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One of the reasons 2025 is looking to be a strong game for folks who enjoy otome games or titles with romantic elements is because of games like Nippon Cultural Broadcasting eXtend Inc’s BUSTAFELLOWS season 2. A near direct follow-up to the previous adventure, it again combines drama and elements of an investigative thriller with a heroine who’s now in an established relationship with one of the leads from the previous game. To learn more about its development, Siliconera spoke with eXtend Producer and Scenario Writer minetaka about both the original game and the sequel.
Jenni Lada: When did development on BUSTAFELLOWS season 2 begin?
minetaka: Originally, we had no plans to create a sequel to BUSTAFELLOWS, as we considered it a complete, standalone story.
After the game’s release, however, we were overwhelmed by heartfelt feedback from players, along with countless messages filled with love for the characters. As I read through them, I found myself wanting to return to the city of New Sieg and see them once again.
At that stage, I hadn’t even thought about a release schedule. I simply approached the original team and said, “I can’t stop thinking about making a sequel. Would you be willing to work on it with me again?” Fortunately, everyone was enthusiastic and open to the idea. They all shared the same desire to return to the world of BUSTAFELLOWS and create something together once more.
That’s why, on December 19, 2020, the first anniversary of the original game’s release, we officially announced the development of Season 2.
At that moment, we had nothing in place: no outline, no production plan, and no clear scenario in my mind. Normally, creating a visual novel requires a considerable amount of time, both in planning and production, so beginning development from that point was especially challenging.
Knowing that BUSTAFELLOWS season 2 would be released worldwide, how did that influence the game’s development?
minetaka: From a creative standpoint, there was no particular impact.
Whether the game would be released only in Japan or internationally did not affect the worldbuilding or the way we approached the story.
Of course, when it comes to entertainment, I believe there are many cultural elements that should be acknowledged and respected. But that does not mean that, ‘we don’t have to take them into consideration because it is for Japan.’ From the very beginning, the city of New Sieg was created as a place where diverse races, cultures, and beliefs coexist.
Nowadays, even if we release a Japanese language version for the Japanese market, it can be accessed and played by people from all over the world. I’m truly grateful that we often hear feedback from international players who have enjoyed the Japanese version. Given this, there is no creative impact on whether the game is for the Japanese or global market.
One thing I’ve always wondered, as someone born and raised in Japan, is how my portrayal of a fictional “American” city is perceived by people who actually live in the U.S. We didn’t aim to create a perfectly accurate representation, but I do worry that it might unintentionally come across as disrespectful from a local’s perspective. I genuinely love American culture and have great respect for it, so I would be very happy if that appreciation shines through in the game.
What was your goal when preparing a sequel to the original BUSATFELLOWS?
minetaka: When it comes to the sequel, around 90% of players will have already played the first game. This means the most people picking it up are those who found the original interesting or grew to love the characters.
It’s incredibly challenging to create something that meets the expectations of those players.
If we made something similar to the first game, it would risk feeling repetitive. On the other hand, going too far in a new direction might not be what players were hoping for. As someone who enjoys watching drama series, I know many of us have felt this before: “Season 2 wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.” Maybe it felt too similar to the first season, or maybe it changed so much that it no longer felt like the same show.
When it comes to a sequel, finding the right balance can be difficult.
If our goal was just to make something acceptable, it wouldn’t be nearly as difficult. We could take the feedback from the first game, keep the parts that were popular, cut out any unpopular elements, and produce something that’s easy to enjoy or at least not disliked.
This is not what we wanted to create. We weren’t trying to make a “three-star” game.
We wanted to focus on creating something we truly believed in and to depict the world we wanted to bring to life. We knew this approach might not connect with everyone, but at the same time, we believed it could deeply resonate with others. This kind of creative risk, which could lead to either one-star or five-star reviews, puts us on a path that we felt would allow our work to grow and evolve.
A new flowchart will be added to BUSTAFELLOWS season 2. Could you share how you came up with this design and what you focused on to ensure a smooth and comfortable gameplay experience?
minetaka: When it comes to UI design, I tried to avoid making it look too “game-like.” For example, displaying the protagonist’s face icon next to the text window helps convey emotions more clearly and makes the screen more visually engaging. But in real life, we don’t talk while watching our own facial expressions, do we? Instead, we want players to imagine the atmosphere and emotions of a scene through the words of other characters or the protagonist’s inner monologue. Having a face icon constantly display different expressions might disrupt a player’s ability to imagine the scene for themselves.
Although it might be easier for the player, and it might feel more “game-like,” in terms of immersion, I believe it’s more important not to disrupt the player’s imaginative engagement. That’s why we chose not to give the protagonist a face icon.
When their expression does play a crucial role in a scene, I find other ways in showing it on the screen. Nonetheless, while I place great importance on narrative immersion, at the end of the day, this is still a game.
If it’s difficult to play, then it simply won’t be enjoyable. That’s why features like the flowchart are important. They help players understand the overall story structure and provide a convenient way to revisit specific parts.
We wanted people to enjoy the story for a long time and thought it was a necessary feature for them to play the game repeatedly.
As for the UI design itself, it was once again handled by Chiaki Sasame, who also worked on the original BUSTAFELLOWS and Side Kicks! beyond. They consistently maintain a thoughtful balance between functionality, making the game easy to play, and helping players fully immerse themselves in the world.
In Season 2, the concept is built around the idea that the player is “logging into” the artificial intelligence anima, which was created by Scarecrow.
How did you incorporate fan feedback into Bustafellows season 2’s development?
minetaka: Feedback related to the usability of gameplay has always been a priority to us. While we do our best to put ourselves in the player’s position and go through a lot of trial and error, no matter how we approach it, we can never truly be in the same position as the player. We often get feedback from players on areas we didn’t realise or perspectives we hadn’t thought of ourselves. Much of what we overlook as developers often becomes clear through player feedback, which is incredibly valuable to us.
At the same time, we pay close attention to both positive and negative feedback regarding the game’s content, story, and characters, while being careful not to let it influence our own vision. Some players may interpret the story exactly as intended and others may see it in a completely different way. Whether the interpretation is positive or negative, incorporating the feedback directly into our work can be risky.
What a creator wants to express and communicate does not necessarily reach everyone in the same way, this is what makes storytelling interesting.
When it comes to Season 2, there are some story developments that are challenging. It was pointed out to me that these developments might be “disliked’’ by many players. Despite this, I stood by my original vision and kept the story as I had originally created it.
All the characters are charming, but none of them are perfect. It’s their flaws, mistakes, and sometimes unlikable actions that make them feel truly alive.
That said… Once the game was released, I have to admit, I watched over it for reactions with a bit of anxiety holding my breath a little. (laughs)
Although BUSTAFELLOWS is classified as an otome game, it also incorporates adventure elements within the visual novel format. For BUSTAFELLOWS season 2, what design choices did you implement to appeal to a wider audience?
minetaka: This is something I have held as a belief for a long time. I never really set out to make a so-called “otome game.” When I say “so-called,” I’m referring to the fact that players often make assumptions on the game before even beginning to play it. I believe that categorising a game as an “otome game” based on preconceived notions narrows the scope of the genre itself.
Before release, I often get questions from fans like:
“What’s the recommended play order for the character routes?”
“How many romanceable characters are there?”
“Are there any hidden routes?”
And of course, I understand where that comes from.
Knowing that kind of information in advance can help players enjoy the game more efficiently, especially for players who would like to focus on the characters. However I also think this takes away the surprise of meeting the characters for the first time and discovering for yourself who they are and what kind of stories unfold around them.
That initial experience can be lost when too much is revealed beforehand.
To be clear, I am not against the otome genre classification.
I think it is important that meaningful genres are established. However, I do not agree with a playstyle that takes away the surprise and the benefits of being a game in that genre.
What I hope for is a broader experience that isn’t limited by definition, where people can approach the story and the world with a fresh perspective, regardless of labels.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if more people could just enjoy these amazing titles released under the “otome” genre with an open mind, and not bound by expectations?
When creating BUSTAFELLOWS, we’ve made a conscious effort to not limit ourselves by convention but to offer something new and emotionally impactful.
When someone starts Bustafellows Season 2, you get an option to pick whose “route” you will be on. How did you come up with that decision to start the game?
minetaka: BUSTAFELLOWS is a multi-ending game,so which character’s ending is considered the ‘official’ story depends entirely on the player’s choice.
Since Season 2 is a sequel, we felt it was important to offer multiple starting points, allowing each player to experience a true continuation of their story.
But, as I mentioned before, we didn’t want it to have a typical ‘game-like’ design.
If you were only thinking of it as a game and wanted the quickest, easiest way to find out, you might just ask, “Whose episode would you like to read?”
In Season 1 of BUSTAFELLOWS, the name of the cat the protagonist owned changed depending on which character’s episode it was with.
In Season 2, we used that idea by asking, “What’s your cat’s name?”, a simple question that helps each player feel like they’re continuing their story.
We could have created a prologue that averaged out all of the episodes from Season 1, or we could have reset all the characters’ relationships and had players start fresh. But since Season 2 is a true sequel, we focused on designing the game to build directly on the previous season, allowing each story to continue exactly where it ended. As a result, the game turned into “five entirely different stories” right from the prologue, which made the production far more demanding than we expected.
But I really do believe that the more challenging the production is, the more interesting the result can be.
Still, I truly believe that when you push through a tough production process, you often come out with something much more interesting. I think we created something truly engaging and it turned out the way we wanted it to be.
You released demos for both BUSTAFELLOWS and BUSTAFELLOWS season 2. What kind of reaction did you get after releasing the demo versions? How difficult was it to prepare these demo versions?
minetaka: We didn’t create a demo for people to play and decide whether they feel the game is interesting or not. We made it with the intention of inviting people to “try it even if you’re not sure. “I promise you’ll want to see what happens next.” That said, we knew there would be some people who might try the demo and feel it wasn’t for them, so of course we had concerns about that.
But when asking players to invest both their money in purchasing the game and their time in experiencing a long story, we felt it was important for them to engage with the game itself and to offer more than just illustrations, text, or videos shared on our official website or social media.
To be honest, we released the demo version with the confidence that anyone who played it would want to continue with the full game.
What do you think of the possibilities for BUSTAFELLOWS season 3? If you were to make a third entry, what would you like to explore or try?
minetaka: Just like with the first release, we have put everything we wanted to do and express into Season 2, so we haven’t left any ideas or plans for what comes next.
We gave it our all.
But this is the same as after the release of Season 1, I received a lot of feedback and messages, and I have the same feeling in me that I want to go back to the city of New Sieg.
I don’t have any specific ideas for what kind of story I want to write next. However, the fact remains that these characters are still living in New Sieg, so if you go looking, I believe the story will naturally begin to reveal itself.
If I had the opportunity to, I would be interested in making a prequel. I’d like to explore the stories before Teuta and the others met. For example: before Limbo became a lawyer, when Shu was working alongside his mentor as a killer of killers, before Helvetica became a cosmetic plastic surgeon, when Mozu had just become a Coroner, when Scarecrow was a genius hacker or when Teuta, Luka and Adam were in their school days. I see many possibilities for stories.
Given the nature of BUSTAFELLOWS, its story, and sometimes cinematic nature, how would you feel about other adaptations of it such as an anime?
minetaka: The story was originally created for the game, so if we were to adapt it into other forms, like an anime, comic, or novel, I believe it would need to be rebuilt for the specific platform.
Each platform has its own format and way to be enjoyed.
I think it would be very interesting to expand the world of BUSTAFELLOWS in the world of anime. I’d love to see that world brought to life in a new way myself.
It would make me very happy to see the world of BUSTAFELLOWS continue to grow and reach people through all sorts of different forms in the future.
BUSTAFELLOWS and BUSTAFELLOWS season 2 are available for the Switch and PC worldwide.
