Today’s the day Replay Boys drops, and it’s time to dive into the mysterious depths that await within this unique otome experience. It’s got that classic romance vibe but set against a backdrop of horror and suspense that keeps you on your toes.
Picture this: emergency lights flashing outside an arena, your friend’s texts taking an odd turn, and suddenly a shadowy presence veiling your vision as your day at work hits rewind.
You step into the shoes of Hannah, a video editor at a small record label. As everyone else on the team falls ill, you’re handed the daunting task of managing the erratic members of the Replay Boys. Your job? To rustle them together for their concert, handle their pre-soundcheck jitters, and manage their tantrums. While it might initially seem like just another visual novel about guiding a wayward boy band through the modern music scene, there’s a darker twist lurking beneath.
The game heavily leans on its namesake’s theme—replaying the same day over to unravel its mysteries. Interact with the supernatural, confront overzealous fans and a menacing cult, and even tackle more ordinary yet scary crimes such as kidnappings.
I had a conversation with the game’s writer, Bell, about how Replay Boys came to life. “It naturally evolved as I shaped the storyline,” she explained. “I love creating worlds where you’re constantly questioning reality. Visual novels, with their imaginative power, have a weird and wonderful potential to spook you using your own mind.”
Bringing together visual novel elements with horror, Replay Boys takes inspiration from both genres’ repetitive nature. Traditional visual novels often have unchanging sections that need replaying to unlock story branches. Here, those repetitions transform into a narrative-driven time loop. Meanwhile, horror games frequently take something familiar and safe, only to later reveal its terrifying side.
Replay Boys begins as you might expect for this genre, but the day’s abrupt end and subsequent rewind soon immerses you in a world where subtle, creepy nuances start seeping through familiar events. Odd sounds on your phone, and new paths like dark rooms now accessible, intensify as you loop again and again, warping the original narrative into a surreal adventure.
The game’s standout element is its subversion of expectations, but at its heart, Bell crafted Replay Boys to be a genuine otome dating sim. “Each band member had to be believable and vibrant, allowing the player to nurture meaningful bonds. By the end, the real prize is the trust that’s been earned.”
This Valentine’s Day, take a ride with this quirky boy band – Replay Boys is available now on Xbox One, Series X|S, and the Xbox app on PC.
Split Narrative Inc. brings you this visual novel full of drama and choices where every decision steers the story’s trajectory. Guide Hannah as she tackles not just the band’s inner struggles but external chaos too, involving fanatical fans, a mysterious organization, and the perplexing time loops.
