2021 Otome Announcements [Idea Factory International & Aksys Games]

Otome games incoming, and a lot of them! That’s not something I ever thought I could say as a fact in regards to localized releases, but here we are! The last two weeks have given the otome gaming community a lot to look forward to between the newly released Bustafellows, and the new games announced between Idea Factory International and Aksys Games! I can hardly remember a time we’ve ever had this much to look forward to in the way of localized otome games, and I am beyond excited that it’s happening! 

Now that everything has been announced for the most part, I wanted to share my feelings towards each title and go over the voice actors for each of the main love interests. Voice actors are a huge draw for some people, and it’s rare we ever shine the spotlight on them when it comes to advertising localizations. So, for voice actor fans I’m here to give everyone a list of who they are along with some notable other roles of theirs many of you might recognize.

2020 is Finally Over, Enter 2021: Otoge Apocalypse

2020 was a rough year, and I mean a rough year. It’s probably been one of the hardest years for me in the past decade really due to a lot of personal reasons — something I’ll go a bit into at the end of this post, as I want to get some things off my chest (which I will provide a separator for when I get to it), but at the same time remain mostly light-hearted and excited for next year; however, I’m sure we all pretty much went through it these last twelve months, but with so much to look forward to in 2021 here’s to hoping that this upcoming year will treat us all much better.

Aksys Superhell, aka The Continuing Struggle With QA

With the release of Aksys’ 2020 line up, many of us were excited. These were titles we’d been anticipating for awhile, both new fans and old fans that had already played the games when originally released in Japan. It was a promising line up, very promising. Between Collar x Malice Unlimited, Piofiore -Fated Memories-, and Café Enchanté…we had a lot of great things to look forward to. I myself had never had the chance to play Café Enchanté, as I’d missed out on buying it when it’d first released in Japan, so I was super excited to get my hands on a copy and dive in; however, upon starting each of these titles… I was met with an unimaginable amount of errors that was far from acceptable. 

Collar×Malice Unlimited (English) [Rambles]

Collar x Malice Unlimited’s English release was something I was especially excited to see. I’d had a lot of fun with it when I’d first received my Japanese copy, and when the PSVita and its games left us I was afraid we’d never get to see an English version of it. Thankfully, a Switch Port was announced by Otomate, along with a lot of other ports, which kept the hope alive in me — and what do you know? Shortly after, Aksys revealed they were localizing it!

At first, I did think it odd they were separating the releases — since for Code Realize and Collar x Malice…both the original game and the fandisk was included in one package; however, I’d come to terms with that after some time — figuring there might of be space or money issues they didn’t want to deal with. So long as we were getting the game, I was happy.

(This review does contain some spoilers; however, no in-game spoiler CGs)

Tlicolity Eyes -Twinkle Showtime- [Rambles]

After a long break from otoge, mostly because I was waiting to get a hold of my Switch Lite system, the game I decided to play to get back into the swing of things ended up being Tlicolity Eyes! It’s a game I’d had my eye on for a while now for a number of reasons. The character designs and seiyuu choices interested me, the heroines were super cute, and the overall premise of the game seemed like it’d be a lot of fun!

Tlicolity Eyes is one of the three titles from Otomate’s Triangle Project series, the other two titles being Katakoi Contrast -Way of Parting- and Jakou no Lyla ~Allure of Musk~ — both of which I also have an interest in picking up eventually, especially Jakou no Lyla.

Tlicolity Eyes is set in the future, and in this future are ability users, many of which are said to shine in the entertainment industry. The three heroines of this game are ability users that all work in the entertainment industry: Sakura, volume one’s heroine, is an actress. Natsume, volume two’s heroine, is an assistant photographer while Aoi, volume three’s heroine and the eldest of the three sisters, is a talent manager.

Once I finally sat down and started playing it, I learned that this game was pretty much exactly what I had been needing.

(This review does include some CG spoilers)

Heading Into 2020 [Rambles]

With the new year comes new games! 2019 had a ton to offer in terms of games I feel, so much so that I now have a serious backlog to work on like none ever before. Between those games and the ones coming up in the next year I’m going to be swamped, but I’ll be loving every minute of it.

Games, especially otome games, are a great source of happiness for me, so really the more I can get my hands on the better! I love experiencing new titles, new characters, and new stories just as much as I love revisiting old and beloved ones.

Now, with the year winding down, I wanted to take a look at some of the games we’ll have to look forward to with this new year!

Will Be Getting Some Posts Out Soon [Update]

It’s been awhile! There’s been a lot that’s happened between my last update and now, namely us getting more otoge localization announcements! I’m super excited for all of them and now that I’m getting a bit more organized I’ll be able to get my reviews and posts out easier. I recently picked up a notebook to jot things down in so I won’t forget, so it’ll definitely help!

Currently, I’m still playing London Detective Mysteria as well as Variable Barricade! I have a few more games coming for my Switch but I think I’m going to hold out until I get my hands on the Switch Lite since it’ll be easier for me to play on the go. I’m in classes now for the new semester so I’m hardly at home, so toting my Switch around can be a bit tough; luckily, the Switch Lite should fix that issue easily!

So yeah, my next update will likely be about London Detective Mysteria, after that it’ll either be Variable Barricade, Steam Prison, or maybe an unboxing post here or there. I do have the Switch copy of Piofiore coming (the Stellaworth set), which I’m super excited about getting!

Collar×Malice -Unlimited- [Rambles]

Collar x Malice has to be one of my favorite otome games from Otomate’s line up. The story and characters had just struck me so intensely. I fell in love with the whole cast for the most part which isn’t a common thing that happens with me. When I heard that this game that I loved so much was getting a fandisk I was beyond excited, there wasn’t any describing it. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the characters after I finished the first game, so I could hardly wait for the day of the fandisk’s release. Of course, with the game’s popularity I had expected a fandisk, but even when I’d been expecting it I could hardly contain myself.

Now, for this post I’m going to try to get my feelings for the game across without major spoilers since I know a lot of people were expecting and are one day still hopeful for an English release. There may be vague mention of certain scenes within the game, but I don’t plan on going into any huge detail! So, I guess you could say possible, very mild spoilers.

Hello and Welcome: 2019 [Rambles]

While I can’t say 2018 was the best year, it certainly wasn’t the worst. 2018 was full of hardships for me, but despite that I managed to enjoy it overall! I’ve been able to accomplish a lot and I’m proud of myself for that.

With the new year there are more games to be excited for, a few announcements making me particularly excited. So as I did last year, here’s some of the game’s that I’m currently excited for releasing in the upcoming year (hopefully, that is.).

7’scarlet [Rambles]

After Pyschedelica of the Black Butterfly, I was excited to get my hands on 7’scarlet — it being the next out of Aksys Summer of Mystery otoge that they were releasing. This was a game I had more information on going in in comparison to the first Psychedelica game, and after it was announced to be localized I was really happy considering I’d nearly gone and imported a copy after much debate.

Thankfully I hadn’t gone and done that, the localization announcement happening just in time. So, with the English version preordered I waited, and after all this time I finally received my copy!

Of course, I immediately dove into it.

(Be warned, this review contains spoilers!)