Normally, I’m not one to play many dating sims. I think I can count the amount that I’ve played in my lifetime on one hand. Part of this is the sex scenes in quite a few of them (not really my thing :/ ) and part of it is the lack of real content/plot that most sims offer.

Therefore, I was quite blown away by this little gem of a dating sim that I found recently via Steam’s anime sale a weekend or so ago, entitled Analogue: A Hate Story.

The setting takes you to a far-future universe, in which you are an investigator hired by the Saeju Colony Historical Society with the purpose of downloading files from a recently-discovered, long-abandoned generation ship named the Mugunghwa . Once you arrive in communication distance to the ship, you are greeted by a long-sleeping AI known as *Hyun-ae, who wears the guise of a Korean schoolgirl and proceeds to walk you through the events that led you to the Mugunghwa ’s eventual downfall. Not too far into the game, you also meet another AI by the name of *Mute, and it is through her that the entirety of the shocking events of the ship’s downfall really comes into play.

This game is, at its core, not actually about your relationship between either of the AI (though that obviously comes into play throughout the game). Instead, its primary conflict is that of two warring societies – that of a more modern, “liberal” modern day society and that of an oppressive, patriarchal society that resembles the medieval Joseon Dynasty of Korea (dated between July 1392 to October 1897 AD). The conflict is orchestrated by the introduction of the cryogenically frozen Pale Bride/Hyun-ae into the “fallen” society of the Mugunghwa , which has reverted to a culture resembling the Joseon Dynasty. Once woken, she is prevented from identifying as a legitimate person, and instead is regulated to that of a sub-class of human whose entire purpose is for reproduction and servitude.

While unaware of the situations surrounding her existence, we, the investigator, find sub-conflicts within the regimented society, including the persecution of same-sex couplings, the shaming of mothers who lost still-born children, and the unfortunate reality of status-driven backstabbing in government. While one may be quick to condemn the actions of the people within the de-evolved society, the AI *Mute contextualizes a lot of these actions insofar as being a construct of the society itself. Though she is represented as a woman physically, her mentality was obviously programmed to be that of a high-ranking (masculine) identity. Her judgements of various women, including the Pale Bride/Hyun-ae, are that of an assimilated male into the society.

However, one can see that even while there are some rather… extreme, derogatory ideas in the current, backwards society of the Mugunghwa , there is enough of a stated “base set” of expectations about human rights, and what it means to debase and destroy another human, that eventually wins *Mute over to the Pale Bride’s plight in one of the endings. The saddest part of this fact, however, is that it took the act of the Kim family cutting out the Pale Bride’s tongue to silence her in order for *Mute, and by extension, that society, to realize that it had gone too far. The Mugunghwa  expects women to be silent and servile, but physically mutilating them is a step too far even for that society. It is because of this revelation that *Mute comes to understand and even want to save *Hyun-ae, despite Hyun-ae having snapped and killed the entire generational ship.

In this way, despite the horrors and activities carried on by the late-day culture of the Mugunghwa  (another example being the willing incest taken on by the leader and his lead wife), we are still shown that there is, at heart, a base fact in which women can be recognized as human beings. It is with that hope that the “true/best” ending plays out, showing both *Mute and *Hyun-ae returning with you – *Mute having recognized the underlying cost of a severely patriarchal society, and Hyun-ae realizing as well that she was in fact a victim, but moving beyond that to become a self-actualized being.

To take this entire situation further, I must point out two things: 1) the identity of the protagonist (you) can be either male or female, and 2) Both the AI are in fact, actual AI. I point this out because not only do the endings/choices provide freedom in terms of a relationship of your choosing (female/female, male/female, harem, etc) but also because the game itself recognizes a new form of sexuality beyond the binary – that of a posthuman relationship. While *Hyun-ae was in fact physically a female at one point (and still identifies as a female), *Mute may be physically female but holds the mental attitude of a male in her society. Both of them are physically lacking sexual features and identify as attracted to the protagonist despite whatever gender you choose to identify (though *Mute “doth protest too much” in typical Tsundere style).

This brings the nature of all the relationships even further, and the fact that the narrator/player can accept and pursue these romantic liaisons with all of this in mind suggests that the society that is -current-, that is, the one that sent the player to the Mugunghwa , is beyond any sexual binary or judgement of romantic entanglements. In this scope, though the events of the Mugunghwa  may have been very anti-female, the situations and feelings experienced by the player with the AI are very positive and seen as genuine. Though on the surface this may seem to have been a game with the purpose of degrading women, in the end, it shows that there is hope for any gender construct to have rights and love in whatever way of their choosing – a very gender-friendly theory.

In conclusion: If you don’t like “typical” dating sims, I’d definitely give this one a go.  The sequel, Hate Plus, is one I’m looking forward to delving into, as it gives context for the events that led to the Mugunghwa ’s downfall/de-evolution into the patriarchal society that both *Hyun-ae and *Mute lived in.