''Buddy Mission Bond'' is a 2021

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extr ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

developed by

Ruby Party Ruby Party (, ''Rubī Pātī'') is the Japanese brand name of Koei Tecmo Holdings' women-based game development team.(jaRuby Party BrandKoei website (retrieved 17 April 2022. The team was established around 1990 by Keiko Erikawa. The team has m ...

and published by Nintendo for the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

. It has character design by mangaka

Yusuke Murata is a Japanese manga artist and animator, best known for illustrating One's '' One-Punch Man'', serialized in the ''Weekly Young Jump'' online version. Murata's other major work is his illustration of the American football manga ''Eyeshield 21' ...

. The game was revealed at a Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase on October 28 and released on January 29, 2021 in Japan and August 20, 2021 in Korea and Taiwan.

Gameplay

''Buddy Mission Bond'' is a

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

game split up into several missions. Gameplay is split up into two different parts. The first part requires the player to choose two of the four main characters to form a pair of buddies that look for clues and interview citizens in a visual novel format. The second part sees the buddies infiltrate a villain's base in a traditional third-person view. The infiltration route taken by the player depends on specific clues found in the first phase. Throughout each mission, a "Hero Gauge" is present, which acts as a score mechanism that increases or decreases based on dialogue choices, investigation methods, and infiltration methods used at the end of a mission. The overall score is displayed as a rank after each mission.

Story

''Buddy Mission Bond'' takes place on Mikagura Island, the international center for show business. The protagonist Luke Williams is a police officer who dreams of becoming a hero who and emulating his late father, a policeman who died in the line of duty. One day, the police station Luke works at is sent a video showing the kidnapping of a woman. Disobeying his superior's orders to not investigate, Luke tracks down and infiltrates the kidnapper's hideout. However, he runs into "Phantom Thief Beast" Aaron, a man who is alleged to have caused several hundred billion dollars worth of public property damage. The two team up to track down the kidnappers. Eventually they learn of the existence of a secret criminal syndicate “DISCARD” that operates from the shadows. To stop DISCARD, Luke and Aaron team up with the ninja Mokuma and conman Chelsey in order to create the undercover investigation team called "BOND". Along the way, Luke slowly starts to uncover the truth behind his father's death.

Development

During the development of the

, seeking new avenues and genres to attract people to the platform, Nintendo approached Ruby Party to develop an

Otome game An , is a story-based video game that is targeted towards women. Generally one of the goals, besides the main idea/goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player/main character and one of the second-lead male characters. His ...

for the platform. Ruby Party, who at the time had no experience with home console development, pitched a romance game, which Nintendo greenlit around 2016. However, during the development of the title, the project's scale grew from a romance title, to one focusing on multiple, different kinds of bonds.

Reception

The game received fairly positive reviews from critics. Famitsu remarked that there was "a good balance between the ADV parts and the Action parts. They're both high quality."

References

{{Ruby Party 2021 video games Detective video games Video games about ninja Video games about police officers Video games developed in Japan Nintendo Switch games Nintendo Switch-only games