Valentine’s Day is coming up, so what's a single girl to do on the widely-celebrated day of love? I could spend the day eating junk food and watching Netflix, like any other day, or I could try something new.
I recall my interview last year with Voltage Inc., a company that creates otome, otherwise known as" romance simulation games" in English. They are basically games in which the player encounters several love interests and ultimately pursues a virtual relationship with a character of the player’s choice.
Although I have had the opportunity to play some of these games before, I shied away from the idea on multiple occasions. Weird, because I actually consume tons of romantic comedy films (when eating junk food and watching Netflix) as well as books where fictional characters get into relationships with each other, but something about entering into a fictional relationship seemed a bit odd and embarrassing to me.
But now, curiosity has gotten the best of me. Does otome really simulate romance? Will it set my heart aflutter? I’ve got no plans on Valentine’s Day anyway, so might as well get courted by some hunky virtual men, right? With my flawless reasoning, I embark on my journey of simulated love to find out what it’s like to be wooed by a virtual character.
To get me started, Voltage Inc. sends me one of their games, Kissed by the Baddest Bidder. By the title alone, I know I’ll be getting kissed, which sounds like this romance simulation game is heading in the right direction.
The game begins with me standing inside a huge cage on stage in front of hundreds of people, because apparently I’m being sold at a secret black market auction. I’m not sure how I landed in this situation, but this is not how I envisioned my romance story unfolding. I quickly learn that I am a maid who works at Hotel Tres Spades, Japan’s first legal casino and hotel. Every year, there is a huge event at the hotel called the VIP Convention that attracts all kinds of high-profile people, from celebrities to politicians, and it always creates a buzz among the staff.
Oh, Sakiko. I’m the leading lady of this romance simulation game. If a rich, famous guy is going to fall in love with anybody, I have a strong hunch it’s going to be me (‘cause I’m the one playing this game). Sakiko’s words sound like a grand way to meet my suitors, until I find out that the convention is actually a cover-up for a black market auction. In a flurry of events, I meet my five potential love interests one after the other and somehow end up accidentally breaking a $20 million auction item, which leads me to being sold in its place. And this all happens in the prologue too.
Head of the Ichinomiya Group and owner of the Hotel Tres Spades, Eisuke Ichinomiya. Charming.
World-class thief Mitsunari Baba. Classy.
Renowned artist and model, Ota Kisaki. Modest.
Hong Kong mobster Soryu Oh. Sweet.
Detective Mamoru Kishi. Perceptive.
These five men are friends who run the annual secret auction together and saved (?) me by offering the highest bid, but it looks like I won’t get off the hook easily and have to choose which one buys me.
I don’t see myself getting out of this, or else there would be no story, so I’ll have to pick somebody. Who would you choose? I can’t say I had a particularly wonderful impression of anybody in the ten seconds I spent with each of them, but if I were to pick the best of the lot, I’d go with mobster Soryu. At least he saved (spared) my life, so I’m guessing he’s kind of nice.
I don’t want to give away the game too much, so I’ll try to keep spoilers minimal. I have to say the game started off a bit rough for me. The prologue set everything up very quickly, and I just had to accept a lot of things at face value without there being much development, requiring me to often suspend my disbelief. The whole idea of being auctioned and saved by being bought doesn’t work so well with me, but once the game got going, I found it surprisingly enjoyable. I expected the rest of the game to be just as rushed as the prologue -- like jumping right into the lovey dovey stuff -- but as I got deeper, the game reveals Soryu’s backstory, making him interestingly dynamic and not-merely-a-2D character on my screen. Personally, I think I made the right choice in picking Soryu.
But to answer my main question: Did Soryu ever set my heart aflutter? I admit there have been some tiny fluttery feelings.
Dating a mobster ain’t easy. Being constantly followed by bodyguards and nosy, rich friends is something that happens on the regular, as I have learned.
And many times that he tried, but didn’t quite make it.
Excuse me? I know I make some pretty good omelettes, but this is a weird way to compliment me. More than his supposedly-romantic words, I liked Soryu’s wittiness, even when he’s outsmarting me -- like when he enlisted me to help out with the black market auction as part of my duties to repay my debt, thus making me complicit in their illegal activities.
Clever bastard.
Personally, I found that the portions of the game focusing on revealing his character worked better to interest me than the overtly romantic dialogue. However, the game wasn’t as interactive as I expected, making it feel more like I was reading a digital visual novel with music. If it included more interactive options, I think I would have felt more involved with the storyline and perhaps, more wooed by Soryu.
All in all, I think I have shed my bias of romance simulation games now that I’ve played one. The romance simulation game didn’t make me feel like I was in a relationship, but it certainly entertained me, nailing the game aspect of it. It’s fun because you’re thrown into such an odd and unlikely situation where odd and unlikely people pursue you.
How many hotel owners/world class thieves/renowned artists/mobsters/detectives do you get courted by? For me, a lot of the romance is a bit too direct for my taste, but that just has me chuckling until the few times Soryu does something that impresses me.
As long as I’m not illegally auctioned off again, playing another otome game sounds like a good alternative to chick flicks on Valentine’s Day.
