I don’t think Akiba Lost is the best name the development team could have come up with here. It’s accurate, in that it’s a game about people who got lost in Akihabara (pet name “Akiba”), but given the presence of Akiba’s Trip, this game is just asking for players to make assumptions. It is, of course, an entirely different game.…
Kodansha Creators’ Lab has announced that it will publish the Bon-developed visual novel Buzz or Die. In it, you compete in a new gruesome game show for viewer votes to avoid being sent to death row. Buzz or Die is in development for PC and is expected to launch this…
There was a time when visual novels were a rare thing in…
Six years after its original Japanese launch, Cupid Parasite is now coming…
Fans of MAGES. have not seen a new IP from the developer in nearly three years, but that will change in August with the launch of eye-catching visual novel Iwakura Aria. The game launched for Nintendo Switch about a year ago in Japan, making its Western PC release is the…
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7’scarlet has been around for several years on Steam, but the Nintendo Switch has become a solid home for the visual novel genre, so why not have it on this nice, slim, near-perfect “reading” device? I doubt many otome fans would say that it’s their favourite Otomate project, but at…
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I love game remake inception: remakes of remakes of remakes (and so on). That’s what is happening here with D.C. ~Da Capo~ Re:tune. It is a full remake of the 2002 remake of visual novel D.C. ~Da Capo~. Today, a launch date of late October was announced for this newest…
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Nearly a year ago, PQube announced it would publish otome crime-solving cinematic visual novel Bustafellows season2 in the West in 2025. And it is making good on that promise! The sequel to Bustafellows (which DDNet Editor-in-Chief Matt describes as being right up there with the best crime fiction works he’s…
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Set in contemporary São Paulo, visual novel Pivot of Hearts explores the idea that love doesn’t follow a single path. Branching relationships are determined by tarot-based choices, a gameplay mechanic explored in my recent interview with Brazilian developer Dragonroll Studio. The game’s narrative explores love, identity, and the many forms…
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I’ve played some great games that use in-game smartphone mechanics; for example, I love 2017’s A Normal Lost Phone. Waiting for Reply brings this type of gameplay to a visual novel format as you interact with the world through your smartphone. Use apps to send messages, check emails, take photos,…
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Brazilian indie developer Dragonroll Studio has been making games since 2019, but until now, they have all been game jam or free titles. Its focus is on making cute, subversive games. The team is poised to launch its first premium game, visual novel Pivot of Hearts. (A free demo is…
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Games that touch on mental illness can be difficult to both develop and play; if not done correctly, these games could do more harm than good to their players. This is a risk that Borealis and Eastasiasoft take with Secrets in Green, a game that follows a mentally ill woman…
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Today is the first anniversary of the Japanese launch of otome visual novel Utakata no Uchronia. Aksys Games is celebrating by announcing its English title, Illusion of Itehari, and confirming its release on Nintendo Switch in late 2025. It will be available physically and digitally, with physical pre-orders open now…
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What if Harry Potter was an otome love game and not written by a horrible woman who seems obsessed with being a one-person “can you separate art from artists” talking point? Battlefield Waltz is a bit like that. It’s a story about a bunch of teens in a special, magical…
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