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| Usually I'll post the box art but... I liked this title screen and i've been doing it for rpg's too. |
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/hamehura-kaizoku/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v29251
Release date: 2022-02-10.
Long title aside hench forth it shall be known as Hamefura ~Haran o Yobu Kaizoku~!
Otomate decided to make otome game for hamefura a lightnovel which had an anime adaptation.
Unfortunately they decided to not give the girls full routes and only the guys are romanceable
this is something I didn't mind but I could see some might do. As it kinda felt subtexty/comedic
and to turn it into full harem; basically who doesn't love Bakarina? 😅
I also tend to be kind of wary of games that are based on an anime because they tend to exist
solely for fans and the quality of said game tends to vary greatly but hamefura turned out alright.
The art quality was very high and the style stays true to the anime and in terms of plot it was decent.
OP movie; for some reason they have disabled the embedded version so here's the link.
Anyway this game/VN is like a side story in the hamefura universe it doesn't exist in the canon
if you ever wanted to spend more time with some of the guys now's your chance I guess?!
I'm not sure when this takes place but it acts as an extension of the first season... you could
probably play it without watching but this game doesn't go into who the chara's are
they briefly go over it in the prologue but that's it. The anime is pretty fun and s1 is only 12 eps
which isn't very long so why not give it a watch to get to know the series?
The characters unique to this game are locked though so if you don't know who to choose
i'd say Alan or Geordo first but honestly I really do recommend checking out the anime first
cuz this game really is more for fans, the general premise is even so
that the story in this game is a fandisc to fortune lover.
Pro's
- While not much to work with, each route was unique/self-contained.
- Characters are consistent and not OOC.
-Art is gorgeous.
Con's
- If you were hoping for fluff and only comedy/romance... this might be disappointing
as they actually tried to have a plot and characters to take part in it.
- Its better if you watch atleast S1 of the hamefura anime as the game does very little
to establish its cast,existing relationships or explain the world.
the art is pretty nice the style is like the anime and it doesn't seem to suffer from tracers.
Music is fitting nothing to complain about, the plot kinda felt like it was another
episode/OVA or something and depending on your choices you'll end up investigating an incident
that happens on the ship they're staying on with whoever you like.
The story isn't much but it can be interesting, all the side npc have sprites too
so its easy to tell them apart, voice acting was excellent as well.
System is just standard VN stuff, during the bakarina meetings where you have to select a choice
you can't save so you have to do it before it comes up. There is also a bug if you skip
too fast through the ideafactory/otomate/criware/OPmovie stuff when booting up the game
where the software just closes. So its better to just let all that play and if you do want
to skip the op movie just let it play 5-10 seconds.
Compared to recent otome I played it finally felt like I was playing a proper one again
uh what is a proper one is subjective of course but I think this one had some classic stuff.
I say that cuz Hamefura wasn't depressing, more fun and romance focused
its exactly what I wanted even though my expectations were low.
It was pretty enjoyable from start to finish and that's coming from someone that's not
that big of a fan as I liked the anime enough to check out this game.😅
It might be sad that the girls don't have full routes but personally I don't even want to think about
romancing Mary except as in a joke ending. Maybe there really are Mary fans out there
or Maria/Sophia so the fact there is 1 joke ending and the normal end is well... better than nothing.
That aside the game does feel kinda short but the pacing is okay and it doesn't seem
like it overstayed its welcome, any longer and I would have been bored tbh. Like I'd love it if games
took their time but you also don't want to get bored! Hamefura doesn't have that problem.
Its entertaining enough but it doesn't focus completely on the couple at all times
and I could see how some find that disappointing! they did try to have a plot that
made sense in the world of hamefura so I am not sure why this would be a bad thing
cuz if this game didn't have the plot it has then the routes would be super short and they average
at 6 hours or so which I think for what we got out of it was more than enough
either way I didn't have many complaints I was happy with Alan's route!
While this was an enjoyable side dish after the anime, if you don't like the novel/anime
or don't like any of the guys enough to want to romance them its probably better to pass
cuz this is nothing but fluff with a slighly entertaining story full of cute romance
so if you were here for some deep plot uhm look elsewhere cuz the hamefura game ain't it.
It does have bad/death ends but only one or two per route and they're not long.
Most of this game still keeps the charm I got to know this series with! depending on how much
you like the other guys beside your favourite it might be a bit of a chore to do multiple
playthroughs as the general plot does kind of remain the same however each time
you do a new playthrough you unlock new scenes to understand the overall plot better
though some of these scenes only seem to exist to make it more obvious.
Unfortunately despite this game not being canon one route in particular has so much lore
and world building it felt kind of like a waste if this was only one game
I applaud them for the effort but it did take away from anything else.
Most of the characters in this game don't get much personal focus except Rozy/Silva
that's because they got that in the anime so they're not gonna waste time, for some it means
their routes were less interesting, I thought the main guy of this game would be Geordo but eh
classic poster boy curse with that one, Silva would like a word with him.
All in all ~Hamefura ~Haran o Yobu Kaizoku~ is mostly an enjoyable otome game
for fans of the series that want to actually romance the guy(s)! So if that's what you're looking for
or just another hamefura adventure in general it gets my recommendation.😄👍
But yea if you don't want bakarina to end up with anyone stay away from this game and pretend
it doesn't exist or something, as its jpn only at time of writing so it shouldn't be too hard.
8.5/10
My play order was Alan > Geordo > Keith > Nicol > Rozy > Silva.
Imo it doesn't really matter but I suggest to do your fav first which in my case was Alan!
Doing Alan first might not be the best, I do think Nicol flows well into Rozy's route.
If I had to recommend anything its probably Geordo/Keith > Alan > Nicol > Rozy > Silva.
Anyway the non-spoiler sections end here! some route comments along
with my fav cg's after the jump break.
Alan Stuart.
CV: Suzuki Tatsuhisa.
So since I liked Alan the most out of the guys in the anime I decided to do his route first!
maybe its because he's a tsundere ore-sama so hahah he gets embarrassed a lot.
Alan is Geordo's brother and engaged to Mary... but you already should know that.
All of Alan's scenes were super cute/romantic too and Suzuki's performance was A++.😄
There's not much to write here in terms of plot and I don't feel like digesting it
because the game was pretty short and easy to understand the plot, the stuff with the sub chara's
here was kinda sappy though but I liked how Bakarina was like let them have their moment
cuz Alan and her were kinda in the way at one point, lmao.
Anyway I enjoyed his events a lot. Many times i'd be like get a room though... it got to the point of
OH GOD JUST KISS ALREADY and i'm not talking about Alan&Bakarina.😂
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| My favorite, tbh nothing topped this. |
in what way Alan likes her... sigh atleast his act of heroism against frederick who was
being a dick btw he also hates women for some reason. Alan's confession wasn't wasted
and the eventual heart to heart was very much needed as well. Alan is such a cutie!
something would happen to kill the moment which was all according to plan
but they got their happy end, which was kinda funny. I'm not sure what to make
of the overall story yet but the bit with Liliana and Ryle was cute.
Honestly even though it was short, just for Alan's route? i'd say its worth it
unless you don't like him but then you can go elsewhere for some fun.
Yes even for the cute moments and ending i'd say it was worth it, its all a fan could ask for.
Couldn't see much difference in the good end but it was nice?
The another end is a joke ending with Mary >_> because she chose to try to rely on her more
just once which lead to her becoming a bit obsessive like Geordo. No thank you.
~
Geordo Stuart.
CV: Aoi Shouta.
I was annoyed by his antics cuz he can get a bit obsessive, I did his route second more or less
to get him out of the way and well gotta give the man something I guess! since even if
it didn't work his way last route he was cool with it as long as bakarina is happy.
The plot in the route kinda made it seem like Geordo is the main guy
and there were some funny events too! Guess it didn't take long for Geordo to have an
indirect kiss either... lucky bastard. Geordo might not be my fav but it was entertaining nontheless
maybe it is kinda cute how easily jealous he gets and how he really is head over heels for bakarina
that he can barely contain himself nevermind bakarina being dense about it. Also lmao
at the fact that bakarina thinks that its Maria rather than herself. Huuuuuuuuuh wait
you want to marry me not her?!😂 Mary and Sophia tried to save her from him
even wow he really is being cockblocked huh?! Yes Geordo could seem a bit obsessive
buuuut you could also see him as being devoted to bakarina cuz she's literally his light.
Geordo was also a bit too thirsty and the others had to intervene lmao...
focused on Liliana and Ryle a lot. Posterboy curse strikes again eh? for poor Geordo
everything felt kinda flat, if anything his confession to bakarina was more of a relief.
hahaha its good enough? the joke ending this time was not much of a joke to me because
he just kidnapped bakarina to his home and feeds her his sweets while he fawns over her.
Everything there is all she needs afterall.😨 Well Geordo had it in him so well played!
anyway otomate, stay classy eh? this type of ending brings me back man... i'm old.
~
Keith Claes.
CV: Kakihara Tetsuya.
Keith is pretty nice, however it can get annoying how he tries to keep bakarina in check
even though he knows well cuz bakarina really is an airhead sometimes. xD
He really does act like an older brother/strict dad which is fine all things considered...
and he does his best to ensure Catharina's safety and protect her best he can.
Honestly him being overbearing aside, Keith's pretty much a sweetheart while not my favorite
I think overall I like him more than Geordo so maybe that says something.
Storywise... it was kinda boring buuut there was a little mystery that they slowly got into
about some medicine as well which lead to a funny scene with Rozy
and well I had a feeling he knew exactly how it would turn out, his face said it all.😂
and less of a brother, he also kind of had abandonment issues but Bakarina makes a pinky swear
with him cuz she ain't gonna let him be alone which for now is good enough since she's so dense.😅
They dealt with Ryle this route as well who as turns out was just butt hurt he had no magic
so put his energies into his green fingers OwO he already pissed some people off
so they really want his ass huh? unfortunately IIRC Liliana didn't find him this time.
Amyway Keith dealt with him... I liked how he managed to kiss bakarina before he passed out
while she was all like wait what huh? oh I guess that happens and he likes me that way LMAO.
Some noble from the ship tried to ruin things at the end too but he got his ass kicked.
Overall I liked this route! Keith was surprisingly badass too, his siscon prowess know no bounds
his ending was even sappier than Alan which I didn't think was possible. Again I am not sure
what the difference of the happy/good end is... both are good just one is slightly better than the other
in Keith's case she forgot that he kissed her before passing out which lead to them making another
new memory; who's that sitting in the tree K I S S I N G?! uh they didn't kiss but u get the joke.
the other is like the others a plain old death end from a bad choice, oh well I might not
have been a Keith fan buuuut his route was surprisingly enjoyable to me.
~
Nicol Ascart.
CV: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu.
however his route was surprisingly interesting and I actually started to like him a little! this route
had a bit of mystery to it because there's this goth chick who wants to see someone again.
Huh okay?! idk I wasn't very interested in this route... most of it felt like it was about Nicol
realizing his feelings for Bakarina who in turn had weird dreams of herself?
saying how much she hated everything... well she used to be the antagonist.
I spend half the route confused where it was going with this... bakarina ends up
picking up some necklace which was cursed. >_>;
Frederick threw a hissy fit as they mistook Rozy for a pirate and just as they were about
to escape they captured Maria, bakarina fell off the ship but Nicol saved her they end up
washing ashore god knows where, things got kind of awkward which was cute to watch.
They end up relying on Silva whether they liked it or not... turns out everyone else is doing fine too.
In a series of strange events bakarina ends up cursed/possessed, the gang tries to help figure
out what it is the spirit wants... it figures it stems from Nicol's feelings and if they don't hurry
Catharina's spirit will die so Nicol goes along with the spirit of the witch who once was
in love with a prince but he was taken from her hench her desire for revenge
and it has him confess his feelings of affection to a possessed bakarina who tries to bargain
with the spirit in her own mind. When she finally wakes up Nicol is very relieved
everyone else came to check up on them while they were uguu'ing and they try to research
the fairytale of the witch turns out the lover's betrayal was caused by some fog
oh well they help her understand the prince's feelings and off she goes...
afterwards Rozy randomly confesses he likes her but then figures out how dense she is
before saying he probably won't ever meet her so casually again. Okay bye?! that aside
Nicol gets the chance to officially confess his feelings now that the witch fiasco is over
and all's well that ends well?! uh yea kinda but it got a bit dramatic of how Nicol
wanted to keep being childhood friends forcing Bakarina to act- wait did Rozy
time his own confession to make her realize to be honest with her feelings, that bastard.
Silva walks in on them being all lovey dovey too, lmao.
the good ending felt like a 3p ending with Sophia which was good in its own right
but they weren't very interesting idk i'd take another joke end like the one at Alan's over these.
Bruh idk about you but I thought this route was interesting... you can't say that nothing happened!
i'm not sure about the plot but it was interesting yet the plot with the witch felt a bit random.
I was even more convinced of how necessary it is to atleast watch season one of the anime
because all Nicol needed was to realize how he felt and tell her even though
Bakarina is still as dense as ever and she really needs it to be spelled out, lmao.
Rozy Lind.
CV: Suzumura Kenichi.
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| Keith: My lady don't accept food/candy from strangers.😡 |
though he doesn't necessarily seem like a bad guy or anything. Rozy like Silva
is a character unique to this game and doesn't exist in the original series.
Other than that he's kind and helpful/supportive to the heroine, its kinda obvious
he is involved in the grandscheme of things and that he's not who he appears to be.
Also Suzuken's VA is A++ I missed this guy, so glad to hear him again.
Rozy is pretty much one of those guys who're genuinely nice but have their own thing
going on that they can't tell anyone about. Sugary sweet is also a good term to describe him
but too much of this and it might make you a little sick so all in moderation!
Apparently Rozy once met Catharina in the past when they were little
and the sweets he gave her in the beginning were a reminder to their past encounter.
Hmm well I don't have a problem with this... cuz I like him and this game exists in its
own bubble or so to speak but yea they went and did it boys.
Bakarina and the girls get stuck on an island after an accident on the ship along with
the bad guys we saw in the various routes they don't seem to give a rat's ass about Rozy
who's missing but bakarina decides to place her fate in him. Cuz he's apparently a bocchan/prince
from some kingdom overseas who worked undercover with pirates to stop some greedy noble Senth.
Frederick/Ryle all worked with that Sento guy and the pirates attack was basically to stop their plans.
The rest of the route is spent being introduced to Rozy's family... as for Rozy himself he's a cutiepie
probably got that from his dad! hard to believe that pirate stuff just happened too
Also Bakarina mistakes Rozy for this Albert guy it was absolutely hilarious.😂😂😂
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| New phone who dis. |
Unfortunetaly the rest of was basically some infodump of whatever the nobles goal was
and it turns into politcal intrigue over oil and wealth. Man that reminds me of Bilal from WoF... >_>;
Albert was like hey Rozy's still single and ready to mingle! since you two are into each other
why don't you date/marry him? LMAO I like how it went from political intrigue to that.😂
so Rozy goes to confront him who just wanted to make Rozy suffer and is given 1week to get a cure
which he gets to it, Albert works on their engagement and idk all's well that ends well his
confession was bittersweet but it felt like it came a little late and I blame the political intrigue.
I accidently did his good end first but the vibes were happy enough, I liked how he told some rando
to not mess with bakarina or else he won't be welcome in the country anymore... scary.
In the happy end Bakarina returns home and he comes to visit her after a quite some time
and formally asks for her hand in marriage, she would love no less than to accept.
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| Cuties! |
Also I wouldn't mind romancing Albert too... but alas he is but a side character
and then there's the fact I keep misreading Rozy's full name Rozyon as Luncheon. <_<;
Oh btw the bad ends was hilariously bad to downright sad running away
and tripping really?! or Rozy dying in the attack. Oh no my baby!😭
The only bad part about the route was that it was literred with political jargon that is of almost
no use outside of this game? and that Rozy is so sickening sweet, not that I mind but others might.
Anyway I think whether or not you'll like this depends heavily on if Rozy your type or not...
also the fact they kinda made this guy up to be the forgotten childhood friend
that doesn't exist outside of this game???! I think this is either a hit or a miss.
There's also the fact Rozy has love at first sight or he fell too hard and fast for her
was still cute to see though! other than that it was okay at best...
~
Silva.
CV: Namikawa Daisuke.
In some routes he was a villain in others not or falls off the map/goes behind the scenes...
anyway we're on the last route and its time to romance the ikemen pirate! who is
some descendant of a famed sea hero, hench the purple eyes but there's more to that.
This route certainly was off to a good start! as Bakarina randomly ran into him changing
thinking its about some cosplay getup. She assures him his secret is safe with her. LMAO.
Its because she got lost during the party like the baka she is. IDK for some reason
Catharina had more balls this route and tried to figure more stuff out on her own
and wasn't as dense which was kinda jarring compared to what i've seen so far.
they tried with Rozy but the result wasn't as great as here, Silva's route was more fun imo so if you
do him last you're in for a treat unless... you don't like bakarina here or Silva for some reason.
Silva felt like he was the main guy of this game and rightfully deserved and Rozy his sidekick
they go way back btw, Rozy kinda saved his street urchin's ass.
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| Lewd... |
Story wise... mostly the same as the other routes but this time we go after the pirate
Megan, we can't have them target Maria soooo they went to deal with them and whoever hired him
which just leads to le political intrigue ala Rozy's route bonus is we get to see Albert again.
There's a report of missing people and Maria gets kidnapped so they go after it which leads to Silva
and Bakarina to having a heart to heart before they look further into it cuz it ties into Silva's past.
The one behind it apparently is some crazed assassin who wants Silva back in his ranks, he knew
of him for a while. Silva eventually kicks his ass cuz we don't have time for this BS.
I don't have the energy to write about it but it was a good route and the ending was cute.
and throwing more of a hissy fit than in the happy end which had them officially engaged....
but not like they could stop it from happening, lmao. Oh there was a normal ending too I guess?
where you can spend time with the girls if you don't trigger enough of the guy's event flags
Maria ends up getting kidnapped cuz of her magic affinity being light and everyone comes together
to try and resolve the situation without any romance but they go have fun after its over.
Overall I liked Silva's route, it focused a lot on Silva and there is plenty of romance development
from scratch without relying on the forgotton childhood friend trope, sorry Rozy!
idk about that normal ending though I wouldn't classify it as yuri cuz there is no romance...
kinda feels like that was added last minute but better than nothing I guess.😅
~
Route enjoyment:
Alan > Nicol/Keith > Silva > Rozy > Geordo.
No doubt that some routes were better than others and then there's
the matter of personal preference... I think this sums up my enjoyment of them.
Both Nicol/Keith were a pleasant surprise I didn't expect to like theirs that much if at all!
I like Rozy too but its kinda 50/50, both Silva and Alan were most enjoyable to me.
Fav characters
Alan > Silva > Rozy > Keith > Nicol > Maria > Sophia > Geordo > Mary.
You can probably see that I don't really like Geordo and Mary huh?
Final Thoughts
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| No fullcomp cg so have the normal end one... |
Overall I thought this game was pretty enjoyable, the routes were relatively self-contained
but still shared the overall plot also while it might've been short it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Not to embellish this game too much but I did enjoy it for what it was.
I already said in the nonspoiler section but it really feels like an OVA but with a way
for bakarina to end up with a bunch of characters! what more could a fan want?
most of the endings were well done, like if you think the anime beat around the bush too much
or it being too harem... bakarina can end up with your fav guy in this game or whoever
you think suits her best.😂 Mary did get a sort of joke end but... no cg or proper resolution
I don't think this is something otomate is good at and yuri route in otome games
are extremely rare, most people would play a yuri game if they wanted that right? tbh i'd count
the normal end buuut i'm sorry ''let's all go play/have fun'' doesn't really sound like yuri to me
and more like friendship so I wouldn't recommend this game for that, atleast that did have a cg.
Anyway I think the hamefura otome game was pretty good for what its worth! not too long
nor too short, plenty of fun/cute scenes with a plot that could have been another season/ova series
but ends up being in a self-contained universe due to not being canon. Also Albert route where?!
There's not much more to say and I feel i'll just repeat myself so that's that! I can recommend
this game if you just want another hamefura adventure, with romance ends as a bonus.
8.5/10
As for other games I am considering picking up buddy mission bond... i've been interested in it
for a while but with otomate joining the friendship only bandwagon it might be a good time to
check it out! other than that i'll get bilshana fd next month and atelier sophie 2 down the line
as gust games have started to become low priority for me. Radiant Tale looks good too
but i'm wary of vn's with exceptionally beautiful artwork.
I saw another hamefura review but its good to have a second opinion even if not by much. Seems like a fun time if you like the series and at worse its going to be a very pretty artbook for shipping purposes. I wonder if there will be an english release... shouldn't be impossible but its still a licensed title.
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