Game: [Himebibi ~Princess Days~]
Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/publisher: Takuyo.
Platform: PS2, PSP, PS Vita.
Official Site: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/himehibi/himehibivita/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v1640
Release date: 2017-07-20
After the previousdisaster otomege I wanted a more normal otome game that doesn't take itself
too seriously with light drama and since this is like the only recently (re)released game in my backlog I went for it. Being a Takuyo game, no one probably gives 2 cents about their games... but here I am!
Its pretty fun despite the cliche setting of girl goes to all boys school...
I went into this with little expectations which was probably for the best.
You've probably realized this ain't a story heavy otome game, it does have a story, some members
of the board of directors don't even want the heroine to go to this elite boys only school.
Some developments actually surprised me but its not much, I liked how every route
tried it slightly different. The language used isn't that difficult, they don't
use that many Kanji so this is perfect for beginners but keep in mind
having a fair grasp of the language is still necessary.
Pro's
- Comedy, (mostly) light-hearted shojo-like otome game.
- Great cast of characters.
- Art, old but it still looks great.
- Read text marking, no copy pasted scenes and can skip over with ease.
Con's
- Can't skip minigames on 2nd+ play.
- Have to hold R button to read skip.
- Repetitive scenario.
System... typical choices to make but also you need to do a minigame and succeed to give
out flyers to people so Aizaki can become the school idol(thank you Ken for this brilliant keikaku).
If you fail the dude may never notice you- nah I am kidding about that.
I still think the minigame solely exists to break the mold of only having to read
because I really don't see the point outside of Ken's subplot, it quickly became a nuisance
of having to hand out flyers and score 500~ points. Okay its not that hard because
it becomes memorization game, if blond bishonen, short black haired kid
or bandana dude show up on the screen its ok to press the button really early. ^^;
There's another minigame in the 2nd half to give fanservice... but you can get away
with button mashing a little so its less of a hassle to get the needed 1000+ points.
Common route itself is pretty long, the latter part is shared with another character
but the routes aren't long its of average length, doesn't beat around the bush!
There's a flag system something like Geten no Hana or Harutoki, if you ignore
characters it won't get you their ending. A downside... only way to skip is to hold
the R button but for some reason they automatically put it on skip all
from the start I don't even know if there was a readskip.
I wish Takuyo would have upgraded this game a little because this is so 2006-ish
well atleast the text already read was marked so it was easy to stop skipping.
However I am sure I missed a new line appearing here or there... sometimes
I can't be bothered to go back for it, a line of text or two is not going to be a big deal.
The art... it doesn't look like it belongs in the current generation
but is it bad? not at all, infact its beautiful and fine the way it is
besides the characters still look handsome especially Rinto.
Music fits the mood... its not as bad as ye olde idea factory bgms that's for sure
as for the OP I let it play once or twice but then I skipped it.
After the previous
too seriously with light drama and since this is like the only recently (re)released game in my backlog I went for it. Being a Takuyo game, no one probably gives 2 cents about their games... but here I am!
Its pretty fun despite the cliche setting of girl goes to all boys school...
I went into this with little expectations which was probably for the best.
You've probably realized this ain't a story heavy otome game, it does have a story, some members
of the board of directors don't even want the heroine to go to this elite boys only school.
Some developments actually surprised me but its not much, I liked how every route
tried it slightly different. The language used isn't that difficult, they don't
use that many Kanji so this is perfect for beginners but keep in mind
having a fair grasp of the language is still necessary.
Pro's
- Comedy, (mostly) light-hearted shojo-like otome game.
- Great cast of characters.
- Art, old but it still looks great.
- Read text marking, no copy pasted scenes and can skip over with ease.
Con's
- Can't skip minigames on 2nd+ play.
- Have to hold R button to read skip.
- Repetitive scenario.
System... typical choices to make but also you need to do a minigame and succeed to give
out flyers to people so Aizaki can become the school idol(thank you Ken for this brilliant keikaku).
If you fail the dude may never notice you- nah I am kidding about that.
I still think the minigame solely exists to break the mold of only having to read
because I really don't see the point outside of Ken's subplot, it quickly became a nuisance
of having to hand out flyers and score 500~ points. Okay its not that hard because
it becomes memorization game, if blond bishonen, short black haired kid
or bandana dude show up on the screen its ok to press the button really early. ^^;
There's another minigame in the 2nd half to give fanservice... but you can get away
with button mashing a little so its less of a hassle to get the needed 1000+ points.
Common route itself is pretty long, the latter part is shared with another character
but the routes aren't long its of average length, doesn't beat around the bush!
There's a flag system something like Geten no Hana or Harutoki, if you ignore
characters it won't get you their ending. A downside... only way to skip is to hold
the R button but for some reason they automatically put it on skip all
from the start I don't even know if there was a readskip.
I wish Takuyo would have upgraded this game a little because this is so 2006-ish
well atleast the text already read was marked so it was easy to stop skipping.
However I am sure I missed a new line appearing here or there... sometimes
I can't be bothered to go back for it, a line of text or two is not going to be a big deal.
The art... it doesn't look like it belongs in the current generation
but is it bad? not at all, infact its beautiful and fine the way it is
besides the characters still look handsome especially Rinto.
Music fits the mood... its not as bad as ye olde idea factory bgms that's for sure
as for the OP I let it play once or twice but then I skipped it.
In short:
If you are looking for an otome game with an amazing ''story'' I suggest you look elsewhere
himehibi is anything but that, its a simple but classy modern day shojo-like story.
Compared to the last otome game I played Aizaki was actually a decent heroine
Aizaki will speak her mind and isn't a doormat constantly moaning about her problems
she can't fix, she's pretty head-strong but that doesn't mean she's not allowed to be weak
or have girl problems.
The first route took me a while to finish maybe its because early on each ingame
day was relatively short and a bit of a repeat but I am glad it didn't go on longer than needed.
Overall this game's length is average but when I think about it its just right, most will fly by
on 2nd+play the unskippable minigames started to annoy me by route 4 but to be honest
they're not that bad at all.π The characters are all great tho except Kitsuneme-sanπ‘
they threw in a good dose of comedy I often found myself snickering at a piece of dialogue
so yeah it has fun, serious and sad moments but all in all it is light-hearted.
You could say this game is like prince of stride except much older.
A turn off could be like two of the romantic interests are cousins to the protagonist
and she had a crush on one of them from the start but atleast they're not blood related.
Ahaha this excuse will never get old will it?
That aside I still found them likeable so it didn't bother me that much... like I have seen worse.
I suppose I could critize the subplot of becoming the school idol and the minigame it
brings with it but eh... its part of the game and if you remove it you'd be left with very little.
If you are going to play this otome game I recommend to start with Naohito the rest of the order
doesn't matter just try to do the characters that are paired up with each other right after the other.
Naohito > Masaya > Hikaru > Yamato > Shinobu > Rinto; should be a good order.
The game ends where it should, there's plenty room for more but part of me is glad
Takuyo doesn't really milk their games. Yes there's a himehibi 2 but it has a completely
different protagonist and some returning faces. That aside this didn't really leave that big
of an impression on me but it was still refreshing. Himehibi is perfect
for beginners/those who don't expect much out of otome games.
Since this is just a straight port there's nothing new or updated except now it can be enjoyed
on the clean psvita screen so if one has already played the ps2/psp version there's little reason
to get it unless you're a fan, ''i'd recommend himehibi if one want an otome game
with fun characters, a simple story that doesn't try to be something it is not''.
You should probably stop reading here if you don't want spoilers.
The first route took me a while to finish maybe its because early on each ingame
day was relatively short and a bit of a repeat but I am glad it didn't go on longer than needed.
Overall this game's length is average but when I think about it its just right, most will fly by
on 2nd+play the unskippable minigames started to annoy me by route 4 but to be honest
they're not that bad at all.π The characters are all great tho except Kitsuneme-sanπ‘
they threw in a good dose of comedy I often found myself snickering at a piece of dialogue
so yeah it has fun, serious and sad moments but all in all it is light-hearted.
You could say this game is like prince of stride except much older.
A turn off could be like two of the romantic interests are cousins to the protagonist
and she had a crush on one of them from the start but atleast they're not blood related.
Ahaha this excuse will never get old will it?
That aside I still found them likeable so it didn't bother me that much... like I have seen worse.
I suppose I could critize the subplot of becoming the school idol and the minigame it
brings with it but eh... its part of the game and if you remove it you'd be left with very little.
If you are going to play this otome game I recommend to start with Naohito the rest of the order
doesn't matter just try to do the characters that are paired up with each other right after the other.
Naohito > Masaya > Hikaru > Yamato > Shinobu > Rinto; should be a good order.
The game ends where it should, there's plenty room for more but part of me is glad
Takuyo doesn't really milk their games. Yes there's a himehibi 2 but it has a completely
different protagonist and some returning faces. That aside this didn't really leave that big
of an impression on me but it was still refreshing. Himehibi is perfect
for beginners/those who don't expect much out of otome games.
Since this is just a straight port there's nothing new or updated except now it can be enjoyed
on the clean psvita screen so if one has already played the ps2/psp version there's little reason
to get it unless you're a fan, ''i'd recommend himehibi if one want an otome game
with fun characters, a simple story that doesn't try to be something it is not''.
You should probably stop reading here if you don't want spoilers.
