Phew... What a ride..
For the price of this game i wasn't expecting the amount of content it came with and this is only half of it. for those who don't know this is only the first half of the game. As i'm writing this review i have only played this half so far so i may be coming back to edit some things said below.

First off there is a fair bit of variety to this game, different choices lead to different scenes, a few of them cross over between stories but each story is unique enough to keep you entertained. the price of this game scared me a little being on the cheaper side but the amount of the game you get is crazy, my first play through lasted 17hrs (i was enjoying the story so did take my time) I got the normal ending, which was very close to Hijikatas route. then after landing the normal ending a couple more times i did look up a walk through and thank you!! It was beautiful and amazingly easy to follow (highly recommend)

http://store.steampowered.com

After using the walk through i did notice how specific you had to be with your choices, which is a little annoying but still with the variation i can understand why.
Now i had stupid issues with my sound, this could be all on me and my set up but it would cut out and stop a lot of the time (it required me to close the game and open to get it working) and the sound refused to play through steam link.
So far in my opinion (again i haven't played second half yet so i might be editing this later) if you don't want the story rich, slow burn experience then skipping this half is a valid option. You might be gappy on events and personalities but i feel as if this half really isn't needed. Now I am not saying you should go ahead and skip this half, this half itself has beautiful feature art (CG) and the characters personalities are all really unique and each entertaining and the story itself if entertaining! So don't give up on this half just yet but in terms of romance there isn't much but lewd hand holding ;)

Otherwise i loved the game! the next section i go more into character so potential spoilers could be dropped, so don't read if you haven't played!

First off I need to get off my chest my one complaint about the damn FMC. it really, really irked me that she gets herself into situations, constantly goes on about how she is useless and cant help yet wont train? (except that one lesson from koudou) it just really bugged to constantly read the 'i'm helpless' card and she doesn't do anything about it. yes you could argue the whole back in those days that stuff didn't happen but neither did her situation to begin with.
Phew.. other then that i did like her, she was selfless, kind and around was pretty enjoyable to portray.

Now my favourites,
There is one that stands overall and is going to be pretty cliche of me but its Toshiza Hijikata. I loved his personality, he starts off as an ass whose controlling beyond no doubt but as the story goes he starts letting you in and somewhat trusting you. (i found out in another route he still gets you shadowed on a mission he trusted you with. i'm a lil salty about that) i actually grew to respect him and the tough choices hes constantly facing and can admire why the boys put a lot of trust into him too.
but this man delivers some of the best lines in this game
"♥♥♥♥"
"This is not the samurai way. For us, once we've decided on something, we will never compromise that decision-
-We are not ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥."
I don't know why but seeing this composed man swear cracks me up every single time. I also loved the side of him in Sakamotos route, it was hilarious to see..

Another couple of standouts for me were, Heisuke Toudou, his story is a lot more lighthearted and he is just so sweet. it was one of the routes i laughed a lot in and he was one of the ones who actually had the balls to kind of confess (still had to read between the damn lines)
Yamazaki was another one who confessed but didn't confess, i like his story mainly because he didn't die, why kill him off my heart can only take so much.
I really enjoyed Okita, Saitos, Souma and Kazamas routes too.
Sakamotos ending was refreshing to get and even his route was cool with how forward he can be.
I neither liked or disliked Harada or Nagakuras routes, they felt more like older siblings more then potential lovers.
Hated Iba's, i just didn't trust him, he gives off vibes that raise my hackles, it just feels like hes manipulating the FMC for some long term scheme. i disliked him more that Sanan and that man screams danger.

Overall the variety between all the characters is amazing and makes all the routes worth it, even if towards the end you are skip reading those first couple of chapters.
So far for a girls whose only read the first half i would highly recommend!

This is the best Otome game I've ever played aside from Cinderella Phenomenon(If you haven't done it and you enjoy Otome things and Old Disney references, YOU NEED TO). Every option is interesting with its own unique twists and each character is interesting. Main character is a bit meh but I'm okay with it. The guys make up for it in my opinion. 10/10 I can't recommend this game enough if you want to gain a base romance with a bunch of attractive and interesting guys, and different stories nearly every time too rather than the same thing over and over which is always boring after awhile.