Since the early '90s, one of the most popular sub-genres of visual novel games has been "otome" games, which are story-based games centered around a female protagonist that usually include romance options. Over the years, hundreds of otome games have been released on various consoles and devices, and the genre continues to grow.
Because of the large number of games, it may be hard to know which ones to play and which ones to avoid. If players are looking for either intriguing stories, interesting gameplay ideas, or just want to see a talking corgi in a top hat, these otome games won't disappoint hardcore gamers or neophytes looking to try something new.
Nightshade
Originally released in 2016, Nightshade takes place shortly after the Sengoku Period in Japan. The main character, Enju Ueno, is the daughter of two rival shinobi clans and is thus a symbol of peace. Because she wants to respected as a shinobi, Enju quickly takes on her first mission along with her experienced friends, but she stumbles into a situation that could lead to the death of herself and everyone she cares about.
While Nightshade follows a regular format with the player making choices to decide which character to romance, the game's colorful character designs, action-focused plotline, and expressive heroine make the game stand out among the rest.
Diabolik Lovers
After Diabolik Lovers: Haunted Dark Bridal was released in 2012 for the PSP, the series quickly became one of the most popular otome romance visual novel franchises. Players take control of Yui Komori who is sent to live with a family of vampires that resemble the sad Cullen family in the film Twilight. As the player romantically pursues one of the vampire bachelors, Yui slowly uncovers the pasts of the various male characters, her own hidden past, and other secrets.
Diabolik Lovers has a couple of unique gameplay aspects. Instead of following a linear timeline, the player is put into short scenarios where Yui can make either "sadistic" or "masochistic" choices. After going through three groups of 10 individual scenes, the player will get one of three endings depending on their choices.
Ebon Light
Ebon Light is a free otome dating sim that anyone can download on itch.io. The game follows a human woman who gets caught up in elvish society after accidentally ingesting a powerful substance. While uncovering elvish secrets and navigating convoluted politics, the player can choose to romance one of the elves or stay single.
At the start of the game, the player can customize how their character looks and determine some of her personality attributes. Throughout the game, the choices the player makes will influence the heroine's stats, which will dictate what choices are available and what ending the player gets. Along with the unique art style, these RPG mechanics lead to an immersive narrative that will even entice people who hate role-playing games.
Andromeda Six
Another free dating sim on itch.io that is definitely worth a playthrough is Andromeda Six. The game follows an amnesiac traveler who wakes up on a spaceship called the Andromeda Six. While either pursuing one of the main characters or staying single, the traveler tries to uncover the truth about their past. Most choices in the game have words in brackets that indicate the tone, which is useful because it can be difficult to know the full meaning of a phrase just from words alone in any visual novel.
Andromeda Six allows the player to choose their character's pronouns and in-game species. Also, instead of only having male romance options, this game has both male and female romance options like Cyberpunk 2077. This makes the game accessible to a wider audience and has more replay value.
Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth
Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth is a beloved romance sim filled with literary references, intriguing mysteries, and a great cast of characters. The main heroine, Cardia, carries a poison in her body that melts anything she touches. After meeting Arsène Lupin, Cardia begins uncovering her past and finding a cure for her poisonous body.
While exploring a steampunk version of London, the player makes choices that determine the romance route and what ending the player gets. Since Lupin is the true resolution of the game, the player is unable to access his path until all the other routes have been completed. This works because all the characters are lovable, and Cardia is a compelling multi-faceted character. With the plot's intriguing mysteries, the player will not be able to put this down.
Collar X Malice
Collar X Malice is a suspenseful mystery romance sim. The game follows Ichika Hoshino, who is a rookie police officer, as she tries to solve a series of terrorist attacks by a group called Adonis while wearing a deadly collar around her neck.
Along with making choices to determine which romantic route the player goes on, the player also has to use their gun in certain situations and investigate some crime scenes. Because of this game's beautiful art style, suspenseful plot, and critique of the justice system, the game is worth it even for players who do not usually play romance novels.
Princess Maker
As a rare example where the player character is a man, Princess Maker is a series of life simulation games where the gamer adopts a daughter and decides how to raise her. Created by the anime company Gainax, the first game came out in 1991 for the NEC PC-9801, and has had several sequels along with an anime. Except for Princess Maker 4, most of the games have been translated and released on Steam.
In this game series, the player decides what subjects the daughter learns, which jobs she works, how much she rests, how much she sleeps, what other activities she does, and who she marries. All of these decisions affect the ending, and each game has hundreds of different conclusions which significantly increases its replay value.
Angelique
Angelique is a management and dating sim franchise where the main character competes with another girl to become the next queen of the universe with the help of multiple male guardians. Usually considered one of the first otome games, the original Angelique was released in 1996 for the Super Famicom.
As Angelique, the player tries to fully populate their land before their rival while befriending the guardians and even dating them. With beautiful sprites and an addicting gameplay loop, it is no surprise that Angelique laid the groundwork for the genre.
Mystic Messenger
Created by the South Korean otome game studio Cheritz, Mystic Messenger is one of the best mobile game dating sims for iOS and Android. In this game, the heroine is manipulated by an unknown person into entering an apartment and becoming involved with an organization called Rika's Fundraising Association. After joining the RFA chatroom and meeting the other members, the heroine continues to stay at the apartment, tries to figure out who led her to the apartment, and plans the next RFA event.
With the app game acting as the RFA chatroom, the player talks to the other love interests in real-time by responding to text messages, chatroom conversations, and voiced phone calls. Meanwhile, the player also sends emails to possible guests for the RFA event. If the player misses too many conversations, they will get a bad ending. Because of the timed conversations that happen at different times of the day, the player is immersed in the story and feels like they are talking to real people, which makes this one of the most innovative otome games.
Hakuoki
With multiple adaptions, Hakuoki is an extremely popular historical fantasy dating sim. The player takes control of Chizuru Yukimura who travels to Kyoto in search of her missing father. After getting attacked by monstrous men, she is saved by the Shinsengumi, and they decide to help her search for her father.
This visual novel is one of the longest games on this list, and the game uses many historical events and terminology from the time period mixed in with the fantasy elements. While there is an affection meter and choices the player makes for each of the romance routes, most of the game is spent reading a vast amount of text. Fortunately, the game is well-written enough to make all that reading fun and entertaining.