Welcome to the world of otome games, where love, romance, and personal growth intertwine to create immersive, interactive experiences. In this today’s post, we’ll explore 12 of the best stat-raising otome games that will captivate your heart and challenge your strategic skills.
As you embark on these virtual journeys, you’ll develop your protagonist’s skills and attributes, unlocking new paths and romantic possibilities with every choice you make.
From the pioneering classics to the innovative gems of today, this article delves into the intricacies of each game, comparing and contrasting their storylines, anime graphics, stat-raising gameplay, and other elements. read more
First of all, I’m a huge gamer. You have to be a gamer to “get” Free Guy. If you’re not a gamer, this is one to skip. But for me, it’s my favorite film of the year. Not all will agree. My husband said 20 minutes into the movie that he didn’t understand it. I explained it by referencing Dead Pool, another film starring Ryan Reynolds. In Dead Pool, the main character realizes he’s inside a comic book. In Free Guy, “Guy” (Ryan Reynolds) realizes he’s inside a video game. Realizing that they cannot die, and that nothing they do matters, they develop an almost god like complex. But in Free Guy, Ryan Reynolds is actually a good guy and motivated by love. read more
Miitopia is a cute fun casual game that brings the DS classic to the Nintendo Switch with a few new additions. I will say, I wish that instead of Miitopia we were getting MiiTomo as I friggin loved that game – but maybe if Miitopia does well, MiiTomo might be next? Maybe not though as it was a mobile game. Ah rest in peace Miitomo. I actually wrote 2 reviews about my experiences in MiiTomo before Nintendo shut down the mobile game. Read my original Miitomo Review Here and the Updated Miitomo Review Here. I still miss Miitomo very much. RIP.read more
I just watched both the English AND Japanese Nintendo Direct Lives – and it came as a little surprise to me, that they both feature some different games!! – The Japanese one looks fantastic! So many good games for girls. The North American one – not as much but still some good surprises!
You can watch both of the presentations below for yourself in full. Each one is an hour long. Each one has a few of the same games – but also some unique to each region. I hope beyond hope that most of those Japanese games will get an English release!read more
Did you know you can get over 40 free games just by being a member of Amazon Prime? Not only can you get free games, but also free in game content in popular games such as Roblox and Fall Guys. I got an epic santa costume set and rare winter clothing set in Fall Guys. I also got 41 free games just by linking my amazon prime membership and downloading them amazon games client. The amazon games client is very similar to Steam or GOG or other similar PC gaming platforms. It has a lot of games you can buy as well as free games you can play.read more
I recently received Starlight Stage A Pop Idol Card Game from RightStuf. RightStuf is one of the oldest and largest distributors of Otaku merchandise in the US. Check out their website at www.RightStuf.com for everything from anime, manga, action figures, Japanese candy, games, and more.
I decided to purchase Starlight Stage because I’m a fan of mobile idol games and idol anime such as Love Live, Utapri, Bang Dream, Ensemble Stars, and yes, Idol M@ster.
I do not know for sure if this board game is based on Idol M@ster but I suspect it is, since one of the early and most popular Idol M@ster mobile games is titled Idol M@ster Starlight Stage. For whatever reason though, if it is in fact at all related, they stripped it of the Idol M@ster title and just dubbed it Starlight Stage. Either way, related or not, if you love the mobile games or anime idol games, you’ll love Starlight Stage Card Game by Japanime Games.read more
Gameplay: 8/10 This is the last Princess Maker game in the series, aside from some online and mobile spin offs that were released later. As such, you can expect that the gameplay is much more advanced than previous Princess Maker games. Princess Maker 5 brings back the adventure system, previously seen in Princess Maker 2, allowing you to fight in simplistic rpg battles and search for treasure. It does not unlock until later in the game.
It is also the first time that you can select a female character to be the parent – Although if you play as a female, you cannot get the ending where the princess marries you (the parent).
Perhaps more importantly, there are many new activities that your daughter can participate in, compared to previous Princess Maker games. I felt that the gameplay more closely resembled Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side (which I reviewed here.)
You select a week’s worth of activities for your daughter. She will attend public school and have club activities but she will also have free time for you to schedule part time jobs or extra lessons to enhance her stats. On the weekends you will take your daughter out to try to reduce her stress or experience special seasonal events.
Like Tokimeki Memorial, you can see which events are happening by reading a paper that lists new events. You can have cube set a reminder on the day of the events so you don’t forget important dates. But the game will not automatically prompt/navigate you to the event so you still have to pay attention and remember when and where to go for the event.
Gameplay feels slow. Especially the first year. It feels repetitive and slow building your stats, and very few random encounters or events. But as I entered my 2nd year, that began to change. Suddenly, classmates/love interests began to invite my daughter out on dates, or suddenly teachers and employers invited my daughter to special events. Now it felt more interesting and exciting.
But still, ultimately, this game is long, and slow, and while this type of gameplay is best enjoyed in small bursts, because of the repetition and monotonous gameplay, it also is a game that doesn’t get interesting until several hours in. I spent over 6 hours in the first year… If like most princess maker games this one goes until the daughter’s 18th birthday, then this game has over 70 hours of gameplay, per playthrough, times 50 endings…. staggering… definitely a highlight of the game — but the gameplay is so monotonous that many people may never reach all 50 endings.
How could I give an 8/10 to a monotonous boring “dull” game? Well because of the added features the game presents, this game is the most realistic child rearing sim, and gives unprecedented freedom and control to the player. Your daughter grows in new ways never present in the previous princess maker games, and she grows more independent with her own hobbies and interests and desires and things become more complicated, it brings back the adventure system, and the new dating/events system seemingly borrowed from Tokimeki Memorial. All of these are an improvement over most of the gameplay features in previous princess maker games.
The game gives you unprecedented freedom to raise any kind of daughter you want, even if you want her to be a cosplaying anime fan who loves going to idol concerts. Seriously, she can become interested in just about anything you can imagine. lol.
Story: 5/10 I think part of the reason the game is so slow is that it has almost no story. You just literally keep clicking and waiting/hoping something changes/happens. Which doesn’t happen for several hours until you’ve been pumping up your stats. The opening movie is not translated or subtitled for the english release on steam. It seems that maybe it may have had at least an interesting introduction. I think from what I can tell, the daughter is a demon maybe. It says it began from bloody events that happened long ago. Seems to hint at a curse, and then from there I haven’t a clue as to what is going on, but you see cube fly away with the girl. The girl also has a special hair clip that lets her communicate with you and allows you to watch the girl while she’s away. Every once in awhile the girl talks about seeing spirits or fairies and other supernatural things. But I’m now about 10 hours into the game and there’s really no overall story, or direction, or plot, it’s basically an open ended sandbox game. Plot isn’t necessary in games like this, but since I play games for their stories, I think that’s why I feel bored while playing this game since it lacks an overarching plot of any kind.
Characters: 10/10 I really do like the characters. They are not strong from a story standpoint, but they feel very real, and their interactions and dialogues with each other are very cute. The independence of your daughter and new complex ways in which she can develop and grow make this the best daughter of all.
Graphics: 7/10 The artwork put me off at first, for years even before this official US release, I would see pictures of this game, compare it to 4 which was my favorite Princess Maker game, and just think YUCK!… But oddly… in the 10 hours I played the game, I now find it cute and charming. I’d played 4 years ago on my nintendo DS, even though I couldn’t read any of it. I loved that art style, and at first found this new art style for 5 to be a huge turn off. But after playing the game, I’ve changed my tune. I suggest if you like me, hate the way Princess Maker 5 looks, just give it a go, it’s a great game, and the artwork is strangely cute once you get used to it!
There’s this little fat boy, which normally would be like a blech, but I dunno there’s something sooo cute about him. He reminds me of the fat lil asian boy from Disney’s “Up” and there’s another little boy that looks like he could be straight outta card captor or some other sugary sweet shojo anime.
The daughter was what I found most unattractive, but watching her study, work, and play, I’ve realized she is the most “real” and endearing of any of the daughters in previous games. I love my little princess.
Music: 3/10 – I really dislike the opening song – it’s awful. blech. But the rest of the music is “OK” I guess. just kinda average to me really.
Voice Acting: 10/10 – the voice acting is very cute 🙂 I’m glad they kept the original Japanese voices in the game.
Replay Value: 10/10 – over 50 different endings and the variety of things to do within this game give it excellent replay value.
Special Thanks to E-Win Racing who sent me this awesome gaming chair to review for my blog. Although I received the product for free, opinions expressed in this article are my own.
Pros:
Very sturdy! Supports my weight at 5 ft 4, 216 lbs. Has a steel frame, and memory foam.
The memory foam is extremely firm, and even at 200+ lbs, there is no “sinking” feeling – it offers great support!
Adjustable base to fit your height
Seat back reclines to almost any position
Cute design with bright color accents. Many different colors to choose from. And I love how the chair’s wheels look like little race car tires with rims/spokes. So cute!
Ergonomic and comfortable! Perfect for gaming, graphic design, web development, programming, or office use. Any task where you will be at the computer for several hours straight.
Affordable! E-Win Racing’s chairs start at $379. Many competitor’s Gaming Chairs go for 3 times this much! E-Win Racing also has sales and special promotions and has graciously provided a special discount for our readers for 10% off any order with code “sweetie”
The team at E-Win Racing is knowledgeable and friendly and very responsive to any questions or concerns you might have.
According to mygaming.com, an online video gaming magazine, more than 1.8 billion people play video games across the world. Considering that the current global population is around 7 billion, that comes to approximately one in every four people who play at least one video game every month. read more
The folks over at KLab Inc. sent me their press release announcement for the English version of Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team. Captain Tsubasa is a very old and popular anime about soccer. I have not watched it yet, though I’ve heard a lot about it.
I get a lot of Press Releases in my inbox each day, and I don’t always share them here, but this caught my eye with a ton of great giveaways and special events. The fun started yesterday and you only have a short time to take advantage of some of these awesome freebies for new players.
The timing of this Press Release was also timely and the content relevant to my current life. I’m sure you’ve noticed I’ve not been updating here as frequently the past few months. I began seeing someone over the end of the summer, and we’ve spent every weekend together ever since we met, and about a month ago now we made it “official”.
Weekends used to be when I’d work on my blog and schedule posts to go out through the week. But now with a more active social life my blog has been on the back burner. Hopefully I’ll get enough stuff scheduled up over thanksgiving and xmas breaks to kick off the new year with lots of great new game reviews and blog updates.
The new boyfriend happens to live and breathe soccer. He plays and watches it or coaches and teaches it almost every day (and when it’s not super cold outside I go and watch him play). He’s also from Peru and Peru just made it to the World Cup last week, for the first time in my boyfriend’s lifetime, so he’s very excited about that.
We are as different as night and day. He’s the typical jock, and I’m the typical geek, both in appearance and interests. But he’s not really the “typical” jock because he’s very attentive and sensitive and warm and kind hearted. He told me he wants to better understand me / my hobbies / interests because It’s what I’m into and important to me. (He even told me he’d come to my next doll meetup with me LOL. How many “jocks” would subject themselves to that?)
He’s geeky too in his own way, but much more of a closet geek. He dressed up as Captain America for Halloween, and we just saw Justice League together last weekend. But he’s been saying for awhile he wants to watch an anime with me (he’s never watched any before). I’ve been debating what anime to show to him, and then this Press Release came in and brought Captain Tsubasa back to the top of my mind. It’s older and has “bad” art compared to many newer anime, but I think it might be the perfect anime for my soccer loving boyfriend. And I think I would enjoy the slice of life elements of the series as well. Maybe I’ll even get him to download the new game and play it with me when it comes out next month.
Anyways be sure to check out the Press Release below from KLab Inc, and pre-register to play Captain Tsubasa Dream Team to take advantage of all of the special events going on right now!
Pre-Kickoff Campaign for Global Version of “Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team” Starts Today!
Global Version Planned for Release in December 2017
KLab Inc.
(TSE1: 3656)
Tokyo, Japan – November 20, 2017 – KLab Inc., a leader in online mobile games, announced that pre-registration for the global version of Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team officially kicked off on Monday, November 20 (UTC+9). This head-to-head football simulation game based on the world-famous Captain Tsubasa series is planned for global release in over 135 countries and regions around the world. In addition to the Japanese version released in June 2017, the global release will be localized into six languages—English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese.
The global version of the game is planned for release in December 2017.
The Pre-Kickoff Campaign began earlier today with pre-registration for the upcoming release currently available on the official Twitter and Facebook accounts. Players are encouraged to follow either (or both!) to receive the latest updates on the upcoming title and stay one step ahead of the game. More details can be found on the official website, which opened earlier today in all six languages available in the global version of the game.
I just came across a press release in my inbox sent to me by someone at Viz Media with details about the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Four Swords - Legendary Edition which compiles all 10 volumes of Akira Himekawa’s manga based on the Legend of Zelda video games. Each Legendary Edition Contains 2 volumes of the manga. This is the 5th, and final Legendary Edition.
Amazon currently has the Legend of Zelda: Four Swords - Legendary Edition available for Preorder at the link below. It will begin arriving on door steps on July 11th. https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Zelda-Legendary-Vol-Swords/dp/142158963X
Overview: 10/10 Magikarp Jump is a cute, free, seemingly innocent Pokemon Game for Mobile IOS and Android devices. The gameplay is very simplistic and reminiscent of Monster Rancher in that you take home a pet to train and raise and enter league battles. Pretty basic stuff, right? But actually it is perhaps one of the darkest Pokemon Games of all time, because for the first time ever, your Pokemon can die! There is no going back into their Pokeballs, and no amount of healing from Nurse Joy can bring a KoiKing back after he has become lunch for a wild flying Pokemon.
Nintendo just announced some "new" (more like "enhanced") Pokemon Games that will be available on the Nintendo Switch this Fall, 2017. The games include Pokken Tournament DX, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and Pokemon Gold and Silver...
Like many of my readers, I have been playing games for over 3 decades now. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of hours spent playing games like Super Mario Kart and Donkey Kong Country on my SNES with my friends, or time spent immersing in the stories of RPG classics back in the 16 and 32 bit era such as Lunar on the Sega CD or Zelda on the SNES and N64.
Video games have a long history and continue to entertain new generations of kids who are growing up gaming, just like they did back in the 80s and 90s.
To celebrate video games, the team at The Monitor Monitor has put together this infographic of consoles, the number of games produced for each console, and sales numbers for the top selling games on each console.
Please note that the graphic is sorted by manufacturer, then number of games produced, not chronological order.
Enjoy!
(Infographic published with consent from The Monitor Monitor)
