Gigantic List of Otome Games

Oh yeah, reinforcement of stereotypical gender roles in otome games makes me roll my eyes, as does the notion that the female protagonist needs a romantic relationship to be happy and fulfilled in her life and that that's the only rewarding goal in life. Sure, there are sometimes friendship routes and in, say, Tokimeki, she gets to work hard and possibly get an amazing career, but there's not much in the way of CGs or in-game "fulfillment" for that and that kind of blows.

Plus there's the whole thing about bland protagonist and a bunch of random strangers suddenly expressing romantic interest in her that needs to be worked on. I think the genre's starting to mature in terms of that aspect, but it still needs a few landmark games to break that cliche to pieces. Right now the otoge world is at about the same place bishoujo was ~2003-2004, where there are a lot more games that are starting to really break the mold and experiment (on both sides of the ocean!) It's an exciting time.

I like VNs with romance the most. Stat-raising has never been particularly appealing. I like having a plot and good characters but if you there is a plot, there's waiting time between replays because you have to forget the immediate sensations. The fact you can play again immediately after and almost indefinitely probably contributes to the popularity of Tokimeki. They have an amazing amount of responses and possible dates.

As for protagonists, it usually depends on what the game focuses on. For romance goaled games, I think they make it so that a female needs a relationship as a sort of explanation for the game. Take Heart no Kuni no Alice, where you have to increase general affection to get home. But for RPGs, the goal is different and the relationship is just a side-bonus. This does not excuse wimpy protagonists though. It's annoying when games dull the protagonists down so that the main characters (of which, we are supposed to be the main...-y-est) can be more outstanding.

Quick question: Should the Choice of Games be listed considering there is an option to play as a female character and participate in sidequests that involve marrying a male character? Honestly, the romance sidequests are more stat checks than story, and even Choice of Romance seems to focus mostly on political intrigue and whatnot, but what do you think?

Love Letter from Thief X just came out for iPhone.
Here's the EnglishOtomeGames post.

Awesome! I remember people on tumblr getting mad that the first release had the creepy redone art. Good on Voltage for listening to the fans.

I wouldn't really call them otome games. But since they technically fit, yes?

It came out? Whoop~ Must resist urge to LP.

Awesome list, Donmai, thank you!

I'm someone whose RPG experience almost entirely consists of Bioware, Bethesda, and Black Isle/Troika/Obsidian games and is sort of edging into the world of VNs and/or dating games (I have so far played Loren! And, uh, A Dance With Rogues. If that counts. Which...actually, I don't know where I want to go with that. Anyway). Any recommendations for a beginner?

Of course, this

Sounds incredibly fucked up and I may have to see it for myself, much like ADWR.

I've never played Kidnapping Love, myself. Donmai is the one to ask, I believe.

Hmm, well the question is, do you want a pure VN or something with some gameplay? The most common gamplay for VNs is some form of stat-raising. A good example of that is Magical Diary. It's a good game for beginners and it's on Steam. You can only play as a girl, though. However, there are two female love interests as well as three male ones. Scheherazade is similar to Magical Diary but the stat-raising is hardcore. It's pretty tough even on easy.

Or do you want something more in line with Bioware-style games? If so, there are a lot of RPGs that mix dating elements in there. Persona 3 and 4 are probably the most famous examples, and if you haven't played them yet then I highly recommend Persona 3 Portable (for PSP) to start. Then you've got stuff like the Growlanser (never played it myself) and Ar Tonelico games (no option to be a woman or date guys). There's also the Summon Night games (two for GBA and one for DS) and Soul Nomad and the World Eaters which is a very fun SRPG from the makers of Disgaea. For those two, the dating aspects are kind of minimal, but they do facilitate getting to know the characters better. Your gender is also selectable.

Either? Both? Gameplays sounds good in theory, but:

Sounds awful. Though I don't think I've ever encountered it (except in the Sims? Maybe?), so that's an uninformed response. I'll probably give Diary a whirl and see if it makes me want to WAAAAGH.

And then you go on to recommend a bunch of RPGs that sound neat but would require me to abandon my PC-only ways. Heretic, I shall keep the faith, no matter what temptations thou mayest dangle before me! Or maybe not, I've been toying with the idea of getting a handheld for a while. Hmm. Also I bet there are emulators, but maybe that's an off-limits subject here.

Well, I'd say that the GBA games are pretty safe to emulate. The only physical copies you're going to find these days are used. However, I'd recommend getting a PSP. They're wonderfully cheap these days and there are a lot of great PSP games available.

And the stat-raising in Diary isn't like the Sims at all. Give it a try, they've got a demo up.

My recommendations: For a game that focuses on story, I recommend Katawa Shoujo, which is an 18+ bishoujo game with very intense emotional writing, or True Remembrance, which is a kinetic novel (linear visual novel; you don't have choices). That Cheap and Sacred Thing is a fairly nice kinetic novel, too, though tragic. Those are all freeware games with some element of romance, not necessarily geared towards girls, but they're all visual novels, too, with no stat-raising or anything, so if you're one of the people who are bored by "click to advance the text, then click an option when it comes up" then those are probably not right for you.

Avalon Code is one of my favorite RPGs story-wise, the "scan your enemies and manipulate the essence of their existence to change their stats" gameplay element is awesome, and they have romantic subplots, too. Of course, it does have its fair share of problems, too: A lot of people think the second half of the story only exists to ramp up the playtime, the dungeons are more like puzzle room after puzzle room than typical dungeons, and considering it was made in Japan, it's probably not the best if you're not a fan of JRPGs. Rune Factory 3 is pretty nice, too, even though you can't pick your gender, nor can you bromance/bropose to any men, even if they walk around tanned and shirtless and ask if they can kiss you... I mean. Rune Factory 3 has pretty neat gameplay. Even though the voice acting isn't so great and your children are less fun than your furniture. Atelier Annie is adorable, too, and very comedic. Those games are for the DS, but they're also pretty hard to find as physical copies nowadays. They're surprisingly obscure.

And that's all I can personally recommend before diving headfirst into otome game otaku territory and explaining what I think of each individual love interest and how well the romance plays out with the setting in mind and blah blah blah...

I can link my Baldur's Gate 2 romance mod recommendations.

Tell me about it. I was lucky enough to snag a brand-new copy of Avalon Code by browsing the shelves at the local EB Games, but you can't find it anywhere these days. And then there was the time where I had to travel all the way to this gross strip-mall in Scarberia because that was the only place in the whole GTA that had Soul Nomad. That place had rats, and there was a gang of pigeons at the godforsaken subway stop that chased people around and mugged them for their bagel bits. But it was all worth it in the end.

I can sympathize. I am, once again, playing Soul Nomad and all I want to do is analyze the plot and gush about the characters. Bah.

Magical Diary is 55% off for the duration the Steam winter sale, FYI.

I'm actually one of those that got bored with Avalon Code when I reached the second half of the story, really it makes no sense, it's just there to add playtime... also I basically hated everyone after how they treat you, so I really stopped playing >_>

Mmhm, gameplay-wise it was kind of cheap, but in terms of story-telling I kind of liked it! Gave me many feels, as one might say. Might be because I kind of first played while I was in an emotionally vulnerable state, though. Wall of text of flailing and opinions under spoiler.

tl;dr: ALL MY FEEEEEEEEEEEEELS

You've never played monster rancher? A lot of these games play like monster rancher except instead of raising a monster you're "raising" a person. (though the concept is more direct in the princess maker series and prince maker as well)

Personally I'm really fond of the stat raising element in these games. I think it adds to the character of the main character. It's certainly not necessary though (Katawa Shoujo is the flat out visual novel kind but it really works that way, having stat raising in it wouldn't make any sense)

I've never heard of Monster Rancher, as I was a Nintendrone through the N64, which was my last console. Only Gameboy I had was the original.

I don't know if you'd want to add it to the list yet Donmai, but Aksys announced today that they're localizing Bakudan Handan as Sweet Fuse: At Your Side for the summer.

<--- pretty hyped

I KNOW WHAT GAME I'M PRE-ORDERING NEXT

That looks amazing, and I have yet to even play Hakuoki. Or find my PSP.

<333! Will add as soon as it's released~!

Guh, my poor bank account. I hate importing games, the shipping is always killing me.
But Kaji Yuki is voicing Wakasa Towa, and Kaji Yuki is my biggest VA bias.

Could someone please confirm whether Imagine: Ballet Star, Imagine: Figure Skater, and Imagine: Ice Champions are otome games or not? I've gotten through the first month of Swan's story in Ballet Star, and I see she has a love interest, and I'm assuming the other girls do, too, but... I can't go on... I could handle My Boyfriend, but this... I don't think I can play much more of this... A "yes" or "no" would be greatly appreciated... Ha... Haaaaaaa...

Donmai, the answer is to LP it so that we may all suffer together.

Is the Imagine: Fashion Designer game any good?

...I'm asking for a friend.

I have absolutely no idea. The Imagine series is geared towards girls with single-digit ages, like Princess Debut, but it's not nearly as humorous, so I can't get very into it... As far as I can see, though, it does have a wide variety of minigames, some of which are surprisingly difficult. The art is pretty cute, too, I guess. Kind of reminds me of old shoujo manga. The 3D animations get really boring really fast, though. The dance moves don't connect together and their legs are freakishly long. But eh, I've only played one game for forty minutes so I'm no good at judging.

I'm trying to get through the figure skater game myself, so I'll let you know. Which will probably be in like 5 years

If you're looking for a fashion game, I've heard good things about Style Savvy. I'm not sure if it's more of a mix of a business/fashion sim though.
I recommend this over Fashion Designer because I couldn't find any reviews for that one... they might be similar, though.

*reads the review*

...wow. My, uh, friend totally wants this game now. I wonder if the video game store still has that used copy I saw a few days back.

Have my more-or-less complete list of Japanese DS otome games. No harm having a list of these too, right?
Long, ridiculous titles aside, several of these are so hilariously bad they're just asking to be LPed by Randissimo.

Ore-sama Kingdom: Koi mo Manga mo Debut Mesaze! Dokidoki LOVE Lesson
FabStyle
Hiiro no Kakera
Shin Hisui no Shizuku: Hiiro no Kakera 2Soukoku no Kusabi: Hiiro no Kakera 3
Tennis no Oujisama: Gyutto! Dokidoki Survival: Umi to Yama no Love Passion
Kimi ni Todoke ~Tsutaeru Kimochi~
Tenkaichi Sengoku LOVERS DS
Suki desu, Suzuki-kun! 4nin no Suzuki-kun
Datenshi no Amai Yuuwaku x Kaikan Phrase
Tennis no Oujisama: Motto Gakuensai no Oujisama (37 possible love interests. SOMEBODY LP IT QUICK.)
Dear Girl ~Stories~ Hibiki: Hibiki Tokkun Daisakusen!
SIGNAL
Kurayami no Hate de Kimi wo Matsu
Kimi ni Todoke ~Sodateru Omoi~
Arabians Lost
Saikin Koi Shiteru?
Fushigi Yuugi DS
Akai Ito destiny DS
Will o' Wisp DS
Akai Ito DS (this is actually good enough that I'm tempted to LP it sometime)
Happy My Sweets
Nakayoshi All-Stars: Mesaze Gakuen Idol
Bakumatsu Renge: Shinsengumi DS
Vitamin Y
Hoshizora no Comic Garden
Uwasa no Midori-kun!! 2: Futari no Midori!?
Days of Memories 2
Vitamin X Evolution
Shugo Chara! 3tsu no Tamago to Koi suru Joker
DUEL LOVE: Koi suru Otome wa Shouri no Megami
Uwasa no Midori-kun!! Natsuiro Striker

Okay, added a link in the first post~

Someone actually is LPing it! Or rather, was. Haven't seen avocado in a while... Sadness.
Also, if you're including official games of preexisting series, don't forget Hana Yori Dango: Koi Seyo Otome and Gakuen Hetalia DS!

I do not have enough time in my life but I can try, Kirandra. As soon as I finish my current LPs. And somehow become rich beyond my wildest dreams. And develop better time management skills.

I don't really know if this is the best to place to put this, but just so more people get the news: Sweet Fuse is up on Amazon for pre-orders.

end of august whyyy

Apparently Imagine: Figure Skater is the localized version of the Japanese game Kuru Kuru Princess-Figure de Kira Kira Koori no Angel. Also known as the first game in the Kuru Kuru Princess series. (as far as I know there are 3 games in total. I might be wrong)
Imagine: Ice Champions is the localization of the second game called Kuru Kuru Princess: Yume no White Quartet.
...here's the trailer of the third game: Kuru Kuru Princess-Tokimeki Figure Mezase! Vancouver.It has dress-up, a gameplay similar to that of Princess Debut, mini-games & cute pets! And apparently it's also some sort of dating sim? I heard something about cool boys and date. I'm gonna assume that that means that we can date cool boys.
I'm now wondering when this one is gonna be localized. And what it has to do with Vancouver.

And apparently Imagine: Ballet Star is the localization of Princess Ballerina: Yumemiru 4-Jin No Prima Donna.

Donmai, here's another one for PC/commercial: Blue Rose. It's an open beta available for purchase, not a final release, but people might still be interested.

Also, The Royal Trap should have an asterisk.

Speaking of not know where to put things, here's the editor of Aksys talking about Sweet Fuse and the Otome game industry in general.

I expect to be drawn and quartered if I posted in the wrong place.

That article has made me very excited about Sweet Fuse, purely for the opportunity to take a "What's Wrong With You?!" option when someone does something especially frustrating or stupid.

Complete with Phoenix Wright-esque splash panel!

Oh wow. I must get this game.

So excited for this game!

Here's the OP. I really want to get my hands on that song.



As of right now I'm enamoured with both Shirabe and Mitarashi.

So cute. You know, I'm really glad the guys in this game aren't the typically handsome types that you usually find in Otome games. I'm sick of bishonen. The MC doesn't look like your average heroine either, but she's adorable.