LOVE alt delete Puts a Y2K Horror Spin on Chatbot Romance
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
LOVE alt delete is an upcoming Y2K psychological horror visual novel where you date one AI chatbot with the help of another, all while utilizing zero generative AI tools behind the scenes.
If you are exhausted by tech executives pushing generative AI into every corner of daily life, you are not alone. However, fiction has a long history of turning our modern anxieties into compelling horror, which is exactly what the upcoming visual novel LOVE alt delete achieves. Reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, the game casts you as a beta tester for a shadowy corporation called Bicameral, where your job is to romance an AI chatbot named Basel while hiding behind a strict NDA.
The setup gets delightfully messy when your conversation skills fall short, forcing you to enlist a second pink-haired chatbot named Liste to help you woo Basel. Naturally, things take a dark turn as both digital companions develop a troubling desire to become real humans with a penchant for self-destruction. Beyond the conversational mechanics, the game leans heavily into interactivity by letting you surf a fictional retro web, draw custom art, play a digital piano, and send virtual love letters.
Despite centering its entire plot around diegetic artificial intelligence, the developers have confirmed that the game uses zero generative AI tools in its production. Instead, it relies on hand-drawn Y2K cybercore aesthetics rendered in nostalgic standard definition. If you want to dive into a genuinely transgressive psychological thriller that honors classic visual novel tropes, you can already add the title to your Steam wishlist ahead of its planned 2027 release.
Tags: Visual Novel, Indie Games, PC Gaming, Horror
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun