Rakuyou
Published by: Ritz Software
Year: 2002
Voice acting: No
This game really stuck out to me when I was looking at older BLVNs! The cover art is gorgeous, and I believe all of the art from it has aged relatively well considering how old this game is. 24 years, wow!
So far, this game is the first and only Ritz Software/Ritzsoft game in my collection. And I have to say, in spite of some technical difficulties when playing it, It's a really cute game!
Installation
This game was a PAIN IN THE ASS to get working. The original copy I managed to find was corrupted, but it took me a LOT of tries to figure that out, so I went on this epic quest through multiple virtual machines, like 5 copies of macromedia director or whatever, yeah you get it. Now, thankfully, you don't need to worry about any of that!
The version of the game available here should work fine without any tweaking, BUT. I do reccommend using dxwnd with it anyway, because it can't hurt, right?
Suggested tools
Any Autoclicker (click here for the one I use)
Alright now, here's the thing: there was already a copy easily available on the Internet Archive in a collection of games by the same company. For whatever reason, the copy of Rakuyou in that collection is corrupted/broken.
I have not fully tested other games in the collection, so I can't confirm whether or not any of them work. However, I uploaded the copy of Rakuyou that I found to work to the Internet Archive myself! (Wondering where it is? You just passed over it!)
PLEASE NOTE before you begin playing: the save and load features do not work! It has not worked in either copy of the game for me, however due to the length of the game I don't believe it's too big of an issue. You will need to play each route/ending in one go! Keep that in mind. That is actually the reason I suggested downloading an auto clicker for this: you will be skipping through the beginning each time!
I believe LunaTranslator is pretty easy to use, you can tweak the settings to customize the look of the UI however you'd like. You will need to use OCR/screen translating for this game, so press the first OCR region button (in the screenshot above, it is to the right of the game controller button) and then select the entire game screen! In a way, it kind of helps that the game is so tiny...
So, if you have the game set up like the screenshot above, you should be ready for the guide!
Guide
This guide does not include choices in Hirokazu's route! However, if you're really dying to play his route, I believe the choices should be self explanatory.
Suggested order: Kouta > Hirokazu > Seishuu > Yuki
Kouta
OK/Accept Kouta's first offer (Kouta ending 1...Is this a good ending? probably not)
Decline Kouta's offer
Invite Kouta to come with me
I didn't feel anything
Ask about my mother
I thought about Yamakura
I just want to tidy up!
Do not enter the room (NOTE: Entering the room will set you on Seishuu's route)
Kouta is only a friend (Kouta bad end)
I love Kouta (Kouta good end)
Seishuu
Decline Kouta's offer
Don't invite Kouta to come with me
I was captivated
Ask about the Fujikura family
I thought about Takatsukasa (Seishuu)
No one was there
I promise not to enter
Change in the bushes
Don't answer (Seishuu bad end)
Nod (Seishuu good end)
Yuki
Decline Kouta's offer
Don't invite Kouta to come with me
I was captivated
Ask about the Fujikura family
I thought about Takatsukasa (Seishuu)
There was a child
Why do you always disappear?
Enter the room (NOTE: Refusing to enter the room here sets you back on Seishuu's route)
Fight (Yuki bad end 1)
Call out Yuki's name
Well.. I don't remember much
We will see each other in the summer (Yuki bad end 2)
Why don't you come with me? (Yuki good end)