A somewhat gay review of Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom (PSP)

Game: Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom

Genre: Otome/Visual Novel

Developer: Idea Factory

Publisher: Aksys Games

System: PSP

Release date: 2012

Please forgive me for being a bit crass, but I consider Aksys' Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom to be the gaming equivalent of "a grower, not a shower." What I mean is that, for me at least, it wasn't all that appealing at first. I think that's because I expected ... well, something other than what greeted me during the first hour or two of my playthrough of this PSP title.

You see, rather than being the kind of action-packed game most of us in the western world are used to playing, Hakuoki is a visual novel. As such, you can expect to spend a lot of time reading text and hitting your PSP's "X" button over and over again in order to advance the game's story--which follows a young woman, Chizuru Yukimura, as she and the Shinsengumi, a group of samurai who protect the citizens of Kyoto, search for Chizuru's missing father during Japan's Bakumatsu period (1853-1867).

Although you spend a lot of time reading while playing Hakuoki, that's not all you do. Sometimes, for instance, you're able to influence the story's direction a la the Choose Your Own Adventure books that many Americans devoured as kids. At the same time, you're able to influence Chizuru's future, as each decision brings her another step closer to (or takes her a step further away from) one of the game's eligible bachelors, romantically speaking.

Sadly, these moments of interactivity are all too rare. Not only that, but they're more than a bit confusing--especially if you're like me and you've never before played a visual novel or otome game--since it's often difficult to decipher how a particular decision is going to alter Chizuru's path. That said, the interactivity, even if it's a bit ham-fisted, is more than welcome amid Hakuoki's endlessly streaming lines of text.

The good news here is that those endlessly streaming lines of text are both well-written and, for the most part, quite engaging and compelling. Similarly compelling are the game's characters, each of whom are imbued with personality, and its graphics, despite the fact that they're static and more than a little repetitive. Although the word repetitive also could be used to describe Hakuoki's soundtrack, it never really becomes grating thanks to its relaxed nature.

Given all of the above, would I recommend Hakuoki to your average PSP owner? Yes, although with a few reservations. In my opinion, this title is most likely to appeal to those who are OK with playing as a girl, who don't mind games that include a dating component, who enjoy a good page-turner and who have at least a smidge of patience.

See also: Previous 'somewhat gay' reviews

I'm going to get with Isami Kondou if it's the last thing I do (or, I'm currently making my way through Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom)

Those of you who have been paying attention to the little "Now Playing" list that resides on the right-side on this blog should be aware that I recently acquired a review copy of Aksys Games' PSP-based otome title, Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom. (And those of you who tend to ignore said list? Well, I guess you're in the loop now.)

I believe I've played it for about four or five hours, give or take an hour, which according to the proprietress of the Chic Pixel blog (aka apricotsushi, who you've likely come across if you've ever posted a comment here) means I should encounter one of the game's many endings sooner rather than later.

I don't want to give away too much in this post, as I'd rather save the important details for the "somewhat gay" review that will be published shortly, but I will say this: Hakuoki, while not exactly everything I had hoped for, is interesting and engaging enough that I'd recommend it to those who don't mind controlling a female protagonist and those who enjoy a good page-turner.

The second point above is especially important, as reading is pretty much all you do while "playing" Hakuoki. Every once in a while you're allowed to steer the story in one direction or another, a la those Choose Your Own Adventure books you plowed through as a kid (if you were anything like me), but other than that the main thing you'll be doing during this "visual novel" is hitting the X button on your PSP to advance the story.

As for the content of said story: It's a bit too detailed to go into here, but the long and short of it is that you have to search for the missing father of the aforementioned protagonist, Chizuru Yukimura, alongside the Shinsengumi, a tight-knit group of samurai who protect the citizens of Kyoto.

Although the bulk of your time is spent digging up clues as to the whereabouts of Chizuru's dad, a small bit of it (too small, in my opinion) is spent getting to know the studly members of the Shinsengumi better, if you catch my drift.

Personally, I only consider three of the many men in this game to be anything close to studly--which would be all well and good if it were possible to hook up with all of them. Instead, only one of them--the least appealing of the bunch, of course--is at all open to Chizuru's rather stilted advances. (Just in case anyone is curious as to which characters I'm talking about: Isami Kondou and Shinpachi Nagakura are my top two picks, while Saito Hajime comes in a somewhat-distant third.)

If any of what I've said here has piqued your interest in Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom, I'd highly recommend heading over to the game's official site, hakuoki.com, as well as this NeoGAF thread. (If you're really curious about it, you may want to check out this recent interview with Ben Batemen, a senior editor at Aksys Games, too.)

Buy: Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom (Standard Edition) or Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom (Limited Edition)