I gotta ask: what was everyone's first otome?
Mine was... Well, I didn't even realize it was an otome game at the time. I didn't even know what an otome game was. Regardeless of all that, this was my gateway to the genre.
Princess Debut is unique in many ways, namely in the fact it is a rhythm otome game. The plot is pretty standard otome fare. You play as a schoolgirl who is bored of her day to day life and dreams of being whisked away by a prince. After the girl returns home, she is shocked to see another girl (her double) come out of her closet, along with a strange creature. The doppelganger explains that she is the same person as the player character, but from another world called the Flower Kingdom. On top of that, she's a princess, and she is required to dance at the prestigious Ball of Saint-Lyon. Sadly, she also hates dancing, on top of just plain sucking at it. She begs the player character to take her place. Upon accepting, the player character travels to the Flower Kingdom, and has 30 days to practice dancing and find a prince to be her partner for the ball.
There are five main routes and two secret routes, and save for one, all the princes have counterparts back in the player character's home world. The guys all follow the typical otome stereotypes: the childhood friend, the aloof type, the flirt, and so on. There's always choices to make on top of spending the most time with them during dancing practice. There's also affection meters for each guy. It's a simple mechanic that works if it's a person's first otome. And before you ask, the rabbit is your dancing coach.
The otome aspect is where the game really shines; the rhythm aspect, not so much. The number of songs is very limited, and in the story mode, you will be repeating the same song
a lot. The gameplay is simple enough: use your stylus to trace a pattern on the bottom screen while your character and her partner dance on the top. However, the repetition really makes this part of the game drag. Through the game, you can also collect different accessories for your character, which allow her to wear various dresses via a magical girl-esque transformation sequence. Before you get excited, keep in mind this game came out in 2008. The art in the otome scenes is decent enough, but the dancing/3D models?
Yyyyeah.
So, should you play this game? If you can find this game used for cheap, I say go for it. I bought it for $20 a week after it came out from a used game shop, and I still pick it up and play it every now and then when I'm bored. It will have a good payoff if you can overcome the repetition of the rhythm game, and I will admit that part takes a bit to power through. But overall, it's good for a light, fun otome game.
... That went on longer than I meant to. Sorry
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