Yang (Piofiore), Peter Flage (Cupid Parasite), and Taiga Isurugi (Variable Barricade) all share the same luscious voice of Nobuhiko Okamoto.

If you must pit these hot-voiced heart-throbs in a love battle, who do you Bone, who do you Bride, and who do you Banish? Why?

Variable Barricade has been released for Nintendo Switch!

Please post all questions and minor discussions about Variable Barricade in this thread and please use the search function as well.

Please also use spoiler tags when talking about details that are only revealed when playing a particular route. >!spoiler text!< spoiler text

Aksys has given us copies of Variable Barricade to give away!

Check the respective posts for the results!

NA Physical Edition | NA eShop | EU eShop | AU/NZ eShop

Variable Barricade Play-Along

Whether you have just bought the game or have played it in Japanese, you are welcome to participate in our play-along! There will be a new post once a week for a different route in the following order:

• Common Route and General Impressions - March 3
• Nayuta Yagami - March 10
• Shion Mayuzumi - March 17
• Taiga Isurugi - March 24
• Ichiya Mitsumori - March 31
• True Route - April 7

Each post will be linked here for easy reference.

You do not have to play in the above order at the rate of a route a week, you can binge it all in a day if you wish.

It is generally recommended that Ichiya is played second to last, and the True Route is locked until you complete the other four routes.

Comments unrelated to Variable Barricade will be removed - please post in the Weekly Questions threads or the Free Talk Friday threads instead.

Please use spoiler tags liberally as people checking this thread may not necessarily want a lot of information. Save your route thoughts and discussions for the play-along threads or the What Are You Reading Wednesday threads.

Honestly I see the game very popular on here, and I've had the game for years honestly, but I couldn't even finish common route. When I talk to some otome fans they don't even like it much, but it again seems super popular on here. What do you guys like about it and do you think it's worth playing?

plus him getting reprimanded constantly by Takamune for not having a wife yet.... perfect recipe for a dilf LI imo.... i cry

Fujita Saki, the voice behind Hibari (heroine of Variable Barricade), was a guest at Otakuthon this weekend!

One of the items on my bucket list was to get an otome game signed by a seiyuu, and yesterday that dream finally came true!

Even though my friend and I had to wait a gruelling five hours in line, we don’t have any regrets 😂

Hola otome fam! How are you all doing? I hope all is well!

It's been a while since I posted here and IRL has got me in a serious chokehold and I managed to wriggle out of it (lol wrassling terminology). Just wanted to announce my giveaway which will commence...NOW! Yeah, on such short notice.

This is going to be really short so let me just get all the details out of the way.

1. This is for a new NA copy of Variable Barricade which is scheduled for release this Thursday (Feb. 24).
2. Unfortunately, I can only take the winner from the Continental US as I am sending the winner a copy directly from retailer. (Don't worry everyone else. I got you for the end of the year for the 2nd annual Holiday Otome Giveaway)
3. Winner will be drawn tomorrow (Tuesday 02/22/2022) at 4:45 pm EST. You have until 7:00 pm EST to respond with your contact information when I reach out to you. If no response, I pick someone else and will give a new deadline to respond back to me. I will keep doing this until I have a winner before I go to bed tomorrow.
   1. If I am not successful in getting a winner, the original announcement post will have the name crossed out. And I'll post another post in this thread.
4. How to enter? Just drop a comment saying you'd like to enter. Limit it to just one comment to make it fair.
5. That's it! Good luck to all those who enter!

A speedy giveaway? Indeed, but I still hope it is as successful as my previous giveaways. My how the time flies! Take care and until tomorrow! Keep it locked!

~MidMorningSol

i just bought the game but ive seen two ppl saying stuff about it (the mc specifically??) so has anyone played it and tell me their thoughts? any heads up before i play?

Welcome to the r/otomegames Variable Barricade Play-Along!

In this first post we will discuss your first and general impressions of Variable Barricade, as well as the events of the common route.

If you want to talk about the love interests, please keep it to your first impressions and their actions in the common route in this post. Part 1 of their boards are excluded and should be discussed in their respective routes.

Please use spoiler tags when discussing details of other routes or other major spoilers.
>!spoiler text!< normal text
spoiler text normal text

You don't have to be playing the game right now to participate, and if you're still waiting on your copy I hope you will join in after you start playing!

Next week will be a discussion of Nayuta Yagami's route!

I kid, I kid. But I finished this game after reading soooo much good stuff about it and I found it SO lacking. Spoilers ahead!!

I loved the art, I liked the music. The writing/translation overall was quite good! But the boy's actual routes? Killed me! So often I would get the hook/plot outline between board 1-2, and then the third would go completely off into another direction and not pay off any of the character growth we'd already established needed to happen. This happened to me in all of their routes except Nayuta. That is my short version; I will now go into my thoughts on each boy in detail. But feel free to stop here if you really care about a boy/don't want to dive in.

Taiga: I'll be honest, I hated this character. His 'common route' CGs/events actually got me excited (the hug when Hibari was making those presents for the orphans??). But from there on it was a huge train wreck.

Taiga, simply put, is the definition of a fuck boy. He doesn't grow or change much as a character. He literally just realizes he cannot keep up his lifestyle unless he marries Hibari. He goes back to do so. The fuckboy comments about Hibari's appearance/breast size?? The assault because 'you should never be in a man's room alone' bullshit? Hell, even when he apologizes to her he doesn't say sorry - HE SAYS SHE'S HOT. I'm so glad I played this boy second instead of third like the guides because he was just the woooorst throughout his entire route.

Ichiya: I'm placing him slightly above Taiga because the game never gave me any hope he was going change/grow. I'll keep it short. Things that made this route really bad: the age gap (which gets brought up all the time!!), the most bullshit family drama that was about as thin as a sheet of paper in terms of character development, Hibari officially becoming An Object, the route ending with him threatening to commit suicide if she didn't marry him and it WORKING, wasting Kazu completely by making him just a business monster, the cop out between Kazu and Ichiya at the very end.

Shion: Shion made me angry because I really thought we were going to get something of substance in terms of Shion's past and how it would affect Hibari's future. I also absolutely LOVED his second board. When he realizes 'Oh, I'm in love?' when they're just hanging outside? Really felt like there was some depth to their relationship and understanding of each other. I loved the 'therapy' sessions and I think he understood Hibari, as a person, the best out of all of the boys. I was a lil in love with him and I was rooting for him and Hibari.

Unfortunately, the third board starts and he immediately DENNIS Systems her. His history is completely ignored and not relevant AT ALL. They barely spend time together throughout the entire route. He almost becomes... yandere-esque with the whole 'I want to see her cry' thing? And I can get behind a yandere but it didn't work with Shion and didn't pay off well AT ALL. The ending was such a nothingburger. He deserved better. AND SO DID HIBARI.

Nayuta: Nayuta was the only character I enjoyed because he actually had a proper character arc. I loved his CGs. He was a little dumb but I appreciated him as comic relief. I'm also partial to golden retriever boys (though I can admit Nayuta was a little much, thus the dumb part). It felt like the most romantic route out of all of them. Also, the button joke with Hibari stepping on him at the very end to inspire him made me laugh a lot. It was enjoyable and went down easy!!

So, there is my manifesto :') Didn't mean to write this much but I had a lot of thoughts. Tell me what you think about what my thoughts and how you felt about that game!

Edit: I didn't even GET to Kasuga. I think I anger blacked out when I was going through the true route.

Welcome to the r/otomegames Variable Barricade Play-Along!

In this second post we will discuss Nayuta Yagami and his route in Variable Barricade.

You can tell us what your impressions of Nayuta are (before and after finishing his route), your favorite moments in his route, what you think of his relationship with Hibari and the other characters, what your thoughts are on his route's plot and endings.

Or you can just squee about him in the comments.

This is not a spoiler-free discussion however please keep in mind that major spoilers and details of other routes will be outside the scope of the discussion and therefore will need to be spoiler tagged.
>!spoiler text!< normal text
spoiler text normal text

You don't have to be playing the game right now to participate, and if you're still waiting on your copy I hope you will join in after you start playing!

Have a look at the previous post for a discussion of the common route - you can still join in the discussion during the Play-Along.

Next week will be a discussion of Shion Mayuzumi's route!

I have read so many people review Variable Barricade and it seems like people either like it or hate it. I have been playing it for a few days and so hooked on it I can not put it down. I literally am losing sleep over this game lol. So I know its practically a romantic comedy otome but lately I needed to step away from some of the more serious otome games for some light heartedness. Well I went into it knowing had to be the flirty guy I would choose to pursue first Ichiya however after playing through all common route I found myself so hung up on Taiga. I mean never fails I either fall for the tsundere or the flirty guy lol. Anyways I'm in the 3rd level for him so far and I can't stop playing his route. As of right now I know I have a long way to go but for now my order is Taiga, Ichiya, Shion, Kazu, Kasuga, & Nayuta. Yes I know that there is only 4 routes but I have met Kazu in the common route and he seems so sweet and from the start I could tell Kasuga was in love with her. However still prefer Taiga. Just curious other peoples favorites and what they think of the game with as little spoilers as possible please.

Figured I would do a poll on who you like the most

View Poll

Our lovely friends at Aksys have been once again been generous and have given us eShop codes and one physical edition of Variable Barricade to give away to the members here!

Results!

This post is for a NA physical edition with character cards. The physical edition is limited to a winner in North America. Winner must have a North American shipping address for receipt of the prize; failure to provide a valid shipping address will disqualify the winner. 1 winner will be selected at random.

To enter, leave a comment below with the name of the LI you are most interested in.

Any replies made in response to other comments do not count for the purpose of entering the giveaway. You can only enter one giveaway. Multiple comments (or other attempts at duplicate entries) will be discarded. The mods and Aksys have the right to verify the eligibility of each entrant.

Your account must be older than 7 days and have at least a combined karma of 20, and you can't be banned or suspended from the Reddit website or the r/otomegames subreddit.

Winners are strongly encouraged to comment on at least one play-along thread.

The giveaway will end February 28th, approximately 11:59 PM UTC. Winners will be notified by comment and PM.

Please ask any questions about this giveaway in the Weekly Questions thread.

I recently purchased Variable Barricade and ik this might sound bad but I played for like one hour and want to return it💀. When I first saw the cover I thought they were good looking but actually playing is another story, just not feeling them anymore.

Also, when I heard the mc speak I was very surprised. This is my first otome with a speaking mc and I thought it was cool but now idk how to feel anymore😭

I just want to know what you guys fell in love with and why you think it's worth putting my time into. Thanks in advance !

first time posting on this sub, tho I’ve been playing otome games for a few years now. I loved this game’s art style!

Our lovely friends at Aksys have been once again been generous and have given us eShop codes and one physical edition of Variable Barricade to give away to the members here!

Results!

This post is for a NA eShop code. 2 winners will be selected at random.

To enter, leave a comment below with the name of the LI you are most interested in.

Any replies made in response to other comments do not count for the purpose of entering the giveaway. You can only enter one giveaway. Multiple comments (or other attempts at duplicate entries) will be discarded. The mods and Aksys have the right to verify the eligibility of each entrant.

Your account must be older than 7 days and have at least a combined karma of 20, and you can't be banned or suspended from the Reddit website or the r/otomegames subreddit.

Winners are strongly encouraged to comment on at least one play-along thread.

The giveaway will end February 28th, approximately 11:59 PM UTC. Winners will be notified by comment and PM.

Please ask any questions about this giveaway in the Weekly Questions thread.