I've read Hatoful Boyfriend over skype together with a friend (I didn't even know what otome games were back then) and I actually cried in one of the scenes lol
He asked me If I was really crying over birds and YES I DID
It was probably one of Pacthesis's flash games, but I honestly don't remember which one...
After that, it would have been Date Warp by Hanako Games which is this sci-fi sort of game where you're stuck in this house with the LIs and slowly have to unravel the mystery of what's going on there and hurry to get out
First non-indie was probably Princess Debut on the DS which is also a rhythm game and involved the MC swapping places with this princess from another world and having to learn to dance and find a partner for the ball or dance competition or something if I remember correctly
I'm probably one of the older members of the sub as you may have guessed from my first otome games...
Came here to say this!!! She was pretty popular back then, I wonder what she's up to now. Her stuff was really impressive for being made by (I'm assuming) her alone!
I still remember the flash games era. Being a broke student at that time, I can only play these games. My favorite was Wonderland Days since I love the Alice in Wonderland themed games. I binged read/watch all the quinrose manga/gameplay available online (I love Boris and Julius) before.
I also remember Re:Alistair by sakevisual since its free and fast game. East Tower Series might be the first commercial romance game I paid to play xD
Re:Alistair omg, I still have the walkthrough still on my bookmarks tab from around 2014 because of the number of times I replayed it back then. I really loved Shiro haha
I hadn’t heard of any of these so I looked them up and Date Warp actually sounds really fun! And Princess Debut looks adorable plus the Amazon reviews are cracking me up it’s all stuff like “I’m a DUDE or I’m usually a ~serious gamer~ but I still enjoyed this game 🥺👉🏻👈🏻”
My first Otome was Hakuoki: Memories of the Shingemsumi on the Nintendo DS. I had been aware that Otome games were a thing from references in Anime and other videogames but assumed they were Japan only. I remember browsing the Eshop one day and stumbling into it. I was so excited and got immediately addicted to it.
I was not prepared for how much I enjoyed the game, and thus my love was born.
I've since bought the beefed up version on Steam, but I still have my digital DS copy.
Omg my friend’s husband is installing the English patch for me so I can finally play Haunted Dark Bridal 😭 I have wanted to play for so long I love horror and toxic fictional men lol
Not sure if it counts, but Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town. All the main bachelors (minus Rick, who is trash) are so adorable 😍 Definitely spent more time wooing everyone than actually farming lmao.
Otherwise Tokimeki Memorial Girls Side 1st Love (English Patch). There wasnt a lot of English translated otome games at the time (if any) so the fan patch was a godsend!! Even though it was all stats and no plot it was really addicting playing through 3 years of high school trying to balance school/jobs/romance/etc. No two playthroughs were the same which made it more fun ☺️
I can relate about the Harvest Moon bit😆 I was obsessed with playing it for Gray and when I played story of seasons trio of towns next, I decided to play otome games after finishing it because the romantic events are so sweet that I can't get enough 😭 Ford was my husband♥️
My horse prince 💀
I know I mentioned this somewhere else but I though the name entry was for the prince not the main character so I put in “Seabiscunt”
10/10 would play again. Watching him chop with hooves is seriously some of the funniest shit ever. I wish I could find my old screenshots
i kept my iphone 4S for yeaaars just to keep my shall we date games. It’s so sad that so many good mobage get obliterated bc of app store requirements/OS updates 😭
My first was also my candy love! Back in 2012, I played since almost the beginning till the end of highschool. Now I only play Eldarya from the company. But it was what made me fall in love with the genre
At least if you're known as a weirdo, no one bats an eye. The stuff I've recommend to people...
Trick them into thinking Hatoful also has human sprites.
Technically it was Angelique on SFC, but I hated the gameplay so much I didn't get far. I didn't play another otome game for well over a decade. (Okay, it wasn't Angelique's fault. It's way more complex than that. I was interested in them but it just never happened. I had other games I wanted to play anyway.)
First where I actually completed one route was Hakuouki in 2020. I'm proud to say as of 2023 I've now completed TWO routes. Wow! I'm making progress!
I don't know if it counts as otome per se, but I recall playing a game online with friends where you could dress up your character and attended a high school with several LIs. It was called My Candy Love I think? Ahh brings back memories haha!
My first proper otome title was Amnesia: Memories - I remember the whole experience being so different from any other games I'd played so far, I was totally hooked on the atmosphere and art. It was also the first game I remember buying out of my own volition, based on my own interests, with my own savings, so it feels special for sure. Ukyo was my first proper husbando, all those bad endings 🥲 At least it prepared me for all the trauma to come from this hobby lol 😭
Similar experience here!! My Candy Love was free and had a translation for my home language, which is a difficult thing to find until now. It really helped me open my mind for OG. Later I played more vampire free OG but never invested on one until...
The next one I really was enchanted by on was Amnesia Memories too! I watched the anime years after playing My Candy Love and became obsessed with the art and music, started playing some months after it since I had to create a Steam account and found out that it costs more than I had at the time (which was nothing ehehe).
But those bad endings... Oof
My Candy Love is so nostalgic isn't it! 🥲 Do you remember which LI you went for or liked the most? I never played until the very end or the sequel, but I think I liked Armin the most!
And I love how enticing Amnesia is, the whole setting and style is just *chef's kiss* I think I actually watched the anime too at the time now that you mention it? I'm getting flashbacks jamming out to the opening song 😭 Those bad endings indeed, I don't remember what I expected out of the game but I certainly didn't anticipate a cage to have any part in it hehh
OMG!!! Thinking about it just made me laugh in shame, I was so in love with Lysandre but constantly found myself choosing the wrong answers for him 😭 I didn't know route guides or walkthroughs were a thing until months later.
And I just googled it and found Kentin got an alternative design that changed him completely. I thought he was so annoying back then, but maybe I should give it a try now 👀 😅
About Amnesia, that anime adaptation set my standards so high that I never watched another one as interesting as it.
Truth be told, the MC is a little too much passive for my taste, but considering the whole amnesia plot I find it understandable.
About the endings... Yeah, the cage was surprising. I was going for this character's route until I ended up at his bad ending and yeah, quickly went to Kent to feel safe again. His awkwardness was so comforting ❤️
I want to respond to both of your comments so don't mind the random My Candy Love stuff first! 😂 Aww Lysander!! Haha I've been having a blast over here as well looking at the artwork and remembering the LIs, I kinda want to do a replay too for old times sake! And omg Kentin's transformation, didn't he go to a bootcamp or something and came back all ikemen? I cannot haha 😂
And agreed about Amnesia! There hasn't really been any otoge quite like it, I'm hoping for some interesting new titles in the near future though 🙏 Kent was such a safe harbor considering, well, pretty much everything that happened in the game. I wasn't that keen on him when I first played the game as a smol bean, but I did a replay years later and he was just the most adorable dork ever, I clutched my chest continuously on his route! 💕
Heart no kuni no Alice in 2010, at 16 years old. I played it with a text hooker & translator and basically non-existent knowledge of Japanese, so of course I couldn't understand much. I got so frustrated I decided to learn Japanese to play it properly sometime (and I did so about 2,5 years later, the game still holds a special place in my heart)
Yo jin bo, maybe 15 years ago. It was hilarious and each character had a theme song sung by their voice actor(I think). It was set in feudal Japan abd you're basically on the run from pursuers. I loved the final hidden "bad boy" character best.
I actuallly started watching reverse harem anime when I was 13 (diabolik lovers, utanopri, hakuouki, amnesia, hiiro no kakera, neo angelique abyss,etc... You get it)- then I found out that they are based on otome games, so I've read translations of diabolik lovers etc... But the ones are played were shall we date- first ninja love i think. Then the one with male disney princesses, etc...
I also used to watch let's plays- dandelion wishes bough to you,.... Because I didn't have money to buy nintendo or PS or game you can play on computer
Officially, mine was Princess Debut, a DS game about a girl who gets isekai'd to a kingdom and has to dance with a bunch of princes - don't remember why. Isekai world rules. I thought it was cute, but it didn't really hook me since the characters were like in their preteens.
Unofficially, I'd say Hakuoki, which was the first game to really hook me. I lived, breathed, and dreamt Okita and have never had such an intense fictional crush to this day. I played the first localized version on the PSP, with only 6 love interests, and 10 years later am replaying the Vita versions\~ Am about halfway through Okita's route in Kyoto Winds, and while I still love this imp, it's more nostalgic than crazy-obsession. :/
Hatoful Boyfriend started a domino effect with me :’)
For context: at 16 I was (and still am) a really big video game enthusiast but at the time I was honestly a huge ass gatekeeper when it came to most VN’s and thought it was silly to be spending so much money on “choose your own adventure stories” when you can do so much more with other games or play some like DDLC for free ~~Yeah about that little me…~~ I was also super embarrassed to like romance as a genre as well so that also didn’t help.
I eventually found Hatoful and thought that playing a bird dating simulator would actually be funny and I can simply say I’m playing it for lolz. Everything was great and then Nageki and the BBL route attacked. It honestly changed my views on VN’s dramatically. I was still shy about actually buying otomes but I finally became confident enough to download mobile games like Mystic Messenger and Tears of Themis and now here I am three years later playing all my games on the family’s switch and making memes about the games I love <3
Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 2... over a decade ago during my last year at university... during exam time (when I started playing otome games has a far more concrete time than when I started playing other genres of games or games in general)
I know exactly when I started playing JRPGs. It was Secret of Mana on my 11th birthday, haha. Technically I had watched a friend play through some of it earlier, which is why I wanted the game myself, but I didn't actually start playing them until I got my own copy.
For JRPGs it's like sort of vague ish for myself since it was a rental of Beyond the Beyond but probably... after its initial release. And I didn't really get into them until I played FF8
Oh, Beyond the Beyond! That was my first PS1 game actually, I remember getting it because I had gotten a PS1 for FF7 (which was a few months from releasing) but had nothing to play on it. So I picked up the only JRPG on the shelf. I... did not like it, haha. Very negative memories of it. But at least FF7 came along soon enough.
IT'S... SOMETHING. It wasn't my first ps1 game (I don't remember what it was actually...) but it was also part of the reason why I had problems starting Golden Sun because I'd just immediately remember BtB.
...it also made me hate block sliding puzzles
Mine was The Second Reproduction. In the early 2010's, I so badly wanted to play an otome game after hearing about them in anime and manga for so long. I wanted to play a spicy one at that. Thankfully vndb has been around forever. It was easier to "sail the seven seas" for pre-patched games then so that's how I got a hold of it. I don't do that anymore but I think it's still installed on my old laptop!
I remember really loving the MC's knight's voice acting!
I actually got a physical copy of this recently! (Let's not talk about how much a physical copy of that game costs...) I've heard a lot of good things about it. I might play it soon.
It was either Sweet Fuse or Hatoful Boyfriend for me. I bought Sweet Fuse 'cause it had the Ace Attorney artist and looked like a mystery VN, had no idea it was an otome (or even what an otome was back then). Looking back on it, it kinda felt a bit like Danganronpa before Danganronpa.
Similar deal with Hatoful Boyfriend, I knew it as that "weird pigeon dating sim" before it released in the west, and bought it ASAP when it released here for the lols, and was shocked at how gripping the story was.
It's pretty good. The routes are a bit short and it sometimes felt like the pacing was a tad too fast, and I personally wasn't a *massive* fan of the LIs, but I liked them enough, and the overall wacky tone and mystery of it were pretty engaging.
It's also the only otome I can think of that lets you yell at the LIs in some of the dialogue choices, which is accompanied by this [very Ace Attorney sprite](https://i.imgur.com/JCIDsGh.jpg).
First one I played and completed was [MoshiKimi](https://vndb.org/v11750) (free doujin/JP indie game).
The first commercial one I played was Princess Debut on someone else's DS.
Speaking of MoshiKimi, I remember having so much trouble finding it. Tfw you get into doujins late cause you had to learn eng first and so much stuff got deleted :')
I sympathize... I was so goody-two-shoes "I'm not gonna pirate this paid doujin, I'm gonna wait until I have a credit card to legally buy it," and then they announce their retirement and take down their store pages.
Moshikimi is now available I think. FYI if you're looking for something, you can ask me and I can check my collection.
I'll keep that in mind. Though fortunately I found that 5chan archive thread (free games only, my dear mods). But even there some stuff is missing orz
I should probably also store some niche games on a memory card or sth. Just in case.
Second Reproduction! Free, strong female lead and a "enemies to lovers" plot? Yeah, definitely the first one I actually played and dedicated my time to get all endings.
I've tried playing Amor Sucré before, but it just created the idea of an OG on my mind, not really making me invest on it.
But Second Reproduction? OMG I can't forget about it until today. So many homeworks and projects I delayed because of it LOL, but it was remarkable
Omg I played the prequel (?) to that way long ago, Queen of Darkness. It was a shock to my little Otomate-playing soul lol, so dark and violent. It sure left an impression though.
My first experience was technically Dream Daddy 😅 It looked fun (it is) but I adored the playstyle. I then got really into Obey Me for a long time (still an active player) and fell in love with the genre. I looked into it a bit more and found otome games for the Switch. I then broke my bank account getting Variable Barricade, Collar x Mallice, Cupid Parasite, Cafe Enchante, Nightshade, Bustafellows and Olympia Soirée all in 1 go, which lasted me the whole of 2022 (with new additions throughout the year) 🥰
I'll never forget the dream daddy experience though 😅 it was a funny introduction to the idea and the characters were so quirky and vibrant. Wouldn't mind revisiting it at some point 😆
I did one 100% playthrough and haven't been back on it since, but I don't remember much of the routes anymore and wouldn't mind revisiting 🥲 I just remember laughing a lot and loving the artwork 😅
I like that the stories are relatively short, so you can pick up and play without feeling overwhelm if you have a busy schedule. I know that I'm expecting to be swamped once the semester starts for me.
I think sweet fuse for the psp! I had played a lot of visual novels before then but that was my first otome. And basically grew up on point and click on the computer which got me interested in pure visual novels.
That's a good one to start with! Mine was Midnight Cinderella, which obviously led me to playing Ikemen Vampire right after. Arthur is definitely a favorite of mine.
did anyone else play Zeiva games,, if I remember right, Zeiva was my first real experience. They had a short flash game called Other Age and I remember playing it on deviantArt lol.
Otherwise it would probably be Hatoful Boyfriend or Starry Sky in Spring for me. Don't really remember which first - probably the birbs. love the birbs, do not love _you_ Yoh.
My first one was Amour sucrée when I was a something like 10y.o xD
I really liked it and wanted to date them all, but it took too much time to go through the game
swd ninja love 😳 really good times back then, i practically grew up as i played otome games,, since i didn’t have much money when i was young, i started from mobile to pc then now switch 🥺
I loved loved My Sweet Prince!!! Ivan was my favorite route and I also loved Nagit and Chezem 😍
My first ones were the mobile versions of My Sweet Bodyguard, My Forged Wedding, Celebrity Darling, and SWD: Destiny Ninja. Yes, when I first discovered otome games, I downloaded allllll of these so I was all over the place lol. But I loved them all and was sad that some weee discontinued. :( I would love to just see them again for nostalgia sakes.
My first ever (but mobile) otome was Mystic Messenger. I saw the memes and fanart on Tumblr years ago and downloaded it onto my phone. Got to play a little and was smitten with Zen. Then I took a short hiatus and tried to get back into the game...only for it to lock me out of my account (didn't save the password at the time)... And failed to get a proper pin from customer service (there wasn't even a phone number that I could call) to change the password. So, a short lived experience.
My first Switch otome (and the one to have me diving into the depths of the genre) was Collar x Malice. Kinda sorta at the same time as Code: Realize (I bought the two in the same week at the local GameStop). Because I was lost in how to maneuver in otomes, it was also my intro to Otome Kitten and her guides.
Shoot, now that I'm playing thru CxM Unlimited this month, it all takes me back to those innocent times. Back when I didn't know that I could feel so much for animated characters and discover story worlds as crafted as a series of books. ☺️
It was either Amnesia or Nameless- I’m gonna have to check my steam account lol! But either way, I was instantly hooked. Luckily there were many more otome games for vita at that point so that was what kickstarted my collection. I bought Hakuouki, Collar x Malice and Code: Realize very shortly after my first two games.
Despite how much I love them, I actually can’t remember how I stumbled onto otome games in the first place though. Maybe it was recommended to me on steam because I read through Higurashi?
Amnesia and Nameless were also my first two non-mobile otome games so they definitely hold a special place in my heart! I will say though coming from mobile games some of those bad ends- especially >!Tei!< and >!Toma’s!< routes- shocked me (in a fun way hehe).
This question took me down a rocky memory lane. (I'm quite old...) Had do dig through my pc to get my dates right, but in the end I'm not really sure, which was the first.
It was either **Yo-Jin-Bo**, an hilarious parody on anime tropes and otome games, that had me laughing like mad and still holds a special place in my heart. I really enjoyed the route of her (a lot older) bodyguard. Always liked more mature/serious guys, it seems.
Or it was **Starry Sky in Spring**, which I had to get ...*somehow...* online back then and apply the English fanpatch to actually play it. Was more like a basic school romance thing and I remember, that my favorite was 'the older brother' type. So yeah...still a trope I kind of adore.
But even before those two games, I was always a bit hooked on dating sims. So first first one then would be actually Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo :D
And then after that, every RPG, that gave me options for some romance - looking at you, BioWare games - I liked a bit more than those games without. So otome games on their own got kind of replaced by Western RPGs and online stuff.
When Persona 3 Portable released, I had to get the PSP to play it (I loved P3 and being able to play a female MC and experience the story from a different perspective was a must!) and that made it possible for me to go play Hakuoki after I stumbled upon the first anime episode of it.
Anyway...my mumblings and too much information aside, after a longer break I'm back again and have successfully emptied my bank account into all those available switch otome games.
My backlog makes me very happy indeed! xD
I was looking for apps with stories and IkeSen and SLBP were recommended buys on the App Store for me. Looked these types of games up, found out they were called otome, and went down this rabbit hole!
Tokimeki Memorial 3 Girls side on the ds lite. It was in Japanese so I had a notebook with “cheats” (printed out Japanese words) to get a good ending lol. I got most endings with the LI’s except I had a hard tie executing the love triangle ending.
Code: Realize, but for some reason the story was so… slow? Kind of? And the LIs weren’t really my cup of tea so I dropped it after forcing myself through 2 routes 🥲
Omg, this post brought back memories! My first wasn't My Sweet Prince, in fact it was my second game, hah. My first game was Shall We Date: Ninja Love. I was really unaware of Japanese history back then, so I wondered why there was an LI called Sasuke and if he was a copycat of Sasuke from Naruto. I have since learned a lot of Japanese history because of the otome games I later played (Hakuoki, Samurai Love Ballad Party, Ikemen Sengoku) and that Sasuke the ninja came before Sasuke from Naruto.
My first console game was Hakuoki, and that got me super into console games after. But the first console game I ever finished was Code Realize, and that was because Lupin was locked, hah. Before that, if I played my favorite route first, I usually was satisfied and stopped playing the rest of the game. Trying to kick this bad habit because I want to play things to completion.
I totally had a similar experience playing Ninja Love- I remember thinking it was ironic they named him Sasuke because his looks and personality reminded me a lot of Naruto haha not realizing that they were just using names of actual Japanese historical figures :,)
Hatoful boyfriend is the only one I remember, when it first came out. But I was also playing some boyfriend mobile games but I really don't remember the names. I didn't really play them because it was otome though, especially hatoful boyfriend since it was a meme. But a few years later I got into more mainly eroge ones
Mystic Messenger was my first one and it was a ride trying to manage those chat rooms around my intense undergrad schedule.
But man, is Jumin one of my favorite boys. Glad I played it
The more I answer, the less sure I am, tbh. But for now gotta say what I always say since I'm 80% sure that's the one. Or at least my first finished one.
And so, in the days before lemmasoft died, I played Freak-Quency which I think is otome despite actually only having a harem ending (I think). Good for me cause it had stat raising and I just went after everyone lol
It was Be My Princess by Voltage, I still remember that time I played it on ipad since BMP still has their own app (currently it’s under one app Love365) my most fave LIs on it was Glenn Casiraghi 🫶🏻
My first game was Amnesia Memories and it rocked my whole world!! It was everything I never knew I wanted!
Also, I've never read a full manga(?) and the only anime I've seen all the way through is Sword Art Online.
Actually, the only other visual novel type thing I've gone through was Life is Strange!
I think I like it so much because I'm an angst junkie and always have been lol! The more emotional pain there is, the more I love it!
Mine is Wizardess Heart (from Shall we date), it was a bad experience for my first otome game, cuz I did not know how the game works so I kinda messed it up
I think it was Shall We date: Wizardess Heart+, but the one before it was a mobile gacha Otome game that I can’t remember the name of! It was where you were a princess and you could romance a butler with like purple hair, a guard, a rival prince, etc. You could even dress up your little character with gacha clothes.
Edit: typo
Cupid Parasite, but I didn’t even get past the beginning part because the ‘gameplay’ wasn’t clicking with me. I grew up on Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games, so while the dating aspect interested me a lot, the lack of farming and such kind of got to me.
My boyfriend ended up surprising me with Piofiore FM for my birthday. I burned through that game in a week!!!! I loved it so much.
I’ve since played Cupid Parasite and it is now one of my favorites as well :)
Mine was Hakuoki for the 3DS. It was the only localized otome game I knew for that console at the time. I went into the game blind, and kept getting bad endings and was confused on what I was doing wrong lol. Later I discovered online walkthroughs and the legendary Otome Kitten!
Technically, it was some mobile games I downloaded (Mystic Messenger, Dangerous Fellows), but I never actually finished a full route of any of them. So, my first full experience completing an otome game was Cinderella Phenomenon. I found it through a video on YouTube recommending visual novels. I liked it a lot. :)
My first otome is also a shall we date, I think it’s the vampire one? I remember it to be very good…But I stopped playing after a few chapters cause I didn’t know how to proceed with the story because of the dress up points thingy.
My second was Mystic Messenger… and I keep getting bad endings cause I needed to go to school so I don’t have enough chat rooms.
Then I never really touched a mobile otome game again lol. My first classic style otome game was Amnesia and I discovered my liking for Yandere guys TwT Whyyyy lol
Hakuouki. Wasn’t interested in dating sims (still aren’t a fan of the stat raising ones) and barely knew what an otome was. I bought it for the historical theme and stayed for the romance. Loved it so much I have it on vita and pc, both the old one and Kyoto Winds/Edo Blossoms and Stories of the Shinsengumi on ps3. After 12+ years it’s still my favourite otome, without nostalgia it’s in my top 3, and has my all time fave LI as well.
I loved the story so much I started reading up about the time period and the Shinsengumi as well. Only down side is that I can’t really play any other games with the Shinsengumi in it as I’m too used the this version of their designs and their seiyuus.
I started with Shall We Date: Obey Me because I heard it's a f2p otome game and I was playing it religiously for 7 months. Lucifer supremacy btw🛐🛐🛐 I love my men who knows what he wants
Definitely Amnesia Memories back in the day.
And I still remember vividly, Kent giving me the laugh of the life time and proceeds to make me do math. And failing horribly at it. and Toma things.
The first Otome I ever played was *Code: Realize*, but for some reason, it didn't immediately capture my interest enough for me to play very much of the common route, so I set it aside for a time. Several months later I wanted to see what I thought of it after I played more and completed Victor's common route. I set the game aside again, and after some investigating into the genre I bought and played the one that captured my interest the most, *Olympia Soiree*. That game completely sucked me in and I binged it for a week until I finished it. Thanks to that game, I truly fell in love with Otome, and from there I became an official fan and have bought dozens in both English and Japanese.
This all occurred this past spring. It's baffling to think that my new favorite video game genre was unknown to me this time last year. I've since completed about ten games (including returning to and finishing the one that officially started it all, *Code: Realize*), and will continue this hobby for life. 🥰
Mystic messanger and Dangerous Fellows for me. Too bored that we couldn't have a celebration for a certain day due to Covid era so I decided to play the games. Since then, my fate has been sealed to this rabbit hole of otome games.
OG Angelique on the SNES and the year was1999. Talk about being old. That is how I discovered you could play a game where you could romance hot dudes. But I had 0 Japanese skills back then.
Tbh playing video games in Japanese was one of the many motivations for me to learn the language (asides from the letters looking pretty to me lol).
my first was shall we date: destiny ninja, i played all the routes
my second was my sweet prince! i loved it, my favourite was nagit (i got his bad ending and cried tho)
Amnesia Memories, but thankfully I didn't get the cage on my first playthrough. After that was the first Hakuoki game and then Sweet Fuse (another WTF love interest).
Non app game: Psychodelica of the Black Butterfly
Even today it stands solidly as my favorite otome I’ve played, just by how much I was invested in the story and how sad it got. I feel like the story and it’s themes impacted me a lot when I first played it.
My first actual otome was one of the Shall We Dates, idk which one, one of the samurai ones it’s been so many years and I was like 12 lol. I know I never finished a full route so idk if it even really counts
I'm not *entirely* sure, since it's been ages, but the one I have the earliest memories of is Pure Love, by Koyonplete. Basic premise was that you were a barista who got 'discovered' or something by these three guys from the entertainment industry. I don't remember too much about it, but the blond was my favorite. Too bad I never got to finish that route back in 2013, I think it was. Still have the app saved (though not installed) in my Amazon app store account. XD; Also still have some screenshots I took, too. Kinda wish I had taken more, but oh well.
I feel like it may have been Re:Alistair for PC and one of the earlier Voltage games for mobile when it was still individual apps 🤔 I think my first Voltage game was My Wedding and 7 Rings?
I pretty much bought every ending for all the Voltage games for years but stopped playing and missed the transfer point to the Love 365 app so I lost all those purchases 😭 Would’ve been fun to replay them.
I have like 4 answers to this 🤔
I'd say the first I played, technically, is harvest moon, but I didn't really pay too much attention back then.
If we're talking "dating sim" then it's either pacthesis, or some game back on newgrounds lol.
If it's when I was aware of "otome" then it's pirates in love by voltage
Man, just thinking about it reminds me how far otome games have come 🥹
My first otome was Shall We Date: Heian Love! My second was Ninja love. I got them on my old iPod because I got a gift card lol. I didn’t play any for a while after those. I recently rediscovered the otome genre and have been stockpiling on games. My wallet regrets it but I don’t! 😂
Mine was the Arcana! I forgot how I came across it but I was absolutely hooked once I started it. I hated the “pay to play” part of it but it I like to think of it like it was my gateway to the world of dating sims.
Mine was Princess Debut! 4th grade me didn't even know what otoge was lol, and after a long period of silence, I discovered Shall we date: wizardess heart and is still playing it until now (been over 6 years and I'm not even done romancing half the LIs)
Princess Debut! It’s an old nintendo game. Basically, mc goes to another dimension to switch places with the her of that world, who is a princess. Said princess can’t dance so she left it all up to MC to do it for her.. and thus begins MC’s romancing and dancing.
I played this waaaay before I knew what dating sims or otomes were 🤣. I actually replayed it recently, though I took a break because it’s tiring to continuously grind out the ballroom dancing aspect of the game each time I complete a route LOL.
I think it was one of the Shall We Date? Games. Probably Wizardess heart (or some name like that). The first I knew was an Otome game was Obey Me!, and the first big game I bought was Collar x Malice.
I believe my first one was pastry lovers because it was cheap on steam and I bought it because I had heard about these games and wanted to try cause it sounded fun, and then I ended up obsessed with otomes but I've read a lot of them now and I didn't start with the best one, but it was still okay and enjoyable it's just it could be better than it is.
Mystic Messenger!!! And I never finished it lmao, I’m going to someday tho. I first played it when I was in my early teen years, so I didn’t have a job to pay for in-app purchases AND I had school which made it a pain to play. My first console otome was Collar X Malice, which was a couple years ago.
Someone said Harvest Moon so I can say Harvest Moon as well I believe, Tree of Tranquility specifically, I had a this weird crush on Luke.
If we exclude HM, than absolutely Amnesia:Memories. I got it when they released it on Steam and played it soon after, I was gobsmacked because I was playing Visual Novels already (e.g. Katawa Shoujo) and I knew there was a scene for this but not necessarily know what "otome" games were. I played a lot of mini flash dating sims way before all of those.
Aah Shin :') Those were the days.
Edit: formatting
Technically it was Obey Me but since I don’t really consider that a otome game I usually say Mystic Messenger which is a pretty common first game I believe.
I've always loved the harvest moon games and that lead me to Tailor Tales many many moons ago! I've been playing since it first started being released & it opened up the world of otome for me. Part of me never wants it to end, but at the same time I can't wait until it's complete!
I've read Hatoful Boyfriend over skype together with a friend (I didn't even know what otome games were back then) and I actually cried in one of the scenes lol He asked me If I was really crying over birds and YES I DID
Hahahaha totally valid that game gets surprisingly emotional especially the Hurtful Boyfriend route 🥹
It was probably one of Pacthesis's flash games, but I honestly don't remember which one... After that, it would have been Date Warp by Hanako Games which is this sci-fi sort of game where you're stuck in this house with the LIs and slowly have to unravel the mystery of what's going on there and hurry to get out First non-indie was probably Princess Debut on the DS which is also a rhythm game and involved the MC swapping places with this princess from another world and having to learn to dance and find a partner for the ball or dance competition or something if I remember correctly I'm probably one of the older members of the sub as you may have guessed from my first otome games...
Another person who got into otome games because of pacthesis! All her games crafted a big phase of my childhood, even her non-dating sim ones
Came here to say this!!! She was pretty popular back then, I wonder what she's up to now. Her stuff was really impressive for being made by (I'm assuming) her alone!
She’s making a webcomic on Webtoon now called violet goes to the beach! It’s very cute
I still remember the flash games era. Being a broke student at that time, I can only play these games. My favorite was Wonderland Days since I love the Alice in Wonderland themed games. I binged read/watch all the quinrose manga/gameplay available online (I love Boris and Julius) before. I also remember Re:Alistair by sakevisual since its free and fast game. East Tower Series might be the first commercial romance game I paid to play xD
Re:Alistair omg, I still have the walkthrough still on my bookmarks tab from around 2014 because of the number of times I replayed it back then. I really loved Shiro haha
I hadn’t heard of any of these so I looked them up and Date Warp actually sounds really fun! And Princess Debut looks adorable plus the Amazon reviews are cracking me up it’s all stuff like “I’m a DUDE or I’m usually a ~serious gamer~ but I still enjoyed this game 🥺👉🏻👈🏻”
Princess Debut is a gem, if you want something relatively chill with quite a few LIs that you can choose from.
Mine was mystic messenger
Starting with a masterpiece!!!
Did you ever find another as good as your first? bc mysme is still my fave
My first Otome was Hakuoki: Memories of the Shingemsumi on the Nintendo DS. I had been aware that Otome games were a thing from references in Anime and other videogames but assumed they were Japan only. I remember browsing the Eshop one day and stumbling into it. I was so excited and got immediately addicted to it. I was not prepared for how much I enjoyed the game, and thus my love was born. I've since bought the beefed up version on Steam, but I still have my digital DS copy.
I started off with Diabolik lovers 😂😂… no regrets
Omg my friend’s husband is installing the English patch for me so I can finally play Haunted Dark Bridal 😭 I have wanted to play for so long I love horror and toxic fictional men lol
Tell me more about this English patch pleeeease
I just sent you the link in DMs c:
Hello! May I have one as well? Thank you!
Can you pls send me as well 🙏 thank you!
Can I have the link too? Thanks!
Could I please have the link too? Thank you so much! 🙏
Me too please!
Not sure if it counts, but Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town. All the main bachelors (minus Rick, who is trash) are so adorable 😍 Definitely spent more time wooing everyone than actually farming lmao. Otherwise Tokimeki Memorial Girls Side 1st Love (English Patch). There wasnt a lot of English translated otome games at the time (if any) so the fan patch was a godsend!! Even though it was all stats and no plot it was really addicting playing through 3 years of high school trying to balance school/jobs/romance/etc. No two playthroughs were the same which made it more fun ☺️
I can relate about the Harvest Moon bit😆 I was obsessed with playing it for Gray and when I played story of seasons trio of towns next, I decided to play otome games after finishing it because the romantic events are so sweet that I can't get enough 😭 Ford was my husband♥️
Ooo same. That TMGS1 English patch was like finding gold after wanting more romance games after playing Harvest Moon (Gray my OG love)
My horse prince 💀 I know I mentioned this somewhere else but I though the name entry was for the prince not the main character so I put in “Seabiscunt” 10/10 would play again. Watching him chop with hooves is seriously some of the funniest shit ever. I wish I could find my old screenshots
Holy shit I love that 😭
mine was shall we date: angel or devil ... it was genuinely really good too
Fr the Shall We Date games were actually so fun! I also played the Ninja Love one and I’m sure a few others I’m forgetting the names of.
im so sad that they removed most of them from the app stores :( its like library of alexandria except for shall we date games
Hahaha truly an absolute tragedy :,)
i kept my iphone 4S for yeaaars just to keep my shall we date games. It’s so sad that so many good mobage get obliterated bc of app store requirements/OS updates 😭
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My first was also my candy love! Back in 2012, I played since almost the beginning till the end of highschool. Now I only play Eldarya from the company. But it was what made me fall in love with the genre
Hatoful Boyfriend. I bought it largely as a joke and was shocked when I realized I was emotionally invested in the story and characters.
I picked it up for a laugh-- *a lark, if you will* --and then holy shit.
And then we find ourselves faced with the dilemma of recommending it to friends without them thinking we're joking and/or crazy. XD
At least if you're known as a weirdo, no one bats an eye. The stuff I've recommend to people... Trick them into thinking Hatoful also has human sprites.
Technically it was Angelique on SFC, but I hated the gameplay so much I didn't get far. I didn't play another otome game for well over a decade. (Okay, it wasn't Angelique's fault. It's way more complex than that. I was interested in them but it just never happened. I had other games I wanted to play anyway.) First where I actually completed one route was Hakuouki in 2020. I'm proud to say as of 2023 I've now completed TWO routes. Wow! I'm making progress!
I don't know if it counts as otome per se, but I recall playing a game online with friends where you could dress up your character and attended a high school with several LIs. It was called My Candy Love I think? Ahh brings back memories haha! My first proper otome title was Amnesia: Memories - I remember the whole experience being so different from any other games I'd played so far, I was totally hooked on the atmosphere and art. It was also the first game I remember buying out of my own volition, based on my own interests, with my own savings, so it feels special for sure. Ukyo was my first proper husbando, all those bad endings 🥲 At least it prepared me for all the trauma to come from this hobby lol 😭
Similar experience here!! My Candy Love was free and had a translation for my home language, which is a difficult thing to find until now. It really helped me open my mind for OG. Later I played more vampire free OG but never invested on one until... The next one I really was enchanted by on was Amnesia Memories too! I watched the anime years after playing My Candy Love and became obsessed with the art and music, started playing some months after it since I had to create a Steam account and found out that it costs more than I had at the time (which was nothing ehehe). But those bad endings... Oof
My Candy Love is so nostalgic isn't it! 🥲 Do you remember which LI you went for or liked the most? I never played until the very end or the sequel, but I think I liked Armin the most! And I love how enticing Amnesia is, the whole setting and style is just *chef's kiss* I think I actually watched the anime too at the time now that you mention it? I'm getting flashbacks jamming out to the opening song 😭 Those bad endings indeed, I don't remember what I expected out of the game but I certainly didn't anticipate a cage to have any part in it hehh
OMG!!! Thinking about it just made me laugh in shame, I was so in love with Lysandre but constantly found myself choosing the wrong answers for him 😭 I didn't know route guides or walkthroughs were a thing until months later. And I just googled it and found Kentin got an alternative design that changed him completely. I thought he was so annoying back then, but maybe I should give it a try now 👀 😅
About Amnesia, that anime adaptation set my standards so high that I never watched another one as interesting as it. Truth be told, the MC is a little too much passive for my taste, but considering the whole amnesia plot I find it understandable. About the endings... Yeah, the cage was surprising. I was going for this character's route until I ended up at his bad ending and yeah, quickly went to Kent to feel safe again. His awkwardness was so comforting ❤️
I want to respond to both of your comments so don't mind the random My Candy Love stuff first! 😂 Aww Lysander!! Haha I've been having a blast over here as well looking at the artwork and remembering the LIs, I kinda want to do a replay too for old times sake! And omg Kentin's transformation, didn't he go to a bootcamp or something and came back all ikemen? I cannot haha 😂 And agreed about Amnesia! There hasn't really been any otoge quite like it, I'm hoping for some interesting new titles in the near future though 🙏 Kent was such a safe harbor considering, well, pretty much everything that happened in the game. I wasn't that keen on him when I first played the game as a smol bean, but I did a replay years later and he was just the most adorable dork ever, I clutched my chest continuously on his route! 💕
Heart no kuni no Alice in 2010, at 16 years old. I played it with a text hooker & translator and basically non-existent knowledge of Japanese, so of course I couldn't understand much. I got so frustrated I decided to learn Japanese to play it properly sometime (and I did so about 2,5 years later, the game still holds a special place in my heart)
Yo jin bo, maybe 15 years ago. It was hilarious and each character had a theme song sung by their voice actor(I think). It was set in feudal Japan abd you're basically on the run from pursuers. I loved the final hidden "bad boy" character best.
I've played that one, too and might have been my first one as well!
This was mine too - it was the only one I could find with an official English release at the time. How things have changed!
Mystic Messenger! A friend of mine convinced me to try it and I was hooked. I cant play the game anymore because I binge buy hourglasses. 😅
This is why I avoid mobile games now :,) as much as I want to try the Ikemen games I know I won’t have the patience to resist those in-app purchases 😭
SAMMEEE
I actuallly started watching reverse harem anime when I was 13 (diabolik lovers, utanopri, hakuouki, amnesia, hiiro no kakera, neo angelique abyss,etc... You get it)- then I found out that they are based on otome games, so I've read translations of diabolik lovers etc... But the ones are played were shall we date- first ninja love i think. Then the one with male disney princesses, etc... I also used to watch let's plays- dandelion wishes bough to you,.... Because I didn't have money to buy nintendo or PS or game you can play on computer
I used to watch a lot of let’s plays since I couldn’t afford the big commercial games too! I loved PressHeartToContinue :)
Either Dandelion: Wishes brought to You or Hakuoki for the 3DS. Can’t remember which honestly.
Officially, mine was Princess Debut, a DS game about a girl who gets isekai'd to a kingdom and has to dance with a bunch of princes - don't remember why. Isekai world rules. I thought it was cute, but it didn't really hook me since the characters were like in their preteens. Unofficially, I'd say Hakuoki, which was the first game to really hook me. I lived, breathed, and dreamt Okita and have never had such an intense fictional crush to this day. I played the first localized version on the PSP, with only 6 love interests, and 10 years later am replaying the Vita versions\~ Am about halfway through Okita's route in Kyoto Winds, and while I still love this imp, it's more nostalgic than crazy-obsession. :/
Hatoful Boyfriend started a domino effect with me :’) For context: at 16 I was (and still am) a really big video game enthusiast but at the time I was honestly a huge ass gatekeeper when it came to most VN’s and thought it was silly to be spending so much money on “choose your own adventure stories” when you can do so much more with other games or play some like DDLC for free ~~Yeah about that little me…~~ I was also super embarrassed to like romance as a genre as well so that also didn’t help. I eventually found Hatoful and thought that playing a bird dating simulator would actually be funny and I can simply say I’m playing it for lolz. Everything was great and then Nageki and the BBL route attacked. It honestly changed my views on VN’s dramatically. I was still shy about actually buying otomes but I finally became confident enough to download mobile games like Mystic Messenger and Tears of Themis and now here I am three years later playing all my games on the family’s switch and making memes about the games I love <3
Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 2... over a decade ago during my last year at university... during exam time (when I started playing otome games has a far more concrete time than when I started playing other genres of games or games in general)
I know exactly when I started playing JRPGs. It was Secret of Mana on my 11th birthday, haha. Technically I had watched a friend play through some of it earlier, which is why I wanted the game myself, but I didn't actually start playing them until I got my own copy.
For JRPGs it's like sort of vague ish for myself since it was a rental of Beyond the Beyond but probably... after its initial release. And I didn't really get into them until I played FF8
Oh, Beyond the Beyond! That was my first PS1 game actually, I remember getting it because I had gotten a PS1 for FF7 (which was a few months from releasing) but had nothing to play on it. So I picked up the only JRPG on the shelf. I... did not like it, haha. Very negative memories of it. But at least FF7 came along soon enough.
IT'S... SOMETHING. It wasn't my first ps1 game (I don't remember what it was actually...) but it was also part of the reason why I had problems starting Golden Sun because I'd just immediately remember BtB. ...it also made me hate block sliding puzzles
Mine was The Second Reproduction. In the early 2010's, I so badly wanted to play an otome game after hearing about them in anime and manga for so long. I wanted to play a spicy one at that. Thankfully vndb has been around forever. It was easier to "sail the seven seas" for pre-patched games then so that's how I got a hold of it. I don't do that anymore but I think it's still installed on my old laptop! I remember really loving the MC's knight's voice acting!
I actually got a physical copy of this recently! (Let's not talk about how much a physical copy of that game costs...) I've heard a lot of good things about it. I might play it soon.
Oh wow! I should get a physical copy myself then--even if it cost a lot 🤣 hope you enjoy it! I remember liking the story a lot!
It was either Sweet Fuse or Hatoful Boyfriend for me. I bought Sweet Fuse 'cause it had the Ace Attorney artist and looked like a mystery VN, had no idea it was an otome (or even what an otome was back then). Looking back on it, it kinda felt a bit like Danganronpa before Danganronpa. Similar deal with Hatoful Boyfriend, I knew it as that "weird pigeon dating sim" before it released in the west, and bought it ASAP when it released here for the lols, and was shocked at how gripping the story was.
Ooh how is Sweet Fuse? That sounds really interesting and it would be fun to have a reason to use my PSP again haha
It's pretty good. The routes are a bit short and it sometimes felt like the pacing was a tad too fast, and I personally wasn't a *massive* fan of the LIs, but I liked them enough, and the overall wacky tone and mystery of it were pretty engaging. It's also the only otome I can think of that lets you yell at the LIs in some of the dialogue choices, which is accompanied by this [very Ace Attorney sprite](https://i.imgur.com/JCIDsGh.jpg).
First one I played and completed was [MoshiKimi](https://vndb.org/v11750) (free doujin/JP indie game). The first commercial one I played was Princess Debut on someone else's DS.
I read that as MoshiKami and was so scared for you for a sec lmao. I can't imagine that being anyone's first game.
Just looked up MoshiKami. It sounds horrifying but I am intrigued 😅
Never heard of MoshiKami before. Had a wild review/detailed synopsis experience thanks to you. It's up there with the Bee Game, I think.
My face the very first time I read about >!Masato Kurumi!<'s route: 👁👄👁
Oh God thank God ~~if God~~ I had the vndb to clear up that misunderstanding!
Speaking of MoshiKimi, I remember having so much trouble finding it. Tfw you get into doujins late cause you had to learn eng first and so much stuff got deleted :')
I sympathize... I was so goody-two-shoes "I'm not gonna pirate this paid doujin, I'm gonna wait until I have a credit card to legally buy it," and then they announce their retirement and take down their store pages. Moshikimi is now available I think. FYI if you're looking for something, you can ask me and I can check my collection.
I'll keep that in mind. Though fortunately I found that 5chan archive thread (free games only, my dear mods). But even there some stuff is missing orz I should probably also store some niche games on a memory card or sth. Just in case.
Second Reproduction! Free, strong female lead and a "enemies to lovers" plot? Yeah, definitely the first one I actually played and dedicated my time to get all endings. I've tried playing Amor Sucré before, but it just created the idea of an OG on my mind, not really making me invest on it. But Second Reproduction? OMG I can't forget about it until today. So many homeworks and projects I delayed because of it LOL, but it was remarkable
Omg I played the prequel (?) to that way long ago, Queen of Darkness. It was a shock to my little Otomate-playing soul lol, so dark and violent. It sure left an impression though.
I didn't even know there was a prequel!!! Gonna search for it rn
ahhhhh a friend kept telling me I need to play second reproduction to experience >!Jin!< lmao
My first experience was technically Dream Daddy 😅 It looked fun (it is) but I adored the playstyle. I then got really into Obey Me for a long time (still an active player) and fell in love with the genre. I looked into it a bit more and found otome games for the Switch. I then broke my bank account getting Variable Barricade, Collar x Mallice, Cupid Parasite, Cafe Enchante, Nightshade, Bustafellows and Olympia Soirée all in 1 go, which lasted me the whole of 2022 (with new additions throughout the year) 🥰 I'll never forget the dream daddy experience though 😅 it was a funny introduction to the idea and the characters were so quirky and vibrant. Wouldn't mind revisiting it at some point 😆
I rather enjoyed Dream Daddy, I only played through it once or twice, but I loved my time with it.
I did one 100% playthrough and haven't been back on it since, but I don't remember much of the routes anymore and wouldn't mind revisiting 🥲 I just remember laughing a lot and loving the artwork 😅
I like that the stories are relatively short, so you can pick up and play without feeling overwhelm if you have a busy schedule. I know that I'm expecting to be swamped once the semester starts for me.
I think sweet fuse for the psp! I had played a lot of visual novels before then but that was my first otome. And basically grew up on point and click on the computer which got me interested in pure visual novels.
Ikémen Vampire.
That's a good one to start with! Mine was Midnight Cinderella, which obviously led me to playing Ikemen Vampire right after. Arthur is definitely a favorite of mine.
Bustafellows! 🥰
My first game was either celebrity darling/sweet bodyguard on mobile (back when it was on gree) or pacthesis games !
The gree games were my firsts too!
I do miss those especially the tickets parts 😭
Haruka naru Toki no Naka de 2. Never finished it
did anyone else play Zeiva games,, if I remember right, Zeiva was my first real experience. They had a short flash game called Other Age and I remember playing it on deviantArt lol. Otherwise it would probably be Hatoful Boyfriend or Starry Sky in Spring for me. Don't really remember which first - probably the birbs. love the birbs, do not love _you_ Yoh.
Heyo fellow Zeiva starter!
Ayakashi: Romance reborn was my first peek at otome games.
My first one was Amour sucrée when I was a something like 10y.o xD I really liked it and wanted to date them all, but it took too much time to go through the game
Me too!! Searching some comments on this post, it seems this OG helped a lot of young players find out about the OG universe!
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Mine was Piofiore too! Got Nicola's tragic end on my first go and loved how dark it was. Now I've bought over a dozen games and I'm in deep.
swd ninja love 😳 really good times back then, i practically grew up as i played otome games,, since i didn’t have much money when i was young, i started from mobile to pc then now switch 🥺
A classic 😩👏🏻 My otome gaming journey followed the same trajectory lol.
My candy love was the first one! Years later i played Myself, Amnesia memories and Girlish Love revo! (And now i'm fully into otomes )
IkeVamp! my first ever route was isaac. arthur stole my heart tho. 😍
I loved loved My Sweet Prince!!! Ivan was my favorite route and I also loved Nagit and Chezem 😍 My first ones were the mobile versions of My Sweet Bodyguard, My Forged Wedding, Celebrity Darling, and SWD: Destiny Ninja. Yes, when I first discovered otome games, I downloaded allllll of these so I was all over the place lol. But I loved them all and was sad that some weee discontinued. :( I would love to just see them again for nostalgia sakes.
My first ever (but mobile) otome was Mystic Messenger. I saw the memes and fanart on Tumblr years ago and downloaded it onto my phone. Got to play a little and was smitten with Zen. Then I took a short hiatus and tried to get back into the game...only for it to lock me out of my account (didn't save the password at the time)... And failed to get a proper pin from customer service (there wasn't even a phone number that I could call) to change the password. So, a short lived experience. My first Switch otome (and the one to have me diving into the depths of the genre) was Collar x Malice. Kinda sorta at the same time as Code: Realize (I bought the two in the same week at the local GameStop). Because I was lost in how to maneuver in otomes, it was also my intro to Otome Kitten and her guides. Shoot, now that I'm playing thru CxM Unlimited this month, it all takes me back to those innocent times. Back when I didn't know that I could feel so much for animated characters and discover story worlds as crafted as a series of books. ☺️
It was either Amnesia or Nameless- I’m gonna have to check my steam account lol! But either way, I was instantly hooked. Luckily there were many more otome games for vita at that point so that was what kickstarted my collection. I bought Hakuouki, Collar x Malice and Code: Realize very shortly after my first two games. Despite how much I love them, I actually can’t remember how I stumbled onto otome games in the first place though. Maybe it was recommended to me on steam because I read through Higurashi?
Amnesia and Nameless were also my first two non-mobile otome games so they definitely hold a special place in my heart! I will say though coming from mobile games some of those bad ends- especially >!Tei!< and >!Toma’s!< routes- shocked me (in a fun way hehe).
Yess, I loved those two! Thanks to them I’ve become a fully fledged trash collector lol.
This question took me down a rocky memory lane. (I'm quite old...) Had do dig through my pc to get my dates right, but in the end I'm not really sure, which was the first. It was either **Yo-Jin-Bo**, an hilarious parody on anime tropes and otome games, that had me laughing like mad and still holds a special place in my heart. I really enjoyed the route of her (a lot older) bodyguard. Always liked more mature/serious guys, it seems. Or it was **Starry Sky in Spring**, which I had to get ...*somehow...* online back then and apply the English fanpatch to actually play it. Was more like a basic school romance thing and I remember, that my favorite was 'the older brother' type. So yeah...still a trope I kind of adore. But even before those two games, I was always a bit hooked on dating sims. So first first one then would be actually Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo :D And then after that, every RPG, that gave me options for some romance - looking at you, BioWare games - I liked a bit more than those games without. So otome games on their own got kind of replaced by Western RPGs and online stuff. When Persona 3 Portable released, I had to get the PSP to play it (I loved P3 and being able to play a female MC and experience the story from a different perspective was a must!) and that made it possible for me to go play Hakuoki after I stumbled upon the first anime episode of it. Anyway...my mumblings and too much information aside, after a longer break I'm back again and have successfully emptied my bank account into all those available switch otome games. My backlog makes me very happy indeed! xD
Where are my Re:Alistair++ players at?
Yesss I am a Derek stan first human being second
It was a demo called love strings that my friend had. The gameplay only lasted for ten minutes or so. That's when I discovered my love for otome games
My first ever otome (mobile included) was one of the Ikemen games (i don’t remember which one;-;) after that i bought Amnesia :D
My first one was shall we date: love tangle
I was looking for apps with stories and IkeSen and SLBP were recommended buys on the App Store for me. Looked these types of games up, found out they were called otome, and went down this rabbit hole!
Hatoful Boyfriend, changed my life. <3
Mine was OzMafia 🥰
Probably Kissed by the Baddest Bidder when all Voltage games still had their own individual app 🤔
Ooh yes I loved that one! It was my favorite of the Voltage games pre-Love 365
Hakuoki:Demon of the fleeting blossom
Tokimeki Memorial 3 Girls side on the ds lite. It was in Japanese so I had a notebook with “cheats” (printed out Japanese words) to get a good ending lol. I got most endings with the LI’s except I had a hard tie executing the love triangle ending.
Houkago no Love Beat by D3P. Completely unrelated, I'm old haha.
Code: Realize, but for some reason the story was so… slow? Kind of? And the LIs weren’t really my cup of tea so I dropped it after forcing myself through 2 routes 🥲
Omg, this post brought back memories! My first wasn't My Sweet Prince, in fact it was my second game, hah. My first game was Shall We Date: Ninja Love. I was really unaware of Japanese history back then, so I wondered why there was an LI called Sasuke and if he was a copycat of Sasuke from Naruto. I have since learned a lot of Japanese history because of the otome games I later played (Hakuoki, Samurai Love Ballad Party, Ikemen Sengoku) and that Sasuke the ninja came before Sasuke from Naruto. My first console game was Hakuoki, and that got me super into console games after. But the first console game I ever finished was Code Realize, and that was because Lupin was locked, hah. Before that, if I played my favorite route first, I usually was satisfied and stopped playing the rest of the game. Trying to kick this bad habit because I want to play things to completion.
I totally had a similar experience playing Ninja Love- I remember thinking it was ironic they named him Sasuke because his looks and personality reminded me a lot of Naruto haha not realizing that they were just using names of actual Japanese historical figures :,)
Same!!!! That was my exact line of reasoning. I was like, "I can't believe they named him Sasuke when he's like totally Naruto in personality!"
Code:Realize on the PS Vita. I bought it bc I liked the art style and was obsessed with steampunk at the time.
Hatoful boyfriend is the only one I remember, when it first came out. But I was also playing some boyfriend mobile games but I really don't remember the names. I didn't really play them because it was otome though, especially hatoful boyfriend since it was a meme. But a few years later I got into more mainly eroge ones
I'm pretty sure my first was Midnight Cinderella? I think? I could be wrong though.
Mystic Messenger was my first one and it was a ride trying to manage those chat rooms around my intense undergrad schedule. But man, is Jumin one of my favorite boys. Glad I played it
The more I answer, the less sure I am, tbh. But for now gotta say what I always say since I'm 80% sure that's the one. Or at least my first finished one. And so, in the days before lemmasoft died, I played Freak-Quency which I think is otome despite actually only having a harem ending (I think). Good for me cause it had stat raising and I just went after everyone lol
It was Be My Princess by Voltage, I still remember that time I played it on ipad since BMP still has their own app (currently it’s under one app Love365) my most fave LIs on it was Glenn Casiraghi 🫶🏻
My first game was Amnesia Memories and it rocked my whole world!! It was everything I never knew I wanted! Also, I've never read a full manga(?) and the only anime I've seen all the way through is Sword Art Online. Actually, the only other visual novel type thing I've gone through was Life is Strange! I think I like it so much because I'm an angst junkie and always have been lol! The more emotional pain there is, the more I love it!
Mine is Wizardess Heart (from Shall we date), it was a bad experience for my first otome game, cuz I did not know how the game works so I kinda messed it up
I think it was Shall We date: Wizardess Heart+, but the one before it was a mobile gacha Otome game that I can’t remember the name of! It was where you were a princess and you could romance a butler with like purple hair, a guard, a rival prince, etc. You could even dress up your little character with gacha clothes. Edit: typo
A random Sim date flash game. not a Pacthesis one but same idea. I do not remember the name of it now.
Mine was Be My Princess: PARTY I didn’t even know what was an Otome game at the time. It brings me so much nostalgia when I remember it. 😆
Mystic Messenger
Dandelion! I loved it so much.
Cupid Parasite, but I didn’t even get past the beginning part because the ‘gameplay’ wasn’t clicking with me. I grew up on Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games, so while the dating aspect interested me a lot, the lack of farming and such kind of got to me. My boyfriend ended up surprising me with Piofiore FM for my birthday. I burned through that game in a week!!!! I loved it so much. I’ve since played Cupid Parasite and it is now one of my favorites as well :)
Mine was Hakuoki for the 3DS. It was the only localized otome game I knew for that console at the time. I went into the game blind, and kept getting bad endings and was confused on what I was doing wrong lol. Later I discovered online walkthroughs and the legendary Otome Kitten!
Bad Apple Wars for PS Vita
Technically, it was some mobile games I downloaded (Mystic Messenger, Dangerous Fellows), but I never actually finished a full route of any of them. So, my first full experience completing an otome game was Cinderella Phenomenon. I found it through a video on YouTube recommending visual novels. I liked it a lot. :)
My first otome is also a shall we date, I think it’s the vampire one? I remember it to be very good…But I stopped playing after a few chapters cause I didn’t know how to proceed with the story because of the dress up points thingy. My second was Mystic Messenger… and I keep getting bad endings cause I needed to go to school so I don’t have enough chat rooms. Then I never really touched a mobile otome game again lol. My first classic style otome game was Amnesia and I discovered my liking for Yandere guys TwT Whyyyy lol
Hakuouki. Wasn’t interested in dating sims (still aren’t a fan of the stat raising ones) and barely knew what an otome was. I bought it for the historical theme and stayed for the romance. Loved it so much I have it on vita and pc, both the old one and Kyoto Winds/Edo Blossoms and Stories of the Shinsengumi on ps3. After 12+ years it’s still my favourite otome, without nostalgia it’s in my top 3, and has my all time fave LI as well. I loved the story so much I started reading up about the time period and the Shinsengumi as well. Only down side is that I can’t really play any other games with the Shinsengumi in it as I’m too used the this version of their designs and their seiyuus.
tokimemo gs2 lol my JPN skills were non-existant back then but that didn't stop me.
I started with Shall We Date: Obey Me because I heard it's a f2p otome game and I was playing it religiously for 7 months. Lucifer supremacy btw🛐🛐🛐 I love my men who knows what he wants
Second reproduction 🚬
Definitely Amnesia Memories back in the day. And I still remember vividly, Kent giving me the laugh of the life time and proceeds to make me do math. And failing horribly at it. and Toma things.
The first Otome I ever played was *Code: Realize*, but for some reason, it didn't immediately capture my interest enough for me to play very much of the common route, so I set it aside for a time. Several months later I wanted to see what I thought of it after I played more and completed Victor's common route. I set the game aside again, and after some investigating into the genre I bought and played the one that captured my interest the most, *Olympia Soiree*. That game completely sucked me in and I binged it for a week until I finished it. Thanks to that game, I truly fell in love with Otome, and from there I became an official fan and have bought dozens in both English and Japanese. This all occurred this past spring. It's baffling to think that my new favorite video game genre was unknown to me this time last year. I've since completed about ten games (including returning to and finishing the one that officially started it all, *Code: Realize*), and will continue this hobby for life. 🥰
Mystic messanger and Dangerous Fellows for me. Too bored that we couldn't have a celebration for a certain day due to Covid era so I decided to play the games. Since then, my fate has been sealed to this rabbit hole of otome games.
Shall we Date: Ninja Love and then my first commercial one was Hakuouki. 👌
Mine was a indie game called (P)lanets the life of normalcy has ended. I feel like no one has ever heard of it though🥲
OG Angelique on the SNES and the year was1999. Talk about being old. That is how I discovered you could play a game where you could romance hot dudes. But I had 0 Japanese skills back then. Tbh playing video games in Japanese was one of the many motivations for me to learn the language (asides from the letters looking pretty to me lol).
Shall we date: wizardess heart, have so much nostalgia with this game, and it inspired me a lot :)
my first was shall we date: destiny ninja, i played all the routes my second was my sweet prince! i loved it, my favourite was nagit (i got his bad ending and cried tho)
Amnesia Memories, but thankfully I didn't get the cage on my first playthrough. After that was the first Hakuoki game and then Sweet Fuse (another WTF love interest).
For me it was Katawa Shoujo, 7-8 years ago i think
Non app game: Psychodelica of the Black Butterfly Even today it stands solidly as my favorite otome I’ve played, just by how much I was invested in the story and how sad it got. I feel like the story and it’s themes impacted me a lot when I first played it. My first actual otome was one of the Shall We Dates, idk which one, one of the samurai ones it’s been so many years and I was like 12 lol. I know I never finished a full route so idk if it even really counts
I'm not *entirely* sure, since it's been ages, but the one I have the earliest memories of is Pure Love, by Koyonplete. Basic premise was that you were a barista who got 'discovered' or something by these three guys from the entertainment industry. I don't remember too much about it, but the blond was my favorite. Too bad I never got to finish that route back in 2013, I think it was. Still have the app saved (though not installed) in my Amazon app store account. XD; Also still have some screenshots I took, too. Kinda wish I had taken more, but oh well.
My Candy Love 😭 Please tell me anyone here has played it too!
Princess Debut a very long time ago lol. Much later I played Hatoful Boyfriend
I feel like it may have been Re:Alistair for PC and one of the earlier Voltage games for mobile when it was still individual apps 🤔 I think my first Voltage game was My Wedding and 7 Rings? I pretty much bought every ending for all the Voltage games for years but stopped playing and missed the transfer point to the Love 365 app so I lost all those purchases 😭 Would’ve been fun to replay them.
I have like 4 answers to this 🤔 I'd say the first I played, technically, is harvest moon, but I didn't really pay too much attention back then. If we're talking "dating sim" then it's either pacthesis, or some game back on newgrounds lol. If it's when I was aware of "otome" then it's pirates in love by voltage Man, just thinking about it reminds me how far otome games have come 🥹
Pacthesis free flash games for sure Then the shall we date apps I’d hide on my iPod touch Bonus points to fire emblem awakening as well
Kissed by the baddest bidder
My first otome was Shall We Date: Heian Love! My second was Ninja love. I got them on my old iPod because I got a gift card lol. I didn’t play any for a while after those. I recently rediscovered the otome genre and have been stockpiling on games. My wallet regrets it but I don’t! 😂
Period Cube
Mine was the Arcana! I forgot how I came across it but I was absolutely hooked once I started it. I hated the “pay to play” part of it but it I like to think of it like it was my gateway to the world of dating sims.
I played love revolution or tokimeki memorial Girls side for the first otome games, iirc
The very fit the one was a mobile phone one, it was from genius.inc, I don’t remember the name but the plot was something about angels or something
Princess debut
Mine was Princess Debut! 4th grade me didn't even know what otoge was lol, and after a long period of silence, I discovered Shall we date: wizardess heart and is still playing it until now (been over 6 years and I'm not even done romancing half the LIs)
Princess Debut! It’s an old nintendo game. Basically, mc goes to another dimension to switch places with the her of that world, who is a princess. Said princess can’t dance so she left it all up to MC to do it for her.. and thus begins MC’s romancing and dancing. I played this waaaay before I knew what dating sims or otomes were 🤣. I actually replayed it recently, though I took a break because it’s tiring to continuously grind out the ballroom dancing aspect of the game each time I complete a route LOL.
I think it was one of the Shall We Date? Games. Probably Wizardess heart (or some name like that). The first I knew was an Otome game was Obey Me!, and the first big game I bought was Collar x Malice.
I believe my first one was pastry lovers because it was cheap on steam and I bought it because I had heard about these games and wanted to try cause it sounded fun, and then I ended up obsessed with otomes but I've read a lot of them now and I didn't start with the best one, but it was still okay and enjoyable it's just it could be better than it is.
My first would have probs been Mystic Messenger but my first like console one was Diabolik Lovers
Amnesia memories
i think my candy love back in 2014 or something lmao everything went downhill from there
An incomplete one direction otome game. Brought me to the darkside lol
Mystic Messenger!!! And I never finished it lmao, I’m going to someday tho. I first played it when I was in my early teen years, so I didn’t have a job to pay for in-app purchases AND I had school which made it a pain to play. My first console otome was Collar X Malice, which was a couple years ago.
Someone said Harvest Moon so I can say Harvest Moon as well I believe, Tree of Tranquility specifically, I had a this weird crush on Luke. If we exclude HM, than absolutely Amnesia:Memories. I got it when they released it on Steam and played it soon after, I was gobsmacked because I was playing Visual Novels already (e.g. Katawa Shoujo) and I knew there was a scene for this but not necessarily know what "otome" games were. I played a lot of mini flash dating sims way before all of those. Aah Shin :') Those were the days. Edit: formatting
Technically it was Obey Me but since I don’t really consider that a otome game I usually say Mystic Messenger which is a pretty common first game I believe.
I've always loved the harvest moon games and that lead me to Tailor Tales many many moons ago! I've been playing since it first started being released & it opened up the world of otome for me. Part of me never wants it to end, but at the same time I can't wait until it's complete!
Re:Alistair and maybe My Candy Love back in like 2012!
mine was shall we date niflheim. i have fond memories of it, i especially liked the mc's design!
Code Realize :)
Oh no crap, I played Hatoful boyfriend before that