What's your favorite era of otome games?

[b3rryb3rry]

I've been playing some older PC otome games recently (Chou no Doku fandisc & Under the Moon) and they've really charmed me - I love the older anime art style (my fave anime & manga tend to be older ones too) and I find the square aspect ratio nostalgic.

I think I honestly prefer older otome games compared to modern ones. The otome games I enjoy most are old PC games, PSP, PS2 and DS games (so around 2000-2008).

When I got into otome games (around 2017), the PS Vita was considered the best platform for them, and so I do associate a lot of fond otome memories with my Vita. But I still find older titles more engaging and fun.

One reason for this is that I feel like at a certain point otome games kind of all became purely visual novels. Maybe due to the huge popularity in Otomate titles like Hiiro no Kakera and Hakuoki? Also probably because they're cheaper to make.

It's a shame because I love gameplay elements in otome games, like dancing in Princess Debut, stat raising in Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side, rhythm gameplay in UtaPri, or even the whipping and clapping in KLAP!! Kind Love and Punishment lmao. Two of my favorite games ever are Rune Factory 4 and Persona 3 Portable for the same reason. The first otome game, Angelique, also had strategy gameplay.
I love visual novels too, but I wish we had more options for otome games with gameplay like we used to. Dating sim games for men still have a huge variety in gameplay, while otome games don't (we didn't even get Kotone again in Persona 3 Reload).

We also used to get more otome games based on existing shoujo anime like Skip Beat!, Vampire Knight, Ouran Highschool Host Club, Kimi ni Todoke, etc. which is something I miss.

What is your favorite era/platform for otome games? Why?

 

[nerim-w]

Im honestly liking the era we're in now. I personally prefer VNs over other forms of otome games and I think the quality of VNs have just been getting better compared to the 2000s/90s. Im honestly not a fan of the old artstyles and much prefer the pretty modern art we have now. I only hope that VNs continue to be more innovative and introduce more bolder concepts and interesting gameplay elements, and if they do the future of otome will be bright!!

 

[Lotucias]

Rather than talking about specific eras, I'd say I love it when a story is set in a medieval-style world—with princesses, castles, and knights—largely because of the aesthetic of the costumes. Otherwise, any era that allows for fantasy elements works for me ^-^

To pick up on the topic at hand: while newer otome games have certainly improved visually, that doesn't diminish the charm of the older titles that made us fall in love with the genre.

 

[bravelyflee]

I like the variety of playing some old and some new games. The popular art styles have changed and honestly I like both retro and modern. You mentioned the vita era, that was a great era. Going back further to PSP games, I do not miss the low res blurry text! (Luckily PC games from PSP era have aged better than the PSP games.)

I would like to see more titles with gameplay! But I'm happy that at least we are still getting new otome games, even without gameplay. And it seems like the popularity of gacha otome games is going down.. I think that's a good thing. At least we can buy a game without gambling for each chapter.

I am optimistic the best era is coming up in the future!

 

[raccoonNiko]

I couldn't ask for anything more than what we have right now. Partially it's because I'm older now, but everything feels so much more accessible, and I definitely find myself more drawn to newer releases. I'm sure my view is affected by the fact that I only got deeper into otome games around 2020, but it only happend because I was able to play localized games, and now we're getting more and more English releases. I also like the big variety of new art styles, and can only hope that things improve even more in the future.

 

[Daisy Magnus229]

I probably loved the era when I could discuss otome games or BL with my seniors, so it's not just about the otome games' art style or the plot. I remember it feeling so much fun (though sometimes quite draining because I had to study Japanese while at it, lol). We dissected a lot of otome games like the old-fashioned Angelique, Princess Nightmare, or schedule-management games like Otometeki Love Revo.

Now that we've parted ways, I miss those days so much. I still love the newest otome games era, but it just feels a little bit lonely.

 

[satory]

I'm content with what we have right now. Visual styles are improving, game lenght is growing, new themes get explored, people want quality and quantity. Besides, now MC's name is almost always voiced, while in older games all we had were awkward pauses every second phrase

 

[Hisami]

The current era! The games are more polished and every route has separate stories unlike before where only the choices are different to get different ending. I am not a fan of stat building either, I find it tedious. So I am really loving the current style

 

[myfrral]

I really like old games from the past, the art style is beautiful, and I enjoy playing the plot of old games. The games from 2000 to 2016 were amazing. During this period, there were often 18R games released, which can be said to be the peak period of 18R games. I think I love this time period the most hahaha