I find I can overlook the dubious monetization practices inherent to mobile, but I don't really like playing mobile otoge because I get embarrassed in public.
My sister has a great story involving mystic messenger. She was at coffee shop one day with a Korean-American friend when she got one of the timed calls. She let it play on speaker and her friend was shocked that my sister apparently 1. spoke Korean 2. had a Korean boyfriend.
@kehtea
I find that the way they use currency makes the gameplay worse too. I don't want to reward microtransactions so I usually only buy things if it's a flat fee unlock a whole route. So when they use an in game currency, I find myself waiting to accumulate it for free which makes the gameplay worse. Even when I like a character most of their personalities are well "2D" XD, and don't hold up to being interacted with for small bits over a long time.
You'll get like 5 minutes with a character and then the game wants you to commit to spending real money. Like I don't even know this character and they expect me to spend money so my character will wear an expensive dress instead of a basic dress just so a romantic interest will like me more? Why would I spend money for poor character development??? Plus I hardly know this character, how would I know if I want to commit to them now??
I feel like games should charge for routes instead of choices. Plus make it so you can earn with ads. Watching ads still generates income. There is a magic number out there for money to free interaction that would make it profitable. Plus it stops people from actively uninstalling due to greed. I know I've straight up uninstalled games after seeing the costs and practices.
I don't spend money on a game unless I feel like it has already earned that amount.
My issue with mobile Otome games (and sometimes otome games in general) is I feel like they missed the mark for what I'm looking for.
-Either there isn't a character I feel drawn to and they all kind of are blah to me (tired of the evil/mean = personality)
-They use some sort of currency to a greedy extent that makes it so you don't actually have a choice in front of you, but a paid and free option. I don't mind if something has currency but when it is impossible to earn currency, and things are expensive it makes me want to spend/earn less.
-If there is combat/gameplay it feels tedious instead.
One mobile game I actually really like was Arcana Twilight. The gameplay was interesting enough and I liked the characters enough to get invested. However it didn't feel like it had much support and later on the grind to get through the main story was incredibly long. (In order to move on I would do all the new levels only to have to grind on past levels for enough experience for my account to go up a few levels. I feel like I shouldn't have to grind that much, levels should give enough experience to only need maybe 1 more account level to continue the story).
I also tried Tears of Themis which seemed interesting at first, but it felt like the mechanics inspired from Ace Attorney wasn't done well, and the combat had no substance to it. I also felt a disconnect from the cast, so the other downsides made it harder to play until I felt more investment.
The most I played through was Mystic Messenger years ago. It was cute for the time, but when I had completed the routes I was ready to move on. Most of the characters I felt were interesting actually lost my interest in their routes most of the time. I remember being specifically disappointed with Jumin's route.
I also don't like the calls feature some games have, as I usually have no volume on my phone. If they also have text so I'm not forced to listen I don't mind, but I feel like I don't need that level of immersion that some others may enjoy.
I feel like I have a love hate relationship with otome games at this point haha
Mystic Messenger is the gold standard for mobile for me. I'm tolerating the grind of The Arcana but it's not a game you should focus on 100%. Definitely need something else to play. Collect your dailies in a pile, and then read 2-4 chapters a week.
But more VN are getting adapted to Android on Ichio. So The Arcana is likely the last mainstream ?mobile I'll try
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