Bustafellows - Review

Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Extend.
Platform: PC/Switch.
Official Site:https://pqube.co.uk/bustafellows/(ENG)

and https://joqrextend.co.jp/extend/bustafellows/(JP)

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v25197
Release date: 2021-07-30.

Bustafellows is an otome game that shares its setting with sidekicks! which I remember
as being alright sadly that game is PS Vita only and as of now hasn't been brought over or ported.

Good thing is you don't need to play that game to enjoy Bustafellows!
I am playing the ENG version as I bought it together with CupiPara but this has just been
backlogged till now. Due to the developers not wishing spoilers to be spread on the internet
which I am sure is only about livetweeting and preventing it being up on youtube/twitch in full
and TBH they have that right so I will be doing my best to try respecting that.

Pro's
- Interesting story, very easy to get hooked! great cast of chara's.
- Voiced heroine!
- Gorgeous artwork, outstanding visual scene direction.
- BGM fits the scenes/mood.

Con's
- At times there would be vocal lines but no text displayed, especially in movies.

- Some grammatical errors, text breaking out of the box.

- Not being able to save during non-timed choices.

 

 

The protagonist Teuta is a journalist who can for a short period of time
leap into the past of someone else. The story takes place in new sieg
and she tries to save a lawyer named Limbo.

Regarding the time-leap thing, I think it was well done and reminded me of harukanaru 3.

I liked how they actually went into some cause&effect & is it right to just go and  change things

at some point and it didn't turn into some gag or question chara's intelligence like in kuro no kiseki 2.

So imho Bustafellows did the time leaping thing right! it also doesn't happen too much either

so I think it sits on the fine line of yea its some kind of cheat ability but its not overused

which is why it was ten-times more bearable to me than in kuro 2.

As a heroine though, Teuta was a real treat! its rare to have such a proactive protagonist

that is already an adult but not quite have had a chance of romance untill now.

I think out of the older heroines she was surprisingly real so it was easy to relate to her!

Teuta didn't feel like she was immature or anything to me. She was well-written.

The only thing that is hilarious about her is the lack of cooking skills.......

I did like how Teuta had a sprite that showed her from the guys POV at times!

its even better than just a small icon next to the text, really makes her feel part of the story.

From the start I found it easy to get hooked and unable to put down the game!

the scenes were interesting and the pacing was pretty good and that was just chapter 1.

I think they had a very solid foundation here that you'd definitely be interested

to see what would happen next and honestly you probably don't want any spoilers either

with these type of games so like psychedelica its best to stay spoiler free and enjoy on your own!

 

I think my favourite character would be Crow, Limbo is okay and definitely husbando material

but Helvetica and Mozu kind of rubbed me the wrong way so i'd definitely had to

wait for their routes to get a better picture of their character(s) and well Shu.. uh maybe not?

To my surprise I ended up liking Shu a lot more than my initial impression as well as Mozu

its just Helvetica that ended up being my least liked! ah some things aren't meant to be. 

The characters all had nice chemistry with each other but romance was not really

the focus not at first atleast. Without the epilogues I definitly it was lacking.

The length was alright, its neither too short nor too long for me to get bored!

The system was pretty standard, text skipping is slow but there's a skip to the next choice option!

only problem is not being able to save during choices, like I'd understand during the few

timed ones but there were more non-timed choices where you should be able to save but can't.

 

Now for some of my dislikes...  I will be honest, for the majority of the common route this didn't

really feel much like an otome game but more like a crime drama with handsome guys.

At the very least it was interesting and I felt motivated to continue! The other thing

was how this game seems to have an obsession with the back of characters heads like

I'd prefer the face and see no reason to show the back of their heads. At first I thought

its part of some aesthetic and in some scenes I understood why they did it but there were

moments I was like idk why're they showing their back??? weird.

The UI while looking neat at a glance, was kind of clunky like i said above

you couldn't save during choices. Also I didn't understand why the epilogue just didn't

play normally I almost restarted the route and skipped out on some juicy epilogue romance.

Font was nice but I didn't understand why the text errors in Mozu and Crow's route hadn't

been fixed yet, sure human errors happen but a line breaking from text? that's pretty major

especially considering this game already had a patch. The localization is still pretty great 

but even after patches, there were a few misses and I think the final scene

in the game lacking subtitles is definitely a huge miss.

Let's not talk about the Fondue is a dessert incident... (its not, its a main-dish)

Still don't get me wrong with these few gripes I still think this was an excellent visual novel

and even if you don't usually play otome games I would still recommend it!

Granted I think this type of otome may still not be for everyone and it will depend

what you're in the mood for, this game wasn't exactly light-hearted as some routes especially

those recommended for later but I think the game as a whole, the themes do kind of lean on

the dark/heavy side and are definitely not seen in the run-of-the-mill otome game.

So if you don't mind that and want a mystery otome game/VN with a decent plot, fun

characters and good production values go for it!

 8.5/10

 

Since this is a mystery type otome game I will be following the recommended

play order of Limbo > Shu > Helvetica > Mozu > Scarecrow > True.

Even if all are self-contained and you can do whatever, this order does make

the most sense so I will recommend the same order of play.

There will be route babbles after the jump! there won't be any spoilers due to the developers wishes

and its just a small blurb of whether I liked their route or not without ontext.

The CG's shared in this post are also sample CG's from the official japanese/english websites.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Limbo.
CV: KENN.

  Ah Limbo, honestly I found him to be very likeable, perhaps the easiest to come to like out of 

the whole gang. The story in his route suited his position as a lawyer and there were some

nice twist and turns. Romance wise it was okay, the epilogue was a nice way to wrap it up too!

without the epilogue I would definitely be found wanting cuz the romance in the route itself

which was barely enough. Oh well it was still pretty good for being the poster boi!

I didn't find him particularly evil as he still has morals but I guess

he does fall into the if evil why sexy category.😅

Ido wonder why Limbo had like the most bad ends while the others all had like one...
~

Shu.
CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa.

 AT FIRST I wasn't really that interested in doing Shu's route but it was interesting to say the least!

maybe a little bit more mature? hmm idk romance wise there were some cute moments throughout.

Anyway I ended up liking the story AND the romance more than the one I did prior!

for some reason this route did feel a bit short but maybe that is because I no longer have to

sit through the whole common route which leads me to see how short the routes really are.

In so far I do think the pacing has been pretty good and honestly I had a hard time

putting the game down so it wasn't boring at all! How did I went from being

meh about Shu to oh no! he's cute?! I dig it. Nobody knows except my kokoro.
~

Helvetica.
CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki.

 Another guy I didn't exactly like, in fact most of the time he made me feel uncomfortable.

Helvetica is a plastic surgeon and a bit flirty, the part that is unlikable for me is

that despite being able to put himself in others shoes often just comes across as rude.

So I was atleast hoping the route would make me understand him better... and it did

its just that romance wise it wasn't my thing! like it was amusing to watch but I just

didn't like the constant teasing which just turned Teuta into a tsunderella.

I didn't mind Helvetica's teasing at times but I think they went overboard... which just turned me off.

I think the only thing which was great for me was his backstory and I can sympatize with him

cuz before this route I just wanted to spit fire at him and now i'm like oh no baby~

its just that despite i'm able to care, its not like Helvetica is my worst boy or anything? hmph!

The romance only really became bearable for me in the epilogue... its better late than never!

Idk if this even makes sense but I am just not really feeling the romance

in this game but I do enjoy seeing Teuta end up with them.

~

Mozu.
CV: Jun Fukuyama.

A coroner, he is pretty logical/theoretical... at times Mozu did really make me laugh

cuz his most of the jokes are unintended but I think Mozu knew at times what he was saying

its just that other people may be like uhm at his sense of humor. Mozu is oddly relatable.

Romance wise there wasn't much time for any and his route is pretty heavy from the get-go

buuuuuuut there was definitely chemistry between Mozu and Teuta so it was still nice to see

them grow closer! it did feel more slowburn compared to some of the others

but in the end I thought that the romance was a little lacking, yea its there but not by much!

The epilogue also had a reveal which literally made me go like oh my god?! why now...

at the very least it ended alright but it pretty much ruined the mood which is sad

and let me tell you, this route was already heavy, romance wise it was thin and stretched

which may have been appropiate? but idk I sure wanted some more time

with Mozu since the epilogue was just barely enough.
~

Scarecrow.
CV: Shirai Yuusuke.

 The boss of the underworld... who also just happens to be a complete clown

and is shy as a button. Crow was always fun to see tbh even when it not his route.

Overall Crow's route was interesting even if it started like are you guys seriously

going to do that? in terms of  story/romance it felt satisfying more so than other routes.

If I had to be super honest, despite me enjoying it, it did feel a bit all over the place...

also I was led to believe this route was heavy but idk that wasn't the case it actually felt

quite light in comparison to some of the stuff in Helvetica or Mozu.

The epilogue was icing on the cake and perfect way to finish it...

I do have some questions but eh if there was never a sequel or a FD i'd be satisfied with this one.
~ 

 

True end.

Well this was it, if you had any remaining questions about stuff this answers it all!

It was pretty fast paced and intense, saying anything else will ruin the suspense

so i'll just say it was a good way to wrap up the game.

There are also various side stories that add some more depth to side characters

or a little reference to sidekicks! as well as a another mini route which

are all a treat if you can't get enough of bustafellows.

TBH this route felt like being held at gunpoint while the reveals keep coming

with little time to actually process all that by the end I  was literally like ...MAN.

Also there was something that bothered me which has nothing to do with said plot, its

this game claiming fondue is a dessert??? i'm pretty sure fondue is a main-dish not a dessert.

A quick google search confirmed as much but yea that combined with a few remaining

errors basically sealed the deal and I wish this game had a little bit more care put into it.

I really dislike the final scene in the game doesn't even have subtitles... which just removed

any context from the last moments cuz I couldn't translate what was being said fast enough.

Oh I guess Teuta's powers were never really explained but I figured just like the heroine

from sidekicks! is that she is more or less just born with it and that's it.

~

 

Fav route:

Crow > Shu > Limbo > Mozu > Helvetica.

 

Fav character:

Crow > Mozu > Limbo > Shu > Helvetica.

Final thoughts!

Couldn't find a better picture of that artwork so have the limited edition cover instead!

 Honestly I thought Bustafellows was a pretty good otome game!

Teuta was amazing and she had spunk, was pro-active and voiced,  she is easily

among my list of favorite otome game heroines. Most of the guys were likeable

and if they weren't their routes sealed the deal, like for example in the case of Shu. I love

seeing the cast interact with each other too!  I also like the difference in swimsuits or the name

of the cat being different everytime, it all felt like flag checker to signal you are on this guy's route!

This game also had some pretty high production values and the cg's were all great.

Music was on point too and fit the mood/vibes. Story was interesting and I had

a hard time putting the game down at times. The only bad part is that the personal routes

are all self-contained to the guys own issues which lead to some plot threads being put

on-hold and forgotten till the truth route but eh plenty of otome games do this too

so this did not surprise me at all at this point. The localization was fine, font was easy to read

but there were some errors especially in Mozu's route and Crow had text breaking out

or the fondue incident like seriously that's a main-course not a dessert.

This game has been out for a year and i'm surprised they didn't even fix that...

 I get that its an oversight but this is stuff you'd expect from aksys

no amount of no spoilers past ch1 is going to save you from hiding this!

The final scene in the game has no subtitles... which IMO is a huge oversight.

Other gripes would be the not being able to save during a choice, there weren't 

enough timed choices that would make it valid not to be able to save during normal choices.

The obsessions with the back of the heads was lame, sure it made sense in some scenes

but there were plenty I was like why am I looking at the back of Teuta's head?????

I guess its more of a you are there as a reader or aesthetic kind of thing huh.

Finally I disliked how the capablanca stuff was copy&pasted in all of the routes, the plot thread

was never mentioned again there anyway, being forced to sit through it every route was tiresome.

8.5/10

Anyway gripes aside Bustafellows gets my recommendation if you're up for a mystery themed

otome game with a voiced heroine and don't mind it having some heavy topics

while it also not disrespects your time in terms of what it has to offer.

Sadly not all routes felt as well rounded and the heavy stuff outweighed it all 

like the case with Mozu, but that's just my opinion. Here's to the sequel!

Next game? idk yet but i'm not feeling otomates upcoming tsuitsui like don't get me wrong

but it feels generic as hell, from the plot outline to the CG's! which remind me of some PS2 era otome game. I hope to be proven wrong and that game actually turns out alright but hmm... not a good look.