Olympia Soirée Review

Olympia Soirée is the latest in Aksys Games’ lineup of localized otome games from Japanese publisher Otomate, and it comes with an extremely high pedigree. Featuring art from acclaimed otome game artist Satoi (Diabolik Lovers, Ozmafia!!, Nil Admirari), a team including Nil Admiari‘s director Tanabe Wataru and scenario writer Yuma Katagiri, and an all-star cast of voice actors and a compelling fantasy narrative, it’s no wonder this release came with a lot of fanfare!

In Olympia Soirée, you play as Olympia, a young woman who is the last remaining survivor of her clan, and as a result, is the sole bearer of her clan’s duty to perform a ritual dance to keep the sun shining on the world. On her 18th birthday, she is finally able to enter society as a woman of marriageable age. However, the world is governed by a strict class structure, where people of different color clans are segregated and treated differently based on the color they are born into, with “colorless” people and criminals who break the class rules relegated to the underground world of Yomi.

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Café Enchanté Review

Café Enchanté is the latest in a growing list of otome game localizations for the Nintendo Switch by Aksys Games, and right off the bat, it had me hook, line, and sinker. Coffee? Check. Monster boys? Check. Stellar development team? Check. With gorgeous art by Yuuya (Cupid Parasite), a scenario by staff who also worked on Code Realize, and a narrative centering around a quaint cafe with other-worldly patrons, I had high hopes for this one right off the bat. Read on for my full, spoiler-free review!

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VNNovember and Michiru Yamane Month Double Roundup

VNNovember and Michiru Yamane Month Double Roundup Community Game-Along

VNNovember and Michiru Yamane Month Double Roundup Community Game-Along

Late last year, I decided to bring back the monthly Community Game-Along roundup posts after a suggestion from a reader. But with my trip to Japan at the end of November and the hectic holiday season, I completely dropped the ball on posting roundups for November and December‘s themes! I’d still like to highlight some of the great contributions and game selections from folks who participated, so I’ve decided to combine both months for today’s post. I’ll do my best to make sure I’m not this late again!

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Angelique: Tenkuu no Requiem Ruby Party Interview Translation

Angelique Tenkuu no Requiem Ruby Party Interview Translation

Angelique Tenkuu no Requiem Ruby Party Interview Translation

Otome games are steadily gaining popularity outside of Japan, with releases such as Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting BlossomCode: Realize Guardian of Rebirth, and the breakout Korean hit Mystic Messenger making waves over the past couple years. However, not much is known about Ruby Party, the female-led development team at Koei Tecmo behind the Angelique series, which is widely regarded as the start of the otome game genre. In what hopefully will become a larger series, I’ll be translating interviews and other information on Ruby Party to help spread knowledge of this influential team!

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The 5 Best Otome Games for Praticing Japanese

5 Best Otome Games for Practicing Japanese

5 Best Otome Games for Practicing Japanese

So you’ve decided to learn Japanese to play all those otome games that haven’t been released in English (not to mention other games!). Good for you! But what games are best for beginning language learners? I get a lot of questions about learning Japanese, particularly from people who want to play otome games because so few of them are available in English. So, I decided to round up 5 otome games that I think are good for Japanese language students!

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