is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key. It was released on July 27, 2007, for Windows PCs and is rated for all ages. Little Busters! is Key's sixth game, following titles such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad. An adult version of the game titled Little Busters! Ecstasy was released on July 25, 2008, for Windows, unlike Kanon and Air, which were first released with adult content and then had later versions with such content removed. Ecstasy was later ported to the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Switch with the adult content removed under the title Little Busters! Converted Edition. An English version for Windows was released on Steam in 2017. The story follows a group of childhood friends (Riki Naoe, Rin Natsume, Kyousuke Natsume, Masato Inohara and Kengo Miyazawa) now attending high school called the Little Busters, as they decide to form a baseball team. Riki, who is diagnosed with narcolepsy, is tasked with recruiting more girls in preparation for a baseball game, and he bonds with each of them on account of their internal conflicts. Meanwhile, Rin gets mysterious letters from her cat Lennon to complete various tasks to learn the "secret to this world".
The gameplay in Little Busters! follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the six female main characters by the player character, which increases to nine in Ecstasy. There are additional minigames added into the gameplay, such as battle sequences that resemble fighting games or baseball batting practice, which serve to give the characters experience, obtain accessories to use during battle, and improve their statistics. Both Little Busters! and Ecstasy ranked as the best-selling PC games sold in Japan at the time of their release, and Ecstasy would go on to sell over 100,000 units. Key went on to produce an adult spin-off called Kud Wafter in June 2010, which expanded on the scenario of Kudryavka Noumi, one of the heroines from Little Busters! and Ecstasy.
There have been 14 manga adaptations based on Little Busters! and Ecstasy published by ASCII Media Works, Kadokawa Shoten and Ichijinsha. Comic anthologies, light novels and art books were also published, as were several music albums. There have been two Internet radio shows hosted by the voice actors of Rin and Kyousuke Natsume and Kudryavka Noumi. J.C.Staff produced two anime television series and an original video animation series between 2012 and 2014.
Gameplay Little Busters! is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Riki Naoe. Much of its gameplay is spent on reading the story's narrative and dialogue. The text in the game is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Riki is talking to, over background art. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the background art and character sprites. When the game is completed at least once, a gallery of the viewed CGs and played background music becomes available on the game's title screen. Little Busters! follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction.
There are seven main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different choices to further the plot in an alternate direction. When first playing the game, the scenarios for all six heroines are available. Once a scenario for any one heroine is completed, that scenario will be unavailable in the next play-through because the last choice that will ultimately lead to that heroine's scenario becomes unavailable for players to choose. After the completion of these six routes, the final scenario called Refrain is made available, which serves to bring everything to a definite conclusion and answers questions brought up throughout the normal gameplay. Completing Refrain makes available all the heroine's scenarios that were previously made inaccessible during gameplay so that the player can revisit the scenarios again, along with some extra decision points that were previously unavailable.
Throughout gameplay, the player encounters various minigames, which range from simple to more complex. The first type of minigame encountered is a battle sequence that resembles a fighting game, but no interaction from the player is required to fight. These recurring battle sequences represent when the members of the Little Busters get into physical fights with either each other or with others. Each member of the fight has a set of statistics attributed to them (which includes strength, stamina, agility, reflex, concentration, judgment, and luck) along with a life bar to keep track of how many hit points a fighter has left. The maximum number of hit points is determined by the given fighter's stamina rating. Weapons may be used along with any accessories the fighter has in their possession, and these items may be exchanged with other characters. Another recurring minigame involves the player being able to play baseball batting practice with members of the Little Busters. The player, as Riki, controls his position and when to swing the bat.
The Little Busters will also participate in missions to accomplish some goal, and a mission will either be completed or failed depending on the choices of the player. These missions are connected with the battle sequences and batting practice in that they serve to give the characters experience, obtain accessories to use during fights, and improve their statistics. However, these missions do not affect the main plot in any way—the player even has the choice to turn off most of the minigames so that the player may focus on the main plot, including the battle sequences and batting practice. The first time that the game is played, Rin's statistics are weak compared to those of other characters. However, when the player completes several heroines' routes, Rin's and Riki's statistics will start higher than before when the player starts a new game, allowing Rin and Riki to stand a better chance against opponents with higher statistics. The statistics of the Little Busters members are shown in a ranking system from highest to lowest in overall statistics.
Despite Little Busters! having a rating for all ages, there is an ample amount of CG artwork featuring the female characters in risqué situations, though never to the point to be considered sexual in nature. This is in stark contrast to Key's previous titles Clannad and Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet that also have ratings for all ages, but those titles contain no such risqué situations or even any fan service.
In Little Busters! Ecstasy, adult elements were added to the gameplay in the form of sexual CGs depicting Riki and a given heroine having sex. Ecstasy extends the story for the scenarios of the heroines in Little Busters!, as well as increasing the number of heroine routes from six to nine. These three heroine routes include scenarios for Kanata Futaki and Sasami Sasasegawa—two supporting characters from Little Busters!—and a new heroine named Saya Tokido, who is only featured in Ecstasy. The first time the game is played, these three heroine routes are unavailable to the player until after the Refrain scenario is completed, though the player is given the option to make them immediately available. Ecstasy has several minor additions and changes to the minigames as well, including the addition of weapons available for use in the battle sequences. Also, Ecstasy features the addition of two recurring minigames related to Saya: a shooting game with pistols and navigating a labyrinth.
Plot The video game takes place is a "secret of this world" that Kyousuke talks about, which Kengo and Masato are aware of. The characters live in either the male or female dormitories on the school grounds, which are across from each other. Childhood and adolescence are two important themes in Little Busters!.
Little Busters!''' story revolves around the main protagonist Riki Naoe, a young male high school student. When Riki was a child, his parents died, leaving him hopeless and depressed. He was saved by a group—three boys and a girl, all his age—who referred to themselves as the Little Busters, a group dedicated to fighting evil and preserving justice. The leader of the group was Kyousuke Natsume, who had a younger sister named Rin. The other two members were Masato Inohara and Kengo Miyazawa, who were friends despite being rivals. They took Riki out and played together with him during his leisure time, making him the fifth Little Busters member. In time, Riki enjoyed playing with them, and his grief over his parents gradually faded away.
The next day, Kyousuke decides that the Little Busters are going to play a baseball match, but they do not have enough members to have a complete team. Kyousuke gives Riki and Rin the task of going around school to find more members to join, preferably girls, so as not to leave Rin the lone girl. Riki finds five girls his age willing to help him out: Komari Kamikita, Haruka Saigusa, Kudryavka Noumi, Yuiko Kurugaya, and Mio Nishizono; three other girls Riki meets are Kanata Futaki, Sasami Sasasegawa, and Saya Tokido. Throughout the game, Riki hangs out with these girls and learns more about them.
Characters Main characters
Riki is the male protagonist of Little Busters! who the person assumes in the game. He is the fifth member of the Little Busters and seen as the weakest of them due to his girly appearance and physical build, but acts straightforward and has common sense.
The main heroine in the story, Rin is the younger sister of Kyousuke Natsume and is the only female member out of the five original members of the Little Busters. She does not communicate well and is seen as inarticulate.
Kyosuke is the leader of the Little Busters who is one year older than the other four members. He often comes up with absurd ideas but normally follows up with a reasonable explanation along with it. Kyosuke suffers from a sibling complex, as he wants his sister Rin to call him onii-chan despite her rejection. In the game, the player must hit the balls to him during practice sessions if they want to raise Riki's statistics faster for a battle ranking game.
Masato is a member of the Little Busters and Riki's roommate with an interest in Riki for Riki, which he is more than willing to express out aloud. His low concentration and judgment points mean he is more likely to make tactical errors during the baseball game. However, depending on the choice the player makes on May 17, his skills during the baseball game can be increased further but he still tends to make mistakes.
Kengo is a member of the Little Busters. He is skilled in and seems to have a cynical personality, but his passion for the Little Busters is unmatched by anyone. Kengo is recruited after Masato, Kyousuke, and Rin defeat his father, making him the fourth member of Little Busters.
Komari is a childish girl who loves fairytales, picture books, candy, and frilly clothing. She is one of the weakest characters along with Kudryavka, but has the fastest growth rate of any character in the game. If the player chooses to raise her statistics by hitting the ball to her during a practice session, which can be fairly difficult especially while Komari is running, she can be made into a valuable player in the field.