Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds

Fans of the otome genre will find a lot to like within Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds. It offers a rich storyline as well as presenting likeable characters within its well-built world. With personalities based on real-life historical figures, the game offers a charming, albeit brief look at an interesting area of Japanese history, as well as the chance to romance some grade-A anime boys.

The best otome game I've ever played has been made even better.

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is a historical fantasy visual novel set in the Bakumatsu period in Japan and puts you in the shows of Chizuru-san, a young woman determined to find her father in Kyoto. As part one in a two-part series that is the retelling of the original Hakuoki released in 2008, you will romance a number of handsome samurai (some are new to help justify the cost of Kyoto Winds) in search of details surrounding your father's whereabouts. Though it pushes over 80 hours of content with 30 unique endings, Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds feels more like a prolonged cash grab in a genre that is often taken advantage of.

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is a romp through time that both feels great and plays great, and at the end of the day, how many people can say that they've romanced someone who played a decisive part in Japanese history?

If a digital ‘choose your own adventure’ book with epic audio and gorgeous art is your cup of tea, then this historical/supernatural drama will be right up your alley.

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is an expanded release of the first half of a game that's already available on several platforms. With an unorthodox approach, it continues to be a great game, even if it loses the focus of its target audience.

If you’re hesitant to check this game out because it’s marketed to female gamers, I would encourage you to get over that stigma and give the game a shot regardless. There’s a well-crafted story hiding behind the marketing, and reading it from a woman’s point of view is a nice change of pace in the gaming sphere.

Being my first otome visual novel, Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds has made me a fan of the Hakuoki series. The game handles the large cast of characters wonderfully and allows the story of the Shinsengumi to shine through. For new visual novel fans this is the definitive way to start the Hakuoki series and date the guys that older fans had to wait years for.

As a young girl named Chizuru, we try to conquer hearts of samurai from Shinsengumi in former Kyoto. The title is intended for the female part of gamers, but the atmosphere of the shogunate Japan should attract the fans of the visual novel genre regardless of gender.

While this is the definitive Hakuoki experience, it is also the most complicated one. Best to be something that you pick up if you really love the otome games. If you do, then there are no other games out on the vita at the moment that offer you this much. Both in the scale of the story and even more so in the choice of romance options.