There are some rare experiments in gaming that could only come about with the right
timing, right people, and right alignment of the stars. L. O. L. is one example of this
sentiment. NO, not that LOL...NOOO, not that LOL either...NOOOO, definitely not that LOL...ah
yes, that's the one. Sorry, I had to get that out of the way...THIS L. O. L., which stands
for "Lack Of Love," is one of the more obscure and unique releases of the Sega Dreamcast's
tragically short life. And that's saying a lot, since the Dreamcast was the home to so
many games that pushed the boundaries of creativity for console gaming...games like Jet Set Radio,
Phantasy Star Online, Shenmue, Space Channel 5, Seaman, to name just a few.
Anyway, Lack of Love is the brainchild of game designer Kenichi Nishi and world-renowned
musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, both of whom met almost completely by chance. The
two quickly struck up a friendship, and eventually the topic of the Gaia Hypothesis came up in
their many conversations. I'm no scientist, nor am I a pseudo scientist, but to my understanding,
Gaia Hypothesis maintains that living creatures and the planet work in tandem to regulate
the conditions for life on earth, particularly through the process of symbiosis and co-evolution.
Sakamoto proposed making a game based on this idea, and so began work on Lack of Love. Published
in 2000 by Ascii and released only in Japan, Nishi directed the game and his Love-de-lic
studio handled game development, whereas Sakamoto provided music and pitched ideas for the project.
The final product is a brilliant game that is hard to define or categorize...the back
of the box labels it as "role-playing," but that's very misleading...it's more like an
evolutionary adventure-slash-puzzle game. The entire design of L. O. L. is minimalist
and somewhat cryptic, in regards to both its presentation and gameplay. The instruction
manual sets up the story, describing the Lack Of Love Project, a plan created by human beings
to search for other planets in order to migrate to and populate. The opening cinematic introduces
us to HALUMI, one of the robots sent out into space to accomplish this mission, who has
just found a suitable planet and prepares to land to fulfill his duties.
At first, it seems like HALUMI and his mission will be the main focus of the game, and we
as the player are glad that the friendly-looking robot has had a successful journey. But our
attitude quickly changes when the darker implications of this mission become apparent, as hundreds
of robotic machines emerge from HALUMI's ship in order to acclimate the environment to accept
a human population.
After the introduction, our protagonist, an odd creature native to the alien planet, is
born and the game begins. Lack Of Love throws the player out into the game with no real
direction. Only the analog stick and four face buttons are used. Movement is obviously
handled with the analog stick and pressing A causes the player to either attack, eat,
or bark. The X button executes an audible greeting, the B button makes the character
fall asleep, and the Y button is used to pee. Digital urine on your Dreamcast.
The instruction manual states the goal of the game is just to continue living, and for
the most part, that is exactly what you do throughout the entirety of L. O. L. Your character
has life points, as indicated by the green sphere at the top left corner of the screen,
as well as a hunger meter, represented by moving rings around the life meter. Life points
regenerate over time as long as the hunger meter is not depleted. Go hungry, and you
slowly lose life points until you die. To prevent your hunger meter from draining, and
in turn maintain your life points, you must seek out and eat food in the forms of vegetation,
and in most cases, other animals.
But all that is just small potatoes compared to what the bulk of the gameplay revolves
around, which is evolution...or more scientifically speaking, metamorphosis. But again, I'm no
scientist...and on that note, neither were the creators of Pokemon. ANYWAY, in order
to survive and ultimately progress through the game, you must evolve into increasingly
more powerful and larger creatures that can adapt to the environment. This is achieved
by befriending or forming a bond with other species of animals, often by showing your
LACK of lack of love. Doing this nets the player "cosmo balls," which are little energy
orbs required for metamorphosis. Find some special crystals in the wilderness and if
you have enough cosmo balls, you're encased in an egg and become the next step in the
evolutionary chain.
This sounds pretty basic and easy, but it can be quite challenging due to the minimalistic
approach to the game design. Lack Of Love doesn't hold the player's hand and instead
forces you to pay attention to subtle audiovisual clues pertaining to the different creatures
and your surroundings. Sometimes this process can be pretty easy and apparent, such as defending
a creature being attacked by other animals, or reuniting lost members of the same species.
But for the most part, it's not so clear on how to befriend these creatures. One example
of this is when you encounter a certain organism with large ears. If you encounter it at night,
you will notice small and noisy bugs gather near its ears, preventing it from sleeping
properly. If you pee somewhere nearby, the bugs will presumably be attracted to that
scent, and leave the creature alone. The animal will show its gratitude for your help by giving
you a cosmo ball.
One more option you have in finding a solution to these puzzles lie in the names of the animals,
which are often times hints on how to befriend or make contact with them. One of the first
animals you'll encounter is a small green creature caught in the rain. If you check
your menu, you'll see it is called an "Amegirai." “Ame,” in Japanese, means “rain,”
and “kirai” means “dislike,” so you can put together that these little guys dislike
the rain. Attack one of the nearby umbrella-shaped plants and it will provide cover, and the
amegirai creatures will huddle under it, rewarding you with a cosmo ball.
A majority of the game revolves around the player wandering the landscape, meeting new
lifeforms and evolving, but there are a few interesting set pieces that change things
up a bit. At one point, you are captured by scorpion/ant like creatures and need to escape
from their nest. Some of the sights in this section can be pretty terrifying, and really
makes you feel as though you are in danger, driving your desire to escape.
At another point late in the game, you are captured by HALUMI and put through a series
of tests to measure your intelligence. Prove yourself and pass these tests and you become
a welcomed guest aboard the ship, separated from those animals who did not fare as well.
Alternately, if you fail any one of these tests, the consequence leads to a truly horrific
scene that will keep you on the edge of your seat, anxiously awaiting its conclusion.
There are other games that come to mind that are very minimalist and evoke strong emotions
from the player, such as Shadow of the Colossus and the downloadable title Journey. However,
Lack Of Love accomplishes the rare feat in gaming of fulfilling this without the use
of dialogue or human characters whatsoever. When I passed the tests and received preferential
treatment from HALUMI, I genuinely felt guilty about the situation. This was heightened even
further because I had previously witnessed the fate of other creatures that were unable
to attain the same elite status when I failed one of the tests. Experiencing these things
firsthand as the player character, whom I spent hours with traversing and surviving
a hostile landscape, made these moments much more powerful emotionally than if I had been
controlling a human character witnessing everything from a distance.
While playing the game, I thought about environmental concerns, animal cruelty, animal testing and
captivity, the gap between the elite and the masses,...and the titular lack of love that
we as human beings have when it comes to such issues as well as the feeling of loneliness
and isolation that a lack of love brings. And for all the weight of the game's message,
not once did I roll my eyes nor feel I was being overly proselytized to.
*ahem* FINAL FANTASY VII *ahem* The greatest strength of L. O. L. is that
it effectively communicates its message while being engaging and enjoyable, and I would
go so far as to call this a fine example of an activist game.
Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the musical and art direction of Lack Of Love.
Ryuichi Sakamoto composed all the spectacular music for the game, but use of his soundtrack
is actually quite sparse. A majority of the game's audio consists of ambient noises and
sounds from the player character and other creatures. When one of the game's musical
pieces does kick in however, it is used to great effect, and enhances the mood of the
scene perfectly. Visually, the look of the creatures and environments are fantastic,
odd, distinctly alien, yet familiar at the same time, somewhat similar to the designs
found in the movie Avatar.
Lack Of Love is one of the best titles I've played for the Dreamcast, and is absolutely
worth playing at least once. When it was first released, its style, design, and message was
one-of-a-kind, and still holds up very well today. Copies are a bit pricey at the time
of this video, with used copies going for over sixty dollars. I happened to be extremely
lucky and found the game new for five dollars due to a local game store going out of business.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this video. Please rate and comment, and check out my channel
for other videos like this.