The year is 2015. In the greatest upset in gaming history, all video games are now otome games. There is nothing else, only otoge.
Okay, I might be going a little overboard here, but when I said I wanted to see more otome games (otoge for short) in English, I never in a million years expected to see three announced in the same year! Is this a dream?! This time, Aksys Games strikes again with Norn9: Var Commons for the PS Vita. Scheduled to release both physically and digitally in North America this fall, Norn 9: Var Commons is once again developed by Otomate, suggesting that Aksys and Otomate have some kind of agreement. Not that I’m complaining, but there actually are other otome game companies besides Otomate out there!
Regardless, I may be most excited for this announcement simply because this is the one otome game coming out in English this year that I don’t already own in Japanese. Shocking, I know! You can read Aksys’ official PlayStation Blog post to get the full rundown, but the most interesting aspects of Norn 9: Var Commons for me is the sci-fi narrative and three different female protagonists! I don’t think I’ve ever played an otome game with more than one protagonist before.
Also, the art is simply gorgeous, which is why I’m going to stop my gushing and end this post with a gallery of some images from the official Japanese website.
Hahaha, aren’t you happy the announcement arrived before the Japanese version hit your doormat? ovo
I’m really happy about all these games making it to the west. After Hakuoki and Sweet Fuse, I half expected Amnesia sometime, but I figured the otome well would be dry for a long time after that.
Then we get Code: Realize and now Norn9, really surpassed my expectations!
Yes I’m very happy! For whatever reason Norn9 isn’t an otoge I ever really paid much attention to… So I don’t think I ever would have bought it otherwise! But I’m certainly glad to hear it’s coming out!
Really pleased by these upcoming otome releases!
The funny thing to me is when you see posts about this news on big sites and then have comments going like “so where’s the games for guys?” and I’m just thinking WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!! It happens every single time, lol.
Ah yes, some of those posts are funny, other just infuriating XD;; I guess they’re so accustomed to being the default market that when something that doesn’t appeal to them is announced, they don’t know what to think!