so what ones do you want them to release
A good one.
While I’ve repeated what ones I think would be a good idea a few times, Id on’t know whether I should really want them to pick a game I already know a great deal about or to surprise me. You mentioned CRAZY RABBITS which did sound fun by my standards when I read reviews of it, but there must be otome games that I know nothing about…
If you can try talking to Cyc again, I’d love to see Asaki, Yumemishi and its sequel from their Mio branch. Souten no Kanata would be nice too.
Would also like Garnet Cradle since the story summary kind of reminds me of Fushigi Yugi
Garnet Cradle looks really pretty but ISTR sounded a bit more of a letdown once it was reviewed. Practically no meaningful choices, kinda repetitive between routes, not really what I like in a VN.
… but its pretty so id still get it.
As of this writing, JAST has a huge backlog. While I hope the company will license a variety of interesting games and VNs, any product licensed in 2013 might not be released for quite some time…
If Windows is still the only viable platform for JAST, then there are quite a few untranslated GxB visual novels available for modern Windows OS, both from professional companies and amateur groups. Content ratings range from very worksafe to very NSFW. Some have a cast of famous voice actors (with high fees), while others don’t. Keep in mind that in order to sell to English speaking fans, there’s already established competition in the forms of indie games, freeware western VNs, and a handful of fan translated games.
I don’t know if JAST would ever release a product for mobile devices. Companies such as Voltage Inc and NTT Solmare have been translating several GxB stories for Android and iOS devices. And while consoles are probably right out, it seems notable that Aksys sold 58000 copies of Hakuouki for the PSP in 2012, if the VGChartz data is accurate.
Unfortunately, I don’t play (read) untranslated material, so I don’t know what specific examples to recommend. I know there are some experienced fans who can provide detailed information about the VNs and games they like.
A,Y got positive reviews from both Hinano’s Game Babbles and White Butterfly.
I bought Hakuoki, and having played through it once (got the you-didn’t-get-anybody ending) I have to say - I’ve always said I’d be open to playing an otome game … and Hakuoki is good enough to hold my interest, so I guess it’s still true … but it definitely is a genre whose strengths don’t appeal to me all that much. It’s not a game I’d have any interest in clearing all the routes for. That said, I’m replaying it anyway cause the you-fail route has a rather abrupt ‘and now we shunt you to the express train to anticlimactic resolution-land’ transition.
A good otome game could still get me to buy it. I don’t regret buying Hakuoki. But it seems like it’s not my cup of tea after all.
If that 56% on EGS is at all accurate, the problem likely isn’t with you or otome games but with Hakuoki =P
Mostly all I know about Hakuoki is that the original protag is sufficiently stupid and useless that the translation company was compelled to edit her slightly on the grounds that western players would murder them if they had to play THAT much of an idiot, and this alteration caused some complaints among the hardcore purists. And that she’s probably STILL useless even in the final product.
On the other hand many people do seem to have enjoyed it. I dunno, that era is not my favorite setting and I don’t have a PSP.
Here’s my review of the game, I liked it:
http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2012/05/ … ty-review/
If Aksys did rewrite Chizuru, then if you ask me they did a good job at that, purists be damned.
Speaking of Aksys, we’re getting a new otome game from them:
http://www.siliconera.com/2013/02/14/th … h-america/
http://sweet-fuse.com/
Chizuru is actually one of my favorite otome-ge heroines, but I digress. As for otome-ge I’d like to see licensed:
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Gekka Ryouran Romance. Half of the characters are yandere, including the heroine! Dark, twisted romance and some absolutely amazing character development. Also features a legitimate yuri route.
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Trick or Alice. It has an adorable, competent heroine and a dark twist on Alice in Wonderland, no matter how cute it looks. High production values, lots of plot twists, and also has an avaliable yuri route with a loli.
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Tsubasa no Oka no Hime. The heroine is a mature woman, the domineering ojou-sama type, and also a bit of a sadist in the bedroom. Features an ojisan route for those who are into that sort of thing, and yet another yuri loli route.
Someone’s doing an LP of Chou no Doku Hana no Kusari elseforum right now and much as it shames me to admit it every time one particular character looks straight at the viewer my weak maidenly heart does a somersault. It’s bizarre, because the sprite art is so strange looking and the premise of the game did not sound like much, and yet it has quickly attracted fans.
You know that Hideo characer kinda looks like the main character of Persona 4…
not really otome but i think sabae no ou could greatly appeal to female fans and males too
plenty of of dudes and gals and you can also advertise the unqiue system to tabletop fans
http://www.lostscript.jp/sabae.html
The doujin game Queen of Darkness looks sort of interesting. There’s a fan translation for the sequel, so there’s probably an existing fanbase.
http://vndb.org/v1923
http://otomediary.wordpress.com/2008/10 … ss-review/
However, the fanbase has all happly pirated said sequel because the circle’s defunct and it’s not on sale anywhere, iirc.
On the other hand, according to VNDB, there’s a connection between Heterodoxy and a later title that I mentioned previously as being something of interest: http://vndb.org/v10051
If the original makers are defunct, there’s basically no chance Jast USA would touch it with a ten-foot pole.