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syao · 7 years

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#SyaoPlays: Nightshade / Hyakka Hyakurou

According to Steam, I spent 38 of the last 72 hours playing Nightshade. The rational part of me says this is not a healthy, productive way for a functional adult to spend the weekend. Fortunately, I have no particular affinity to the notion of either “functional” or “adult”, so here I am, armed with post-gaming fangirling on the routes.

Game Overview

Nightshade puts the player in the sandals of Enju, the sheltered princess of an elite shinobi clan that actually consists of two... you know what? It’s all going to be in the prologue anyway (which you’ll play to death in your quest to date all men). Suffice to say, you’ll have five four fine-looking boys AND one particular very fine-looking man to choose from.

So there’s really no chance of you feigning a proper review for the game, no?

Pft. There are already tons of people covering this game and they have sufficient discipline to write reviews properly. Cut me some slack here. :))

And so, without further ado...

Syao’s Route Rankings

My personal ranking of the swoon-worthiness of the men, from best to meh-est. Spoilers abound, so I suggest reading this after playing all of the routes.

1. Hattori Hanzo

If ever this otome game becomes an anime like Amnesia or Hakuouki, I am hoping against hope that they pick this to be the canon storyline instead of the guy who gets the biggest billing in most of their promo pictures. (AhemGekkaAhem).

Hanzo’s route is the most well-written, well-executed romance in the game. There is character development for both male and female MCs (with the latter being the best version of herself in the title: independent, determined, and compassionate).

The story actually followed their feelings changing from obligatory with a hint of interest (him) / awe (her), to mutual admiration as they grow to learn more about each other as mentor/student, to finally, romantic love.

There’s an interesting backstory about Kagiri (Enju’s mom) and her childhood friendship with Hanzo, along with an eventual closure for both parties.

And the other characters shipping them is just too cuuuuteeee!!! Goemon remarking on Hanzo’s uncharacteristic trust in other people or Ieyasu sighing that Hanzo has grown more forward (hehe) had me fangirling like crazy. And why wouldn’t I be? I’ve seen how he was at the start of the game: stoic, singularly committed to his missions, and perpetually composed. The change happened right before my eyes, gradually and organically, so I felt as invested as these people who knew Hanzo are.

He was the second route I played, after meeting him in Chojiro’s route with him giving me Aoshi Shinomori vibes. (I remember thinking then, HELL YEAH THAT GUY’S A PLAYABLE ROUTE!!!). So by then, I already knew I had to play through the bad ending so I can unlock all his CGs. That was a really difficult moment for me, TBH.

On the succeeding playthroughs with other guys, I met him several more times. Every time I found myself wishing it had NTR options like Ozmafia (wherein I often end up jumping back to Kyrie Best Guy).

Favorite moment: The cave hug? The rescue hug? Heck, even Hanzo comforting her after her first kill was soooooo sweet and tender!

2. Momochi Chojiro and Ishikawa Goemon (tied)

Yeah, yeah, I’m cheating. Sue me. But I just can’t rank one over the other because they offer apples-to-oranges experiences in the game.

Let’s start with Chojiro, who was my very first route.

Quiet, prodigious, cold logic types make for adorable routes in otome. It’s fun to have them malfunction and cluelessly ask themselves why the female MC affects them that way.

That said, I’d understand why not his route is not as popular as the other folks. His route is exposition-heavy. He stubbornly clung to his shinobi way, indirectly resulting to his disciples’ tragic deaths.

But I thought it was all necessary for his character to truly grow. He was young and helpless when the war destroyed his clan, so he naively thought he could avoid this by prioritizing the clan this time he’s now older and stronger. Yet the same thing still happens in the end and only then did he realize that what truly matters in protecting his loved ones was not blind loyalty but the courage to do what is morally right.

Romance-wise, the first half consisted of Enju hero-worshipping with childhood flashbacks and Chojiro struggling with his clan loyalty and duties. The doki-doki moments pick up at the latter half when Chojiro finally acknowledges his feelings for Enju completely and we await the moment he’d finally confess his rediscovered feelings.

Favorite Moment: Chojiro grilling Enju of her feelings for him. He was so cute, slightly bullying her while initiating that rare proximity + skinship.

Goemon is flirty and jokey in other routes, so I was a bit disappointed when I finally played his route on my third go and saw that he was more, uh, demure.

As the comic relief of the game, he was also the most arguably “normie” in terms of romance. In East Asian culture, it is traditional for the guys to initiate the courtship and become the sexually experienced teacher introducing the innocent, virginal maiden to the world of romance. But more than that, he was a former shinobi so free of clan and political ties, he’s more straightforward with his feelings for Enju compared to everyone else.

The wrap-up of his story felt unsatisfying and the obstacle/villain in the relationship felt weak compared to the other route guys’. I mean he’s friggin Goemon who could outwit even the legendary Hanzo-sama! Why would a bunch of low-level shinobi be able to corner him in the story?

But in the end, this is outweighed by the amount of lighthearted fun and killer one-liners he peppers the story with.

Favorite Moment: Every single time he calls Enju ’Miss’. Too adorable.

3. Gekkamaru and Kuroyuki (almost tied)

Gekkamaru’s route is only slightly better than Kuroyuki’s, if only because at least Stockholm Syndrome was not involved. But I found both routes the least engaging, particularly since the feelings have already been established at the start and we’re just waiting for Enju to notice them. Also, Enju’s dishearteningly weak in their storylines, no thanks to the boys obsessed on shielding her from the cruelties of the shinobi life.

Kuroyuki’s lines (which Enju somehow find endearing) sends my skin crawling in terror. (”I will never leave you”, “I almost cried when I saw you happy with other people”, “I will take you away again”, etc.). The entire time I was going through the route for the obligatory CG unlocking, I was fighting the urge to bolt away.

tl;dr:

Nightshade is a pleasant surprise in the recent Steam sale, not only because of its beautiful art but also because of its interesting setting and the top-notch handling of characterization that goes beyond otome cliches (i.e. the megane, the tsundere, etc.).

This is definitely in my top 3 otome games, along with Ozmafia!! and Hakuouki,.

Rating: 4/5

#otome #nightshade #syaoplays #hyakka hyakurou

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