Thirsty Suitors finds growth and reconciliation through RPG battles

destructoid.com:

The demo for Thirsty Suitors starts off strong. Sitting on a long bus ride, there isn’t much to do but think about life, love, and who your Thirstsona is. And from there, it’s a long night of dealing with your past, your inner perception, and battling your ex in an RPG duel.

I got to play a slice of Outerloop Games’ Thirsty Suitors as part of the Tribeca Games spotlight this year, and it was hard to slot into a genre. It doesn’t neatly fit one, and I don’t think it needs to either. Its blend of adventure, RPG, and even skateboarding simply clicks together, in a fun and very relatable experience.

The protagonist, Jala, is on her way home after a particularly rough break-up. But home doesn’t always mean sanctuary, especially if you left it in a bad spot. That’s the impression I got early, as Jala’s internal narrator chides her and pokes at all her insecurities.

There is walking around in town, answering some dialogue questions to determine my Thirstsona (including some rather incisive inquiries), and yes, skateboarding. The focus of my demo was an encounter with one of Jala’s exes, though; the rather muscular Sergio.

Sergio is the boy back home who crushed on Jala and never un-crushed. He’s been harboring feelings since grade school, and now that Jala is back on the market, he’s shooting his shot. And in beautiful RPG fashion, that shot comes in the form of a turn-based battle, command menus and all.

Attacks went back and forth, with quick-time rhythm moments popping up to time out perfect hits or guards, similar to the Mario RPGs. I loved the 1-2-3-4-hit tap-in the devs added, making it very easy to pick up the rhythm for each hit.

As the fight goes on, Jala and Sergio argue about life and their past relationship. It