the drawing of an elf on her instructional pamphlet… that was apparently put there so she would actually pay attention to it. Perhaps fitting for a succubus, Lucy is extremely “thirsty”, so to speak.

Lucy Got Problems is an “Ecchi” game, after all, and as such there’s a lot of sexual topics in dialogue and narration within the text. However, while its art is extremely suggestive and characters are depicted as nude as possible without actually showing said private bits, the game doesn’t ever quite cross that line. Having said that, this is definitely not a game you’ll want youngsters to get their hands on, and the characters are frequently depicted in sexually-evocative ways, with the chests of well-endowed female characters (including Lucy herself) frequently bouncing around as they dart back and forth.

Often, when I review Ecchi games, I make it a point to note that I don’t hold it against the game that it is designed to titillate, I’m mainly concerned with answering the questions, “Is the actual game good?” and “does the sexy stuff detract from the game?”. For Lucy Got Problems, the answer to the latter question, at least, is clear – the sexy stuff is clearly intertwined not only with the personality of the game’s protagonist, but with the game’s theming as a whole.

So, back to the first question, then – is the game good?

Lucy Got Problems is a pretty straightforward Visual Novel, though at times it is pretty liberal in just how many options it gives players. However, this is because many options lead to a bad end for Lucy, either resulting in her dying (revealing that the one giving the report to the priestess is a fading ghost) or meeting some other terrible fate.

Thankfully, the game gives players multiple options to soften this potentially frustrating element – you have a difficulty setting you can change at the game’s outset, including elements like having timed choices or eliminating “dead end” choices entirely. Upon meeting such a dead end, you’re immediately given the option to go back and redo your last choice, saving you from having to replay the entire game again up to that point. As such, seeing all of these “dead ends” would actually be pretty amusing if it wasn’t for how often they repeated – Right from the start, I repeatedly saw Lucy pelted to death by warrior squirrels armed with enchanted acorns, something that was highly amusing the first time it happened, but extremely tiresome the third or fourth time.

Overall I found the silly to be at its best when it maintained its wonderfully silly tone, and it was a bit odd that around the halfway point, it apparently turns into take on the typical fantasy genre “chosen one” narrative. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s outright bad, just sorta’ odd and inexplicable.

I do have a few other complaints about this game. The “History” button to see prior lines of dialogue appears to be broken and unusable. At some points the game has you selecting things on-screen, and getting the highlighted bit to where you want can be extremely frustrating. And despite the game being long enough to be a full self-contained story, the ending is anticlimatic, revealing the entire game to be an “episode 1” of what I can only imagine is a larger intended series.

In terms of visuals, this game makes use of some pretty good anime-style artwork, though it could do with more animation (in other words, not just making the boobs bounce). These visuals are backed by a soundtrack that ranges from wacky to dramatic, and largely suffices for this game’s tone and story, but isn’t especially memorable.

Taking this all into consideration, as a Visual Novel, Lucy Got Problems has its charms, but there are certainly more well-written and funnier entries in the genre available on Nintendo Switch. As an Ecchi game… well, honestly it’s rare to find a game in this genre that’s even halfway decent, and to its credit I didn’t feel like my time with Lucy Got Problems was wasted, though the $8 asking price seems a little higher than I would have liked. Overall, if you’re looking for a mildly amusing story with a lot of perversion and silly characters, Lucy Got Problems may interest you.

tl;dr – Lucy Got Problems is a Visual Novel and Ecchi game about an airheaded succubus recounting the events of her mission, the purpose of which she spaced out on when the mission was being given to her. This silly perverted fantasy story isn’t going to compete with any of the great Visual Novel games on the platform, but it’s amusing enough to be entertaining for players who want their silly story with a strong helping of naughty fun.

Grade: C+

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