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 through the Aksys Online Store for the standard edition and…
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…
Otome visual novel Hakuoki SSL ~Sweet School Life~ first launched in Japan…
It was only a few weeks ago that heartfelt game Hanako’s Flower…
Games described as visual novels are rarely straight-up visual novels anymore. Instead, they mix in other elements of gameplay, like puzzles. House of Chavez is, at its heart, a visual novel – but it does incorporate elements from puzzle and point-and-click adventure games. Its narrative is intertwined with mini-games, romance,…
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Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue is not the Danganronpa clone it seems to be. It looks the part, but rather than being a “death game,” it’s closer to the first 90% of Lord of the Flies (the part where there’s tension but no murder) than Saw. Or Blue Lagoon were…
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I really like the first two games in the Pixel Pulp series, and I’m quite looking forward to the next title – Bahnsen Knights – that follows an investigator looking into a fast and powerful cult. Each game in the series has a distinct look: Mothmen 1966 is very green-black,…
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Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly catch-up news feature, the catch-up coffee. With each issue I will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!…
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Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly catch-up news feature, the catch-up coffee. With each issue I will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!…
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Sympathy Kiss is an otome visual novel about office drama and romance. I get that office romances are often frowned upon, but let’s be real: they happen, and they can lead to successful long-term relationships. That’s not to say that a successful career isn’t important, though, and Sympathy Kiss wants…
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Described as a mottled burlesque fantasy, One Night: Burlesque is a detective/crime story in a unique noir setting. The visual novel has players delving into the heart of a tarry noir tale, where the fluff of peacock features and sequins darken under the influence of crime lurking in the shadows.…
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Reality is increasingly uncertain, and this is fascinating. Anonymous;Code, the latest in the series that has brought us Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes and Chaos;Head, is a play on this idea, and it, too, is fascinating. Quite possibly the most fascinating of all this series of visual novels, precisely because it is so…
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Thank the maker for Aksys. The publisher of the most niche of niche visual novels has announced that it will be bringing Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II to the Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation in late February 2024. Death Mark II is actually the third in the series, after Death…
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I struggle to think of a more consistent developer than Otomate. The Idea Factory otome specialist developer produces games at such a rate that I’m convinced the only reason we don’t get all of them in the West is that the localisers simply can’t work that fast… and that’s a…
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