Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.
Platform: PS Vita.
who interested me the most first, since I figured I may as well enjoy myself the first time.
Mitsuhide > Momoji > Nobuyuki > Hashiba > Ranmaru > Ieyashu > Nobunaga > grand finale.
There is no recommended order, just that Momoji and Nobuyuki unlock 2nd+ play.
As for recommending you an order, I think you should be fine with doing whatever
Feel free to forge your own playorder based on this information below though!
Mitsuhide's route was nicely balanced and I think its best to do him first because
all of the routes I did afterwards with the exception of Momoji ended up being more enjoyable.
Doing Momoji second is actually a good thing since not only you learn more
about Hotaru and his past, plus his route is sorta a drag compared to the rest.
Also good for farming flowers due to all the training you have to do...
Nobuyuki had the more ''serious'' route which helps to understand him more
which might be good for midway through. Hashiba's route was just fun all around!
Ran's high in moe content, Ieyashu was really sweet with some light drama.
Nobunaga was also more serious and perfect for last because of the way it was concluded
which was even better than grandfinale.
TL;DR
Pro's
- Story.
- Heroine; princess by day, shinobi by night.
- Strong cast of characters.
- Choice of seiyuu.
- Art, very unique style.
- BGM, OK fits the mood some of the ED theme songs are A++.
Con's
- Short.
- Random choices to raise doubt/affection.
- Skip a thon, 2nd+ play.
- Every chara's tsumi endings are copy pasta, just with a different flavor of sprinkled cheese on top.
-
Geten no Hana is different from most Koei's games while its obv not a straight-forward
visual novel it has no real annoying gameplay mechanics compared to other koei games
which could bother you from enjoying a good read.
If that's what's stopping you from getting into this please set your prejudice aside.
Here's what the actual gameplay entails:
- Interact with the guy on a daily basis to get affection for his next event, while
also trying to achieve the mission Mitsuhide gives you, the game is short
so there's limited time but just enough to do one characters events.
-
Fight, select the right buttons within the time limit, you gain flowers
while training which increases affection when given to the guy.
- Its easy to play without a guide however some choices could prevent you from getting the guys next
flag event or lead to an abrupt game over, I still recommend a guide for a comfortable playthrough.
Seriously the above is not as annoying as it may sound so please do give it a shot.
There's even a demo available for the first game on JP PSN so if you still have doubts go try it.
Geten no Hana is not a straigh-forward visual novel, if endless screens of text
test your patience koei's otomege are perfect for you.
TL;DR end.
From the start the guys are all very likeable and they fit into their historical selfs well but still
its an otome game so some adjustments have to be made mmmkay? The story
was surprisingly well written and easy to follow despite being old timey
also there's furigana so its easy to understand kanji for important terms.
I must say I like the heroine Hotaru a lot, she is combat capable but is a bit dense
regarding romance but it all makes sense considering her upbringing.
Hotaru is awesome but has her moments of doubt and being insecure because
she's still a girl after all but I wish she had more courage in certain route/ending.
I rather have a proactive heroine like Hotaru who kicks ass than a meek heroine
where the guys are literally all over her like in most otome.
Its sad that badass otome game heroines come in extremely small shipments.
Unfortunately the romance in some routes was more obvious than others, hmm how to put it?
This game wants you to pay attention to the characters words and actions more than anything.
If its not obvious that doesn't mean its not there at all, the route that was the hardest
to grasp any sort of romance for me was Momoji's all the others were easy to understand.
System wise its pretty much like Harukanaru 6 just without rpg aspect.
You have the guys side events and/or romantic moments during the main story and the
character story is at the end which slightly change the events and ending of the game.
Everything else is mostly the same every play just the outcomes are different
due to whom you for which keeps things fresh even if the general story is the same.
You got missions which usually include having to shapeshift into a maid, bird, samurai or a frog.
I really liked the scenes you could get if you turn into a frog only for Ieyashu to notice it
and take it back to the pond, it was word the failed attempt for the reaction alone, lol.
In between your missions you can visit the guys and talk with them, the conversation topic
are random some may raise or lower affection, you don't want the latter since
you need affection to trigger event flags and you need all of a character event flags
to get their best endings, if you want their normal end simply abort by chapter 3/4.
Talk topics include their past, favorite food... and other things plenty of interesting facts to learn.
This is much better than Angelique Retour were the topics were kept even simplier.
Battles include having to select the right buttons in time, its nothing too difficult
but it is easy to mess up sometimes since you are on the clock(there's a timer).
There are a lot of bad ends like for failing a mission, though only a few are recorded
in the scene recollection, IIRC max doubt? and failing plot battles isn't recorded.
For guides momokan,otome-girly and Halfadder are good but they all are for the PSP version
so they lack the info on how to get the newly added sinful flower endings made for this port.
That is why I highly recommended you
Syrup26's guide as its perfect.
Choro has done gods work by putting up a glossary check list, with these two you are all set!
I really do not recommended playing this without a guide due to shear amount of bad ends
from certain choices in scenes, basically aborts the whole cutscene, granted a quick save will help
but sooner or later it would drive me crazy not knowing which leads to an abrupt bad end. (눈_눈)
I recommend only getting the guys events which ever one you go for that round
and don't see anyone else because you don't even have time for it, also quick saves! use them!
Seriously though due to most of the game being the same every play its better to save the unique
character events for every play you do since it just becomes more worthwhile.
There are some secret events which pairs up characters and give you a close up CG
and you'll most likely get them when going for grand finale, honestly
if it weren't for a guide I would have probably never got them since it requires
you to view various event flags of both characters during chapter 1/2.
You don't even have that much time so even getting it really puts your managment skills to the test.
Some choices when visiting the guy are random but don't worry they're not infinitely random
so just quick save before a choice if you're unsure if its gonna lower affection or raise doubt.
The scenes aren't long either only a few of them are so if you have short attention span
don't worry this game like most of Koei's game is perfect for you.
Sadly this also means the game is a pain in the ass to platinum, because
this game does not give you all keywords like they're candy.
Following Syrups guide will get you everything except that, missing glossary entries?
Use Choro's masterlist to see which you missed it some of Hashiba's talks may need high affection.
Getting all cg's and scenes is easy peasy, selecting all choice in the daily conversation is not
because they're random and some only give you the keyword at high/low affection.
Okay on to another topic...
The guys do not show much interests/harass Kikyou which is good! no need for queen bee syndrome.
Okay... Hashiba does shower her with affection from the get go but there has to be one of those...
Also you'll never see Ranmaru's cute side outside of his own route, Momoji may be charming
outside of his own route but you'll find out more about him and Hotaru's past in his route than anywhere else in his own route though he was sort of grumpy to me.
Point is you won't find out anything about other characters in someone elses personal route
as they're very character focused on themselves as is and to be honest, this is a good thing.
Honestly while it may look the guys routes are like side events along the main road it really
isn't all that different from the average otome game because some things just won't change.
Overall Koei sure knows how to work their magic, thats for sure.
They know how to make the characters and scenes so dreamy...!
The characters also manage to fit into their historical counterparts especially Nobunaga
though for some adjustments had to made so its not completely accurate
but not like it needs to be and this game did a damn good job at trying to stay true.
No character felt like they had a route for the sake of having one and thats good!
2nd+ play like most of koei's games doesn't have the same feel but most routes still manage
and bring something new to the table as they're very character focused.
Everyone is likeable in some way and there are no yandere if you were wondering, also not
everyone get a kiss cg which is common for Koei's games to only get or two most of the time.
Even if there is no CG for it they do kiss, there is just no pretty picture for it...
It is sad that the characters don't get any kiss CG in their best ends. T_T
Ranmaru's tsumi end doesn't count because its not exactly something I want to remember...
Speaking of the new Tsumi no Hana endings are essentially more bad ends for some added despair
and imo they are totally unnecessary its more like a what if Hotaru betrayed Mitsuhide and everyone.
The story for it was pretty crap because the same reason is copy pasted into everyone's tsumi end.
If you already played the both psp games and think about getting this port for it and other content
I suggest to not unless you're a real fan of this series and absolutely want to support it. :)
Also me thinks the normal end and pair CG's are a ripoff... since its mostly
just their standing picture and for the pair ups its just a close up, lol.
While there isn't a canon guy there is bias present in Nobunaga's route, because
not only does none of that happen in anyone elses route it was made as clear as day he was
Hotaru's first love! I am just glad they don't shove this down your throat too much in other route
not even the grand finale, this is all good because the player is supposed to choose who they like.
Other than that Geten no Hana is a great otome game and really I recommend it!
Though I think I wrote down/repeat a bit too much...
9.5/10
The usual spoilers be they major or minor awaits after the jump, you've been warned.
Anyway i'm sure you've realized you can read the full summary and character background in detail at
koei wiki so I won't bother to be detailed with plot i'll only mention my fav events and drop out the rest.
One day Sophie an alchemist literally blasts her way into the town and Firis witnesses in awe.
