It’s a Whole New World!
Depending on who you ask, Yandere Simulator is either an awesome game concept with an understandably-long development cycle, or a patreon-funded content machine that’s kept people hooked for a suspiciously long wait. But regardless of how you feel, everyone can agree that the game’s taken a bit too long to come out of the oven. This opinion was shared an expressed by YandereDev, the game’s creator, in a video that served as a teaser for what was to come.
Entitled “Preparing You For Tomorrow’s Announcement“, YandereDev’s video briefly summarized the difficulties faced by Yandere Simulator’s development over the past few years, before a sudden realization and a fade to black hints that a solution may have been found. If the problem was a never-ending demand for new AI patterns, assets, unique mechanics, etc… naturally, a workaround would be to change the scope of the game – building something that didn’t require all the shiny new features a full game would demand. The newly-added “1980s mode” seeks to be that experience.
In the new 1980s Mode, you play as the mother of the main game’s protagonist, and discover that a 40-year time gap doesn’t really mean much in the face of anime “romance” tropes. You’re faced with a full suite of rivals for you to work through, and can finally play through something resembling a fully developed game.
The mode’s retro aesthetic is on-point, and provides a stark contrast to Yandere Simulator’s primary experience. It still has a few carry-over assets from the main game, some of which are hilariously modern for a supposedly-80s style, but given the mode’s intent as a quick lore-friendly showcase of what Yandere Simulator is capable of, it’s understandable that a few things were rushed out the door.