Visual novels are nothing new, but they flourished as offshoots of Japanese adventure games in the late 1990s. More of an interactive experience than the usual gameplay, these titles revolve around a journey where the player chooses between multiple story routes to make the narration effective. This genre is also known for its bursting romance simulators, although in recent years the medium has started to appeal to a wider gamer base beyond the usual target audience. Boyfriend Dungeon adds a villainous twist to the genre, weaving a gripping plot with a comedic twist reminiscent of games like Dream Daddy.
In the latest Kitfox Games adventure, you’ll customize your character by choosing your hairstyles, clothes, pronouns, and other basic tweaks with a limited character creation tool. Once that’s done, players will travel to Verona Beach to begin a fresh start in life with the support of the player’s mother and her cousin Jesse. Your room in your cousin’s old excavation opens up a new world of possibilities, a world that happens to be filled w ith people who can turn into weapons. The visual novel twist? They’re all ridiculously hot.
The story is more than its romantic connections. It’s about facing personal fears and learning more about yourself and opening up to the people around you, even if you’re looking for a simple friendship. I felt like I did it more to do in Boyfriend Dungeon than the usual visual novel niche, especially with player choices in terms of characters and dungeon-crawling gameplay style. Boyfriend Dungeon mixes in rogue gameplay, making it more than just an interactive novel. As for roguelikes, that’s pretty forgiving. The action is simple and repetitive. There is no real punishment to dying, you just leave the dunj (a mall full of monsters shaped like old cell phones and VHS tapes) and wake up in your apartment. There’s also the additional option of the shield in the menu settings, which allows for a defensive buff in the heat of the moment to help players find an easier time.
During this journey you choose your weapon ally, discover hidden places, find hidden vaults full of loot and take a moment between rounds to spend a little more time with your love interests. The setup is cute but limited in variety. By the time you get to the lower depths, each level looks exactly the same and the enemy types repeat themselves. To counteract this redundancy, you can swap out your weapon before each level to allow for new conversations and combat strategies. For example, running with a dagger on the upper floors is pretty much fun while the enemies are still at an average level and not too overwhelming. On the flip side, something a little more powerful like Seven’s Lasersaber is a great choice as you go into the deeper levels where meatier enemies lurk. My favorite weapon was Sawyer, who is a glaive because we share a love for poetry, but they also kick a ton of butts when it comes to being cornered in the middle of a fight. As you progress, there will be more instances of enemy encounters switching enemy types.
The real Boyfriend Dungeon experience lies in the game’s characters. Major romantic options include Sunder, the bad boy with a secret, and Valeria, a woman with a free mind and a checkered past. There are also splintering flirting options that meet as the game progresses but are not included in the “main cast” of love interests. There are men, women, and non-binary potential romantic options that you can get to know without the pressure to get lovesick. Unlike many games in this area, Boyfriend Dungeon won’t punish you for choosing one character over another, you can choose all of them or none at all! And if romance isn’t your thing, Boyfriend Dungeon allows players to stay friends with the characters they meet and relieves the pressure of making “the right choices.”
Each character has their own deeper story to discover. Some storylines are lighthearted while others deal with “real” issues like betrayal, longing to belong, and continued growth as a person. Not every storyline has a home run, but every character is unique and easy to relate to. I immediately connected with characters like Valeria and enjoyed watching their journey how to regain trust, both platonic and romantic. Kitfox does a great job of keeping that reliability believable despite the premise of the game.You can Give gifts to the characters you value most, listen to each other’s stories, and get to know each other by dating and battling these dunj monsters in real visual novel style.
Overall, Boyfriend Dungeon is an enjoyable experience for fans of roguelikes and visual novels. I like that it gives you the option to live up to the romance simulator hype on the adventure or just meet some great characters to become friends. Boyfriend Dungeon offers a charming gaming experience despite its simple mechanics and redundant enemies. With more characters teased for the future, I can’t wait to dive in to see what’s next.
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