Out Now:
Nameless ~The one thing you must recall~
Nameless ~The one thing you must recall~
Now here’s one otome game that deserves to be on far more peoples’ radars. The story begins with a teenager who lives alone in a home after her grandfather passed away. She keeps herself occupied with a collection of beautiful ball-jointed dolls. One day, the five dolls come to life! After the initial shock wears off, our protagonist must learn to live with this new lifestyle – and maybe discover more about her favorite dolls in the process. There are multiple endings and each builds on the other to eventually unlock the “complete” story. The price for Nameless might seem steep, but you’ll be getting at least 20 hours of gameplay with a purchase.
Hakuoki
The Hakuoki franchise was one of the very first otome games to reach English-speaking games on consoles. Since its PSP launch, varying versions of the game have arrived on Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita, and even PS3. If you’re interested, most of these games are the same storyline (minus Warriors of the Shinsengumi) so feel free to buy any version. The game is steeped in ancient Japanese history where shoguns ruled. Protagonist Chiziru heads out to search for her father and surprisingly discovers a group of shinsengumi who also seek to find his whereabouts. They take her under their wing, but must face a ton of danger along their journey. Aside from helping the protagonist come out of her shell players can romance one of these delectable warriors.
Coming Soon:
Ozmafia
Ozmafia certainly has an odd story hook. Our amnesia-suffering protagonist somehow gets herself involved in a world run by mafias. Before any danger can come to her though, she is taken in by the Oz mafia family. As the name implies, these men are basically modern renditions of The Wizard of Oz characters (scarecrow, cowardly lion, tin man) but in a far more handsome form than L. Frank Baum likely ever intended. In keeping with the fantastical fiction tone there are also other men to discover such as Robin Hood and a Grimm mafia. There’s no release date for this one yet but hopefully publisher MangaGamer will provide more information soon.
Spirit Parade
What is it with otome games having a somber beginning? In this game, the protagonist is a cynical young woman who lives with polio. She goes to a festival one day, but wanders into a completely unexpected situation. Somehow, she is transported from the regular world to the Spirit World where everyone is currently wrapped up in a month-long celebration. There she encounters demons, spirits, and other fantastical beings (many of whom just happen to be incredibly handsome dudes). There will be over 30 endings and 5 romanceable leads. As of right now Spirit Parade is targeting a Spring 2015 launch.
Although they’re not highlighted, a few additional titles worth checking out include Backstage Pass, Cinders, Magical Diary, and Sweet Fuse. Did I miss any other games like Seduce Me? Call them out in the comments below!
I must admit that I was surprised when Hakuoki started to get repeated localizations, but that of course is a good thing, the success of Otome’s only contribute to getting VN’s more recognized.