BUSTAFELLOWS | Switch Review

I’m a sucker for visual novels. I also happen to be a fan of otome games, which BUSTAFELLOWS most assuredly is. What makes this different and fresh, though, is the inclusion of a story that folds in time travel, genuinely dark themes, and eerily prescient topics. NIPPON CULTURAL BROADCAST EXTEND INC. has created an experience that feels incredibly unique while also folding in comforting aspects to fans of the genre. Will BUSTAFELLOWS convert newcomers to the genre? Read on to find out if this sounds like it’s up your alley.

Changing Fates

The story kicks off with a bang, with one of the main characters being told that he’s in danger. We’re then placed in the shoes of the player character, Teuta (you can change her name using either English or Hiragana), as she goes about her workday as a relatively new reporter. She meets high-powered lawyer Limbo Fitzgerald and begs him for an interview. After being brushed off by him, she decides to try her luck at a later time. Unfortunately, she quickly witnesses his murder in the middle of a crowded public area. She uses her hidden superpower (surprise!) to travel back in time and possess the body of one of Limbo’s clients to warn him of his fate, tying back to the intro.

After saving Limbo and telling him the seemingly outlandish tale, he ropes Teuta into joining his group of “Fixers.” The group is composed of a mortician, a bounty hunter, the self-proclaimed “Boss of the Underworld,” and a beautician. All are strikingly attractive in typical otome fashion, and Teuta finds herself enmeshed in their not-quite squeaky clean activities. Fortunately, they’re all compelling characters that you instantly fall for. The narrative then continues to unfold in delicious fashion and manages to inject humor and levity into some very heavy subject matter. Some of the cases the group chases could be potentially triggering for some individuals, so I highly recommend proceeding with caution and doing research before starting BUSTAFELLOWS.

The Beauty of the Dark

This is a visually stunning game. The visual style has an anime aesthetic, and it’s obvious that love and passion were poured into this aspect. Seemingly static images come to life with small dynamic touches in the background. Lights flicker, water ripples, and fires blaze while you chat with your cohorts and friends. The cutscenes are a special treat, featuring the high quality of an anime series.

The voice acting is top-notch and the localization is well-handled. There were a few typos, but they were sparse and didn’t detract from the experience. Every character is fully voice acted, which is a wonderful touch, and really gives everyone a unique personality and makes them even more likable. The background music is also lovely, adding the needed emotions for the scene that each track is scoring.

A glaring issue is the fact that some small cutscenes aren’t subtitled, leaving anyone who isn’t fluent in Japanese completely in the dark of whatever is being said. Even knowing a sparse amount of the language isn’t helpful in this situation. This seems like such a simple problem to address, but it currently has not been. Another somewhat annoying matter is the fact that the game doesn’t give you any clue as to how to save your progress or access the menu. I had to randomly press buttons before finding what I needed.

Love is Complicated

Since this is an otome game, Teuta does develop romantic feelings for one of the members of the group depending on the choices you make. This is a somewhat tricky system, with the choices not being clearly signposted about which character you’ll be gaining affection from if you choose that particular option. The only way to know is to pay attention to the color of your object of your affection’s phone case and/or their hair highlights. These correspond to the outline of each choice. Even though it’s an interesting design choice, it’s a tricky way to romance someone.

The saving grace is that each man is genuinely likable and you can’t go wrong with pursuing any of them. Each romantic contender has their own background story and they all influence the ending of the game. They also have two endings each, a good and a bad one. This feature increases the replay value tremendously and makes subsequent playthroughs worth checking out.

The Final Outcome

BUSTAFELLOWS is a visual novel/otome game that has a fascinating, dark story, beautiful anime quality visuals, a wonderful score, and characters that are impossible to not care about. My initial playthrough took about ten hours to complete, with the high replay value adding to the length if you so choose to romance the other men. The lack of subtitles during certain scenes, possibly triggering subject matter, no clear instructions on how to access the game’s menu, and a confusing romantic choice system do deter this from being a truly great title, though.

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of BUSTAFELLOWS provided by PQube for coverage purposes. This is also available on PC via Steam.