The Hakuoki franchise is a series of graphic novel games that fall in the “reverse harem’ genre. In plain terms, anything labeled under “reverse harem” has the player take control of a female that is surrounded by men, and allows you to pursue a relationship with the anime style hunk of your choice (learning something new everyday!). With that out of the way, Hakuoki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi sneaked its way to the European PlayStation Network today (April 24th). The game is available for the Sony PSP and PlayStation Vita. Warriors of the Shinsengumi is also more of a departure from the games of the series’ yore. Hakuoki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi, which had previously come out in February in North America, merges the graphic novel portions of the previous title, Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom, with hack ‘n slash gameplay for a perfect blend of story and action packed combat. Check out the snapshots below for examples of this.
Also included in the package:
- Shinsengumi Memorial – Play through the original Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom with an action packed twist, and choose between 6 playable characters.
- Shinsengumi Chronicle – Change the history of the original story in an alternate universe. Also playable by all six main characters
- Skirmish Mode – Replay previous battles for extra experience and to unlock two additional characters.
- Fury Mode – If the player loses all of their health points, then fury mode will activate, transforming your character into a “ferocious killing machine”, able to cut down anyone.
I wouldn’t say this style of game is my cup of tea, but this installment appears to be grasping for a much larger audience. Like stated above, Hakuoki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi is now available to European audiences via the PlayStation Network, and can be played on any of Sony’s handhelds (sans PlayStation Certified phones).
