Sentimental Photography is a mobile otome game from MAGISYSTEM that launched in Japan 18 January 2022. As you might expect, it’s oriented to women, allowing them to take the role of the heroine and romancing their choice of man in the game.

STORY

I can’t say much of the story which is unfortunate, since the whole relationship build up is basically half the point of the game’s genre, no? The language barrier is as always, the currently insurmountable wall. As far as I’ve understood it though, the god of love, whoever they are, goofed up and have erased your memories and your wish related to your Most Important Person. It’s presumably enough to make you an atheist if the heroine was several rungs more belligerent (this is a joke).

You get a cheerful mascot character to accompany you in your journey to recover your memories, along the way taking on photography jobs around the country. Unlock episodes with your dearest, and hopefully someday you can give that god what for.

PRESENTATION

The art is pretty nice, the guys all dressed in clothes that give you an idea of what their archetype is supposed to be. Art styles are subjective taste, so how good they actually look will depend on the eye of the beholder – or your camera lens, as it were. The heroine has a “canon” name, but you’re free to enter your choice of first / last name and nickname, and birthday.

The heroine having a face may be considered somewhat unusual when it comes to otome, or even the joseimuke market. It might be a more even split these days, so it’s another one depending on your own preference. As expected, she is not voiced, while the mascot character, and, of course, the men are. The mascot isn’t always voiced, however, like in the men’s focus episodes where only the leading man will be speaking.

Your homescreen may be decked out in a favourite card art of choice, or your boy standing around in some locations. Tapping on him will have him speak to you (voiced), so poke him just a bit.

GAMEPLAY

The basic gameplay is incredibly simple. Go through the various locations and complete the ‘stages’, which is just a matter of having cards that match the required ‘skills’. You can have three of these cards, with a bar indicating your level of success. Cards that have matching skills will have boosted power to make it easier to clear.

Upgrading your cards use a flowchart-like system, unlocking the nodes as you go along to improve their various parameters. It’s not the most interactive thing mechanically speaking.

You may utilize the in-game social media, where your boyfriend might call you on occasion (like for your birthday) to chat and such. You can later add embellishments to your boyfriend’s photo cards, think Instagram filters. There’s some gyroscope use as well, though you won’t be seeing much of that early on.

GACHA

At 4% SSR rates, I’d say that’s on the more generous side. The release gacha has a mileage system where you can get bonus items the more you pull. You need a total of 6 copies to completely max out a card. From what I understand, at 200 pulls, you can obtain a ticket to select a desired card from the applicable pool. It takes 350 currency for a 10 pull. There’s no in-built reroll, but I assume the first guaranteed SSR will be of the boy of your choice.

THOUGHTS

As much as I like anime men, otome is completely out of my league and I prefer much more interactive stuff to entice me in the beginning. I’d play it for the characters, but without knowing the full context behind my boy, I can’t call it a fully immersive experience.

As I’ve pointed out before, the men has voice work from Maeno Tomoaki, Umehara Yuichiro, Shunichi Toki, Sakurai Takahiro, Kaito Ishikawa and Okamoto Nobuhiko, so if you like any of them, don’t let the language barrier stop you from hearing them say the sweetest things for your ears alone.