Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei Trailers
Birushana™: Rising Flower of Genpei | Love & War Trailer | Nintendo Switch™
Birushana™: Rising Flower of Genpei | Opening Trailer | Nintendo Switch™
Critic Reviews for Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei is an action-packed visual novel sure to capture the attention and hearts of otome fans.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei is a charming Otome game with an engaging historical setting and plenty of feudal hotties to fawn over.
On the surface, Birushana is your typical otome game and in most aspects, it is. However, it is refreshing to have a character who isn’t desperate for love and attention. Even though some routes will put her in a damsel-in-distress position, there are others that showcase her resolve. The conversations are often on the longer side and the men surrounding Shanao are all simps…the ideal type for an otome game. Though the game isn’t perfect, there is so much content to unpack that you’ll likely end up taking days to play. A word of advice – don’t be afraid to romance the man you’re not interested in. Some routes will really surprise you!
A remarkable otome game whose memorable story and cast outshine any of its minor blemishes.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei has great world-building and complex characters that helps to deliver a powerful story. Being able to shape the personality of the main character and feel invested in their adventure immerses you into the story, and you are tempted to see how everything ties together. The visual novel helps to break up the story and makes it easier to follow along. Replaying for different routes can be difficult since it’s not always clear what your choices affect, and the intensity of the action scenes isn’t helped by the visual novel medium. Despite its flaws, the story remains excellent, and you will be interested in seeing how the characters determine their future.
As an excuse to hit up the sources on Wikipedia to read about the actual war that formed Japan's political system for more than half a millennium, Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei does a really good job. As a romance… four out of five isn't bad, I guess? But the presence of that fifth one made me bail out far faster than normal for one of these games.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei curiously explores an alternate story inspired by Heike Monogatari. With charismatic characters and a beautiful direction when it comes to graphical representation of the period and combat, Shanao's story is a high quality otome game. Fans of historical visual novels in particular will definitely enjoy the game.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei. The characters were charming, well-acted, and gorgeous; I’m a sucker for historical fiction, and experiencing an alternate version of the Genpei War made for a really exciting scenario; and the sound design was completely on point. Unfortunately, the game also suffered from some glaring grammatical issues that cannot be ignored. If you’re a fan of samurai or historical drama, Birushana is worth checking out, but that recommendation comes with a massive caveat thanks to what I found as less-than-professional proofreading. In the end, your tolerance for grammatical errors is YMMV, and for me they weren’t enough to take me out of the game entirely, but for others it might be a bridge too far.
