The weapon-people vary in their preferred kind of relationship (poly, casual, monogamous), and the quality of their stories and personalities varies, too. I wanted those upgrades, especially for my favorite weapons, but I just wasn’t into some of them as characters. Progressing through skill trees is important because it unlocks bonuses and abilities specific to each weapon, like chain lightning that bounces between more targets for the electric blade, or amping up bleed duration that damages enemies over time. Weapon level progress stops at each level up and requires you to go on the next outing with the weapon-person before you can start earning XP toward the next. Which brings us to yet another problem: your affection level is the same as the weapon’s level in their skill tree. After I found out a character was into a relationship style I personally didn’t vibe with, I found it basically impossible to say “thanks but no thanks.” I could ignore her, but that’d also mean sacrificing the resolution to her story – and growing her abilities as a weapon. There are options to soften the intensity of the relationship and occasionally disagree or go against something the character would like, but not a ton of opportunities in terms of moving back to friendship. (Which is also disappointing – shouldn’t I be called out for my two-timing ways by the characters who would be uncomfortable with that?) I was especially unhappy knowing certain characters I was romancing probably wouldn't be cool with me making lifelong plans with others, but there were never any consequences for those unfaithful actions. The rules of when you have to choose romance aren't clear either, so I went along with being flirtatious with everyone at first out of worry I'd miss something.įor others like me who prefer one romance at a time, it may be a bit overwhelming and uncomfortable to accidentally find yourself juggling romantic involvements with five of the seven weapon people. It's fine, and they do provide some nice context for the characters' thoughts on random subjects, but they're not substitutes for more meaningful time with each character while first establishing a romance. A cold character that warms up to you can suddenly be aloof when you get back to the rest spot in the dunj. There are quick interactions with the weapon-people while exploring the dungeons at special rest spots, but their reactions don't change as your relationship grows. There’s just not enough time to get to know your date before having to decide to engage romantically. The first is a surface-level and often heavily flirtatious introduction the second is where you choose if you’re keeping it friendly or going for a more intimate relationship - and you'll usually get another chance at the third level to romance if you denied their first advance. Since they’re almost all in your debt for your heroic rescue efforts you’re not starting from the point of having to win anyone’s favor - you’re choosing who to reject, if you decide to deny anyone - so already we’re cutting right to the chase and skipping the introductory phase we see in games like Hatoful Boyfriend and Hakuoki.Įvery weapon-person has six levels of romance, each with a corresponding date encounter, which increase as you gain experience with the weapons in the dunj by slaying enemies. By typical dating sim standards, romance is exceptionally quick and easy in Boyfriend Dungeon. Things get even weirder in the beach town when weapon-people start going missing, so naturally, you delve into the dunj only to find them and, of course, date them. As it is, these romances escalate far too quickly if I were in their very inexperienced shoes, the way they go about approaching their partners' problems and romantic gestures would only make sense if they had far more disastrous outcomes. Talk about whiplash! More divergent dialogue options would have made more sense and let us consistently roleplay as either the naive romantic novice or the suave natural - or maybe even a character who had a shred of dating experience. They go from not even being able to say they can stand up for themself in one instance to suddenly navigating rather intensely flirtatious situations. It's a fun setup, though some moments in the romantic journey get a little bumpy given how inconsistent your character is with their available dialogue options.
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