Samurai of Hyuga Book 3 has been released! Check out it’s page here!
It’s been a long year for me and Hyuga fans. I want to thank everyone reading this for their patience, especially those who have written such nice words to me on the forums, this website and twitter. Speaking of twitter, make sure to follow me @MChoiceStudios for blog updates and release dates!
If you’re interested in some behind-the-scenes insight, then keep reading! Some of these topics I’ll elaborate on in blog posts next year:
Mysteries are Tough
Through constant rewrites and discarded drafts, I have acquired a huge respect for mystery writers. It’s embarassing to say how much I had to throw out just to get the timeline to make any sense! And adding text-input to give readers that Clue Finding Feel™ was no easy task!
But I wanted a murder mystery in a Western-style mansion, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t make it happen!
The Power of the Premise Line
Book 3 is 20,000 words more than Book 2, but it is also faster-paced and much tighter. If I did my job right, you should feel like a lot more happened in Book 3 than any of my previous stories.
My secret can be found in a book: Anatomy of a Premise Line. It helped me outline and keep focus throughout the writing process. As the series goes on, outlining becomes an increasing necessity. One I have learned to love!
Finally, a Satisfying “Ending”
I won’t spoil the ending here, so no worries! While the series is certainly not over, the resolution at the end of Book 3 is solid. It represents a shift in tone and phase for the series while providing a lot of speculation for the fans.
What awaits our favorite ronin, I wonder?
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Oh, gosh, I’ve been waiting for this!! I can’t get it now so I’m dying on the inside, but I’ll definitely wait…!
But from the demo, this looks so great and -groans- I’m going to die of impatience, I just know it! Thank you so much, and I really appreciate how much effort you put into this! I remember last year, playing your games at the park, and there was a nice breeze and a laptop, the temperature was just right, and just… It was perfect. I can’t wait to sit down and let tranquility consume me.
Thank you again, and I look forward to the time I can finally play this!
OMG I love you! Made my weekend, I am so excited 😆😃
Hot damn! Thank you for another amazing release. I sacrificed studying for finals to read this. I have no regrets.
Congratulations on the release! I haven’t played yet even though I have downloaded it on day one.
For those who haven’t played yet. I suggest not to skim the forums for a while. It seems we have some members that don’t know how to blur spoilers or there are some reactions that feels spoilery. Trust me, I have learned from experience so the lesson play the game immediately. XD
Whooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have waited so long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you thank you. And just when I was getting depressed… Well, since I can’t deal with my inner demons, let’s deal with fictional ones.
Welp, I’ve played through book 3 about 5 times now. Needless to say, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. Oh, but also, I hate it and I am feeling much pain. That said, I’m still having trouble with some of the achievements. Will a guide be released soon similar to that of the first and second books?
Glad you enjoyed it! Expect to see an achievement guide on this website in a few days.
Is the achievement guide going to tell us how to perfect all of the companion tests? Cause on my first playthrough I got a few failed tests, some passed, and one perfect. On my last playthrough I got all of the tests perfect except for one companion who only passed, who was the one who got perfect on my first playthrough.
Finally.
And another one for anticipation, again.
This one really had me work my brain out to figure things, but never made me lose interest while doing so!
I love how you put so much in this, thank you! Please, keep up the good work!
Played through only once for now, have to say this installment is too fast paced for my liking. First half is quiet original and exciting with the text input system. But it feels kinda weird to leave the major characters from previous books aside and start bonding with new characters right from mid section of the book, then suddenly get hit by the fact that you will likely never see them in future storyline.
I understand the need to transit the story to a new phase, but after browsing the reviews on steam I notice I’m not the only person who find the ending to be abrupt.
What else confused me is the drastic change of Ronin’s personality, since it won’t be possible to discuss this without spoilers I will leave it here that it not completely convincing for me to see my mc (impulsive, drifter, rough around the edges) to shift into a totally different state of mind on such short notice…even under the influence of one of the demons. I’m currently playing with another mc which is more protective and sophisticated to see if everything would finally fall into place.
Samurai of Hyuga is no doubt among my favorite COYA games, I really love the first 2 installments of this series and was waiting for the new book the moment I finished book 2 one year ago and am still anxiously waiting for the next in line. Please don’t fault me for my too high expectation!
Small suggestion none content related: you may want to find someone who understands Japanese instead of solely rely on google translation for the title of each chapter. I was bursting in laugh when I saw General Shatao was translated into something that can be roughly translate back to “normally Shatao”.
P.s. I can help with these Japanese titles if you don’t mind.
I am playing as a ronin with the main traits charming, calculated, protective and brute and I have to say that I didn’t notice a drastic or unconvincing change for the most part. Only the brute trait doesn’t always fit too well since in a few cases when he at first gave a calm answer answer because it was a calculated trait paragraph and then the next moment he loses it because it was followed by a brute trait paragraph I got the feeling he was heavily bipolar. But those moments were rare so far.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH YES. LOVED IT. And now I’m dying for the 4th book <3 Jun been waiting for him for while WHOOO. I know its unreasonable but have you started the 4th book? ALSO LOVE YOUR WORK KEEP IT UPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!
Just bought it and played through the whole book in one sitting. It was spectacular! The ending was abrupt abrupt but in a rather satisfying way that really tied together well with everything that happened.
Thank you so much for writing this brilliant adventure that utilizes amazing story, action, and character development! Don’t know how I’m gonna bear waiting for the next installment!
This is by far my favorite book series, interactive and otherwise
Oh my god, even though I only just found out about this series a few days ago, it has quickly become a Personal favourate of mine. Iv’e really enjoying playing through book 1,2 and 3 and as alway the end of each book leaves me breathless, and craving for more. Please keep up the GREAT work and I can’t wait to see what the toughest roniin around gets up to in the future.
Without ruining anything, will a certain female samurai and female yakuza make their way into the 4th book as a romanceable options? Absolutely enjoyed this book however ran into a few technical errors where you are penalized no matter what choice you pick. Cannot wait for the 4th book!
Wow this one was absolutely great, once again this travel with those characters was a trumendous experience, and contrary to the second, the ending is really really good (you explained why you wanted to end the second book where you did, but I was too disappointed at the time… but this was corrected in this one so no problems)…. Hated feeling weak like Akio did, and later felt heartbroken when you lose a part of what you’ve become, all of it felt really organic and rewarding when I made the perfect playthroug….
Oh and MASAMI…. really gonna miss that “young woman” until the next time…. no matter how perverted, impulsive, brutal, I could never be a drifter with what it implies coming to her… even if it apparently means Akio will end up sequestring her in a dungeon….
I rellly hope you’re proud for making all of these emotions and ARIGATO GOZAIMASU for this incredible journey !
And i also wanted to add that I absolutely loved/hated the detective part, loved it because well it was great (not as great as some classics, but maybe because it was I and not Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot or even Scooby Doo that was resolving it so probably not your fault) and hated it cause OH GOSH HOW WAS I WRONG ON THIS ONE WHY DIDN’T READ CORRECTLY ALL THE CLUES BEFORE ANSWERING !!!
Come to think of it I really hated myself on those segment, but they are really good bits and really suits your style, making us feel important and intelligent, not that demanding but very rewarding, I loved it ! Trumendous work once again !
Something I would like to know… can you use the Jigoku itto ryu at a certain part near the end of the book, to save a certain you kow who…
You cannot use the Jigoku at the end to save a certain someone. Being unable to save them will be a big part of the main character’s motivation to relearn it.
Can you use the highly at all during the book, i haven’t been able to one everyone on my playthroughs
Hey! Loved this book, played it multiple times now and I gotta say… amazing job! Thank you so much for bringing this world into our lives, it is one of my favorite stories ever.
I wanted to ask…
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
seriously SPOILERS ahead.
After defeating Sensei/Baron/Kitsune, you get to ask 2 questions. I just want to check if I interpreted the answers correctly. With the question about why Ronin is chosen as jigoku’s heir instead of Jun, it’s implied that Jun is, uh, a pedophile? Or did I get that wrong ?
With the question about the source of jigoku’s power, did Ronin kill and cannibalize the younger orphans?
Thanx again for a supremely enjoyable book😉
If you ask Sensei why you were chosen as the heir and not Junko/Jun, it is implied that something terrible happened to Junko/Jun as a child. This doesn’t mean that she/he is a pedophile.
Both the answers to this and the source of the Jigoku are deliberately vague, as they will be explored upon in Book 4. Thanks for reading!
Whew I’m glad my brain got that one wrong👌 can’t wait to find out more now, thanx for the answers😁
I finished this tonight and it was amazing. Kept me hooked right till the end but it DESTROYED me with that end.
Now, I eventually want my samurai and Tosh to get together. That ending.. I can’t AND I HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK.
You broke my heart. I can only hope my heart gets fixed in the next book.
In book 3 chapter 6 when the demon fox says “you are truly helpless” it give options to choose jigoku but I can’t choose it do I need high attunement for those grey out options or is it not optional to choose the different options thank you for reading and love you books keep up the good work.
Those options are intended to be un-clickable to make it feel like you’re “truly helpless”. We find out this isn’t the case: the “Bad Ending” is fake!
what happen to momoko and when will book 4 be out
I have also just finished the game, after two days of constant playing, with constant interruption, and I loved the ending, though the last moments post-fight felt a little rushed. I am left in a state of shock, love and anxiety with that ending. I really want to know what happens next, and I cannot wait until the next book! I am very glad I finally got to romance Toshie, really want things to work out on that route, and I am very eager to find out what happens to all of our friends. This series is proving to be very emotionally engaging to me, and I am going to be driving myself mad just waiting for the next installment.
On the unrelated note but I’ve been wondering about it for awhile. Does Jun/ko’s sword have a name? (Spoiler) like learning that they’ve been of (?) samurai descent made me think if the clattering sword is something they’ve inherited from the family or is it just the random sword they’ve picked somewhere else?
That sword doesn’t have a special name. It’s just been overused and poorly maintained by its previous owner! Good to start thinking about Junko/Jun’s family though.
Previous owner meaning Jun/ko or the previousprevious one? 😀 Ah well. There are couple of theories i have about Jun/ko’s family but honestly I still cant wrap my head around a that the most roninest ronin who ever ronined (im sorry, MC ronin ) in this universe comes from a samurai family. Irony.
After not checking for months I found out about the new book only yesterday – when GooglePlay put it as the first on my suggestion list. Didn’t only download it but also tried to read as much as I could within an evening. With others of these choices games I have to admit that my interest in them has pretty much faded over time – I still do download them once in a while but then it takes a long time before I start them and once I do I stop again soon because they all sound so similar and can’t keep my interest for long. The samurai on the other hand I always keep looking forward to, I want to read them in one go and I keep them to come back for more.
Also, while I read them more than once I only ever created one character file that I always upload and then import to the next book for the first playthrough. He is my main character, these are the choices that I have made without already knowing the consequences and I will live with them, come what may. All other playthroughs are with characters created from scratch, no imports.
I really liked the investigation parts and the “courtroom” scenes. I felt so reminded of the Ace Attorney series and I had honestly expected the ronin to take a Phoenix Wright stance at one particular scene and shout “OBJECTION!” at Toshio. XD
I always listen to music while reading and during that part when the ronin fought against the shogi demon who had taken the appearance of you-know-who (trying to avoid spoilers here) and you-know-who told him that part of Jun’s past the track “All is lost” from the Terry Pratchett movie Hogfather came on. I just wanted to say, this sounded SO fitting for that scene.
A quick question. Whenever there are certain choices that are blacked out and can’t be chosen, can you chose said choices by making different choices beforehand and essentially make a different type of character? For example… Not being able to do something that has to do with spirit, then making different choices before hamd to do said thing that has to do with spirit?
For Book 3 especially, the grayed-out choices are there mainly to show a sense of helplessness. They can’t be clicked no matter what choices you’ve made. I use choices you can’t click as a narrative tool sometimes. Sorry for any confusion!
Oh ok, thanks for the explanation.
If anyone wants to listen to music while reading and can’t find anything good that will really immerse yourself in the story, I would highly recommend listening to this… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyieFu7BnHE
It fits surprising well. – 1 hour of Japanese instrumental music
I know it’s a bit late to do anything about it but I would still like an answer..
Back in book one when you choose your spirit animal our ronin seems to not care much for his spirit animal except for the Akita Inu which triggers both quite an emotional response and a glimpse of our ronin’s past and a hint for Jun/ko (not sure what the proper term for it would be).
I’d like to know how it turned out this way. Or even preferable, show me if I’m wrong about it! I’m not expecting our hardened ronin to care much about a Giant Salamander or a Barn Swallow, in fact the straight forward answer lies within the question but it just seems to me that the Akita Inu enables a tiny bit more character development of the ronin compared to the other spirits…
Would love getting an answer for this! It’s been on my mind for a while now.
A bit of a side track question, when you finish a book (or any piece actually) do you immediately start writing the draft for the next one or do you have a break in between to think about the future of the story?
It’s nice to hear from you again! I definitely take a break after finishing a book before outlining the next. Complete breaks during a book series do a great job of keeping me fresh and eager for the next one. Highly recommended!
For the Akita Inu, the reason the ronin doesn’t like it is as a spirit animal is because he/she and Junko/Jun refer to samurai as ‘dogs’. They have leashes (lords) and obey them. It’s the type of comparison a ronin would make. There’s not a deeper meaning to it than that.
Thanks for the quick answer!
Was kinda hoping for that specific spirit to have a tiny bit more meaning bum maybe I’m just biased towards it haha.
You stay safe now! Hoping to read your next masterpiece soon!