Samurai of Hyuga 3
By Devon Connell
"It was one regret of countless many, but there would be no more added henceforth. The ties between me and my companions had been severed. They were free of me, and I was free to walk the path I had abandoned five years ago…
My stomach burned, so I drew open my kimono to expose my scars to the wind. I took comfort in the searing pain, because it reminded me of her—the woman I would run from no longer."
Part of my desire to do these reviews was to help myself understand what I liked versus what I didn’t like. It was always easy for me to look at a story that doesn’t have a happy ending and say I didn’t really enjoy it, but that’s not always true. This entry reminded me of that. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I am coming to grips that if I’m playing a self-insert I have more issues with depressing stories and a lack of control. If the character is less of a self-insert, it is easier to deal with but still not ideal for me. That might be a bit of foreshadowing for the next title, but I’m going to give it a fair chance.
General Story:
Our group deals with two demons this time and this feels like you are reading SoH 2.5, then go on to SoH 3 about a third of the way in. A murder mystery occurs, and the Ronin has to separate what is true and what is an illusion. After that is settled, and the world is down one more demon, you move on to following the Ronin as they try to understand what they gained and what they lost by slaying the last demon, all while training a group of castoffs for a lethal tournament.
The overall arc holds true that each story contains the end of an arc, but this one ends the second arc before Book 4. The Ronin is not walking out of this book better than they entered it.
Format and Typos:
Everything looks good. Did not see any typos, and readability does not take any hits from the addition of a new mechanic.
Game Mechanics and Stats:
The murder mystery introduces an option for text-input. This requires you to pay more attention to specific details in the story, and asks you to recall them correctly. The good news is, if you don’t care about achievements, you can maintain the options as a multiple choice. I found most of the text puzzles fairly simple to follow, and it added something positive to the way the story was presented. Aside from that, you still have the same opposed pairs, and rewarded attunement for staying in character.
Replayability:
Replayability makes a bit of a leap in this title solely for the added text mechanic. You’ll add an additional playthrough simply trying to get everything perfect. There are a couple of new teased romances, one of which goes nowhere… at least yet, and another that is the culmination of a few books… but again, is dropped at the end of the arc.
Dislikes:
- Becoming more and more apparent that you are reading a manga and following someone else’s story that you have little control over.
- No one gets to be happy. It’s a rule.
- Felt more dislike and connection with the first demon, and less with the second. I understand that a portion of this is just related to how the story was presented, and opportunities; but the payoff was far less impactful.
Likes:
- Author is honestly very good at providing trigger warnings, especially in game and in character as ways to bypass content you may not be comfortable with. Let’s see if that holds up.
- A good reminder that forgetting part of yourself never goes well, because you don’t know everything that is tied to it.
- Exceptionally good at representing a mind that is not at ease in text, and using justification for decisions made by a character, even if they aren’t directly yours.