Played through Boyfriend Dungeon! This is the first new game I've started, *and* subsequently finished, in... I can't remember how long. Haven't been playing video games in general at all much lately so... beware. I gots a lot to say (spoiler tags are mostly due to length):

SpoilerScore out of ten... I'll go with a 7.5, I think? Very enjoyable little game with a premise ("your weapons are actually people who can *transform* into various weapons--a dagger, a glaive, an axe, etc.--with various abilities and strengths/weaknesses, and the goal is to cultivate friendships with and date them") that was able to entice me out of my reluctance to try the "roguelike" genre, which iirc is usually defined in part by its tendency toward high learning curves (aka, "they're balls hard"). This is my first foray into the genre that I can think of, and while both times I started the game (different platforms) it was slightly punishing--it wasn't punishing enough to be demoralizing or discouraging. After you level up a bit--both yourself, thereby gaining more HP, and your weapons' "Love Rank", thereby granting you stronger abilities--the difficulty curve becomes very well paced and reasonable, I find. It's not hard to level up at all, given that when you get KO'd in a dungeon, you gain XP commensurate with everything you've done on that run, *and* get to keep all of the loot you've earned during the run, too. And if you still find it too difficult, there is an option in the main menu to play with a 50% damage reduction from the moment you start the game, which I didn't need, but again, I applaud them for not shying away from accessibility in that regard. Certainly veterans of, and perhaps some intermediate players/beginners, of the genre will want to play on a higher difficulty setting.

The game overall is very easy on the eyes, just like the various babes you'll come across throughout the story (four guys, two gals, and two non-binary pals--err, and there is a weapon-cat you get to befriend, too). I admire the ambition of the animated scenes that are sprinkled throughout, given that Kitfox Games is just a small indie studio, but they're the sole weak point of the game's visual design. They're like... maybe a couple of steps above the animation quality seen in, say, the Zelda CDI games? Yeah, yikes. And I enjoyed the soundtrack enough that I will probably buy it. As far as the story, it has a positive message about the merits of opening up to people, trying new things, and forming new relationships without blaming others for your insecurities and (real or perceived) inadequacies. Still, the story and the characterization of the antagonist (spoiler alert: he's dead ass a stereotypical "Nice GuyTM"/"M'Lady"/incel type) were a bit on-the-nose and hamfisted. At least it all ends with him apologizing honestly, and he actually shows *follow through* on that apology by committing to going to therapy, so yay?

I wish the game had more replay value, because with around 20 hours on the game, I seem to have seen almost all there is to see of the game. I have two characters I didn't max out my "Love Rank" with, but that alone isn't enough to warrant me playing the game again. This is because there is seemingly no consequence for hitting max Love Rank with multiple, or even all, of the (human) romance options in a single playthrough. None of the NPCs ever explicitly say they're monogamous, so I guess that's fine if the game doesn't want to exclude polyamorous players, but it does kind of take away a potential aspect of there being stakes to your decisions and a potential motive for replays. There are stakes in the sense that you can say the "wrong" thing and gain less Love Rank during a conversation, or accidentally give them a gift they're not into that they'll awkwardly decline (which feels... surprisingly humiliating, lmao), but at no point do you have to commit to a particular romance option. I ultimately decided on Valeria as my "the one" if it came to that, but it never did, and imo Seven is the "better weapon" for boss battles, so I actually used him for bosses instead of Valeria. Oh, and you seemingly do have the option to keep things platonic with anyone you aren't attracted to or don't care for stylistically as a weapon, but I was too much of a coward for that because I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. :(