A Touch of Flowers & Romance: Him, The Smile & Bloom Review

By Teepu

Player(s): 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam)

When it comes to visual novels and the Nintendo Switch, the selection is mind-numbing. The good thing about that is that you have a variety of genres and styles to choose from, giving you plenty to go through without worrying about running out of content. Him, The Smile & Bloom is an otome visual novel that fits a very specific genre: slice of life urban romance.

Before I begin, for those uninitiated, an otome visual novel is a game that involves mostly reading, hence the visual novel name, with a focus on there being a female lead. These sorts of games generally target a female audience, but they can be enjoyed by anyone. I have gone through my fair share of visual novels, but I generally do not touch the otome ones. Keep in mind this review is from that perspective, so read between the lines to determine whether this is the right game for you or not.

Rather than give the player the option to make decisions to choose their route, you are given a brief description of each route’s main romance so you can decide which route to pursue from the get-go. If I’m being honest, for a strictly romance story, I prefer this over the stress of having to choose partway into the story. That is not to say that you have no decisions to make during each route, as there are three endings to be had in each. That means that this is not technically a kinetic visual novel (a visual novel with a linear story and no decision making), though it gets close as there are not a lot of choices to make. I ended up going through one complete route, and saw all three of the endings in that route, and got about halfway into another route before I was satisfied with my experience. Mainly because I was not interested in the other dudes.

The core story revolves around your character meeting or knowing the guy you choose and is linked to a flower shop in town. Each story plays out quite differently despite using these elements as the anchor. In a cute twist, as you play you will unlock information about various flowers in relation to the characters that you can view separately. For the main route I chose, you play as a lady who was working abroad in Canada in a sister branch of a flower company, and end up returning home to Japan for sudden reasons I cannot share for fear of spoilers. While settling in a new place and exploring the local places, you meet an old school acquaintance that naturally leads to a love story. This specific route I found quite adorable, as it helped the main character get out of her bottled-up shell and be more comfortable with herself. The story was not overly dramatic or groundbreaking, rather it was a straightforward love story. It was fairly refreshing from the heavy visual novels I normally go through.

The main complaint I have about the story is that it threw a curve ball character dilemma about the main character near the end that did not match anything that was developed up to that point. It felt like a forced way to bring in a conflict so that the characters could grow into their happy ending, and I did not enjoy that bit at all. If it were more naturally introduced it would have been fine, but that was not the case. I do not know if this applies to the other three stories, but if you choose Minami, be prepared for that to happen.

The character designs are clean and well-drawn, as are the backgrounds, but I feel like there is a lack of variety in the environments and characters. The lack of character variety I can live with despite my desires, as it allows for a more intimate story, but the lack of locations made the entire story feel a bit claustrophobic. The voice acting was solid, though the music was a bit generic.

When it really boils down to it, you need to ask yourself if you want a quick, sappy and feel-good romance to curl up with over an evening or two. It is not special, it is not deep, but it is cute, and it did feel satisfying to go through. I spent about 6-7 hours to go through a route, and I’m a bit of a slow reader, so your mileage may vary. Considering how much visual novels normally cost compared to the amount of read time they provide, Him, The Smile & Bloom sits pretty good with its $29.99 asking price. Plus, there is a DLC short story you can get if you want to get more out of these delightful characters. Check it out, as long as you know what you are getting into, I am sure enjoyment will be had.

Check Out Him, The Smile & Bloom on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/him-the-smile-and-bloom-switch/

---

Story: C+
Gameplay: B-
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: C+

OVERALL: B

Pros:
+ Each romantic interest feels distinct.
+ Simple and sappy story is a welcome change to the deep and dark stories flooding the market.
+ Allowing you to choose the route at the start is great.

Cons:
- Forced character conflict cheapened the story a bit.
- Music sounds like it came out of a free repository.
- While the price reflects the length, I do wish each route were just a bit longer.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---

This is what we're all here for, right?