Thoughts on Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom

I finally got to playing Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeing Blossom on PSP recently. I'm through the first chapter and in a completely unexpected turn of events... I'm actually really bored. First things first, the story. I feel utterly detached from the events that are happening. My knowledge of the Shinsengumi and Japanese history of that era is generally weak; admittedly, that might have something to do with it. Although, I like to think that an engaging story shouldn't require that kind of background knowledge. Pivotal historical events are mentioned and played out in the game, but reading about who is who and who is doing what is always a constant info dump. The localization/translation also feels poorly done. All too often, the phrasing is unnatural and reads more like a direct translation than something an English speaker would actually say. Finally, I'm not sure if it's the story or the genre of visual novels, but I constantly found myself wanting more agentivity, i.e. I wanted to actually play a game. I know that the nature of visual novels is lack of gameplay in the usual sense, but my choices should still be meaningful, i.e. things should change because I chose one path over another. Several times, I backtracked just to see how the story would play out had I chose differently. In these cases, the only difference is who I spoke to. The main events were the same. The art is beautiful; so the game wins in that respect. Honestly though, I'm not that inclined to finish. Will update if I change my mind after getting further into the game.