Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds

So a few months ago, I got a PSTV to play Persona 4 Golden. I also tried out Neptunia Re;birth2 at the recommendation of someone. P4G was amazing, Neptunia was awful. However, while I was browsing Idea Factory's site, I found this. I preordered it and it just came out a week ago.

I also learned this is a somewhat old franchise that is also somewhat popular and I'm just playing the latest version of the game they released here. They've apparentlyremade and ported it a ton, although I have the best version so that's cool.

Anyway, I was attracted to this partly because I wanted to fill up my Vita library, partly because I love the Tokugawa period, partly because I love prettyboys and partly because the trailer looked really good. Oh and this would be my first VN ever. I was excited about that. I usually listen to things dubbed because I can't follow subtitles but that wasn't a problem here, obviously.

I've been taking my time with it because I figure it's pretty short compared to the usual stuff I play and I wanted to savor the experience. I just finished my first run. I chose Sanan because I liked his voice and look in the trailer.
(SPOILER)Then he had a pretty interesting story in the actual game. But...man. Whata downer ending. My bastard of a brother killed him and for most of the time he's depressed and losing his mind... Can I pick 'em or what.

I'm most interested in pursuing Saito next. I love his look, voice and personality. He's a lot nicer (and better-looking) than the one in Rurouni Kenshin.

But anyway, I like all the boys and I'm interested in actually trying to 100% this game. I figure it has to be relatively easy to most things.

(SPOILER)Not looking forward to the Kazama path. What a jerk that Chizuru must be.

I've played Hakuoki: Shinsengumi Kitan myself some time ago. Don't know what the differences are, though the game I played certainly had no Sanan route.

So I've gotten through a couple routes.

I got a Bad Ending the first time without even realizing it. I was enjoying seeing the story develop and meeting the characters so while I was sort of aiming for Sanan, I wasn't exactly super focused on that. I thought the ending with him was just meant to be super depressing but someone told me that if you do it right, all your LI's will survive. So... I didn't do it right.

On my second time through, I aimed for Saito and made sure to keep an eye on the Warrior Record. I got to "Full Bloom" (100%) with him and his ending was heartbreaking yet very inspiring. I know I know I shouldn't be wowed or anything but it's still very impressive the level of storytelling you can manage with this. I now know there are a lot of "full" animated works based on this - movies, anime, OVAs - but this game accomplishes everything so wonderfully.

But more important to my goal of trying to see everything, I unlocked the Record of Service by getting a good ending. This helps you out by letting you start at various points in the game and also lets you automatically start with some percentage points towards a chosen LI's route.

I learned after I got the game that IFI was selling a Limited Edition. I was sad, mainly because I wanted the soundtrack. But the Gallery mode in the actual game lets you listen to all the music so...that's awesome.

I was periodically thinking during my first time through the game that "man, I wish Chizuru was a bit more independent." But really, I've made peace with that. If I want a video game where my character goes around beating everyone up, I can play literally any other video game I own. This story is a Historical Romance and sometimes you just want to imagine a dashing hero coming in to save you. The way someone else more acquainted with otome than I am put it, it's about playing a "kind/passive princess/miko/teacher/etc.." I am cool with that.

To conclude, I'm probably gonna look into some of those animated works. I've seen a few scenes. I think I can finally kinda see why some people react so passionately against English dubs. I watch dubs in anime out of necessity and not merely because I enjoy them. But with this game and given the VN format, I could actually listen to the Japanese voices all the way through the game. The voice I've heard for Saito in English makes his voice quite a bit lighter. (this is even compared to his Kenshin dub voice of Kirk Thornton) It's just a bit disconcerting and I can kinda see why people get riled up over "they just don't sound right." You just become so accustomed to the "original."

My girlfriend owns like three of them. I playfully give her grief that she's buying and playing the same game over and over again, but she really loves the story and characters. So it's like Dynasty Warriors. They keep adding and changing just enough to pique her interest. Haven't tried it myself but I have faith its a good game. Though I have little faith in most of what Idea Factory does, but they do alright with visual novels