You heard that right! In commemoration of IFI’s 10th Anniversary, Idea Factory International have announced two new otome releases during their panel at Anime Expo 2023!
☆My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance-
Based on the popular light novel, manga, and anime series, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! – Pirates of the Disturbance – arrives physically and digitally in North America and Europe for the Nintendo Switch™ this Winter—featuring two new characters: Rozy Lind and Silva!
Overview:
Catarina Claes is a young woman born into a family of nobility who has a memory of her past life as a high school student. She was reincarnated as a Villainessin an otome game called Fortune Lover. Exile or death were all that awaited her in this new world. However, she managed to evade these ends, and somehow made it through the year to spring break.
As fate would have it, both Catarina and her adopted brother, Keith, were to board a state-of-the-art luxury liner called the Vinculum on its maiden voyage during their time away from the Academy. Once aboard the ship, she realized her friends were also in attendance on what was meant to be a luxurious journey at sea.
The tides changed quickly when they were attacked by pirates who took over the Vinculum and held all of its passengers hostage.
This turn of events all seemed familiar to Catarina, and she begins to recall this was the storyline to a Fortune Lover fanbook.
Could this mean she’s living in a resurrection of a canned doom ending?! Will Catarina and her friends be able to return to Sorcier safely?
The curtain rises for a new twist in this doom-flag-evading romantic comedy!
Key Features:
- Uncharted Waters Ahead! – A new doom flag has risen in this all-new story set in the My Next Life as a Villainess universe! This original tale can be enjoyed by both longtime fans and newcomers alike.
- Rascals, Scoundrels, Villains, and Knaves – Catarina isn’t the only one who decided to take a cruise on the Vinculum. The full My Next Life as a Villainess crew is here. Featuring 6 romanceable shipmates, including 2 all-new characters!
- A Voyage Down Memory Lane –As you progress through the story and fulfill certain conditions, you’ll unlock special Memory Scenarios. These episodes will take place from the perspective of the other characters in the story. Experience events such as childhood memories and tales from academic life!
- Batten Down the Hatches! – Along your journey, you’ll sometimes face two paths before you. Time for a Strategy Meeting! Who better to ask for advice than… well, yourself! As seen in the light novel and anime, Catarina looks within to attend a meeting with five versions of herself—led by Chairman Catarina—to decide which route to take.
| Product Information: | |
|---|---|
| Title | My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance- |
| Console | Nintendo Switch™ |
| Release Date | Winter 2023 |
| Release Format | Physical (Standard and Limited Edition), Digital |
| Developer | IDEA FACTORY |
| Publisher | IDEA FACTORY INTERNATIONAL |
| Genre | Visual Novel |
| Player(s) | 1 |
| Voiceover option(s) | Japanese |
| Language Format (Subtitles) | English |
| ESRB | RP (Rating Pending) |
☆Sympathy Kiss
Sympathy Kiss will arrive physically and digitally in North America and Europe for the first time in the west in Early 2024 for the Nintendo Switch™!
Overview:
About a year has passed since Akari Amasawa started her new job as a designer at Estario, a mobile app maker. While she doesn’t dislike her job, she’s not deeply passionate about it either. After her yearly performance review, she’s given the opportunity to join the Estarci team.
The company’s namesake app, Estarci is a news app that made a big splash when it launched, but has since fallen behind rival apps, including apps run by Estario itself. Management has decided to give the app one last chance before shutting it down for good, and Akari and all of her new co-workers will need to give it their all to save the app from the chopping block.
Will Akari find true love? Will she find what it is she wants to do in life? Will the app get shut down? Wait, was Akari only given this opportunity because the company was looking for an excuse to fire her?!
Business and pleasure mix in Sympathy Kiss, a thrilling office romance and slice-of-life drama!
Key Features:
- POV: You Are A Modern-Day Office Worker in Japan – Explore your career opportunities and work with up to six love interests. See through the eyes of a Japanese career woman and experience full immersion in a contemporary workplace setting where the fantasy can be found in the breakroom.
- Call or text if you need me! – Increase productivity, or dabble in some friendly office banter by maintaining contact with romanceable characters using the RiNG system. Respond to text messages and take fully-voiced calls from your favorite love interests.
- Wear Your Emotions On Your Sleeve – Some decisions require you to express how you feel through the Emotion Select system. Pick from two of a total of five emotions: Happy, Angry, Troubled, Sad, and Indifferent. Your selected emotions can influence future conversations. Your love interests will always remember to consider your emotions.
- A Happy Worker Is A Productive Worker! – Use the Love/Work system when making decisions to balance your work life and social life. Increase your Work Points or Love Points with each decision by choosing whether you will prioritize your career or romance. This will influence the outcome of your route and the ending.
| Product Information | |
|---|---|
| Title | Sympathy Kiss |
| Console | Nintendo Switch™ |
| Release Date | Early 2024 |
| Release Format | Physical (Standard and Limited Edition), Digital |
| Developer | IDEA FACTORY/DESIGN FACTORY |
| Publisher | IDEA FACTORY INTERNATIONAL |
| Genre | Visual Novel |
| Player(s) | 1 |
| Voiceover option(s) | Japanese |
| Language Format (Subtitles) | English |
| ESRB | RP (Rating Pending) |
In addition, Limited Editions for My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance-, and Sympathy Kiss will be offered exclusively through the IFI NA and European Online Stores. The contents of the Limited Editions and preorder dates will be revealed at a later date. Those who purchase either the Standard Edition or Limited Edition at the IFI Online Stores will also receive an EXCLUSIVE trading card!
You can wishlist the Standard or Limited Edition on these titles on the IFI NA Online Store later today!
Otome Kitten 
omg wow!! these are 2 otome I was definitely NOT expecting localization but nonetheless very excited!! I never watched reincarnated as a villainess but that’s really cool to see an anime spinoff otome make it over here since I don’t think that’s ever happened before (*looks at the ohshc otome on ds with a tear*) Sympathy Kiss was especially unexpected as I remember a lot of people seeing this otome and not really liking it but Idea Factory decided to localize it anyways! I know from the moment I saw it it would just be a basic office romance but after looking into it more and seeing how nice the art is + falling in love with the LI’s, I can’t wait to play this one 🙂 (still not loving the eyeless MC tho-)
as always thank you for keeping us updated on the otome localizations 🥳 I would be completely lost without these blog posts LOL
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Not really interested in either of these- the Villainess one seems more like a game for kids? Glad that younger audiences are seeing to get otomes, but I definitely won’t be picking that one up. Sympathy Kiss seems like a strange choice for localization- TBH I don’t see it flying off the shelves, so I am at least very interested to see how it does.
I have a long time before I can get through my backlog, so that’s fine, though I do always worry when a new localization announcement seems like it won’t be super popular.
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Also MangaGamer announced they are the team localizing Hana Awase: mangagamer.org/hanaawase
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Hello! Yep, I updated my post for this news back in March with this detail! https://rb.gy/b1oea
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OMG I never expected these two games to get announced but LETS GOOOOO!
I really wanted Sympathy Kiss since i saw it announced in Japan and Hamefura was actually an anime i enjoyed watching! Never read the manga though but I hear you can still play this even without watching the show and reading the manga? ANYWAY IM SO HYPED! Thank you so much for the news!
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Just a question, do you know if error salvation will have an LE??
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