Bustafellows: An Investigation That Hooked Me More Than the Romance
In Bustafellows, you play as Teuta, a young journalist living in New Sieg who has a very unusual ability: she can briefly travel back in time while taking over the body of another person.
And that ability is exactly what throws her into a series of investigations.
I really liked this idea, especially because I’m not used to seeing detective stories in an otome game. You start by trying to save Limbo, a lawyer known for taking on complicated criminal cases, and before long, you become involved in several different investigations.
And the characters are quite different from one another.
Limbo is a lawyer considered crooked, but he has his own idea of justice. He’s skilled, popular, and very confident, although he has a softer side than he initially lets on.
Shu makes a living taking security jobs, but it doesn’t take long to discover that he’s actually a professional killer. Cold, distant, constantly smoking, and an incredible shot. He feels like he walked straight out of a completely different kind of story.
Helvetica is a plastic surgeon who is absolutely obsessed with beauty. He loves judging people’s appearances and never misses an opportunity to flirt with you. And yes, you’ll hear quite a lot about how he could make you even more beautiful.
Mozu works in the autopsy department and is probably one of the most unusual members of the group. He loves cats, is an excellent cook, and can talk about corpses with an almost unsettling level of calm. His extremely rational way of thinking can also lead to some pretty funny situations.
And then there’s Scarecrow, the self-proclaimed king of the underground.
He’s an incredibly skilled hacker, knows just about everything that’s going on, and lives in a huge mansion. He’s also afraid of cats, gets embarrassed very easily around girls, and clearly has a crush on the protagonist.
For me, he was the most fun character.
After a series of events, Teuta ends up with nowhere to live and starts staying at Scarecrow’s mansion with the other guys. And this everyday-life part is one of the things I enjoyed the most.
Seeing the characters outside of their investigations, wearing casual clothes, having coffee, going to the pool, drinking, shopping, or simply getting a ride home together makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.
Those everyday moments do a great job of showing a different side of the characters.
But, to be completely honest, the story interested me much more than the romance.
Teuta’s ability to travel back in time is one of the elements I liked the most in Bustafellows. She can briefly return to a past event and take over another person’s body in an attempt to change what happened.
And there’s an interesting consequence to that.
You gradually realize that changing the past can affect other people. Sometimes Teuta ends up inside the body of a completely random person and has to figure out what happened to them.
I thought this was a really interesting concept, and it becomes increasingly important as the story progresses.
The game also does a good job of balancing tense moments with lighter scenes. The cases are interesting, and I genuinely wanted to find out how each situation would end.
I really enjoy detective stories, so Bustafellows ended up being a pleasant surprise. At the same time, playing something like this made me realize that an investigative otome game probably isn’t something I would naturally pick up.
So, do I recommend Bustafellows?
Yes, mainly for the stories and the cases.
I really enjoyed the investigations, the time-travel mechanic, and the characters’ everyday interactions.
Now, if the question is whether the guys managed to win me over…
Well, the cases seduced me more than the guys did.