For the birds: Hatoful Boyfriend sequel will have a western release this fall

By Will Fulton June 4, 2015

hatoful boyfriend holiday star announcement

Hatoful Boyfriend, the fantastically strange Japanese visual novel about being a human dating birds, was one of the most delightful surprises in gaming last year. Well get ready to fall in love all over again, because its sequel is also getting a remastered western release.

The sequel, Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star is coming to PlayStation 4, Vita, and PC this fall. Original creator Hato Moa is working with developer Mediatonic, who helped remaster the original game. Publisher Devolver Digital is again leading the western release.

“Hatoful Boyfriend fans will travel to fantastically styled worlds, meet interesting new chickadees, and find romance in elegantly designed winter wonderlands and a new mysterious watercolor world. Dust the snow off your wings and take flight with both familiar faces and new friends in extraordinary adventures,” Devolver says in its announcement. Another notable tidbit: “It’s not a Hatoful Boyfriend game without a bit of the bizarre like anime inspired magical girl transformations for all your favourite pigeon boyfriends.” Sounds about right.

“While we would have loved to create an all-new franchise with our friends at Mediatonic, investing $350,000 in bird motion-capture gear limits our options,” Devolver CFO Fork Parker added.

The previous game is currently available on Windows, Mac, and Linux via Steam. PS4 and Vita ports are en route for this summer, giving PlayStation fans a chance to catch up before the new game arrives. You play as the only human attending Saint PigeoNation’s Institute, a high school for intelligent, talking birds. You seem to be the only human around, a fact which is glossed over initially but, when picked at, gradually uncovers the sinister truth underlying the world you inhabit.

I came into the first game somewhat skeptically, never having played any visual novels before. However, I was totally won over by its absurd humor, unexpected emotional depth, and slow-played, elaborate world-building. A short play time and high variability makes this a wonderful little morsel, which will be particularly well-suited for portable play on the Vita.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

Gaming

How to get a chocobo in Final Fantasy 16

final fantasy xvi may be first m rated mainline game

If there's one thing you can count on in a Final Fantasy game, it's that you're going to see a Chocobo at some point. Unfortunately, not every game in the long-running JRPG franchise allows you to ride these large and majestic birds – but Final Fantasy 16 sure does. Square Enix's newest entry in the series allows you to use a Chocobo to traverse large, open segments of its fantastical world, making for a much faster (and cooler) way of getting around. If you'd like to get a Chocobo for yourself, you're in luck, as we've got everything you need to know about scoring your own mount below.
How to get a Chocobo in Final Fantasy 16
Getting a Chocobo requires you to advance pretty far into the main scenario of Final Fantasy 16 – approximately halfway through the game, as a matter of fact. Like many upgrades in the game, you'll need to complete a sidequest to unlock the mount. When you find yourself working on The Gathering Storm quest, you'll eventually end up at Martha's Rest in Central Rosaria. While here, you'll be able to clearly spot an NPC named Rowan near the front entrance of the town, so speak to him to begin The White Winged Wonder quest.

Finishing up The White Winged Wonder shouldn't take very long – you simply have to wipe out some bandits to rescue a Chocobo. When you've finished up the quest, you'll now have access to your own Chocobo named Ambrosia, which you can summon at any time in open areas by clicking R3. Once you're riding Ambrosia, you can sprint using R2 or even take some simple swings in combat while atop your mount – though we don't really recommend bothering with the latter against anything but the easiest of foes.

Gaming

How to respec in Final Fantasy 16

Screenshot of the main character from Final Fantasy 16 fighting an enemy.

Final Fantasy 16 tells an intriguing story that is overflowing with incredible set-piece moments and lovable characters, but the meat and potatoes of any good action RPG is its combat. Luckily, the newest entry in Square-Enix's long-running franchise packs quite a versatile and flashy set of abilities to use while fighting main character Clive's many foes, giving you the opportunity to fine-tune your combat style and ensure you're prepared for anything the game throws at you. However, it's perfectly normal to want to change things up sometimes – be it for fun or strategy – meaning you'll want to make use of Final Fantasy XVI's respect option to reset all of your ability points. We'll fill you in on how to do so below.
How to respec in Final Fantasy 16
Whether you're wanting to respec to make yourself a bit more viable against a specific enemy or simply curious about some new abilities, respeccing in Final Fantasy XVI is a breeze. While on the Abilities tab in the menu, simply hold down the touchpad to bring up a prompt that will inform you of how many ability points will be refunded so that you know what you'll have available to spend afterward. Select Yes on this prompt and you'll be free to begin reassigning all of your points again. If you'd prefer, you can simply reset a single ability by placing your cursor on it and holding down the Square button.

The best thing about respeccing in Final Fantasy 16 is that it doesn't cost you anything, meaning that you can redistribute your ability points at any time with no consequences for doing so. This gives you a chance to experiment with a lot of different playstyles and figure out what works best for you, so don't hesitate to take advantage of this option whenever you'd like.

Gaming

Final Fantasy 16 Timely Accessories: what they are and how to equip them

Screenshot of the main character from Final Fantasy 16 fighting an enemy.

Traditionally, Final Fantasy titles don't come with difficulty options. As the series has grown leading up to Final Fantasy 16, Square Enix has started to add some options to make the game more accessible to players. Considering this latest entry is more action-heavy than any that has come before, with advanced moves like perfect dodges and parries, these tools are more necessary than ever for longtime fans who prefer a more traditional JRPG experience. While the Timely Accessories can't turn this action game into a turn-based one like older entries, it can at least give you enough of an edge to feel comfortable getting through combat so you can enjoy the deep and complex story. Let's go over what these Timely Accessories are and how to equip them in Final Fantasy 16.
What are Timely Accessories?

Timely Accessories in Final Fantasy 16 are basically your difficulty modifiers, but instead of being menu options, they're items. These types of items have become a bit more common in the last few years and include the Chicken Hat from Metal Gear Solid V. This time, there are five different accessories that you can pick from, each of which modifies the game in different ways to give you an edge in combat. Here are all five of the Timely Accessories and what they do:
Ring of Timely Evasion
When equipped, Clive will automatically evade attacks, as long as the attacks can be evaded.
Ring of Timely Focus
When equipped, time slows before an evadable enemy attack strikes Clive. There's no effect when equipped with the Ring of Timely evasion.
Ring of Timely Strikes
When equipped, complex ability combinations can be executed by simply pressing the Square button.
Ring of Timely Assistance
When equipped, pet commands will be executed automatically based on Clive's actions.
Ring of Timely Healing
When equipped, healing potions will automatically be used when Clive's HP falls below a certain threshold. More common healing items like potions will be used before rarer ones like high potions.
How to equip Timely Accessories
When you first begin Final Fantasy 16 you will need to choose between Story and Action Focused modes. These technically also serve as your difficulty selection, but it's really just a simplified way of enabling the Timely Accessories. Regardless of which difficulty you choose, you will always have access to all these accessories and can switch at any time while playing (as long as you are not currently in combat).