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Otome Daoshi -Fighting for Love- Review (Nintendo Switch)

Release Date: March 26, 2026 (North America)
Developers: Otomate
Publishers: Aksys Games
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

SYNOPSIS

Welcome to Kayu, where every citizen, both man and woman, young and old alike, enjoy martial arts.

Living in that kingdom as a Daoist priestess in training, you made your way to the Tournament of Valor to root for your childhood friend.

A sudden attack during the Tournament of Valor forces you to protect your country and those you care about.

Fight alongside friend and foe alike to save your kingdom!

ART AND MUSIC

Director: Choko TsuyuriScenario: Maro Sasaki, Satomi Nakayama, Ririka Yoshimura Artist: Ayu NekoiBG Artist: Fuki Umezaki, Cre-p Co., LtdBGM: Poweless (studio)OP Theme: Naoto Fuga (Vocals), baker (Arrangement), Karasuyasabou (lyrics)ED Theme: Sanso Nakamura (Vocals, Lyrics, Arrangement)

Verily surprised to see that some of the game’s scenarios adopt a manga-like narrative style (kinda like Arcana Famiglia, though I personally prefer its usage here better). The fight scenes were particularly fitting for this style, so needless to say, I really enjoyed them whenever they came up during my playthrough.

Another thing I absolutely have to talk about was how STUNNING all the illustrations are. I probably spent a few of my play-time gawking at the CGs (laughs), not a single one look bad or awkward to me. The illustrator, Ayu Nekoi is the main artist for Otome Daoshi, and I would absolutely love to see them work on more otome titles in the future!

The character design of Otome Daoshi actually reminded me so much of the character designs in Fushigi Yuugi (ふしぎ遊戯). Whilst the characters’ personalities are, of course, different, the visual similarities are definitely there. If youre a fan of the FS series in its golden era, you absolutely cant miss these resemblances…. I say this as your number one Watase Yuu/Fushigi Yuugi fan.

The soundtrack is also another aspect I particularly enjoyed in the game and thought it fitted the game’s Chinese martial arts aesthetic and setting. In fact, the BGMs reminded me a lot of the Ranma ½ anime soundtrack, which is another trip-down-memory-lane of the classics, and probably made me a tiny bit biased toward this game itself.😆

Voice Acting

Kazuki Ura as “Yuhang“ – Robin Bullet (Cupid Parasite SSD), Kashagiri (Touken Ranbu), Richter Belmont (Castlevania), Yoichi Isagi (Bluelock), Stein Nac (Akuma Shitsuji), Alain (Unicorn Overloard), Rex de Couraciel (CRAZY CHAIN), Baraku (Olympia Soiree Catharsis)

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as “Shaowu” – Akaza (Olympia Soiree), Tsuyukusa (Illusion of Itehari), Nicol (My Next Life as a Villainess), Alice (Taisho x Alice), Gyobu (Charade Maniacs), Monshiro (Pyschedelica of the BB), Rin Okazaki (Spiral Memoria), Vash (Trigun), Kirito (SAO), Inosuke Hashibira (Demon Slayer), Xiao (Genshin Impact), Kirihiko (NilAd)

Shogo Sakata as “Haoran“ – Aki (Chainsaw Man), Aqunoa (My Beloved Star), Yuu Niina (Break My Case), Hayato Ninose (Distorted Code), Ash (INtLOVErt Game Club), Moze (HSR), Edouard Rouquier (Tales of Luminaria)

Nobunaga Shimazaki as “Longli“ – Riku (Olympia Soiree), Sataly (My Beloved Star), Hino (7’Scarlet), Yuki Soma (Fruits Basket), Kaedehara Kazuha (Genshin), Silver (TWTS), Napoleon (Ikevamp), Yamato (Storm Lover 2nd), Arjuna (Fate/Extella), Xeno (Angelique Lumernarise), Eugeo (Sword Art Online), Seishiro Nagi (Bluelock)

Chiaki Kobayashi as “Uro“ – Yashiro (Illusion of Itehari), Ray Under (Cupid Parasire SSD), Hairi (Olympia Soiree), Deuce Spade (TWST), Ibuki Taki (Ensemble Stars), Mao Ukyo (Break My Case)

Jun Fukuyama as “Shiyu” – Sodyk Mun (Neon Clash), Ascot (Mistonia’s Hope), Karatachi (Illusion of Itehari), Mizuchi (Hana Awase), Tomomori (Birushana), Vyn Richter (Tears of Themis), Mozu (BUSTFELLOWS), Goro Fujita (Meiji Tokyo Renka), Liberta (Arcana Famiglia), Rin (Togainu no Chi), Aido (Vampire Knight), Tokiwa Etsuya (Dairoku), Goke Kanimitsu (Touken Ranbu)

Kazuhiro Yoshimura as “Seisetsu“ – Shioji (Illusion of Itehari), Oleander (The Red Bell’s Lament), Alest (Radiant Tale), Minegeshi (Collar x Malice), Ten (Cafe Enchante), Maki (Side Kicks!), Souji Kamishiro (Suika Niritsu), Pepe (Bustafellows)

Tomokazu Sugita as the Narrator – Kuroba (Olympia Soiree), Ron (Norn9), Gintoki (Gintama), Sauli (Bustafellows), Takuma (Hiiro no Kakera), Oda Nobunaga (IkeSen), Hubert (Reines des fleurs), Shion (KLAP!), Usagi-sensei (Bad Apple Wars), Pace (Arcana Famiglia), Nightmare (Spade no Kuni no Alice), Vincent Lowell (Muv-Luv), Gandamu (Danganropa), Magoroku Kanemoto (Touken Ranbu)

CHARACTERS AND ROUTES

Only Yuhang, Shaowu and Haoran can be played from the start. Longli’s route unlocks after clearing the first three, and the secret route becomes available once you’ve completed Longli’s story. The secret route also branches off from Longli’s route, specifically in his first chapters.

In terms of story flow and keeping spoilers to a minimum (from least to most spoilers), my soft recommended route order would be: Yuhang = Shaowu → Haoran → Longli → Secret Route. The dev’s official soft recommended route order is also the same.

Walkthroughs:

Disclaimer: The CGs shown below are promotional images for the game, Otome Daoshi -Fighting For Love-. All spoiler-related content in this review will be hidden behind a spoiler drop-down, that you can choose to view at your own discretion.

YUHANG

baby tsun
down bad for Shunlin

Yuhang is the heroine’s childhood friend. He lived in the same district as Shunlin when they were young but moved to another district with his parents shortly afterward. He is easily embarrassed and would usually resort to harsh words to hide it.

Played Yuhang’s route first for the sole reason that his character design was my favorite out of everyone’s. (I mean, his look was clearly inspired by my orange-head himbo husbando Tasuki from FS, no? lol). That aside, I was actually quite taken with the romance here (and thought it was one of its stronger points). Yuhang was so down bad for MC that it was adorable seeing him internally muse over how hard he was crushing on Shunlin. In all honesty, I loved this route for the most part, but it’s a shame the final chapters kind of botched the plot and put Yuhang in a pretty unfavorable position.🥲

⬇️ Spoilers

Idk, I just don’t like it when an LI you’re rooting for suddenly tries to hurt the heroine out of pocket. Sure, he was blackmailed and his family was on the line. I get it. I just admittedly don’t like this plot device being used on such a good character.😭 If he really respected Seisetsu, he would’ve confronted him at the first opportunity. Even though he eventually did, he waited until the last minute. I get that this was done for plot purposes, but come on, it just made him look cowardly and tbh, dulled some of my affinity for poor Yuhang.

On a different note, I thought their relationship buildup was cute and felt more believable compared to some of the other routes, where the romance suddenly jumps to the head-over-heels ily-idc territory.lol 😂

SHAOWU

muscle Akaza
kuudere daddy

Shaowu, the lone wolf. He’s quite intimidating at first glance, with his hulking build and deep, stern eyes. He’s a man of few words, but he also has a rather kind side.

First of all…….. that six pack is doing a LOT of things! to me lol Also, why Shaowu and not Xiao??? 😭
Anyway, this route was kind of funny because Shunlin here was immediately head over heels for Shaowu right of the bat! And would follow him without a moment’s hesitation, no questions asked. Like okay girl calm down, ya’ll just met!😭 I mean, I don’t blame her though, the man is fine as heck! Too fine, even… and that six-pack is certainly doing wonders, for sure.😝 It’s wild to see a heroine become so immediately besotted this fast. I was cackling at how hilarious this all was.

As for this route’s story, it felt a bit one-note overall. There were some questionable plot devices, and the writing didn’t really make me care much about how the bigger events unfolded. I will wholeheartedly, and shamelessly admit, that I forgave everything because Shaowu’s kiss CG was on fire! (cackles) 😂 Plus, I was invested enough to see Shaowu & Shunlin through to their happy ending!

⬇️ Spoilers

Their whole plan to brute-force their way into the castle with just the two of them was kind of dumb, esp. when they knew they wouldn’t stand a lick of chance, given in other routes, they’re easily outnumbered by the king’s soldiers even with the strongest fighters on their side (Lihong, Haoran, and the rest of the main cast). Im beyond baffled how this all worked out for them here in the end, but hooray i guess.🤷‍♀️

As much as I love Shunlin and Shaowu, their romance was also incredibly unconvincing. Shunlin really just went up and threw her life on the line for some hot stranger, and I mean, sure why not right? HAHA I couldn’t take it seriously but, atleast I had fun with all her antics about oogling on Shaowu’s abs!😂

Speaking of Shaowu, I feel like he really got the short end of the stick in this game. He doesn’t get any real closure in the other routes regarding the whole dilemma with his half-zombie mom. I honestly feel bad for him because he’s just been carrying that burden alone, and it’s only in his own route that he finally gets a proper resolution to his problems. 😭

HAORAN

Tamahome at home
greenflag oniichan

Haoran is the heroine’s big brother figure. Ever since they were young, he and Shunlin would go to and fro from places together. He’s very kind, gentle-mannered, and cares for the heroine like family.

Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but I love Haoran as an LI. (I’m also very biased with his seiyuu so there’s that too lol) Normally, oniichan routes are a pretty hit or miss for me, and a lot of them tend to go completely batshit crazy (cackles). So I was shockingly pleased to see Haoran cruising along the greenest of green in his route. I’ve also really liked how refreshing his dynamic is with Shunlin. Their brother-sister + childhood friend relationship took an interesting approach that deviates from the usual brother-sister trope we commonly get in otome games. I’ll expand on that more in the spoiler section.

As for this route’s plot, while it was predictable at best, albeit no more so than the other routes, I thought it was alright overall. There were quite a few plot conveniences working in its favor, but after finishing my first two routes, I was already expecting the same ordeal here. I’ve gotta say though, Haoran is probably the LI most favored by the artist, because holy cow, all of his CGs are gorgeous! I’ve probably gasped more than once at how cleanly handsome he looks in his close-ups stills!😩

⬇️ Spoilers

I was very surprised to have enjoyed Shunlin and Haoran’s dynamic here (sooo much). It was really refreshing to see them so completely oblivious to their affection for each other that it took Yuhang and Wei pointing out how their relationship felt more *romantic* than familial for them to realize it. I loved how both took the time to re-evaluate their feelings and gradually started seeing each other as a man and a woman rather than just close childhood friends. Idk, but it was really cute and endearing to me!😭

Haoran is also such a green-flag oniichan, in comparison to the usual pool of possessive, yandere-ish, controlling oniisans out in the current market lol, he was such a breath of fresh air (to me). It really was hard not to like him. Plus, his blushy CGs were absolutely doing wonders in this route!

Unfortunately, I really didn’t care much for the plot here. The sudden knowledge dump about a peach tree in the land of the dead being able to bring souls back to life was laughably wild and completely outta nowhere. Where they perhaps loosely referencing 蟠桃會 here? (or the peaches of immortality) lol

Anyway, I fully accepted this “plot twist” because I like Haoran that much, lol.🤣

LONGLI

👁👄👁

A handsome gentleman who works at the palace. He’s highly respected by his subordinates and draws plenty of attention from women thanks to his strikingly beautiful looks.

The route that kept me awake….for the most part, that is. It was a good call to lock Longli’s route because of his backstory, which certainly had some *surprising* elements.. That said, I do feel like they played this route a bit too safe. It’s a shame, because I really love Longli and wanted more from his route and his somewhat beguiling romance with Shunlin.

⬇️ Spoilers

You know, as tropey as it is, I just love it when a seemingly nice LI suddenly snaps like a bolt from the blue and shifts into their full yandere mode when you least expect it. I love Longli as an LI because of this. Tbh, he didn’t even need a full backstory to justify his red flag tendencies, I would’ve still enjoyed the sheer whiplash of it all regardless. My only gripe here was that they completely played Longli’s yandere-ness too safe! I would’ve loved it if he’d gone to the extreme of confining Shunlin to his abode. Give me that oomph!

The plot also felt a bit unsure of where it wanted to focus, whether on Longli’s skeletons in the closet or the revenge plot involving Shiyu and his grudge against the king. The route was still enjoyable for what it was. I happily devoured all the romance bits and gorged on Longli’s beautiful CGs, but the overall narrative flow here felt lacking, imo.

SECRET LI

⬇️ Spoilers

URO

not really so secret
amnesiac hero

Uro just happens to come up out of nowhere, which surprised me for some reason, even though secret routes that pop-up like this aren’t exactly uncommon in otomes. I mean, we’ve seen Henri do the same thing in Piofiore (and I luv Henri, btw, lol). Ideally, I should’ve been annoyed that there was no forewarning about this new character, but surprisingly, I didn’t mind this at all, and was even shocked at how much I ended up vibing with this route. (laughs)😂

It was hilarious that Shunlin immediately offered to let Uro stay at their house just because she felt bad that he was amnesiac and drifting from inn to inn. (What is it with heroines doing this btw, lol Hinagiku did the same thing for Yashiro and Akari to Nori *cackles*)😂 Then again… Uro is gorgeously handsome, so I can certainly understand where Shunlin is coming from like okayyyy girlie take him in! Lets gooo! 😂

The mystery surrounding who Uro is kept getting thwarted so many times, esp. whenever Shiyu was involved. He’d just show up, drop some vague hints, and then run off again. This happened a few times, and it definitely felt like the story was written that way to drag things out. I was getting impatient. (laughs) On top of that, Shiyu’s motivations felt frustratingly inconsistent. He says he wants to kill Shunlin to get back his stolen powers, yet he doesn’t really follow through here, whereas in other routes, particularly Longli’s, he was far more determined there? His decisions flip-flopped so much that it dulled his likability as a character, to me. Shiyu’s connection to Shunlin, esp. w/ the whole “she stole my powers” shtick, was also explained in a rather slapdash way just when I expected it to be something much more significant. Although, after seeing similar things happen in the secret route of Temirana, (which is another otomate title ive recently played) I was kind of used to these perfunctory plot devices, which is probably why I didn’t mind them as much here.

On paper, Uro’s predicament should’ve tied in nicely with Shiyu’s, given both of them are exiled brothers of false kings. It also should’ve tied more strongly to Kayu’s national motto as “Might makes right,” and how fundamentally flawed that ideology is. I believe that was meant to be the core message of the final route. However, the execution just felt rushed IMO, so in turn, the full-circle didn’t hit as hard as it should have.

Still and all, I think Uro was a great character, as well as a likeable love interest for Shunlin. I loved the backstory of him being friends with her when they were younger, and how him telling his twin brother, Yoki who was kept locked away in the castle, about Shunlin sparked Yoki’s deep obsession with a girl he’s never met. I think if the story had focused more on the intense rivalry between Uro and Yoki and their complicated past, I would’ve enjoyed the route even more. But alas, with so many plot threads to juggle here (and needed addressing), everything ended up feeling a little crammed.

Lastly, yay for kansai Fukujun! I need more of this in his other range please! 🤤

SHUNLIN (Main Heroine)

genki heroine
boy-crazy

Shunlin was very cute! Always bright and full of spirit! Very optimistic, very feisty, very stubborn, and can sometimes get a little mouthy, but not in an annoying way. She’s kind of a genki MC, which we usually don’t get a lot. The last one we had, I can think, was Bakarina, except that in comparison, Shunlin is less of an idiot and more just a little ditsy and boy-crazy, as her grandpa Lihong would say.

Speaking of which, Shunlin’s boy-crazy shenanigans were an absolute riot! Girlie just falls head over heels for a total hottie stranger (I mean, don’t we all?) 🤣 and puts her blind faith in them, sometimes even her life on the line, (like in Shaowu’s route), for no believable nor logical reason, whatsoever. But I think, this tomfoolery is part of her charm. She was so hilarious, honestly! And her brazen cheerfulness definitely worked its way into her LI’s heart! (and mine too! I luv her to bits!)🥹

Shunlin is just like us! fr!😭

Shunlin is also a skilled fighter who can more than hold her own in battle. She’s a remarkable daoshi as well (even though she’s still in training), and she carries a very kind-hearted disposition. Her personality doesn’t really change across routes, which I appreciate, (I love that consistency). I really enjoyed her as the protagonist of this game, and I only wish the title had been longer so I could see more of her antics.

SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION

I absolutely loved the game’s Chinese kungfu aesthetics. The loading screen with Mimi, the game’s panda mascot, was sooo cute! And contrary to what everyone else is saying, I actually LOVED the recaps and previews at the end of each chapter. They reminded me so much of the animes I watched in the 90s. I grew up with those “Jikai Yokokus“,😆 so I really appreciated the devs including it in this game. If anything, it added a lovely nostalgic atmosphere throughout my playthroughs.🥹 Plus, the narration is voiced by Sugita! (all the more reason to enjoy this feature, if you ask me!)

PROS:

Heroine’s Name Customization
Next Episode Preview at the end of each chapter (that you can turn ON/OFF)
Cute chibi Illustrations at the end of each chapter
Chapter Select
Affection Status Bar
SKIP to Previous/Next Choice function
Skip READ function
Quick Save/Quick Load
Manga-Like Scenarios (which you can preview in the Gallery section)
CG List
Manga Library
BGM Library
Movie Library
Backlog and Rewind function
“Classroom” section to get familiar with some in-game terms

CONS:

No mouth movements, no blinking sprites
Heroine not voiced
No Heroine side sprite
No Love Catch System

Localization

For a period setting ,the game sometimes uses very modern slang words. However, perhaps because of its comedic tone, this didn’t really pose an issue for me. There were also very few to no typos, so the game clearly went through solid QA, which is great. Overall, the localization felt quite polished from a technical standpoint.

TRAILER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-oF4hgBAfs

OVERALL THOUGHTS

This game was relatively short overall. It took me around 25–30 hours to unlock everything, mostly in auto mode. If you read pretty fast and don’t wait for the lines to play out, I believe you can finish one route in less than three hours. There were only two endings available for each route: the True Love End and the Romantic End. The game does not have any bad endings.

Martial Arts Themed Otome Game

Otome Daoshi is an otome game centered around the theme of Chinese martial arts (aka wushu), so expect a lot of fight scenes, and marial art bouts in every route. What I liked so much here is that some of the combat scenes are illustrated in a manga-like fashion, which does a fantastic job of elevating the title’s action-packed scenarios (I legit inhaled all of them whenever they come up lol). The country of “Kayu,” where the story is set, also follows the motto “Might makes right,” so most of the main characters are predominantly strong and skilled fighters, heroine and side characters included.

Speaking of which, allow me to geek out a little bit here, because as a martial arts movie buff I was exceedingly entertained seeing how each LI seems to have a different wushu style in the game. From their sprites’ fighting stances, it looks like Yuhang practices bajiquan (八極拳) just from his pose alone, although from the description it actually appears that Shaowu is the one who uses more brute-force attacks focused on physical strength. (Shaowu is kind of like a tank, if anything, and his attacks’ focal point are more on physical strength, while Yuhang has more dexterity.)

Haoran’s fighting pose kind of reminds me of 鷹爪派 (the Eagle Claw) from his hand gestures, but also because he utilizes defensive footwork. As we see at the beginning of the common route, he mainly fights by evading his opponent’s attacks and tends to stay on the defensive side.

As for Longli, we don’t really see his technique until you unlock his route, but Shunlin describes his movements as being like water, so I would assume he probably practices Tai Chi (太極拳).

I’m not sure what the secret LI practices, as his movements or fighting style were never really explored in the game, or maybe the game forgot to give him one. lol

Story, Tropes and Characters

Another notable thing is that the game features three childhood friend tropes, yet each dynamic plays out very differently. Without saying who, three of the LIs are the MC’s childhood friends, and much to my surprise, their relationship dynamics with her are quite distinct. Because of that, the trope never felt repetitive or overused (me thinks)... I quite liked it, in fact! The variation was very refreshing to me, and I’m glad the devs explored the many different interpretations of this same trope.

On a much different note, while this title undeniably deals with serious stakes, the comedic air and campy dialogue give it a more lighthearted undertone, imo. At times the comedy landed for me, and other times it didn’t, though I guess that’s likely a matter of humor preference than anything else.

Intermission: Here’s hot character you can’t romance btw!

As for its overarching story, I personally thought it was alright. However, objectively speaking, this is also probably where the game feels a little constrained. All the routes were too short to actually flesh out the main plot at hand, or fully develop the romance between the protagonist and her LI. Most of the conflicts also resolve too conveniently & sometimes too quickly, so before you even get invested in the friction of certain storylines or start theorizing your hunches, that same storyline has already been wrapped up and done. I think longer chapters would’ve definitely benefited the game, if anything.

However, maybe because I had already dialed my expectations down before playing this game, I ended up finding it quite fun and enjoyable, regardless. This title is nowhere near a kusoge, so I was generally baffled why it was criticized to filth when it came out in 2024. Sure, the endings were rather predictable, but they were still fun and I had plenty of laughs. None of the LIs made me want to throw my Switch out the window, and really, that’s mostly the bare minimum I’d ask in an otome game to not rate it negatively. I guess if you’re looking for your next ten-out-of-ten title, this game is probably not it. But if you value kind, likeable characters and an easygoing martial arts-themed romp with exceptionally beautiful art, then this game would be a solid candidate.

Speaking of characters, I thought all the main love interests were great. I didn’t dislike any of them, which already counts as a big plus for me. I think my fav was Longli and the secret route, followed by Haoran (second). Conversely, the routes themselves can be a bit of a mixed bag, but I cared enough about the characters to want to see their happy endings through.

💖LI RANKING: Longli = Secret Route > Haoran > Shaowu = Yuhang

📝ROUTE RANKING: Secret Route > Haoran > Yuhang > Shaowu > Longli

My route ranking is based on how well each route handled the romance for me, rather than its plot.(laughs) In addition, the romance in this game felt rather bare-bones in its development. Our lovely pairs sometimes just fall in love abruptly without much build-up. Personally, I didn’t mind it and even thought Shunlin’s hastiness to fall in love was kind of funny. Plus, all the kiss CGs are visually stunning, so I shamelessly forgave all its pitfalls! Ha!😋

At least the game and MC are aware of it too!😝

Do I recommend this game? YES.
While this title had its fair share of flaws, I am very positive that there should be a character or two (or three!) who will actually interest and endear you. I personally enjoyed the game myself and thought it was a cute, somewhat lighthearted short romp to pick up when you just want to unwind and laze about without having to think too much. If you can temper your expectations a little bit and enjoy the game with a less critical mindset, I’m sure you’ll have a fun time with this one.

Otome Daoshi is also very visually pleasing and easy on the eyes. The manga-like narrative in some scenarios was a nice novelty experience, and if you enjoy romance combined with martial arts, this title right here, is the ticket!

#aksysGames #nintendoSwitch #otomate #OtomeDaoshi #OtomeDaoshiFightingForLove #OtomeDaoshiFightingForLoveReview #OtomeDaoshiReview

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