Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds Review

Player(s): 1
Platforms: PS Vita

I love visual novels and in particular, I love otome games. The Hakuoki series in particular is very popular and well known in the genre. How does the new addition to the series rank among them? Let’s find out!

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is actually a perfect game to start with in the series, as the game is a remaster that adds on to the previous game. The game has 30+ new hours of content, making the game 80+ hours long with 30 different endings.

There are also twelve love interests in total, three new love interests are specifically added for this game! Of course, a big bonus is the new characters being voiced by some fan favorite seiyuu: Miyano Mamoru, Daisuke Ono, and Kaji Yuuki.

(Gonna fangirl a bit here, but who doesn’t want to be romanced by mamochan?!)

Gameplay wise it’s as any other visual novel, so expect lots of reading as it is a novel! A weird compliment I have to give this game is that the font is really appropriate and easy on the eyes, making it easy to get absorbed in for hours on end.

The basic story behind Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is that you’re a girl looking for her father in Kyoto, and end up staying with the Shinsengumi to find him.

In game, if you’re aiming to date a particular character, it’s not always the easiest thing to figure out what selection will earn you affection with them. This is far from a complaint though, as I’ve played games where the character’s name is clearly stated in the game choices and… it made it less interesting. Of course, there are sometimes options where you will be able to follow a character to a location or do an activity they had just previously mentioned! So don’t let me scare you, because it definitely is possible to aim for a specific character when you’re paying attention to context clues.

Another thing I noticed is that typical visual novels will take place over a set number of days or follow a day by day basis. This game has time skips EVERYWHERE. You’ll casually read something like “Oh, five months past and I didn’t do too much besides this event happening.” It’s not a bad thing, but considerably different to many games on the market.

I was also initially super worried about remembering names, twelve main characters and a bunch of side characters? There are a LOT of characters. They’re distinct, but not over-the-top archetypes and because of this, it actually helps them feel more realistic. Which is honestly great, I found myself invested in these characters after a while and interactions between them like the scene pictured above were even more hilarious because of it. The names will get thrown at you all at once, but it honestly wasn’t a problem to differentiate between them once you get more into the story.

Since the game takes place in mid 19th century Japan, there may be a lot of unfamiliar words, but don’t worry because the game has you covered!

As you reach the terms in game there’s an option to look at a definition and even look back on it from the menu so you can understand the story. Common in visual novels, but especially needed for this game!

Visually the backgrounds and sprites are great, and the special event scenes are even better. The music is good too, it fits the game well and I never got tired of hearing repeated tracks. It’s not particularly outstanding, but definitely good.

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is a slow paced story that takes a while to get into, but once you start you’ll be hooked. I would absolutely recommend this series to any otome game fan, Hakuoki: Kyoto winds is the perfect starting point any newcomer and still a great game for someone who has played the original because the new content and characters in the story are undoubtedly worth it.

-Angie

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is available May 16th in both Physical and Digital forms!

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Graphics: GREAT
Sound: GOOD
Gameplay: PERFECT
Value: GREAT
 
OVERALL: GREAT

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FULL DISCLOSURE: This game was provided to A-to-J Connections free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of review