I can’t believe I’m still playing a Quinrose game in 2018, I must secretly hate myself…but here I am!

I was in the mood for some historical stuff, so I gave a try to Satomi Hakkenden.

I didn’t have great expectations, but I admit it wasn’t that bad at all!

There was enough mystery to keep me interested through the routes and the characters didn’t suffer the typical Quinrose bad writing; or at least, it that wasn’t awful.

I started with Genpachi.

He looked cold, but it was obvious that he secretly cared for the heroine from the start, because he noticed immediately she was a girl disguised as a boy; but still, he decided to keep the secret for a while, to make her more comfortable.

He kept protecting her, but he still cared about her opinion and encouraged her to fight and be strong. Their relationship was nice and made both grow and mature.

Sousuke was a nice and reliable childhood friend.

He was afraid to reveal his feelings, since he was sure to be rejected and he didn’t want to ruin their relationship. He was really cute, but I was waiting impatiently for the moment he finally would start to man up and try to obtain her! She was very stubborn, anyone around them noticed his feelings but her. Those awkward situation were really comedy gold!

When he started to get really jealous, he finally realized he couldn’t give her up to anyone else, not even to Hamaji. And that’s the moment I finally fell for him! It was about time!

The love triangle was really pleasing, I envied Shino a lot.

Dousetsu’s route was completely different from my expectations.

I thought he was going to be rude for a long time before starting to open up, but he took just a short time before he became a cinnamon roll! He discovered Shino’s gender pretty early and from that moment he became protective, while blushing and acting so jealous immediately… I can’t believe he was so cute, it was a really nice surprise!

Daikaku’s route was a bit awkward for the most part, since he looked like he was in love with his childhood friend and I couldn’t help but feel that Shino was some kind of replacement.

I don’t think his feelings for the heroine were unnatural or forced, but… it took him so long to realize them, after his friend died, that I couldn’t feel they were completely honest.

I’m not saying he’s a liar or something like that, but he has a weak personality and all he did was blaming himself most of the time, while being attracted to Shino’s strength.

Something was definitely off with their relationship. I appreciated his sweetness and his gently manners, but Shino was always stronger and more determined than him and that was a bit awkward.

Keno’s route was…. weird. I know, that’s what I say whenever I play this kind of character, but I can’t help but feel awkward every time and wonder what the hell I’m playing.

He obviously looked like a man crossdressing, he was too tall to look like a woman. Still, no one noticed, they even fell in love with him. But how?! He was taller than other male characters, come on! And his voice! As a character, he was interesting, but those love scenes were just weird to watch, I’m sorry. I will never enjoy this trope.

I wasn’t excited about Kobungo’s route too, since he wasn’t my type of character.

I admit I didn’t pay much attention, I just looked up at the most important scenes and I think I may have enjoyed it more, if I had given him a chance before this point, instead of leaving him almost last. Well, he was a good guy after all, trapped in the typical trope “why am I feeling this for a man? I don’t like men!” and then he was relieved when he discovered she’s a girl.

Well, I expected someone to fall in this trope sooner or later.

Since the last route was about an ojisan, I saw it more as an epilogue, to explain and complete everything the other routes left unsolved.

Do I recommend this game?

Well… I admit it was better than I expected.

The writing was decent most of the times, the heroine was cool and she didn’t need to be rescued as a princess (sometimes she was even stronger than the boys!) and the characters had interesting backgrounds and personalities.

It’s just too long, I would have enjoyed it a lot more with just 6 routes instead of 8.

I still liked it, so I’ll probably give a try to the sequels!