Obey Me! -- No Spoiler Review
Obey Me!
System: Phone
Price: Freemium (Free to play with in-app purchases available, but not required)
Voice Acting: Partial (Japanese)
ESRB Rating: T (13+)
Overall Rating: Stole 7/10 ♥s
Pre-Game Perception: Dominatrix dating in the demon world. Persona 5 graphics makes me think it is going to be comical but still dark and adult.
Morning-After Reflection: The cutest demon dating game I’ve ever seen with a human MC. For some reason there are dance battles, card collecting, and energy management, but fun for the collector and casual reader I am.
Story: “Become the master who brings the ikemen demon brothers down to their knees and enjoy life at the Academy in the Devildom!
You have been selected to become an exchange student at RAD, a school for demons. Awaiting you are 7 ikemen demon brothers and a mountain of tasks...?!
There is only 1 rule you have to remember to survive…
One Master to RULE them all!”
Interest Rating: 7? 8? 9? Should I go with 10/10? This was literally my first phone game and the only reason I even started to look at the otome genre. It’s a weird story - one we don’t have time for - but I’m not sure how to rate this since it technically caught my interest, even if it did take me literal weeks before I tried it.
MC: Do you want a self-insert MC with no real opinions or background? They’re not a push-over, as options are typically flavored well and relatable, but very generic so anyone can slip into that role. When I hear that MC has no background and no goals, I typically groan and don’t want to even try it, because they end up being so flat or boring that it doesn’t matter what I make up. The thing is though, that isn’t the case with Obey Me!’s MC. And, this being my first ever dating-esque game, I didn’t really know this could be an issue.
You never see the MC, you can name them anything you want, gender be damned! In fact, the game is highly praised by enbies because there is never a reference to MC’s gender. You can, in fact, play a male MC, since they (mostly) only refer to you by your name, and I think a handful of times refer to MC as they/them. A handful of times and it’s been almost a year since release, and they bring out content like crazy, imo. But that’s not about the MC. So, they give you the basics of the MC in the game. They are a student of some sort, since you’re summoned to the Devildom to go to school. But… the school is so ambiguous that it could be high school, it could be college, it could be middle school, or, ya’ know, maybe the Devildom just requires people to go to school until they’re 5,000 or something, seeing as how all these demon boys are also in school and clearly they’re not 16-years old. I have a feeling time moves differently in the Devildom-- F*ck. I’m getting off topic again.
For such a blank MC with no agency, it looks like I have a lot to say. You are asked some background info every once in a while. “Do you have any brothers?” What type of T.V. shows you like, I think. And you get to make decisions on opinions of things, like Levi and his gaming, you can either full-heartedly jump into the otaku role, or shun the social outcast. It’s never complicated, but it is personalized enough that I don’t feel like this completely absent MC is a problem.
Likability Rating: Yu. Even though you’re presented with a full self-insert, the choices for decisions contain personality that feels natural and complex. More than cardboard MC’s that give you answers such as “Um…” “Uh!” and “Huh?”
Plot: The plot is super simple. Survive, and hopefully enjoy, a year in the Devildom, where you spend your time as a student, and live in a dorm with seven demon brothers. Though they say a year, it doesn’t take a year in real time. The year is up once you finish chapter… 20? I can’t really remember where the original story ended, they are up to chapter 36 now (9/2020). Gameplay will be covered in the UI/Mechanics section. But to give a brief overview, there are something like 10 VNs per chapter, where you (sometimes) make choices and get to progress the story. There are not separate routes offered, so it’s one big reverse-harem rom-com, which isn’t usually my thing, but I just really like this game for some reason I can’t fully explain.
Replayability Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Ouch. One route for everyone. However, you can repeat every VN, phone call, and text chat for free and choose other options. More than nothing, I guess?
Love Interests: This is the fun part. This is what I was waiting to get to because explaining that you are dating the Devil, but not that other-name-for-the-Devil because that one is not your type, and you also like that other-other-name-for-the-Devil is all really rather fun. And, ya’ know, casually mentioning how Satan is calling you, or being giddy that you got Lucifer to say “please”, or any number of out of context updates about this game that could easily become awkward if someone overheard is also super fun to me. You’re likely to gush about dating a demon, because they’re all so damned adorable (just don’t tell Lucifer or Satan that), and only those that play the game will understand why all of this is so great and enthusiastically respond in kind about their favorite demon boy.
There are seven demon brothers ranked by demon power and not actual age despite them referring to each other as being older and younger. Actual age is… complicated. As I mentioned in the MC section, I’m pretty sure time doesn’t move the same for the Devildom as it does for Earth as we know it. I’ve kind of head-canoned this alternate time reality, where it feels like everything is the same, but moving between the “realms” can spit you out only minutes later, and not days/months/years. Personal theory, of course, so take it how you want. The point I’m trying to get at is: these cute demons could be thousands of years old, or only a couple depending on what time you’re going by. It’s so ambiguous. Why would these demons be going to school at their (read: our measurement of time) age?
Alright, sit down, strap in (because I’m sure you’re in some sort of seat that has straps…), and get ready to be bombarded by these seven sweet and sometimes spicy demon dudes. We’re going to go from “youngest” to “oldest” because…. Because!
Oh, that starts us off with Belphegor. Hrm. Maybe I should rethink this order… Too late! Already committed. Belphegor is the Avatar of Sloth. This sleepy-faced, rather cynical, cat-napping seventh-born would love nothing more than to just laze about with you all day, sleeping most of it away. Since there are no route options, you get to know him through the main story. And there are some big controversial plot points dealing with Belphie. He seems to be a character that people either love or hate, and I’m torn between the two. I relate to his cynicism, I would also rather live a life removed from societal expectations where I can sleep when I want and am cool with being an outcast, and I share many other traits with him including Western zodiac sign. I fall for this sweet boy and his mercurial nature. Buuuuuuut, some plot conflict is never really resolved or addressed, and that makes it hard for me to just smile and nod and move on with the story. Some say it’s sloppy writing, I would have to agree in this case.
Considered Belphegor’s twin, Beelzebub, the Avatar of Gluttony is ranked as the always-famished sixth-born. You can guess what type of guy he is. Hungry. That’s about all you get for a while, grumpy and hungry. Eventually that turns into hungry and singularly focused on food. Who am I kidding? He’s always singularly focused on food. Really, though, he has a child-like innocence that the rest of the group doesn’t hold. He’s easily bought with food, and his only past-time besides eating seems to be physical fitness. He shows no fear in most situations, but perhaps a little apprehension in some. I thought that’s all there was to Beelz, I was not prepared for how much of a gooey-center his hot, hard body held. Though he is never referred to as dumb, he doesn’t seem to be the brightest lightbulb of the bunch. Maybe that’s because he’s rarely paying attention to anything besides how hungry he feels all the time.
Ah, Asmodeus, the Avatar of Lust. Here you have a classic example of narcissism. Not to mention the flirt. The playboy. And also femininity wrapped into this package. Which is an unusual combination, since the LIs that are DTF are typically considered charismatic, self-serving assholes. Sure, Asmo isn’t completely removed from this stereo-type, but I was not prepared for how feminine he was as well; which makes me like him a little more than most narcissistic characters. He’s… actually the demon I’m the least nice to, which means my intimacy score with him is rather low compared to the rest. But I don’t hate him. He’s just not my type of LI. I don’t like LIs that are more in love with themselves than me. Love me, damnit! And not in the way that you love everyone. Make me feel special. Asmo doesn’t do this for me.
Fourth in line is the Avatar of Wrath, Satan. This bookish, yet easily befriended, self-proclaimed introvert does his best to give you those angry eyes, but I’m not falling for your kuudere tactics, Mister. Intelligent, and typically the voice of reason, he doesn’t show you much interest or care, but don’t let that fool you. Satan is incredibly caring and (to me) feels like he’s just trying to get through life as he figures out who he is, living in the shadow of his brother(s). If you want an easier way to look at him, have you ever cohabited with a cat? Satan is a cat. I should have just started with that. He’s a complex, secretly moody, needs companionship but on his terms, quiet LI. And he wears a bowtie! I knew there had to be something to him, the bowtie never lies.
The Avatar of Envy, Leviathan, is one of my favorites. Not my favorite, but he’s sitting pretty in the top three (not just for his ranking in the game), but for his ranking in my heart. He is probably the most underrated demon brother, and that’s just a damned shame. The hardcore otaku. The gamer geek. The anime fan. The self-deprecating, emo boi. He has to fit the Avatar of Envy somehow, and that comes out in his views of himself compared to everyone else. Levi is a social outcast due to his interests, and a social recluse, mainly because of being an outcast. Normies scare him. The outside world is a big, scary place, and dear God, I can relate to that. When your sense of normal is far from what others consider normal, trying to fit in is an exhausting task. I am Levi in many ways. If awkward, smartbois are not your thing, Levi might not make it on your list. I get that not everyone wants to hold their LI’s hand and walk them through how awesome 3D people can be. Because, let’s face it, as an otaku Levi certainly has some 2D waifus that you’ll be competing with.
Mammon-sama takes rank number two, and is constantly referred to by a plethora of names including, but not limited to: Idiot, Scumbag, and Money-obsessed Moron. He is the Avatar of Greed, and boy does the game play that up. Constantly getting into trouble for his attempts to make a quick buck, he is the troublemaker, and not even a smart troublemaker. Mammon is rather impulsive, and no one in the game seems to like him. Thing is, though, he’s so used to it, he has developed a personality that shows how much he likes himself, no need for those haters approval. He is the Great Mammon! In regards to the MC, this guy is tsundere to the tenth degree. MC is just a weak, pathetic human, or so he says. It doesn’t take long before you see just how sensitive Mammon is. The jealousy and possessiveness is also nice, especially if you try to point out that the reason for either of those is because he has feelings for you. Feelings? For a human?! No way! Not this guy. Uh-huh. Sure, Mammon. We know the real you, though.
Lastly, we have left Lucifer. The mighty first-born, and if you know anything about the seven sins, you’d know that we’re left with pride. Oh boy! Let me tell you about the Avatar of Pride. Easily summed up as the perfectly flawless but malicious sadist, Lucifer is a fun one! He keeps all his brothers in line, and attempts to keep MC under his thumb as well. After all, appearance is everything. Who would he be if anyone found out he couldn’t control a simple human? I can’t help it. I have a type. I know. Yeah, yeah, I like those awkward smartbois; but I go weak in the knees when some impeccably dressed, authoritative, confident, possessive-- Ya’ know what? Let’s just call it like it is. I go weak in the knees when a dom asserts himself. What would happen if I get bad grades, Lucifer? Are you gonna spank me, Daddy?-- I mean, Lucifer! Sir! By the way, there is a card picture of Lucifer gripping a riding crop, so if that wasn’t the intended way for Luci to go then they might want to reconsider the art they put out of this handsome husbando. Not to mention all his talk of punishments for Mammon and the other brothers. Yummy!
Boy Crazy Rating: 89%. I either am them, want to husbando them, or want to do them. Looks like I have all my bases covered; I think that explains why I love these demon boys so much. There is no stopping this harem of captivating men.
Romance: Ehhhhnnn. Not really. It’s a reverse-harem romantic-comedy, so most of it revolves around the comedy aspect of the game. But there are moments. It’s so fluffy at times. And most of the side events have some sort of cute, romantic aspect to them. But that’s not part of the actual game, those are time-limited events and stories. When you pass a certain point, it does become more relationship-building, but even then you don’t get to date a dude, so the romance is slim pickings. At certain intimacy levels you get lovey-dovey phone calls, and every once in a while (for reasons I’m not certain of) you can get a cute text from one of the brothers or the other. Or a group text series that I find hilarious, where certain individuals are aiming to earn your favor.
Heart Palpitation Rating: C. The story doesn’t really focus on love and romance. The side stories bring the romance, but those are not things you can revisit freely.
Spice: :points to the T rating: You’re not getting anything. The spiciest it gets is some innuendo about spending the night with someone or the other, and typically that doesn’t pan out. Folks, this title is not titillating at all. Sometimes you get kissing in time-limited events. A very specific LI invites you to a “party” or two. And some LIs get embarrassed at the thought of holding your hand. I guess it’s nice not playing the blushing school girl, and instead causing some cuties to heat their cheeks, but if you want even a make-out session, you’re treading in the wrong territory.
Cold Shower Rating: Fail. Obey Me! is as spicy as a glass of water. It’s a funny and cute game, but it certainly doesn’t scratch any itch I have. Some of those CGs, though...
Angst: It’s a game about demons, and devils, and different realms; magic, and betrayal, and even death, but it is so angst-free. It is the least angsty otome I’ve ever played. It is so fluffy and pure that I would rate Disney movies on the same level. I might even consider some Disney movies more angsty… wow. There’s some violence, but it is so minute that I can’t even count it as a violent story. I couldn’t tell you why it is even rated T, since it seems perfectly reasonable for E 10+. Perhaps the micro-transactions? Yeah… that’ll do it.
Drama Llama Rating: 2/10. Someone replaced our drama llama with little lambs. Belphegor might be behind this… but, God, are they so cute!
Voice Acting: This is another partial voice acting game. It probably has more than most partial games I’ve played, but that’s because it has more required voice acting portions. First, they recorded a few sounds or words for each character that gets played in response to visual novel portions of the game. Mammon, for instance, says “masaka” a lot. Translated for us heathen English speakers, that’s “No way!” He’s a confrontational dude, so there are many times this sound clip gets played during a chapter. Sometimes they’re just noises to express something, like an uncertain groan. But there aren’t many per character, so you get used to the sounds each character makes. Then there’s a few phrases in battles that characters say, different from the VN portions. And these are actual sentences sometimes. If you have a certain LI on your home screen (in-game, of course) he will say a few lines every now and then. And, the best part, the phone calls. Those are fully voiced. There are a few other cases when VAing is used in the game, but those are the most prevalent ones.
Expression Rating: Yu. Higher than I normally give partially voiced games, but that’s because it includes more than typical partially voiced games. AND I think the seiyuus are pretty good at expressing their character’s emotions through those tiny clips, or the few minutes of phone calls you get. It’s good. Note to self: need a rating between Ryo and Yu.
Art: First point I’d like to make about the art in this game is it is semi-animated. Partially animated? The sprites rock while standing to mimic actual life, or move into a different pose and it isn’t just a simple sprite switch, they actually move their arms to the next pose; their eyebrows might raise when their facial expression changes, and other small things like that are included in the game. For 2D anime art, it’s nice to see some movement, and makes the game that much more enjoyable. Also, there are dance battles. Those are just sprites that are switched out to imitate movement, but they’re still fun. Every LI has a few wardrobe changes in the main game: their school uniform, their casual wear, and their demon form. Events sometimes give different clothes, as well, but that’s not a guaranteed thing. I’d say maybe one out of four events gives a special outfit. Backgrounds are rather detailed. And each character has very personalized clothing. If you line up all the LIs in their uniforms, you’ll find that no two are the same.
Still Picture Rating: ★★★★☆ Many movement. Such kawaii. Very quality.
CGs: CGs in this game aren’t like your typical CGs. They come in gacha cards or Devilgram photos, which are just gacha card CGs posted on an in-game photo platform. Not every card is on the Devilgram. The high-rated cards typically are, which includes URs and SSRs. There are also SR, R, and N cards that usually have a sprite as the artwork with an in-game background for SRs, and just a basic, single color background for R and N cards.
There appears to be different art styles in the CGs, and I’m not sure what the case is for that; whether they decided to hire different artists at different times, or went a different direction based on fan favorites, or what? Point is, the CGs aren’t all the same in style. And I don’t dislike any of the styles. I kind of like that they’re different, it gives more interpretations of the characters of the game. Getting to see what someone envisions an LI to look like in their own artistic expression is pretty cool to me.
Look at this Photograph Rating: 88%. I appreciate the different styles. I appreciate the different poses, events, clothes, everything. I have spent more time browsing Devilgram pictures than real life social media pictures. I just wish I had more I could do with the CGs, or an easier way to navigate them.
UI/Mechanics: I have to say, I love the UI for this game. There, I said it. It’s out there. Really, though, lemme give you the DL about it, that means “down low” not some witty demon… lover or something acronym. They’ve set up the game UI to look like a phone, in fact, the game tells you it is a phone. So… you’re playing a phone game on a phone with a phone in the game that’s designed like a phone. Ha! You have app icons that let you zoom around the menu. It’s pretty cute and no need to memorize the name of the apps if you can identify them by sight. So they can call them all the game-related pseudonyms they want, like Devilgram instead of Instagram, and you don’t even have to know what it’s named.
Now for mechanics… :deep breath: Obey Me! is an energy management, gacha, card battle game. It (currently as of 9/2020) has 36 chapters. Each chapter has roughly 13 battle levels, with about 10 visual novels interspersed throughout the chapter. You get free card pulls from the gacha games, or can buy more pulls with various forms of currency. There are really only three main forms of currency, all available without purchasing with real money. All also available through purchasing with real money. Demon Vouchers (which are only good for gacha pulls), Grimm (the Devildom’s name for gold), and Devil Points (the major currency that purchases most things that are purchasable). There are also Raven Feathers, but that’s a specific currency for (mainly) outfits. There are a numerous amount of upgrade items for cards, in order to better their strength through an attribute tree. But those are awarded by doing battles, and there are simply too many to name in this review.
:rereads the above: I think I covered most of the basics. Let’s begin! So, you get cards from the gacha games, or sometimes through events or levels. And you strengthen these cards in order to pass battle levels. Battle levels take energy to attempt, win or lose, you lose the energy. Once a battle level is passed, you can continue on the story through the visual novels that do not cost anything to play. You can replay these VNs as much as you’d like at no cost. Energy replenishes at a rate of 1 every 5 minutes (12/hour). That’s… really it. Get energy. Beat battles. Read the story. Upgrade cards. Beat battles. Rinse and repeat until you’ve finished the main story. Take a few detours on the way, ya’ know, like visiting the Devilgram, or doing events that happen quite regularly, or enjoy text messages and phone calls. There’s enough to keep you busy, but not so much that it feels like you’ll flounder if you take a few days off.
What’s this button do? Rating: A-. It’s an easy game to master. There’s mathing if you like that sort of thing. I do. The game has improved since release and now does most of the mathing for you. The menu and UI is unique and easy to navigate.
Errors: Huh… actually… none. I don’t think I’ve caught one spelling, grammar, or punctuation error. This game is pristine. I vaguely remember something in one very early phone call, but I might be making that up? They patch errors regularly, and quickly. Recently there was a game-freeze bug when a certain otaku showed up as a special guest. I reported it. They responded right away and within an hour or two there was a patch fixing the issue. Whenever there is an issue, they compensate all players with in-game items.
The game doesn’t seem to lag or crash anywhere. Loading takes a while sometimes, but since they added the loading bar, I at least know that it’s doing something and not just hanging up. They are prone to the occasional server crash, likely from overload, but you can get back into the game in a matter of minutes. Ah, videos for free energy or additional attempts on event levels have recently begun to freeze or fail to load to the point you have to exit out of the game and reload. There we go. Something wrong. Though I doubt it will be around for long.
Here there be Bugs Rating: Pass! Hardly a piece out of place. This game has gone through some quality assurance before being released to the general public. They must have coders on standby to address issues with how quick the fixes are implemented.
Background Music: I actually like it. I tend to play with the music on because I enjoy listening to the catchy music and hearing the seiyuus repeat their forever repeating little phrases. Having said that, I also don’t turn my media volume on for this game specifically. I suppose “tend to” really means “more than others”, which really means about half the time I’m playing this title. I do like it for the battles, because the sounds signify when abilities are ready to use, and I may not see the notification for it because I’m zoning out focusing hard on something else.
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