Why do you enjoy playing otome games? What draws you to the genre?

[usagi-k]

just like the title says! i wanna know what was the main reason why everyone got interested in otomes and why it's kept their interest ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

for me personally i adore it because of how character driven the stories are and also because romance as a whole is a genre i deeply adore. i love seeing how a mc can be shaped into someone else and develop differently solely based on the character she ends up romancing - it's really fun for me to explore that potential and witnessing the way love can make people change. (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)

the same goes for seeing a li change and grow and the way they discover themselves through love and you get witness so many possibilities because of how vast the otome genre is and how you have such a variety of character archetypes where even similar characters end up reacting differently when theyre in love ♡︎

i also love how imaginative the genre is and how all the good games always discuss such different concepts making me think about things from a perspective i normally wouldnt have considered. i have had my opinions on various things change and expand because of the games ive played and im super appreciative of that !!!

 

[uzzzzu12]

I haven't thought much about it before. Visual novels always interested me and I guess female mcs drew me more to this genre. I like how diverse all mcs are as in looks and personality. Reading their thoughts is enjoyable. It's also funny to see how minor choices can make huge differences XD It's kinda typical but osts make the experience 1000 times better too. Well there's no gameplay so it's not surprising they pay more attention to music and art :p Overall I think it's mostly the story telling and female mc that I enjoy.

 

[orionsbestie]

I guess it's the immersion and escapism? Even in the darkest of settings, there is a way for "me", in the shoes of the main character, to thrive and live through the power of love. I think that's it for me. Escapism that makes me feel things I don't often get irl, intensely.

 

[zhaobudao]

Honestly, the gorgeous art and beautiful CGs are what first pull me in.

 

[Fishish]

I enjoy plot and character driven games so visual novels just feel like games that easily encorparate those 2 elements. A lot of visual novels focus on characterisation and story elements so im able to engage with a story in an easy way when im not in the mood for hardcore "gameplay" (ill treat a visual novel like a book and read them at night or after work to destress in a low stakes way). I like the choices they set up with branching naratives and how that lets me almost shape the story during initual playthroughs plus they are easy to stop and start (as long as i dont leave them long enough to start forgeting the story XD).

I play all genres of visual novels not just otome but usualy when I chose to play an otome over another genre is because im in the mood for some light hearted romance or because I wanna look at some pretty boys for a while XD. Otherwise I would lean more naturaly towards darker stories, BL or horror titles.

 

[Kaktusik69]

I love listening to Japanese from Japanese men.I love reading texts, but books... they're so boring. I have trouble absorbing information without a visual aid. I'm glad otome and visual novels exist as a genre of reading.

 

[Kaktusik69]

I also like the fact that I can immerse myself in the story and become the second voice of the game's heroine, but I can also be her literally. I'm not a yume, but sometimes I understand them. Although it's difficult for me to imagine myself as a shy and cute heroine because I'm the complete opposite. Unless the heroine is Alice Taishou

 

[Somniari]

cozy adventure, japanese language and the "what if" factor

 

[biari]

1. loved reading and writing fanfics when i was younger
2. discovered otome games
3. "omg u can romance hot 2d men? u can lowkey self-insert?? and its kinda like a fanfic???"
4. now addicted to otome games

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

I play many visual novels, but I have a soft spot for otome because they got me into the genre.
I also enjoy that even plot heavy games don't push the character development aside, and the romance doesn't fall to archetypes only (which is something I've struggled with in some galge/moege).
I love female MCs in all kinds of media as well

 

[otofr3ak]

I have a handful of reasons! ( ˶'ᵕ'˶)ෆ

I love reading & have been reading visual novels for forever since I find reading them to be cozy, so otome games, which are at least typically visual novels, are always on my radar.
I also love love love love love love love love romance and stories about love on a baseline level, not in the 'I am attracted to these 2d men' kinda way, but in the way where I like seeing how relationships regardless of status grow and develop within the confines of a story.
Blah blah blah I love music blah blah blah I love unique art even if it's not 'objectively' good. There's a lot to love in this genre!

 

[sabrinaaa]

japanese voice actors was my main drive in playing otomes

nowadays, i play bcs i love reading branching stories; exploring a lot of possibilities within the writer's world

 

[Leviathan_01]

I'm not entirely sure. Initially, I was only drawn to them because of the visuals back when I was drawing, but when I started actually playing otome games, I became fascinated by the stories and characters. Nowadays, I don't know what motivates me to keep playing otome games; I just know that I feel good and have a lot of fun, specially when I play in Japanese because I can learn another language

 

[Kasukabe]

I used to play gal games, but then I stumbled upon otome games by accident.I just clicked with the heroine's perspective right away. That's probably why I keep coming back to them. Of course, romance is always part of the package… honestly, it's difficult for me to develop feelings for the playable characters who we only interact with for a short period of time.So I'd love to see more otome games where the romance takes a back seat, and the focus is on story, character growth, or world-building instead.
Anyway I love japenese since I was a child so maybe this was another reason.

 

[Kikutan]

I met some good otome games and love collecting CG, they are beautiful and makes me feel happyiness. I like Starry☆Sky series, it has classic background about heroine live a high school life in a school used to be a boy's school, and then we meet many ikemen (twelve) we work together and fall in love, it's kinda romantic

 

[AkinaSR27]

Much like my love for shoujosei manga with female MC, in otome games I love the perspective of a female protagonist navigating the world around her, meeting a guy (or several), and grow from her journey.

It's very difficult to describe why they feel that way to me, but having played many types of VN including danseimuke galge in the past with scenes that are depicted in a more male-oriented manner, the way scenes and characters are depicted feels very different when it's from the perspective of a female protagonist.

 

[Yara010]

I love romance stories and otome give opportunity to enjoy them with good plot

 

[LuhgVekr]

Well, for me, it's really simple. It's fiction, and there are men. Fictional men. I actually didn't know Otome was a thing. I've always loved visual novels, but most of the ones I played were SOO male-centric even when the plot was good, I was never really interested in the characters. Then, I googled something like 'are there any visual novels for women?' and boom! Otome! I've been obsessed with them ever since.

 

[Otoge lover]

I've always loved the romance genre, and whenever I used to read manga or watch anime I used to get second male lead syndrome and wish the MC got with another charector or just ship her with the others. I enjoyed that through fanfic so when I got into otome games I was finally able to scratch that itch of wanting to see the different ways charectors can end up with the mc

 

[koko36]

I already enjoyed visual novels (dating sims ones) so when i heard that otome games had a female mc and that there's male LI in it ° i was totally sold x)

 

[shinichiel]

This specific type of voice acting is something I cannot get from rl or other media. Plus some otome have excellet storytelling, so I can achieve both interests at the same time.

 

[Kakashi_lv]

In past, I really enjoyed reading romance books. Otome games are really fantastic which have not only texts, but also CG, voice, and visual at the same time.

 

[raspberyll]

I love reading romance stories. But I've always found Western romance novels uh... a bit corny? I'm not sure how to phrase it, but I've never really enjoyed the tropes or writing in Western romance books that much, if that makes any sense.
I also grew up reading tons of fanfiction. Especially those choose-your-own-adventure ones that were popular on Quizilla, I think it was called, back when that website was still running. When I was introduced to visual novels by my now-husband, it was exactly everything I enjoyed, and I've been obsessed with them ever since. It's also fun summarizing the VNs we both play to one another, since he only plays galge and I only play otome lol.

 

[osako]

Learning Japanese and listening to my favorite VAs and the beautiful art, I like heavy plot visual novels/games in general and recently started playing more otome games after finishing even if tempest which I really enjoyed. The language learning potential of VNs is really amazing (Luna translator/Anki).

 

[ninnikuryona]

i love otome games because i love having products for women from women that tell stories about women! this is why i also enjoy shoujosei manga the most:) and i love witnessing beautiful love stories!!!!! im slightly mentally ill, so i often have problems with gender dysphoria LMAO, so having otome/shoujosei is a good way to rediscover my femininity/girlhood..^^
(also, im a little bit of a voice freak, and japanese seiyuu scene has a ton of beautiful male voices........)