When you think of birds in games, you probably think of a chicken in long-running farming game Harvest Moon; maybe even a Pidgey from Pokemon, or those freaky half-bird people from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Or, if you're really unlucky, those flipping eagles that constantly mob you in Far Cry 4. Either way, what you probably don't think of is embarking on a romantic relationship with a feathered friend - but in oddball world of Hatoful Boyfriend, that's exactly what you do.
Hitting the Playstation 4 and PS Vita next Tuesday, the 21st July, Hatoful Boyfriend is more than a little bit odd. A visual novel dating sim, the game revolves around befriending various eligible pigeons as the only human in a school full of birds - and the tales of love, loss and randomness that come with it, whether it's running into the local biker gang, conversing with a narcoleptic button quail or searching for the ultimate pudding with a friendly pigeon. Definitely one for the readers out there, it's a game that is almost entirely story-based, with a smattering of conversational options to add a bit of variety and win over that one particular pigeon that's set your heart all aflutter.
Just your average day at St. PigeoNation's Institute...
An enhanced remake of the previously-released PC version, the Playstation versions will also include a brand new, never-seen-before romance option (and another ending) with Tohri, a golden pheasant who's previously only been spotted in the upcoming sequel, Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star. Letting you "explore questionable stalkers, bitter rivalries and even doomsday devices", he certainly sounds like an eventful boyfriend, at any rate! To sweeten the deal even further, Hatoful Boyfriend will be a Cross-Buy title, which means if you buy one version, you'll automatically get the other one, totally free of charge, so you can swoon over your luscious feathered suitors in glorious HD on the TV, or take them with you on the go for a bit of mobile casanova-ing.
Hatoful Boyfriend flies onto the Playstation 4 and PS Vita next week, on the 21st July - with the sequel Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star arriving relatively soon after, before the year is out. Currently, there's no word on price, except for in America, where it's been confirmed as $9.99, the same price as their PC download. Considering this, we're pretty confident it'll launch over here at £6.99, as it did on Steam last year.
