Otome Game ranking of 2020

Well for starters i've played more otome games than in 2019 😂

Which might be because I made the move to the nintendo switch

and honestly now is as good as time as among other games there have been

a decent number of otome games released for it. All of my games so far have

been digital purchases though, not only have the prices of games gone up(they probably

also cost more to make) the current crisis also doesn't help much.

I kept the rankings simple this time with a short non-spoiler summary of my thoughts.

Dairoku Ayakashimori. (🍀Beginner friendly🍀)

My first switch otome game! which was surprisingly okay except for thelacklustre plot or

the rather bland backgrounds and lack of sprites for some side characters.

It won't win any awards for that atleast! if anything the characters made it all worth it, I think

it would be perfect for beginners! The art was nice though and its not too long or too short.

The heroine Shino was cute and proactive too, since its a charage(character focus)

if your fav seiyuu voices one of the romanceable guys it might be worth it for a spin

I couldn't find much else to dislike it managed to be entertaining enough that

whatever brings it down it still will hold some value.

~

Shinigami to Shoujo. (🏆Best Story🏆)

A left over PSvita game I finally made time for, in terms of story it

was probably one of the better ones and definitely worth it for that alone especially if

you like to go deeper! or thought provoking plots but in terms of romance/otome? in that area

it might be a bit disappointing. With the exception of Kirishima route I think it would be

better suited as a straight-forward VN. The play order also didn't give much room for free choice

each route essentially hinted at a bigger picture which doesn't make sense till the last two routes.

As an otome game... it leaves a lot to be desired, I also thought the common

route was too long and Sayo's brocon was a little annoying though if you're willing

to get past that you do get a decently written plot in return.

~

Harukanaru toki no naka de 7. (🏆Most well rounded🏆)

The seventh installment in the series... which was one of the more

well rounded otome games I played this year it had a decent enough plot

and the romance was cute, it was also nice to watch certain characters grow.

There's lot's of sides to explore which made all the routes worth doing, imo the bad part

is the plot or motivation of some characters (mostly villains) might seem a bit whimsical

at the end this was a nice rpg-like otome game it was mostly light-hearted with a lil drama

I can't find much to dislike, though it has a lot of routes I suggest to start out

with the guy which catches your interest the most! if the gameplay part bothers you

this game has an ingame feature which tells you were to find or when the next event flag

for that character is which with timely saves made it very easy to progress through.

I can recommend Haruka 7! its also stand-alone so no need to play previous entries.😄

Gunka o Haita Neko. (I sleep...🐢💬)

Primula's second otome game, I passed on the PC/vita versions buuut

because I was thirsty I finally decided to get it when it came out on the switch.

Unfortunately and I hate to say it this was probably the most boring otome game I played

in a good while, its basically all about why these cat people lived so much like humans once did.

 The characters were interesting enough and it was cute but the plot in most routes just

wasn't engaging enough and was longer than needed even though I could tell

they made a decent attempt in the truth end it was barely relevant in the individuals. In the end

my fav routes were the two childhood friends; Yuzu and Kuu and I rarely like childhood friends.😓

 I can't recommend this game unless you enjoy slower paced otome games and don't mind politics.

~

Bilshana Senki ~Genpei Hika Musou~. (✨Personal favorite✨)

A historic fantasy from otomate and RED set during the genpei war

which I thought was quite enjoyable, I didn't dislike any characters by the end of it

and the overall plot was pretty decent as well the heroine was also very head-strong.

Though the only bad parts were that the scenario doesn't have much room for it

being that different, similar to hyakka hyakurou/nightshade. Every route reveals

another perspective of things the individuality of the routes and its cast being likeable

is what pretty much made it an enjoyable game for me despite the war stuff.

If you plan on playing this the order doesn't matter that much, I think that Tomomori is best for last.

 ~

 

Piofiore no Banshou 1926. (🌼Most depressing sequel.🌼)

 While it wasn't fun all the time and knowing Piofiore is definitely not for everyone

it still managed to be a solid sequel, my only problem is some of the afters aren't all

well-rounded but alternativa was a pretty fun story to continue from the first games true end

which at the same time also makes it possible to have an alternative end with every guy

might be a little annoying to do all the ends there though.

There's definitely plenty of content value in this game... the only bad part the afters all had

the same feel as the original some made everything even messier. Maybe that's good in a way

as it knows what it wants to be and won't try to be something its not.

I ended up liking more than I thought I would, I even ended up liking Yang whom I could

barely understand in the first game, Henri & Donte were fine but I enjoyed Gil's route the most. Unfortunately both Nicola and Orlok were duds for me and couldn't enjoy much if anything with them.

I am still kind of mixed about it but at the end of the day its just a game and if the vast

amount of bad ends are too much I recommend to just use a guide to avoid that and enjoy

the little things but yea if you weren't a fan of the original it might be better 

to steer away if you're not up for that because it really is more of the same! 

 ~

 

Himehibi Another Princess Days White or Black - (Classy highschool romance💝)

 Out of all otome games I played this year, this one was probably

the most simple yet intriguing in what it tried to do, I tend to avoid highschool

otome games but I thought this was pretty decent.

Its not particularly deep in terms of plot but it does go past the surface of a pretty face...

The routes all were unique as well and focused on the character of your choice

and at the end... it also makes sense why there is no canon character I mean there is bias

towards someone but said character is mostly a wholesome chad to the heroine.😂

Its also relatively safe though the black route has a sligthly darker tone.....

The humor might be a hit or miss but it definitely didn't overstay its welcome either

due to the highschool setting the entry level is also lower than most otome games so

it does have my recommendation if you just want something simple, cute and funny

buuut maybe not look here for a well written and/or deep story.

~

 

For 2021, there's not much otome games that interest me buuuut I'm still considering Bustafellows

and Cupid Parasite! the former is even getting an english release by Pqube! Not many of otomates

new titles interest me as at time of writing but I have my eyes on some but there's really not much

information available about some of their lineup so its wait and see with them. 😕

Himehibi Another Princess Days ~White or Black~ - Review

 

Genre: Otome/VN.

Developer/publisher: Takuyo.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/himehibi_wb/index.html

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v26906

Release date: 10/12/20.

 

Good old Takuyo is still around and released a new entry in the hime hibi series!

of which I have only played the first entry, I did buy the second one but never

played actualy managed to make time for it.😅 I did pass on their other new game

Hanasaku and maybe i'm glad I did as reviews weren't exactly doing it any favors.

 Who is Takuyo? that's a long story but they've been around for a long time.

Enough about that and more about Himehibi 3! which in terms of being of an otome game

was a little more simple than the other Takuyo game I recently played!

 

Pro's

- Mostly light-hearted but there seemed to be more to it all but not too deep.

- Pretty art, love the soft colours! most of the backgrounds are nice to look at as well.

 

Grey area

- Music manages to fit the mood most of the time but its nothing special.

 

Con's

- Kinda on the short side, but on the flip side it knows where to end.

- Not all route are well-rounded better not come her for a deep plot.

 - They should have used a different ending theme for the black lily route, too upbeat.😓

 

The OP is decent I guess, catchy enough.

Kisakino Emi is invited to enrolls at sumeragi gakuen, a high-class all boy school that is

undergoing an experiment of letting girls enter, all the boys are princes and the girls princesses...

Its is all a project/test held by the sumeragi group and she has been chosen to be a model student

like some of the guys have. There's a ranking system like Masamune for example is the rook

and Kazumi is a self-proclaimed unicorn(knight) wait why unicorn?! well there surely

was a good sense of humor around as well basically every romanceable guy is named

after a chesspiece and Emi's the queen she joins their commitee and with them prepares

for the festival, each route does this differently and you get closer to him.

Emi also has to deal with being a model student... Other than that a relative of Chiharu

typically tries to make things difficult for everyone involved, gotta have some bad guy I guess.

Depending on your choices you can get different type of route such as: white lily or black lily

there's four endings total, the former is happier than the other but what I liked about this

they explored different sides to the character and different kinds of love which kept things

interesting, for some this is for better others for worse basicallly black route is spicier.

Other than that the general system of the game was smooth and I had no real issues

on my journey to full-complete!

 

This game is set in a rich kids school thats fancy high-class but more up to date with current times

kind of reminded me of zettai kaikyuu but without the harsh class system.

Hmm... maybe the setting was too fancy for me atleast there were no annoying minigames

and was still pretty relaxing it also didn't feel like it took forever to get interesting

otome-wise like shinigami to shoujo this game was much shorter and to the point.

The common route served its purpose well enough to introduce and explain things.

There are many cg which is only the guy(s) some were good others meh.

The protagonist even comments how just staring at pretty boys is happiness enough

well atleast there are cg's with the two of them together so I can't complain much.😌

Himehibi1 also had this problem... but I guess its just a thing this series has

but this 3rd installment does it a little better than the first.

Also its ceroB(12+) so its probably better to not expect it to be that raunchy

because what was there was very tame which might be a blessing cuz there

are maybe two endings were the game was pushing this rating.

 

Emi is a good girl she might be more likable than the protag of himehibi1 but I did think Emi

is a bit too forgiving. Most of the guys are likable and the only one who pissed me off 

was Yumeji and paperbag-kun turned out to be worse than I expected.😓

There was definitely enough going on with the character(s) to keep me interested also the game

seems to know its cliches but actually not giving 2fucks about it and still rolls with it

characters like Kazumi would actually be boring were it not for their quirk

and I found his character to be very interesting!  though the humor was odd 

and a bit corney I feel you're either gonna love or hate it. Atleast every route was unique

and focused on that character which was a plus, some endings might feel lacking

but if you do all you will truly know everything about the guy (for better or worse).

 

This game was overall pretty simple in what it tried to do, I think I can recommend

this game if you want something light-hearted and character focused while not minding

having to look past the surface of a pretty face, cuz there are some ~problems~ some more obvious

than others. Romance wise... it depends for some it only gets good at the end

others are more well-rounded overall it was still open ended, I think this new himehibi

does kind of retain the old spirit its also not too bloated in length it ends when it should.

I think this game was alright... Kazumi's route while corny was fun😅 it might not

be my cup of tea but it wasn't bad! Masamune's route was very enjoyable

and he's definitely my husbando, the only route I didn't really like was Yumeji

but that was mostly because the guy lost his last shred of dignity in the black route

atleast his white route was still somewhat enjoyable but yea watch yourself with him and Paperbag because as much as I like to say there were no bad ends these two are like uhuh riiight?

Ah well otome games are always like that, one route that just rubs you the wrong way

you can't like everything but this game does a good job of finding paths that you could like.

Chiharu was the most well-rounded route and I also really liked him, he's so wholesome it hurts.😭

 Overall I think this was a pretty good otome game some parts might be a bit cliche

but that's not necessarily a bad thing if it doesn't try to be something its not and

the plot was okay too, for what it was worth this was mostly enjoyable.

I don't know what else to say but if you want to try a more classic

yet modern(for today's standard) this game is a good bet! that is if you don't mind it being simple.

7,6/10

My playorder was:

Kazumi > Masamune > Yumeji > Chiharu > Paperbag.

Idk if there was some recommended order but none are locked nor was there a story that had

to be played out in specific order so you can do whoever you fancy in whatever order you want!

This is the end of non-spoiler section, more ramblings about routes after the jump.

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