Warning: Spoilers ahead, don't say I didn't tell you so...
I was super happy when I learned that Aksys made something out of the otome survey, which was bringing over Hakuoki. I love Kazuki Yone's art and the whole idea of Shinsengumi romance bought me. So I will review the game and then delve a bit into the 3 routes I have played.
Gameplay: There isn't much controller-heavy gameplay going on aside from pushing buttons to get around the UI. To avoid killing the X button, pressing "Start" will make the dialogue progress however fast the player wants. There is also the standard "Skip" feature for read dialogue or all dialogue. The UI is simple to navigate and there isn't much to talk about. The game relies more on choosing critical points of the story more than choosing dialogue choices to boost affection. There's only about a maximum of 6-8 romance points which are gathered from the little batches of dialogue opportunities the player gets. Despite being labeled as an otome game, it caters to the female audience's cravings for romance and bishounen men without too much romantic fluff. The three routes I've played gives me the impression that all routes begin their romantic turning points in the second half of the game after Chapter 3. Translation is expected to be flawed in some places, notably spelling errors such as "donno" with "dunno" and "fine" with "find" (in the context of pursuing someone). Last minor problem is the dialogue choices. It's a good thing Hakuoki has a quick-load feature, otherwise it would be frustrating. Some of the dialogue choices are deceptive such as simple "Yes" and "No" which can drastically change the effect. Many times I thought one answer was right, but it ended up pissing off the guy. Didn't like how the endings for each guy hangs in the balance of giving blood or not (except for Sano).
Story: Chizuru (default name) Yukimura arrived in Kyoto to search for her missing doctor of a father. When night fell, she was attacked by a group of bloodthirsty men craving for blood. Luckily for her, Saito Hajime and Okita Souji came to the rescue. Too bad the problem is that the Shinsengumi views her as liability to revealing the secret behind the bloodthirsty soldies. Bound and trapped at their headquarters, Chizuru tries to tell the men that she's not a "guy" as once mistaken, but a girl and almost all the guys are in awe. Eventually, she was free to wander anywhere so she can search for her father, the only reason why she could be free in the first place.
