#Nightshade otome game

[lynette-mirror]

Otoge heroines as LIs

part 2 https://www.tumblr.com/lynette-mirror/768541890777841664/otoge-heroines-as-lis-part-2-part-1

[carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich]

The Big Otome Game Survey

Hello all,

I've decided to launch a big otome game survey, looking at most popular characters across several popular otome games (and whether there are any correlations in terms of people liking the same characters across multiple games). You can also vote for your favourite otome game among the options listed.

If you're interested in otome games, please do participate and reblog this post! You don't need to have played all of the games on the list in order to participant, just answer for any that you have.

The survey will close at 10pm (22:00) (UTC+1) on May 1st 2025 and I will publish the results sometime after.

Any issues with the survey just let me know in the replies on this post!

[cleaetpauline60]

💜 Happy Women’s Day (2)💜

[moeblob]

Thinking about Goemon's route being a poly roadtrip to me like. what's better than Enju having a boyfriend who loves her? Enju having TWO boyfriends who love her.

[rjthirsty]

These posts were going around at the time, and I just love them. I laugh every time I see them.

Mystic Messenger.

I only don't see Zen making it rain on Jumin and think maybe Yoosung should be there. But Yoosung losing is also apropos.

Star Crossed Myth.

Perfect. Spot on. No notes.

Nightshade.

Please! I love this one. The extra makes it so worth it.

[skredjun]

📢SUPER SALE📢 All my ✨Otome Enamel pins ✨are 20% off!

The discount will last until March 15th.

[thefallenblue]

very assorted otoge stuff ?? I'm just trying to dump some of my old art here

[amarara]

Guys...

For this month which fandom would you like me to make? ^^))

and... should I draw them with the mc?

[ayaspen]

Otome Games Masterlist

Hi,Welcome to my Otome obsession phase! 🦋

Olympia Soirée Review 💮

Piofiore Review 🔫

Collar X Malice Review 📌

Cupid Parasite Preview 🧁

Even If Tempest Review 🔮

(Links to Reviews will be added as I write them after finishing the games or starting new ones)

[lunas-otome-blog]

Luna's Review: Nightshade

Official Summary:

During the Sengoku Period the two main factions of ninja clans, Iga and Kōga, warred against each other for decades. In the year 1593, Nobunaga Oda started the Tenshō Iga war, decimating most of the Iga ninjas in the process. The very few that survived were absorbed into the Kōga clan, despite their past rivalries.   After 17 years the Sengoku Period finally came to an end, and Japan was unified. Enju (Protagonist), daughter of Kandō Ueno, the Head of the Kōga clan, spends her days training diligently in hope of becoming a full-fledged ninja like her peers.   At long last she is assigned to her first mission, but finds herself caught in a dark conspiracy.

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Luna's Rating

Plot: 8/10

Gameplay: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Art: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

Luna's Fave Character: Chojiro

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Luna's Thoughts (Spoiler Free)

I went into this game 100% blind because, while there is an English translation, there wasn't a formal English release, meaning the box is entirely in Japanese. I saw the cover and assumed "historical ninja game." I enjoyed "Birushana" quite a bit, so I figured why not?

I was immediately delighted to learn that 3/5 love interests in "Nightshade" grew up alongside protagonist Enju, making a majority of them childhood friend routes.

Enju herself is an alright protagonist, having grown up protected and beloved by everyone in her village, including her friends. Being the daughter of two formerly-warring clans, she is the hope of her people and represents the unification of Japan. But she hasn't been totally sheltered and has still been allowed to become a shinobi.

Enju walks a good line between skilled and naive, keeping up in fights with assassins but also getting frequently snuck up on. The story kicks off at the start of her very first mission, and the routes branch off after she gets into trouble and becomes a scapegoat for power hungry government officials.

I wish she had more agency in the main storyline, though, because except for one major win in the common route, the rest of the story is largely her being protected by her suitors. She goes through some narrative arcs but I'd have liked to see her being more of a badass. There are few moments where she truly gets to show her skills.

The art in this game is gorgeous. Teita is the same artist from "Norn 9," but the character art feels a little more modern despite being set in the past. They really went off with the character designs and outfits. While I felt some of the illustrations were half-baked in "Norn 9," the CGs in "Nightshade" are all lovely.

Other than some convolution in the heavier routes, the plot of "Nightshade" is mostly quite solid. There are two main plotlines — one for the three lighter routes and one for the two heavier routes — and once you play one of the routes, most of the plot secrets are already exposed.

What really made each route special is each character's unique relationship to Enju, ranging from deeply intwined from birth to her personal role model. Despite repeated plot elements, each character handles things a little differently, and no two routes felt too similar even though they follow the same general plot.

Overall, this game was a joy to play and I would highly recommend it to any otome fan.

My personal recommended route order, from lightest to heaviest, is:

"Goro" —> Hanzo —> Kuroyuki —> Gekkamaru —> Chojiro

I will say Chojiro's route doesn't actually have a ton of new information, but for me it was the darkest and most emotional, and the one I felt was most entwined with Enju's past, so that's why I recommend it last.

Please find below my thoughts on each route in the order I played them.

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"Goro" Route (Spoilers)

As it my tradition, I went with the flirty guy first. Goro — or as we come to realize pretty quickly, Gentleman Thief Goemon — springs Enju from prison and pledges to protect her as they flee from the government.

This route was less romance and more action, and the attempts at romance were weirdly parental. Goemon is older than Enju and treats her more like a father than a love interest. I found his personality to be neither offensive nor particularly engaging. He has a super deadly ninjutsu power but you don't get to see him use it unless you bad end.

There are just too many things going on with this dude. Goro is Goemon, but Goemon is also Kotaro Fuma, the long lost leader of the Fuma ninja clan. He was also an Iga ninja for a time. How many secret identities does one man need? How many times are we going to repeat the same plot twist? We don't get a lot of context as to why he became a thief, either. It just doesn't seem like a logical leap from abused ninja to anti-capitalist lol.

His several identities did come in handy at the end, however, and I thought the pacing was good, as Enju and Goemon go on adventures bookended by betrayal and ninja attacks. They have a couple of different traveling partners along the way, which helped break up the monotony of travel.

I also liked Enju's growth in this route. At the beginning, she's willing to sacrifice herself to save her clan, but Goemon convinces her that her life is worth preserving. She comes to the conclusion that she doesn't value her own life much, and by the end she is willing to fight for herself just as much as her clan.

All in all, I'd give this route a solid 7/10. I'm glad I played it first but it wasn't too bad. I just wasn't too impressed with Goemon's character or convoluted backstory.

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Kuroyuki Route (Spoilers)

I actually got Kuroyuki's route first, but he was so cute at the start of it that I decided to go back and play a different one so I could save his for a bit longer. Unfortunately, he drops the cute act pretty quickly and goes right into flirting and borderline yandere obsession.

Kuroyuki is a liar who tricks Enju into thinking she has no allies in order to make her reliant on him. While I don't usually like characters like this, the abuse he suffered is honestly so brutal that I forgave him pretty quickly. He's also not pushy or aggressive with his feelings, and largely gives Enju space to sort out her own feelings after he confesses, which happens pretty early in the route.

Kuroyuki is an interesting foil for Enju because he seems to be the opposite of her, emotionally immature but extremely skilled as a shinobi. I had the opposite problem in this route that I did with Goemon, because despite being the same age, he felt a lot younger than Enju.

I do wish we'd gotten a little more closure at the end, because the game just sort of tells us that everyone forgives Kuroyuki. I would have liked to see a big group therapy session where he tells everyone what he went through and everyone gives him a hug haha. The kid deserves it.

That said, the pacing was good, and Kuroyuki's obsession made the whole route feel ominous, so when any sort of reveal happened it felt natural and foreshadowed. It was a pretty good route.

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Hanzo Route (Spoilers)

Hanzo is one of my favorite character archetypes: the overly serious guy who thinks emotions are unnecessary. He's most impressed with Enju when she thinks clearly, acknowledges her own shortcomings and uses logic to make decisions.

The game doesn't tell you how old he is, but he was close in age to her mother, so presumably at least a good 20 years her senior. The age gap is never even addressed lol.

Despite this, Hanzo doesn't appear at all to be paternal, preferring for Enju to gain her own experience rather than protect her obsessively like the other love interests. He's harsh with her, and while he protects her as his mission dictates, he also lets her handle things on her own where possible.

This is a true slow burn route, with Hanzo insisting that bonds like friendship and love make a shinobi weak as he steadily falls for the earnest Enju. Meanwhile, the famous Hanzo is like a rock star for Enju, so it takes her starstruck feelings a while to develop into love.

This was a near perfect route for me — excellent pacing, exciting battle scenes and so much drama around what it means to be a shinobi. We also, finally, get to see Enju becoming stronger, training with Hanzo to become more powerful than even Hanzo's men. As Enju becomes strong enough to defend against even Hanzo himself, Hanzo finally realizes he has a choice in how he lives his life.

There were really only two things I didn't like about this route. One is that the final confrontation with Enju's father ends way too quickly.

The second is that Enju and Hanzo come together too naturally. They just kind of look into each other's eyes and kiss. I wanted Enju to confess first and Hanzo to struggle with his emotions for a while lol. But y'all know I like a squirmy man.

Anyway, I loved Hanzo and I loved this route!

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Chojiro Route (Spoilers)

Chojiro is basically Hanzo but with more emotions, so of course I loved him right away. He's Enju's cousin, but that's fine for this time period lol. Two of Shanao's love interests in "Birushana" were also her cousins so it's fine I guess?

Chojiro isn't actually in this route a ton at the beginning, but we know he's coming to kill Enju, as are all the other Koga ninjas. While that plotpoint isn't unique to this route, Chojiro's route is the first I played where characters actually die and stay dead. It came as a bit of a shock.

Enju fights Chojiro knowing she won't win, and she feels happy that Chojiro is going to be the one to kill her. Chojiro is the shinobi Enju aspires to be, and she takes it as a sign of respect that he would look her in the eye as he strangles her. I cried when Enju reached out to grab his sleeve like she did in childhood.

Of course, he doesn't kill her and instead becomes her protector. The rest of the route is them running from fate. It's heavy and dark, and pretty much everyone dies, but honestly it makes more sense for that to be the case in a game like this.

This was a pretty perfect route for me. I wish I'd played it last.

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Gekkamaru Route (Spoilers)

Gekkamaru's route has a lot more spoilery plot stuff that Chojiro's, but it wasn't as successful for me. Gekkamaru's backstory is a little convoluted, and there are some contrivances — for example, a conveniently-timed letter and a random woman who confesses to Gekkamaru in order to create tension.

I wish I'd played this route before Chojiro's, because there's a ton of action here that would have been more interesting if I didn't already know what was going on. Still, it manages to have unique action scenes. There's a ninja boss who carries a lute and we FINALLY get to see what it's for in this route.

There were a few nice moments where Enju becomes the protector, but all in all, I still felt this was one of the weaker routes. I'd also have liked a little more tension between Gekkamaru and Kuroyuki, the brothers who both wanted to protect Enju. Finding out that Gekkamaru got the role randomly was kind of lame, and I would have liked him and Kuroyuki to have a heart to heart on screen to resolve that tension.

The romance in this route, though? Top notch. Exactly what I wanted. Gekkamaru wants to protect Enju and knows he's not allowed to touch her, to be anything more with her. But he struggles with those feelings in exactly the way I had hoped. He definitely lived up to my expectations in that regard.

Anyway, another 7/10 route. Definitely play Chojiro's route last if you want a more impactful end to the game.

[achy-boo]

Night. She's the safest (?). Plus pretty

Miss Nightshade? She is both safe and dangerous.

Commonly Found: The courtyard, The Library and The Greenhouse

+ Shares the curiosity of her doll making or the Sapphire Lake Dorm

+ Music Club or the tea club for your club

+ Any item that involved doll making, stars, moon or any gothic or cute

- books about illegal things(you know what they are)

- choosing ‘snakes’ on her birthday

- confuse her as Dawn.

So either way…she is both but she is a sweetheart if you treated her respectfully

@the-trinket-witch @queen-of-twisted @abyssthing198 @writing-heiress @fair-night-starry-tears

[pirunika]

i need mutuals who like otome..esp my new obsession Nightshade .:*♡

[fhlenn]

some past kuroyuki and enju fanart : )

[demigodwitchdw]

Me: *chooses Kuroyuki's route in Nightshade cause he seems sweet and fun and dorky*

Kuroyuki's route: *proceeds to get more and more fucked up*

Me: . . .dude you need therapy.

[siennaditbot]

Not sure what happened but I'm in another otome game phase again lol

Just got through Lover Pretend and I'm now working on Nightshade!

Lover Pretend started out good but almost all routes disappointed me if brutally honest, especially Kazuma's (top left). Childhood friends... Not enough pining...

They kinda fell flat, and I don't like getting yelled at by my men lol. Felt most satisfied by Sena's (top right) route I think, surprisingly - I hate flirty dudes lol. Asagi's (bottom left) was so short too??

Also what's up with Nishijima's route and just kinda going through the whole pretend fiancé "but what if I fall for you?" thing WHILE NOT SURE IF YOU'RE RELATED OR NOT. Geez. At least Sena's and Asagi's tackled that. Makito's (top mid) too, early on. Nishijima... (Bottom left)

Still, I'm a sucker for a good old 'fake relationship' trope.

As for Nightshade...epic ninja game! Kinda nervous about the 18 rating for violence but so far so good. How bad can sprite art get? Or the occasional CG? Some words have made me wince though lol

I finished Goemon and Hanzo's routes today. The good endings, at least. Age differences (childhood friends with mc's mom??) are kinda very uncomfy in this game but otherwise, 10/10 so far. It's got me on the edge of my seat, can't tell whether stuff is supposed to go bad at times or if I messed up and am about to get a bad end lol.

Silly guys. So far I like them all, the age stuff just.. eh. Ok for me, not for main chara lol.

Also, next is Chojiro.... Mc's cousin... Hehe............ Yay... Hoping they aren't actually related but old timey stuff is wild sometimes

Anyway, the art's good too! Very different! Pretty boys :>

Also I love getting proposed to. Good endings <3

Can't wait for Gekkamaru!

Ok bye rant over

[immortalghostkami]

HAPPY BELATED BORTHDAY MY BOY!!! I’m so sad I didn’t finish on time, but I’m only like 3-4 days late, that still counts right?