Tragic or Happy Ends in Otome—Which Team Are You On?

[sophiamolin]

I've been playing visual novels for over fifteen years, and my taste hasn't budged an inch—only a good tragedy really guts me. Comedies can make me grin, sure, but a tight, twisty sad end that feels both "whoa, didn't see that coming" and "yep, that HAD to happen" is the stuff I live for. What about you guys—have you stayed loyal to one vibe, or did your heart switch teams as the birthdays piled up?

Using a translator here, so hope my feels still come through! (✿◡‿◡)

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

I'm into darker themes so tragedy for me! But I enjoy fluffier/happy endings as well, I will play both depending on my mood.
It has to be well written though. If a bad ending is only that way for shock value it detracts from the story.

 

[baybridge]

Happy ends all the way - if I'm compelled to fully complete the game, I'll do the bad endings too.
Shorter games makes it easier for me to explore darker themes. (Perhaps I take too long to finish a single route? )

 

[Eril $akurai]

I love happy endings but I also love bad ends that make me cry my eyes out.

 

[Artina]

I always love happy ending, even my bio say about it.

Happy ending that MC earns through struggle and hardships is like fruit of labor. I mean what's the point of playing a game that making people hope and then end up stressed over it? If it's bad ed then i still can accept it. Anything except true bad ending/no good ed is NG for me.

I'm still horrified at "Narcissu" i think that was my first experience playing tragedy vn 15 years ago. Don't want to exaggerated but i'm stressed over it for 2 months. Even Saru Yume a short freeware otome vn that i stumble last year is haunting me until now because of the "ending".

If you like tragedy tear jerker story i guess you can check "utsuge" tag on vndb if you want.

 

[blackflag]

Virche is one of my favorite games and, well, thats not the happiest of things.

 

[ishibashi]

I love it when people get absolutely put through the wringer but came out happy in the end after much trials, tribulations and tragedy. If they pull this off then this is my fav.

But given a straightforward happy end and a straightforward tragic end, I'll take a tragic end any time.

 

[Scarlette]

As someone who doesn't have a particular taste in otome games, I'm usually open to any ending, whether happy or tragic. I think it's more appropriate to choose which team I end up on, depending on my mood while playing.

 

[ninnikuryona]

i think some stories/routes only make sense if their ending is a tragic one. i love my happy stories, i love reading about sweet love, and i know tragic stories WILL make me cry very hard (and im an insanely easy crier!), but sometimes your heart is in a dire need of some massive trauma inflicted by an anime character w. hatoful boyfriend and dangerous fellows executed it pretty well in my humblest opinion!

despite that, i usually do bad endings first, then go for happiest endings (if there are any). and if i forget to do a bad ending.. well, im afraid that means im never getting it.....;;;

 

[myfrral]

I like a good ending because for me, having a happy and fulfilling ending is very satisfying, and my mood will also be good. If I play with a sad ending, my mood is very bad and I always feel like something is missing. So when playing games, I like happy endings!

 

[AkinaSR27]

I love both! After everything the characters going through seeing them get a happy or a sweeter side of bittersweet endings will make me burst into tears. Yet when it all ends with the characters not finding any happiness that will also make me cry a lot and ponders the story for long.

 

[sophiamolin]

I'm into darker themes so tragedy for me! But I enjoy fluffier/happy endings as well, I will play both depending on my mood.
It has to be well written though. If a bad ending is only that way for shock value it detracts from the story.

If you're into dark themes, I recently played a BL game called Paradise that was absolutely amazing—I looked it up and there's an English version, so I highly recommend giving it a try!
The story is built on solid, logical foundations, which is especially crucial for a bad ending. To make that darkness and sorrow really sink in, the writer's skill is everything.

 

[sophiamolin]

I always love happy ending, even my bio say about it.

Happy ending that MC earns through struggle and hardships is like fruit of labor. I mean what's the point of playing a game that making people hope and then end up stressed over it? If it's bad ed then i still can accept it. Anything except true bad ending/no good ed is NG for me.

I'm still horrified at "Narcissu" i think that was my first experience playing tragedy vn 15 years ago. Don't want to exaggerated but i'm stressed over it for 2 months. Even Saru Yume a short freeware otome vn that i stumble last year is haunting me until now because of the "ending".

If you like tragedy tear jerker story i guess you can check "utsuge" tag on vndb if you want.

There's an old saying in my country: 【天地无情，以万物为刍狗】.
It means that Heaven and Earth have no benevolent heart; they treat the myriad things as straw dogs used in sacrifice—allowed to live and die according to their own nature.
A truly haunting bad ending works for me like a mirror: through a narrow window I watch someone else's life unfold. As a by-stander I witness the hero's steps and choices, and see what final fate those choices bring. In my mind this is a kind of 【因果】—cause and effect. I forget I'm reading a script and treat the protagonist as a real person; the tragedy lets me behold their life.
That's my small, personal take on an "irredeemable yet brilliant tragic ending."
I know it's a minority view—most players chase happiness and closure.
By the way, narcissu is a game I finished more than ten years ago, and I've followed the writer 【片岡とも】 ever since. Sadly, none of his later works have surpassed it for me.
Thanks for the tip about the tags "Saru Yume" and "utsuge"—exactly what I needed! I'm off to search for them right now!

 

[Arisara]

I love happy endings and rarely play bad endings. I don't want cry T.T And like Dante-Orlock i don't want be dissapointed in my fav character again...So i prefer avoid it.

 

[sophiamolin]

i think some stories/routes only make sense if their ending is a tragic one. i love my happy stories, i love reading about sweet love, and i know tragic stories WILL make me cry very hard (and im an insanely easy crier!), but sometimes your heart is in a dire need of some massive trauma inflicted by an anime character w. hatoful boyfriend and dangerous fellows executed it pretty well in my humblest opinion!

despite that, i usually do bad endings first, then go for happiest endings (if there are any). and if i forget to do a bad ending.. well, im afraid that means im never getting it.....;;;

I totally get it—letting the protagonist carry the pain for you is the lightest way to bear it! Using a game to let those feelings out is such a good method, and I always aim for the tragic endings first, too. Thanks for recommending those two titles; I'll look them up and give them a try when I get the chance.ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉﾞ

 

[nanacho]

I enjoy happy endings, but somehow tragic romances and sad conclusions stay with me longer.

 

[Artina]

There's an old saying in my country: 【天地无情，以万物为刍狗】.
It means that Heaven and Earth have no benevolent heart; they treat the myriad things as straw dogs used in sacrifice—allowed to live and die according to their own nature.
A truly haunting bad ending works for me like a mirror: through a narrow window I watch someone else's life unfold. As a by-stander I witness the hero's steps and choices, and see what final fate those choices bring. In my mind this is a kind of 【因果】—cause and effect. I forget I'm reading a script and treat the protagonist as a real person; the tragedy lets me behold their life.
That's my small, personal take on an "irredeemable yet brilliant tragic ending."
I know it's a minority view—most players chase happiness and closure.
By the way, narcissu is a game I finished more than ten years ago, and I've followed the writer 【片岡とも】 ever since. Sadly, none of his later works have surpassed it for me.
Thanks for the tip about the tags "Saru Yume" and "utsuge"—exactly what I needed! I'm off to search for them right now!

it's an interesting aspect of view. People's journey in life has different ending through their life some is ended sad some is ended happy but in the end we can learn about something through it. So i get it playing/reading through some tragic story sometimes led you understanding more about "the value of life" and hardship.

saru no yume is a game title anyway! and here utsuge tag on vndb. also try eden*, dekinai watashi ga kurikaesu and inochi no spare if you don't mind male protagonist visual novel too. I don't know much about otome game that has a sad ending but maybe club suicide is right into your alley even though there's one happy ending.

 

[Yuki3548]

I prefer happy endings and light, sweet stories. Because I think real life is already tough enough, and I don't want to suffer even more in games. However, tragedies are indeed more shocking and unforgettable. On the other hand, lighthearted stories can easily become boring and tedious, making people drowsy. There are quite a few games of this kind that I just abandon halfway through and have no desire to pick up again.By the way, 《Cupid Parasite》is by far my favorite game of this genre that I've ever played. It's light, funny, and never boring,exactly what I need!
Additionally, I also love the kind of endings where the male or female protagonist turns dark for certain reasons, slaughters the villains or wipes out the entire country leaving only the two of them, and then imprisons the other. It's just so satisfying to watch (x).

 

[Marrychan]

I love happy endings, but I also find the bad endings very interesting. In one of my favorite games, Scared Rider X-Men, all the characters have two types of endings, and I love their bad endings; the world gets screwed over in the process, but I still enjoy them. But who doesn't want a little sweetness in life?

 

[keladi_pastel]

Most of my 10/10 voted games on VNDB have tragic/bad/merry bad endings. I tend to gravitate towards games that are pain™ but I do appreciate if these kind of games offer happy endings too, they can be cathartic after all the hardships the MC went through.

 

[bettyK]

I will always support the ending which tells a completed and good story, no matter it is a happy end or tragic end.

 

[qixianxiaomiao]

I prefer happy endings, especially in games with a dark theme.
I have been playing Danzai no Maria - The Exorcism of Maria recently. The original version did not have a good ending, but the remastered version added imperfect happy endings for all characters, which makes me wonder if there is a more sad future behind this happy ending.

I also used translation, hoping that my meaning can be expressed accurately.

 

[Litth]

Although I'm a fan of dark stories, I'd prefer a HE than a SE. I like the gloomy atmosphere, but I don't like it being a sad story about two characters.

 

[hana@124]

actually, I am into dark stories, but have HE endings

 

[sophiamolin]

it's an interesting aspect of view. People's journey in life has different ending through their life some is ended sad some is ended happy but in the end we can learn about something through it. So i get it playing/reading through some tragic story sometimes led you understanding more about "the value of life" and hardship.

saru no yume is a game title anyway! and here utsuge tag on vndb. also try eden*, dekinai watashi ga kurikaesu and inochi no spare if you don't mind male protagonist visual novel too. I don't know much about otome game that has a sad ending but maybe club suicide is right into your alley even though there's one happy ending.

Exactly! Visual novels let me step into countless lives, fictional though they are, and come away with real insight.
I actually started with galge—back then there was no Steam, and the only Chinese-language teams around were fan-translating gals. As a girl, it was almost impossible to find localized otome or BL titles. Fast-forward a dozen years and getting hold of otome games is a breeze! eden is legendary in my circle, and inochi no spare already has a Chinese patch, so I'll definitely give it a spin. As for Club Suicide, it's been sitting on my hard drive for ages <(▰˘◡˘▰)>—I'm aiming to clear it this year.
Thanks a ton for the recs!

I prefer happy endings and light, sweet stories. Because I think real life is already tough enough, and I don't want to suffer even more in games. However, tragedies are indeed more shocking and unforgettable. On the other hand, lighthearted stories can easily become boring and tedious, making people drowsy. There are quite a few games of this kind that I just abandon halfway through and have no desire to pick up again.By the way, 《Cupid Parasite》is by far my favorite game of this genre that I've ever played. It's light, funny, and never boring,exactly what I need!
Additionally, I also love the kind of endings where the male or female protagonist turns dark for certain reasons, slaughters the villains or wipes out the entire country leaving only the two of them, and then imprisons the other. It's just so satisfying to watch (x).

I find it amazing that no matter where we come from or what language we speak, we all think so alike! When the same topic came up on my native-language forum, tons of girls shared the exact same tastes ٩(๑>◡<๑)۶ —including the love for "protagonist-goes-dark" and "confinement-play" endings.
Since you enjoyed Cupid Parasite, keep an eye on 吉村りりか Ririka Yoshimura's other scripts. My own rule of thumb is: if a game's vibe clicks perfectly with me, the writer's style is probably exactly what I need. Following the lead writer saves a lot of trial-and-error and keeps my playlist stocked with games that fit my taste.