Tsukihime~
Tsukihime:
I’ve been debating writing the review for the longest time. I’ve talked about the game off and on (and at great length, I might add)but actually writing a review… that’s heavy work. Heavy. I really like this game, and I’ll easily put it in my top ten games to play. It’s got depth, substance, and the characters are great. To cut down on my workload, I’ll be taking excerpts from my ramblings in other places.
The game divides into two portions: the Near Side and the Far Side. Near Side involves the two Arcueid and Ciel routes and your dealings with them, while the Far Side takes things closer to home and involves your sister Akiha, and the maids Hisui and Kohaku. I have been told that word for word, Tsukihime has more text than the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy and I figure that’s enough reading to satiate anyone’s desire to read, read, and read some more.
On my own experience with Tsukihime, story-wise: I only had the barest of ideas- no, not ideas- unformed concepts about what I was getting into. Starting the Arcueid route, I was blown away by how things went from “this is who I am, this is what I’m doing” to “holy fuck shit crap, what the fuck just happened?”Things moved on from there, and got better and better. I got a feel for the world really quickly. The disparity between Arcueid’s nature and her personality was amazingly well-expressed. If Arcuied’s route and Ciel’s route were two sides of the same coin, I have to say that while Arcueid’s route was well defined and written, the complementary side (Ciel’s) didn’t reach me as well as Arc’s did. Once you’ve played through the Near Side routes, you unlock access to the Far Side Arcs.
The first route of the Far Side arcs I played through was Akiha’s, following through the natural (intended) play order. I had expected that when I played through Akiha’s story that there would be a reconciliation but instead I got a completely different story altogether. When I played through it back in December of ‘06, I wasn’t interested or particularly attentive, not to mention she wasn’t easy to like at all. I replayed parts of her route just the other day, though, and no one was more surprised than me when I discovered that not only could I understand her better, but I also started to… appreciate her motivations. I still don’t like her very much at all, but… well.
When I played through Arcueid’s, Ciel’s and Akiha’s routes, I was sort of… I don’t know… brusque to Hisui. Maybe a little rude. I figured, “Well, when I play through her arc, I’ll make it up to her.” Jesus Christ, wrong assumption to make. It wasn’t so much being nicer to her as it was fucking with an abused puppy. You give it a little food, coax it to let you pet it, and then you kick it. You repeat the process. Oh, man. I felt fucking bad. “Hisui, come here, I need help” followed by “Arrrg! don’t touch me, I hate you, go away!” … rinse, repeat. That was part of it. But at the same time, coaxing Hisui out of her reticence and hesitation, to the point where she eventually made her decision at the end to be by Shiki’s side was amazing. From the first time that I played the game to the last time a couple days ago, I’ve loved Hisui. She’s sweet, simple, and wonderful. By far and above she’s number one in my book, above any other character in any other game.
I can’t remember who told me, or when or where, but it was made mention to be wary of Kohaku. I had this… sort of visceral wariness of her when I finally did play Tsukihime that always put me on edge whenever I was around her and I didn’t know why. I have to say that if Hisui is my favorite because she fulfills me, then I’d have to say Kohaku is also a favorite (though not as much as Hisui) because she challenged me. Dynamic, emotional, dangerous, exciting. Kohaku comes as a close second to Hisui in the game, but for opposing reasons to Hisui. If Hisui was a refreshing beverage that put you at ease, Kohaku was a spicy dish that made you sweat!
Menus: moving around the game is a breeze. Saving, loading, skipping ahead, etc are all easy to do. Clean and simple interface.
Patch, Patching: My copy was pre-patched, I didn’t have to do anything. Yours may be different. Oh well.
I have nothing against Hisui, but I have feelings for Kohaku that no one should ever be able to feel for a video game character.
The above isn’t me, but he echoes my opinion, even if his feelings are surely moderated in comparison with mine!
I wrote my quote years before I knew about Tsukihime (and, in fact, before it was written).
“Tragic, deceptive, insane, innocent-looking, manipulative, immoral, lonely… it’s what makes a girl fascinating and desirable. So lonely and hurt in her heart you absolutely want to comfort her, so insane and immoral you absolutely fear to become close to her, so deceptive and manipulative you wonder whether you’re acting out of your free will.
This is what I call ‘fascination’. This is what describes my ideal girl.”
When I met Kohaku, I was amazed she matched so much my ideal woman. The rest is history~