Otome Review: Valentines Otome

Oh hey, it’s that company I thought was dead.

But seriously, I was sad when it looked like Synokoria – the company that provided Halloween Otome – was gonna be a One Hit Wonder. There was so much clever writing in their work, with high-grade art that you rarely see in free titles. So, imagine my surprise when a good buddy linked me to their newest project, Valentine’s Otome. Our dry-spell is officially over!

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This is Valentines Otome, the sequel to Emma’s Halloween adventure in the mansion of Erik Valdemar. But, this time, we deal with her much more party-girl best friend and her Mistake(?) of the century.

 

• Plot

 

Now that dear Emma is set with her significant other, the author gods of this universe turned their attention to Emma’s best buddy Miranda, or Mira (or whatever you decide to call her). Mira is an active party girl who enjoys going out, knocking back some drinks, and maybe hooking up with a hot guy if he’s got the right stuff. Such is the case for Mira on this fateful Valentine’s Day when she meets three attractive men just looking to unwind and have fun. Mira’s not surprised when she wakes up in bed with one of them… She is, however, surprised to see a wedding ring on her finger.

yeah, that’d be my reaction too

But ah, kiddies, there will be no annulment and divorce today. Each guy has his own reasons why a divorce would hurt more than help, so Mira’s forced to play housewife for at least few months. But what will her rich and overprotective parents say? What will become of her boutique? And what happens when danger inevitably finds them both?

 

• Gameplay

 

I had an idea of what I’d be dealing with when I entered this one. Last time, Synokoria created a mixed-media where you made choices to change the plot alongside playing mini-games to win the in-game competition. We have no mini-games this time around, but we have been introduced to a schedule mechanic that ties into skill-building. Mira has to choose how to spend her week each round, doing various activities: managing her boutique, visiting her “husband,” or even designing at home. Each activity increases one of her traits (design, management, social, etc) which has real-life consequences in the story. I like this mechanic a lot since Mira is a much more active, social person than Emma. It would make sense that she’d be busy during this period of marital-madness.

Each activity has a cute chibi-image to follow, but there will also be in-game “cutscenes” that happen during the week where the more traditional gameplay kicks in. Sprites and backgrounds are back and you’ll be required in a few cutscenes to make a decision that will shift the ending of the story. Because each decision has a chance of getting an “affection point” that gets tallied at a certain cut-off date. Your total number of affection points, plus certain skill levels tailored towards your chosen love interest, will dictate what ending you get.

As for the story itself, it changes depending on which guy you wake up with. Each story is this odd mix of drama and action that doesn’t quite mix but is compelling enough to keep me going. You even get a small subplot by picking which guy your best buddy ended up with from the last game, meaning tons of extra lines with each guy. The only thing that really stuck out to me was how the story occasionally switches POV’s with the guy, as some of it repeated events that already happened, dragging things down a bit. Otherwise, I appreciate that the writers gave a different story for a different type of character, so props.

 

• Art

 

Oh goodness me, how I adore the artwork in these games.

Detailed, cute, colorful – I could really go on about how much work this company puts into game appearances. Sprites of every character are well-animated and distinct, with even minor characters getting detailed sprites.

There’re less of the cutie images you see above, but everything else looks yummy.

 

• Romances

Daire

 

I got Artemis Fowl impressions as soon as I saw him. Given the extreme drama going on behind closed windows, I wasn’t too far off.

Daire Thurston is the heir to a huge company of which the CEO died rather suddenly and mysteriously. He’s not known to be a talker, tends to be a workaholic, and has an expression so unreadable people have to learn a very specific set of skills to figure out what his mood is. All in all, it’s a little difficult to tell how he’d let himself get drunk and get married overnight but, for the sake of the story, we’ll suspend our disbelief. His story is one of pretending to be a good husband and wife to keep up appearances, at least until he becomes the new CEO. The board will pick anything to make him quit, including a nasty divorce, or even a shady past.

Daire’s path is pure defrosting, but not quite the “taming the cold jerk” that I prefer. Sure, he’s cold, but not a bad person and honestly just trying to keep things together. But, if you cross that distance he attempts to create then you’ll enjoy yourself just fine. You’ll just have to deal with a lot of drama happening outside the main plot, which got mildly annoying, but I highly recommend trying the game at least for his path.

 

Zane

 

Speaking as a stay-at-home and moody writer myself, I identified with this anime/gamer geek right away. Sadly, “identified with” is not the same as being attracted to someone.

Zane is very rough as far as stories go. Former playboy turned reclusive, straight-laced writer, Zane’s publishing company has a strict morality clause which would prevent him from divorcing the stranger he just met and married. It looks less awful for him to be naive and rushed than drunk and stupid, so the two of them have to live together for a few months till it no longer looks like they made a huge mistake. This means putting up with a man who’s cranky at times, sloppy, and childish in a few situations.

Most of Zane’s path was not a turn on for me, but the story did manage to hold my interest for entertainment purposes. I like deep-dive characters as much as the next writer after all.

Kiron

But here we have the one that I won’t be coming back to because I’m not a fan of Fatherly Types.

Kiron is a Good Guy™. He cooks; he cleans; he’s responsible, the whole package. The problem is that he’s also the shy admire from afar “I don’t know how to approach her” guy when all this happens, putting a big ole monkey-wrench into developing any kind of relationship. That’s at least what Mira and Kiron think, despite the fact that the two keep having the time of their lives together, but can’t seem to get over the “Other Women” who has no idea she is the other woman.

I didn’t care for this one myself; shy and chaste were never tropes I sought in my wish-fulfillment fantasies. But to someone who wants a traditional gentleman who tries very hard to be your friend first, this one will be just fine. The story is so caught up in the drama that the action part seems kinda forced in, but it’s still solid overall.

 

• Final Thoughts

 

I can see what took this company so long to get this off the ground and I’m glad for the effort. With appealing art, appealing characters, and a well-written lead, Valentines Otome is a great sequel to a fantastic game. While it may have genre-issues that didn’t blend completely, you’ll still find yourself caught up in the slow burn story within.