0The very best visual novels capture elements across multiple media types and focus them into something grand that can only be represented here. While the gameplay aspect is usually neutered or at least diminished, the flow of storytelling, the balance of perspective and engagement and the inclusion of moments that move at your own pace, not the games, make great visual novels something truly spectacular. It’s been a bit since I played the original Bustafellows, and the announcement of the sequel had me in a state of mixed emotions. On the one hand, the continuation of Tetua’s amazing life and that of her companions was quite exciting. On the other, would Bustafellows: season2 let me down or otherwise compromise the established lore and ending that thousands adore? The answer, much like the events in New Seig, lies somewhere in the middle.

Bustafellows is a monstrous title to sum up, so I’ll assume anyone picking up season2 is at least tangentially aware of the backdrop. If you’re coming in here, I almost admire your tenacity and boldness. It’s like picking up The Mysterious Island and just going along with the flow, having never read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The long and short is this: Tetua, our main character, has the ability to go into the limited past of people she meets. This allows her to get data and solve crimes, especially when partnered up with her harem friend group of questionable characters, such as a coroner, a lawyer, and the boss of the underworld (self proclaimed). In the first game, Tetua and crew solved some murders, cleared some names and had revelations that would have been the best game ending ever if the Auld Lang Syne path didn’t open up.

In season2, the gang has matured and changed over the years. While all still close friends and compatriots, there are elements as aspects of their personalities that are different. The changes are good, and help to prepare you for a brand new case that brings in everyone to the forefront of some potentially heinous crimes. The gang must work together, along with some new and very bizarre characters in order to find out who is guilty and who is innocent. Oh, and Tetua needs to figure out who she has feelings for and how not to screw up that relationship. Yes, the focus is still very much on the romantic elements, but this time there is a helpful cat system to guide you on the right path. I’m not joking: choose a cat at the beginning, putting you on the “route” for whomever you’re looking to fall in love with.

Bustafellows and, by proxy, Bustafellows season2 are titles where my takes are exceedingly conflicted as to how the game performs. I’ll disregard all of my misgivings from the original to focus on this sequel. season2 does an incredible job of picking up where the previous title concluded and running in a direction that feels natural. Limbo, Scarecrow, Shu and others all have excellent extensions of their characters: instead of feeling like many sequels where you have to do some backstory explaining to catch people up, you just dive right into things. There are moments of exposition that do feel a little forced (wow, I can’t believe it’s been X years since Y), but they’re forgivable, especially in such a massive tome as this.

Additionally, the world feels so tonally correct and lived in for the story that Nippon Cultural Broadcasting Extend INC. (the dev team) seeks to bring. Making something that captures the detective elements and the noir adjacent tone is no small feat, and it’s even better that it’s done with color and flair. In spite of the grim beats of investigation and crime-drama cutaways, the interactions with the characters often feels lighthearted and jovial. The fact that this gang of six (plus some guest stars) deal with high level, very risky felons and adversaries while ribbing each other about their personal preferences and cash on hand is so…natural. Actual investigators have banter and lives, and they can’t just freeze it in place in the middle of work. Bustafellows is incredible in that regard.

Choices within season2 also present more frequently that the original game, which is good for keeping players engaged, but not great for those of us who are trying to grind out endings. A lot of the choices have time limits on decisions, and penalties occur if you can’t figure out something before the clock strikes zero. A majority of players nowadays are multitasking – yes, even with visual novels – and it can be shocking to suddenly realize that you’re two seconds away from missing an opportunity to make a potentially important call with Guero, another new character who may or may not be wildly guilty. As much as we want to binge something in the background, Bustafellows: season2 demands your attention, and it would behoove you to give it.

Tetua is still a protagonist I can’t fully get behind, and it’s simply not her fault. I really enjoy my visual novels – male and female perspective – to be first person and voiceless. It gives me a better sense of immersion within the game and the overall effect of the story. With Bustafellows: season2, you’re constantly hopping between perspectives, so it makes sense to give Tetua her own autonomy and to appear more frequently as an NPC. Ever 17 made Takeshi a visual character, but only after you abandoned his perspective entirely, so it worked in a way. Having Tetua just constantly there took away the visual novel feeling and shifted to a more “watching a movie” perspective. It’s fine, but it doesn’t gel as well with my own visual novel sensibilities. At least her voicework is solid, so it’s not wildly jarring to have her on the outside.

That, in turn, is also a fantastic element of Bustafellows: season2. The aural design has never been an issue, and season2 turns the knob up to eleven with a stellar voice crew and amazing soundtrack. Everyone from the previous titles has returned as their own voices, at least as far as you know who is returning (mysterious, I know, but bear with me). All Japanese cast, all the time, and plenty of snark, slyness and amazingly bald deliveries keep the tempo fast and fun from start to finish. Not to mention the noir element is then additionally captured with scoring that is all over the map but solidly within a single motif. With everything being underlined with smoky jazz, frantic piano and some of the best beats since Cowboy Bebop, the audio should always be enjoyed through headphones or good speakers.

But it isn’t perfect. If you want a visual novel that stays on task and brings you to the natural conclusion in a timely fashion, Bustafellows: season2 definitely isn’t it. While shorter than the original, getting through the main five paths to reveal the true ending isn’t an easy feat. Besides the script being enormous, the pacing of the story itself is also off. I feel like the devs really wanted to focus more on the darker side of relationships and emotions, because you get more Tetua and (enter beau here) than ever, gently pushing the whole “we have to solve this murder” thing to the background, and also dealing with folk making some truly piss poor decisions. Sometimes it feels like a Rube Goldberg machine is trying to get you to a conviction by way of “what if we also had a wacky sleepover?”

Additionally, the port to the Switch has, once again, been riddled with some poor choices. I am not in game development anymore: I have no idea how hard it is to get subtitles on certain scenes of a game, especially if they are pre-rendered. But there are multiple instances where speech flows along merrily, in Japanese, and there’s no offering for subs. As someone who understands a fair bit, I can say that the moments where there isn’t a translation offered are, by and large, unimportant to the overall plot, but do serve as flavor and ambience to the overall effect. For a majority of players, they will get the sense they’re missing out on something, and that’s a goddamn bummer. You should be able to decide yourself if something in a game is important. Otherwise, just mute the scene or remove it entirely: the alienation effect is real.

Lastly, and this utterly pains me to say, but there didn’t need to be a season2 for Bustafellows. With the conclusion of the first story, everything felt like it was where it should be. Sure, there were fractures and heartache and questions of why, but that’s like life. Sometimes you don’t get the answers you want or need, but you still find ways to keep on living. season2 answers some things, but not everything, and the introduction of more turmoil while Tetua figures out if she really wants to love someone named Scarecrow just felt unnecessary. If you’ve ever watched Elementary, you’ll know the penultimate season had the best ending, but money and greed forced a seventh season that just sucked the goodwill out of the IP. It’s absolutely not that bad here, but I don’t feel fulfilled or impressed by even more New Seig drama.

If you are all in on Bustafellows already, if you adored CollarXMalice or Code:Realize and can pick up the general information, then you’re in good company. Bustafellows: season2 has plenty of excellent voice acting, quirky romance beats and a couple of great developments that made me appreciate Shu so much more than the first title. But if you’re coming into otome games or visual novels in general, this is not a great place to start. It’s obfuscated in lore and inside stories, the pacing is wild and the implications about certain characters’ mental health is distressing, to say the least. While I adored many aspects of this game, the end result is a curtain crashing down on a play that’s gone two acts too long. The longtime theater kids will look past the flaws, but the average patron will be left bewildered why they aren’t just home, watching TV.

Graphics: 9.0 A solid advance from the previous entry in the series, characters are all familiar but with distinct signs of growing older and maturing. The world is so detailed and full of contrast; New Seig is truly a sight to behold. Would have loved more artwork scenes, but the ones available are beautiful.	Gameplay: 6.0 A bit more demanding than most, season2 gives you almost nothing unless you get through a minimum of two routes before pieces start to come together. Choices feel very oblique, forcing players into bad endings more often than you might imagine. Dialogue is fun and story beats are interesting, but the repetition can be draining.
Sound: 9.5 When you commit to the bit, you end up with something fabulous. Loved all the voice actors with one small exception (Alex, love your performance, but the voice felt wrong for the character). Soundtrack is amazing, I will put it on anytime I’m trying to solve my own problems at home or on the road.	Fun Factor: 6.0 As an otome enthusiast, I can overlook some of the bumps and hiccups because I know this dance and I’m familiar with how to save myself from stumbling. For new players, though, the missing subtitles and meandering subplots can really put you out, and I can see how Bustafellows: season2 might not be as fufilling as you’d like it to be.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Bustafellows: season2 is available now on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Bustafellows: season2 was provided by the publisher.