7 replies to this topic

[Setsuka]

I don't think I've seen a topic about this before, so might as well start my own!

 

If you play otome game(s), and got a recommendation for me (and all of us here), please share! Including the game's poster, language and form (?? You know, as in PC game/phone game/console game, etc), plot, and your review/comment about it. It'd help a lot if you could also tell us where to play it (if it's for free play or download from the official site/order it online from the site/buy from certain store, etc)

 

Please don't distribute paid games for free download.

 

For example:

Spoiler

Star Project

 

Language: Korean / Japanese (closed) / English / Thai

Form: Online browser/PC game.

 

Story:

There was a time when this star management company was popular. Due to an unfortunate car accident, both the owner and his wife passed away and their girl takes over the company. All the stars and staff of the company went their own ways and the only thing left for the girl is a mountain of debt and an old ragged building that looks like it's going to collapse any day now.

 

One day, a righteous boy who came from the country came out of nowhere and appeared before the girl. The girl saw star potential in this young man and they both teamed up to start the "Star Project!" Will the young, country boy and the naïve manager be able to create a stunning "star"? Follow the scenarios to discover the story of your star and live surprising events.

 

Review/comment:

7/10 - It's fun but kind of boring and a bit hard because of the star's mood swings plays big part on his works. It feels a bit too centered on becoming a manager instead of a girl in love, though there are also sweet scenes/moments. The CGs are nice and really cute. The game lags quite frequently on my laptop

 

Where to play/get it:

Official English website

 

I'm in need for free English otome games, so please recommend me some good ones!

[OMGWTFBBQPONIES]

All PC games + available in English. Some of these may have Linux and/or Mac versions too.
Fake edit: I seem to have missed the "free" part of your request, so most of these you can't officially get for free. .-.
There's no way for you to contact me privately to ask for borrowing my versions or for help in finding unofficial sources either~ <.<
Fake edit #2: ah, but I seem to have leftover gift keys for Heileen and Bionic Heart o: let me know if you like demos enough to want full versions of these. 
http://www.winterwolves.com/
I guess I can subjectively recommend their games in general, especially stuff since when they hired Aleema as a writer (i.e. since Loren game). They're not best of the best and some older stuff is kinda average, but imho they all have some charm to them. IIRC they all have free demo versions, so you can always try if the story, writing or gameplay mechanics fit your taste before buying. They seem to offer discounts at least twice a year, so if the price is too high, you might want to wait for one of those. You can also compare prices with their steam releases for possible differences (and steam has user reviews too).

I haven't had time to play most of them, even if I got quite a few in that one winter wolves game bundle, but from those I played:

Loren the Amazon Princess

Description, screenshots.
Not exactly an otome game >.>
An RPG made on VN engine; story is not bad at all (even though it's the usual "save the world" fantasy stuff), most characters are likable and from what I remember character development is good too. Has expansion pack that adds more stuff to the game, but I have yet to try it.

Planet Stronghold

Description, screenshots.
Another not really otome game <.<
Very good RPG elements; while the plot may seem rushed here and there and the writing is on the pre-Aleema, cheesy-at-times level, it is good enough to keep you playing and the romance & friendship parts are good enough. Apparently not influenced by it at all, but the "Mass Effect - the VN" comparison seems fitting.

Spirited Hearts

Description, screenshots.
It's... kinda nice if you want some gameplay similar to Princess Maker. It requires some grinding for skill raises and the character events aren't that plentiful. Playthroughs themselves are pretty short and I'm not sure if it's worth the price they ask for. There is an expansion that adds 6 female romanceable targets and comes with better writing by Aleema. If you're not into GxG pairings, just forget about the expansion. Alternatively, treat this as "maybe you shouldn't play it" note if my description of it doesn't sound like something you'd like. <.<

Heileen series

1, 2, 3
If I'm not mistaken, their flagship series from before Aleema joined the team. Can't say much about it, since I only got to play the prologue thingy a bit. Seemed interesting enough to end up on my "finish playing it eventually" list though. 
Magical Diary: Horse Hall

Description, screenshots.
One of my personal favourites. Nice story, interesting gameplay mechanics, lots of various events. Some things seemed underdeveloped in "I want moar" sense (I'm looking at you, practical exams). The "main" romance path was good, the bits of other paths I saw weren't bad either.
Sadly no sequels for now and probably not in any near future.

 FREE STUFF BELOW 
RE: Alistair++

Description, screenshots.
One of first western-made VN/dating sims I played, so my memory of it is rather hazy. Still, it was a fun game. I don't think it's long, but at the same time I don't recall it feeling too short. Just good enough, I guess? 

 

Two demo/on hiatus/dropped VN projects by Aleema that made me her fan even before she joined WW and that I hope she will eventually return to, no matter how small chances of it are:

Seraphine: Into the Wind
Info.
Download link, because her old site she hosted it on is gone.
Screenshots.
Intriguing story and lore, fun rpg elements (and pleasantly challenging if you choose the hard mode). YMMV on this one, but I find these placeholder silhouettes for side characters and some events actually fitting and adding to the game's value (and I think some other people pointed it out in the game's thread too).

RockRobin
Info.
Download link for the same reason as Seraphine.
Screenshots.
Band manager with fun mechanics and interesting story (the demo contains the first chapter/arc/prelude of sorts).

Both seem like something that could have grown out into great game and are enjoyable even in their demo form.

 BACK TO NOT-FREE STUFF 
Japanese games that happen to have English translation:
Yo-Jin-Bo got released in English in ages past. Not sure where to get it. Opening instead of cover~

(bonus) Japanese games that don't seem to have any official English release and don't seem to have any finished translation patches:
QuinRose games ~❤
This company needs moar love from translators.
No, I haven't actually played any of these. <.<
It doesn't matter though.

Harukanaru Toki no Naka De series; apparently rather successful one, generating many sequels and spinoff media. Having only watched anime, can't really comment on gameplay or story branching, but as anime adaptations tend to be worse than games they're adapted from, and I enjoyed the anime, I'd say it's worth trying if you ever get your hands on English version/patch or some Japanese-speaking friend/husbando.

Edited by OMGWTFBBQPONIES, 28 November 2014 - 12:47 PM.

[Setsuka]

It's ok even if they're only demos, thank you so much!!

[Hummingmoon]

Hmmm. Well, not sure if you're still looking, but here are all the otome games I've played (or at least all the ones I can remember):

Frozen Essence (free)

Fantasia Realm of Thanos (free) (series)

Date Warp (not free but one of my favorites)

Heartstring Bugs (free) (I think you'd really like this one. It's really fluffy and sweet, and it focuses mainly on the romance. But has a nice touch of bittersweetness in it as well. It is really long, though. And a lot of it is repeated actions since it is a simulator game.)

Lucky Rabbit Reflex (not free, but one of my personal favorites)

1st Teen Story: Lollipop Love (free)

2nd Teen Story: X-mas (free) (made my over emotional self cry)

a2 ~a due~ (free, and another one of my personal favorites)

Fatal Hearts (not free)

Magical Diary (not free)

Finding a Prom Date (free)

Dandelion Wishes Brought to You (not free)

Get Dumped (free)

The Knife of the Traitor (free)

The Nettestadt Troll (free)

Other Age (free)

X-note (not free)

(P)lanets – the life of normalcy has ended! (free) (another one I think you'd really like)

RE: Alistair (the first otome game I ever played. Still one of my favorites to this day.)

RE: Prince of Nigeria (not sure if this one counts...But hey, it's free. )

Spirited Heart (not free)

That Cheap and Sacred Thing (free)

Zayay (...free.)

The Second Reproduction (free)

Princess Maker 2 (not a visual novel, but it does have romance in it. favorite game out of all I've listed.)

Heileen 2: The Hands of Fate (not free but a lot of fun)

Café 0 ~The Drowned Mermaid~ (not free)

Katawa Shoujo

Hakuoki (not free)

A Trolls Fairy Tale (free)

SPLENDIDEST OTOGE (free & online)

All of Pacthesis's games (free & online at deviantart)

 

 

And...Yeah. I'll post more if I remember them. I tried to keep the list limited to english visual novel otome games as best as I could. If you want to explore the medium further, you should check out Lemmesoft forums. It's where (pretty much if not) everyone posts their visual novel creations.

 

As for all the visual novels I've played... Uncountable. Seriously. I'm pretty sure the list itself would crash your computer.

Which is a sentence I thought I would be a lot more proud of than I am.

 

(What have I been doing with my life...?)

Edited by Hummingmoon, 01 December 2014 - 10:29 PM.

[OMGWTFBBQPONIES]

That RPG Maker thread made me remember this one:

Castle Chase
http://castlechase.dragonflydev.com/index.htm
^all kind of info you might need inside; 'side from being worth playing, it's also free~

[Hummingmoon]

That RPG Maker thread made me remember this one:

Castle Chase
http://castlechase.dragonflydev.com/index.htm
^all kind of info you might need inside; 'side from being worth playing, it's also free~

Oh, hey. I couldn't remember the name of that one for awhile now. Thanks for reminding me.   Now I can finally go download it again. (The first copy I had of it was wiped away along with many other things on my computer when it broke down and I had to get it fixed.)

Edited by Hummingmoon, 01 December 2014 - 10:59 PM.

[Setsuka]

Oh, I'm always accepting new recommendations to check out, Hummingmoon, thanks!

I love X-Note by Zeiva too!

[Hummingmoon]

Oh, I'm always accepting new recommendations to check out, Hummingmoon, thanks!

I love X-Note by Zeiva too!

 

Anytime.

Did you know Zeiva made a sequel to X-Note? I haven't played it yet, but if you like the series, you should definitely go give it a try. It looks good.

Edited by Hummingmoon, 04 December 2014 - 05:08 PM.