Figures of Happiness

"An incredibly heart-lifting story exploring the realms of life, death, love, and happiness."

"Figures of Happiness" is a bishoujo (literally meaning "beautiful young girl") hentai gaming title for the English PC market. Translated by g-collections, it is a story about a young man (Ryo) and a group of girls who have to cope with the struggles of life and death, all while maintaining a loving interest over Ryo.

One of the game's characters, Minamo, is killed in a car accident at the game's beginning before being able to confess her love to another man. As a wandering ghost, she comes to you in your sleep, pleading to borrow your body's "life force," effectively swapping places and causing Ryo to be dead! The problem? Now that the exchange has been made, Minamo is complacent about returning the body's life force and instead procrastinates declaring her love. This results in interesting situations with Ryo's ghost pressuring Minamo, only to find Minamo running away to avoid him! With Minamo being a helpless cause, Ryo, as a wandering spirit, must find a way back into his body with the help of other characters and various turns of events.

Unlike most hentai games plagued by the Japanese market, Figures of Happiness is NOT a sex romp -- the story takes precedence over the hentai, so if you're looking for a title with strong hentai, look elsewhere. Even the small amounts of hentai present are very mild, so don't expect anything crazy. This is a good thing because "Figures of Happiness" makes you appreciate the characters for who they are and not because of their bodies.

Like all hentai titles, the player (Ryo) is given the choice of getting acquainted with several girls: Minamo, the main character option, is a clumsy, dumb, but strong and innocent girl. Mio, who is the second main character option, is the protagonist's starting girlfriend, who can later be given up for another girl. Mao, the sister of the protagonist's girlfriend, who secretly has a crush for you (Ryo). Izumi, a lonely ghost-like spirit wandering depressed. Kokoro, a crazy outgoing girl with a love for hampsters. Narumi, a psychic who can hear, talk, and sometimes see ghosts. Finally, the charismatic "Miss Death," who collects souls of the deceased and returns them to the land of light. Most of these characters are minor and the game doesn't pay enough attention to them to make their love-relationship segments powerful enough; however, the characters that ARE given attention (Minamo and Mio) are exceptionally well done and alone are worth experiencing.

Most hentai titles follow the basic principle of being an open-book formula, where you do nothing but reading, clicking, and the occasional multiple choice branching path selection. "Figures of Happiness" is no exception. Expect a lot of reading and a lot of clicking, but it's not all monotonous. The game will prompt you to make decisions effecting the ending, so you'll want to replay the game to see the full story. In addition, you'll enjoy a number of enjoyable moments from the cast of girls, especially Minamo, who offers laughs with her clumsy but lovable persona. At the game's beginning, you'll hate her for being annoying, but by the game's conclusion, you'll love her for her innocence. This makes Minamo my favorite girl out of any hentai game I've played. She alone has three endings, unlike most of the characters who only have one. The game does an exceptional job making you appreciate these characters, especially Minamo and Mio, so you'll enjoy reading/hearing what they have to say.

Graphically, Figures of Happiness employs still-image graphics to convey the story. The characters are portrayed with a wide range of expressions, as commonly seen in other hentai titles. Minamo alone wins the award for "most facial expressions ever in a h-game." I dare you to count them =). Unfortunately, none of the hentai is animated -- it is all still graphics. Despite still graphics, they are exceptionally drawn. The characters and backgrounds have a luminescent aura making them beautiful and easy on the eyes.

The game's audio is one of the highlights. The soundtrack is incredibly heart-lifting and fits the heavenly theme associated with the game. Like most hentai titles, the entire game is voice acted, with the exception of the protagonist's and what he is thinking. The game features Japanese voices only. If a particular character's voice is annoying, you can mute that person in the options menu. The voices are very well done, so this shouldn't be a problem, with the exception of possibly Kokoro, who straddles the border of annoyance.

Total, the game should last you 10-20 hours. This depends on whether you want to sit through all the girl's endings or just the main characters, Minamo and Mio. There's a lot of reading, but it's not extremely long either and the enjoyable cast of characters will make the reading a joy-ride rather than an exercise.

Figures of Happiness blurs the lines between life and death quite often. Without spoiling anything, characters will die then be brought to life. Topics such as "life force," lost souls, and life after death are also discussed. This makes Figures of Happiness a very questionable game to some, especially amongst religious zealots who may have a hard time accepting the story; however, these same qualities also set "Figures of Happiness" apart from other average hentai titles as it turns the genre of dating upside down and forces you to look at things in a different perspective.

Figures of Happiness is an incredibly heart-lifting story exploring the realms of life, death, love, and happiness. It sets itself apart from the pack of other hentai titles with its imaginative themes and its ability to tie those themes into the game's characters. If you don't mind the lack of hentai and simply want a charming "feel good" hentai title, then "Figures of Happiness" is one of the best ones currently available on the English market.

My GameSpot score: 9/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 10/10
Value: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/02/07