Otome Free Games
James Talbot
The first otome game is generally acknowledged to be Angelique, released in 1994 by Koei in Japan for the Super Famicom, and created by Ruby Party, an all-woman development team division of Koei.[1] The game was originally designed for pre-teen and younger teenage girls, but became unexpectedly popular with older teenagers and women in their 20s.[1] In 2021, the series continues with Angelique Luminarise, in which the protagonist is a 25-year-old office worker.[2] Angelique is credited with "set[ting] up the specifics and conventions of women's games: a focus on romance, easy controls and utilizing other multimedia."[1] In 1997 the second otome game, Albaria no Otome was released by Gimmick House and Magical Craft for PC-FX and later for PlayStation. The game has a very similar dynamic to its predecessor Angelique, with the protagonist Ashanty, a young woman who will have to choose between being the new sacred protector of a kingdom, or falling in love and living happily with one of her knights who will help her during the game.[3] In 2002, Konami released its very successful Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side, which brought many new fans to the still-new genre.[1] In 2006, Famitsu's listings for the Top 20 selling love games included seven otome games.[citation needed] Early games borrowed heavily from the iconography and story conventions of "retro shoujo manga", "the archetypical girly heroines, the emphasis on pure, sexless, tranquil romance and on a peaceful, stable setting", but as the category expanded, other narrative and gameplay elements were introduced, including action, adventure, combat and plots in which "the heroine can 'save the world' and 'get the guy' at the same time".[1]
Otome games that are released on console and handheld platforms contain no pornographic content, as companies such as Sony and Nintendo do not allow it. There are games released on a PC platform which are rated 18+ for their sexual content. Some games were originally released for the PC with pornographic content, and were later toned down and re-released for the PS2.
Traditionally, the goal of these games is to have the desired partner fall in love and have a relationship with the player character, but the requirements for gaining a "good end" differ from game to game. While the plots of otome games differ greatly, there is usually a single female main character, and several good-looking males of varying "types".
In the visual novel examples of the genre, the player proceeds in the story by selecting dialogue or action choices which affect their relationships in a decision tree format. In simulation otome games, there is also other gameplay which affects the plot, either by playing minigames or by raising stats. The main character often has several parameters, such as looks, style, intelligence, talent, etc., that can be raised through various activities in normal gameplay. The potential partners usually require a certain parameter or parameters to be at a certain level for them to fall in love with the main character. There is also often a pure dating aspect of gameplay in simulations. This involves asking or being asked on dates by the love interest, doing an activity with them, and responding to their questions or comments. The player has a choice of responses, and a correct answer will raise your standing with that character.
In otome games, the main female character is generally categorized as self-insert and non-self-insert.[4] Self-insert does not have personality and backstory, giving players space to insert themselves into the game. In contrast, the non-self-insert main character has a more vivid personality and detailed story, whose characteristics do not depend on the player for existence.
In general, it is difficult to represent the female protagonist in simple terms, because the game character as an avatar of the player is ambiguous and complex, a state where subject and object coexist: they are both the player's "shoes" and admirable icon.[5]
The main men characters who can develop a romantic relationship with vary from game to game. In general, however, the appearances of main men characters who can develop romantic relationships are handsome and attractive.
There are some typical character archetypes in the otome game: Oresama, Kuudere, Childhood Friend, Shota, Mature/Older Man, Dandere, Megane, Tsundere, Yandere, Genki Guy, the flirt, and the playboy.[6]
A 27 year-old Lawyer, Limbo is known for bringing justice to even the toughest criminals in the courtroom. Although named the crooked lawyer, he is extremely skilled, and is popular in the city and seen as a hero of the people. He plays by his own rules, serving justice to those who need tamed. Born into an extremely wealthy family, Limbo is kind at heart.
At 28 years old, Shu is a heavy smoker who makes a living as a bounty killer by eliminating other hitmen. He is a top-class martial artist and specialized in long-range sniping. The best sniper in town, he has no other goals in life apart from executing those on the list left behind by his foster parents and mentor.
A 26 years-old plastic surgeon; Helvetica is popular in New Sieg. He appreciates the beauty in things and constantly rates passer-by women based on their looks. Highly confident in his skills, he believes that people can be reborn by changing their natural features.
At only 25 years old, Mozu is the chief of the autopsy department and works with the police force. Often misunderstood as apathetic and indifferent towards others, his way of thinking is usually from a medical point of view, which sometimes creates unexpectedly fun situations. Mozu talks to corpses and it is rumored that he dissects animals as a hobby. He likes riding bicycles.
A 21-year-old freelance journalist working in New Sieg. As a child, she witnessed the murder of her brother, so decided to take up a life of journalism to maintain order and justice. She has a mysterious ability that allows her to leap in the past for a very short period into the bodies of others, using it to help those around her. She is a bright and cheerful woman with a positive personality. Although she is a reporter, she is not skilled at taking pictures.
The game is definitely similar in vibe to CxM and Piofiore, and I tend to like a bit more action with my otome game. But, I do highly recommend giving it a try, all of the relationships feel genuine and I like that you get to see the progression from strangers to friends to lovers.
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After this, however, the lines holding in the genre become fuzzy. For instance, a 2020 Twitter thread by the user @cocopencils defines otome games as having not only routes and defined endings, but CGs along the way.
As more and more men who do not question the unrelenting use of the male gaze in media get into otome and write about them in this manner, either in articles or in reviews, more confusion about the nature of otome compared to other joseimuke games will certainly arise.
In a very particular context, I do agree with minetaka. The arbitrary definitions we assign to genres, especially otome, can heavily limit creators. As was discussed earlier, why does otome require CGs and sound? What if someone wanted to make an otome through the perspective of a woman chatting on Discord and the game was primarily text-based UI rather than visuals?
There are some clear boundaries in place for otome, including a female protagonist, male love interests, and a focus on romance. From there, however, it really comes down to community consensus combined with the unique and fun ways developers find to push the genre boundaries further than ever before.
NOTE: The bullet points above ONLY serve as my guide when rating an otome game. That said, a certain game DOES NOT have to meet all the points required to get a certain rating as these are ALWAYS on a case to case basis.
To guide your villainess toward the love - or single life - of your dreams, you also have access to an animated Love Menu. Just know that the choices you make will slowly change the lovers that your villainess has available!
Warning: This game contains scenes of psychological horror, implied violence, mild gore, suicidal ideation, and trauma, as well as actual deaths in the bad endings. Specifically, the demo includes an injury to the neck of the main character that draws blood, as well as a bad ending involving an enclosed space. There are some light effects in the game and some of the moving animations may trigger motion sickness in people prone to vertigo. There are also optional scenes involving spicy (though not explicit) sexual content with each of the 5 possible love interests. Player caution is advised.
For the writing, I didn't realize it until my friend point out that it sound exactly like QT (machine translation tool to reading Chinese media such as novel). I only read writing by those who got QT-influenced in my mother language, not much in English, so I didn't realize it at first. But once it got point out, everything clicked.
The characters feel un-intelligent, make it funny since they keep bragging about themself non-stop. And make it have like zero tension for a "murder mystery" game. The narractor sound arrogant and look-down to the player - especially who self-insert (well, that how they sound like to me at least). The UI look like they fighting with the char/bg art, except the textbox.
And if there won't be any improvement / fixing the issue (at least the technical one) in the future, then I can't recommend this game. But you could always try the demo yourself to see if this is your cup of tea.
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