I love mobile rhythm games like Love Live School Idol Festival, Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage, and I-Chu. The idea of collecting character cards, building them up, and using those decks to ensure I’m strong enough to clear song stages has always been thrilling. Plus, Japanese idol music is pretty good. I-Chu: Chibi Edition seemed like exactly the type of game I’d want, since it is all that minus free-to-play nonsense. Except even though this is a single-purchase game, so much of those mobile trappings get in the way. Not to mention, the translation is shockingly awkward.

Etoile Vie School is a school for young men of varying ages to attend to become idols. They train in different courses to ideally become strong performers. Where do we come in? We’re the producer who helps them on the way. Though that really means we collect character cards to form teams, use those decks to earn points as we play through rhythm-game songs, and read extremely short visual novel chapters that go over their journey to stardom. 

Basically, here’s how the gameplay loop goes. You play through a song on easy with your crew of five “talents” recruited from the gacha. (These cards can be combined or leveled up to become stronger.) After beating certain songs, you can read through a handful of story chapters. A new track then opens up, you beat it, and you can read more story chapters. 

Now, before we go further, know this isn’t an otome game. While your “avatar,” who acts as a producer, is a woman, there’s no romance here. All of the side stories that had those elements in the mobile game are absent in the I-Chu: Chibi Edition. I was incredibly disappointed to hear about that, so it’s best to know that before you pick it up. 

You’re, as far as I’ve seen, locked into the “easy” difficulty to unlock more of the story in I-Chu: Chibi Edition. Which you need to advance to unlock more of the gacha banners. The easy versions of songs are honestly too safe sometimes, and I’ve yet to not get a full combo on one. Especially since all of the virtual “friends” you can select for assistance have maxed out parties.

Though honestly, skipping the story might not be a bad idea. The localization is bad. There are so many awkward phrases here and strange word choices. The punctuation and spacing between letters is incorrect at times. It isn’t as bad as what happened with The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom, but there are times when it feels close. Which is weird, as I’ve found PQube translations to typically be rather solid. 

I was also disappointed by how much unlocking there is for a console version of a mobile game. At this point, someone is paying $30 for I-Chu: Chibi Edition. At the very least, all of the songs should be available immediately in the free-play section, so you can jump right into any tracks you enjoy. But no. They’re not. You need to go through the story to unlock them. Similarly, not all the gacha banners are available either. Again, you need to unlock them. 

Speaking of which, I have a lot of issues with how the gacha is handled in I Chu: Chibi Edition in general. The odds seem as bad as they would be in a mobile game. After five hours of playing, I only have one LE card, and it is for Li Chaoyang. You’d think that, given this is completely offline and pulled from the mobile version, the rate could be increased so I’m not swamped with Rs and RRs. It’d be nice to see LEs more often.  

Which is all a shame, since the rhythm game portion of I-Chu: Chibi Edition is quite fun. Once you do start unlocking a substantial number of tracks — let’s say around 10-20 — you’ll start finding favorites! I felt a lot of them were catchy, and the vocalists performing them all seemed pretty talented. The Normal and Hard difficulties start to feel enjoyable, and Maniac can be genuinely challenging. 

I like the idea of I-Chu: Chibi Edition, as having a one-purchase version of a mobile game that grants you to access to almost everything is appealing. However, the way it forces you to unlock everything, the awkward localization, and the still frustrating gacha system hold it back. The music is good! The rhythm game element is pretty solid! Once you get some decent cards, you can make some strong teams! It’s just all of the other stuff surrounding it bogs it down.

I-Chu: Chibi Edition will be available for the Nintendo Switch on October 3, 2024.  

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Operahouse announced that the otome game The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is now available to play on PC via Steam. While the title will appear in Japanese on the page above the purchase button, it does include both English and Japanese options as subtitles. However, only Japanese voice acting is available.

In this otome game, players are reincarnated in an isekae story as the villainess of a popular, fictional game. The heroine knows how the story should go, and so as Tiararose she knows her fiance Prince Hartknights will abandon her for the “player character” heroine. However, we find that the prince of the neighboring kingdom who went to school with the two of them fell in love with her during their time together. As such, he proposes when the one engagement is called off, giving Tiararose another option and us a new love story.

Here is the full list of Japanese voice actors for the game:

• Tiararose: Mai Fuchigami
• Aquasteed: Yuuichirou Umehara
• Hartknights: Takuya Sato
• Akari: Yumiri Hanamori
• Icilla: Marina Yamada
• Keith: Junichi Suwabe
• Crail: Hikaru Midorikawa
• Pearl: Ai Furihata
• Philine: Minami Takahashi
• Elliot: Sho Karino

As a reminder, as The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is based on the light novel and manga, it is primarily set up as such that players are seeing Tiararose date and fall in love with Aquasteed. That is the “prince of the neighbor kingdom” referenced in the title. However, there are some romantic interations with other characters. The Steam listing also teases “what if” bonus stories with other characters.

The product page also confirmed some other details about the PC release. For example, there are Steam Achievements to earn in this version. Those weren’t present in the Switch release. However, there’s no confirmation that it is Steam Deck compatible.

Operahouse also noted there is a temporary launch sale in effect until October 13, 2024. Instead of being $39.99, it is temporarily $31.99.

The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is available on the Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam worldwide.

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It is amazing how often we see an English translation for new otome game options. If you’d told me 10 years ago that this genre, let alone visual novels as a whole, would be so beloved and widespread, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. It means a more obscure title like Operahouse’s The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom gets picked up and added to the Switch otome library worldwide. The problem is, the localization is so poorly handled that I think most people won’t be willing to give it a chance.

The concept of The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is promising, due to it playing with the latest reincarnation isekai trend and being based on an existing light novel and manga. Tiararose is the heroine and is supposed to marry Hartknights, the prince of the kingdom, after they graduate school. However, she’s actually a woman reincarnated into an otome game she was playing, with Hartknights being one of the main love interests. In that game, “Tiararose” was his fiance and the villainess, who the prince dumps for the player character in the end. So she’s set for her bad end and exile. Except Aquasteed, the prince of the neighboring kingdom who was studying abroad at their academy, fell in love with her during their brief meetings and proposes after the rejection event. He was one of the romance options in the sequel she didn’t get to play, and it seems clear she’s now experiencing the events of that game in her life.

Unfortunately, the translation is bad. So bad. 

One of the best examples comes in that major volume 1, chapter 1 scene. Hartknights is about to to announce he’s chosen the player-character Akari over his fiance. Instead of declaring that he’s breaking up with her, he instead will say, “I hereby announce— our engagement break off.” Which isn’t a one-off mistake, mind you, as the dissolution of the relationship will keep being referred to as such by everyone in-game.

I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but here’s a list of some of the worst sentences I saw in the first chapter alone of The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom. All spelling and grammatical errors are preserved.

• “However, despite being an occasional day— an unpleasant sight was to be seen.”
• “A girl named Tiararose, with honey pink hair, was soon to be punished.”
• “Your Majesty. Tiararose is my daughter. It should not be a problem for the father to give him the permission.”
• “Of Couse. I will keep that in mind.”
• “A spacious classroom held about 30 students whom all of them were from the royal or aristocrat families.”
• “I hereby announce— our engagement break off.”
• “Unbelievable… Did the first crown Prince Hartknights just announce a break off?”
• “Until today, I had no interactions with the other conquest characters. I guess this is the so called ‘game adjustment…’”
• “You are righteous and beautiful than anyone here.”
• “Akari was now condemned even from the King, but she still hadn’t realized her irreverence.”
• “For my sayings, Of course I am more than welcome.”
• “You are such great father, Mr. Clamentile.”
• “If I was able to get a response from Lady Tiararose, please allow me to officially introduce myself again.”

While the translation in The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is a major issue, there are some other elements in the otome game that may throw people off as much as the localization. For example, going to the log doesn’t allow you to backtrack to past moments as in some games. There are no quick save or quick load features, so you need to make an actual save each time you want to pause before a choice. Not that you need to save. I found the top response is always going to net you a “pink” reaction, the middle will get you “blue,” and the bottom will result in “gold.” (Aquasteed will like you regardless.) Also, during some moments the entire screen will have a white block there to provide exposition, which breaks the immersion and gets a bit awkward.

The good thing is, there is a The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom demo on the Switch eShop, so you can see if you can live with the otome game's awkward translation. All of these things come up immediately in the first volume’s first chapter. None of it is hidden. Everything is decipherable. You’ll know what’s being said. There are even moments when it will be totally serviceable for a while, then you’ll be hit with the most awkward sentence ever.

I like the idea behind The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom so much and wish this otome game had a better translation. The idea is quite interesting! Especially since Tiararose is still concerned about how things will go with Aquasteed, given she didn’t play the sequel to the game she’s “in.” The localization is just so poor, sadly. It’s a situation where I think hiring an editor, even if they weren’t fluent, and having them go over everything before shipping the game out would have been a big help.

The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is available on the Nintendo Switch, and there is a demo on the eShop.

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Operahouse announced that its Switch otome game The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom will be released in English outside Japan. The official release is confirmed, but the date wasn’t announced just yet. 

The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom builds on the light novel and manga’s story, concept, and characters. It is an isekai tale about a heroine who realizes she’s now the villainess of an otome game called Ring of Lapis Lazuli that she played. Instead of getting her “bad ending,” she ends up being approached and saved by the titular prince from the neighboring kingdom. The series is still running in Japan and hasn’t been picked up for an English release yet, and the Japanese version of the game adaptation only launched in March 2024. 

Here’s the official trailer from the Japanese version of The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom Switch otome game. It goes over the major characters, like the heroine Tiararose, Aquasteed, Hartknights, and Akari. 

Following the announcement, Operahouse also took to social media to share some official art from the game. While the first one shows Hartnight and Akari together, the others show Tiararose with Aquasteed. It also offered a summary of the original volume of the series it is based on and confirmed there will be Japanese voice acting with English text.

The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom will come to the Nintendo Switch worldwide, and the otome game is already available in Japan.

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