Hatoful Boyfriend - Coo!

The visual novel is a genre that's not that well known outside of Japan. But more and more of these curios are making their way westward thanks to the rise of the indie.

There's no reason why they shouldn't either - visual novels unfold in much the same way as the Choose Your Own Adventure games that many of us grew up with.

While last month's Steins;Gate is often lauded for breaking the visual novel mould, Hatoful Boyfriend sticks to its guns. For the most part.

Functionally, it's a standard otome game - 2D backdrops and character portraits, branching paths, and over a dozen endings depending on who you woo.

You play Tosaka Hiyoko, a high school girl at St. PigeoNation's institute. And all of this school's staff and students are birds. Literally birds. The madness doesn't end there.

One playthrough you're discovering your romantic interest, a rock dove, is crossdressing as a maid in a transvestite cafe. The next, a scooter-riding, takoyaki-selling java sparrow is defending you from a loft of punk pigeons.

It's absolutely, unforgivingly mad, and I love it all the more for it.

The clubs and classes you choose to attend will affect which characters you run into the most, giving you the opportunity to lay down some slick responses.

As you complete more storylines further options open up, enabling you to romance new characters.

Each successful playthrough only takes an hour or two depending on your reading speed, but the real fun comes from exploring each of the game's different paths.

Some of the backstories are ludicrous in the best possible way.

The translation is a little raw at times, with the sort of spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes that you'd expect in a fan-translation, not an official localisation.

Meanwhile, the game's audio is a melange of classical music and cheesy muzak. But it's the audio glitches that really detract from the game, making it feel like a rushed port. Expect the odd crackle and an occasional alarming piece of clipping.

With its relatively cheap price tag, Hatoful Boyfriend's gaffes can easily be overlooked. Whether or not it's for you really boils down to is how open you are to experiencing something completely off the wall.