Harukanaru Toki no Naka De 6....

[vraieesprit]

I don't post in here as often as I used to, which is a shame, and entirely because I'm a lazy person (or busy person, depending on which way you look at it). But this merits a post at the very least.

I'm sure that by now all hardcore intelligent Haruka fans will already know about this, but I felt the need to babble a bit anyhow.

Haruka 6.

Comments

[vraieesprit]

Yeah, that's kinda how I feel about it. I will get it because I've played all the others, and I feel I shouldn't really criticise what I haven't played...but it doesn't fill me with a lot of excitement. For me it's going to have to hang on unique character stories, and that's hard to do after five existing games. I grant they did (in my view, not in everyone's view) a great job with character constructs in Haruka 5, even though the seiyuu were new and all of that - but it's hard to keep it fresh. I imagine they have an idea in place - but I worry it might just be they've forgotten they have the option of going back. As you said, it implies a faraway time. This is not a faraway time for me. With Yuugi and Genbu Kaiden, it was fine to use Taishou because it tied in with Genbu and Takiko...but it doesn't feel Haruka-ish to me.

The best games for me were 3 and 5 so far, in terms of games, character, plot and so on. Bakumatsu worked really well, with all the uncertainties about loyalties and assassination attempts and so on. And Genpei I will probably remain attached to for the rest of my life, even if there are so many holes in Haruka 3 history-wise.I don't like 4 as much as some people, too airy fairy (literally) and some very annoying game mechanics which mean that if you miss an event in the first section you are crippled for the rest of the game when it comes to absorbing the stuff the hachiyou need to fight. I love the original characters but more for the manga than the game, so 3 and 5 remain my favourites. I still hold out hope for a return to the good old days of the sword and the superstition, though.

As I think I've said before, Haruka got me into mediaeval Japanese history. It's because of Haruka 3 that I've done so much work on the Genpei War (and I swear one day I will get that into something academic that I write...). I feel it ought to be focusing more on that kind of mentality. Plus, Haruka has always been a subliminal history lesson in some regards. It's kinda like saying that the whole mediaeval period just didn't happen. (Although I grant that they had some very odd Edo era time skip thing go on at the end of the first playthrough of 5, but that doesn't really count.)

I'm pretty sure most of the games are on PSP, not DS. I know the Yume...whatever it is game that's for Haruka 1-3 is on DS, but I haven't played it yet. Otherwise they're all on PSP or PS2. Actually I think now you can get most of them on PSP, which you couldn't when I first started playing them.

If you ever feel the impulse, though, Haruka 3 is a good game. And you don't require psychic powers to play it in PSP format...

Sengoku Angelique, huh? Somehow I feel like I need to read that...sometime. O.o. Fewer tea parties and more swords and history. Sounds promising...xD

Kemmu Restoration - I don't know if you watch Taiga drama, but there was a very good one about the Ashikaga and GoDaigo some years back called "Taiheiki" (named after the war tale).

[vraieesprit]

I did go look up the Sengoku Ange manga after you mentioned it and apparently there are a whole 3 volumes. But the whole concept was just so somehow ODD to me that I shied away from trying to obtain a copy. If you do, let me know what it's like ;)

I really like the Taiga drama, but I confess that when they get to a bit where the main character is about to be finished off, I tend to stop watching so I don't end up crying (like Yoshitsune...ahem).