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| RE: Alistair++, a free, full-length otome game. |
So there's that. And I've also been playing a lot of Chain Factor.
Despite my packed schedule, I've been doing research on one thing I haven't looked at in a long time: Otome games! Free ones, specifically. It seems like there have been quite a few new English options to be released since I last did a post, though that also could mean I didn't do a good job researching them in the first place.
I was originally going to do another big post, but the more I wrote, the more I realized that it didn't make sense to put it all together in just one entry. So in the coming weeks, look out for reviews and other opinionated pieces on just otome games! It'll be really swell, and hopefully a little different from what you'd typically find on blogs dedicated to otome. It's not what Manga Meditation's about anyway, and those blogs already do their job way better than I could.
Speaking of which, here are a few links to games, developers, and other otome miscellanea:
Free Otome Games
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| Love Blossom Extended |
Love Blossom Extended: I briefly covered the original game in my last post. Recently, however, the developers at My Neoromance went back and added more events for a little extended re-release. Check out the announcement on their forum.
Lucky Rabbit Reflex!: Okay, I'm sort of jumping the gun on this one a bit, because it just entered beta testing as of this posting. However, I'm super excited about its eventual official release; if you look at my first post on otome games, you'll notice I included a tiny section on it. I played the demo a while back, and it was really cute and clever. I can't wait to do a review on this one! Update: So it looks like this game will be officially released in July, and will not be free. Here's the related forum thread. Update 7.20.11: Official website!
Pacthesis Games: This links to games created by Pacthesis, a user on Deviantart.
RE: Alistair++: I just finished this up. A great game, and one definitely worth a look (and maybe a future review)!
Zeiva Games: This links to Zeiva's games posted on her Deviantart. I suggest playing Other Age. Zeiva actually has her own game company, which features some really awesome looking stuff; see the link under Developers.
Otome Blogs
What I love about these blogs, beyond the fact that they keep up with manga and anime news tidbits, is that they let you vicariously play otome games through fun walkthroughs and reviews (meaning I'm living vicariously through blogs that cover games designed to let one live vicariously? Phew). Many of these games, after all, are only available in Japanese, and usually only for Windows. And the reviews can also be pretty funny, regardless of whether or not you've played.
There are tons of these blogs floating around on the internet, but here are a few that I've enjoyed:
4 Shiki
Kawaii Janakya Dame nano!
Lijakaca's Otome Gaming Blog
White Butterfly
Developers
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| The Winter Wolves website. |
Hanako Games
sakevisual
Winter Wolves
Zeiva Inc
Miscellaneous Links
Most of these are repeat links from my previous post, but they're worth looking at again.
Lemma Soft Forums: Lots of doujin developers post game progress and announcements here.
My Neoromance Forum Thread: I guess it's kind of odd to post a link to some thread, but this one is attempting to collect all English otome games available, both commercial and doujinshi. It also looks like it stays updated.
Otome Games: A good resource for finding out about new commercial releases, and it also seems to be pretty regularly updated.
Ren'Ai Archive: A collection of free ren'ai and visual novels made with Ren'Py.
Finally, here's the original post I wrote a year ago on otome games. It isn't perfect, but there are still some links that I think are worth checking out.
Blackbird.
PS: I'm not affiliated with any of the stuff on here; all of it is just what I've found on the internet!
I played Re:Alistar three times in a row trying to end up with different guys, but I wasn't 100% successful because I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. :P
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how to rate the replay value of Otome games. For Re:Alistar, I wanted to know all the possible endings, but running through similar dialog over and over got old. It's a lot like trying to find the right ending in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel.
It can definitely be tedious trying for different endings. To make it a little easier, look for the skip setting in the game, which will let you fast forward up to the parts in which you get to make a choice.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that the replay value of otome games is somewhat comparable to that of RPGs; both are heavily based on story, and replay can be a little boring if the only objective is to get different endings. I'd say, however, that a good RPG has other incentives, like the promise of better weapons, hidden events, or other things missed on one play through; otome games, somewhat similarly, have unlockable CGs. You could also argue that a good story is good no matter how many times you read it, like rereading a good book :)
Also: http://www.sakevisual.com/realistair/walkthrough.html (if you're a wimp like me, of course)