Basically Hakuoki is a graphic novel with some choose your own adventure elements.
• Huge story with lots of detail.
• Lots of characters with depth and personality.
• Multiple character endings gives you lots of extra time with this story.
• Periodically you get to choose the direction of the story and customize your experience.
• Can fast forward through the story after the first read through.
• The romantic part of the story is well balanced so that both female and male players can enjoy the game without being annoying.
Cons:
• Very heavy on the text, if you don't mind lots of reading then this isn't really a con, but if lots of reading isn't for you then this game is going to be very tedious for you.
• Not enough of the choose your own adventure options to spice up the experience.
• Could of used some game play elements to break up the monotony of reading for hours.
• Getting a bad ending after all that reading can be disappointing.
The story and characters are the game, this is basically a rpg graphic novel. You read from the perspective of Chizuru (or change her name to your something else) a young girl that travels to Kyoto in search for her father, he has disappeared after taking a job in Kyoto. Soon after arriving in Kyoto Chizuru witnesses a bloody street battle and is kidnapped by the victorious group called the Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi are also looking for Chizuru's father and decide to keep her around to help find him. The big question is why is the Shinsengumi looking for Chizuru's father and what is going to happen to Chizuru while in the care of the Shinsengumi.
The game play part of the graphic novel is this. As you read through the story you occasionally have 2 or 3 choices to make. Your choices not only form the path of the story but they also appeal to certain male members of the Shinsengumi. As you progress through the game a romance gage for each of the six main male characters will fill up depending on you choices. At a certain point in the story the character with the highest gage score becomes the stories ending path, this gives the game multiple possible endings.
Final thoughts:
Depending on how fast you read will determine your games length. If you get a ending that doesn't feel right to you the potential to have multiple play through will really extends your time. Fortunately you can fast forward through dialog that you have already read and will automatically stop when you arrive at a choice section. The graphics are good and help to immerge the reader into the story, I would like to see more games like this one even though it isn't really a game.
Story & Characters: 10
Game Play: 5
Graphics: 6
Value: 7
Score: 7/10