Japan has long been known to have over the top concepts when it comes to pop culture, advertisements, anime, and yes, even games. This latest offering is a mobile game titled The King of Fighters for Girls. You heard that right.
Before you raise your hand to ask, this is not the King of Fighters game that you have been accustomed to. It has been labeled as KOF Otome. So what does that mean?
For the uninitiated, an otome game is literally translated as maiden game. In essence, it's a story-based video game aimed at women. Have an idea yet? Let’s take it a step further. In addition to the main plot goal, one of the usual goals of an otome game is to have the female player character develop a romantic relationship with at least one of the male characters.
This type of game does not generally have a strong following outside Japan, but there are communities all over that play such games. One reason cited is that culture in Japan and the US are very different. In the US for example, players generally don’t want dependent or weak characters. Despite this, there are a number of otome games that have been translated to English.
Going back to the game at hand, The King of Fighters for Girls follows the story of a woman who has experienced bankruptcy and already lost both her home and job. However, she eventually finds a job working as a manager at a training facility where she meets Kyo Kusanagi.
So far the characters revealed include:
- Kyo Kusanagi
- Nikaido Hongmaru
- Yabuki Makoto
- Terry Bogard
- Andy Bogard
- Joe East
- Yagami Satoshi
- Ryo Sakazaki
- Robert Garcia
- Baku
- K
- Maxima
New characters exclusive to this version are introduced as well, such as Billy Khan, Yomi, and Nagi.
There is no word yet on when the game will be launched, or if it will have a US release.
In a ResetEra forum, reactions to the game have been mainly of amusement. One user, for instance, asked why it isn’t called “The Queen of Fighters.” Another user went so far as to ask if there is a King of Fighters For Boys, only to be told that there is in fact such a game. However, this game is titled Days of Memories. There is also a user who goes on to say that it appears that most of the complaints about the game are limited to men and not women.
Any thoughts on this one?
