Hello friends! I’m sure you didn’t actually think the Hakuoki release would come and go without me having something to say about it, right? Of course not! I was lucky enough to snag a review copy of the game for the ever-awesome Game Critics, but unfortunately it hasn’t gone up on the site yet. But never fear – I have plenty of things to say about the game in the meantime.
First off, I had the fabulous oppertunity to ramble about Hakuoki and all things otome with the lovely Lijakaca of Lijakaca’s Otome Gaming Blog. She is a mecca of otome gaming knowledge (her blog is a must follow for fans of otome games), so if you thought I knew what I was talking about, just you wait! (hint: I don’t, usually) We had a great discussion about the game itself and also delved into otome game topics in general, so if any of that catches your fancy, I heartily suggest you check it out! Click on the handsome Hakuoki men below to give it a listen! Please be sure to tell me what you think in the comments… I’m still very new to podcasting, so any tips you may have that I can keep in mind for future endeavors would be greatly appreciated.
- As if you couldn’t tell from the screenshots floating around the internet and the art above, the game looks gorgeous. Though I didn’t find the music particularly memorable, it wasn’t grating, either.
- The story is engaging, and surprisingly in-depth, particularly for a game where many assume the main goal would be to hook up with the guy of your dreams. That incentive is there, but the romance aspect of the game is actually not quite as prevalent as I would have thought – a bit to my dismay, but will probably make the game more palatable to those who are not as interested in drooling over 2D hunks as I am. All in all, I think Aksys found a nice middle ground by choosing this as their first otome game. And yes, there is swearing!
- Speaking of swearing, I was a bit iffy on the localization at times. Though it is undoubtedly written well, I couldn’t help but feel that Hijikata swore a bit too much and some of the written dialogue just didn’t match up with the spoken Japanese in a way that sat well with me. That said, it’s throughly enjoyable and immersive for an English-speaking audience, and I get that that is what Aksys is going for. Kudos to their awesome editor and translators for not botching it up.
- So far, I’ve only “gotten” two of the six obtainable guys. I’ve done Heisuke’s good and bad endings, and Hijikata’s good ending. Though I liked Heisuke notably more than I liked Hijikata (he’s a real jerk), I didn’t find either of them to be particularly great. I hear Souji’s where it’s at, so I plan on making him my next conquest. For those of you wondering how much gameplay there is – one playthrough probably takes anywhere from 5-8 hours depending on who you choose, with Hijitaka’s story being the longest. Once you’ve played through the 1st four chapters for one character, you’ll probably want to skip through most of the dialogue during subsequent playthroughs, which cuts down on your play time significantly.
Your accent makes me miss America, Anne!
I wanna play Hakuoki… but now I’m not so sure about it since there seems to be better otome games out there :p . I won’t be able to play them if I don’t know Japanese, though. Argh!
I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for your review! Visual Novels are a genre I’ve only dabbled in. I want to play more of them and different perspectives are needed in this industry. Bring on the hunky males, I say!
Also, you were fine in the podcast! The only problem was that the audio kept on exploding at parts 😐
@Alois – Is Anne’s accent American-y? Honestly when I heard it I thought she sounded … not from here! XD I know that doesn’t even make sense though. Maybe Californians have really weird accents in comparison to the rest of the states, I dunno.
ANYWAY I’ve listened to some of the podcast so far and it’s pretty cool! I didn’t even know that this site existed (or the podcast) so that’s something new to listen to. I wish I could share my thoughts about Hakuoki vocally! Except I don’t think I would have anything more to say than what you folks went over in the podcast.
Really, I wish that the first big otome game release here were more, well, romantic. I have not played more than a handful of otome games though so my opinion may be skewed. It just felt like there was so much story in Hakuoki (which is fine) but you barely ever got to have romantic time. It was probably a good thing for Aksys to do because the audience for the game is larger now, but will guys get it? Or will they have been scared off just because it IS called an otome game and so Aksys has failed both men and women. Naw, I’m being too doom and gloom lol.
For being new to podcasts you seem fine to me! A lot of newbies will tend to be all “um” more than they actually speak, or not speak at all. Like Alois said, the audio would be weird from time to time but who knows who was at fault for that :P.
Ah! You’re on a podcast? I’m going to have to listen to this tomorrow — especially since you chat about otome, which definitely interests me.
As for Hakuoki: As you know, I’m playing through it, too, at the moment. I’ve yet to finish it, but I believe I’m close. Honestly, I didn’t like it all that much at first, but it’s definitely growing on me.
That said, like you and Marcus, I wish there were more opportunities to advance the romance portions of the story. Such opportunities have been few and far between for me so far, which is kind of disappointing, as that was what drew me to this game in the first place.
Also, I’m kind of disappointed that it seems you can only “get with” a handful of the game’s characters. Why can’t we chase after Kondou or Shinpachi, for instance?
I am glad I’ve been given this opportunity to play not only my first otome game but my first visual novel, too. In fact, I’m so appreciative of that fact that I’m thinking of buying the physical/UMD version of this game shortly–despite the fact that the folks at Aksys gave me a digital version of the game for free 🙂
Other than all of that, I very much look forward to reading your review, Anne!
Thanks again for joining me in the podcast Anne! The audio issues were my fault, it was my first podcast and I missed some obvious things, ergh. I just downloaded Hakuoki too even though I have the limited edition coming in the mail – I’m having a girl gaming party this weekend so I need to have it ready 😀 And $25 is so cheap (note I’m used to Japanese prices, ¥¥¥). It seems from Aksys tweets that it’s selling pretty well, so maybe we can hope for more otome games!
Alois – Haha, really? Have you been to America before, Alois? Or are you from there originally??
Sorry about the audio, Lijaka had never done a podcast before herself and I know nothing about editing, so it was all pretty shaky. Thanks for listening, though!!
If you’re at all interested, I’d honestly say try out Hakuoki even though it doesn’t have quite as much of the romance as I’d like. Don’t worry, it’s still there! 😉 As visual novels go, the plot is pretty interesting, too!
I don’t know if I’ve asked you, though – Have you played Corpse Party? Because if you haven’t, well… I’m going to highly suggest you give it a shot 😉
Marcus – You know, most Americans say my accent doesn’t sound American, and most foreigners think I’m Canadian or something else entirely. So it’s not new for me to hear that my accent sounds a little “off,” haha.
I know what you mean about the lack of romance, Marcus. In some ways I agree and feel Aksys tried too hard to strike a middle ground… I honestly don’t think it’s going to change anyone’s minds about otome games in general, but some people who aren’t in it for the romance may enjoy this title in particular, you know? It’s really hard to say… Even now, the vast majority of reviews are by women who were invested in the genre already. I can’t imagine it will do extremely well, but it would be nice if more people didn’t scoff it off as being just romantic fluff, especially since it isn’t!
But thanks so much for listening and I’m glad you thought I did okay! Podcasting is surprisingly fun 🙂
Bryan – Speaking of podcasts, I did listen to the two you did with The Gayme Bar! I thought they were great. You should be on podcasts more often 😀 Let me know how I did if you get a chance to listen!
Again, I do wish Aksys hadn’t been so afraid to localize a full on super romantic otome game, but I can understand where they’re coming from. And I haven’t mentioned it before, but Hakuoki is by far and away the most popular otome game in Japan. I think it largely stems from the artist being very popular and the story revolving around history but still having some supernatural elements. But it’s surprising, especially given the fact that there are so many other really lovey dovey otome games out there that are pretty popular, too.
I know what you mean about there only being a small selection of romanceable characters… And they all fit in a relatively narrow demographic. Unfortunately, that’s generally the way with otome games…
Well, I’m happy to hear you liked it enough that you’re considering buying a copy! Even though I got a review copy, too, my copy of the limited edition should be arriving at my parent’s house very soon 🙂
I really wanna play Corpse Party! I read about it on this blog, no less. It sounds wonderful.
I shall pick up Hakuoki, then. If I’m going to jump into the genre, might as well start off with a more recent entry. Are there any others you would recommend?
And yeah, I studied at California State Uni Long Beach in 2009 for a semester. Went to Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and hopped over to the East Coast to Miami for a bit. I had a wonderful time 🙂
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Hey there, apricotsushi 🙂 Sorry I deleted my last comment. Just wasn’t sure I should muck things up by mentioning one particular thing. (I really appreciate you noticing it and writing to me about it personally, by the way!)
Anyway, about Hakuoki and Aksys’ decision to localize it instead of something a bit more romantic: I’m with you in understanding where the publisher likely was coming from. I have a feeling they thought this game had the potential to rope in some guy gamers as well as girl gamers–which I’m sure is an important distinction considering this is the first otome game to come to NA.
I do hope that if it’s popular enough, though, that other, more romantic otome games will follow in its footsteps. I’d really like to experience other examples of this genre at some point.
Hey Bryan!
It’s fine that you deleted your comment – as I said I don’t mind you mentioning what you did, but I did feel that it was personal enough that I’d prefer to reach out to you via email first. But anyways!
Yeah, I’m definitely crossing my fingers that Hakuoki takes off enough for Aksys or other publishers to want to try their hand at more romantic games… And there are certainly plenty to choose from! I’m glad you enjoyed the game overall, too, even though the men weren’t exactly your cup of tea 🙂
Do let me know when you get a chance to listen to the podcast; I really value your opinion!