Buddy Mission Bond - review

 Genre: interactive VN.
Developer/publisher: Ruby Party/Koei and Nintendo.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/switch/aq2fa/index.html
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v30145
Release date: 2021-01-29.

I heard about this game last year but didn't get to it, now that otomate decided to try to dive into

the no romance but friendship genre I was reminded of this and I thought huh why not?

from what I found it doesn't seem to be that bad and its reception in japan were mostly positive!

Honestly the title of the game is a bit generic so I wouldn't be surprised if many glossed over it.😅

I was once again reminded to not judge a book by its cove- err title.

Side note, this game is a collab between Koei and nintendo.

There aren't really any major plot spoilers in this post, please enjoy the game for yourself

cuz this is one of those games like psychedelica that you just can't say too much about its plot.

Pro's

- Decent enough plot with some twist and turns.

- Amazing cast of characters.

- Great art and BGM to fit the mood.

- Quite long but pacing okay, has replay value/reason to redo a chapter.

Con's

- No touch screen support, a bummer for switch lite users.

- Some aspects of the mystery might be a bit too obvious...

- It might be overwhelming to unlock and/or see the side events alongside progressing the main plot.

^^Its okay to do it later to not burn yourself out.

 

OP Movie; I watched maybe once or twice.

 

 

Buddy Mission Bond is a mystery visual novel but honestly what I really liked the most

was the chara's. This may be a VN but it is more like an animated comic/manga!

The protagonist Luke is voiced by Kimura Ryohei and it has many other high profile seiyuu as well

such as Namidai, kondo takashi and morikawa toshiyuki. Kouki Uchiyama also

voices someone and he's easily my favorite besides the main gang.

 The story was easy to follow, its about Luke who was an orphan but then he met

Edward who became his role model and adoptive father. Luke eventually followed

in his footsteps by becoming a detective, he always dreamed of being a hero.

Luke ends up on a case about a diamond thief which leads to him investigating

a case on his own and ends up teaming up with allies which lead to one thing and another!

I'd love to talk more of the story/side episodes but I think this game really is best

to be experienced when knowing as little as possible of its plot i'll still be sharing some screenshots

but most of these won't give away the main story/are without context of whatever is going on.

 

 Main cast:

Luke: Cinnamon roll too good for this world too pure... who wouldn't protect his smile?

Aaron: Best bro! despite his attitude this fact is undeniable by the end of this game. 

Though he does need a stress ball or just take walks with doggie Luke....

I like how he never gets a new shirt... or maybe it just rips naturally.😅

Mokuma: Moe oyaji??? laidback guy for the most part he also has a ''real shit'' mood.

Chesley: Didn't like him much at first, he's a bit twisted but his past made me sad

actually twisted is putting it mildly he's a megalomaniac with varying lvls of moods

and also has a hateboner for Mokuma.😨 Idk this guy was just 2weird5me?

all the BL themes in this game is basically Chesley's fault and to some extend Mokuma too.

 

None of them are perfect or anything but I learned to love them for better or for worse.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I liked how their alias/codenames formed BOND...

 

There's a lot of QTE and aside the usual choice you sometimes have to solve puzzles

and there's a 3d adventure element. So if you're up for that it is definitely

worth looking into it, it has a trial version on the jpn eshop if you're curious.

More rambles after the jump break.