Hatoful Boyfriend
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Hatoful Boyfriend
Hatoful Boyfriend on Vita has some technical issues, but both versions still hatch a great story with a cool new bird.
A one-of-a-kind glimpse into the world of anthropomorphic-animal Japanese otome, Hatoful Boyfriend is surprisingly entertaining.
'Hatoful Boyfriend' is a bizarre, sometimes heartwarming, sometimes terrifying adventure where you can also date a variety of birds. Yes, you can date birds.
Hatoful Boyfriend makes fun of the dating simulator genre by turning it on its head, making it weird and outrageous. The witty dialogue and absolutely bonkers scenarios are genuinely fun to discover, and the handful of different storylines make repeated playthroughs worthwhile. It's not groundbreaking material, but it's laughable — in a good, entertaining way.
Hatoful Boyfriend is a unique experience, one that goes well beyond its bonkers concept and intentionally strange visual presentation. I was expecting to simply giggle at a nonsensical game in which I tried to woo feathered men, and what I received instead was wholly and wonderfully unexpected. Anyone with a taste for the unusual would do well to enjoy the company of these fetching fowl.
Hatoful Boyfriend is the food fight of video games. While you can derive a great deal of entertainment from its complete insanity, this doesn't negate the fact that the end result is a total mess.
Overall, Hatoful Boyfriend gets most things right. The true BBL story is gripping and an absolute must-play for anyone with an open mind who is a fan of visual novels. The game doesn't make things obvious, though. I had no idea this route existed until I actually put in the effort to do more endings, and I'd recommend you do the same. If nothing else, it's nice to see Devolver and Mediatonic bringing something so new and unusual to Steam.
There's no other way to say it. Hatoful Boyfriend is weird! With that said, its novelty proves to be both a major boost and its greatest flaw.
