Sequels. There's a lot of them about at the moment. Whether it's yet another FIFA, an all too similar looking Call of Duty, or the four millionth Forza game, sequels can all seem to somewhat blend into one sometimes - but not all sequels are created equal. Sometimes, it's the inventive, oddball, "what the heck were they smoking when they came up with that" games that get a sequel - and pigeon dating sim Hatoful Boyfriend is one of those games.
On the third day of Christmas my true love game to me three drench hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a Santa hat.
Hatoful Boyfriend is part of a relatively rare genre of games where story isn't just a major feature - it's the sole attraction. Popular in Japan, but sadly still a bit of a niche over in the West, "visual novels" are basically a game version of those choose-your-own adventure novels you may have read as a kid, where your choices can alter the course of the story, only without all that page flipping. Some stellar examples have come out over the past few years, such as Virtue's Last Reward, Hakuoki and our editor's personal favourite, Danganronpa, each with their own engrossing stories, characters and surprises. Hatoful Boyfriend meanwhile, tells the tale of a rather unusual school, where everyone, bar you, is a bird - a tale of love, friendship and murder, with a selection of eligible bachelor birds to woo (or perhaps coo?!) along the way.
Since last November's announcement that the original Hatoful Boyfriend would be flying onto the Playstation 4 and PS Vita, things have been unusually quiet, with nary a flutter for the past six months - to the point where we began to wonder if that bird had flown, and the project had been cancelled. It was a prospect that made us one sad pigeon, as the PS Vita port was among one of our most anticipated games of 2015, as it mixed two of our favourite things - visual novels and wtf randomness. But now, it's been confirmed that we'll be getting not one, but two Hatoful Boyfriend games this year, as the original game lands on the Playstation 4 and PS Vita this summer in a new "expanded edition" - coo! - while a sequel arrives later in the year on PC, PS4 and PS Vita.
So, let's focus on what's new - Holiday Star. Set to arrive this autumn, Holiday Star is a more festive affair. Promising more adventures with feathered friends old and new, you get to travel to winter wonderlands on a quest to find romance, and explore a "mysterious watercolour world". And forget partridges in pear trees - nothing says festive like a couple of birds in a tank! You see, Hatoful Boyfriend is a bit bizarre at the best of times, and Holiday Star promises more of the crazy too, such as anime-inspired magical girl transformations for all your favourite pigeon boyfriends, a group of lab-grown birds stealing Christmas and an encounter with the mysterious King of the Holiday Star - as well as a handful of episodic side stories and fun distractions, such as the cross-dressing Ryouta's hilarious radio show.
Obviously...
Actual details about what Holiday Star will involve are a little bit thin on the ground at the moment, but we expect there'll be more of the kooky avian romancing simulator revealed soon. In the meantime, we're preparing ourselves for a feather-filled summer and autumn, with not one, but two Hatoful Boyfriend games hitting the Playstation 4 and PS Vita before the end of the year!
