Chapter Text
You're immediately suspicious when your friend sends you a game. Not because that's strange for them to do-- but because the games they send you always have a twist. A cute little match three game that ends up being about murders, dating sims that end in cannibalism, a platformer game that ends up as a cosmic horror… Whatever this "HHH" game is, it can't be taken at face value.
What is this? You ask, and wait for your phone to vibrate with your friend's response.
cute VN/otome game. right up ur alley, characters and art a are great and the story's good, v wholesome
You sigh a little. No, really, what is this? Tell me what I'm in for now, please, I don't want a repeat of DDLC. That twist had caught you off guard and you'd needed some time to get over it.
come on, its better 2 go in blind. don't wanna run the autopsy
*surprise
Autopsy? You type. So it's a murder mystery?
that wiz a typo but ok, yeah, is kind of a murder mystery. if you really want spoilers. still a fun game, a little janky but its worth it. come on, play it, i need someone to scream about this and share memes with
Oh, fine. A murder mystery sounded a little less dark than some of the other games this friend had sent you, and you had some time to kill this weekend anyway.
yay! text me when you get to the school festival
You close the chat and boot up the game file on your computer. Once it loads you get a little animation-- a bunch of kids in school uniforms posing, all bright colors and upbeat music. Some of the characters have very… unique designs, and there's less pretty boys than you'd usually expect from an otome game. A couple stand out, but not the cast of male supermodels that you'd normally expect. Maybe most of these are filler characters, or maybe the makers of this game are into body positivity and diversity? That would be refreshing-- but, no, all the female characters are skinny, so that can't be it. In any case, the opening animation is over before you can really absorb any of the many characters. It ends with a bunny in a magical girl outfit posing by the game title (Hopeful Hearts High) and the silhouette of a fancy looking school building.
You read over the menu options:
NEW GAME
LOAD GAME
GALLERY
SETTINGS
LOCKED
LOCKED
LOCKED
HELP
You start with the settings, adjusting the volume a little. Then you take a peak at the gallery, but unsurprisingly all the images are locked still. Nothing for it but to start a new game.
A character selection menu pops up, letting you drag your mouse through several greyed out character portraits. Only one character appears to be available to actually use: a girl with pinkish hair and eyes, labeled as Chiaki Nanami. At the bottom of the menu is a note: other characters will become unlockable as you progress through the game. Hm. If this game is some kind of murder mystery, that could be interesting playing through the scenario as different characters. But for now, you select Chiaki and hit START.
The bunny mascot flies across the loading screen, followed by a message:
Tip: Spending one on one time with your classmates is the best way to collect hope shards!
And then the game begins.