Do you guys keep notes on your thoughts after playing otome games?

[Silviaclement]

（This text is machine-translated, so please excuse any awkward phrasing.）

I used to make notes of my thoughts whenever I played otome games. My reason was pretty simple: I'd always forget everything right after finishing a game, so I wanted to leave some kind of personal record behind.

I've tried many different ways of journaling. Sometimes I'd write a quick recap after beating the entire game, though I'd usually forget most details and only remember the most impactful moments. Other times, I'd jot down my feelings right after finishing a character's route, or even write notes as I went through longer story segments. I've also done real-time live commentary while playing. It's really interesting to look back and see how my impressions shift drastically from the start to the end of a game.

I kept this habit up for a while. Sometimes I'd end up writing thousands of words, mostly recapping the plot alongside my personal thoughts. But other times, it just felt exhausting. There were even instances where I'd put a game down entirely just because I didn't feel like writing my review.

Over time, this habit started to feel more like a burden. I'd find myself thinking: If I don't write anything down, I'll just forget I ever played this game at all.

Life has gotten busier lately. I still play games, but I rarely get the chance to document my thoughts like I used to, and honestly, it makes me a little nostalgic.

So I'm curious—what does everyone else think about keeping notes and reviews for otome games?

 

[ninnikuryona]

i usually make a small writeup in my vndb list, not just for otome but for vns in general! even though the 2000 symbols limit can be annoying at times, especially when compared to anilist's 6000 symbols lolol. sometimes, after finishing a game, i think i dont really have anything to say about it, but as soon as i start writing, it all comes back naturally! and it can be kinda fun to revisit these notes sometimes haha. and writing overall kinda helps you keep your thoughts and opinions about a game in check, making it easier to organize and see which vote you want to give to it
currently, my "finished" vndb list looks like this lmao;;;; but you know, as long as it helps!

 

[Leviathan_01]

I've been thinking about doing this for years, but every time I finish a route and open my notes on my phone, I end up giving up because I don't know exactly how to start. I don't know if I should write something more clinical and detailed or something much more personal and relaxed, lol, it's like when I'm about to write an essay.

 

[Leviathan_01]

and it can be kinda fun to revisit these notes sometimes haha. [COLOR=rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.87)] View attachment 97434[/COLOR]

I bet it must be like going back in time when you read your old notes lol

 

[ninnikuryona]

I bet it must be like going back in time when you read your old notes lol

pretty much!!!!! its always fun to see how much youve changed in your expressions and stuff^^ and sometimes it does indeed help relive the emotions you had when playing the game, so its a fun little activity overall! (even though most of my notes are actually just me livetweeting to my friend in dms......)

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

I usually have short annotations on my vndb (overall enjoyment, favorite route, minor gripes and stuff), but I also write longer notes either on my phone or computer! The longer notes are my thoughts on individual routes and what I liked or disliked about a specific game. I usually send those notes (with screenshots!) to my friends as well lol I think it helps me stay consistent ;) (since most of them don't play VNs, I even make slideshows to share my feelings about games sometimes... I'm kinda hardcore about it lmao)

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

(even though most of my notes are actually just me livetweeting to my friend in dms......)

I can relate to that lol most of my notes/reviews are not very sophisticated, just very long updates about the games to my friends (and I do push them to share their opinions about it haha). I have a hard time writing actual serious reviews, so going for the live updates helps me keeping up with this habit

 

[Elloren]

I typically don't keep notes because I like to experience things in the moment and if I don't take notes I can relive it again later on if I go through another play through of it.

 

[satory]

I sometimes do that to share thoughts with my friends after finishing the game, but these notes are usually one or two words:

tree (there was a funny episode in the woods, need to tell about it)
or best friend (mc's friend was a great character)

And after some time I forget what that supposed to be. Making real notes or small reviews seems like a good idea

 

[LapisWhale]

I wanna write some notes after games cause sometime I want to relive what it feels like to play that game =))) but honestly I usually forget after I'm finished the game, I never thought about doing it in real time, thats a good idea, I'm gonna try that :Dddd

 

[usagi-k]

similarly to what others mentioned i also write small silly final thoughts on my vndb usually to keep track of anything i either really liked or disliked ALOT to look back on and giggle :]

i also have a google doc where i write down my overall feelings on a game and rank the love interests ^^ i think its good practice since i actually have to sit and think about how i felt while playing and note down anything i found to be thought provoking plot point or something that i realized is surprisingly what i really like ! it also just acts as a good medium to vent about any complains and sometimes ive found myself revisiting what i wrote and realized that in the moment i was either too harsh or not harsh enough ^^

 

[ichigomilk]

In the past I didn't, but a while ago I started writing down notes. I don't write notes for every game (I really should though or at least more often, but sometimes I'm busy or just get really lazy lol). When there's a game I'm really looking forward to start, I like to write down notes on my first impressions, what I think of the characters, and who I think will my faves hehe. For games that have a mystery plot or you're trying to solve things, I like to write down my thought processes and guess who the culprit is and stuff like that. If it's a game I'm really invested in, I like to write down my thoughts after a route and my general feelings towards the game once I've completed it. Like you mentioned, I also do this because it allows me to remember the game and compare my impressions before and after the game.

 

[koten]

I usually write some short notes on my vndb, if I wasn't lazy I would love to write down more on my thoughts on the game but it can feel a bit overwhelming to do so. It is nice to at least write something short for your future self to look back on imo!

 

[801_9ma]

Whenever I do anything I have to take notes and/or liveblog to my friends in some way because I don't have the most reliable memory, and I just like reading back on my thoughts about something to begin with. So I've taken notes about games plenty of times.

Sometimes I even surprise myself because I'll read back on my notes and the places where I liveblog and I'll pause for a second like "wait, I played that!?"

I've considered writing long, elaborate game reviews and whatnot on a blog, but having tried that in the past with book reviews several times, I realized I don't have the drive and discipline for it most of the time, especially because the process of writing a review for anything when I already have extensive notes feels like I'm "reheating leftover nachos" and I find that kind of boring. I can at most muster a few sentences, but elaborate reviews? Nope. Can't be bothered unfortunately, but I love yapping if someone wants to strike a conversation about something I played.

 

[woodypei]

Yes I do. I write notes on Koilog, it has a section for your own notes for each route. Although I just started this recently bc I realized it's helpful when I write reviews afterwards! So I usually write notes on parts I love, parts I find weird plot wise, or even parts I just find curious.

I try to write reviews for unlocalized games in particular, bc I remember when I first started playing unlocalized games, it's often so hard to find spoiler free reviews! So many blogs reviews are very spoiler heavy.
So now that I am able to play unlocalized games, I figured writing reviews would probably be beneficial to the community!
I rly love how after I watch a movie, I can just easily look up thoughts or analysis on it. Meanwhile, it's pretty hard to do for otome games. So I hope I can help contribute to this!

 

[Watera]

No but lately i started to want to do that !! I'm thinking of buying a notebook and start writing what I'm feeling and if there's special sentences moved my heart while playing

 

[orionsbestie]

I've been trying! I've been trying to journal in general but ngl the habit is difficult to stick to. I'm also not very good at making things cute and aesthetic either so that also makes me struggle to write notes. I keep a lot of screenshots for dialogues and quotes that impact me most (I have an insane amount of piofiore and edward (from mistonia) quotes!). But the only ones I've actually written down are a handful of the ones in code:realize future blessings!

 

[Silviaclement]

i usually make a small writeup in my vndb list, not just for otome but for vns in general! even though the 2000 symbols limit can be annoying at times, especially when compared to anilist's 6000 symbols lolol. sometimes, after finishing a game, i think i dont really have anything to say about it, but as soon as i start writing, it all comes back naturally! and it can be kinda fun to revisit these notes sometimes haha. and writing overall kinda helps you keep your thoughts and opinions about a game in check, making it easier to organize and see which vote you want to give to it
currently, my "finished" vndb list looks like this lmao;;;; but you know, as long as it helps!
View attachment 97434

Thanks for the tip! I never knew you could keep track of everything on VNDB too.
It's really fun looking back on my old thoughts. Once I read an old impression I'd written about a game, but it was pretty vague—I guess I didn't want to spoil it for my future self. So I played it again, and my feelings were totally different this time. I ended up writing a new, much more detailed review. Looking back on all of it now really brings back how I felt while playing back then.

 

[ninnikuryona]

Once I read an old impression I'd written about a game, but it was pretty vague—I guess I didn't want to spoil it for my future self. So I played it again, and my feelings were totally different this time. I ended up writing a new, much more detailed review.

thats the fun part, right? reading your notes, replaying the games, comparing your past mindset with your current self — somehow it also helps keep track of your own changes! keeping notes is cool:D

 

[Yue9832]

I really love taking down notes while I play! Granted, it's not really detailed, just silly ramblings and some drawings of the characters, but I like taking screenshots of the game and how I felt while I played it (keyboard smashing included) as I gush about it in my notepad, to my friends, or anyone who will listen to me nerd out^^

I have some friends of mine who have notes of their own, so we make it sort of a tradition to exchange notes with whatever game we are playing. We get to laugh about silly moments, rant about weird plot points, and praise our favorite games; it's actually so fun to do~

 

[Silviaclement]

No but lately i started to want to do that !! I'm thinking of buying a notebook and start writing what I'm feeling and if there's special sentences moved my heart while playing

I'm into journaling, so I've thought about making a separate notebook just for otome games before, but I ended up putting it aside because I didn't have enough time. Keeping a physical journal is actually a great idea too—it'll definitely feel so rewarding when you look back on it after writing for a while.

 

[linyu]

Overall, the attitude of the community is to advocate for diverse expressions and respect individual preferences, while encouraging sharing and advocating boundaries. "Interest is the only compass. Whether it's 'output' or 'immersion', as long as you can derive pleasure from it, it's the best way."

 

[starryvelvetsky]

I make sure to jot down a quick plot summary after clearing each route, just in case I forget the details by the time I play the FD. Once I've 100% completed the game, I'm planning to write up my final impressions of all the characters and make my own ranking of my favorites.

 

[Silviaclement]

I've been trying! I've been trying to journal in general but ngl the habit is difficult to stick to. I'm also not very good at making things cute and aesthetic either so that also makes me struggle to write notes. I keep a lot of screenshots for dialogues and quotes that impact me most (I have an insane amount of piofiore and edward (from mistonia) quotes!). But the only ones I've actually written down are a handful of the ones in code:realize future blessings!

There are many ways to keep a record. When you don't know what to write down, saving the most memorable lines and scenes is also a nice way to preserve the memories.

 

[majimakun]

I recently started taking short notes. No matter how much I enjoy a game, I completely forget the story as time passes. So, I started writing a short, one-line rating for each game.