Highway Blossoms is a 2016 '' yuri'' romance

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

developed by Studio Élan. Set in the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

, the game follows Amber and Marina on their search for a hidden treasure. The game received positive reception.

Plot

''Highway Blossoms'' is set in the American Southwest and follows Amber and Marina after the former picks up the latter. The game begins in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

where Amber, en route to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, comes across Marina, who just had her car run out of gas in the middle of the desert. Marina had been in search of a recently hidden treasure that attracted many other travelers; Amber had been unaware of this situation until the two are told about it at a gas station. Marina shares with Amber that she had set out from nearby

Carlsbad Carlsbad may refer to: Geographical locations * Carlsbad, California, San Diego County, United States ** Carlsbad Santa Fe Depot, NRHP ID No. 93001016 * Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States ** Carlsbad Caverns National Park ** Carlsbad Irriga ...

in search of the treasure. Skeptical about the situation, Amber chooses to help Marina in her search. The two come across a trio of treasure hunters who seek to find the treasure before Amber and Marina.

Development and release

A few years out of high school, the game's writer Josh Kaplan sought more ''yuri'' games in the indie game space, and as a result went on to co-write ''Highway Blossoms''. Kaplan stated "In 2016, there weren't a whole lot of ''yuri'' visual novels available in English, especially on

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Sekai Project Sekai Project is an American video game publisher. They are best known for licensing and translating Japanese visual novels into English, but they have also published manga and other non-visual novel video games. History Sekai Project originat ...

announced the game at Anime Weekend Atlanta on September 26, 2015, and in 2016 opened a

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page for the game. ''Highway Blossoms'' was initially released without any voice acting and its sound was limited to an acoustic soundtrack. An adult content patch was made freely available. The developer later released a remastered version of the game featuring voice-overs for the characters. A sequel, ''Highway Blossoms: Next Exit'', was released as DLC in 2020. In 2021, Studio Élan announced plans for a console port. By June 2023, ''Highway Blossoms'' had sold over 150,000 copies.

Reception

''Highway Blossoms'' received positive reviews for its visuals, story, and soundtrack. Kaplan also noted that the game "ended up being unexpectedly successful," stating that "it found an audience of primarily

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

readers who appreciated what they felt was a more realistic approach to same-sex relationships." Due to the game's success, Kaplan went on to found Studio Élan. Writing for ''Hardcore Gamer'', Marcus Estrada rated the game 4/5 points, commenting on the high quality of the game's backdrops of natural landmarks and parks, saying they were awe-invoking. He further praised the game's CGs (cutscene graphics) and character sprites, but noted that there were multiple artists working on them, resulting in the game's visuals not feeling "entirely cohesive." With regards to the game's writing, Estrada stated that there was little to criticize, praising Amber and Marina's character development throughout the narrative. Mitch Jay Lineham of ''

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'' called ''Highway Blossoms'' "one of the finest yuri – and romance – visual novels on Steam", praising its "heartwarming story" and "stunning, atmospheric soundtrack." Jade King of ''TheGamer'' wrote that "''Highway Blossoms'' is so soft and sweet, its narrative outfitted with minimal stakes as it hopes to take us on a journey that is equally warm and mysterious." King went on to praise the small cast, which allowed the writers to develop each character "with appropriate nuance and just the right amount of attention." Erica Friedman of ''Okazu'' rated the game 8/10 points and generally praised it, saying that the writing of Amber and Marina kept her interested in the story and that she appreciated the game for its differences from other ''yuri'' visual novels, particularly the choice to set the story on a road trip rather than the more common setting of a high school. She also said that the romance was "touching," and that the sex scenes included in the adult patch, while unnecessary, "weren't terribly written". Friedman's only major criticisms were the writing of the supporting cast, and some lack of articulation in the 2D sprites. Tyler Terese of ''

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'' wrote that "while the backdrop is plenty interesting, the main draw is the relationship between the two main characters, Amber and Marina. The duo has an undeniable chemistry, and it becomes hard to stop playing as the game's story continues on."

Notes

References

External links

* {{vndb, 18381 2016 video games Indie games LGBTQ-related video games Single-player video games Studio Élan games Video games set in Arizona Video games set in California Video games set in Nevada Video games set in New Mexico Video games set in Utah Visual novels Windows games Works about transport Works about treasure hunting Yuri (genre) video games