so while i have not written much about them here, otome games are very much my passion, easily my favourite genre, eclipsing musou, survival horror and even jrpgs. it's my main area of interest and in this page i want to give a lesson in them, dispell many of the misconceptions about them, the various terms and subgenres, the main players in the scene and a bunch of starter reccomendations, anything you need to know will be here, so lets start with the misconceptions first.

#1: "but i'm not into men/am a man/am lesbian" : none of these things can mean that otome won't have value to you. in contrast to many galge, most otome games have very well defined protaganists with their own story arcs, while some are blank slates or self inserts, this is not the norm, you do not have to project onto her, you can enjoy as an observer, treating the game like a choose your own adventure josei manga if you'd like, and the romance isn't always the main draw, most of the major otome games are very well written and moreso story and character driven than it is romance driven, so even if men aren't your thing, you can just enjoy the fun writing or exciting storylines! there are even many men and lesbian women in the otome fandom, it is not uncommon. not only these but otome being targeted towards women is not a valid excuse to brush them off, many game series that you may not expect are targeted either primarily or in large part towards women, such as sengoku basara, final fantasy and yakuza and you if you're here you most likely enjoy at least one of those series.

#2 "but i hate high school romance!" in contrast to galge, most otome games are not set in highschool and most star adult men and women in a more adult setting, while some in highschool do exist like paradigm paradox or norn9, most feature adults in their 20's or 30's with careers, such as collar x malice, piofiore and cupid parasite, otome games can also be a lot more mature and darker than games in similar genres, very few are driven solley by light hearted humour.

#3 "but i'm not really into porn games" again, in contrast to many galge, otome is not pornographic in nature, while some like olympia soiree and fashioning little miss lonesome do have sex scenes, this is the exception and not the norm, otome is always driven less by fanservice and sex appeal and more by developing an emotional, more wholesome romance where the character being attractive is secondary to how they act ans treat the mc! you can be asexual and still get full enjoyment out of almost every otome game!.

#4 "otome games are expensive!" while most good otome are premium experiances and have that price tag, you are getting a lot of content, and on top of that many go on sale quite frequently, games like amnesia: memories and 7scarlet can be gotten for under $10 and some games like mystic messenger are free for the most part.

#5 "is X game an otome" while this varies, an otome game is very simple to define, it's an interactive romance game with a fem MC and mostly men as your romance options, of course it can vary in that, maybe it has a fem protaganist as an option (though it must be the primary option) and can even have women as romance options! so if it fits those, it may be an otome or even otome adjacent in the case of games such as fire emblem!

#6 "but i don't like girly media" again, otome isn't inherently super girly, while some like loverpretend wears its love for romantic Jdramas on its sleeve and has an unapologetically pastel aesthetic and cupid parasite is very open about its romcom inspirations, many go for far different approaches, from the angel beats inspired bad apple wars, to the .hack inspired period cube. even the settings have a lot of variety, collar x malice with its noir crime ridden shibuya, its main inspirations being japanese crime movies and anime like psycho-pass, to code;realize's steampunk london and literary fiction love interests and some games even take inspiration from real history like hakuoki's love letter to shinsengumi era japan.

#7 "who even buys otome games/are otome games even popular?" otome games do sell well, yes. while they aren't likely to outsell the newest final fantasy or call of duty, otome games regularly appear on the top 10 best selling games in japan on week of release and some consoles like the psp and vita very much have otome games to thank for the sales they did get. even in the west they are very likely to outsell many of the indie/AA games you're likely to play in a given year. just because you don't know any otome fans personally doesn't mean they aren't selling, it just says more about the company that you choose to keep rather than the state of the industry.

now i want to move onto some of the otome subgenres, there's a few catagories you'll want to know.

#1: angst: angst refers to a more dark, sometimes more mature otome, these will usually have darker settings, storylines, abusive/flawed/even murderous love interests with darker backstories, these can often have more triggering subject matters and really sad, dark endings, but there's always hope to be found in the finale to a given storyline. examples include piofiore, collar x malice and error: salvation.

#2: fluff: a fluff storyline is as it sounds, fluffy, funny and light hearted, most of these tend to be for slightly younger fans and very rarely have triggering subject matter, they can be sad and very emotional, but never dark, sometimes you just need a nice, casual time, you know? examples include loverpretend, variable barricade and cupid parasite.

#3: stat raiser: this reffers to an otome game with more mechanical depth in the form of managment mechanics, think princess maker for a non otoke example, you tend to raise dtats and unlock events, they can either be fluff or angst but they'll always have more gameplay than your average otome. examples include angelique and dandelion.

#4: otome rhythm: this refers to otome games with rhythm elements, think the likes of project diva or taiko no tatsujin, but with romance! examples include uta no prince sama, jack jeanne and princess debut.

#5 : joseimuke-otome: this reffers to a non-otome game with otome elements, maybe its a hack and slash with cute guys and romance, or an rpg with romance mechanics. examples include later fire emblem games, tailor tales, fabstyle and rune factory/harvest moon

#6 : joseimuke: joseimuke are not otome games, but they are an adjacent concept. a joseimuke is simply a game made primarily for a female audiance. these won't have routes and sometimes don't even have romance or romantic themes, and if they are it is not with the main character, many of these don't even have women as the main stars and will always be more gameplay focused. examples include sengoku basara, A3, obey me, hakuoki warriors of the shinsengumi and touken ranbu musou.

next we have systems and developers. i won't go over every otome developer as there are a ton, many are japan exclusive with no fantranslations and some, like quinrose and honeybee, are even defunct, i want to focus on developers with games localised or fan translated first and foremost. and i will also be focusing on modern systems, as most of the translated games will be on there.

#1: otomate: otomate are the big player in the scene, most of the big games officially localised come from them, they're an offshoot brand of idea factory focused exclusively on otome games, but not every game is developed by them in house, some like 7scarlet are made by toybox for example, but the brand is the focus. they do angst and fluff both with even a few joseimuke games thrown in for good measure, they even had a gameplay focued devision for a time. their big hitters include the amnesia series, hakuoki, collar x malice, code realize, cupid parasite, error;salvation and variable barricade

#2 : rejet: rejet have never officially published a game in the west due to the contravercy of their games, but they remain arguably the second biggest of the developers in the western scene with their games being fantranslated through patches and tumblr posts. the games are always more on the angsty side with themes of abuse permiating throughout, some games of theirs like diabolik lovers and bad medicine have been affectionately called "abusive boyfrend sims" and if you can't handle things like that, i would advise to stay away, still, if that's your thing or you want the darkest the genre has to offer, rejet is your company. their main games include the diabolik lovers series, bad medicine, blackwolves saga and the #marginal4 series.

#3 cheritz: cheritz, unlike the other companies featured, are a korean developer. they primarily work on the PC space and mobile with their games being a little more gameplay focused than most as well as having some of the more cost friendly mobile games on the market, their games are a mix of fluff and angst primarily, it can vary based on games and routes. their heavy hitters are the likes of mystic messenger, dandelion and nameless as well as the generally disliked game, the ssum.

#4: voltage: depending on who you ask voltage are either a perfectly fine developer, or the worst in the genre. their games are often much less story and character driven, have more exploititive monitisation models, lesser writing and are all mobile/digital only with a ton of dlc, personally i'm not very familiar with them but i havent been super into the few games i have played, generally if it's voltage, avoid it as you can always do better.

#5: nippon columbia: a newer player to the scene with only 1 translated game, they developed 2021's bu$tafellows which was localised by pqube. their games are less focued on romance and more focused on story, but bu$tafellows was great anyway and hopefully we get another game from them soon in the form of bu$tafellows season 2, which just came out this year in japan.

#5: konami: konami have one major hitter under their belt, the tokimeki girls side series, odds are you know about tokimeki memorial so i won't go on about it, this is their otome side series, which has over time eclipsed the main series in popularity and had its newest game come out on nintendo switch last year, more gamepla focused but none have came out in the west officially, but the first 3 games have been fantranslated and are fully playable.

#6: ruby party: again, much like konami this is a developer who lives in the west primarily in the form of fantranslations, while fabstyle almost was localised by none other than nintendo, and touken ranbu musou was released last year, the only way to play many of their games in series like angelique, harukanaru and kin'iro no cordia is via fan translations and most are still untranslated, but as they are historically important i thought i would mention them. ruby party, on top of being the first all-female dev team, also made angelique, which is widely regarded as the first otome game, and while it shares very little with regards to structure with modern otome, which are mostly primarily influenced by the much more popular otomate-developed games is still a very important series with regards to the history of the genre.

of course there are many more like quinrose, hunx, honeybee and broccoli, these again live through fantranslations and are for people more into the genre, i wouldn't reccomend their stuff to beginners.


now onto systems, with otome you have 4 main options for modern games, you have the PS vita, the nintendo switch, PC and mobile. i won't cover mobile much as i assume most do not care and a lot of mobile otome games are just not very good. the primary area where most new otome come out is the switch, it has a good backlog of ports from the ps vita and psp as well as a ton of new and upcoming games, if you want a good stream of localised otome, go here. your second best option is the ps vita, while it does not have any new games coming out, it has many good localised games you cannot find on switch, it has fantranslations for games like diabolik lovers and even psp games with their own translations via backwards compatability. lastly you have PC, not very many new otome make it here, while some vita games like amnesia, psychadelica and 7scarlet have ports, as well as bustafellows and bad medicine, very few new big otome come out here, however it is the realm of indie OELVN (by english speakers, for english speakers) otome made in the west, many of these are found on the likes of itch and steam, though i am not familair with this area of otome.
lastly we have reccomendations, i'll go by genre and then by console with a few for each. i'll start it out simply with budget reccomendations, these games are usually under $20 and many can be found for free.


amnesia: memories: this game is my favourite game ever made, it has my favourite love interest (toma), is under $10, sometimes going down to $5 on sale. it has varied routes with no repeated content, every route is a new genre so it has something for everyone, horror with the big brother type toma, murder mystery with the bully tsundere shin, comedy with the autistic coded kent and romantic drama with the playboy ikki, you even have a tragedy in the form of the games hidden route, it's got polish and a ton of charm, my #1 reccomendaton for beginners as it is most peoples first otome. the main storyline follows a woman stricken with amnesia, made to figure out which timeline she belongs in after a run in with a spirit, you don't know whos telling the truth and who isnt and the game follows you tryig to figure out your life when you remember none of it.


mystic messenger: a phone game but it's free to start, you get 3 routes for free, the excitable gamerboy yoosung, flirtatious actor zen and the depressed buisnesswoman jaehee. for a dollar you get 2 extra routes, with the comedic relief hacker 707 and the series CEO jumin. there's even a alt universe dlc with routes for the mysterous V and one of the games villains, unknown. it uses the phone format well, with the whole game taking place in real time over the course of 10 days in a fictional chatroom, if you have to play one phone otome, make it this one. the story follows the MC as she stumbles into a chatroom with connections to an organisation renowned worldwide and a mysterious cult that wants info from them.


code; realize: this one is on a slightly higher price point vs the others but it is very cheap and accessable. it's on ps vita, ps4 and switch and on these you can get it physically for around $20 and on ps4 it comes bundled with its sequel, it was even free on PS plus for a time and regularly goes on sale on switch. it's a steampunk game based around literary icons like the gentleman thief arsene lupin, the quiet and kind victor frankenstein, the flirty and comedic relief impey barbicane, the mysterious and jovial st germain and the angry and protective abraham van helsing wtith the mc being a girl with skin made of poison as they try and track down her estranged father while the queen of england and her henchmen hunts them down, it's an adventure and very lighthearted, but it can get very dark in moments.


collar x malice: this one is a little more expensive but it is widely considered the peak of the genre, if you want what is considered the best, go here. it's on ps vita and switch and can be found for between $25 and thirty, it's a lot darker than the rest and has a very serious tone, if you can't handle themes like murder, brainwashing and terrorism, be weary here. the story takes place in a shibuya in lockdown, rocked by terrorist attacks from a group called adonis in their count down to an event called X day, your MC, a rookie officer is kidnapped and given a poison collar wherin she is made to join forces with a rogue detective agency to track down and figure out the secrets of the organisation. you have a lot of variety here, with the more light hearted bancho romance with mineo, the series and stern aiji, the insulting and even cruel at times hacker takeru, the wild card teasing trickster that loves cats shiraishi and the sleepy bodyguard kei, there's even a sequel where you can join adonis for a full expanded route, if you find them sympathetic enough.

next off we got by genre, some i'll skim here: collar x malice would be the main reccomendation for this however i would also reccomend


piofiore: fated memories: one of the darker non-rejet otome games, this is a mafia story and it goes as dark as you can expect for one of these, it has sex scenes, murder and even sexual assault in text form, but not shown, if you can't handle triggering topics do not play this game, most of the love interests are the worst kinds of men and the game is very violent, but if you can get passed this, you'll find my second favourite game in the genre, it's exciting, sexy and a wild ride from start to finish, your main love interests here are the triad trafficker yang, a man just as likely to kill you as he is kiss you, the bancho american mafioso gilbert, a man loved by his people and as cruel as he is kind. the possessive nicola, who's alliances you can never really be sure of. the emotionless dante, a very prototypical mafioso type, orlok, a cinnemon roll assassin/info dealer for the church and a secret route which i shouldn't spoil, it's a masterpiece and is available for the nintendo switch alongside its recently released sequel.


period cube: the main and best vita exclusive otome to be localised, this is a romantic take on the .hack//sign formula, with the heroine stuck in an MMO and the men she comes across, the game has a very basic jrpg style battle system and a far more dark storyline than you would imagine, it primarily takes place inside the game but you do get some irl sequences with the boys too. this game is also infamously dark when you would not expect it and i don't want to say anything about any of the guys as i find anything said would be spoiling the fun, it's best to go in here blind, but do beware this game goes some very dark places and has a prominant route that may or may not be incest. it's on vita only and can be kind of expensive, but there's ways to get it for less.


for the main fantranslation reccomendation i will reccomend diabolik lovers. this is, as mentioned an abusive boyfriend sim, but it is also easily one of the mpost popular games in the genre, spanning 7 games, audio dramas and 2 anime series, there's very little story here but you got 13 love interests of varying levels of abuse, no one here is fully nice and it has a lot of very dark, triggering subjects, this isn't one for everyone, it's not even for most people, but if you want romance at it's worst(best) it's a good place to go, i love them, personally, sometimes a toxic relationship is exactly what you want, you know?


error:salvation: an upcoming otome game for switch being localised in the fall. this is an outright horror otome, set in a world where everyone dies by the age of 23, the game has a fantastic art direction with very androgynous love interests and a storyline that from what i hear, REALLY goes places, it's my most excited game and a very good contender for what will be my GOTY, the main one to keep an eye on.


next up we got the fluff reccomendations and we'll start with variable barricade. this is a romantic comedy first and foremost with the setup being that the game's very strong willed ojousan MC being forced into an arranged marriage by her grandfather, but the twist is, the men aren't all rich bacholors, they're all human trainwrecks. mitsumori is a playboy who has been arrested for several accounts of marriage fraud, taiga is a serial gambling bancho, nayuta is basically just an excited puppy with the smarts to match and shion is a prettyboy househusband with no real talents beyond looking pretty, hijinx ensue, the game is hilarious, maybe the funniest game i've ever played and if you want an MC with comedic timing, this is your game to go to.


cupid parasite: this game has the best UI in an otome game, bar none and it's also a romcom, but less so than variable barricade. the game is very much a tribute to the golden age of hollywood from the POV of a japanese VN developer and it has style for days, it's just beautiful. the setup here is that your MC, who is the godess cupid, goes to the human world to prove to the other gods that she can revolutionise romance and in doing to she works for a dating app service. after getting a promotion she is given a big task, to get the parasite 5 married, a group of 5 men who the company deem as being undatable, you got the beauty obsessed ryuki who won't date anyone he deems ugly, which is everyone. gill lovecraft, who is still obsessed with his first love (who could that be). raul, a popular actor with a hyperfixation on folklore and nothing else, shelby, the CEO and your boss who has very little time for romance and lastly alan melville, who is exclusively interested in stealing other people's girlfriends, there's also a secret route but i won't spoil, the game is funny, charming and just overall a great time, maybe my favourite fluff game!


loverpretend: the newest game released in the west as of writing. this is a romcom where the MC is a writer drafted into working on a project where she believes her estranged father may be working on,but the twist is, she gets the lead role in it too! it's very based on the tv industry and it has a lot of love for japanese romantic dramas specifically, this one is a little more niche than the rest and maybe even a little more generic with its cast, who i won't say a ton about, you got a genki stylist best friend, a flirty model, the directors tsundere son and the main actor of the show. it's the cutest and most romantic of the three and if you want the most romantic of the fluff games, go here.


norn9: this game just came out on switch this week but it has ports dating all the way back to a japan only psp port and a localised vita port. the game uses a unique 3 protaganist structure with each having 3 love interests for her to pursue, this is a very unique and very welcome structure as it lets every set of characters feel unique and lets you end up with a much wider variety of characters and storylines! it also has a very cool sci-fi historical setting and a very cute pseudo-rpg mode!


lastly i'll throw out a few non-otome joseimuke recs if people want those too. touken ranbu musou is a koei musou spinoff based on the touken ranbu series, it's got cute guys being friends, murdering hundreds of enemies and hanging out, it's an easy game with a lot of polish. there's hakuoki warriors of the shinsengumi, a musou spinoff to hakuoki, for if you want the otome story, but with more gameplay, many early atelier games also fit the bill, some of which have romance mechanics and princess sim elements, the series even had an otome spinoff in the form of atelier elkrone, however from ryza onwards the series did seem to abandon its joseimuke roots, becoming a more generic male-targeted series. there is also sengoku basara, a game that was heavily influencial on the genre and a major AAA japanese action game that was made for women first and foremost, localised as devil kings for the ps2 and sengoku basara: samurai heroes for the ps3.