Adventure Corner ~ Homura: The Crimson Warriors

Welcome to Adventure Corner, a column where members of the RPGamer staff can give their thoughts, impressions, and pseudo-reviews for various adventure titles that don’t come under our usual coverage. Adventure Corner is aimed at delivering opinions on a wide range of titles including visual novels, point-and-click adventures, investigative mysteries, and so forth.

In this edition of the column we look at the otome game Homura: The Crimson Warriors on Nintendo Switch.

Homura: The Crimson Warriors

I have played many otome games where the stories have been all about smooching samurai. Idea Factory International and Otomate decided that this time, there would be sexy ninjas to romance. Similar to games such as Hakuoki and Birushana, Homura: The Crimson Warriors is a historical romance set fourteen years after the Battle of Sekigahara, during a period when Japan has been split in two by the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Toyotomi Clan. Taking on the role of a young female ninja named Mutsumi Mochizuki, a member of the Sanada Ten Braves, as she assists her master and clan to survive through the last act of the Warring States Period. Can Mutsumi find love on the battlefield? With five unique bachelors, players are in for a steamy ride.

Homura is a work of historical fiction, but it does not require players to have in-depth knowledge of the Warring States Period or the Battle of Sekigahara. Like most Otomate titles, the game includes a detailed glossary with important information. Still, the story also does a wonderful job of providing the player with content about the historical period and events. Homura is well localized, with minimal issues, and it’s clear the localizers took a lot of time and care to ensure that information regarding the historical elements was both accurate and interesting.

Agree to disagree, Kakei.

While history buffs may enjoy Homura, let’s be honest, the real reason one wants to play this title is for the five bachelors, each offering their own unique perspective during this historical snippet in time. While there is a dateable archetype for all players, like most otome games, one’s mileage will vary based on appeal. This reviewer’s favourite route was Juzo Kakei, a former retainer to the Sanada Clan, handsome loner, and gunpowder expert. Although quite saucy on the outside, Kakei’s story offers a lot of drama and intrigue, including a very intense slap-fight sequence. His blossoming relationship with Mutsumi is the most genuine, as they don’t necessarily start on the greatest of terms, but eventually love blossoms on the battlefield. The other standout love interest is Saizo, who left the Iga Clan to find his own personal meaning. Ruthless in combat, Saizo is quite task-oriented, but upon meeting Mutsumi, he begins to soften. This storyline is very much the rough-around-the-edges bad boy meets the good girl who goes a little bad. There is such great banter between Saizo and Mutsumi, and their romance feels very organic, if a bit tropey.

Mutsumi is a fantastic heroine; in each of the love interests’ storylines, she constantly shows that she wants to be useful as a ninja and healer. She is very confident in her abilities, and she knows when to fight for what she wants or believes in the moment. Her personality mostly stays consistent across each playthrough, though certain romances, such as Sasuke’s, feel as though they lack depth, or, like Kamanosuke’s, are rushed in a way that shows a lack of chemistry. While the localization is great, the consistency in certain love interests’ storylines has moments that feel forced and inorganic, which definitely takes away from the believability of the romance interaction overall. While every storyline is full of action, drama, and suspense, not all of them hit hard enough romantically. I want to swoon and kick my feet in excitement, and sadly, not every plotline hits in that way.

The high-energy best boy, Yuri!

Unlike other otome titles, Homura offers two different choice systems. First are the standard choices, and the second are the Ninja System choices, which, honestly… are not that much different from the standard choices. They are literally two choices about how Mutsumi should proceed during intense action sequences throughout each of the love interests’ storylines, and often the decisions themselves don’t feel like they add much to the overall story. If anything, it’s merely fluff that gives the feeling of what it is like to be a ninja making a decision (ooo intense), but in actuality, it does very little to change anything. Whether Mutsumi waits in the shadows or climbs a tree is irrelevant, so while it’s an interesting idea on Otomate’s part, it falls completely flat in execution, as it doesn’t provide the agency it thinks it does. Even after a love interest’s route is completed, Mutsumi is ranked either as Master Ninja, Seasoned Ninja, or Novice Ninja, and regardless, the reward is the same: a CG image for the gallery. Other bells and whistles in the extras include the CG gallery, a BGM player, and the ability to skip read text or rewind. The game only features Japanese voice acting, and it’s excellent throughout.

Homura: The Crimson Warriors is a decent otome game, especially for those who love historical fiction and romance. While not every romance sticks the landing and the Ninja System choices are completely irrelevant, the larger narrative at play is constantly engaging and full of action. Like most otome games, the time spent will vary depending on whether the player goes for all endings, easily pushing the game to 40+ hours. There is tons to enjoy here, and for those who adore otome games such as Hakuoki and Birushana, this is then a must-play. For those who aren’t history buffs, there is still lots to enjoy here, though as always, one’s mileage will vary.

Disclosure: This article is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.