This is one of the most chill, pleasant, and relaxing gaming experiences I've ever had. And that is ultimately the best thing about Boyfriend Dungeon and why it gets my recommendation. This game is the definition of immersive escapism with great music, chill vibes, and a really cozy and comfortable atmosphere.
The most distinct aspect of Boyfriend Dungeon is probably its structure. The game is split between a roguelike dungeon-crawler like Hades and a dating sim in which you date (or befriend) the various people in Verona who turn into the weapons you wield in the dunj. The game is fairly casual in both regards. The roguelike side is by far the easiest of the genre that I've played and you really don't even need to complete all the dungeons to see the whole main story. The dating sim is also pretty forgiving since, as far as I can tell, you can't really miss out or fail any of the routes, and none of the various love interests will get overly jealous or block you from progressing the others. I was able to date everyone to the conclusion of their routes and from what I can tell, you can still progress those arcs regardless of your dialogue choices so you don't need to worry about screwing up in that regard either.
I think this casual experience is what also gets the game some hate since admittedly it does feel a little shallow in some sense, but I think that the ease of both sides of the game really contribute to that golden goal I mentioned of just being a really comforting experience. I could turn off my usual try-hard gamer brain while hacking and slashing through the dunj and I could enjoy role-playing my choices with the romance without stressing about screwing up any of the routes and missing out on story like you might in a lot of dating sims. I would've liked a bit more to the roguelike side, but for the most part I feel like the "shallowness" is part of keeping the game casual and chill. The two sides of the game are also rather interrelated. You're locked into one level up per weapon per run through the dunj. After you level, you need to complete a date scene with that character/weapon before you can level it further, which was a cute way to add a reasonable progression gate while also tying the two sides of the game together rather neatly and encouraging using a diverse array of weapons on each of your runs.
Admittedly, I'm not much of a dating sim player and haven't completed many visual novels. This was one reason I wasn't sure about this game when I was considering it. But I still found the story plenty enjoyable. The different characters you can date have pretty distinct routes that explore not just romance but a variety of topics and even some serious issues that, in my opinion, were handled with adequate care, though there's mostly nothing too dark in the game. Further, the game doesn't penalize you for not wanting to go "further" with some characters and even the characters themselves tend to be quite chill about it when you tell them to back off or slow down.
My favorite routes were probably Seven, Leah, and Jonah, but I enjoyed them all to some extent and in different ways. There's a good variety to the characters as well. Despite the title of the game, this isn't a typical otome game. The devs wanted a diverse and inclusive game so you're allowed to choose whatever pronouns you want and can still date the full cast, which includes multiple male, female, and non-binary characters, regardless of your choice. There's even a cat you can date (not in a weird way, or at least not in that kind of a weird way). Boyfriend Dungeon is one of the most LGBTQ friendly games I've played. I specifically picked it to play during Pride Month so I'm glad it delivered on this front. This is just another way in which Boyfriend Dungeon makes you feel cozy and welcome, regardless of who you are.
The best thing about Boyfriend Dungeon is the vibes. I love the music in the game. It's one of those games where it's not one or two songs that you really like, but instead there's just one or two songs that aren't the jam and the rest are bangers, especially the (thankfully numerous) vocal tracks. The songs are also notably written to fit the game with lyrics that clearly reference the game's themes and concepts. I've already bought the soundtrack and listened to it several times (I'm listening to it while I'm writing this!). The simple but fun art of the environments and characters contributes further to the laidback feel. While not the whole script is voiced, the voice acting is quite strong. And further, there's a lot of humor in the game and while some parts were funnier than others, pretty much none of it fell flat or felt cringey to me, which is significant for a game focusing on humor. I had a number of laugh-out-loud moments throughout the game and I have to say, despite how cheesy it sounds, most of the time I played this game I had a full-on smile on my face. I highly recommend this game to play after a long or stressful day when you need to just check out and forget real life for a bit. That's how I played it and at times, it was exactly what I needed.
At the end of the day, this game is pretty short, simple, and sweet. It in some ways feels weird rating a game so highly that you can (quite easily) beat in a few hours if you want. But as I red-facedly admitted above, I was smiling pretty much the whole time I played. Even if I was ultimately left wanting a bit more, that experience makes this an easy 5 stars that I highly recommend to a wide range of gamers (and even non-gamers!). I love this game.
