By Gwyn

What is an otome game?

An otome game is a visual novel made for ladies in mind. They usually have a female MC (main character) and numerous male characters to choose from. Each character has their own route that the MC experiences. These are also known as reverse harem. There are games similar to these that are targeted for the men that are called harem.

If you never heard of them, your question might be this, or something on the lines of :

What genres do otome games consist of?

Well, there’s quite a few. Such as gods, vampires, musical groups, and historical, such as the warlords in Japan. Your options are not limited. I’m only covering three in detail since it would be an extremely long read if I covered a lot of them.

Are they in English or only in Japanese?

For the most part, when it comes to languages -they are only in Japanese. Some, however, have ended up having English versions in the phone apps. Others are only available on the Vita platform, or even the PSP. But they are slowly being released on the Nintendo Switch, but only in the Japanese language.

Otome Game Platforms

When it comes to platforms, there are a few to choose from. Playstation had released the PSP many years ago, and then the Vita was released later on, replacing the Vita. Some games are still only available for those two platforms so you can easily find some of those handheld consoles on ebay or even game stores that resell them.

The Switch is the biggest thing now, and a lot of the otome gaming companies are moving over to that. Surprisingly, Kamigami no Asobi was quick to be released on the Switch, as well as Diabolik Lovers. Ikemen Sengoku was released later on- I don’t think they’ll ever release Cybird’s other game Ikemen Vampire for any system; that one may stay as an app only game. Ikemen Sengoku had been available for the Vita, and I think that is why we were fortunate to get that on the Switch.

Otome Games

Kamigami No Asobi/ Kamigami No Asobi Infinite

First, we have Kamigami No Asobi and Kamigami No Asobi Infinite by Broccoli, where a normal high school student, Kasanagi Yui, is suddenly whisked away to a new world after discovering a sword. When she touched it, she heard voices calling out for help. After that, she found herself in an unfamiliar place.

This game is amazing. All otome games have happy endings, sad endings, and then the tragic endings, which I can’t handle sad endings myself, so I avoid them like the plague. But I have heard the tragic endings are rather gut-wrenching in this series.

The character designs are beautiful, not just with Yui, but the gods. We have four Greek Gods, three Norse Gods, three Japanese Gods, and two Egyptian Gods. So we have a nice representation of the most known Gods in mythology. But if you didn’t know about the Japanese gods, the game does inform you about who they are, and there are background stories on why they behave like they do…such as Takeru/Susanoo.

Kamigami No Asobi Infinite is pretty much a continuation of the first game but now you have the option of dating Dionysus, Melissa, the doll that Zeus turns into a hulking blonde haired man, and is dressed in a toga, so Melissa can be categorized in the Greek mythology, and then we have Amaterasu, Takeru and Tsukito’s oldest brother.

As I mentioned, the character designs are amazing and the soundtrack is beautiful; the music really brings out all the emotions you can experience in this game. Rating: 10/10

Ikemen Sengoku

This game is beautifully done by Cybird, and it tells the tale of the main character, Mai, who is a clothing designer- as well as other things such as “Bearsace”, and she gets whisked away into 16th century Japan during the Warring States through a wormhole during a rainstorm. Mai ends up changing history by saving Oda Nobunaga at Honniji- whereas in real history, that is where he died.

But she wasn’t the only one to travel back- a man she had met briefly, named Sasuke, had gone through the same wormhole as she did.

The prologue does go on quite a bit, but it is worth it because when Mai has a rather difficult time with Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Mitsunari and Mitsuhide- although Mitsunari is a sweetheart and wasn’t really a problem- Mai takes off running into the woods. Along the way she meets Kenshin Usagi, Shingen Takeda, Yoshimoto Imagawa, Yukimura Sanada, and Sasuke!

So as you progress, you get to meet all your suitor choices. Except- in the Vita/Switch version, there is not a route for Mitsunari, Kennyo, and Mitsuhide. However, there are routes for Ranmaru and Yoshimoto.

The storylines are enjoyable for the most part- personally I don’t like Kenshin’s personality so I can admit I’ve never played his route. Nor have I played Ranmaru or Yoshimoto’s routes. Shingen and Sasuke are the only ones from the Usagi- Takeda group that I have finished the routes to.

Like Kamigami No Asobi, you have your happy routes and your tragic routes. And the tragic routes on the Switch are completely different from the mobile app version. Overall it is filled with drama, humor, and romance all at a perfect balance. This is one otome game you don’t want to ignore. Rating 10/10

Diabolik Lovers

Diabolik Lovers is a love it or hate it otome game by Idea Factory/ Rejet. People can be triggered if they aren’t into sadism/masochism. I think this is one reason why people don’t like this particular game as well. People call it sexist, etc. It’s a GAME. That’s all it is- a game. Not all men are perfect- besides, these are vampires- of course they aren’t perfect and they treat each other like garbage as well- not just Yui.

There is name-calling, brutal vampire tendencies, etc. But I can say that throughout the routes, the vampires do change- apart from Kanato- he’s pretty much a lost cause. If you get triggered by anything, avoid his route.

I think the anime itself has even more hate because Yui comes across extremely weak. In the otome game, she isn’t really like that. But looking at all the characters in the first two games, the two characters I dislike are Laito and Kanato Sakamaki. Those two are just totally psychotic- I could barely get through Laito’s route to unlock everyone else’s route.

I did enjoy Shu’s route though. He comes across harsh, but over time he does have a change of heart and he can be quite sweet in a slightly sadistic way. And reading the translations of both audio CDs and the game- yes, that’s right- there are translations for their routes for both- so that makes it easier- the person that translated them did an amazing job. It’s these translations that helped me understand Shu more and why he acts the way he does. A side note: Shu is voiced by Kousuke Toriumi, who did the voice of Hideyoshi Toyotomi in Ikemen Sengoku .

I’m still working on the routes, so I cannot say much for the others just yet. Subaru I’m working on, and he’s not so bad either. He is an angry guy, but also sweet to Yui- lots of blushing, which is adorable. But I think in the anime series, he does try to help her towards the end.

The Switch version has the first two games, where the second game, More Blood, introduces us to the Mukamis- Ruki, Kou, Yumi and Azusa. What we find out in Shu’s route in the second game, is that he knew Yuma- and Yuma was once called Edgar. The whole storyline is kind of sad, because it seemed all little Shu wanted was to live a life like Edgar, but his mother wouldn’t allow it. So it seems Shu’s behavior stems from how his mother treated him. Azusa is pretty much the competitor for Yui’s love against Kanato. Azusa may be into cutting himself, but he does eventually stop doing that when Yui is with him. And we learn out of all the Mukami brothers, Azusa is quite sweet and loving to Yui.

Not everyone will agree with me on this one, but I love the character design, and the voice acting is so believable as well. Not only that, but some of those vampires won me over by how they changed over time. Rating: 8/10