Otome Explained

Hello, lovebirds. With Valentine’s Day long gone, do you still crave romance? Do you love video games? If yes to both, then allow me to explain my mild obsession with Otome games. 

Growing up, I played mainstream games like Pokémon, Super Mario, and Kirby, but I was obsessed with Otome games, known as dating simulators. What is an Otome game, you ask? Allow me to explain. Like visual novels, an Otome game is a story-based video game often targeted towards women, with obtaining a romantic partner as one of the game’s primary goals. You are provided dialogue options to charm or put off the romanceable characters throughout the game. Depending on the ending options and state of the characters’ affection levels, you can achieve the “Happy Ending,” “Friendship Ending,” “Reverse Harem Ending,” or “Bad Ending.” The “Happy Ending” can involve a wedding ceremony or other declaration of love, whereas the “Bad Ending” can drastically differentiate and involve the player’s ultimate death or utter despair. Depending on the ending, the player can receive various rewards and is encouraged to play again and pursue other romanceable characters. 

Players are encouraged to play mini-games and customize their characters in some games. I would spend hours picking the perfect name and outfit for my main character. Sometimes, I would use my real name, but most times, I would play under an alias. It was fun to “become” someone else. Like with most games, there are in-app purchases. Players could artificially purchase and increase a character’s affection levels, but this felt like cheating. I wanted to make the flow of the story come naturally. I also had little to no money at the age I played these games.

The in-game story varies between games, but primary objectives often remain: progress through the story and win over your romantic partner. However, the storyline differs drastically between characters, and the genre can vary between games. For example, I mainly played the Shall we date? app series via my phone until the individual main games were terminated in March 2020 and bundled six of the most popular games into a single app called Dear Otome. Usually, I would have been fine with this transition, but I lost all of my progress. I was admittedly upset and put off Otome games until rather recently.

Shall we date? games often illustrate magical worlds where the player is suddenly surrounded by beautiful men (and occasionally) women. There were games with vampires, wizards, ninjas, yokai, and classic fairy tale characters as love interest options. This may sound repetitive and plain weird to others, but I remember genuinely enjoying my time with these games and being mesmerized by the character art. I liked how my choices affected the character’s responses and the main storyline. In a way, it felt real compared to the linear games I was familiar with. 

Things were different when I originally played Otome games ten to twelve years ago. No one in my inner circle knew about dating simulators, and I thought they were only available to play on your phone. Nowadays, dating simulators and other Otome-inspired games are available to play on a PC and consoles like the Nintendo Switch. Believe it or not, any Otome-affiliated games, novels, and animated series exist.

My favorite anime examples include I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, I’m In Love With The Villainess, and My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Yes, based on the titles, they sound like the same story rewritten, but all three are fantastic examples of how an Otome game plays. Meanwhile, my favorite Otome-affiliated webcomics include Villains Are Destined to Die and Heartbeat Conquest. These series have reignited my love for Otome games, and I cannot wait to share more titles with you as time passes!

If you’d like to read more about why I love certain Otome media, please comment below and tell me about YOUR favorites, and I’ll make another article ranking the best and worst examples of Otome games.