These Routes Are Just as Worthy If You Give Them a Chance: Alternative Discourses in (Visual) Novel Games as a Means to Allow Safe Spaces of Exploration

This academic paper argues that visual novel games, especially the branching-narrative traditions of Japanese otome, yuri, and dating sims, can function as safe spaces where players explore identities underrepresented in mainstream games, including women, gay men, and broader queer identities. Its method combines fieldwork with otome players in Tokyo and close readings of three titles: Cupid Parasite, Coming Out On Top (COOT), and Hustle Cat. The authors contend that these games handle sociocultural issues with humor and care for both characters and players, and that their branching structures and silent-protagonist designs allow players to choose routes, reach multiple endings, and steer avatars through relationships, including harmful dynamics.

Fieldwork findings suggest that players relate to their avatars either as partners with a distinct will or as virtual extensions of themselves, with individual perception shaping this relationship more than designers' intentions. The paper notes that Japanese otome games have targeted female consumers since the 1994 release of Angelique, and it positions this long-standing audience focus as context for the genre's openness to alternative narratives.

The analysis of individual titles highlights contrasting approaches. Cupid Parasite presents diverse love types and normalizes multiple ways of being, while acknowledging that marriage remains normative in Japanese society. COOT, a Western-made game, uses humor, optional routes, and "meaningful failure" endings as a space for queer exploration, and the authors link its tragic finale to the "Bury Your Gays" trope while reading such endings as sites of "radical hope." Hustle Cat, by contrast, offers comfort through guaranteed romance, customizable player identity including pronouns, and an emphasis on chosen family, avoiding the rejection typical of dating sims. The paper concludes that queer visual novels build safe spaces through humor, unconditional acceptance, and platonic bonds, though the genre's mechanics can still oversimplify characters.