Otome Fam we live! After the success of their Japanese otome game ports in the West, publisher Voltage Inc launched a US based division that specialized in original English language otome titles. The new brand, Lovestruck, put out a number of otome titles until 2021 when Voltage Inc announced they were terminating the service. With Lovestruck gone all of the games under the brand ceased production and the servers were shut down. We thought that was it, but Voltage Inc. teased via their newly created Voltage Console Games EN Twitter(X) account that one of the lost Lovestruck games might be getting a revival.
Well, it’s happening! Voltage is re-releasing urban fantasy otome game Astoria: Fate’s Kiss on PC via Steam. Astoria Fate’s Kiss is set to release on Steam and the Nintendo Switch on July 25, 2024!
About Astoria Fate’s Kiss
It’s a dangerous thing, gods and monsters living among mortals. Good thing your agency exists to keep them in line. With big dreams and an even bigger heart, you aspire to climb the agency’s ladder… That is, until one day five mythical beings ask for your help!
Set in New York, this legendary collection of tales revolves around an elite, top secret agency that solves cases for the gods and monsters of Greek Mythology. This mixture of drama, action and divine chemistry comes together to form love stories woven by the Fates themselves.
The Story
It’s a dangerous thing, gods and monsters living among mortals.
Good thing your agency exists to keep them in line.
With big dreams and an even bigger heart, you aspire to climb the agency’s ladder…
That is, until one day five mythical beings ask for your help!“You don’t know anything about monsters… yet.”
People have always feared them, but…
Will you be the one to see them for what they truly are?
Characters of Astoria: Fate’s Kiss
Meet, romance, and fight alongside the gods and monsters of Greek mythology in the modern day over the course of several seasons! Each of the love interests in Astoria Fate’s Kiss are inspired by figures from Greek mythology. Cerberus, the loveable himbo with a heart of gold; Hydra, the ice cold fugitive; Medusa, the mysterious and drop dead gorgeous ex-gangster; Hades, the Gentlemanly god of the underworld; Alex Cyprin, the charming demi-god (and your boss); and Chimera, the flirty prince charming.
What to Expect from the Revival
- This new revival will feature Main Stories for all of the characters up until Season 4 from the original Lovestruck app (including marriage and baby storylines)
- There will be an updated opening trailer for the new release.
- The game will be optimized for the new platform with the following features:
- Skip feature
- Save your progress
- Rewind & replay your favorite parts
Screenshots and Art Assets
Is this the Beginning of a Lovestruck Revival?
I know I am not alone in being excited for the re-release of Astoria: Fate’s Kiss. Lovestruck was extremely popular among Western otome fans because it offered more diverse stories and characters than compared to the standard Japanese localized Voltage titles (We don’t speak of the tragedy that happened with Pirates in Love). When the app shut down in 2021 taking all of the games under the brand with it, we lost a huge piece of otome history. So, with the release of Astoria: Fate’s Kiss, the first and arguably one of the Lovestruck app’s most popular stories—this could be the beginning of seeing the rest of the Lovestruck line coming back!
Voltage, don’t play with my heart, ‘cus I want to see Gangsters in Love come back too!
Also, someone just reminded me of how Voltage did their entire Lovestruck team dirty by ending the app, right when the writers were trying to unionize. That was dirty AF.
What do you all think of the revival of Astoria: Fate’s Kiss? Did you play it on the original Lovestruck app or are you new to the series? For the old heads out there, which of the other Lovestruck titles would you love to see get a revival? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments section.
I’m personally reluctant to buy anything Voltage re-releases from Lovestruck. They shut down the app soon after the writers had won a big labour struggle to be paid fairly. Those writers (and presumably the artists too) won’t see a cent from any re-releases. If Voltage wants money from a more Western-centric audience, it should be willing to hire writers and artists at a fair wage and give them residuals for re-releases. They did the work and they deserve to get paid!
This was my first otome game. And Medusa was my and still is my everything. I hope they paid their employees a fair wage!
Yeah, I’m definitely torn. I was heartbroken when Lovestruck went down and I want to support maintaining a legal way of accessing these stories, buuuut it’s hard to ignore the circumstances in which the app went down in the first place.
i really hope they bring back Reigning Passions, I still think about Lyris after all these years ❤
Astoria was out as it’s own stand alone app in 2015 a good couple of years before the lovestruck app itself was made, had a different pay model and everything. from what I saw of the trailer on steam, it’s the same one that’s was on the play store years ago, so really nothing new there, the layout looks new, but that’s a given.
As for the story, I am happy to see it back for my own reasons, and will probably get it when it eventually goes on sale.
As for the OTHER stories. I’m not sure if they’ll re-release any others that didn’t have their own standalone app(gangsters in love and cast away), due to the format those original ones had, eg: AFK, GIL, CLA, all used to have a choice system, that instead of relying on heart choices, you wouldn’t know what ending your choices got you until you got to said end. The ones made for the lovestruck app however, have one forgone ending, no mater your choices, so I’m not sure if they would translate as well to a standalone format.
Hello there Autumn! Thanks for stopping by! I have been a long time fan of Voltage Inc and their games in the West! I actually played Astoria Fate’s Kiss when it was a standalone game (back when it was called Labyrinths of Astoria)
There has been a bit of controversy surrounding the AmeMix/Lovestruck titles, mostly due to the way Voltage treated the writers and creators who worked on the game so a lot of folks might have mixed feelings about the re-release.
Here is a link to my previous Astoria content, dating back to 2015: https://blerdyotome.com/?s=astoria+fate%27s+kiss
I say never say never, no one expected Voltage to pull out Astoria from the woodworks and they have been know to update their games in the past for different formats. So there is a possibility that they might look to re-releasing other titles too! They did do a Switch port of Ayakashi Romance Reborn without any of the actual gameplay… so Voltage isn’t about passing up a cash grab.
I understand the hesitation, considering how Voltage dropped everything like a rock, but I’m excited for this. I haven’t asked seen an Otome that I actually like, except for those on Lovestruck. To be able to outright buy them so they don’t disappear again sounds to good to be true. Astoria was my first, so I am excited to see it again.
I really really want love and legends, gangsters in love, speakeasy, and a whole lot of others to come back. I really do. I loved that app.
Thank you so much for reporting on this! I haven’t seen anyone else talk or mention it, if it’d hadn’t been for you I would’ve never known about it!
Exciting news! I remember playing this game a long time ago, never expected them to bring it back! I also played on the Lovestruck app once that was out, it was a shame how that went offline. I am low-key hoping some of the stories that were on that app make a comeback as well, as I always thought they were a step above other mobile stories. I especially enjoyed Love & Legends, even though it was cheesy! 🙂 They had a lot of fun fantasy titles.