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[Hakuoki] Sexy Samurai on Your PSP this Valentine's Day
SwashbucklerXX
Swashbucklin' CanuckRegistered User regular
Swashbucklin' CanuckRegistered User regular
Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom is one of the first otome games to be released in North America, brought to us by the nifty people at Aksys Games*.
Hey, Swashubuckler, what's an otome game?
I'm glad you asked, hypothetical forumer! Otome is a genre of Japanese game in which a female character plays the lead role, and there are various male characters in the game who serve as romantic interests for the lead.
This is Chizuru, the lead character in Hakuoki. Note the lack of chainmail bikini or schoolgirl uniform. She's kind of an everywoman type of character.
Eww, that sounds all girly and shit. Girls have cooties!
Ah, but Hakuoki is more than a romance game! While otome games take various forms, this one is an interactive visual novel with a historical fiction setting--basically a Choose Your Own Adventure. It's set in Japan's Edo period, which is the awesome time when there were samurai and cool stuff like that. There's also a supernatural twist, as can be seen by the demony guy and the blood on the front cover.
Visual novel? But books are gay!**
This particular novel appears to be quite heterosexual, but it goes without saying that if you don't like reading, you probably won't appreciate Hakuoki. Philistine.
OK, OK, so tell me about the samurai and cool stuff like that.
Well, these guys aren't technically samurai. This story takes place near the end of the Edo period, when the shogunate was pretty much going to pot. A lot of samurai were no longer under the heavy thumb of their former masters, and some of them were wreaking havoc on the local populace. In answer to that abuse of power, a group of swordsmen formed up to champion the common people, calling themselves the Shinsengumi. They were basically self-made samurai, and their story is very popular in Japan.
Here they are, five sexy guys and the one with the ponytail.
In this version of the Shinsengumi story, Chizuru shows up in Kyoto looking for her missing father. This interests the Shinsengumi, who are also looking for Chizuru's dad, and she becomes tangled up in their business as the game progresses. Chizuru will make choices throughout the story, and the second half of the game will change greatly depending on which of the lads she becomes closest to. Each Shinsengumi's story has a positive and negative ending, making for lots of replayability... plus the game has features that let you pick up the story from any point and see the different outcomes of your choices.
Heeeey, wait, this is a PSP game? But the PSP is lame!
Shut up, there are lots of great games on the PSP. Also, Hakuoki will be available for downloadable purchase, so you should be able to pick it up for your Vita.
OK, when's it out and where can I learn more?
It's out on Valentine's Day, of course. Here the official site, which has some fun pretend magazine articles about the guys on it.
So, how about it? I'm not personally a Harlequin romance type of girl, but I got interested in this game due to the setting and because I think it's pretty cool of Aksys to take a chance with an otome game like this. Anybody else thinking of picking it up?
*I do not work for Aksys Games in any way, shape, or form. I just read some of their Twitter feeds, and they're pretty cool.
** G&T Secret Santa In-Joke
Hey, Swashubuckler, what's an otome game?
I'm glad you asked, hypothetical forumer! Otome is a genre of Japanese game in which a female character plays the lead role, and there are various male characters in the game who serve as romantic interests for the lead.
This is Chizuru, the lead character in Hakuoki. Note the lack of chainmail bikini or schoolgirl uniform. She's kind of an everywoman type of character.
Eww, that sounds all girly and shit. Girls have cooties!
Ah, but Hakuoki is more than a romance game! While otome games take various forms, this one is an interactive visual novel with a historical fiction setting--basically a Choose Your Own Adventure. It's set in Japan's Edo period, which is the awesome time when there were samurai and cool stuff like that. There's also a supernatural twist, as can be seen by the demony guy and the blood on the front cover.
Visual novel? But books are gay!**
This particular novel appears to be quite heterosexual, but it goes without saying that if you don't like reading, you probably won't appreciate Hakuoki. Philistine.
OK, OK, so tell me about the samurai and cool stuff like that.
Well, these guys aren't technically samurai. This story takes place near the end of the Edo period, when the shogunate was pretty much going to pot. A lot of samurai were no longer under the heavy thumb of their former masters, and some of them were wreaking havoc on the local populace. In answer to that abuse of power, a group of swordsmen formed up to champion the common people, calling themselves the Shinsengumi. They were basically self-made samurai, and their story is very popular in Japan.
Here they are, five sexy guys and the one with the ponytail.
In this version of the Shinsengumi story, Chizuru shows up in Kyoto looking for her missing father. This interests the Shinsengumi, who are also looking for Chizuru's dad, and she becomes tangled up in their business as the game progresses. Chizuru will make choices throughout the story, and the second half of the game will change greatly depending on which of the lads she becomes closest to. Each Shinsengumi's story has a positive and negative ending, making for lots of replayability... plus the game has features that let you pick up the story from any point and see the different outcomes of your choices.
Heeeey, wait, this is a PSP game? But the PSP is lame!
Shut up, there are lots of great games on the PSP. Also, Hakuoki will be available for downloadable purchase, so you should be able to pick it up for your Vita.
OK, when's it out and where can I learn more?
It's out on Valentine's Day, of course. Here the official site, which has some fun pretend magazine articles about the guys on it.
So, how about it? I'm not personally a Harlequin romance type of girl, but I got interested in this game due to the setting and because I think it's pretty cool of Aksys to take a chance with an otome game like this. Anybody else thinking of picking it up?
*I do not work for Aksys Games in any way, shape, or form. I just read some of their Twitter feeds, and they're pretty cool.
** G&T Secret Santa In-Joke
Want to find me on a gaming service? I'm SwashbucklerXX everywhere.
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It'll be nice to play a good story-focused visual novel that's not fan-translated.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Yeah, Idea Factory's titles tend to have iffy gameplay, but we don't have to worry about that as much in visual novel format.
an otome game. for the psp. localized.
buying this immediately.
I'm up to some pretty real events already. Go Saitou go!
TL;DR thoughts-
-The paths are obtuse as heck. Decide first, ramifications later.
-Great art.
-Decent-mediocre music, great OP though.
-Solid VA.
-Saitou > all
Aw, c'mon, the Agarest War series is pretty good! Eh, I don't know about this one, though...
XBL: GamingFreak5514
PSN: GamingFreak1234
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
This one is very good, but probably couldn't be much more different from Princess Debut in tone and content. It's heavy on blood, war, and dramatic decisions, and even the good endings tend towards the bittersweet. I personally love that about it, it's just that nobody should go into the game expecting a Hollywood-style happily ever after. These guys are ultimately on the losing end of history (Can one spoil history? Eh.) along with having a few other problems that would be actually spoilerish to talk about.
Played through Okita's ending this morning... the first half of the game can be fast-forwarded through with the exception of new scenes that you see based on having made different decisions. The second half of the game is completely different when you're with a different guy.
http://myanimelist.net/anime/6895/Hakuouki
It was released about two years ago.
I KISS YOU!
Everybirdie who's anybirdie should give this game a shot.
I watched it. Wasn't overly impressed, but I'm burned out pretty hard on samurai stuff. Great production values, though.
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums | My ko-fi donation thing.