Samurai of Hyuga Book 4

I played this right after it came out and hated it, but waited until I cooled down a bit before writing my review. I don't typically write reviews, but felt this one is warranted. Pay heed to the warnings, people. If you actually like choice games and IF because there are choices, stay the hell away from this. Simply put, SoH4 is a "choice" game with no choices. The only real “choices” seemed to be in answer to multiple choice questions about who people were and which technique you should use to hit people with your sword. If I wanted a memory test, I’d go play something else. I wanted an RPG/IF. Unfortunately, I did not get it. I didn't even get a story that had real branches. This thing forces you down a single, destructive, depressing path, whether you like it or not. And there's no avoiding it. At best, you can avoid being raped. Yay you. One of my biggest pet peeves in IF is when my MC is forced to "feel" a certain way. Of course, there will always be some feelings forced upon your MC, but part of the reason stats exist is to help determine what the MC would feel in certain situations. For example, a MC with high aggression would be more likely to become angry and fight against being treated poorly than a MC with a more passive personality. Does any of that matter here? Not. One. Damned. Bit. Case in point: my MC wanted to gut Jun and bathe in his blood--instead, she constantly declared her love for him and went along with his crap. Um, what? No matter how your MC actually feels about the treatment they receive throughout this entire pile of crap, they are forced to sympathize with the monsters that force their will upon the MC. Even at the end, my MC was forced to give a damn about the evil bastard who enslaves her. Sorry, nope. My MC was happy to be free from that psychopath, yet there is no chance to express those feelings. The author has decided that the MC *must* love the one who abuses them, no matter what. The fact is, this isn’t a game, it’s a book and the author is forcing his story down our throats with no way to have our MCs react differently from how he wants them to react. Second, other than the kid, I no longer give a flip about any of the NPCs. The Tosh romance is ruined (the kickass samurai is apparently no more than a spineless wimp) and Jun got away with slavery and rape. No doubt Jun will be back in the next book so the MC can worship at his feet some more. Are there redeeming qualities to SoH4? Sure. The writing itself is good. The richness of the ‘world’ is impressive. A good number of the NPCs are layered enough to pass as real people, though that just makes it even more annoying that the MC is forced to behave like a mindless drone. If you haven't played the first three, then I highly suggest you stay away from this series. If you have played them and want to see what happens, go read the CoG forums for spoilers. Still not convinced? Okay, if you simply want the emotional experience of SoH4, try this: think about that which makes you angriest and headbutt a wall. Same result, and you've saved yourself eight bucks and a few hours of your life.

Loved the other chapters but really hated this last one, haven't even finished it. There are no choices, your charecter ends up being a slave and you have only lines to say you like it. I quickly started skipping whole pages because I was not interested about how the mc was fine with being abused till I eventually completely lost interest.

First the railroads came for [spoiler] Momoko [/spoiler], and I didn't speak out - because she's smart and beautiful. Then they came for [spoiler] Toshie [/spoiler], and I didn't speak out - because she's loyal and dependable. Then they came for [spoiler] Ige [/spoiler], and I didn't speak out - because I hardly knew him at all. Then they came for [spoiler] Junko, and I didn't like being forced into a twisted, abusive relationship [/spoiler] - but there was no one left to speak for me.

Probably for masochists, not for me. I lose my interest quickly as the MC get keep being tortured/beaten/enslaved.

This book allowed me to do what I wanted to do, for the whole series. [spoiler] And that is to finally confess my love for Junko, the best waifu. If she can't come back, please give us the option to be depressed for the rest of the series. [/spoiler] Great installment, can't wait for the next one!

Where do I even begin with this game. Samurai of Hyuga 4 is well written in many aspects. It has strong world building and really breathes life into it all. What this game doesn´t have though is a strong narrative for a CYOA. This game focuses on the Rival/Antagonist of the MC and forces you to experience the story of them no matter what. Your choices in this game are mostly illusions that follow the railroad the Author set up. You might hate the Antagonist, for many things they have done and can do to you(Torture, Mutalation and [spoiler] raping the MC [/spoiler], but it does not matter you are forced to "like" them and follow their story along until the end of the game. You basically railroad through the story until the end where you can make a decently good choice that affects the ending. The MC is also still [spoiler] weakling and basically useless[/spoiler] until the end of the game. It feels like a dragged out "Fall and Rise" kinda story. This isn´t a bad story by any means, I think it lacks the variety of options a CYOA should have.

Well, I guess im the expert here. Despite an Improved Quality of writing and greater Scale, I can not recommend this game, as ist has two major Problems: Choice (or rather the lag of) and Jun/ko. The problem with the choices is, they do not matter anymore. You might get one or two different lines depending on alligment, but in the end, the genrell outcome is the same. You can blindly skip through the game, in the end it doesnt matter. The allignment has become complety meaningless and failed checks dont harm anyone. The only choice that somewhat matters is regarding Junko, and that is the second big problem here. (Warning, some mild Spoilers and Spoilers for book 2 and 3) Jun/ko has become the everything overshadowing character. But in the last games, she has been a very well written psychopath and a great and realistic written example of a toxic and abusiv relationship. Here, she gets constant charakter shilling and story breaks. She allways wins effortless and the ronin is just never as good as her. While that was justified in the last games and the first half of this one, it makes no sense in the second. The abusiv behaivor is still there, but its romanticised and fethishised. Her backstory doesnt excuse anything, and instead of beeing able to say that out loud, the game forces us to sympathise with this monster. And not raping a child is not a Heel-Face turn, its the absolut baseline of morality. But the game treats her as ally immediatly afterwards, despite beeing as psychotic and abusiv as before. ALSO, the ronin apparently has no problem with her cuting her name into them or torturing and nearly killing Momoko, wich Jun/ko gloats about right to your face. And in the end, the only choice that matters is if you go along with everything Jun/ko does to you and become a happy couple or putting up some token resistance and fight her. And even that fight isnt worth the hassel, because Jun/ko is just so awsome, that you only win because she lets you. And no matter what, the ronin breaks down crying how you lost her. The next game really neats choices with consequences and impact and a way to finally call Jun/ko as the Monster they are.

For someone who doesn't like or care about Jun/Junko this book may feel like torture to read but fir me who loves them, its a jewel. Jokes aside, it was necessary for the story, and sets up plot perfectly for next chapter. And that once scene in the middle of book, that alone is worth all the pain so far.

这一部是目前最喜欢的反复咀嚼.......怎么能把天降幼驯染、病娇和暴娇结合的这么好而且两个人在一起真的又疯又萌.....[spoiler]所以你俩决战前不要立flag啊不要立flag[/spoiler]，第五部锁区切号去了

what the ♥♥♥♥ did i just read. Firstly, SOH4, much like the previous entries, is extremely well written but there are a few sketchy lines scattered throughout and it sometimes goes overboard on the horniness. Now onto the more important stuff. SOH4 is so emotionally taxing and unrelenting, that there were points in this where I just wanted it to stop. In fact, I had to take a break in order to preserve my sanity. However, the pay off and character development that arises from the pain and torment, was incredible. SOH4 is not content with simply describing the struggle of its characters, it forces the reader to experience them. The fact that SOH4 so effectively captured the pain of its characters and shared it with the audience, similar to that of The Last Of Us Part II, is an astonishing achievement for a text-based game. I would liken playing SOH4 to my experience during The Last Of Us Part II, where the emotional toll is suffocating and the violence is unforgiving and endless. Some may not find that to be enjoyable (which is fair enough), but when a game can make me feel such strong emotions like anger, hate, sadness, longing and happiness then that is an achievement that must be noted. However, SOH4 does have a couple issues. The smaller issue: SOH4, admirably, has a very large scope which, sometimes leads to pacing issues. The more notable issue: Additionally, much like the previous 2 installments, SOH4 is quite liberal in its definition of 'choice'. What I mean is that it clearly guides the reader to making certain choices and these choices have very little variety. That can be a massive turn off for many readers and usually it would be for me too. However, I adore SOH4's the story and the characters, so the lack of choice becomes less of an issue for me. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned as SOH4 doesn't really offer much in terms of choices. Overall: 9/10 Warnings: Violence & Sex & Sexual Violence Ok, so it should be clear that SOH4 is extremely violent but it's also extremely sexual. They did (sometimes) break my immersion because of the way they were written but that wasnt always the case. Also, please keep in mind that SOH4 is beyond ♥♥♥♥♥♥. It's 100% the darkest COG/HG I have ever played.