Tag: otome

Episodic Otome Games and Visual Novels You Totally Should Be Playing

By pokeninja90 on August 12, 2019 • ( 3 Comments )

Happy Monday!! What better way to kick of the week than with some game recommendations?!

Despite my aversion to cliffhangers and my love/hate relationship with ongoing series, I’ve really been getting into episodic games lately… There really is something to be said for playing a game at your leisure, with new episodes released every few weeks (or months). It gives you something to do between game releases or while your procrastinating on a project without losing hours of your life… It’s like a gaming snack rather than a whole meal and with my crazy schedule, episodic games offer the perfect fix for when I’m craving some gaming time, without the a long gameplay commitment.

So, I compiled a list of some of my favorite episodic games, from life sims, to puzzle games, to visual novels, and more! These are the 8 episodic otome games and visual novels you should totally be playing!!

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Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly Otome Review – All Aboard the Feels Train

By pokeninja90 on August 9, 2019 • ( 6 Comments )

I am super late to the party with this one since Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly was the first game released as part of Aksys Games’s “Summer of Mystery” otome game releases, alongside 7’scarlet and Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk. Of the three games Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly was the one that got the most hate and I’m not gonna lie, it’s not my favorite otome game in the world. In fact, like many others have said, the romance aspects of the game is one of the biggest shortcomings of the story and I honestly could have done without it. But, is Black Butterfly really the dumpster fire everyone seems to think it is?

No, not really… Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly has many, many flaws, some of which really bog the story down, however, there was some good in there too. I want to stress that this game isn’t for everyone and if you are looking for a standard by the book otome game, this is definitely not the game for you. But, if you’re looking for a short game with an interesting premise Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly will keep you entertained.

The game follows Beniyuri, a young girl who wakes up in a mysterious mansion with no memory or who she is or how she got there. But, she isn’t alone, gruesome monsters roam the halls attacking anyone they come into contact with… After a run in with said monsters, she is saved by a group of guys who are also in the same predicament as she is, and together they attempt to find a way out of the mansion. Behind the scenes the enigmatic master of the mansion promises to free them from the mansion and return their memories if they collect the missing pieces of a strange kaleidoscope. With no other leads, the group sets out to locate the lost pieces of the kaleidoscope, uncovering the secrets of the mansion and its elusive owner along the way…

Game Details

Genre: Detective, Mystery, Romance
Available for PS Vita | Steam
Gameplay Lengh: 1-2 hours first play through/ 15-20 hours Total
Cost: $34.99
5 male romance options
- Suggested Play Order: Best/Main Ending→ Real World Ending → Kagiha → Hikage → Yamato → Monshiro → Karasuba → Summer Camp Ending
Similar Games: 7’scarlet, Re: Birthday Song, Bad Apple Wars

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Is It Me Or Do Otome Games Have An Unhealthy Relationship With Brothers?

By pokeninja90 on August 8, 2019 • ( 9 Comments )

I love otome games, and I’ll sing their praises to anyone willing to sit still long enough, but even I can admit that they have their flaws. The portrayal of the MCs is one of the biggest complaints folks have about otome games, since most are little more than blank slate self insert characters. But, fans and critics alike have been beating that dead horse for years now and I’ve said my piece about otome heroines quite a few times in the past, so I wanted to talk about something different: brothers.

I’ve been sitting on this for awhile now, but I never really knew how to go about talking about otome games and their complicated relationship with siblings, specifically brothers. Now, otome games aren’t the only medium to toe the incest line, especially when there are anime like Oreimo floating around… But, over the years I’ve noticed that there are quite a few otome games that either flat out focus on romancing siblings or slip it in as a “secret” ending and I haven’t really seen many people talking about it.

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The Best Otome Games to Play in English

By pokeninja90 on August 6, 2019 • ( 6 Comments )

I’ve been hesitant to write a best otome games list, since they tend to get outdated fairly easily, and with the influx in new otome releases in the west the chances of that happening are pretty high. At Anime Expo 2019, Aksys Games announced quite a few otome game releases between now and 2020, and that’s just one company. Not to mention all the mobile game releases we get each month (sometimes weekly)… But, even with that said there are some game titles that are universally liked by members of the otome community and those that most agree suck.

I tend to be a bit behind the rest of the otome community, since I take my sweet time getting around to playing new game titles, but I’ve been making good progress and I wanted to go ahead and throw in my two cents. So, I broke down and compiled a list of what I consider to be the best otome games available in English…

This is solely for English localizations of Japanese otome games, so there won’t be any OELVNs or English Otome Games on this list. If you guys want that list, I might do one later on down the line (though, it’ll be hard to narrow down that particular list).

So, without further ado, here’s my list of the best otome games available in English… to date!

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Wanna Chat With Other Otome Fans? Here Are Some Places You Should Check Out

By pokeninja90 on July 23, 2019 • ( 10 Comments )

This post is in response to a lot of things, but recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of otome fans lamenting that they don’t have people IRL that they can talk to about their hobbies. Which I can kind of relate to. I have friends that are into Japanese culture, anime, manga, comics, and other nerdy media, but none of them seem to be interested in otome games. Sure, I’ve convinced one or two to play a game on my laptop when we’ve hung out, but they don’t really play them on their own. And my bestie, bless her has sat by and listened to countless hours of my rampant fangirling about my newest otome crush.

But, aside from that, I don’t really have any IRL otome friends. In fact, I’ve met all of my really good otome buddies online, but with that said most of my online friends are more into anime than they are otome games (though, I have managed to convert a few). So, it got me thinking, where exactly do all the cool otome fans hang out? I mean, we are living in a “social media” age, so there are plenty of ways to connect with people that have similar interests as you. But, it can be a bit intimidating when you first start out, especially since most communities are fairly well established. So, I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of places I ~~lurk~~ check out when I want to chat it up with my fellow otome fans online…

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Enchanted in the Moonlight Review – Spirited Away by Ayakashi Hotties

By pokeninja90 on July 22, 2019 • ( 5 Comments )

The Japanese mobile otome games company Voltage Inc. is the latest publisher to jump on the Nintendo Switch bandwagon. Earlier this year the company announced that a few of their mobile Otome Romance titles would be made available on the Nintendo Switch and the first game to make the move is their supernatural romance, Enchanted in the Moonlight. Rather than release one game with all of the characters, the Switch version of the game is split into two titles: Enchanted in the Moonlight: Miyabi, Kyoga, & Samon and Enchanted in the Moonlight: Kiryu, Chikage, & Yukinojo and comprises of all the season 1 to season 3 main stories from the mobile app Love 365.

Enchanted in the Moonlight was released as a standalone mobile app for Android and IOS back in 2014 and even after the termination of the app in 2018 has experienced a revival as one of the titles on the new Love 365 portal app. In the game you play as a young woman who finds her life turned upside down when she is attacked by malevolent Ayakashi drawn to her unique blood. A group of handsome Ayakashi come to your aid, but there protection comes at a price: they’ll protect you from evil Ayakashi that lust for your blood, but in exchange you must bear their child. With dangerous Ayakashi after your life who will you choose as your defender?

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Collar x Malice Otome Review – How Do You Define Justice?

By pokeninja90 on July 19, 2019 • ( 1 Comment )

These last few years have been pretty good to otome games fans, with tons of new English language releases of Japanese otome titles and two upcoming otome anime adaptations. One of the games that has been getting the most attention lately is Idea Factory’s mystery/detective visual novel, Collar x Malice. Within the span of a month fans were treated to an upcoming anime announcement and at Anime Expo 2019, Aksys Games announced that they would be releasing both Collar x Malice and it’s new fandisk, Collar x Malice: Unlimited for the Nintendo Switch in 2020. So, after dragging my feet for two years, I finally carved out some time for the game and I am kicking myself for waiting so long to jump on the Collar x Malice hype train. This is by far my favorite localization release to date!

Collar x Malice was published in Japan by Idea Factory under their Otomate brand of games in 2016 and release exclusively for the PS Vita handheld. In 2017 Aksys Games released an English language edition of the game. 2017 was a huge year for western otome games fans, with a ton of great titles making their way stateside, but of all of them Collar x Malice stood out the most for me. The game follows a rookie police officer, Ichika Hoshino living in Shinjuku. The city is currently under a mass quarantine after the terrorist organization, Adonis commits a series of violent crimes known collectively as the X-Day Incidents. One night while on patrol, Ichika is kidnapped and fitted with a collar set to dispense a lethal dose of poison into her neck. A voice from the collar instructs her to investigate the X-Day Incidents and uncover the “truth” behind Adonis and their plans for Shinjuku. With her life and the fate of the city on the line, Ichika must rely on the help of five strangers, each with their own reasons for wanting to solve the X-Day cases. Together, they might be able to remove Ichika’s collar and liberate Shinjuku from Adonis’s grip.

Game Details

Genre: Detective, Mystery, Romance
Available for PS Vita | Nintendo Switch (2020)
Gameplay Lengh: 5-7 hours first play through/ 30-50 hours Total
Cost: $34.99
5 male romance options
- Suggested Play Order: Mineo → Takeru → Kei → Shiraishi → Yanagi
Similar Games: 7’scarlet, Steam Prison

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Melanin Friendly Otome Games & Visual Novels

By pokeninja90 on July 8, 2019 • ( 3 Comments )

I’ve written about the importance of representation in media quite a few times in the past, I even have a post series dedicated to talking about inclusion and diversity in nerd culture. Most recently, I wrote a post about diversity (or the lack there of) in otome games and after penning the post an indie developer friend of mine reached out to me about the topic. We had an awesome discussion about the depiction of people of color in visual novels and the importance of wholesome representation. She even gave me some insight into the difficulties some content creators have when crafting characters of color in their games, a perspective I hadn’t considered. I’ve seen quite a few polls and surveys floating around about the content of western otome games and visual novels, many of which have sections dedicated to gauging player interests in diverse characters.

I love that there is an open dialogue about diversity in games, especially in romance themed games since there is a noticeable disparity in the number of otome games that feature black and brown characters in major roles. However, I’ve heard through the grapevine that there are a handful of developers that have been saying that they don’t include darker skinned characters in their games because they “look bad” or aren’t as attractive as non black and brown characters. Some people have stated that it’s harder to create characters with darker complexions using the anime art style common in otome games… and hearing that is really heartbreaking. On some level, I feel like this is just a carryover of colorism, and the notion that dark skinned individuals are not as attractive as lighter skinned individuals (which is not the case at all). But, on other levels, it’s less an issue with darker characters looking bad and more a case of an artist needing more experience depicting characters of color.

There is a demand for more diverse games, heck, this past weekend someone used the search term ‘otome games black girl friendly’ to get to my site and I’m gonna be honest with you guys, it made my whole weekend! As more people start playing otome games (and romance visual novels) the demand for more inclusive characters and narratives will only rise and those who stay stuck in their ways are really limiting themselves. So, for the person that searched for black girl friendly otome games and for the folks that think “darker characters look bad” here are a few Melanin Friendly Otome Games and Visual Novels!!

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OWLS June “Vulnerable” Blog Tour – Inspiring Hope and Strength in Others: Making a Case for the Vulnerability of Otome Heroines

By pokeninja90 on June 25, 2019 • ( 9 Comments )

Hey Hey Owlets!! As many of you guys know I’m a member of the blogging group OWLS (Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-Respect). We’re a group of bloggers and vloggers that hope to spread a message of acceptance and understanding through thoughtful community activism! We use our love of pop-culture and other media to discuss a wide range of topics.

Last month during our Happiness Blog Tour we looked at the things in our lives that bring us joy, from our hobbies to families and friend, and everything in between. This month we’re redefining our weaknesses in the June Vulnerable Blog Tour!

In the month of June, we will be discussing what it means to be vulnerable. To some individuals, being vulnerable could be seen as a sign of weakness, but in fact, vulnerability is actually a sign of strength. In this month’s posts, we will explore what it means to be vulnerable and how certain characters in pop culture glamorize vulnerability. When do we show our vulnerability? How do we express vulnerability? Why should we show vulnerability? These are questions that we will be discussing in our posts featuring characters that show vulnerability and/or sensitivity and what we can learn from them or even our own personal stories.

– June 2019 Vulnerable Blog Tour Prompt

I thought long and hard about what I’d write about for this month’s tour. Since this is an otome games blog, I figured I’d go with something related to that rather than the usual anime and manga topics I usually pick. Otome heroines get a pretty bad rap since they are typically seen as self insert characters with little to no agency within the context of their respective games. But, there has been a shift in recent years towards more self sufficient heroine characters, especially in English otome games where protagonists tend to have a more well defined personalities and motivations. Though, generally speaking heroines are still arguably the weakest characters despite having the most important role in otome games. So, I wanted to look at the roles otome heroines play in otome game narratives through the lens of the heroine, Ichika Hoshino in the otome game Collar x Malice.

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