What's the most wasted premise you've seen in an otome game?

[kawaii-neko]

What's the most wasted premise you've seen in an otome game?
Not necessarily a bad game, but one that had an amazing setup, world, or cast that made you think, "This could've been incredible," only for the execution to fall flat.
I'd love to hear what game comes to mind first and why.

For me, I'd probably say Even if Tempest. I couldn't help feeling like the game never reached the potential of its own setup.

 

[usagi-k]

for me the worst victim ive come across of "wasted potential" was probably red bell's lament </3 the concept was really good as well as the world building however it gets super messy and confusing with its execution, and i was also very disappointed with how they handled the main villain of the game since to me he felt like he had no depth at all.

rbl also had the worst setup for their linear story telling formula because of instead playing one route and then looping onto the next one you were basically playing three routes at the same time which was soo upsetting !!! like we'd finally make some good development with one love interest only to be thrusted into the other timeline ??? it gave me such bad whiplash lol and i had to make actual notes to keep up with what was happening in each timeline cause i started mixing things up

also a long time ago i wrote about ktgr's writing on here where i complained about tengoku struggle so my point for that game still stands for a wasted premise too lol

 

[NoveiaVonGeorgia]

for me the worst victim ive come across of "wasted potential" was probably red bell's lament </3 the concept was really good as well as the world building however it gets super messy and confusing with its execution, and i was also very disappointed with how they handled the main villain of the game since to me he felt like he had no depth at all.

rbl also had the worst setup for their linear story telling formula because of instead playing one route and then looping onto the next one you were basically playing three routes at the same time which was soo upsetting !!! like we'd finally make some good development with one love interest only to be thrusted into the other timeline ??? it gave me such bad whiplash lol and i had to make actual notes to keep up with what was happening in each timeline cause i started mixing things up

also a long time ago i wrote about ktgr's writing on here where i complained about tengoku struggle so my point for that game still stands for a wasted premise too lol

Tengoku Struggle should be named- writing struggle, cuz the art was so wasted on the potential of it all.

Red Bells Lament---more like, we fans lament for the story progression and wasted world building of whats supposed to be a vampire masterpiece that we were promised of. It felt like there were so many cuts along the way and the other world was hardly explored. They just slapped some vampires and boom, called it a day.

 

[Lynettee]

I went into Mistonia's Hope with high expectations, hoping to delve into a revenge plot that would surprise and heartbreak me, since the LIs ultimately became the targets of revenge. However, depending on the protagonist's route, the writing in this otome game shifts from caring about her purpose to practically disregarding it. I hated this otome for wasting such a good plot.

As for Diabolik Lovers, don't get me wrong, I do like the games to a certain extent, but it's such a shame they didn't make at least one game with a pure plot that finally explains everything in a single game. I think it was a waste.

 

[wisteriatree]

Easily 7'scarlet... I loved the idea of a missing person mystery plus the setting of a rural town but... it just fell so flat on so many fronts.

 

[satory]

+1 for Mistonia's Hope. Haven't finished it yet, only one of the first routes, but MC stance "I'll kill them all" quickly turning into "Oh well, they are not so bad after all" was confusing. Why take such a dark setting to throw it out of the window? So much wasted potential, it could have been a good dark romance, and we got a barely gray instead

 

[Liiiii]

Paradigm Paradox. The setting and ideas were good and they could have done something really good, but everything was rushed, poorly executed or inconsistent. I could see in every route the vision that the game wanted to convey, and that's exactly why I was so disappointed with it. Many routes ended almost abruptly and everything was too short and not sufficiently worked out. The routes should have been longer. I wouldn't have liked it if they had deleted some of the routes, but they could have done that or split the game into two games of the length of this one if they didn't want to make the game any longer. It just didn't work. I don't know if that's true, but to me it also felt like the game was rushed because it had a tight schedule or several writers didn't communicate well. There were some story inconsistencies that I particularly noticed, and I think that's because the game as a whole wasn't looked at enough. It also felt like the last two endings were the only ones that ended up really happy, because of the truth that comes to light in these two routes, and I didn't like that, but that's just my personal preference

 

[koschej]

Easily 7'scarlet... I loved the idea of a missing person mystery plus the setting of a rural town but... it just fell so flat on so many fronts.

came here to say this!!! The atmosphere was so good in the beginning but... the game just wasn't well written imo.

 

[RedLipsSourApples]

I'd have to agree with Even if Tempest, despite it being my all time favorite otome game I can't help but feel like it could've been a lot more if it had more time in the oven. But honestly the biggest disappointment to me is I'd say Virche, I have a lot of problems with the writing overall but what felt like the biggest waste to me were the concept of Relivers. I wish they went more into the philosophical aspect of it (Is the person who gets revived really the same person?) but even apart from that the Idea that the relived ones live in a sort of stagnancy and don't really feel as much emotions as before weren't explored very well.

 

[bravelyflee]

Shinigami to Shoujo

It started out mysterious and interesting...

Spoiler: Minor Spoiler

I like stories with unreliable narrators. It adds depth and makes replays more fun. But...

Spoiler: MAJOR spoiler, not kidding MAJOR

The nice LIs are all figments of her imagination?? The real LI is the one who strangled her??? And she ends up him??????? Are you kidding me?????????

Most frustrating unreliable narrator story I've ever read. Girl you can do better than him. Single would be better!

 

[raccoonNiko]

Un:Birthday Song
The first game in the series (Re:Birthday Song) is super nostalgic to me, and I've genuinely never cried so much as I did when playing it, but the second one… I felt like it never delivered on the premise. Each route followed the almost exact same structure (and repetition of identical scenes), so absolutely nothing ended up surprising me after the first playthrough other than how questionable the writing choices were in Rikka's route lol

 

[osanajimimi]

I'd say Virche, I have a lot of problems with the writing overall but what felt like the biggest waste to me were the concept of Relivers. I wish they went more into the philosophical aspect of it (Is the person who gets revived really the same person?) but even apart from that the Idea that the relived ones live in a sort of stagnancy and don't really feel as much emotions as before weren't explored very well.

I agree. When I started playing it I expected that kind of development and I was waiting... and waiting until there was never that approach

Also about

Spoiler: major spoiler le salut

the time leap and that hades was just an idea instead of being something real...