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[SirNiko]

Dammit, so many RPGs I've never played.

I need to get a Persona game or a Xenogears game soonish. I still have never played either.

[SirNiko]

This one is going to have a lot of pictures in it. Fair warning.

This is for CA, since he wanted to know more about Hatoful Boyfriend. I thought about running through it like a "Let's Play" format, but I'd rather not spoil it. Instead this is going to be more of a teaser with a few funny lines from Sakuya's story.

http://jayisgames.com/archives/2012/02/hatoful_boyfriend.php JayisGames has a lovely page with links to both the demo and english patch, as well as the full version (roughly $5 USD). The full version has an official English translation, but it is identical to the unofficial translation for the demo.

For those who don't know, Hatoful Boyfriend ("Heartful Boyfriend" in Japanese) is a Visual Novel / Pigeon Dating Sim. You play as a human girl who lives in a cave and has somehow come to attend a prestigious school for birds.

No really, you live in a cave and kill animals for sustenance.

After a lengthy introduction where you are introduced to the majority of the cast, you're given the option to join one of several student organizations and then the game starts to give you some control.

You have statistics, but they seem pretty meaningless. You generally just pick the same class each time you get the chance to max out whatever stat happens to matter for the ending you're pursuing. The downside is that there isn't anything to learn to game here, but the upside is that you can just focus on picking the stats you want to see how they influence events later in the game.

This is pretty much the only way you influence your stats.

The "game" part basically involves memorizing where your chosen beau will be during certain choices, or picking them from a list when you have the chance to do so. Just keep hounding the same character throughout the game and you'll develop a relationship with them. A few characters are harder to find than others, and some are not available on your first playthrough (Yuuya, for example, only becomes available on your second playthrough and further).

Okosan is the captain of the track team, and really likes pudding.

The cast is pretty fun and varied. Among your possible mates are Sakuya the noblebird, Ryouta your childhood friend, Okosan the insane track captain, or even Mr. Nanaki your math professor. There are easily a dozen possible characters to pursue, and each has a smattering of character unique events to see. A fast-forward option helps you get through old events quickly, and a few dozen save slots lets you save before major decisions if you feel like save-scumming.

Befriending Sakuya is an exercise in patience.

The writing in the game is only average in terms of quality, but the content is top-notch. There are plenty of amusing exchanges and a few instances of breaking the fourth wall, not to mention more than a few Pokemon references if you choose to court Okosan. Furthermore, the game doesn't fall into a trap of flat character stereotypes. Most of the characters you meet wind up having unexpected background stories that are gradually revealed if you choose to pursue them. As you go along, you'll even learn about some hidden events going on behind the scenes at the school.

You wind up being the only person who doesn't scream at the haunted house.

Despite being a "dating sim", the content for the game is rather tame. There isn't even the implication of sleeping with any of the characters. On the other hand, there is some potential for violence. Ultimately, the whole thing is well within "Safe for work", so if you are hesitating to play it because you're worried you'll look like a pervert, that should not stop you!

Google it, really.

The game has 24 different endings to find (as indicated by the gallery screen), and an archive that contains hints to a deeper plot lurking in the background at the school. Unfortunately, this doesn't change the fact that the game is still a visual novel and as such has an extremely low level of interactivity aside from picking which scenes to watch and hoping to trip the right flags in the background to get a new ending.

The full version contains a gallery and an archive, as well as several new endings.

There is a demo and a full version of the game available. The demo is only in japanese, but there is an english patch. The full version contains several new scenes and characters, including a secret ultimate ending that owners of the full version must swear not to reveal. The full version comes with an official english translation, but it is for dialogue only. The menu options are still in japanese, which is unfortunate. Links to both are available at the top of the page for convenience.

"Carve it into your soul!" is my new favorite phrase.

For the low price, I'm actually pretty pleased with this title despite not liking visual novels. Each playthrough takes roughly 30-40 minutes (less if you skip scenes you've already seen) so I've found it pretty easy to pick up during a break to just see one more ending. The price is pretty agreeable, and the oddball premise is absolutely charming. I'll probably be picking away at this over a few weeks to see if I can find the secret ultimate ending. Everybirdie should give Hatoful Boyfriend a try.

[Shackhal]

SKYRIM!!!! FUS RO DAH!!!!

[Zest]

Please keep updating your Let's Play, this game looks deliriously entertaining.

I started playing Star Wars Republic Commando, because I'd always heard good things about it and I picked it up for dirt cheap at a used-book store. After the initial levels of awkward super-obvious hints and grappling with FPS controls, I'm having fun with the light strategy involved in telling my men to shoot this thing or blow this thing up. I wish they could've gotten to do the sequel; they were planning on making an Imperial Commando, with a squad of Stormtroopers. That would've been fantastic.

[C.A. Sinner]

This one is going to have a lot of pictures in it. Fair warning.

This is for CA, since he wanted to know more about Hatoful Boyfriend. I thought about running through it like a "Let's Play" format, but I'd rather not spoil it. Instead this is going to be more of a teaser with a few funny lines from Sakuya's story.

awesome!  

just googled brian pigeon btw

[baconman]

Buddy and I busted some Street Fighter X Tekken yesterday. Gotta say, it's kinda weird with some priorities, I have no idea why you can chain combo to supers but not specials (fierce special command attempts will get you tag-juggles instead), and it's VERY stacked in favor of grapplers, Hugo and 'Gief in particular.

Characters have one Super Art apiece, but you can enter the basic special command and hold/delay the punch or kick awhile, and get a free super-spam in exchange for the long windup. It also has a delightful mix of making it easy to tag when you don't want to, and impossibly difficult when you do. And finally... their understanding of Tekken characters is admittedly WAY DIFFERENT than mine is, in just about everybody's case besides Paul.


EDIT - This morning:

[SirNiko]

Hatoful Boyfriend is getting really weird and twisted. And I've seen fewer than half the endings, yet.

At least one ending is really, really dark in a stomach-twisting way.

"Dating Sim" is not really the right term for it. It's more of a choose-your-adventure with the theme of falling in love with birds.

Some of the endings are a little plain. Ryouta, as an example, is pretty boring and predictable. However, it's fun how they all give little glimpses into the deeper secrets behind the story.

The weirdest stuff is hidden behind choices that don't appear until you've unlocked several of the endings. You'll do yourself a huge favor if you save the strangest characters for last.

It's a shame the translation is messy with typos and bad formatting (lines that break too early, even a place that just says "Player name" when the NPC should use your name).

I really recommend this highly. For $5 it's well worth the ride.

[PaleFox]

woo

get down

[SirNiko]

I finished Hatoful Boyfriend. I liked the finale. A couple additional details on top of my previous posts -

The way endings work is a little lame. Each character you meet has an associated ending, and you get that ending if you hang out with them enough to get them to the top of the list (you know you've succeeded if you start bumping into them automatically during your second term). You have to pursue one person pretty doggedly to succeed, so you can't pick random people to visit each time you get the choice. If you fail to have a single top beau, you get a generic bad ending where you're suddenly slain.

Stats only matter insofar that a few of the characters have a bonus scene after their ending if your stat was high enough. There are a few small dialogue changes depending on your stats at certain points of the game, but they are surprisingly pointless and at least one actually will throw you off on whose ending is influenced by your stat.

You need to unlock all the endings (including the 'bad' endings that don't have a bonus scene at the end) to get a bonus scene at the end of the final scenario. This is kind of annoying because you're likely to miss a few of these, and the final scenario is long and unskippable. The result is you'll have to furiously click to the last part of the final scenario a second time just to see the bonus scene.

The final scenario is really well conceived, and manages to tie together all the character backstories in a very satisfying way. A few of the mysteries that were left open at the end of the other character endings are all wrapped up, and the whole thing is just subtle enough that you don't see the revelations coming before they're revealed to you.

The downside is that the whole thing has very nearly no interactivity. You could easily replace the whole thing with a menu that just lets you pick who to date one at a time and watch it through. The majority of the choices are obvious, and the ones that aren't don't matter enough to prevent you from getting the ending you want (with one notable exception that is immediately obvious when you get to it).

If you're looking for a fun story to read, I highly recommend it. It's both funny and intriguing with some dark bits and some sad bits to enjoy.

[Sakar]

_{Of course it only looks this pretty when its pumped full of mods and only runs while this pretty in windowed mode}

[C.A. Sinner]

o its skyrim i thought it was amnesia: the dark descent for a second there (similar color scheme).


anyway, i've been on a paradox games binge as of late, playing lots of victoria 2 and europa universalis 3.

[Saker]

@Sakar: I have two questions for you; What mods are you using?

[Sakar]

@Sakar: I have two questions for you; What mods are you using?

ENB series mod (SSAO, DoF)
Static mesh overhaul

I'm also using High-Ultra settings

[PaleFox]

[charlestheoaf]

Over the past couple of weeks, I played though (or finally got around to finishing) Journey, Braid and Dear Esther. I also tried to play thechineseroom's previous mod, Korsakovia (though some crashing has prevented completion).

It has been a good couple of weeks. I'm also currently working on some atmospheric/narrative projects, and particularly thanks to these recent games, I'm starting to feel as though I am finding the right niche for me.

I've also played a fair bit of Natural Selection 2, and I am very excited to come across a good, strategic, competitive multiplayer game that does not have unlocks!