In this review, Lilli discusses how Cibele is problematic and glorifies struggles women go through, stating - "Not recommended for those suffering any type of depression, body image issues or recent heartbreak. But hey if you want to walk a exhausting mile in a stereotypical teen girls life, feel free to take a spin with this game."
"Why read about someone’s first romantic experience when you can experience it yourself? This is one question raised from playing Cibele, a nonfiction video game about falling in love in a virtual world."
Polygon: Cibele is a deeply personal game. The Star Maid Games-developed title tells the tale of Nina, a young woman who meets, falls in love with, and eventually sleeps with someone she meets on the internet. But while creator Nina Freeman expects players to see parts of themselves in this experience, she's adamant about one thing: "Cibele is not about the player."
As a medium, games are only really now getting to grips with romance and relationships, but they’re still too goal-orientated.
Everything! Games can't get what's love about. Like Christian said to Satine: "Love is like oxygen! Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!"
And the sex scenes are just plane creepy.
But Maybe in the future we'll fall in love in games... Watch Her (2013, Spike Jonze)
Yeah, Scarlett Johannsen's voice is hot, but that's gonna end-up being a frustrating experience... personally, I'm saving myself for 'The Crushinator'.
That said, I think a few games have handled love-making reasonably well - The Witcher 2 opens with a nice (though rudely interrupted)'Morning Glory' scene, which sets the tone for Geralt and Triss' relationship... however, the rest of the series does tend towards the sexually ridiculous (RIP Sex Horse).
I also thought Wolfenstien: the New Order had some genuinely sexual healing, which did a decent job of showing the funnier side of the 'tang... as-opposed to 'Ride to Hell: Road to Retribution', with it's ridiculous fully-clothed 'sex' scenes.
Oddly-enough, games seem to be doing a better job of dealing with issues of sexuality than the act itself... Games like Gone Home, Life is Strange, the Last of Us, Fragments of Him and even the Witcher 3 have handled homosexuality in a respectful manner, but it's still kept at 'arms-length' in anything that isn't made by Bioware.
Many of these games are built by NEEEEERDS!!!!, whose own sexuality is probably creepier than anything we've seen in (Western) gaming... I expect things will mature with the industry, which seems to be less male-dominated than ever before, and the calibre of writers tuning their hands toward gaming has improved dramatically (excluding Kanye).
And for those who wanna see some 'realistic' videogame sex, check out the pornography made by Vsmnd, Secazz, Sfmsnip and LeeteRR... These guys are already in love with videogames.
I think Everybody's Gone to the Rapture perfectly encapsulates love in all its forms.
