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What pulls you first when getting into an otome game/BL?

the art style and voice actors, if it features a voice actor I really like, nothing else matters.
 
kotohabaki said:
That's how I feel about Rejet and Adelta's games lol A lot of their visuals are really appealing to me!
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Adelta games always catch my attention but can you believe I find the gameplay slow? Since there's almost no choices it's like a book, and although I love books for a game itself I take soooo much time to finish it. I'm literally playing Hashihime again because I stopped mid Mina's route 2 years ago and forgot the plot so I'm back at the start. Love the visuals but the story is so confusing at first. I heard UuultraC is even slower at first
 
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For me it's the artstyle and the seiyuus. Even if the story seems "uninteresting" I'll play it if the first two appeal to me. Sometimes I'm also surprised as the story turns out to be fun despite the synopsis.
 
To me, It has to be the art style and character design, If anything appeals to me, I'll still play it. I recently got Homura: The Crimson Warriors because I really love Hakuoki, it felt like I was brought to the past.
 
I typically like when there is a variety of options and want to explore each path through the dating sim type of games.
I am also really drawn to if I see a himbo like character it will most likely make me interested, or someone tall and silent/nice type.
 
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Visuals are the immediate hook°if the character designs don't hit that "elite" tier right away, it's a hard pass. But honestly, the real deal-breaker is the MC. I need a protagonist with actual agency, someone who isn't just a cardboard cutout for the LIs to talk at. If she has a sharp design and a personality that actually impacts the story, I'm sold ~

Beyond that, I usually look for a specific atmosphere. A high-stakes setting or a plot with some psychological depth always beats a generic slice-of-life. If the production value is there and the lead is solid, I'm in.
 
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I used to play whatever games there are as long as their cover and theme are a little interesting.
Now I'm too busy and became really picky since I have little time to play, so I search the whole internet for recommended game list and just pick a few from the top ones to save time lol. Those games are generally good most of the time.
 
Story and art style for sure! Its not that I have art styles I dislike, I just want it to match the setting of the story. An example would be Virche Evermore -ErroR: Salvation-. Yomi's art had this beautifully drawn dark quality fitting for the world of virche evermore, that I had to play it right away~ (And it did not disappoint)
 
koko36 said:
But honestly, the real deal-breaker is the MC. I need a protagonist with actual agency, someone who isn't just a cardboard cutout for the LIs to talk at. If she has a sharp design and a personality that actually impacts the story, I'm sold ~
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MCs with unignorable personalities are quite nice aren't theyyy i like trying to understand them ✮⋆˙ even better if they look cute too

Elloren said:
I am also really drawn to if I see a himbo like character it will most likely make me interested, or someone tall and silent/nice type.
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himbos catch my eye too lol i really love the ones with the more fun personalities, i love it when they do dumb stuff. do more lol. i feel like they are easier for the mc to get along too since they are more friendly
 
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Surefire way to hook me:
  1. Great art (usually sprite-wise, but stylistically appealing is a plus too). Take BUSTAFELLOWS' vibe, it came across as grainy, detective-esque, and unique in the otome catalogue. The UI was so sleek and aligned with the theme; It reminded me of an unlocalized JP mystery visual novel I used to watch on YouTube. I hate being so abstract, but I hope I got the point through!
  2. Possibility of a good ending. If something is marketed as 99% tragic or ultimately bittersweet, I can't commit to it. Angst is great, but I like my payoffs with smiles in the end!
  3. Not too technical worldbuilding wise. If there is too much information to absorb at the outset, it's hard to get past. I think Olympia Soiree did a good job of working in the details without overloading my brain.
 
The first thing that attracts me is the description; for me, it must have a good story or premise in order to attract me.
 
first is definitely art style and characters that one always stands out to me the most. after that seiyuus are the deciding factor. but sadly ive played one where it had everything except the story was lacking so i'd definitely factor that too
 
For me, it depends storyline and voice cast.But if the art style is very attractive,I'd like try without them.
 
I really enjoy otome games with rare genres for these type of games like mystery/murder mystery or horror
and ofc good artstyle
 
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the plot and characters are pretty big for me. my biggest thing is the plot. character designs and their like backstories/troupes are 2nd for me. if the love intrests dont interest me then i dont tend to get the game
 
Art style 100%, otherwise I won't be interested to play it, though if the premise of story itself is good enough to not care about the art style, then I don't mind give it a small try
 
What pulls me in is the artwork then the summary and then whether it's voiced and then the language. But what keeps me is the story.
 
The characters, story, and the writing style.
It it's good and fleshed out and doesn't bore me to death then I'll love the game, even if the art and music are generic.
Of course, good art and music will make a good written game a thousand times better.
But the writing will always be my top priority.
 
i feel like graphics are an obvious choice, because judging with your eyes is the easiest thing when choosing a visual novel to read, but also scenario writers! if i see a scenario writer for otome that used to work on bl titles in the past, im extremely hesitant to read the otome work in question!

for example, record noah has a writer who worked on bl titles, so im a little skeptical about it. on the brighter side, these bl works are from like 20 years ago! on the darker side, ブレマイ, which is very new, also has bl bait, so i cant just let go of that nagging feeling..^^;
same with nakayama satomi. even though she "never" wrote outright bl works, its more than enough for me to remember the massive mistake she made in virche to never trust her again. seeing that shes involved in a lot of future works though, i can only wait and see unfortunately..!

i guess it also ties with companies themselves. even though licobits' works look pretty okay from afar, i cant just forget what broccoli (who own licobits) did with utapri back in the day, so unless i see very thorough reviews on each and every game of theirs, ill probably never pick up their works.. just me being petty i guess...^^
 
I'd say the writing and MC, primarily. I've dropped a lot of games due to poor writing, broken translation, lack of dialog complexity, etc. But also if the MC sucks imo, I would often drop the game because forcing it just doesn't work.
 
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