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Post by shelverton on May 27, 2015 10:11:29 GMT -5
I play video games so I can "be" someone who I'm normally not. Like, in games where I can create a character I usually don't create someone who resembles my true self in the slightest. Where'sthe fun in that? Not that these otome games have sex scenes in them (or do they?) and I'm generally not into sex scenes at all in video games, but if I'm gonna have sex in a game I could see myself having every kind of sex imaginable - guy on girl, girl on girl, guy on guy, and everything in between. I feel a lot of people think that it "means something" if they do that. They should relax a bit more and have fun instead. I'm guessing the guys who can't play otome games are the same guys who refused to get the achievement in Rockstars "Bully" where you had to kiss a boy. I still laugh at those people Or people who cannot play games with a female protagonist. Yes, I remember a fee of those at the CVD when OoE was new... Sigh..
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Post by kaoru on May 27, 2015 10:27:06 GMT -5
Not that these otome games have sex scenes in them (or do they?) Only very few do. And then that'd be only in a PC released one anyways, not on consoles/handhelds. FWIW Hakuouki on the 3DS seems to have some little backstory extras for the guys (but apparently they can also be pretty glitchy?) and you can take pictures with them. Like in you as the player can take a picture of yourself and then put the guys in them, photo booth style. Amazing.
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Post by speedlolita on May 27, 2015 10:37:13 GMT -5
I've been playing Sweet Fuse on and off since a friend posted a screenshot of him playing it on his Vita on Twitter. It's... Quite peculiar really. Perhaps I'm missing nuances of the genre because I'm a dude but everything has been really passive so far, with a little bit of desciption of characters personalities and good traits.
The fact you're playing as the niece of Keiji Inafune is a bizzare choice too. Mind you, with that and the nods to other games it is pretty enjoyable just to read. So far the choices I've made seem to have made next to no significant effect on anything.
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Post by Colonel Kurtz on May 27, 2015 12:44:06 GMT -5
The genre seems actually pretty cool, and a different experience at the very least. I'm all for that: something different. But where to begin? Is there a good, free one to get a taste of the genre? (Except Phoenix Wright, I simply don't know anything regarding visual novels.)
Also, even you guys don't seem to really play these games much. Is it because of lack of translations?...
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Post by Scylla on May 27, 2015 12:53:30 GMT -5
Let's face it: otome games aren't much different than western, cheezy franchises like Twinlight and Sex and the City which don't focus at good stories but at women's fantasies dating or being surrounded by multiple men of their dreams. Also I doubt if most men whine about them for not being aiming at them. Video games aiming mainly at female audience existed since old times: license games based on girls' toys and cartoons, dressing games, pony simulators...Not to mention about classics like Pac-Man which were designed to attract female audience. Finally comments like "their loss for not playing them" makes you sound like a fangirl that expects from everyone to have the same tastes. *rolls my eyes extremely hard* "I doubt if most men whine about them" -> proceeds to whine about them I never said "most", anyway. I said "a lot", and if you want to argue over what constitutes "a lot", fine, but it's my own personal assessment based upon the fact that I see complaining virtually every single time they're brought up in any space that isn't exclusive to female gamers. Announcements or discussions of otome games are typically met with comments like "Eww gross" and "Why aren't they releasing bishoujo games?" Basically there are a lot of male gamers who act offended that otome games even exist. It's a matter of entitlement. When you're used to everything being catered to you all the time, you suddenly feel slighted if the scales tip even to a miniscule degree in a more balanced direction. Comparing otome games to licensed garbage targeted at 5-year-old girls is absurd at best, offensive at worst. Those games were never made because girls were thinking they were so great and clamoring for more; the publishers were just banking on parents picking them up or clueless kids asking for them just because they're tied to something they like. It's these junk games that play a role in why there aren't more female gamers in the first place. If the only games you played as a kid were garbage, I bet you'd lose interest in the hobby as you got older too. And male gamers didn't care about them because they knew they weren't missing out on anything. Who cares if something isn't targeted at you if it's quickly thrown together licensed trash? And if the alternative is the developer making licensed trash targeted at boys, who cares then either? With otome games, it's clear that time and money is poured into a lot of them, and they come from publishers that also release popular games targeted at a male demographic. So as far as entitled male gamers see it, those resources should be put into something they do want to play, not "wasted" on otome games. Likewise, localizers like MangaGamer, Idea Factory International, and Aksys mostly localize games for a primarily male audience, so when an otome game is picked up for localization, many male fans of those localizers are outraged over the choice, listing off a million other Japan-only games they'd rather see localized instead. And, no, I don't think everyone should, or can, have the same tastes, but I do think there are fans of visual novels who would find enjoyment in otome games if they were less closed-minded about them. It's silly to judge any type of game and be convinced that you won't like it if you've never given it a try whatsoever. Anyway, I'm dignifying this post with far more lengthy of a reply than it deserves. So I'll just wrap it up and say: do please tell me which otome games games you've played that are comparable to Twilight and Sex and the City. While the otome genre is no different from any other in that there are plenty of shitty games, I cannot say I've played a single one that I could compare to those movies/show. Also, even if a female-targeted product's primary purpose is wish fulfillment, why is that wrong, when so many male-targeted products are precisely that and accepted just fine?
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Post by Scylla on May 27, 2015 13:05:14 GMT -5
I am very curious about this genre, and my best bet right now seems to be Hakuoki Memories of the Shinsensomething on the 3DS. At least it's the only one I know is out in Europe. I don't think Sweet Fuse ever made it here? I dig both samurais and guys with unrealistically pretty faces, so all I need to know about Hakouki at this point... Is the game any good? Also, is it the same game as Demon of the Fleeting Blossom on the PSP? EDIT: Sweet Fuse seems to have been released here after all. Possibly only digitally though. Will have to look into that. Would like a physical copy, so US import maybe. Or get a new memory card so I can download the damn thing. Yep, same game with some extra content. Also released on PS3 with even more extra content. If I'm not mistaken, the PS3 release of Hakuoki has the entirety of one of the fandiscs on there, so basically they added another whole game to it. And yeah, I believe you're right that Sweet Fuse made it to Europe but digital-only. Unfortunately that seems to be the trend with the few otome games that are getting localized. I know Norn9 is coming out physically in the US but not Europe, and I believe it may be the same with Code: Realize (both are Aksys localizations). (With the Ozmafia and Amnesia localizations, nobody is getting a physical release. Well, maybe Ozmafia could theoretically get a print run down the road, since MangaGamer usually considers digital sales before they decide to make hard copies for collectors or not.) And yeah, Hakuoki is very good! Loads of history and drama. Some routes don't even have a ton of romance, actually.
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Post by Scylla on May 27, 2015 13:23:55 GMT -5
The genre seems actually pretty cool, and a different experience at the very least. I'm all for that: something different. But where to begin? Is there a good, free one to get a taste of the genre? (Except Phoenix Wright, I simply don't know anything regarding visual novels.) Also, even you guys don't seem to really play these games much. Is it because of lack of translations?... If you want something free (short of pirating), that basically rules out everything but indie games (which aren't always free themselves). I don't bother with them because I have my hands full just trying to make a dent in my backlog of retail games, and a lot of the time these amateur games have pretty eugh art and I'm shallow enough to be put off by that, haha. But you could look into NaNoRenO, which is a yearly month-long game jam for visual novels, a lot of which are otome games. I have no idea which are considered the best, but there's a lot to choose from, at least, and I doubt any are a huge time commitment.
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Post by ZenithianHero on May 27, 2015 13:26:41 GMT -5
The fact you're playing as the niece of Keiji Inafune is a bizzare choice too. Mind you, with that and the nods to other games it is pretty enjoyable just to read. So far the choices I've made seem to have made next to no significant effect on anything. Inafune himself shows up too. I should pick it up next time Aksys has a sale. I keep bumping it down my wishlist.
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Post by Colonel Kurtz on May 27, 2015 13:30:10 GMT -5
The genre seems actually pretty cool, and a different experience at the very least. I'm all for that: something different. But where to begin? Is there a good, free one to get a taste of the genre? (Except Phoenix Wright, I simply don't know anything regarding visual novels.) Also, even you guys don't seem to really play these games much. Is it because of lack of translations?... If you want something free (short of pirating), that basically rules out everything but indie games (which aren't always free themselves). I don't bother with them because I have my hands full just trying to make a dent in my backlog of retail games, and a lot of the time these amateur games have pretty eugh art and I'm shallow enough to be put off by that, haha. But you could look into NaNoRenO, which is a yearly month-long game jam for visual novels, a lot of which are otome games. I have no idea which are considered the best, but there's a lot to choose from, at least, and I doubt any are a huge time commitment. Thank youuuuu Scylla for the info! Why not try something new? Interesting thread, this one...
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Post by speedlolita on May 27, 2015 13:33:01 GMT -5
That above screenshot seems pretty spoilerish to be honest!
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Post by kaoru on May 27, 2015 13:42:08 GMT -5
The original doujin version of Hatoful Boyfriend was available for free. At least back in 2011 when I played it, not sure if it's still offered that way now that there are the spiffied up Steam versions and such. But might be worth looking out for it and the translation patch.
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Post by speedlolita on May 27, 2015 13:45:56 GMT -5
Ah Hatoful Boyfriend... I should be getting my pillow cover in a few months time... Couldn't resist.
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Post by Scylla on May 27, 2015 14:08:11 GMT -5
The Hatoful dakimakura? Haha, that thing is a hoot.
I dunno about when Hatoful first went up, but I know for a while prior to it appearing on Steam it cost 5 bucks. I bought it then too, but as a gift. It's actually something that a segment of the VN fandom gets riled up about because pirating of the game is so rampant, despite that it's so cheap. Most VN developers are pretty small and some have even gone out of business because of pirating, so I hate to see VNs pirated regardless but it's even worse when we're talking about low-cost indie games.
That's one thing nice about the Vita right now because people will be forced to buy Amnesia, Code: Realize, and Norn9 if they want to play them. PSP pirating was just...ridiculous. I honestly feel bad for Aksys with how much Hakuoki and Sweet Fuse were pirated. And I kinda doubt sales of Sweet Fuse were that amazing, so if those downloads were purchases instead, I'm sure it would've helped a lot and probably resulted in more otome localizations since then.
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Post by speedlolita on May 27, 2015 14:15:31 GMT -5
Yes the dakimakura. It is slightly smaller than my COSPA one though, so not quite full size.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 15:25:29 GMT -5
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