Fall Into Love Too Easily
The Korean FMV about a mysterious forgotten kiss has created an incredibly memorable and romantic video game.
Love Too Easily follows the story of Yeonwoo as she fights a monstrous hangover, and attempts to remember who gave her a life-changing kiss the night before. The player's decisions change and chart the course of her life, through a series of incredibly fun mini-games and FMV elements. We got to sit down and chat over email with John Lee, the CFO of Monster Guide Inc. who created the game. We also got to chat with our very own Chris Etrata who helped fund the Kickstarter and bring a part of it to life.
FMV World: How did you all come up with the idea of the game? Were there any major inspirations?John Lee: We found out that lots of Korean movies and dramas like Parasite and Squid Game are getting popular even in Western countries. And besides, we also found out that interactive games have a high CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), even though the market size is still a bit small. Nevertheless, there's no popular Korean interactive game yet, so we came up with the idea which is 'Let's make an interactive game based on Korean movies or dramas!' That's why we came up with this Love Too Easily game.
Do you play FMV games often?
John: We, all of Monster Guide Team, have played almost every FMV game on Steam to get some ideas from it!
This is the first game from Monster Guide Inc. How was it making the game? Was it exciting to see it come to life?
John Lee: Yes, we are all novices to the interactive game field. It was very hard to make a film to begin with, because it was like making a 5-hour movie by ourselves. But when we launched the free demo game, we were like 'OMG, this is exactly what we expected to be.'
You received a lot of support on Kickstarter. What was it like running a Kickstarter campaign?John: Yes, we thank the backers from Kickstarter. We really appreciate their support! Basically, we made the PR video ourselves. It was our first crowdfunding, but it was fun.
Tell us a little about the game. What can players expect?
John: Love Too Easily is basically an interactive romantic comedy movie game. The players could easily enjoy the game like a movie, but as you know, there's lots of QTEs (Quick Time Events) and mini-games. I think this is like a half-and-half pizza, a movie and a game, like Hawaiian and Pepperoni pizza.
What made you decide to include QTEs and mini-games? Can you tell us a little about them?
John: When we made our first prototype game, it was a mobile game actually. We invited some friends and volunteers to test the game, and found out that players get somewhat bored when they have to keep choosing the choices. So, we came up with the idea of making the players excited when playing, all the time, so we inserted lots of mini-games and QTEs every 5 or 10 minutes.
The game says that the plot is entirely in the hands of the player. How was writing the different pathways and creating these branching plots?
John: We worked with very talented Korean directors, writers and movie staff. We made the branching plot thanks to their help.
Can you tell us a little about filming?
John: It was like making a 5-hour movie, a huge job. We had to find a good director, actors, actresses, sound director, and many other staff members. It was just like making a Korean drama or movie.
The sets and locations look gorgeous. Where was it filmed?
John: Thank you so much! It was all in Seoul, especially around Seoul Forest. Come visit Seoul!Can you tell us about how casting went?
John: We auditioned lots of actors and actresses. When we saw the actress, Dayu Jeong, starred in Love Too Easily, we all had an intuition that she was the heroine.
What is one thing you're most excited for people to experience in the game? No spoilers of course!
John: There's a hidden ending, if you want to experience the hidden ending, you have to play the game at least 2 times! No spoilers.
Are you all going to be making more games in future and if yes, can you share any of these?
John: Luckily, after we launched the demo game, we had a chance to meet with some big Korean game and entertainment companies. We are discussing the co-work to convert famous Korean movies or dramas into interactive games.
Thank you so much for the interview!
Afterwards we linked up with our own Chris Etrata to discuss their part in the game.
How did you get involved in the project?
Chris Etrata: I frequent Kickstarter a lot and Love Too Easily from Monster Guide caught my eye as I am a huge fan of FMV games and choose your own adventure stories. I have also been finding myself getting more interested in Korean culture lately with K Pop hitting my playlist and Parasite being my favorite film of 2019! This seemed like a great project to back at the beginning, especially how they described the integration of mini-games into the story plus how you make your choices.
I initially backed this at around a $129 level to have your image be represented in a minigame. For about 2 weeks afterwards though, I considered the $1000 tier in which I not only become an executive producer but I also get to create an ending and the idea eventually became too appealing to pass on.
What was it like to be a producer on the game?
Chris: The $1000 tier allowed me to create an ending of my very own. I actually already had the ending sketched out on a word document before the campaign was even finished. Very shortly after the campaign ended, I sent my ending to Monster Guide. They made a couple of changes but the spirit and structure of my ending still remains! Other than that, I communicated with Monster Guide for updates about the development and when the game came out.
What was your favorite aspect of the game creation?
Chris: I actually wasn't involved in the development other than the ending but I did like the opportunity to make an impact on the game with my ending and the communication between myself and Monster Guide (they always responded promptly).
Anything else you'd like to share?
Chris: I won't say anything explicit about my ending but I will say my ending is meta in nature and when I sent in my document, I also described how it came to be along with how to unlock it. I'm not sure if they used my exact method but, in my document, I did describe that the method used to unlock it would make this hard to access. I truly am grateful to Monster Guide for allowing me to have an impact on their game.
Do you think you can help Yeonwoo make the right choice for her and find true love? Only one way to find out. Check out Love Too Easily now available on Steam!!
