Keywords the reviewer selected : School/Academy

Maid

Boy

Madness

Woman's Viewpoint

Childhood Friend

Kimono/Japanese Clothes

Ghost

Kemo/Animalization/Transfur It took me a long time to decide how I wanted to write this review. The largest problem is explaining how you can actually end up having feelings for pigeons, as you would a human. I don't just mean love either, I mean rage and fear as well. The key I believe is in the writing.



Imagine how people must have felt when Walt Disney first animated a mouse and showed it to a theatre full of people. They would have been amazed and confused that a drawing could move like that. Also, for those who had seen it, explaining that they had seen a drawing of a mouse walk like a man, would likely bring chuckles from those who had not seen the animation. Slowly though, as more and more people saw the animation and became excited to see more of the moving mouse, people began to rethink what the theatre experience could be.



While I don't want anyone to think I am expecting Hatoful Boyfriend to evolve into a huge dating game conglomerate in 50 years or so, I do believe that the author, Moa, has done something unexpectedly new. Initially an April Fool's joke, the idea of using pigeon photos as the love interests was laughable. What happened after that was what makes this game amazing. Most people depend on seeing a face with human-like features to determine emotions, but without any of those kinds of visual cues the player is forced to imagine those facial expressions. Much like when reading a novel, you are transported to another world in your imagination; Hatoful Boyfriend just takes it to the next level. The art doesn't dictate what the character is feeling, but the art still adds to the experience, filling in the blanks visually, for things that might be difficult for people to imagine (like what a partridge looks like, especially if you've never seen one). The emotional aspect of the characters remains up to the readers imagination, creating, in this reviewer's opinion, a richer experience.



Hatoful Boyfriend is a well-written game, which I can't suggest enough. 3 users found this helpful. [ Report Abuse ]