[b]At a Glance[/b]
[b]Recommendation:[/b] Recommended with Caveats
[b]Best For:[/b] Players looking for a polished superhero visual novel with meaningful choices, strong presentation, and romance routes featuring a yandere supervillain or a tsundere superhero.
[b]Not For:[/b] Players specifically seeking a gay-centered M/M visual novel, explicit sexual content, or romance written exclusively for a male protagonist.
[b]Playtime:[/b] Approximately 7 hours to complete all endings and achievements.
[b]MLM Tags:[/b] MLM, M4M, Visual Novel, Mixed-Orientation, Romance, Drama
💬 [b]Supportive Caveat[/b]
[i]Criminally Yours[/i] is a polished and genuinely enjoyable visual novel, but it occupies an unusual space as an M/M title. While you can play as a male protagonist and experience both romances as M/M, the protagonist can also be female or nonbinary, and the relationships are written to accommodate every option. As a result, the story feels intentionally inclusive rather than specifically centered on a gay male fantasy.
The game is also built around two familiar anime romance archetypes. Nik is a [i]yandere[/i], meaning his love becomes obsessive, possessive, and potentially dangerous, while Wes is a [i]tsundere[/i], someone who initially appears cold or abrasive before gradually revealing genuine affection. I had never played a yandere romance before and found it much more engaging than I expected, but players unfamiliar with those tropes should know what they are getting into.
Because of its playersexual design, players looking specifically for a gay-centered M/M visual novel should keep those expectations in mind.
🎮 [b]Gameplay & Genre[/b]
[i]Criminally Yours[/i] is a choice-driven superhero visual novel featuring two romance routes, four endings, and a healthy amount of replay value. My first playthrough of Nik's route took roughly five hours. Using the skip function, Wes's route took about another hour, and earning the remaining achievements required approximately one more hour with the help of the developer's official, slightly confusing walkthrough on their itch.io page.
Once you understand that route selection, ending choices, and one set of hidden story variables are tracked independently, the branching is actually well designed and encourages replay without becoming difficult to follow.
🔥 [b]M/M Content[/b]
If you choose a male protagonist, both romance routes become M/M relationships. However, the protagonist is fully customizable, including name, gender, and pronouns, allowing every romance to adapt accordingly. That flexibility also means the relationships are written as playersexual rather than specifically gay.
This is most noticeable with Wes/Thesis, who mentions having had a crush on the protagonist's mother when she served as Oracle. Combined with the customizable protagonist, the romance routes read as broadly bisexual rather than distinctly M/M. There are no explicit sexual scenes, with the emphasis instead placed on emotional tension, romantic choices, and the contrasting personalities of the two love interests.
🎨 [b]Visuals & Style[/b]
The presentation is one of the game's greatest strengths. Its interface, menus, and character artwork evoke classic Western superhero comics, giving the entire experience a distinctive identity that stands apart from many visual novels. Most scenes focus on Nik/Chronos and Wes/Thesis, who receive expressive character sprites throughout the story, while the customizable protagonist remains unseen.
The game advertises itself as fully voice acted, though in practice it is only partially voiced. Nik/Chronos and Wes/Thesis receive the overwhelming majority of spoken dialogue, a handful of supporting characters have limited voiced lines, and the customizable protagonist is entirely silent. Even so, the performances that are present are consistently strong and help bring both romance routes to life.
🗣️ [b]Tone & Writing[/b]
The writing successfully blends superhero action, workplace romance, and relationship drama into an entertaining story. Despite themes involving manipulation, kidnapping, violence, and obsession, the narrative remains focused on its characters and their relationships.
Nik/Chronos is clearly the primary romance route and the emotional center of the game. His story is significantly longer than Wes's, receives more narrative attention, and feels like the route the game was primarily written around. Although he is described as a yandere, he rarely comes across as outright evil. Instead, he feels overwhelmingly obsessed with the protagonist, creating a romance that is surprisingly sincere despite his increasingly questionable decisions. As someone completely new to the yandere genre, I found his route far more compelling than I expected.
Where the writing falls short is fantasy alignment. Because every romance must accommodate multiple protagonist identities, the relationships sometimes feel intentionally universal rather than written from a distinctly gay male perspective.
👍 [b]Best Thing[/b]
The comic-inspired presentation gives the game a memorable identity, and the performances from the principal voice actors help bring both romance routes to life.
👎 [b]Worst Thing[/b]
The playersexual design prevents the romances from feeling specifically M/M, and the store page somewhat overstates the extent of the voice acting.
⭐ [b]Final Verdict[/b]
[i]Criminally Yours[/i] is a polished, stylish, and well-written visual novel that offers meaningful choices, enjoyable replay value, and a memorable superhero setting at a very reasonable price. I genuinely enjoyed my time with it, even though I had no prior experience with the yandere genre.
While it fully supports M/M playthroughs, it is fundamentally a romance visual novel designed for multiple protagonist identities rather than a game built around gay male storytelling. Players looking for a broader romance visual novel will likely enjoy what it offers, while those seeking a distinctly gay-centered experience should set their expectations accordingly.
[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45790038/]I also curate a Steam page reviewing M/M games if you're looking for more titles in this space.[/url]
