Geten no Hana

Geten no Hana (下天の華, Literally: Flower of the Human World) is the latest entry in the Neoromance series. It was first teased during a press conference celebrating Hyakuman-nin no Harukanaru Toki no Naka de's completion and revealed online through a revised promotional trailer. Various interviews and commentary has since been released within the Otome game magazine, B's Log.

It is one of the company titles which celebrates the thirtieth year anniversary of the Nobunaga's Ambition series. While Nobunaga no Yabou Online preceded this title for simulating romance within the Warring States period, Geten no Hana is being advertised as the first game within the company's history to give players the chance to romance Nobunaga. The target audience for this game is young adults. According to the developers, this story will have a darker and mature tone than other Neoromance entries.

The character designer and main illustrator for the game is Hayate Kuku. Mori Mayura is the illustration director, or the one who is responsible for the polished designs seen within the game.

The Premium Box includes a book featuring event illustrations, a character drama CD with music from the game, and three art cards. The merchandise is included within the larger Treasure Box edition; this version also has a wall scroll calandar, three additional art cards, an additional book which includes Hayate Kuku's original artwork and concepts, and a third book with a few exerts of the original script and the voice actors' autographs. A limited edition bonus for early buyers includes a character message slip, a downloadable image for the PSP, and a specific character CD offered at select online shopping sites. Consumers who purchase this game or the PSP revamp of Harukarnaru Toki no Naka de ~Hachiyoushou~ using GAMECITY's online shopping service can obtain a limited edition card set.

Plot
The main setting is Japan with a story which begins during twilight years of the Muromachi period in the Warring States period. The protagonist is an orphan who was taught and raised within Iga Village to be a kunoichi (female shinobi). One day, she accepts a request to serve at Azuchi Castle under her new master, Mitsuhide. He orders her to obey him whilst she poses as a princess within the castle. Her primary objective is to assassinate Nobunaga.

Gameplay
Unlike other entries of the Neoromance series, Geten no Hana's presentation leans heavily towards the visual novel aspect like the majority of the Otome games in the market. Like the Kiniro no Corda series, the protagonist is routinely given a mission from Mitsuhide and needs to fulfill it within the deadline to proceed with the game's story. The game flows in a daily format and the player is given three energy to expend per day. Once the energy is depleted, the day has ended and the cycle repeats.

For every mission, the player will need to gather information from characters by conversing with their disguised protagonist. Once the player believes they have gathered a sufficient amount of information, the protagonist must then use her ninja spells in private to transform herself into an ideal person or object for the job. She can walk around within her disguise for a limited time and proceed without rousing suspicion. If her intelligence gathering is poor, however, she will be spotted and her mission will end in failure.

During missions, the protagonist must occasionally defeat enemies blocking her path. To do so, the player needs to complete a chain of Quick Time Events (or Button Actions as the game calls them). These events are timed and require the player to rapidly press whatever button is flashed on the screen.

An overhead map of Azuchi Castle and its surroundings acts as the main setting for the game. The locations of the main cast are clearly indicated for the player's convenience via character icons. Events are indicated by exclamation points hovering over a character's icon and can be activated when conducting a visit with the icon present. Since romance events and story events are timed per day, the player will need to juggle their schedule to accommodate a character's events if they wish to view personal routes.

Every male character with a romance route has two parameters which can be altered by the player through their conversation options: affection and doubt. Affection is symbolized by a light orange cherry blossom icon hovering above a character's portrait; doubt is shown as red spider lilies. A positive relationship rating increases the likelihood of initiating the affected character's romance events. Their attitude towards the protagonist changes to be favorable. Doubt causes the affected character to suspect the protagonist and changes their portraits during events. Having too much of this stat will lead to their bad ending. Character events require a specific amount from both stats in order to be seen. These parameters can be checked by the player within the in-game menu.

Characters

 * Hotaru
 * Nobunaga Oda
 * Mitsuhide Akechi
 * Hideyoshi Hashiba
 * Ieyasu Tokugawa
 * Ranmaru Mori
 * Naomitsu Momoji
 * Nobuyuki Oda
 * Oito
 * Shigure
 * Luis
 * Yoshirou
 * Shizuki

Related Media
A Twitter campaign on the Neoromance twitter is being held mid to late January. Lucky participants can win a free copy of the game, an illustration by the character designer, autographs from the voice actors, or tickets to the upcoming and affiliated stage event, Neoromance ♥ Festa Alamode 5 with Geten no Hana.

Like other Neoromance products, Geten no Hana has a character image song CD. The same CD includes the game's opening and ending songs on it. Interviews for the CD and the voice actors' thoughts regarding their general character performances are up for viewing on the official site.

A comic adaptation of this game will be in the monthly magazine, ARIA. It will be illustrated and authored by Yuka Kumada. The first issue will appear in the magazine's July issue on May 28th.

Image Songs

 * Amor
 * Ichiren no Hana
 * Performed by Grace Mahya


 * WILD SURVIVOR
 * everlasting ties ~Eien no Monogatari~
 * Performed by Infini

* Amor is used in promotional videos and as the opening theme. Ichiren no Hana and WILD SURVIVOR are the game's ending themes. The second Infini song is an original song created in the game's image. The four male side characters are visually designed on the Infini members' preferences and are voiced by them.