There is a previous Hakuoki thread
, but it's never been very active.
Kyoto Winds (Hakuoki Shinkai Kaze no Shou) is something like the third Updated Re-release of the original Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom, which began life as a PSP game. I have only just begin investigating the additions myself, but from what I have read it looks like there's been so much content added that the game has been divided into two parts, of which Kyoto Winds is the first. The latter half of the original game has been adapted into a second Vita installment which has not yet been licensed but has the Japanese title Hakuoki Shinkai Hana no Shou (the two titles translate to Hakuoki True Revision: Chapter of Wind and Chapter of Flowers).
And it looks like both of these will be compiled in a PS 4 port called Hakuoki Shinkai Fuukaden due for release in Japan in July. There's also been an anime adaptation, a two-part compilation movie of the anime adaptation, a lackluster PSP fighting game (Hakuoki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi), an immediate prequel (Hakuoki Reimeiroku) and an anime adaptation of that, a spinoff focusing on the opposing side (Urakata Hakuoki), a more distant and more loosely-connected prequel (Toki no Kizuna), a high school AU (Hakuoki Sweet School Life) and a live-action adaptation of that, a collection of minigames (Hakuoki Yuugiroku) and an anime gag series based on that.
Basically Hakuoki is a cash cow for Otomate/Idea Factory and they're milking it for all it's worth.
edited 11th Jun '17 12:12:08 PM by JoieDeCombat
Thank you for all the info. I hope we get the sequel, if not the PS 4 compilation.
Cash cow or not, I thought it was pretty good. I've been too busy with other things on my mind but I played through the game a couple times.
I got a Bad Ending the first time without even realizing it. I was enjoying seeing the story develop and meeting the characters so while I was sort of aiming for Sanan, I wasn't exactly super focused on that. I thought the ending with him was just meant to be super depressing but someone told me that if you do it right, all your LI's will survive. So... I didn't do it right.
On my second time through, I aimed for Saito and made sure to keep an eye on the Warrior Record. I got to "Full Bloom" (100%) with him and his ending was heartbreaking yet very inspiring. I know I know I shouldn't be wowed or anything but it's still very impressive the level of storytelling you can manage with this. I now know there are a lot of "full" animated works based on this - movies, anime, OV As - but this game accomplishes everything so wonderfully.
But more important to my goal of trying to see everything, I unlocked the Record of Service by getting a good ending. This helps you out by letting you start at various points in the game and also lets you automatically start with some percentage points towards a chosen LI's route.
I learned after I got the game that IFI was selling a Limited Edition. I was sad, mainly because I wanted the soundtrack. But the Gallery mode in the actual game lets you listen to all the music so...that's awesome.
I was periodically thinking during my first time through the game that "man, I wish Chizuru was a bit more independent." But really, I've made peace with that. If I want a video game where my character goes around beating everyone up, I can play literally any other video game I own. This story is a Historical Romance and sometimes you just want to imagine a dashing hero coming in to save you. The way someone else more acquainted with otome than I am put it, it's about playing a "kind/passive princess/miko/teacher/etc.." I am cool with that.
To conclude, I'm probably gonna look into some of those animated works. I've seen a few scenes. I think I can finally kinda see why some people react so passionately against English dubs. I watch dubs in anime out of necessity and not merely because I enjoy them. But with this game and given the VN format, I could actually listen to the Japanese voices all the way through the game. The voice I've heard for Saito in English makes his voice quite a bit lighter. (this is even compared to his Kenshin dub voice of Kirk Thornton) It's just a bit disconcerting and I can kinda see why people get riled up over "they just don't sound right." You just become so accustomed to the "original."
http://ideafintl.com/hakuoki-kyoto/home.php
So a few months ago now I got a PSTV to play Persona 4 Golden. That game was absolutely amazing and lived up to all the hype but I still wanted to see what else there was I tried some Neptunia, didn't like it, but while browsing Idea Factory stuff, I saw this was coming out not too far off in the future. What can I say? I love me some samurai, the Tokugawa period, pretty boys, the music was cool, and I've never played a VN in my life. (I don't think Ace Attorney counts?) All these reasons combined to make me get this game. It just came out yesterday and I've been playing a bit of it. Taking it kinda slow 'cuz other stuff going on in my life.
The YT comments on the trailer sound like this game has been out before, in a couple different iterations. This version I am playing has some new stuff but I thought the "original version" would have had a thread about it already .I guess not, unless my search failed me.
But yeah, my first ever real VN. I'm not sure how long these games usually last. Perhaps replayability is a big factor.
Right now I'm really leaning towards Saito and Keisuke. Saito looks quite different than he did in Kenshin but he seems bout the same in terms of overall personality. Perhaps less harsh, or maybe that was because his voice in the RK dub was just more harsh as opposed to....um..."cold" like it is here.