Hanako Games

Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#1 by hanako - Feb 17 2020

This is only for the main 5 (because polls can only have 10 options) so the side routes will be in a different post!

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#2 by Arent - Feb 17 2020

Minnie and Barbara. Since I can only vote 1 route, I'll take Barbara.

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#3 by waff1ez - Feb 18 2020

Arent:

Minnie and Barbara. Since I can only vote 1 route, I'll take Barbara.

2nded.

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#4 by yinello - Feb 19 2020

I was going to go for William but Ellen appeared and stole my heart

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#5 by Lemon56 - Feb 19 2020

I have waited 7 years to romance William. It was worth it.

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#6 by BanjoManjo - Feb 19 2020

It's really hard to choose which route I liked the best because all these characters are so interesting in their own ways but overall I chose William because he's such a nice guy!! <3

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#7 by Hoosha - Feb 21 2020

I've played William's romantic route, Damien's 'romantic' route (hated it), and Ellen's friendship route. So far Ellen's friendship route was my favourite just because it was so much more interesting and...emotional? I'm a sucker for the power of friendship and the route just made me cryyyy it was so nice.

EDIT

Played every route. Ranking:

1. Ellen's friendship route
2. William's romantic route
3. Barb's frienship route
4. Minnie's friendship route
5. Damien's route

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#8 by Gotas - Feb 23 2020

Minnie all the way!

She was my favorite even back in Horse Hall, and I spent a while trying to see if I could get her as my "best friend" in the yearbook. There are a lot of attractive characters in this game, but Minnie is still super cute and I love her energy and enthusiasm for everything, particularly for helping other people. I'm glad that this game also develops some other sides of her character that were only hinted at in Horse Hall (e.g. with her secret warning to Ellen). It was fun to see the "scheming Minnie", and her struggles with wanting to help everyone all by herself were very relatable.

I'm also really glad that this game gives you much better options for dealing with Kyo. Obviously the best outcome for Minnie is to just become the president and get him to give up immediately, but I thought the scene where Minnie agrees to report Kyo in Barbara's route was also a much more satisfying resolution than the reporting to Grabiner or Revenge Society options in Horse Hall. It's cool to see the strength of Minnie's spirit and desire to help people, even after a pretty demoralizing semester.

Minnie actually reminds me a lot of myself, particular when I was younger. I've struggled with perfectionism a lot, and in college I was the person who would hang out on campus until midnight helping other people with their homework, and then go back and do my own work in the wee hours when I should have been sleeping. It felt good to have people depend on me and to feel like I was making a difference, and it was kind of the main way I knew how to make friends. There was actually one night where I literally fell asleep on a textbook while helping a friend, so I saw myself in the asleep on her feet Minnie too (I wish I had magic to energize me). Thankfully, some of my friends were willing to keep reminding me about the importance of sleep, and letting other people help me with things, but I can really relate to the desire to be known as the person who's always able to help, no matter who's asking, even if it's running me completely ragged. (although, unlike Minnie, I didn't have any grand altruistic political motivations )

I also really like how, by the end of Minnie's route, it seems like both she and the MC have really grown, moreso then on a lot of the other routes. Minnie has gotten better at taking time to relax and at delegating/accepting help, while the MC has gotten more assertive, and become a better leader, one who takes his own initiative for things rather than just waiting for Minnie to come to him (Although I appreciate the cooking club scene for really casting Potsdam as the villain, I especially like the version of the route where the MC starts the book club. Here the MC successfully does something good for the school of his own initiative, and then at the end of the year, Minnie is inspired to continue it, just because she enjoyed it, even though it doesn't help with her plans for world improvement). It seems like both of them are better prepared for the leadership roles that they're looking to assume in the future, and there's a decent hope that they'll be able to reunite in the future.

Jacob is also very sweet in this route. I like how Minnie always pairs you two as secret santas, and how Jacob totally ships you with Minnie, and even pays for your Valentine if you spent all your money tying Minnie in the election (William wasn't joking, she's hard to beat if you don't know what you're doing). It's an interesting contrast to how he's totally against Kyo, and willing to get hurt for it. Jacob came off as kinda snooty to me in Horse Hall for some reason, but it's nice to see that he's really a good friend to Minnie.

Knowing there was a Minnie route was the biggest reason I immediately bought this game, and overall, it was everything I was hoping for. My only regret is that there isn't more of it. I would love to see Minnie have the chance to actually accomplish her goals (and more chances to go behind Potsdam's back and actually help the wildseeds), but I guess that will be left to imagination

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#9 by ZuriAmariya - Mar 13 2020

Even though I know he's just the absolute worst, I couldn't stop myself going for Damien, especially with the really interesting angle we get on it in this game - no helpless MC wanting to believe he's a better person, just straight up "I know he's an ass but hey it might be fun?". Also the ability to choose between playing innocent and outright telling him you know the rumours and don't really care. Really makes for a fascinating story and, without spoilers, gives me the "is actually a villain" story I've always wanted for a character like Damien, especially with a relationship dynamic. Just very good. Now having said that, I went for Damien first, but kept my save so I could go back and try someone else. Like William. He's sweet, but wow I just felt rotten for dating him knowing that my MC is just as scheming as Damien! In the real world, I'd go for William, and when I made a new MC with a much sweeter personality, it felt right in the end, but I just can't say no to an interesting villain!

I have yet to try Barb, Minnie or Ellen yet, but I think I'll go for Minnie next. Hopefully i can sock Ko in the jaw!

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#10 by Sardoc - Apr 10 2020

Done William's route, currently replaying for Angela. I'll probably end up doing all of them.

William is perfection.

EDIT 14/04/2020:
Now also done Barbara and Damien routes.

Barbara's route gets very deep towards the end! Though I don't really like silent characters myself, so I wasn't enjoying it as much as the others, but that's personal preference. Still, the backstory is gripping.

Damien, well, you asked for it, so get ready for a rollercoaster ride! But, I did enjoy all of this. I branched out that save file to see all possible endings. Let's just say I love and respect William even more after this. (seriously, wrap the sweet senpai up - I want him for Christmas!)

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#11 by Cautious91 - May 21 2020

From worst to best:
Damien was beyond disappointing. Decent and sometimes even exciting in the process, but the ending ruined everything. Not the turning point, mind, but that happens after. No matter what you do, it's either anti-climactic or not sitting well with my MC's character.
Didn't try Minnie (never liked her), so no opinion.
Barbara was interesting right untill the MC really got to know her. Nothing against her as a character or a person, but definitely not my cup of tea.
Ellen's was the most agreeable route out of all the girls. It probably helped that I liked her in Horse Hall as a friend. Still, it felt like she was a side character on her own route.
William is the KING.

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#12 by Kerhi - Jun 21 2020

Ellen's route is while likely not the favourite of many people it's mine cause of how many other are there, it was my favourite since she's so sweet and she has a thirst for knowledge.

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#13 by FantasyFan - Oct 15 2020

Late to the party, but I FINALLY played through the final version of all the routes (blame real life). Anyway, I played Barbara's route first and fell in love with her (and I LOVED how she and the MC helped resolve Minnie's relationship with Kyo), so I thought I might end up voting for her, but then the last route I play was my sweetheart Ellen - and then I HAD to vote for Ellen. Love, love, LOVE Ellen, love her shyness, love her determination, love her love of science, love her willingness to break the rules, and the storyline of Musette was so gripping - I wanted to give Ellen a hug towards the end.

I also appreciate how in this timeline she doesn't ask Potsam to make her family forget her and instead decides to rebuild her relationship with her family.

Re: Favorite Route Poll (Main Routes)

#14 by Draxynnic - Jan 10 2022

Gotas:

I especially like the version of the route where the MC starts the book club. Here the MC successfully does something good for the school of his own initiative, and then at the end of the year, Minnie is inspired to continue it, just because she enjoyed it, even though it doesn't help with her plans for world improvement).

{snip}

Knowing there was a Minnie route was the biggest reason I immediately bought this game, and overall, it was everything I was hoping for. My only regret is that there isn't more of it. I would love to see Minnie have the chance to actually accomplish her goals (and more chances to go behind Potsdam's back and actually help the wildseeds), but I guess that will be left to imagination

Somewhat late to the party, but I can see ways in which the book club can contribute to Minnie's plans, even if it's not something that she planned when she decided to continue it. It has the potential to contribute to her plans in three ways that I can see:

First, while Minnie has no trouble winning political support (even if you do everything else right, you have to outspend her at least a little just to get her worried), otherwise her efforts to get involved in the social side of the school pretty much fall flat. Evidently plenty of students are happy to get help from her, but only the PC is willing to sign up. The book club, on the other hand, built up more traction, and probably has more potential to become popular in future years. It's potentially one of the other things that she might have learned from Gary in this path: being known as the person who helps everyone might help in running for office, but doesn't necessarily make people actually like you.

Second, let's consider who is likely to join a book club focusing on Low World literature - it's probably going to be mostly wildseeds and mageborn who remain close enough to Low World culture that they're likely to be friendly to wildseeds. That's pretty much exactly the base she's trying to build up. If she can get a significant portion of next year's fresh wildseeds into the book club, she might even be able to use it in the short to medium term as a venue for warning wildseeds of the dangers of the wizarding world despite Potsdam's objections to any formal process for doing so - whether she does so by directly telling wildseeds in the club about them, by slipping in the odd piece of wizarding world literature that showcases some of these dangers into the list, or by using a piece of literature from the mundane world as a starting point to discuss how something works in the magical world.

Third, even if both of the above fail, just having Ellen, Minnie, and Donald in the same room on a regular basis should be enough to give the established authorities of the wizarding world nightmares if they knew.