Impressions of Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi?

[Bucknerd]

Does anyone have any feedback on this game? The internet is scarce for reviews or commentary that is trustable.

Danganronpa was my first venture into VN style games. From what I'm seeing on the internet there doesn't seem to be any "game play" for lack of a better term for this game. Is that true? While I don't mind reading a VN I do mind paying $40 to do so.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[CasaDeBen]

Im pretty sure thats all youre getting in this one. You get some choices to advance story or what not but thats about it. words and pictures.

[Wdjat Prinny Doods]

My friends whos opinion I trust on games have told me it is basically all reading and it isnt worth $40.

[Shana Alter]

It is a VN you read it make choices and progress the story although I don't get how someone can say if it is worth the money or not as that will differ person to person will some want something easy to just sit through and enjoy the story yes, will others prefer something with something more gameplay oriented yes does the former make this worth any less no it doesn't.

 

I'd also like to point out this is more aimed at a female audience as you're playing the role of a girl with multiple options of who to end with unlike most where it is the reverse(male lead multiple female romantic options), I'd also like to point out XBLAZE is much the same although choosing your story routes in that is done a bit differently.

[Bucknerd]

My main problem, concerning price, is that it seems to be super short. People have platted it within a few days. I don't mind the VN aspect at all; I was just curious if this VN had "gameplay" since others in the series seem to. Just curious.

Also, as a member of the female audience, I look forward to playing this eventually... albeit for a tad cheaper if the length of the game is abbreviated.

Edit: I realize now I didn't address the length of the game being a large component in keeping me from buying it. That's what I get for being on here at work. I apologize.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Bucknerd

[Shana Alter]

My main problem, concerning price, is that it seems to be super short. People have platted it within a few days. I don't mind the VN aspect at all; I was just curious if this VN had "gameplay" since others in the series seem to. Just curious.

Also, as a member of the female audience, I look forward to playing this eventually... albeit for a tad cheaper if the length of the game is abbreviated.

I wouldn't be looking at platinum times for a VN to judge it on length as most people will use autoskip + a decision guide to get the platinum in the shortest time possible as a good example would be CLANNAD it can be done in about six hours with that method but to play it normally would take roughly over 100 hours.

 

If memory serves wasn't there only a single Hakuoki game that had gameplay and that was closer to the Dynasty Warriors style it was more of a side game rather than a true title.

[Bucknerd]

Thank you, obviously I'm a newbie when it comes to VNs. I think I will take the plunge. Worst case scenario it's short but I get a good story and trophies. Can't really make too much of a fuss about that! :-D

[Royalredpanda]

There was also a PSP version a few years ago if you can find that for cheaper. Basically though you just answer a few choices here and there to get different endings. I know in the PSP version there were no battles or anything, just lots of reading. Er.. there were two PSP ones, one a VN and the other actually had fighting.

[KhajiitWerewolf]

This is definitely not a short game. The first three introductory chapters will take a good 4 hours to read, plus the individual character stories take anywhere from one to four hours afterward. If you're zooming through the text with an old guide for the psp game, it will take at least 40 minutes per route, even if you skip absolutely everything, so I wouldn't buy it just for the trophies.

 

That being said, I'm not complaining. The sheer level of content more than makes it worth $40. The target audience is women, but if you're expecting a steamy romance, I wouldn't buy it. (Although I haven't played the substories yet, so fingers crossed that will change). The story centers around winning the heart of a guy, not so much what happens afterward. The characters are well thought out and have a decent amount of depth. Even without romantic elements, the story is interesting. There are even a few supernatural elements.

 

There is also a lot of political content relating to Japanese culture, and it is a historical fiction in a way. There are journal entries designed to help explain what's going on, but I found a lot of the entries useless without a basic understanding of japanese history and culture. Despite my lack of knowledge, I was still able to at least figure out the character motivations and who the current villains were, so that wasn't a problem, but I was often confused on where the armies were moving, who was battling who, and what political factions wanted what.

 

I hope this comment helps someone. I'm attempting to throw together a guide based on my playthroughs, detailing step by step what to do, but someone always seems to beat me to the punch, resulting in me never publishing a guide... at the very least, if someone comes out with a phenomenal guide while I'm not looking, I'll be able to post some tips.

Edited May 14, 2014 by KhajiitWerewolf

[VanDeaM]

I just got the platinum for this game. Don't be fooled by people obtaining the platinum early, this game is super long if you read every line of text. It took me over 8 hours to get the normal route (no romance) after that I started skipping all of the text. There are 7 routes of stories for the main game, plus a whole side story arc with 8 chapters for each character and last but not least 15 bonus short stories for completing the entire side story arc. My guess, it would take 20-25 hours to read everything this game has to offer.

 

As for the quality of the storytelling...I've played better Visual novels, but this game wasen't intended for straight men like myself.

 

There is alot of Samurai/Feudal Japan Lingo that gets thrown around (The developers smartly included a button press for more infomation but it can get hard to keep track of everything)

There were also times where there would be alot of dialog about nothing and it drags the story to the point where I get really bored and have to stop and do something else.

Also as a straight male I tried to keep an open mind, but none of these guys did it for me. I played the original Dragon Age as a female (a mistake that I just went with) and I was shockingly suprised how Alistair was able to talk my pants off just by coming off as a genunine, real person who is in really in love with your character. Since I don't have any dogs in this race, all I can focus on is the quality of the text that i'm reading. These guys are all just anime archetypes we've seen time and time again. There hot, there shirtless and they really like you...If you select the right answers.

 

I guess I should say what I consider are better visual novels then this? 999/VLR, To the Moon, Banshee's Last Cry

Edited May 14, 2014 by VanDeaM

[Snow_Flower_]

If you're looking for story only & no gameplay, then it might be a game for you. There's a ton of reading so it can actually be a long game. I use the fast forward button since I find it boring & want to plat it asap. But even using that it can take up to around 25 mins or longer for each character. There is absolutely no gameplay, only choosing options. This game is just a storybook with pictures. I would wait on a price drop, or rent it if you can. Either way, if you buy it, I hope you enjoy it!

Edited May 15, 2014 by Snow_Flower_

[WidthOfACircle]

Just saw this was up on Playstation Now and came here to figure out what type of game it was.  Might be a good option as a rental although I don't know how much it is.