What do you think of western otome games?

[LuhgVekr]

I can totally play both as long as the art and the plot are to my taste. I don't really care whether a game is from a Western or Eastern developer it's definitely not my first consideration. However, I do feel like Western games are more realistic, whereas Japanese VNs tend to be a bit over-the-top sometimes.

 

[koko36]

They can be quiet fun ~

 

[Kyoko]

to be honest, im very skeptical towards them.. a good portion of western devs dont even know what an otome is, yet they apply the label to their obviously non-otome titles, and it makes searching very difficult!! im not a fan of amare, so if i have to comb through every single game page to see if its actually otome or not, i kinda,, lose interest outright D:

i do believe there are good examples of western otome, like cinderella phenomenon, but unfortunately im mostly unfamiliar with them.. and im kinda spoiled by japanese commercial/indie otome which often feature beautiful anime art and dark problematic (sometimes) plotlines.. vanilla fuwafuwa fully consensual stories are obviously great as well! but i do enjoy the darker stories a lot too. and i dont do well with non-anime artstyles, which, once again, western titles often seem to have..;;
(also, another problem i have with western devs is that they take a japanese-inspired genre and,, i dont know the word, "ironicize" it? basically treat japanese works as inferior while thinking they have "fixed" the genre. i have a big issue with "ironic" visual novels, because most of the time their devs seem to just despise the medium. and if you dont take the medium seriously, why should i take your work seriously?)

i do understand the appeal of western works though!! if you live in a non-japanese society, it might be hard to relate to japanese stories/characters, which is not a problem with western titles. and people do like to have realistic representation of their daily lives, so all the power to them!<3

I understand yes "western" otome is never going to have that iconic "Japanese " or more like "eastern" or "asian" feel to it. I'm myself is Asian and being Asian American there's always a struggle to bridge the "asian" traditions (more collective) to the more "western" traditions ( more individualistic). That being said I feel like Western otome sometimes have a more realism to it while most Japanese otome its really more like the fantasy stereotyping of what really is going to happen if the world only consist of those 3 or 4 characters lol. If that makes sense? Like some times i feel like japanese will spin a so far off way of connecting a certain character to the plot line that i kinda lost the plot? Like in un:birthday song i remember on of the character(Rikka) was the protagonist grandfather? i'm like what? How? ok......no idea lets roll with it for the plot.....i guess i still don't understand it in the end but kinda gave up on figuring it out lol. But in all i don't really care if its Western or Eastern i like both as long as the story and characters are well written and portrayed. Heck I'll live through the "ugly" "horrible" artwork for a good polt any day. Fancy artwork is nice to look at but it's lost if the story has no passion.

 

[censhu]

im in camp "idc as long as im entertained" but I also agree that I wish eng indie devs would stop mistagging things….like no, your gender neutral selectable protag is not an otome, pls stop trying to use the tag for exposure 🫩

 

[Kyoko]

im in camp "idc as long as im entertained" but I also agree that I wish eng indie devs would stop mistagging things….like no, your gender neutral selectable protag is not an otome, pls stop trying to use the tag for exposure 🫩

Hm....I don't know how to feel about that....i was confused at first when they started tagging it as "Neutral" i have to admit it took me a LONG time to understand what it met...kinda funny i know. In a way it give the reader more flexibility to be themself i guess. But at the same time at certain plot points i noticed the protagonist starts to be more masculine or feminine lol unless they go "kiss first" ( masculine) or "wait" (feminine) I'm like what if i want to kiss them first and not be masculine?!! lol But yes i know there times i got a game thinking its a female protagonist and its a male because it was labeled as "Otome". I had to do a double take thought i mis-read or brought the wrong game lol so now i had to sit there romancing girls. Which for some reason I found out it's easier to raise points for than the male counter parts. Now i know why they say girls are from Venus and guys from Mars........

 

[bokuranoOurs]

im in camp "idc as long as im entertained" but I also agree that I wish eng indie devs would stop mistagging things….like no, your gender neutral selectable protag is not an otome, pls stop trying to use the tag for exposure 🫩

So true, I just went through the Otome tag on itch yesterday and the amount of genderless blob mc were too high. There's even some flat out BL crap in the tag too. I wish they'd clean that stuff up.

 

[Licky]

I'm not picky so I like them! OELVN games have actually a lot of interesting staff, be it otome, bl or amare games.

 

[censhu]

So true, I just went through the Otome tag on itch yesterday and the amount of genderless blob mc were too high. There's even some flat out BL crap in the tag too. I wish they'd clean that stuff up.

like tags are there to help cater to specific relationship dynamics and so consumers can find what they want, stop muddying it up damn

 

[Sakuragawa]

I like a few. I think they're closer to Japanese indie games than commercial Japanese otome games. I like that most of them tend of be on the shorter side. The thing I don't like is that a lot of them are demos for game jams or for Kickstarter, and then are never finished.

Pacthesis games will always have a special place in my heart because they were my first introduction to otome games.

 

[lst]

Personally, like with Japanese otome games, I'm open to trying Western ones if the synopsis seems interesting and the art looks good. Voice acting is not necessary for me. However, I get the impression that Western games tend to be shorter.

 

[Fishish]

I dont mind western releases though ive come across less of them in the otome genre (ive seen / played more bl ones). I just cant listen to visual novels voiced in english for some reason, in every other game genre its fine! Ill play a dub of anything but for some reason the moment its romance i just can not listen to it seriously in english even if the voice actors do a fantastic job XD.

 

[m000000]

I've noticed Western otome games tend to include a lot of LGBT elements.
Personally I think Eastern otome games are more my vibe — especially since the art is so pretty.

 

[Leviathan_01]

I think Western otome games are very shallow in both plot and characters when compared to Eastern otome games. In fact, there are very few that I've actually played and enjoyed. Some that I think are good are My Candy Love and some games developed by Visuki like Magical Paws, Lovely Hero, and My Favorite Chocolate.

 

[shinichiel]

I've never played western otome games, guess because I only have romantic interets in Japanese voice acting. If it's only good story I feel I don't have to rely on other people or in English.

 

[xokanato]

I like some of them but most of these titles are not pure otome, I forgot the genre name... like 'I Was a Teenage Exocolonist' I enjoyed it a lot and appreciated it for variety of themes in western style, bcs it's rare to see space/sci-fi story in Japanese otome.

 

[fraizumin]

I think they are good. I usually play japanese otomes, while my friend plays western ones (mostly indie). I tried some, and found their story to be more direct when it comes to romance between characters. I still found some quite enjoyable. I also felt like western ones experiment more with characters appearances, unique traits and story themes than Japanese otomes.

 

[ozkun]

I don't mind at all, as long as the characters or the plot are compelling, I'll play it, whether it's a Western, Chinese, or Korean game, ect. I've actually come across quite a few gems that way.

I've bookmarked plenty of otome games from various countries and I just play whatever I'm in the mood for. Of course, Japanese games are still my top favorite, but Western titles have their own perks, like plots that are straight to the point without all the unnecessary dragging. Plus, while Japanese MCs can sometimes be frustratingly submissive, Western MCs tend to be more strong-willed and have more personality.

Personally, I think it's worth exploring otome games from different cultures because each has its own unique charm. The more variety, the better ^^

 

[lilycadence]

maybe it's because i started out with western otome/indie romance vns but i actually prefer it to japanese otomes, which i only started getting into recently. i think they both have their own charm. japanese vns do tend to have better voice acting and artstyle, but the humor and perspective of the western vns is more relatable to me. i also think the LIs in western ones are more unique and less stereotypical(?) in personality/appearance.

 

[Blind]

Look at individual games, such as Heart Cage

 

[Midnight_5]

I haven't read many Western novels, but what really puts me off is the lack of voice acting, the not-so-high-quality CG (they've started messing around with AI these days, which is definitely not a plus), and they're often incredibly short. I'd even say the length of a novel is crucial, otherwise you don't have time to understand or feel anything, and then it's all over, leaving you with no idea what happened.

 

[Mutamento]

Personally, I prefer Western otome games to Japanese otome games. Although the art style of some of these games isn't my cup of tea, the main characters are attractive enough to me. Also, the Western otome games I've played so far allow you to freely choose your own pronouns, which makes me feel very relaxed.

 

[ninnikuryona]

Also, the Western otome games I've played so far allow you to freely choose your own pronouns, which makes me feel very relaxed.

a small correction! games that allow you to choose your sex/pronouns are not "otome" but "amare", since otome requires a female mc:) i can see why its appealing to western audience though! but its better to use correct terminology^^

 

[Mutamento]

a small correction! games that allow you to choose your sex/pronouns are not "otome" but "amare", since otome requires a female mc:) i can see why its appealing to western audience though! but its better to use correct terminology^^

Oh, I see! I think I've been confusing them all along. Thanks for pointing it out!

 

[gigatan201]

Western otome games feel strong in reality, and Eastern otome games feel strong in fiction. Personally, I think I prefer the East because I prefer colorful fiction rather than rough reality in the virtual space provided by the game.

 

[woodypei]

Although I mostly play Japanese otome games, I have played a decent amount of western indie otome games and rly loved them!
I won't lie, the art style is a bit harder for me to get into, but the ones I've played have rly good writing and gave me different sensations I haven't gotten from Japanese otome games.
As a yandere lover, I've also played quite a bit of Yandere western indie otome games that are rly dark and fun!