Seikai Houretsuden (Heroic Legend of the Star Sea)

Barn is a bright and cheerful boy, but lost his memory two years ago, apparently to hide an important or painful past memory. He was found unconscious in the Karukia mountains, and was found by Blood, a half-man, half-white tiger, who took care of him. In order to try to help Barn regain his memory, Blood and Barn leave the Karukia mountains to the kingdom of Melbird, where there is a rumor that a fortune-teller lives there that may be able to tell Barn about his past.

The fortune-teller speaks of a legend of the "Star Sea" that has been told in the kingdom of Melbird since ancient times, of a hero that will open the "door" of the "Rig Veda" to save the world, and says that Barn is the person who has come to do this, and that by doing so, he will regain his memory. He then disappears before Barn and Blood without another word.

Without anywhere else to go, Barn and Blood set out on the venture of the Star Sea legend, to travel over the seas to foreign lands to regain elemental treasures and go against the Guardians that protect them, and for Barn to regain his hidden memory: a memory that will save the world.

Barn

Race: Unknown
Blood type: B
Zodiac sign: Aries
Height: 177 cm (5'10'')
Age: 17
Weapon: Sword with fire magic

Barn was found by Blood collapsed in the Karukia Forest with no memories. Blood gave him the name "Barn," but his true name is unknown. Blood has taken care of him, and now he and Blood have set out to try to recall his memories. He is very energetic, but also a little too innocent and gullable. On his journey, he trains in swordsmanship, and fights with fire magic off of his blade. Seiyuu: Okada Takayuki.

Lucina Blood

Race: Animal people (White tiger)
Blood type: Unknown
Zodiac sign: Leo
Height: 187 cm (6'2'')
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Strength and lightning/earth magic

Blood is one of the animal people that has the ability to transform from human form to the form of a white tiger (which has given him the nick-name "Byakko-chan" among the others). Normally these half-animals stay away from humans, but Blood found Barn abandoned with no memories in Karukia, and feeling tender-hearted toward him, has taken care of him and trying to help him regain his memories. He is a bit serious and overly protective of Barn. When it comes to battle, he uses his brute force, and can affect the ground with lightning punches. Seiyuu: Narita Ken.

Nush Ray Casanova

Race: Human, unknown heritage
Blood type: AB
Zodiac sign: Pisces
Height: 180 cm (5'11'')
Age: 29
Weapon: Pair of rapier with wind magic

Nush is the captain of the pirate ship Wing Sword. He is a free spirit, young, wild, and allowing the wind to lead him along in life. When he meets Barn in Melbird, he takes an interest in him and invites he and Blood aboard his ship, to set out on their journey, feeling that fate will lead them. He is a man of manners and elegance, and has a liesurely approach to things. In battle, he uses a pair of rapier, sometimes in conjuction with wind magic on the weapons. Seiyuu: Miki Shinichirou.

Kashiwagi Syun

Race: Human, European and Chinese heritage
Blood type: O
Zodiac sign: Virgo
Height: 179 cm (5'10'')
Age: 24
Weapon: Bladed fan and water magic

Syun is the medic on the Wing Sword. He is an obvious cross-dresser, with his lipstick, pink Chinese dress, and fishnet stalkings, speaking in the feminine language in a feminine tone. But his gracefulness hides his true strength when it comes to battle, as he is proficient in Chinese martial arts with a bladed fan, as well as water-elemental magic. He is friendly to the members of the ship, and in his free time he works on making medicines with herbs. Seiyuu: Suzumura Ken'ichi.

Hijiri Herz Jr.

Race: Human, American/European and Oriental heritage
Blood type: A
Zodiac sign: Capricorn
Height: 167 cm (5'6'')
Age: 23
Weapon: Frying pan

Hijiri is the cook on the Wing Sword. Though he is 23, he looks more like he is 13, and acts more like a capricious shouta. He is liked by animals, and has two hamsters, Hamlet and Ophelia, one of which is tucked in his shirt and the other that perches on his head. He likes things to be orderly, and is the "neat freak" of the ship, and he takes his job of being the cook very seriously. He is very cheerful, but also has a bit of a trouble-maker within him. When he is in battle, he weilds the giant frying pan that is strapped to his back with no mercy. Seiyuu: Motoki Takagi.

Ruhe Nagi Streit

Race: Human, unknown heritage
Blood type: A
Zodiac sign: Scorpio
Height: 188 cm (6'2'')
Age: 21
Weapon: Sword

Nagi is a swordsman on the Wing Sword. He is the main fighter on the ship, weilding a huge sword and at times, an immense, berseker-like destructive power. When Barn first comes aboard the Wing Sword, Nagi helps train him in swordfighting, and he and Blood immediately form a disliking of each other. He is a self-rightous and stubborn person.Seiyuu: Hiyama Noboyuki.

Rui

Race: Unknown
Blood type: Unknown
Zodiac sign: Unknown
Height: 182 cm (6'0'')
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Martial arts

Rui is a mysterious man who is found floating upon a raft one day and is taken aboard the Wing Sword. He is a smooth-talker and flirtatious to the others aboard the ship. When he fights, he uses martial arts, sometimes wearing his wooden clogs on his hands when he punches. In the evenings, he can be found under the stars playing an oriental instrument. But what is hidden beneath this strange romanticist? Seiyuu: Ichijo Kazuya

Pula Xaoron

Race: Meroid
Blood type: Unknown
Zodiac sign: Unknown
Height: Unknown
Age: 29
Weapon: Water magic

Xaoron is the King of Hyoumakai, the underwater kingdom of the Meroid people. He is the protector of the water and can manipulate it at his will. He is one of the Guardians of the Rig Veda legend that tries to stop Barn in his quest. He has a calm tone, but is ruthless in battle. Seiyuu: Matsuda Yuuki.

Logos Daryuhn

Race: Human, unknown decent
Blood type: O
Zodiac sign: Pisces
Height: 190 cm (6'3'')
Age: 37
Weapon: Machine gun, fire magic

Daryuhn is a member of the Embukai, a group of Navy Guards that protect the seas from pirates and other threats. He is the protector of fire and can use its power to enhance the abilities of the multi-bullet gun he carries. He is one of the Guardians of the Rig Veda. He has a firey temper and is a very sadistic person. Seiyuu: Katsuyuki Konishi.

Kyo Schwarz

Race: Human, unknown heritage
Blood type: AB
Zodiac sign: Sagittarius
Height: 187 cm (6'2'')
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Wind magic

Kyo is the captain of the black pirate ship Guardian Crow. He clothes himself in black, and part of his face is obscured by an eyepatch, and he has a black crow perched on his shoulder. Like his outer appearence, his history is also blackened, as he seems to have an unknown relationship with Nush. He is one of the Guardians of the Rig Veda, the protector of wind, and he fights using wind magic. Seiyuu: Ohtsuka Akio.

Dio Kuwakuwa

Race: Animal people (monkey)
Blood type: Unknown
Zodiac sign: Unknown
Height: 175 cm (5'9'')
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Earth magic

Dio is the chief of the Juujinkai, the animal people. One of the Guardians of the Rig Veda, he is the protector of earth and fights with earth magic. He is stubborn and non-trusting of humans, but also has a curiousity about them. Seiyuu: Suyama Akio.

Fortune-Teller

Race: Unknown
Blood type: Unknown
Zodiac sign: Unknown
Height: Unknown
Age: Unknown

This mysterious fortune-teller is the one who tells Barn of his quest to regain his memory. His true identity is shrouded in mystery, but he seems to have a large role in the prophecy of the Rig Veda. Seiyuu: Midorikawa Hikaru.

Seikai Houretsuden plays like a typical BL adventure game: the story progresses and you chose options as to which direction it takes along the way. And of course, you will collect CGs from the different turns the story takes. The basic play follows visiting people on the ship for a few days, then going on land to fight a Guardian, and thus repeated until the story winds down to a final battle and Barn learning the memories of his past.

However, the gameplay for Seikai Houretsuden -- pardon being blunt -- is terrible. Often there are options with only one correct path, with all other options just leading to a Game Over. And then you have to think, then what is the point of putting them up at all? For example, you are asked to pick a companion when you land to explore the island, but can only pick one specific character for each place, which makes it seem rediculous to even give you the choice. And the options are /extremely/ picky: one wrong option and you can be doomed with nothing but Game Overs no matter what you pick at the end.

This is made even more frusterating by the fact there is no skip function: this makes replayability a major pain. You click your way all the way to the end, get nothing but Game Overs because you picked one wrong option along the way, and now you have to click through the entire game again hoping to not get Game Overs on the replay, thus getting carpal tunnel syndrome in the process. However, you can save on option screens, and trust me, you will need too; with all those Game Overs, it is handy to go back to your last set of options and pick something else. Of course, you are limited to only 12 slots, so even your saves have to be used wisely.

The major up-point to the playability is the frequency of CGs -- there are over 100 CGs to collect in the game, and yaoi fans will be delighted to know that many of these are H scenes with the different characters. Collecting all the CGs is tricky, though; even patching the game, using three capture guides, and mapping every option in the game, I was still missing three in the end. Even CG collecting is a frusteration.

Installation of Seikai Houretsuden is just a program on the CD dropping all the files from the CD onto your harddrive. However, some people have had trouble getting this installer to work, so there is a very simple solution to this:

Don't run the installer that comes with the game. Make a directory for the game on your HDD (you can call the folder "lucina"). Copy over the DIR directory from the game disk to the "lucina" folder; there should be about 200 files. Make sure /all/ the files from the game disk DIR directory are copied to the DIR directory in your Lucina folder. Then copy the game.exe file from the WIN directory on the disk, and place it inside your "lucina" folder (it will be sitting right beside the DIR directory, NOT INSIDE IT). Double-click the game.exe file and it should run fine.

AGTH Compatibility - Seikai Houretsuden is compatible with Anime Games Text Hooker. You must add the /v and /kf parameters, and select the ":000003A4 MultiByteToWideChar" thread in AGTH. It will not copy the speaker's name over to Atlas, but this shouldn't be a problem.

Seikai Houretsuden Capture Guide - A capture guide to getting most of the endings and CGs in the game made by myself. Note that this is not a 100% accurate capture guide; some of the endings/CGs boggled even me, so I made a guide as best I could.

Seikai Houretsuden Update Patch [2.97 MB] - Seikai Houretsuden patch file from Lucina's site. You will definitely want to download this and apply it to your game! This may affect CG recovery.

Seikai Houretsuden Full CG Capture Save File - A save file that unlocks all the CGs in the game.

Seikai Houretsuden had the potential to be a really good game; unfortunately, the playability is so crippling that playing almost feels torturous. Frusteration of Game Overs, unrecoverable CGs, and extreme pain to your wrist don't do much to add to the value of the game.

The major bad point of this game is that is has no skip feature. No matter how many times you have seen a scene or played the game, you are stuck click-click-clicking through the entire thing each time. This makes for a horribly sore wrist after just a single game, and probably developing carpal tunnel syndrome after a few replays. There were times I literally just had to stop because my arm hurt too bad to continue.

Another point is the useless options; more often than not you must pick a certain option to continue the game, so it seems stupid to even give the choice in the first place. Plus the game is extremely picky about your options, and if not done correctly you can end up with nothing but Game Overs no matter what you pick at the end, something /extremely/ frusterating after you've clicked all the way through the game, sacrificing your wrist, to not even be able to end it. CG recovery is also difficult: even with the Lucina patch applied, as well as mapping every single option in the game (seriously, I did this!) I still could not get three of the CGs, and a few I can't even remember exactly what I did or how I won them.

There are also a few other annoyances: the game is 640x480, but only allows you to play in a full-screen mode instead of a window, and it just fills the empty space with black. I'd much prefer playing in a 640x480 window, myself. The background music is also not something to be wild about. Another thing I disliked is the fact that the game isn't very monogomous; I like pursuing and winning one person per game when I play boys' love games, something about the romance feel of it, I guess. This plays more like a hentai game: sleep with everyone, pick one at the end. I'm sure this would be right up some people's ally, if you are interested in viewing as much yaoi hardcore images during one play. Of course, with the way the game is so hard to replay, having this "hentai game" nature at least saves the pain of replaying to win each character.

Of course, the game does have some redeeming factors. The story is well-done, and Sakurai Shushushu's art is superb: the character designs are good, the CGs are nice, and there are /lots/ of CGs in the game, over 100 to collect. The high CG factor is definitely a plus. There is a nice number of characters, and the CG Gallery is well done as well, splitting all the images by character, and showing boxes for CGs you haven't collected yet, so you know which character's have ones you are missing.

The seiyuu also do a nice job, except for Barn himself: I'm not sure if it is simply the character or the seiyuu, but he's a bit annoying in normal dialogue, though he sounds great in the H scenes. Perhaps they got him based on moaning and didn't really care about what he sounded like talking. The other seiyuu do a great job, and there is a nice mix of famous/popular seiyuu with more unpopular/upcoming seiyuu.

Also, the game is definitely something that fans of "furries" would like to check out, as the game has a few half-animal-half-human characters: Blood, sporting tiger ears and tail, Dio, sporting a monkey-like tail, and Xaoron, a merman. I personally have a thing for mermaids, so this was definitely a plus for me: I'd never expect to see one in a boys' love game!

So overall, though it has a good story, good cast, and very nice art, prepare for nothing but pain and frustration while playing: Game Overs, sore wrists from clicking due to no skip function, and a difficult 100% CG recovery.

Lucina Project's Seikai Houretsuden Site (Japanese) - The company's site with information on the game.

No Reset Club (Japanese) - Personal website of Sakurai Shushushu, artist of Seikai Houretsuden.

Akaebaku's Seikai Houretsuden Capture Guide (Japanese) - A capture guide in a flow-chart style for different endings in the game.

Kouryakuno Yakata's Seikai Houretsuden Capture Guide (Japanese) - A capture guide for all the endings in Seikai Houretsuden. However, I followed this guide exactly and still could not win one of the endings and a few CGs.

Disclaimer: All written text and capture guides © Boys' Love Games Headquarters. All pictures and downloads are copyright of their respective companies and artists and are for promotional use only. I am in no way claiming the art as my own, nor am I trying to infringe upon the company's rights. I am trying to promote these games by allowing a foreign audience to see some artwork from the game.