Samurai of Hyuga Book 3

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 559: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (9/10) Going into[i] Samurai of Hyuga Book 3,[/i] I was cautiously optimistic. I’ve enjoyed the series overall, but the previous entry left me with a handful of lingering frustrations: pacing hiccups, mechanical opacity, and the sense that the story hadn’t quite reached its full potential yet. Book 3 feels like the moment where everything finally clicks. Connell has a little bit of everything here: a focused narrative, steamy romance scenes, strong emotional stakes, and leans fully into the series’ darker, more introspective side, delivering what is easily the strongest and most confident installment so far. It feels far more confident in what it wants to say about violence, guilt, and whether someone like your ronin even deserves redemption. "Jesus Christ" is all I can say after finishing [i]Samurai of Hyuga Book 3[/i]. All my problems with the previous book has been washed away (mostly!). [b][h2]Pros:[/h2][/b] ✅[b] Emotional rollercoaster.[/b] I thought this series was going to be a fun romp in the countryside, where I bed pretty maidens and kill bad dudes. But oops, am I the bad guy? Kind of,…

[i]Samurai of Hyuga Book 3[/i] is a text-based, choose-your-own-adventure game developed and published by Hosted Games. As the name states, it is the third game in the [i]Samurai of Hyuga[/i] series, so suffice it to say that it's best to have played the previous two in the series before reading this review, as there will be spoilers. Of course, you can also check out my reviews of [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/calliestar/recommended/524540?snr=1_1056_1055_1056][i]Samurai of Hyuga[/i][/url] and [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/calliestar/recommended/524560?snr=1_1056_1055_1056][i]Samurai of Hyuga Book 2[/i][/url]. As usual, you take on the role of a ronin, a samurai without a master, who has ended up in a mansion on an island along with your charge and trusty companions. At the end of Book 2, [spoiler]you won a vacation to this island and all the amenities that the host has to offer although you're secretly on a mission to hunt and kill demons, having been ordered to do so by the emperor himself[/spoiler]. However, there's a bit of a hiccup, as the chef of the mansion has been found murdered. Thus, the first part of this story delves into you being thrust into the role…

This is a really fun series that focuses a lot on relationships and character development along with a steady plot. The choices mostly focus on the type of personality you want to maintain interspersed with lasting decisions that follow through the series. I would highly recommend to any fans of IF.

The part of the series where the railroading kicks into high gear. You fight two of the five deamons in this book but both fights are one hell of an anticlimax as you fight and win outside of choices and its completly unsatisfactory. Your ronin is for the most of the second part utterley incompetent and you do not even get to kill the utterly despicable secondary villian. Seriously, why set up a confrontation like that and then have it go nowhere exept to get the ronin into the breakdown necessary for the next book. Alignments do not matter anymore outside of changing some lines. The second big problem is with the pacing. As a consequens of the no-climax in the last book, this book has two storys. First regarding the island-cliffhanger in the last book, then a complete new one. The new one isnt bad, heck its the second best in the series and introducing Kohaku a well written and interesting character. But thanks to the whole two storys part its underdevelopt, doesnt get enough time to set up and resolve and is seriously hampered by the railroading necessary for the ronins breakdown. Just wasted potential.

Samurai of Attunement sure is a fun cyoa... if you don't want to choose your own adventure

Yeah, it's all downhill from here. For the choices it gives you, know that nothing is changed beyond your surface personality and <Personality> insertions, like <Impulsive> or <Calculated>, and the initial response sentence to them. Just adds a bit of flavor. Attunement seems irrelevant, at least for the entire story so far. Author has a story he wants to tell, usually at the expense of your ronin. That's well and good, but so far as a 'Hero's Journey' is concerned, this is the beginning of that downward inertia. Maybe it will be better in book 6, but who knows? Certainly not me. And, if the trend begun in book 3, then proceeding thru books 4 and 5, continues? well, this is a good place to cut your losses, assuming, that is, that you have an image of your ronin as anything beyond a self-flagellating loser. It wouldn't be such a big deal if your efforts were occasionally rewarded, rather than denigrated. For every single page of 'positive' or enjoyable stuff, there's at least two chapters of deflation, like your good time is air in a balloon slowly being fart-squeaked out in that high pitch whine. ---Definitely the weakest entry. So much to do, so many ways to really mess it up.…