breadmasterlee:
Take a gander at this face palming plethora of statements about Hakuoki!
This game is actually really shallow shoujo harem stuff with some gore added on, it’s as shallow as most shounen harem stuff. This is only for yaoi fan girls and dudes, there is very little enjoyment for the heterosexual man in this series.
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(Note: While I don’t like how the OP replied to this (especially the title), I do want to address these statements)
Hakuouki is currently #1 in all PSP games with a soild 5-star rating on Amazon. Part of this is obviously it’s popularity and hype prior to release, and it has only been out since Tuesday, but I think it’s a very good indication that the market isn’t as niche as some of these commentators are lead to believe. Hakuouki obviously has a pretty large following, and I hope that it’s high numbers will lead to further otome imports.
This is mostly ~PERSONAL OPINION~ but while Hakuouki is a visual novel, there is actual gameplay in the sense that your options create pretty sizable changes in the storyline (I was going for Harada’s route at first, and just two choice selections sent me on a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ROUTE and I quickly had to find a walkthrough to remedy that). I also think it’s ~PERSONAL OPINION~ that I enjoy this game at all. It is a LOT LOT LOT LOT of reading, and while it’s obviously romantic fantasy, the core of it is historical. They do have a lot of facts (that are exaggerated with MAGICAL VAMPIRES OH MY for effect) and there was obviously a lot of attention put into the details. It doesn’t change the course of history. The Shinsengumi still get eliminated. A lot of people die. It really isn’t a whole lot of hapi endo going around when you realize most of your friends are dead. (In Saito’s route they address this: He is ONE OF THREE OF THE SHINSENGUMI CORE that survived)
Is the PSP as popular as it used to be? No. Are VN imports the new face of gaming State-side? No. But it isn’t just a handful of “yaoi fangurlz” or a raburabu dating sim with a shallow plot (no seriously do you know how much reading there is? Thank you Jesus for that fast forward button). If otome games aren’t your thing, then they aren’t your thing. First person shooter games aren’t my thing but you’re completely fine to play them and enjoy them, regardless of the market for them.
So, in closing:
