Player emotional involvement with otome game characters

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to explore the level and extent of emotional attachment players feel towards romance-able characters from what is known as otome games, both negatively and positively. Otome Games are categorised as story-based video games targeted towards women, with the main aim to depict a romance between a female main character and a male character known as a ‘love interest’. Literature has been gathered and presented in this dissertation, covering otome games and the media products that are made in conjunction with these games. Research on emotional attachment to video game characters is also part of the literature review of this dissertation, tying in all three streams of literature, ‘Otome Games’, ‘Otome Game Ludo Mix’, and ‘Emotional Attachment to Game Characters’, to aid in the methodology of this dissertation. Close readings on specific characters were carried out for the methodology, to investigate the personality and characterisation of these characters and how these contribute to emotional attachment players may experience towards them. The characters chosen were taken from the games ‘Piofiore: Fated Memories’, ‘Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~’, ‘Collar × Malice’ and ‘Black Wolves Saga -Bloody Nightmare-‘, selecting characters that fit one of the four character types chosen for this methodology. Various factors are taken into consideration in the selection of these characters, as well as the characteristics of each character itself. The results found from these studies indicate that there are both different types, as well as different degrees of emotional attachment players will feel towards otome game characters that one can consider.