It’s been over 10 years since Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life debuted on the Vita in Japan. 10. Do you know how many times we saw the original game before that? Too many. The PSP version of the PS2 game. The DS release. The mobile adaptations. The PS3, Vita, 3DS, PS4, and Switch entries. But now Hakuoki SSL is here and, while it is a “feel good” otome game, it’s definitely one for the fans.
Hakuo Academy used to be a boys-only school. However, right as Chizuru was about to head into high school, Principal Isami Kondo decided to make it co-ed. As a result of the abrupt change, she’s the only young woman attending at the moment. However, she’s adjusting well to her new school life, thanks to her childhood friend and neighbor Heisuke Toudou and friend Soji Okita attending. And while there are some hiccups like the upper classman Kazama Chikage who “decided” she’ll be his bride, she sets out to enjoy her first year of school there and prove herself a success.
Hakuoki SSL is, for the most part, a visual novel like the original game. We’ll read through moments of Chizuru’s daily life at Hakuo. There are a few more interactive elements. For example, she’ll get texts from love interests and some other cast members that you can respond to. There are also some minigames, which can involve using knowledge of the original series or some quick reflexes. But in general, it’s a fairly typical visual novel experience. Except instead of the Shinsengumi members being supernatural, vampire-like Furies, they’re ordinary humans who can enjoy peaceful lives. Since this did originally appear after the first few Hakuoki releases, we aren’t seeing the additional romance options added in rereleases, like Shinpachi Nagakura, Keisuke Sanan, Susumu Yamazaki, Hachiro Iba, Ryouma Sakamoto, and Kazue Souma. (Yamazaki does sort of get a route, but it isn’t to the extent of the others.) So this means our love interests are Chikage Kazama, Hajime Saito, Heisuke Todo, Sanosuke Harada, Soji Okita, and Toshizou Hijikata.
While I am extremely glad Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life is here, there are some elements of this release that leave me feeling a little disappointed. There are minigames, they aren’t optional, and they do affect your progress. From what I’ve experienced, it seemed like perfection is a requirement to earn your happiest of endings with the characters. (Can’t deliver Valentine’s chocolates? Too bad! It can feel frustrating.
Another issue is the way the adaptation works. As I mentioned earlier, the love interests from the mainline Hakuoki games are now Chizuru’s fellow students and teachers. In the case of Heisuke, Kazama, Okita, and Saitou, this feels totally fine. They’re all fellow students alongside her, albeit upperclassmen, but there aren’t uncomfortable age gaps or power dynamics. Harada and Hijikata get a little weird, since they’re in positions of power. Both are teachers, and the former is also her homeroom teacher and latter is the vice principal. I get that it makes sense, and that kind of power dynamic could be considered with Hijikata in the mainline games too. I suppose here it just feels a little more pronounced in a way that might feel a little awkward, considering how much power the latter has and how often we see him acting as an authority figure as vice principal.
But I think the main issue I have with Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life is that as much as I enjoyed it, it is odd to go from such a meaty and long mainline game to an alternate reality one that’s so short and effortless. The game is quite cute. We get to see the characters in a new way. It’s very lighthearted, and offers opportunities to see different sorts of interactions without worrying about death. But the story and routes are so short that I found myself wishing Otomate had done a bit more. As a result, the romances feel quite rushed and like we don’t actually get to see Chizuru and the character who pursue fall for each other. It’s like it’s assumed that because we knew they could be a potential pair and fall in love from our time with the original Hakuoki, we don’t get that same investment and payoff here.
If you are coming to Hakuoki SSL from a previous game like Hakuoki: Chronicles of Wind and Blossom or the anime, then you’re probably in the best place to enjoy this game. There’s an expectation of prior knowledge for sure. It’s absolutely building on the character development from the original Hakuoki otome game and its remakes. And because this did originally appear in 2014, when the series was still massively beloved and about to get its Vita rereleases that added additional love interests and story segments, the characterizations are on-point. If you love these once-warriors, you’ll see elements of what made you adore them in these more peaceful, lighthearted, and fluffy moments.
Pleasant and fluffy are great ways to describe Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life, as it is a light otome building on the characters we know and love. This does mean that Otomate and Idea Factory go in assuming you know everyone, so some character and relationship development is omitted. But if you do know about this series, it is absolutely worth it to get this missing piece of the puzzle and get to enjoy romances with love interests knowing it isn’t going to go as tragically as the historical Shinsengumi tale did.
Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life is available on the Switch, and Eastasiasoft also handled the Switch release of .
Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life
Pleasant and fluffy are great way to describe Hakuoki SSL: Sweet School Life, as it is a light otome building on the characters we know and love.