During their Saturday panel at Anime Expo 2022 publisher Aksys Games made a few announcements about some of their existing projects and some new titles! Of course Western otome gamers are eager to see if anything new is on the horizon for us in the coming months and into 2023! So, here’s a rundown of the big announcements from Aksys Games at this year’s Anime Expo!

New Otome Game Announcements

Norn9 Var Commons

TBA Release: 2023

Board a mysterious ship and go on a journey with 3 young women and 9 men to uncover the secrets that lie in Norn!

 While on a school field trip, child prodigy Sorata Suzuhara wanders off after hearing a mysterious song and blacks out. When he comes to, he finds himself in unfamiliar place, and soon encounters a girl who informs him that he’s currently in turn of the century Japan! In order to help him get home, Sorata follows her to a ship that she’s waiting for but when it appears it is not a wooden sailing ship, but a round aircraft that flies using technology that is beyond Sorata’s imagination.

Even stranger, he discovers that the other 12 passengers – 3 young women and 9 men – are all supposedly espers with special powers, and are on some kind of journey at the behest of a multinational entity only known as The World. What is the purpose of their journey? What is their destination? Who is The World? Before Sorata can even begin to take stock of his situation, the ship is attacked, and the mystery surrounding the ship only deepens. Delve into the story of the ship and its occupants through the point of views of each of the three girls, and unravel the mysteries trapped within.

Official Synopsis

---

Norn9 – Last Era

TBA Release: 2023

The follow-up to Norn9 Var Commons, Last Era will be making its debut in the West on the Nintendo Switch in 2023. The fan disc offers three unique stories following the characters from Var Commons after the events of the first game.

---

Radiant Tale

TBA Release: 2023

Tifalia longs for an eventful life and gets her wish when an unusual group calling themselves CIRCUS wander into her inn and press her into service as a producer. A crazy dragon that loves to tickle, a spikey clown that doesn’t make you laugh, a water creature who doesn’t want to use water magic, an acrobat who doesn’t know how to entertain, a drunkard furball, an unmotivated leader, and an amateur producer who just joined. Can this show ever be a success?

Official Synopsis

---

Shuuen no Virche

TBA Release: 2023

Surrounded by the sea and black flowers of misfortune, the citizens of Arpecheur are cursed to die by the age of 23. In this country possessed by the god of death, one young woman named Ceres seems to hasten the deaths of everyone she meets and decides to end her own life. But suddenly a mysterious man called the “watchman of death” appears before her and nothing will be the same.

Synopsis

---

Updates on Existing Games

---

2023 is Looking even brighter for Western otome gamers!

AX 2022 brought us some surprises with the announcement of Switch ports for Norn9 Var Commons and Norn9 – Last Era. Seeing older vita localizations getting renewed attention on the Switch gives me hope for more older otome games popping up in the upcoming months and years!

Also seeing titles like Radiant Tale and Shuuen no Virche getting tapped for localization is especially exciting for fans, as Western gamers have been asking for these for awhile now! Aksys Games is listening, so we definitely need to keep pushing our fave un-localized titles to them; who knows they might make their way to the West!

That’s it for the AX announcements, but, I want to hear from you Blerdy Tribe! What upcoming otome games are you most excited for? What games would you like get an English localization? Let me know down in the comments!

---