Koei's NeoRomance Games 2: Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de

Koei's Angelique games have a European look and a very pink, innocent feel. For an updated take on Japanese themes with a strong romantic overtone, Haruka (sometimes called HaruToki) games offer fangirls many colourful hours of gameplay. There are four separate Haruka series to date, with a fifth scheduled; the first four share the same main cast and general storyline, but have different kinds of gameplay and different settings.

In each game, the protagonist is a teenaged girl. She is taken away to a fantasy world that resembles some point in Japan's history to be a miko, or priestess. In each case, companions from her world come with her. When she arrives, she discovers that she is a miko and that the world needs her help to defeat evil. To help her, she has to enlist eight hachiyou (guardians) who have been destined to serve her. In some cases, this takes some serious convincing.

There is fighting in Haruka, of a level that some players will find too easy, that involves working with the hachiyou. This ties into getting them to like the miko, whether romantically or just enough to be loyal and helpful. Other essential activities are saying the right things at the right time and making the right choices. One thing Haruka games do have is complicated storylines, so getting all of the endings can be quite difficult and time-consuming.

Haruka and Haruka 2 are set in the Heian era, Haruka 3 in the Kamakura, and Haruka 4 in ancient times. They use historical names, places, and events, but are very much alternate universes. For Japanese players there will be much that is familiar; for foreign fangirls, there will be a lot of novelty. As with other NeoRoma titles, Haruka offers innocent humour and romance; yet it often gets darker and more tragic than Angelique.

Haruka has been spun off into TV anime, OVA, a feature film, countless CDs, and live events. The cast includes such well-known names as Seki Tomokazu, Miki Shinichirou, Inoue Kazuhiko, Ishida Akira, Hoshi Souichirou, and Okiayu Ryoutarou. Not only is the cast fantastic, they play different characters in each series, so fans can enjoy different aspects of their performances. The newer series show improved graphics, more voices, and stronger miko. By Haruka 3, the miko isn't waiting for her hachiyou to defend her. She's on the front-line, sword in hand.

Further Reading:

NeoRomance Games: Angelique http://hubpages.com/hub/Koeis-NeoRomance-Games-Angelique

Koei's NeoRomance Official Site (Japanese) http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/neoromance/index.htm