A downloadable Visual Novel for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
SOME CONTEXT
Labor of love was the last May Wolf game I read on my marathon. I must admit I was completely unfamiliar with the two authors and their works, other than knowing that they participated in the jam. Leaving all the longest May Wolves for the end and then reading them in a row lead to some fatigue, but I kinda had the gut feeling that we were leaving the best for last. I wasn't far off the truth, since Labor of Love ended up being one of my fav entries. Despite it being the longest, I managed to finish it in two sessions and it was a pretty smooth read.
WHAT I LIKED
The writing quality was apparent from the very beginning until the story ended. I was very quickly reassured that I am in good hands and that this writer knows what they're doing. Considering this is a medium full of amateurs and inexperienced writers, it was a refreshing change of pace reading the work of someone who has such a fine control over their own script and a grip on so many writing and storytelling skills.
The writer showed off their skill of plotting out the story, the knowledge of how to slow down or up the pacing as needed, how to handle characters, narration,dialogue and line level writing, picking very well fitting words.
I'm not the most attentive when it comes to grammar and typos when reading casually, but I can confirm there weren't too many, and the group I read with only got distracted by a few.
The vibes were strong and made me immersed. The main menu picture and the dreaded office Xavier works in was perfect for setting the mood, and the background photos picked for their rainy apartment were great at conveying the cozy upper-middle class cage the protagonist found himself in. The way both his inner world and the exterior are described was done well and worked together with the visuals to immerse me completely.
The art being remade by Petrichor is a strange choice, but one I appreciate. Aging up the wolf to better reflect his age was a good choice, and giving him more poses and fun outfits was just going the extra mile to serve the story better. The little details, like him having that scruffy little mustache are worthy of five stars alone in my book. I really liked Sam's and Rossi's sprites and the heavy stylisation Petri used for them. I especially like how cunty Rossi looks.My only nitpick would be that his hand looks a bit odd holding that cigarette, I couldn't help but stare at that any time he was on screen.
I really liked the characterisation, especially of Xavier. There were a lot of little details and remarks that made it clear that the narrator is Xavier, who has his own beliefs, quirks and little neuroses. Despite him never being visible, he had a strong presence and I had a pretty clear picture of who he is and what he's like.
The metanarrative was fun. We had two stories running parallel to each other, and they overlapped and interacted a bit, affecting each other. The noir novel narrative was just enough, I think it could have easily overstayed its welcome and sucked all the oxygen out of the room from the actual story.
The main relationship was strong and had some really cute little details. The nicknames, the phone chat, the comfortable habits the couple has, the little mannerisms and them knowing how to read each other... it was all strong and endearing. I guess that's why watching it all being tested was so engaging.
The suspense of the conflict lead to this being the finest furry VN divorce simulator. It may sound silly, but watching the slow disaster unfold was so fun and engaging and left everyone I reading it with me in suspense. Despite the stakes being pretty low slicey lifey stuff, we were all eager to see what stupid shit Xavier do next to jeapordise his marriage. I liked how the writer was able to fine tune the tensions gently and use Xavier's and Benny's familiarity and history to do that. When something is wrong, both the characters know it, and the reader will feel the awkwardness of witnessing a fight between a couple, and it's dreadful.
Similarly, their history and strong connection makes the deescalation just as satisfying. The moment when the argument is swept under the rug and left for later at the restaurant felt tense, the little comfort found in coffee during the opera scene provided much needed relief, and then seeing it all take a turn for the worse during the break was frustrating in all the right ways. The author really had his finger on the pulse on the levels of tension of this conflict and I'd say that's probably my favourite skill he demonstrated writing this game.
WHAT I DISLIKED
The climax and resolution were a bit messy. It's been a running theme with all the May Wolves to have an ending that feels rushed, weird or mishandled, but I think Labor of love does manage do make a relatively graceful landing. The big argument after the opera felt a little underwhelming though. After such an engaging and suspenseful buildup, I feel like it deflated very quickly and got resolved in a way that didn't sit quite right with me.
This can be how arguments go, but to me it came off as Benny deescalated the situation and accepted most of the blame, and Xavier got away of it scot-free. It really felt to me like he apologised because he hurt Benny, and not because he actually realised what he did wrong and regretted it.
The fact that the narrative paints this as a "both sides were wrong" type of situation felt pretty unfair, since when the argument escalates the most, Xavier has a "alright, now it's gloves off" moment, and it felt like he stooped lower with his insults and was meaner and pettier. I wish it was just me, but the entire group of people I played with felt like there was a disconnect between how the argument actually went and how the narrative presented it to us. While I didn't mind it AS much, one friend (the person voicing Benny, ironically) was chanting DIVORCE DIVORCE DIVORCE by the end.
Being in Xavier's head was tiring, especially towards the end. By the scene at the restaurant, I couldn't stop noticing how many of his thoughts and remarks make him come off as utterly self absorbed. I didn't mind it, since I think it's a fine character flaw expressed through the narration. However, by the time the time the opera was ending, I started to question whether it was intentional. The way the narrative seemed to absolve Xavier of responsibility for what happened and the ending made me realise that maybe this wasn't intended as a flaw as much as I perceived it to be.
CONCLUSION
While I have a hard time choosing an absolute favourite entry since I like all the top contenders for that spot for different reasons, Labor of love is easily top 3. Any complaints I have about the climax are easily overshadowed by the consistent quality of the writing, storytelling and by just how pure fun it was for me.
