The lack of innovation and new concepts in otome games.

[moçoroca de abacate]

I was recently looking for an otome game to play after finishing Tokimeki , but the premises always seem to be the same: the LIs include a sweet and gentle guy, a serious one, a "dark" and reclusive one, a childhood friend, and a super-energetic, loud one... All of this set in a workplace, a school, or a kingdom.

I admit I really crave something more "innovative" and "risky" in new otome games. Like a romance with a priest, or something like that (no judgment, please )... They've even written about incest in some older titles (Kuro to Kin and Chou no Doku), but I've never seen a romance with a priest or anything of the sort!

It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I've been attracted to priests since childhood (an attraction that persists into my adult life) and I can never find games or visual novels that depict or satisfy my desire to see the MC get involved with a priest.

I just want a clergyman grappling with religious guilt; is that too much to ask? Bonus points if he's a serious, hard-to-crack priest who takes a long time to outwardly yield to his feelings for the MC, even though he's freaking out on the inside! But I don't want shy, easily embarrassed priests (I'm not into LIs who blush and stutter at everything).

What about you? Is there a concept you'd love to see in a game but never do? Or a concept/theme you've encountered in a game – or a select few –, but remains rare to find?

 

[ninnikuryona]

there is still incest in otome games!!!!! folie fatale came out just two and a half years ago!!!!! the catch though is that its indie, so i guess if you want to see devs breaking the mold(?), you should look into indie otome games. there are quite a few that are being developed right now, you can check them out under the #スーパーゲ制デー tag on twitter!

 

[moçoroca de abacate]

there is still incest in otome games!!!!! folie fatale came out just two and a half years ago!!!!! the catch though is that its indie, so i guess if you want to see devs breaking the mold(?), you should look into indie otome games. there are quite a few that are being developed right now, you can check them out under the #スーパーゲ制デー tag on twitter!

Wow, I didn't know Folie Fatale featured incest! I'd heard there was a route involving the protagonist and her brother, but I assumed it was a platonic/sibling-bond type of route since I never saw anyone mention incest when I looked up reviews and comments about the game...

I'll check out that tag right now! Maybe I'll even get lucky and find an indie otome with a priest as a love interest and THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

[satory]

It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I've been attracted to priests since childhood (an attraction that persists into my adult life) and I can never find games or visual novels that depict or satisfy my desire to see the MC get involved with a priest

There is a game called Obscura, that has a priest LI in it! But he has zero religious guilt and more of a naughty sm-style type of priest

 

[ninnikuryona]

Wow, I didn't know Folie Fatale featured incest! I'd heard there was a route involving the protagonist and her brother, but I assumed it was a platonic/sibling-bond type of route since I never saw anyone mention incest when I looked up reviews and comments about the game...

apparently they used the ending cg with pregnancy as a promo material, so uhh yeah very much NOT platonic love LMAO
also not to act like a broken record or anything, but ogamika no himegoto also features father/daughter incest:) its slightly older though. also theres wakudeki, but its stepcest. i definitely gotta look into newer otome games with incest..... hmmm..........

oh and if you want priests, there is a situational voice drama with a priest man and a demon girl!

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

I believe the commercial otome scene has been very conventional for a long time, to be honest. Although the early 2000s had interesting titles with uncommon concepts, VNs as a whole were more "experimental" at the time, coming from the pre-Windows era and all, and I feel like doujin titles got the spotlight more often then

That doesn't mean that nowadays you can't find games for a specific niche! Even itch.io has surprised me more than once; if you're looking for Japanese otoge, I can't recommend Freem! enough, haha! DLsite is amazing too, specially for taboo topics ;b (coming from a onii-chan route defender). As for priests, I feel like joseimuke works usually feature them as pervs or haraguro types, not so much religious guilt; I've encountered "secretly-pervert", flirty, manipulative priest characters more than once in doujinshi and situational audio lol

The closer I can think of is Lost in Secular Love, that features monks as LIs. I think Steam Prison has a priest character, but I haven't played it, so I wouldn't know how he is depicted ;b

 

[ninnikuryona]

I can't recommend Freem! enough, haha!

and novelgame too!! if i remember correctly there was another jp platform, but i cant for the life of me remember the name. anyway these two are the ones used the most i guess:D
oh and booth has some works as well, both free and paid!

 

[mitsumitsu]

hey we recently had a game with a priest Neon Clash! But then again it doesn't really get addressed much throughout the game outside of common route iirc? And the game isn't exactly heavy on romance either to feel the "omg priest romance" kind of fuzzy feeling.
One game that I'm really eyeing that has priest li's is Kami-sama to Koigokoro. I can't really say anything about it since I haven't played it yet though but I assume it's more on the whimsy/all ages spectrum to feel much >.<
But I do agree that themes these days by big companies(otomate monopolized market pretty much) are quite tame and aren't as experimental before. Doujin games are a great place to find more experimental themes like everyone here says! Time for me to shamelessly promote one of my favorite indies Hebi no Cinderella.

 

[heishoumao]

The issue is that most of the big otomes nowadays are by the same few companies, with the same writers, using a tried-and-true format that they know will sell well. It's not all that surprising; the gaming industry as a whole has had this issue for years now, but it's still annoying,

I'd like to see another otome company come onto the field, that might spice things up. Others here are right in that indies are your best bet ATP; companies just aren't going to try if it could reduce their profits.

I've seen one or two drug addict LIs, but I'd like to see an LI who's actually a semi-realistic representation of addiction and what happens to you in the depths of it.

 

[ninnikuryona]

I've seen one or two drug addict LIs,

which ones o_0

 

[moçoroca de abacate]

hey we recently had a game with a priest Neon Clash! But then again it doesn't really get addressed much throughout the game outside of common route iirc? And the game isn't exactly heavy on romance either to feel the "omg priest romance" kind of fuzzy feeling.
One game that I'm really eyeing that has priest li's is Kami-sama to Koigokoro. I can't really say anything about it since I haven't played it yet though but I assume it's more on the whimsy/all ages spectrum to feel much >.<
But I do agree that themes these days by big companies(otomate monopolized market pretty much) are quite tame and aren't as experimental before. Doujin games are a great place to find more experimental themes like everyone here says! Time for me to shamelessly promote one of my favorite indies Hebi no Cinderella.

Ah, I'll check out those games soon, thanks for the recommendations! Even though it's not exactly heavy on romance, I'll look for that first game.

Ah, finally I found someone talking about Hebi no Cinderella I played that game recently and was so excited to find out more about it, but unfortunately I never saw anyone commenting about it online... but perhaps I looked in the wrong places, and that's why I never saw anyone comment on it, apart from two foreign reviews.

 

[heishoumao]

which ones o_0

Touri from Folie Fatale is a drug addict, but I think it's not done very well (or explored very much - but the routes are short) and Kazumi from voltage's old mobile game 'Liar! Uncover the Truth' is bait and switched as one, but is the 2nd one i thought of anyway. I sent the reply too early . . . My apologies.

 

[moçoroca de abacate]

I believe the commercial otome scene has been very conventional for a long time, to be honest. Although the early 2000s had interesting titles with uncommon concepts, VNs as a whole were more "experimental" at the time, coming from the pre-Windows era and all, and I feel like doujin titles got the spotlight more often then

That doesn't mean that nowadays you can't find games for a specific niche! Even itch.io has surprised me more than once; if you're looking for Japanese otoge, I can't recommend Freem! enough, haha! DLsite is amazing too, specially for taboo topics ;b (coming from a onii-chan route defender). As for priests, I feel like joseimuke works usually feature them as pervs or haraguro types, not so much religious guilt; I've encountered "secretly-pervert", flirty, manipulative priest characters more than once in doujinshi and situational audio lol

Thank you for the recommendation! I'll look for some games on Freem! I think the fear that game profits won't compensate for the risk of a "daring" concept ultimately causes companies to back away from ideas for more "obscure" and "wrong" otome games, opting instead to follow the same old formula for stories, MCs, and LIs.
[COLOR=rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.87)]
But at least small/indie companies tend to take risks without hesitation and always receive support while doing so, and this somewhat compensates for the lack of boldness of large companies.[/COLOR]

Could you recommend some of the works, doujinshi and audio that you know/remember? I'm saving all the recommendations I can!

 

[ninnikuryona]

Touri from Folie Fatale is a drug addict, but I think it's not done very well (or explored very much - but the routes are short) and Kazumi from voltage's old mobile game 'Liar! Uncover the Truth' is bait and switched as one, but is the 2nd one i thought of anyway. I sent the reply too early . . . My apologies.

oh of course one of the games is folie fatale LMAO (not derogatory i just thought the game is dark enough to feature something like that)
thank you for the answer:) very interested....!!

 

[aquil_aleo]

I know that these have priest LIs. But... some of them have some unholy tendencies(*cough* Ozmafia's Dorian)

• Dead Wishes
• Steam Prison
• Dot Kareshi
• Ozmafia
• Ambition: A Minuet In Power

 

[moçoroca de abacate]

I know that these have priest LIs. But... some of them have some unholy tendencies(*cough* Ozmafia's Dorian)

• Dead Wishes
• Steam Prison
• Dot Kareshi
• Ozmafia
• Ambition: A Minuet In Power

Thank you so much! I did a quick search about these games and became very interested in them

 

[RedLipsSourApples]

I agree! but I can understand why they try not to take any radical creative liberties. Otome is a very niche genre afterall. Indies are our best bet for any unique concepts, sadly indie games are limited by their budget

 

[藍色水珠]

It's interesting to see a religious figure fall in love with the female lead.
Like a gangster and a nun, their identities are a highlight.

I enjoy watching the character's emotional shifts: for example, gradually developing feelings for the female lead, but struggling with his clergy status and how others perceive him, yet also becoming attracted to her, learning something from her, and growing and improving himself.

宗教人士與女主角談戀愛，感覺很有趣
就像黑幫人士與修女，身分是亮點。
喜歡看角色心境轉變：例如慢慢對女主角產生好感，但糾結自己是神職人員，還有外界眼光等，但又被女主角吸引，或從她身上學到什麼東西，有所成長，自我進步。

 

[Beannie]

Be aware, @satory, that the route in FF is not romanticised. It is possibly the most disturbing route I have ever played.

Dot kareshi has a priest route, but it is more of a fun parody game on RPG than a proper otome game.

Indie games aside, I agree with you that the Japanese commercial otome games are quite safe, esp with the MCs. I wonder if that's because devs try to make self-insertion easier, and a too-strong personality MC would make it hard? (I do not self-insert so I have no clue how much harder it would be)

 

[ninnikuryona]

Indie games aside, I agree with you that the Japanese commercial otome games are quite safe, esp with the MCs. I wonder if that's because devs try to make self-insertion easier, and a too-strong personality MC would make it hard?

seems like crazy chain's heroine is pretty strong, and this is a recent release!!!!!

 

[Beannie]

Oooh, really? That's nice (●ˇ∀ˇ●). Thx for letting me know, bumped it up on my tbr

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

Could you recommend some of the works, doujinshi and audio that you know/remember? I'm saving all the recommendations I can!

For doujinshi, I can think of three titles with priest male leads (more or less, lol): Koibito Shinpu-sama no Himitsu to Uso; Doutei wo Ubatta Shounen ga Otona ni Natta no de Tabe ni Ikimasu and Shinpu no Hitsuji!

I don't really track my audios though, sorry about that ;b the only one I remember is 神様はみてるだけ. I believe it has an English TL as well!!

(Kinda funny to share the random smutty doujinshi I read, haha!)

 

[mitsumitsu]

Ah, I'll check out those games soon, thanks for the recommendations! Even though it's not exactly heavy on romance, I'll look for that first game.

Ah, finally I found someone talking about Hebi no Cinderella I played that game recently and was so excited to find out more about it, but unfortunately I never saw anyone commenting about it online... but perhaps I looked in the wrong places, and that's why I never saw anyone comment on it, apart from two foreign reviews.

TT yeah sadly untranslated indie games just wont have that big of an english audience to engage with. I'm looking forward to going through more of gayoushi's works!

which ones o_0

if you're curious about another game with a drug addict li there's Fuyou no Joudo ni Okitamau. It's pretty short and doesnt have cgs but it's quite angsty(though I wish it was a full game...).

 

[ninnikuryona]

if you're curious about another game with a drug addict li there's Fuyou no Joudo ni Okitamau. It's pretty short and doesnt have cgs but it's quite angsty(though I wish it was a full game...).

augh succulent...........D: guess i should just suck up and read them already............. thank you......!!!!!;w;w;

 

[Sphyixz]

This thread actually made me think about how much of this feels like something you'd see more often in Western dark romance.
I wonder how Japanese otome fans view Western dark romance and whether it sells well there. A lot of the themes mentioned here, forbidden relationships, morally questionable LIs, obsessive love, characters struggling with guilt or duty, are things that already exist in Japanese media, but they often feel like they're approached differently.