Otome game

An otome game (乙女ゲーム, otome gēmu, literally "maiden game") is a story based video game that is targeted towards the female market. Generally one of the goals, besides the main plot goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player character and one of several male, or occasionally female characters. This genre is most established in Japan, and is mostly made up of visual novels and simulation games (particularly dating sims). As of 2013, the most representative otome game title available in English is Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom for the PSP and 3DS.

History

The first otome game is generally acknowledged to be Angelique, released in 1994 by Koei in Japan for the Super Famicom, and created by an all-female team. The game was originally targeted to pre-teen and younger teenage girls, but became unexpectedly popular with older teenagers and women in their 20s.Angelique is credited with "set[ing] up the specifics and conventions of women’s games: a focus on romance, easy controls and utilizing other multimedia." In 2002, Konami released its very successful Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side, which brought many new fans to the still-new genre. In 2006, Famitsu's listings for the Top 20 selling love games included seven otome games. Early games borrowed heavily from the iconography and story conventions of "retro shoujo manga", "the archetypical girly heroines, the emphasis on pure, sexless, tranquil romance and on a peaceful, stable setting", but as the category expanded, other narrative and gameplay elements were introduced, including action/adventure, combat and plots in which "the heroine can ‘save the world’ and ‘get the guy’ at the same time".