Layout:
The layout of the site is simple and easy to navigate. However, there's barely any pretties. While pretties do not a website make, they do help. Also, the stories presented are in plain text format. If they were in HTML, it would feel a little less like glancing through a game FAQ and more like reading a story. 3/5
Forum:
There is no forum or chatroom that I could find. If there was one, it would create more sticky hits, which would help keep the game from bogging down from people forgetting it exists. 0/5
Hospitality:
Everyone seems to be very friendly, as I've found to be the norm with anything Kenshin-related. The newbie is given direction on what to do and where to go, and the GM makes sure things go according to plan. They're apparently a close-knit group, so that also adds to the general feel of the game. If more RPGs could be this friendly, the RPG community would be better as a whole. 5/5
Rules:
There are few rules, but in this sort of game, a lot of rules isn't required. They're short and get to the point without a lot of fluff. I'm sure there's still little quirks that could be addressed, like how to email each other with stories and whatnot. 4.5/5
Plot:
It's your basic alternate-reality-rewrite game. It's dangerous to attempt to rewrite the Revenge Arc, though, since not many know what goes on during it. I do have to admit that it really doesn't seem to be that big of an issue, since there's no mention of Enishi that I could find. I'm beginning to think that it's just an RPG set in the
time after the Kyoto Arc.
Only original characters are accepted as playable characters. The characters from Rurouni Kenshin are used as NPCs the general playership can use in their stories (with permission, since Kenshin can't be in Kyoto and Tokyo at the same time.) The plotlines for each character differ somewhat, which makes for a good read. The
writing styles and skills for each player are obviously different, and that adds flavor to the work. The only problem with a round-robin-ish email fanfiction RPG is that invariably it gets hung up somewhere. It's good that the players are allowed to submit solo chapters as well. 4/5
Special Features:
The GM put links to other RPGs on the main page for people that either don't know what Rurouni Kenshin is or don't know what the Revenge Arc is. The RPGs linked to are also not only RK RPGs, but are Ranma 1/2, Oh My Goddess, and Sailormoon oriented. A very good idea.
Best Aspect:
The simplicity of the site, as well as the obvious care the GM has taken with screening out players, makes for a good quality RPG. While there are a few things that keep it from being similar to the greatness of the Shinsengumi Kagetai, I'd consider it to be very close.
Worst Aspect:
One of the most glaring things wrong with this RPG is the number of Kenshins in the player roster. There's only so many people in the world who can run fast/think fast/have a fierce sense of honor and justice/be incredibly strong/etcetc... The characters need to have a bit more variety. Good fighters don't have to be like Kenshin. They can be a lazy oaf like Sanosuke, or be shady like Saitoh, or be insane like Shishio. There seemed to me to be only one completely different character, but even he seemed to be a rip-off of something else (Andy from Cowboy Bebop). This isn't something that can be easily fixed, or possibly even fixed. Since the applications are closed now, I'd suggest to the GM that a bit more variety be added once the applications become open again. This is just a suggestion, of course.
Overall Rating:
All in all, it's a good RPG to start off with. Jumping immediately into something like the afore-mentioned Shinsengumi Kagetai would overwhelm the new fanfiction RPG player, but something like this would be a good start, despite the unfortunate obscurity of the timeline. The only thing that hinders this RPG is the lack of some form of real-time conversation, like a messageboard or a chatroom. This is one time when the score of the review is correct, but doesn't really reflect the true quality of the RPG.
3.3/5
