Otomate and Idea Factory otome visual novels can often follow the same sort of gameplay patterns and decisions, so it’s always fun to see something a little different. Otome Daoshi: Fighting for Love, Aksys’ latest pick-up, is a fantastic example. It is a new game from all three and, while it is still a traditional visual novel, it leans into the martial arts themes by also incorporating some anime and manga design directions. However, in the process we lose some of the standard otome visual novel niceties.
As Otome Daoshi begins, it feels a little like we’re being set up for something that might feel a bit like an otome game with a Dragon Ball style 21st World Martial Arts Tournament setting. Shunlin is a martial artist who is also training to be a daoshi. However, while she’s preparing to attend the Tournament of Valor with her grandfather and older brother figure (and possible love interest) Haoran, disaster strikes. Undead jiangshi, the exact types of entities daoshi take to the Forest of Chiming Souls to keep the dead from being abused or harming the innocent, appear and attack. Shunlin and other individuals there to attend or compete in the event, like love interests Longli, Shaowu, and Yuhang, get caught up in investigating and saving the day, while falling in love along the way.
In terms of execution, Otome Daoshi plays like a standard visual novel. You make choices and read along with the story. Rather than your degree of affection determining which route you end up on, you flat out select whose story you pursue after getting to a certain point. You can’t end up with a bad ending, but one of the two ends for each bachelor is a “true” one. While five characters are available, only Haoran, Shaowu, and Yuhang are available on the first run. Longli only unlocks after you finish all three of their stories, and you then must finish his for the secret character whose identity is incredibly obvious. All the routes are pretty short, which means it ends up being about two to four hours to finish a storyline depending on how quickly you read or much you enjoy a path.
Here’s the downside though It isn’t so much that these are shorter runs. It’s that they aren’t as well developed as other otome games Aksys picked up. Like Mistonia’s Hope is one of its other recent releases that blends love stories with subterfuge and revenge. In most of the routes, all elements are well developed and sometimes there’s an unexpected twist. I felt like I saw every plot point coming in Otome Daoshi, and the nature of the narrative means that each character’s story feels rushed with some unresolved elements. Shunlin and some of the guys fall in love way too fast for the sake of the story, with only ones like Haoran and Yuhang feeling like that element makes more sense because both knew her before the events of the game. We might see some of the mystery elements wrap up too quickly or not handled as well in some paths. It’s a bit frustrating.
Which is especially frustrating since the presentation is really pretty! The character designs are fantastic. The backgrounds look good. There are story elements where manga koma are used to show what’s going on. That’s especially great, since it suits the idea of the martial arts masters and attacks against enemies so well.
Especially since there are other downsides to Otome Daoshi come up tied to its presentation and gameplay. Some of these sorts of games end up with extra touches that make things feel a little more finished or alive. For example, the character portraits may have some live 2D elements or animations. That doesn’t happen here. We only see static portraits. We don’t get a glossary section, which seems odd given the number of important terms like “daoshi” or “jiangshi.” There’s also no option for a voiced heroine. That’s something that isn’t always as common, so it’s a little less surprising to see it’s gone. But when combined with the lack of other features, it adds to the feeling of this release not being at the same level as others from the company.
What is disappointing is the lack of an audio or visual indicator that you made a “right” choice when going through a route. See, a common element in Otomate and Idea Factory otome games is some acknowledgement in-game when a response comes up that lets you know if you made the choice that sends you toward the best ending by playing a small animation or having a sound effect play. (Idea Factory, in particular, has referred to it as the Love Catch System for years, and it’s even included as a setting you can toggle in the options of some titles.) Oddly enough, it isn’t here! You can go into the menu to check the Affection ranking after getting to a certain point in the story. (That feature is unselectable until you do.) And we are setting ourselves on a route by choosing a person after getting through a point in the introductory common route. But I’m always disappointed when it isn’t around.
While Otome Daoshi: Fighting for Love’s story isn’t as exciting as I expected a martial arts otome game to be, there are some romantic routes here. Playing it safe isn’t a bad thing, though it does mean it might feel a little more predictable than other titles in the genre. I wish it featured some quality of life titles from other Otomate titles. However, the way it does go with the theme and include the same sort of ambiance and elements as martial arts anime and manga is a nice touch.
Otome Daoshi: Fighting for Love is available for the Switch.