Boyfriend Dungeon takes a fantastically fresh look at dating simulations. But is this enough to convince in the long run?
The most exciting dating sim of 2021 would have simply slipped through your fingers. Because here you’re not only chasing the love of your life with dialogue options, as is common in the genre, but you’re also proving yourself in various dungeons, literally battling your fears in old dungeon crawler fashion.
In doing so, you have an arsenal of very special weapons at your disposal – and in more ways than one. For in the beautiful village of Verona Beach, where you are staying for the summer holidays, there are people who can transform themselves into dashing blades, scythes, axes or fist weapons. They turn out to be not only lifesavers in the mall dungeon, but also elegant evening companions afterwards.
Sharp Weapons
Boyfriend Dungeon comes around the corner with an idea that is new and absolutely fabulous: instead of courting 0815 people (or pigeons), weapons are the object of your desire. But don’t worry, these special weapons can also turn into people (and a cat), so it won’t be too weird for everyone involved. And into what people!
Whether dagger, drill sword or human, our acquaintances look stunning in any form. Even more so when they transform into their human form for the first time in the animated cutscenes. But our collection of weapons doesn’t just look dashing, it also demonstrates uncanny depth and diversity.
Each and every one of our weapon partners struggles with their own problems, fears and insecurities, which we explore more and more in the course of conversations and combat. Sometimes we provide support after a beloved relative dies, sometimes we have to face stalkers or toxic parents – Boyfriend Dungeon bluntly addresses issues we are reluctant to face in everyday life and manages to weave them into everyday conversations without much fuss or drama. “
Of trigger warnings and pronouns
Although Boyfriend Dungeon deals with very dark themes and moral issues, it is still very circumspect. Besides a trigger warning at the beginning that difficult topics like stalking or emotional manipulation are coming up, you can, for example, also turn off your mother’s nsupportive messages if they are too much for you. In addition, you are of course completely free in the character editor to choose which pronoun you want to be addressed with.
Blunt Bearers
The deeper each character gets, however, the shallower we appear as the main character. In addition to a very uncharitable character editor, the answer options also often turn out to be too simple and ill-conceived. To the statement that our mother was in therapy for 12 years we can only say “12 years?! Really”, “You’ll be my role model” and “I just like to fight” instead of asking why, for example.
In general, the reason or explanation behind many revelations often falls by the wayside, so that the character development of both us and our weapons of desire seems erratic. If we are the little wallflower at the beginning, we can already respond uninhibitedly to the Talwar’s attempts at flirtation after a few minutes and meetings, while the scythe on the other side first thinks we are a murderer, but then goes hiking with us after all.
Similarly, the main story starts out as a tense thriller involving gun-grabbing, but quickly loses steam. It seems as if the developers lacked the time and money to implement the really exciting idea at its deserved length. This is a problem that, by the way, does not only apply to the story.
Fight first, then date
Thanks to the varied mix of dungeon crawler and visual novel, boredom does not set in during the approximately 6 hours of gameplay. Quite the opposite: just like the story, the short game time does not exploit its full potential in the battles. Although the monster design of biting flip phones and record players with spikes fits perfectly with the rest of the game world, the attack patterns of the individual enemies are not really varied except for a few boss fights.
Things look a little better with our weapons. Although we only unlock a handful of abilities over the course of our dates, each weapon plays completely differently and brings a lot of momentum to the dungeons. Dagger Valeria, for example, equips us with a dodge roll that confuses our enemies, while we can parry attacks with Estoc Isaac after he trusts us enough.
The difficulty level, however, always remains motivating despite fewer enemy types and abilities. There are no armour values, so your strength and toughness depend solely on your own level and that of your weapons. You increase the latter by fighting in the dungeon with the respective weapons until you are about to level up. However, you never have to grind for this.
To complete the level up, your sweetheart will then invite you to a next meeting in dialogue form. The meetings or, depending on the answer option, dates are far too easy in contrast to the fights, which is why you have to be particularly clumsy in order to annoy the weapon of your desire.
There’s more
The common thread that runs through not only this review, but the entire game, is the bitter disappointment that Boyfriend Dungeon has a lot of potential, but fails to use it to provide a truly rounded fighting and dating experience.
Time and again we are left out in the cold in frustration because relationships and character developments are not explained calmly and are resolved in a messy way. The same with the dungeons: just when we really get going and have laid a boss, the party is already over again and it’s back to the surface.
Rewatching the game isn’t worth it either, because you don’t have to fear many consequences for your decisions and they only have a minimal impact on the ending. It hardly makes a difference whether you directly engage with all the weapons in the first playthrough or only court one of them.
That’s a shame, because just deciding whether to enter into a romantic or platonic relationship with your weapons holds so much (conflict) potential that it would probably make for a game experience twice as long.
