is a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese-only

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

''otome'' game (also referred to as GxB games) released on June 10, 2004. A notable feature of the game is the integration of real

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

songs into the gameplay, and the ability to watch and listen to the songs again once you have mastered them in-game, as well as the fact that the main character has a voice (many ''otome'' games' main characters are not voice acted). The publisher classifies it as a game.

Gameplay

There are two main elements to the gameplay of ''Houkago no Love Beat''. The narrative element involves the main character having conversations with other characters, making choices that affect the storyline. The 'live part' is a minigame where the player uses the PS2 controller to affect the performance of the band during various songs. If the player does a good job, the song is performed well, and if the player misses a lot of cues, the band performs badly. This in turn affects how well the band is received, whether they get a contract, etc.

Plot

The main character is a high school girl trained in classical piano who has just transferred to a new high school, Aobadai Gakuen. On her first day, she gets lost and meets 4 boys there who are secretly practising as a band. She eventually becomes the songwriter for the band, using her classical background to create fresh melodies for the band to build on. There's a rival band, Kamui, that also plays a couple songs during the game and provides some plot devices regarding a big band contest with a recording contract as the prize.

Characters

*Main character: High school girl, her default name is Ruka Hibiki but it can be changed. Voice actor: Masano Hosono *Kaito Momose: The band's singer. Voice actor:

Akira Ishida is a Japanese actor and voice actor. For his portrayal of Saki Abdusha in '' You're Under Arrest'', Makoto Kurumizawa in '' BOYS BE'', Setsuna Aoki in ''Sakura Wars'', and Athrun Zala is a fictional character from the Japanese science fict ...

*Itsuki Tsukuwano: The band's bassist. Voice actor:

Daisuke Ono is a Japanese voice actor and singer who won the 4th and 9th Seiyu Awards for best lead actor for his role as Sebastian Michaelis in ''Black Butler'', Jotaro Kujo in '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' and Shukuro Tsukishima in ''Bleach'', as well ...

*Keisuke Hijirinaka: The band's guitarist. Voice actor:

Tomohiro Tsuboi is a male Japanese voice actor. He is part of 81 Produce, previously Mausu Promotion. Voice roles TV animation *Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (Tenma Funato) *Buso Renkin (Shinyo Suzuki) *D.Grayman (Johnny Gill) *Fortune Arterial (Seichiro Togi) ...

*Kurusu Tenjou: The band's drummer. Voice actor: Takahiro Kawanago *Kaoru Himuro: Kamui's vocalist. Voice actor: Kenno Kase *Akira Himuro: Kamui's guitarist. Voice actor: Kazumi Tsuruda

External links

Official website
{{in lang, ja 2004 video games D3 Publisher games HuneX games Japan-exclusive video games Otome games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Romance video games Single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Visual novels