#Otome Game review

[tarticawhat]

Nameless Route Review: Yuri - Could've Been a Contender

Again, SPOILERS Y’ALL. S P O I L E R S. Yuri marks my halfway point in Nameless. I have a lot to say so buckle up. Yuri, Yuri, Yuri. You had so much promise and potential. Too bad your route failed us all miserably. To expand a bit: Yuri, the only doll from Crobidoll’s adult line, is simply a bucket of smarm. He makes lots of money (somehow) and gets free things by charming women out of them.…

[lunas-otome-blog]

Luna's Review: Olympia Soirée

Official Summary:

The last surviving member of her clan, Olympia travels to Tenguu Island to perform a ritual to bring back the sun. The heads of each district lead a society governed by rigid class structures. Able to travel between the districts, Olympia discovers their wonders and weaknesses. She searches for a partner to help bring unity to this imperiled land.

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Luna's Thoughts (Spoiler Free)

Byakuya — known only by her title "Olympia" — is the last of her people, who have a special ability to raise the sun. To preserve her lineage and keep the sun shining, she must find a husband and have children. This is the general thrust of the game, but this fairly simple plot is muddled by complex world building and subtle, dark themes. Though I did admire the ambitious world building, not everything is pulled off successfully.

Set on an isolated island with a rigid caste system based on colors, themes of racism and xenophobia abound. Olympia, being the last of the White, is simultaneously chastised, feared and worshiped. Meanwhile, those presenting non-chromatic or non-conforming hues are forced underground, considered too unsightly to even live on the surface.

Sweet and naive, it's difficult not to like Olympia despite her lack of knowledge about the world around her. When she realizes things are unfair, she takes it upon herself to help make them better, and she has a very strong sense of justice. Trapped away in her guardian's estate for most of her life like Rapunzel in her tower, Olympia knows little of the world around her. The entire common route is getting her — and the player — up to speed.

I was highly disappointed in the rushed timeline of this game. We are told at the beginning that Olympia has a full year to find her husband, yet the routes are each only a couple of weeks long. While I understand she's a teenager with zero life experience, it felt stupid to set her up for a year of careful consideration, only for that to be thrown out the window as she imprints on someone immediately. It's also a pretty sexy game, but in a horny 18-year-old kind of way that I guess is fairly appropriate for a sheltered teenager lol. I am too old for this, I guess.

Let's also talk about themes — because there are too many of them. The common route alone introduces so many ideas, from the color caste system to women's rights to criminal justice, to the idea of human souls having an inherent value. There's also some time warp stuff and stuff about old gods. It was a lot to push in the common route, and not everything is fully explored. My head was spinning. And Olympia just ... will not ask questions.

The color class system also seems very arbitrary because of the confusing sprites. For example, Kuroba of the Black is considered the lowest class because he has black hair. However, Douma of the Yellow, who is also drawn with black hair, is one of the highest ranked on the island. Hairi, who lives underground due to his "unusual" traits, is drawn with blue hair and eyes and seems to be a dead ringer for the Cyan class. Jingen, leader of the Red, has no red traits at all, Tokisada of the Green has only green accents, and nobody comments on Tsukuyomi, the only other character in the game to have white hair.

With the color system allegedly so rigid, one would think the illustrators of the game might have considered keeping the sprites a little more in line with the class system.

This game is also extremely unsubtle. The choices are either extremely obvious or so similar it feels like a waste of time. The "criminals" in Yomi — at least the ones we meet — are all good people who are punished because the world is wrong. And every character who looks and acts sketchy is in fact, sketchy.

Ultimately, while I did like it enough, I thought Olympia Soiree could have done with some simplification. There was just too much going on and it shows, especially in the true end route, where the conflicts of all other routes are pretty much ignored. The other routes are also very isolated and Olympia pretty much only spends time with the character she's pursuing. It just didn't feel much like a cohesive game to me.

All in all, I'd give this a 6/10.

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

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Kuroba Route (Spoilers)

As is my tradition, I play the character I like least first if possible. It's not that I didn't like Kuroba in the common route, but he is the flirty archetype which is not usually my favorite.

While Kuroba's route expands nicely on the world of Tenguu Island, I didn't love his relationship with Olympia. Kuroba is shown to be jealous, catty and indirect. In one of the bad ends, when he realizes he can't have her, he just straight up kills her. When another man forces himself on Olympia, he responds by ... also forcing her down and literally saying he should have just raped her when he had the chance?? Gross.

I also didn't think there was enough struggle regarding his color class. This whole route is filled with themes of racism, and how higher colors would rather die than become part of the Darkness Class. And yet, we see none of the racism that Kuroba allegedly experiences. He has a great job and lives on the surface, and nobody seems to act any differently toward him. In fact, in other routes, he is openly praised by people on the surface. It would have reinforced the struggles he's faced as a Black to see him actually struggling.

All in all, I didn't buy this route. Their relationship was expedited and forced, and Kuroba just wasn't that great of a partner for Olympia.

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Yosuga Route (Spoilers)

Yosuga's route starts out like Kuroba Plus. He's the same sort of flirty archetype with a little more melancholy thrown in.

Like Kuroba, Yosuga was sent to Yomi from the surface as punishment for something that was not his fault, but has made the best of his situation. Olympia quickly comes to care for him after realizing that he is just like her — the lone survivor of his color class, forced into a new environment. Makes sense.

However, Yosuga at one point does exactly what Kuroba did and forces Olympia down, threatening to rape her. Is this just how otoges are these days? Can't I have some innocent gaming fun without being threatened? Idk if this is what people are into in Japan but I find this sort of behavior so, so icky.

We do find out he's trying to bait her to kill him with her soul powers, but this suicidal tendency is not explored enough later in the route to warrant this scene. It just comes out of nowhere.

A bunch of additional plot threads are introduced, some more fleshed out than others, but ultimately this route is a murder mystery. The second half was decent, but it annoyed me that the victim wrote she was "killed by a blue." If she had time to write a note, why not name the killer? Lazy writing.

Yosuga comes onto Olympia later and it is barely consensual. Like we are pushing the boundaries of nonverbal consent here as she struggles to understand what's happening. Seriously, am I just super vanilla for not liking that sort of thing?

Anyway, Yosuga was better than Kuroba, the plot was somewhat interesting and I enjoyed the expansion of world building and character backstories. But Yosuga was not my favorite character either.

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Tokisada Route (Spoilers)

Tokisada is the closest we get to a genki character for this game, and the only love interest who is younger than Olympia. He reminded me of Yoosung, a favorite of mine from Mystic Messenger.

Tokisada is an interesting foil for Olympia. Having started a rebellion in his home world before coming to Tenguu Island, he represents one possible version of Olympia's future. Despite his past failures, he sees himself in Olympia's desire to change an unfair society, and decides to try again with her.

While Tokisada's cute but easily embarrassed character was much more my type than Yosuga or Kuroba, this route suffers from what I would call information throttling. It's mostly just Olympia running around, asking people for information and receiving it piecemeal. We learn surprisingly little about the outside world. Despite introducing the ideas of time travel and life after death, they are not fleshed out AT ALL, and nobody seems to be concerned about them, even though I'd argue it's one of the most interesting plot threads in the game.

Tokisada's character was a little wishy-washy, but in a way that made sense for his character. He acted like a 17-year-old under societal pressure, and we also find out he's being manipulated by various sources. He keeps running away at key moments, which was annoying but understandable given the circumstances.

While he was pretty horny at times, during intimate scenes, he was constantly asking for consent and if what he was doing was okay, which I love. Props, Tokisada!

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Riku Route (Spoilers)

Riiiikuuuuu!! A straight-laced tsundere with gap moe — his character seemed tailor-made for me from the get-go. I love when stoic, all-business types break down when saddled with emotions. (Yes, I do love Miles Edgeworth, why do you ask?)

This sort of character is often arrogant, but with Riku, you can tell he only goes on about his responsibility to the Blue because he's the next leader and he's cracking under the pressure. He takes no pleasure in what he's forced to do, and he lashes out as a result of bottling up his own disdain.

When he ends up in Yomi after an accident, it's like the pressure is off and he can be his true self. It might seem like a sudden transformation, but it makes sense considering how long he's questioned the military's actions.

He's actually a kind person — one who eats hamburgers and shares them with random animals —when he's not forced to keep up his persona. He also seems wonderfully willing to learn and grow, as he gets to know Olympia and realizes the rumors about her are false.

The romance pacing was not great, as Olympia falls far too quickly for Riku, but that's the case in every route so *shrug emoji* For the main plot, the pacing on this route was actually better than the others. The start is quite slow, and Riku himself isn't featured heavily until several chapters in.

Akaza is amazing in this route as he steamrolls past Riku's desire to hide his true identity from Olympia and yells at him when he insults her with unfounded rumors and prejudice. Their friendship is so strong and it made me excited to play Akaza's route.

Riku's intimate scene with Olympia was quite refreshing, as it's actually Olympia who comes onto him, letting him know it's ok to touch her. Poor guy was really prepared to wait until marriage, as if our little horndog Olympia was gonna let that happen.

Overall, I liked this route! My biggest gripe was that we didn't get to see Olympia with Riku's hair color, like we do with the rest of the boys. Unfair.

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Himuka Route (Spoilers)

Himuka appears little in the other characters' routes, so I didn't know what to think of him. He's a little inconsistent, personality-wise. He's shown to be quite shy, but bold at other times, and when he's annoyed by the assholes who outrank him, he's not afraid to threaten to throw hands.

Like in all the other routes, Olympia falls for him way too fast. But I do appreciate that her attraction to him stems from how she sees herself in him, even if it's just because of their similar hair colors.

This is another murder mystery route, but the culprit is revealed to the player pretty quickly and nothing is done about it for a while, which lessened the impact.

This route is ... weirdly sexy? Like, all the routes are sexy, but in this one Olympia and Himuka straight up lick fruit off each other's fingers?? Does anyone find that attractive? For me it was just weird.

This route had some good lore and definitely helped build upon the world we've been introduced to. I just wish Olympia was more curious and asked more questions. But what else is new?

I will also say that Himuka is kind of a dick in Akaza's route, which you're meant to play immediately after, so it was a bummer to fall for him, only for him to ice you out five minutes later.

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Akaza Route (Spoilers)

People in every route tell Olympia she should choose Akaza, and right before him you have to date the literal creator of the world, so making Akaza the true end character was literally the funniest thing this game could have done.

Akaza reminds me a lot of Yanagi from Collar x Malice; all business, straightforward, somewhat kuudere. The difference is that Akaza's route has so much lore packed into it that it feels more like a true ending.

While I liked Akaza's character at first, he becomes more forceful as the route goes on in a way I didn't like. He basically won't take no for an answer.

The brief introduction of a fiancee for Akaza is a waste of time and accomplishes nothing. We also get quick cameos of certain characters we got to know better in other routes, but their introduction feels forced because we only see them the one time. Olympia's maid, Chigaya, makes a brief but important confession that really made me feel like she needed a sprite.

The overall plot of this route was pretty good, and definitely suitable for a true end. But it wraps up a little too neatly with god magic in a way that felt lazy. The world returns to normal and everyone is spared — even some who were previously dead.

Probably the funniest part of this route is when Tsukuyomi steals an important item and says he hid it on the island, and everyone searches for days, only for it to be in the most obvious place ever. Like y'all didn't think he'd just chuck it into ... idk ... the giant well in front of his house?? Tsukuyomi isn't punished for his role in the calamities of this route, which felt like a massive oversight.

Idk, this route was fine I guess. Certainly one of the better ones. But for a true end, it left me with a lot of questions. I still don't understand the marriage system on Tennyo Island, for example. Did the "husbands" just live there for a couple years? Did nobody on Tenguu island question their absence?

My favorite part of this route was actually not Akaza, who was a fine love interest, but Douma. I enjoyed learning more about him and why he's the way he is. He was kind of the star of this route for me.

[otomegamereview]

Blá

[heyheyotome]

Winter’s Wish

Spirits of Edo

1716. Kyoho Era. Japan.

A secret organization recruits a young woman. Her ability to sense incoming disasters could save the country from demonic forces. Or destroy it…

Suzuno is no ordinary girl - she can see threads that reveal a person’s emotions encircling their necks. This ability has led her village to call her “the mind reading yokai” and to ostracize her. But it’s just this power that the shogun needs to predict where the demonic blightfalls will appear. Aided by the mysterious Oniwaban, noble men serving the shogun who have the ability to destroy the blightfall, Suzuno must protect the people of Edo from themselves.

But can emotions be kept in check enough to prevent a demonic uprising? And can a simple girl from the mountains really help bring peace to a dangerous world full of political upheaval and danger at every turn?

Quick stats:

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Intrigue: 5/5

Love Interests: 5/5

Plot: 4.5/5

Romance: 4/5

Dark material: 3.5/5

Art style: 4/5, similar to Amnesia: Memories.

MC: 4/5. Suzume has moments of air-headedness and complacency, but still manages to feel like a well rounded character. As usual, this varies with route.

Fully voiced with character mouth animations.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Recommendation: if you’ve previously enjoyed titles like Olympia Soiree or especially Hakuouki, this game will feel like it was made for you. There are many twists in the first chapter alone that provide enough intrigue to make you break out theories, and the love interests are all varied enough that there is bound to be someone you’ll enjoy.

It is on the darker side, and if you do not handle memory loss or amnesia well, you may not enjoy it. It can also feel bogged down by the historical setting that may have western audiences reaching for the dictionary (provided in game) more than once, but that is a fairly minor gripe.

Overall, I haven’t had a game suck me in so quickly since BUSTAFELLOWS or Olympia Soiree in 2021. While we haven’t been exactly dry for otome content since those games, this one still feels special to me and has me thoroughly hooked.

Disclaimer: as of writing, I have not finished all routes. A follow up, spoiler heavy review will be posted once I have completed the remaining endings. As of writing I have only reached “happy endings”.

[otomegamescafe]

Nightshade - czyli randki z shinobi

Osobiście przyznam, że to chyba moja ulubiona gra otome. Nie jest może idealna, ale na pewno nie da się o niej powiedzieć dużo złego. Bardzo lubię motyw shinobi w popkulturze, więc myślę, że to też wiele wyjaśnia, dlaczego tak bardzo lubię Nightshade. A więc nie będę dalej przedłużać i przejdę do recenzji :> Ostrzegam na spoilery!

Post będzie podzielony na kilka części, jako że chcę każdą ścieżkę postaci osobno opisać

Gra dostępna jest w jęzku angielskim na PC, Nintendo Switch oraz PS Vita. 

Oficjalna strona gry 

Gdy pierwszy raz grałam w Nightshade nie korzystałam z żadnego poradnika jak przechodzić i niestety lekko żałowałam tego. Nie sprawdziłam od jakich ścieżek najlepiej zacząć, a które na koniec zostawić. A zaczęłam od ścieżki z Gekkamaru, czyli właściwie od końca! W ten oto sposób już wszystko sobie zaspoilerowałam i zdecydowanie mniejszą frajdę czerpałam z przechodzenia innych ścieżek.

Zalecany sposób przechodzenia ścieżek: Goemon > Hanzō > Chōjirō > Kuroyuki > Gekkamaru

Opowieść się zaczyna od tego, że główna bohaterka (Enju) wraz z Chōjirō trenuje, a potem obydwoje wracają do swojej wioski shinobi. W międzyczasie poznajemy przyjaciół protagonistki - Ennosuke, Kyara i Gekkamaru. Z czego Gekkamaru jest również jej ochroniarzem i już na samym początku gry martwi się o naszą Enju. Wszyscy dostają potem wezwanie od ojca głównej bohaterki, gdzie ten ich wysyła na misję do Kyō. Gdy nasza grupa shinobi udała się wykonać zadanie na drodze napotykają na Kuroyuki’ego, czyli młodszego brata Gekkamaru, który 8 lat temu został wysłany na misję i właśnie teraz z niej powrócił. Młody shinobi dołącza do grupy i razem z nimi wyrusza do Kyō. Potem podczas wykonywania misji Enju poznaje Goemon’a oraz słynnego Hattori’ego Hanzō. Po wykonaniu misji nasza protagonistka zostaje zaproszona po odebranie nagrody od cesarza, jako że to ona schwytała złodzieja, którego poszukiwali shinobi. Niestety w pałacu zostaje wrobiona w morderstwo cesarza i tutaj kończy się wstęp gry, przechodzimy do konkretnych ścieżek postaci.

Aktorzy głosowi są świetnie dobrani i po prostu jest to bardzo dobra obsada. Hiro Shimono w roli Kuroyuki’ego podbił moje serce. 

Wizualnie gra jest śliczna i w sumie to chyba jedna z niewielu, gdzie nie narzekałam, że jakaś postać ma design taki sobie albo brzydki. 

Historia dość ciekawa, aczkolwiek ścieżki się mocno różniły od siebie. Było po równo w fabule momentów tych, gdzie polecam przygotować chusteczki oraz tych zabawnych i przyjemnych. Wszytsko było raczej dość wyważone.

Główna bohaterka bardzo na plus. Nie jest kolejną mimozą, która nie pamięta kim jest (standardowy chwyt w grach otome, żebyśmy się lepiej utożsamiali z MC...). Enju potrafi się sama sobą zająć, kiedy musi; nie zdaje się jedynie na pomoc naszych obiektów westchnień. 

Postacie są bardzo ciekawe. Ale jest jedna rzecz, która mi bardzo przeszkadzała, a mianowicie wątek miłosny z Hanzō... Nie mam problemu, aby była z nim ścieżka, gdyby była pokazana w sposób platoniczny i czysto przyjacielski, a nie romantyczny. Typ jest starszy lub w wieku matki Enju i jakoś mnie zniesmacza myśl, że nastolatka wchodzi w związek z kimś, kto mógłby równie dobrze być jej ojcem. Do raczej reszty postaci nie mam zastrzeżeń. 

Muzycznie gra była w porządku. Przyznam, że głównie pozytywnie oceniam muzykę bo opening oraz ending’i wykonał MAKOTO, który jest autorem oprawy muzycznej dla diabolik lovers. 

To tyle na dziś, będzie mi miło, jeśli polubicie ten post albo nawet skomentujecie. Jestem otwarta również, na różnego rodzaju dyskusje.

[kurishiri]

on my way to start William’s route, but as for the other two…

official Ikemen Villains twitter posted templates and so I took used them, ehe. Minor route spoilers ahead, maybe, as I delve into some personal thoughts! You can click on the images for higher quality; I put content warnings for each route there too, though I may have missed a couple here and there.

Liam — key word: “tomorrow”

the themes in the story really add to the story’s poignancy, and I think it was interesting how they chose to make Liam an actor — as that part of his character played a significant role in the story and its themes.

I don’t have a very high sexy rating here relatively, and that’s not to say there aren’t sexy parts, but I think the presence of it feels a bit dampened by the fact I either didn’t purchase premium stories so it felt like the sexual scenes happened off screen in my personal experience or just that the story was overall so heavy with Liam’s mental struggles. Also, Liam was my first route, so I didn’t really have any other rating to compare it to. So I figured it was good to start somewhere in the middle and go on from there. Overall, I felt it was more romantic than sexy (especially if you look at, well… Alfons). To me, it’s not a bad thing! I’m just as alright with a story not having any sexual scenes as I am with one containing them.

honestly Liam’s route is probably the closest I’ll get to romancing Kate — because I related so much to Liam, he hit a bit too close to home sometimes lmao

Harrison — key phrase: “that doesn’t sound half bad.”

overall, I feel his story was solid. If you were to ask me between Liam and Harrison, whose route I enjoyed more, I would probably say Harrison. I enjoyed Liam as well for what it was, but I feel Harrison’s route is just more… fun.

to be completely honest he was really frustrating in the first few chapters. And the way the first sort of conflict ended between Kate and Harry still left me a bit frustrated. Even now, I sometimes wish it ended a bit differently, but I can understand as the story went on that Harry always had kind intentions toward Kate. He always had — since the beginning.

his romance definitely felt more subtle (and I loved that), since even if he has feelings for you, he always masks it with a half truth or a lie. And boy, is he good at lying ���👌 at first they were really frustrating, but later there were a couple lies that are kinda funny that I can’t help but love him for his funny (and sweet) lies. Interpreting his half truth half lie words is like translating from another language lmao

reading Harrison’s route felt like reading a mystery and adventure novel at once. And I think if you want like to get a good taste of everyone else’s dynamics (without overshadowing Kate and Harry’s) in action and outside of it, it’s best to read Harry as opposed to Liam, in my opinion.

if you have any thoughts and opinions about the two, I’d love to hear!

[moeblob]

Look, there's so much that I love about certain otome but I really don't finish every route every time ?? But 7'scarlet, Steam Prison, and Norn9 all got completed! So they get the rec spots!

Honorable mentions: Nightshade (ninja otome, same artist as Norn9 thus I love it even if I haven't completed every route - Switch) Period Cube (I also fully complete it and the art is very nice imo and I enjoyed it a lot but it has really bad reviews from like. everywhere I see. but here's my shill of appreciation anyway - PS Vita) Sweet Fuse (it's just really fun to yell at men for being sexist - PSP)

But genuinely, there's a lot out there! Do the research on the game before you buy them! Not all otome are for everyone.

[nica-my-beloved]

Gilbert von Obsidian, the main reason why I started playing Ikemen Prince. The main reason I started playing Ikemen games at all. Your route was so much fun, I can't explain.

Gilbert's route is not a route. It's basically a chessboard that we watch Gilbert play from both sides. Yes, it's a one-sided chess game and it's fun to watch. Really fun to watch! I was getting so hooked-up with the story and ended up falling in love with it.

👇👇👇Spoilers 👇👇👇

I think the fun part of Gilbert's route is uncovering his secrets slowly. For example, What is he hiding? Why did he change into....a beast? How does he know so much about Emma? What is his main goal here? All these questions get's answered in a well-crafted way in his story.

Gilbert is one of those characters who on the outside has all the characteristics as a villain but in reality he's a pure-hearted man who sacrificing everything for the better future of his country. Everyone just judges Gilbert based on rumors and what the previous Emperor of Obsidian did (I'm talking about the Bloodstained Rose Day). They all call him names like the 'Conqueror of Beasts' and 'Worldwide disaster' just because he's from Obsidian, a country known for corruption. But once you actually find out Gilbert's ambitions and what he's doing for his country, I just think he's a pretty cool guy. He's an anti-villain disguised as a villain.

His ambition to make sure everyone is being treated equally whether its royalty or a commoner and everyone should be punished for the crimes that they have committed and no one could gain favorable advantages because of their status, is truly remarkable. On top of that, he's not all fighting and conquering every nations he sees. He also works hard to make sure his country is doing better for his people. I'm talking about their food supply and technology upgrades. It does hurts me that Gilbert is only known as a 'Worldwide disaster' around the other nations especially in Rhodolite, instead of getting praised for developing his country and helping his people. People really like to look at only the bad side of a person, don't you think?

Gilbert also in his own way is trying to eradicate as much corruption and decay from his country. Starting with killing his own father, the Emperor because if the Emperor ain't doing anything for his people, he should either step down as an Emperor and let someone else more competent take the throne or just die. Neither happened, so Gilbert killed him to eliminate that threat. Then his killed of any corrupted nobles and that's why Obsidian is called the Country of Soldiers, because everyone inside the palace is a soldier (Including the maids, I guess)

Also, maybe it's only me, but I prefer the design of the Obsidian palace over the Rhodolite one. The Rhodolite palace is prettier-looking, covered with roses from head to toe every where both inside and outside. The Obsidian palace on the outside looks like a Haunted Castle that might eat you up, but in the inside, the ambience suites me perfectly. I don't really like too much light pouring inside my room.

Another thing I like about Obsidian palace is how Gilbert made sure everyone inside the palace who works for him is talented in their field of job. He recognizes talent over any kind of nepotism or status. Although Gilbert's ambition is to make sure that all people are to be treated equally, he's still feared by many ministers in the parliament. I think that's a good thing because it's good to be feared and having people do what you're asking for instead of letting them trample over you. Gilbert used to be like Emma, where he loved everyone and was kind to everyone. But since humans are the worst kinds of beasts, they will surely trample on kindness of people like Emma or former Gilbert. I'm not saying being kind is foolish but one should never let anyone trample over them for any reason. For example, we see Emma getting wrongfully bullied by some nobles just because she hangs out with Gilbert. Emma, for being a commoner gets bullied and other nobles or princes who talks with Gilbert, never. What frustrates me even more is that Emma just never stand up to her bullies and always let them have their way. I don't see any of the Rhodolite princes help her (except for one time when Yves caught that one noblewoman). When Gilbert clearly asks her, she calls him a beast and doesn't tell him. Honestly, I felt like Gilbert was the only one protecting her at that point, Emma was just being clouded by rumors about Gilbert where he's treated as the Voldemort of this world. He who-should-not-be-named!

I'm happy that later she does realize that she shouldn't be blinded by these rumors and must look at Gilbert objectively. Looking him as a human rather than a beast, but it's good thing that she admits her mistake. For her, she was like "I can fix him. I will bring him to my world which is filled with kindness and warmth and I can fix him and turn him into a human." and what does Gilbert do? He enters her world and paints it all black. Great job👍

Speaking of Emma, I love that Gilbert keeps giving her a reality check. Emma's whole ideals about fixing problems by talking things through is not a bad thing, but it's not effective in the current situation because of the tragedy known as the Bloodstained Rose Day. She never knew how much of tragedy that was and it was also partly the Rhodolite Princes' fault too. All this time, she was living in her own dream world like a main character of novel, that she mentions time to time, who never changes herself no matter how much hell she is put through. I think Emma is character who likes to dream a lot and she lives in a fantasy world which is all rainbows and sunshine. Once she is chosen as Belle, everything she thought about 'royalty' and 'nobles' which she read from books proved to be false. She starts learning about the cruel place she lives in, that is the royal palace, how the princes are not just some good-looking rich men but also very smart and strong, how the royalty can get a away with many things because of their status and even how much of piece of shit the previous Rhodolite emperor was. She learns these things and clearly realizes that despite living in Rhodolite for her entire life, she never actually knew everything about her country.

After being send as a hostage in Obsidian, it is only then she gets to see how truly developing Obsidian is, maybe even more than Rhodolite. People are all treating her well. The country wasn't like what she was expecting. To me it looked like she was having much better time in Obsidian than in Rhodolite, because at least there are no childish nobles that bully her just because they can.

Now coming to the meat of the story, Gilbert's illness. I was kinda surprised but also rolled my eyes at first when I heard that Gilbert had some kind of illness and he's going to die soon. I have seen this trope in other movies and dramas and it's usually a last minute thing that the story writers pulls it out of their ass to bait the viewers into keep investing in their characters. I always like to believe that they use these 'I'm dying from cancer' trope when they have no idea left. So when I saw Gilbert coughing blood I was praying so hard that the writers don't disappoint me. But thankfully it was not like that. I really did feel sad when I was reading the ending chapters. I admit that I was crying like a baby because Gilbert is just too sweet that I want to shower him with kisses. Every time. ALL THE TIME!

I think all in all Gilbert's route is really well written that I enjoyed most of it but it's not perfect. The issue is not that concerning, but I really wish they didn't emphasize it too much. I don't like cringy dialogues! Dialogues that make me physically cringy to the point that I roll my eyes. Dialogues like:

"What can I do to make you turn into a human?"

"If you shut down your feelings, you will eventually become a beast like me."

And my least favorite "He's the Conqueror of the Beast, the worldwide disaster...."

Emma just really loves that line to the point that she uses it every time Gilbert does something normal.

Sees Gilbert reading a book.

Emma: *gasps* "The Conqueror of the Beast, the worldwide disaster is reading a book!?!?!?"*shocked 101*

Sees Gilbert eating cookies.

Emma: *gasps* "The Conqueror of the Beast, the worldwide disaster eats cookies and not children!?!?!?"*shocked 102*

Yeah, and it's not just Emma, but some of the princes' and ministers except for Chevalier and Luke, who treats him like a normal human being. Maybe they have a past together. Probably the other other kid at the start of chapter 1 is Chevalier. They must be childhood friends. Luke and Gilbert also seems to know each other well, Luke was the only person that proudly claimed that Emma is doing very well in Obsidian so it seems like Luke must have been to Obsidian before.

Another thing. See the general rule of story-telling is 'Show than tell'. I want the writers to 'show' me how much of a pure-hearted character Emma is rather than the princes keep 'telling' the audience that Emma is kind and pure-hearted. If Emma is kind-hearted, I want them to show me her kindness in any way possible. For example, when they went to the orphanage, they could've have shown Emma mingling with the kids and helping them with whatever they need or maybe something like Emma doing a research about the Bloodstained Rose Day (actually she does, she goes around asking the princes but no one told her that the princes' were also at fault) learning both sides of the story. Show me things that would make me like her personality even more. Show me instances where she's actually a kind-hearted soul. If you don't show me, all I'm left with is a girl who forces her ideals onto others without thinking how much it's hurting the other person. I don't think Emma is terrible but I wish they could add more scenes for her where she truly gets to show her potential as a kind-hearted Belle.

Gilbert's route is a very neat political drama with a little bit of romance infused into it. Like I mentioned beforehand, the whole story is a chess game and Gilbert is the only one winning.

Both Gilbert and Emma's ideals are different. Gilbert, now, thinks that violence is the only means to get justice and Emma thinks talking is the only means to get justice. I don't think both are wrong. In cases like the Bloodstained Rose Day, the family of the victims needed justice because the royalty was not punished for their actions. That's why the anti-monarchy faction was developed. If Gilbert's ideals are followed, there would be Bloodstained Rose Day 2.0. If we go by Emma's ideals, it would be hard to get them to talk things through because of the gravity of the situation. It would still lead to the Bloodstained Rose Day 2.0. It was a straight up slaughter. It's a very complicated situation.

Anyways, I think Gilbert's route is truly amazing. A perfect 9.5/10. (I'm taking 0.5 points because of the cringy lines. NEVER COME SEE ME AGAIN!!)

[tigermousse]

Particles of reality: Obsession

genre: dark, yandere, otome, crime, supernatural, NSFW

Not all stories have happy endings…especially this one.

I have a feeling this visual novel has done some permanent damage to my mental health, but I'm not regretting reading it.

!Please note: This game is for mature audience only!

Particles of reality: obsession is dealing with very dark themes including gore, extreme violence, torture, sexual and mental abuse. It has graphic depiction of consensual and un-consensual sex (including sex between minors and sex between siblings). List of triggers for each path is enormous and it was pretty hard to read through some paths. There are options to hide some content, but even with "lower violence" filter it was gruesome enough. Like Monika, I hate the violence, but I was too interested in characters to skip everything.

Monica is studying medicine in college and working at the cafe Luna to pay her bills. She has two close friends and a bunch of phobias, since she is a traumatized young woman with a troubled past. Monika hoped to separate from her family by enrolling to a college. But now she's stuck on a dead-end job, feeling claustrophobic in a small crappy apartment, also failing her studies and doubting her choice to be a doctor.

This is the time when in her life appears a tall handsome man, who has a strange interest in her. But the story unraveled…

Particles of Reality is a macabre satire on dark romance, where relationship with violent people are romanticized, - and otome games, in which every character falls in love with a MC no matter how plain, or dull she is.

It is a splendid idea to show in visual novel that relationship with obsessive people can only cause you pain, but still overall it was a depressing experience for me. I can not recommend this game, but it has a highest rating from me, because it is unique and memorable. All the characters are either traumatized or just pleasurably insane.

You are warned from the beginning that there are no happy endings in this novel. In those few where main characters at least don't die, Monica is still can not be happy because she's feeling trapped.

It makes sense, because it shows that with the characters like these, who are obsessed (and sometimes possessed), there can be no happy ending. They're traumatized, violent and mentally unstable. It is said that in Obsession the characters are the worst possible versions of themselves.

After a while it is getting too frustrating that no matter what you do the game finds its way to punish you. The characters are making very stupid mistakes and decisions - and you can do nothing about it but watch. Also sometimes the game is forcing you to read a lot of information that you already learn from other routes. I can see why it was hard to avoid, but still it was too much unnecessary reading.

The structure of visual novel is unique - it has additional unlockable content for each character that helps to look further in their past or shows their point of view on the story. At some points the story is breaking the forth wall.

Nice touch that choices that doesn't affect the ending, are clearly marked.

Still after reading everything including the secret character routes, the story still has more questions then answers - and feels incomplete. The secret route was more confusing then revealing.

CHARACTERS

MC Monika Viotto (name changeable, but I don't see why someone would like to relate to this MC more, so I left it as it is)

My diagnosis: Post-traumatic stress disorder + Dependent personality disorder

For me, Monika is a bit annoying. She's is your our typical otome MC - she is kind, shy, not very smart with average looks (though I think that she looks pretty cute). Because she was abused and neglected at home since childhood, Monika developed some phobias like nyctophobia and claustrophobia.

She says that she hates violence, but in each route she's attracted to violent people - probably that is the route of all the problems. In some paths she even shows a violent streak that she probably has (probably that is why she resents violence - because she knows she can have it in her too). Her family is mafia and though she wants to get away from them so bad, the violence in her household probably couldn't left her intact. However usually Monika is absolutely oblivious to everything happening around her. Sometimes she can stand for herself, but these moments of clarity happen usually too late.

Who she is now is a result of her traumatized past, but also we can see that she's really passive and co-dependent since young age. She can't decide for herself (and when she is, she's deciding badly), she's not trying to learn something new, she doesn't understand her feelings and is not good with people. She's not good with anything really. Though she doesn't lack empathy and sincerely grieving loss of those who are close to her.

Sometimes she can be funny and snappy, but not often. She is more self-assured and interesting in some "what if" scenarios and in some branches in Brandon's route.

Love interests (SPOILER ALERT)

Which one do you have in mind?

None of the characters are mentally healthy. Some are aware of this fact, the others aren't. There is almost no romance, except maybe for the Sebastian route (which is my least favorite). There are some sex scenes though.

Each route starts differently and has slight time difference, but except for the Brandon's route, the circumstances in these are very similar.

Sebastian Dallarosa

My diagnosis: Narcissistic personality disorder (?) Also typical yandere

Sebastian is tall, rich and handsome. Probably smart too. He's meeting MC on the street, saving her life from a car accident, and then taking care for her when she is getting sick. But something is not right about him. Or is it?

He's in love with MC since they were children. It was love at first sight, and now he believes that Monika is his soulmate - and he wants her no matter what.

Dallarosa is a mafia family too, like Viotto, but several years ago Sebastian and his twin brother refused to take over the family business - and it seems that Sebastian put all his effort to get Monika Viotto, because it is the only thing that he wanted - ever.

Sebastian is probably the favorite character of the developer, because his route is longest, plus he's appearing in every other route and in most branches. He has the most CG's. And I really hate him. Either because he's triggering something from my past, or because he is so sure of himself. He is the only one with almost no regrets or remorse. He thinks that his "love" justifies everything he's doing. I hate how he doesn't give Monika a chance to decide for herself, how much he's suffocating her, how he manipulates her. He doesn't care at all what she thinks, for he has her image in his head for a long time, and he doesn't care what Monika is like for real. He shows in all the routes, and in each one he's madly in love with Monika.

When you start the game, Sebastian's route is the first you have to finish at least once, and for some time his route is pretty romantic. He says nice things to MC, dotting around her, telling her what she would like to hear. But when things unravel, he shows his true violent and/or manipulative self.

The best part of Sebastian's route was Alexander. He seems much more sane (Maybe that is because he doesn't has his own route yet)

Julian Andrei

My diagnosis: Dissociative identity disorder

Julian is working with Monika in a Cafe Luna. He seems rude at first, but otherwise he is funny and always ready to help a damsel in distress. Except he has a strange habit of vanishing for several days once a month. What does he hides?

In Julian's route Monika has a crush on him when they first meet, and in other routes it is other way around. Julian in his route is the most different from himself in other routes, except Brandon's DLC. Because in most routes he is just a friend and co-worker of Monika, and doesn't show his violent streak, also he's pretty weak and can't stand himself against other characters. However we know from his route that he should be experienced in killing people, so it is strange that he's always trying to rescue MC unprepared. (I guess it is one of frustrating features which lead MC to unavoidable bad ends).

Julian is in constant conflict with himself - because he has a split personality, which seems to have a mind of its own.

As for the core personality, and not the worst version of himself, I like Julian very much. He is funny, honest and noble in his own way - and trying to do his best. I don't mind his complaining and self-consciousness.

Quinn Deidre

My diagnosis: Borderline personality disorder

Quinn is gender-fluid non-binary person. And also they are the most normal character. They are a ball of sunshine. Funny, active, kind, caring, creative. But they're trying too hard to get attention that they are forgetting what is good for themselves. Quinn definitely have BPD, and it is pretty accurate portrait of this disorder. Given their traumatic past, it is not strange that Quinn has it. Their family is fundamentally religious and they always felt that they don't belong at home. So they're looking hard for the place where they belong.

Meeting Monika as a roommate, Quinn is falling in love with her non-judgemental attitude. But of course, they can't stand to her other suitors. (Brandon strangely accepts Quinn)

Quinn is really sweet. His bad ends are pretty sad, because they mostly end with him hurting himself.

Brandon Viotto (free DLC)

My diagnosis: Antisocial personality disorder (Psychopath)

Due to the themes of incest and underage sex (also extreme violence, but Steam is OK with it), Brandon's route is not accessible in the base game and can be downloaded as a free DLC (optionaly, because for some people this route can be too fucked up.)

Brandon's route is a history route: it begins when Monika was five, and all events in all branches are happening earlier than the beginning of Sebastian's, Julian's or Quinn's routes. You don't need to read through this route to finish the game and open secret character, but it is giving better view of Monika's personality in other routes, also after reading it, I hated Sebastian a tiny bit less.

Brandon is Monika's older brother. He's just a year older than she, but since the early childhood they were raised differently. Brandon was the favorite child, Mama's golden boy, he was given best teachers and was combat training to become the head of the family (Don). And Monika was neglected, harshly punished for all tiny mistakes, given little to no education. Most of the time their parents didn't pay any attention to her at all. Luciana Viotto is a powerful, cunning and cruel woman, and Antonio Viotto seems totally indifferent to everything that is happening in his family, until it becomes too late.

Things doesn't add up here - while Monika as a mafia princess was prepared to arranged marriage if nothing else, she probably had at least attend different social events to meet important people, but she didn't. Otherwise she would be just a disgrace of a mafia family (which she obviously become, when she went to a college, living in a worst district of a town and working for a minimal wedge)

Since tender age Brandon was trained to be a merciless killer. And while his first kills brought him tears and nightmares, later he started to enjoy killing and torturing people. Now he is hungry for power and control. And the only one he cares about is his sister. Monika.

Since they were children, Brandon always tried to defend Monika from their abusive mother. They grew very close, because they always had to depend onto each other and didn't have anyone else. Monika needed Brandon because he always came to her rescue and Brandon need his sister, because she appeals to what left of human in him. She is still his moral compass after years of killings.

When he was about 15 year of age, Brandon felt that he his feeling for Monika is not completely brotherly.

After some time of his doubts and regrets, they've became lovers, when Monika was still 14 y.o. They both knew that incest is wrong, depending on the branch, they're having more or less doubts about it.

In most scenarios revealed that when Monika was 16, she attended school, where she has met a boy and started dating him. But Brandon was furious and beat the guy so bad that he couldn't recover. Monica hasn't talked to Brandon since then, until she decided to go to college where she begins all other routes.

Brandon is the one who sees the best in Monika

I do not justify the incest, I've never understood it either. But given all the circumstances in this novel I think in Particles of Reality, Brandon is still the best choice for Monika. Maybe I'm prejudiced, because despite of everything , I liked him too much since demo. He's the only one who will never hurt her willingly, she can trust him completely and he's the one who accepts and understands her as she is.

The thing I like about Brandon the most is that he is the only one whose personality doesn't change a bit in all the routes and branches. I'm afraid that is because he's the least favorite boy for the developer, but still he doesn't pretend. Also he's the only one who is changing through his route - for worse, but still.

He is extremely violent, and doesn't hide that he is enjoying killing people, but it seems that he can have his doubts and regrets about everything that concerning Monika. (Nevertheless he still thought and done disgusting things)

He is also very smart, with a dark sense of humor, but I always felt that Monika can depend on him. With him she is safe, but he can go too far to secure her.

I can't rate any of the characters, since they're shown as the worst versions of themselves. As for their "core personality", I like Sebastian the least, because I can't find any of his personality outside of his obsession. As for secret character, his purpose in this novel seems only for breaking forth wall, so it is hard to say something about him for now.

Overall:

Visual: 4/5

Story: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Romance: 2/5

Originality: 5/5

My Rating: 5/5

(I can't recommend it to anyone, since it is very dark and not for everyone, but also couldn't give it less than 5 stars, because I'm sure that this game has a powerful impact on every person who has read it)

You can get this visual novel by Arewar on Steam or on itch.io

[hwanghyunjinmakesmeuwu]

Soooo I've been delving into the world of otome games and well there are two I am currently OBSESSED with. So imma give y'all my opinion on both games and which of the main characters I like :)

Game 1, Love And Deepspace:

Lemme tell you, this game is captivating in the best way possible and all of the features are just amazing?? Like you can get so far in like 5 days and then you kinda have to grind and wait for the next day to level up and progress but once you get the hang of the game it's honestly so immersive. I can be on there for hours just messing around with the dating aspect of it. Like omgggg. As for my favourite boys, Y'all I am simping HARD for Sylus rn and I'm so sad I've already played through what's available for his main story. So like over all of the available boys to date etc, Sylus is my number one overall. As for the main story line of the main 3 boys, Zayne is absolutely taking my heart and running with it ngl. Like just look at these men.

Sylus:

Zayne:

Y'all have no idea how much I love both of them fhdjdjeh.

Game 2, Error 143:

YO WENT I TELL YOU THIS LIL INDIE GAME ON STEAM CAPTURED MY HEART ONLY HOURS AGO. Like I just downloaded it cause it looked kinda interesting but HOLY FUCK am I incredibly hooked now. Like just talking to Micah was so fun and like,,, it felt too real BC the way the MC's dialogue is, it's genuinely how I'd talk to people and how my attitude towards people are. Like the whole game is obviously older Gen Z coded from the way Micah talks to you and the slang used etc. It's genuinely so immersive and it's only like a couple of hours of gameplay if you're playing it for the first time but you can 100% speed run it in like 30 minutes. There are 3 endings, The Bad Ending, The Good Ending and The Secret Ending. I have gotten all 3 and I am waiting to grab the DLC and pay for the extra stuff the dev has put up on patreon. But like seriously, guys I am in love with Micah Yujin and I seriously hope the dev keeps updating this game and adding more content to it BC it's sooooo good!!

Genuinely the only gif I can find of him 😩 but he's such a cocky ass dorky guy and I love him with my whole heart.

Also go give the Dev of Error 143: @jennyvipham some love BC her game is genuinely amazing and it deserves so much more recognition and love ngl. She honestly deserves the world for bringing Micah into the world

[tarticawhat]

Nameless Route Review: Lance - Tsundere? Kuudere? Anyway, Lots of Feelings

This review is NOT SPOILER FREE. BEWARE OF SPOILERS. *SLAPS POST* SHE CAN HOLD SO MANY SPOILERS. Ok, I warned you. SPOILERS. Second on my Nameless journey is the silver-haired tsundere? kuudere? certainly something-dere, Lance. From the beginning, Lance comes across as very aloof, uptight, and nitpicky. He pretends he only chooses to do things for Eri and the others in service of practicality;…

[blerdyotome]

Looking for a spooky otome to play this October? Check out my review of the supernatural romance otome, 9 R.I.P.!

As always, likes, shares and comments on the video are always appreciated!

[redflagfan]

I played the “Shattered Souls” demo, and you should too! (Mini review)

TL;DR: I am so excited for the full release of this this fun dark fantasy isekai otome game!

Shattered Souls is an upcoming game by @eternallovestudios. They just launched their Kickstarter and you can check out their short demo (one to two hours) on Steam or on itch.io.

In the words of the studio...

Celeste finds herself fighting for her life after enduring a betrayal that no one should experience.

As she nears her final breath, she is whisked away to a different world: Remoire.

Things are not as they seem, though. She’s not a mortal. Her past is as vast as the ocean. Her soul is fractured and barely holding together from the traumas she’s faced and forgotten. She must heal herself or even the tiniest tragedy could shatter her. But she’s not the only one who is broken.

Join Celeste as she fights not only to save her own life, but to change the lives of those around her. 

Will you traverse worlds, realms, and even time itself? Will you test your fate? Will you try again?

I played the demo, and I can't wait for more!

In this game, you play as Celeste - a mortal (?) girl determined to seek revenge, but also tied to seven different men (the romanceable characters). These are:

Marris: Literally God

Lance: The Actual "White Knight"

Shiro: Tsundere Demon Hunter

Ezra: Warrior Priest

Aizen: The Emperor

Karver: Childhood Best Friend

Eternal: ???

Basically, in the demo, you get introduced to Celeste's world and meet all these men. While this demo was short, it left me wanting more!

Here's what I liked:

The voice acting!! I love that this is a fully voice acted demo. It added so much to the game. Marris had me honestly laughing out loud!

The soundtrack! The music in this demo was beautiful. I can't wait to hear more of it.

The atmosphere! There was some tonal whiplash just in this demo, and I thought the devs did a great job of having me laughing but just a few minutes later, creating a dark, creepy atmosphere.

The art! Beautiful backgrounds and character design, especially on our MC, Celeste. She was so pretty I found myself just staring at her sprite the whole time!

And of course...the men! Seven is an ambitious amount of LIs, but I appreciated that each of them came off as distinct and unique. Plus, as someone who is a sucker for tsunderes and the childhood best friend trope, I can already tell who I'm going to go for first hahaha.

Basically, this game immediately sucked me in. I really enjoyed the world the demo set up and it left me wanting more - especially because there were a lot of questions raised that don't have answers yet. It feels like a lot of work went into building this fantasy world and I want more!

The writing is really good too and some of the lines were kinda silly, but the VAs said them with their chest lmao so it was good. I really liked the story. I feel like isekai is everywhere these days but this seems like it'll be something different from the usual.

I really recommend checking out this demo, and if you can, supporting the Kickstarter! I already have lmao. Please do because one of the stretch goals is a NSFW DLC.........

[otomegamereview]

Test

[collegecraze]

The sense of humor you guys have really is top tier, 10/10

[anigrams-productions]

My first game, "Memoirs of an Angel", is finally coming to Steam on July 30, 2024. How exciting!

To celebrate, I'm going to be live-streaming playthroughs of each of the four main routes of the game on my Twitch channel throughout the month of July, so keep an eye out for more information about that.

Can't wait for the end of July? The new game version, v1.3, has already been posted to itch.io.